Whisper to Me (Borne Vampires Book 1) (5 page)

“She had … eyes.” Murphy tried to point at the two
oil paintings hung on the wall.

Could it be her? “What color was her hair?”

“Dark red.” Murphy raised his hand and tapped a
finger to his temple. “See, Master.”

Peering inside Murphy’s mind, he couldn’t believe
it. It couldn’t be her, she was dead. Yet, the fullness of her lips, high
cheekbones, shape of her eyes and nose … it was her. Pained by the memories
always there in his head, always tormenting him, hope returned in the midst of
it all.

She was alive!

Snatching Murphy by the throat, he rose, forcing
the ghoul onto his feet. “What is her name?”

“She’s called Mar ... Mariah Jordan.”

“Mariah,” he said softly and closed his eyes. Forcing
his eyes open, the vertigo of her reappearance after all these long years left
him with a thousand questions. “Where is she now?”

“She … she was with the Slayer.”

Bringing Murphy close, his eyes narrowed
dangerously. “Did you kill her?”

Gurgles of blood were Murphy's response. Roaring
his fury, he threw the lifeless body across the room, slamming into the wall
hard enough to damage the drywall. Tissue and blood splattered across the
pristine white paint in a beautiful macabre of death. Murphy slowly crumbled to
the floor.

“Useless! Humans are completely useless beyond
food.” Glaring at his muscle-bound bodyguards, ghouls, who could only die when
he gave them permission to do so, he withdrew a neatly ironed, embroidered handkerchief
out of his breast pocket and wiped his hands clean of Murphy's blood.

A knock on the door distracted him.

One of the bodyguards opened it for the tall, sophisticated
vampire with golden-brown hair to enter. Alexander Walker was his second in
command and trusted confidant — well closer than anyone he allowed anyway. Alexander
kept his eyes on the floor as he neared him.

“What is it, Alexander?”

“My lord, it has been confirmed. Rathe Romulas died
in the fire.”

“Excellent news, my friend. Spread the word we no
longer need fear the Slayer. Issue a substantial reward for his family. Three
million for the women, ten for his brothers. I want them alive. Yet, if they
wish to die than be captured, then give them their wish.”

“Yes, my lord.”

He watched Alexander back out, his gaze centered
on the carpet. “Alexander, hold a minute.”

“Yes, my lord?”

“I would like you to inquire about this Mariah
Jordan Murphy told me about. Apparently, she was with Romulas.”

Alexander looked at him, surprising him by the
uncharacteristic act. “Is she human or vampire?”

“Unknown. Murphy died before he could tell me. Head
out to Mormon Lake. Speak to the sheriff. Use any means necessary to extract
what he knows about her and her life. If she is alive, bring her to me.”

“Yes, my lord.” The doors closed behind Alexander.

Stretching out his mind, he searched for her.
Nothing. Still, he knew deep inside him, she wasn’t dead. It could be wishful
thinking on his part. Either way, he was confident Alexander would find her.

Desperate to see her again, he closed his eyes and
pulled back the details what Murphy had shown him, drinking in the intoxicating
sight of her beauty, cherishing every curve, until he saw her bruised neck. She
had been bitten! Peering closer, he saw the savagery of the bite. By Mariah’s
wane color, he realized Romulas must have nearly drained her.
 

Could it be that his nemesis was close to losing
his precious soul? Had the Slayer exchanged blood with her?

“No, he would never break his precious laws, not
even to save an innocent.” Years he had searched for her, and to find out she’d
met his enemy first was like a stake through the heart.
He
should
have been her first, not the son-of-a-bitch Romulas!

Fuming, he made to withdraw when he caught sight the
medallion she wore. Surprise vanquished his anger. “Damn those meddling gypsies
and their magic! That is why I could not locate you. Clever indeed. Who is the
cleverest of the witches? Who hid you from me, Mariah? Who is strong enough to
cast such a powerful protection spell against me?”

He directed to his bodyguards, “Gentlemen, I
return to California. Wrap my paintings and prepare my car for the journey. Do
have someone clean the mess I made of Mr. Murphy. Tidiness is close to ... well
you know the rest.”

As he left the room, the familiar ache of
loneliness hit him. To see her beautiful face after all these long years, to
know she had survived that terrible night, he said a prayer before he caught
himself.

Please be alive,
Mariah. I love you. Don’t leave me again.

 
✝✝✝

Evil stalked her.

It’s hot, stagnate breath burned the back
of her neck. She ran to stand beneath the beam of light, sighing as its warmth
bathed her in its protection. Her relief was short lived. Circling her, he stayed
just outside reach of the light, his face cast in darkness, red eyes fixed on
her as he moved around her. Clutching her medallion in her hand, she fought the
fear suffocating her.

“Mariah, why do you deny me? You and I are
the same.”

“No! I am nothing like you.” A guttural
laugh swirled around and around her, making her clutch her ears to muffle the
awful sound out.

“Let me show you, my love.”

Sweeping a clawed hand before her eyes,
she saw Murphy on the floor, a twisted heap of broken bones and mutilated,
twitching flesh. Above him, blood and brain splattered the white wall. Blood pooled
around his body.

Blood.

Hypnotized by the delicious sight, the heady
smell of it caused a vicious hunger to rise inside her. Sharp and terrible,
like a knife twisting in her gut. Wanting to lap up the blood, to sink her
teeth into the quivering flesh and feed….

She threw the blankets off her and ran to the
bathroom. Bent over the toilet, she tried to vomit. Dry heaves. Drinking water
out of the faucet, hoping it would settle her stomach. Instead, it gave it fuel
to puke. Once the projectile vomiting had eased, she rose shakily to her feet
and splashed water on her face, cooling her feverish skin.

Bracing her hands on the counter, she looked at
herself in the mirror. Dark circles under her eyes weren’t what alarmed her — it
was her eyes. They had changed! Violet had lightened several shades, the color so
vibrant and unnervingly bright in the bathroom light.

“Why?”

What Rathe told her last night sunk why he’d
returned to her cabin. She ran back into the bedroom and threw open the drapes.
Sunlight hit her. Instantly, her eyes watered and her skin started to hurt,
turning red. She yanked the drapes closed. Crumbling to the floor, she drew her
arms around her knees, rocking back and forth.

“I’m turning. Oh, God in Heaven, I’m becoming a
vampire!” Should she call out to Rathe? Maybe he could stop it.

No, he said if I
turned, he would have to kill me.

Frightened, she fought not to cry at the mess she
was in. Salish whined and put her head on her arms, trying to comfort her. Bear
lay down beside her, his brown eyes watching her.

Drawing in a deep breath, she let it out slowly. “No,
I can beat this. Just gotta keep my emotions under control and eat human food,
to slow down the-the virus. The longer I hold out, the stronger I will become.
Just as long as I do not drink vampire blood or anyone else’s, I will return to
normal.”

Salish lifted her head and calmness returned as
she gazed into those loving, topaz-colored eyes. Stroking her soft fur, Mariah
sighed. “I will forget about him, and everything will be fine.” Who was she
kidding? Never in a million years would she be able to forget Rathe Romulas.
Never.

Checking the time, she couldn’t believe she’d
slept the day away again. Seven o’clock. Where did Rathe sleep? Ugh, why was
she thinking about him again?

“Well, my babies, I need to shower. After that,
we’ll plot our next move.”

After showering, she felt better until she had to
put back on the wrinkled clothes she’d worn the day before. Slipping on her shoes,
she grabbed the jacket and cautiously opened the door, surprised to see Rathe’s
black SUV parked in the spot designated for her room.

Why had he returned?

Maybe he left the car for her to drive home. Checking
to see if the keys were in the ignition, they were. Well, if he didn’t return
by the time the sun had disappeared, she’d take the opportunity and drive the
SUV home. Taking a seat on the cement curb next to the SUV, she finger-combed
her hair, trying to work out the knots while she waited.

A small part of her hoped he came back for her,
but she was a realist and dashed it. The dogs barking jerked her head to her
left and she saw him walking straight for her. Jacket slung over his right
shoulder, she could see the ripple of his chest muscles as he walked. Garbed in
the same clothes as before, he looked remarkably fresh and clean, which pissed
her off because she looked like rumbled crap.

Lord, he was gorgeous!

He grinned, a wolfish one, and the heat in his
dark eyes blazed.
“You look sexy, too.”

“What?”

“You forget I can read your intriguing mind.”

Face burning, she felt like a teen caught ogling. “Hasn't
anyone ever told you it's rude to read a person's mind without her permission?”
He held out his hand to help her to her feet. Reluctant, she accepted and his
fingers closed around her and he pulled her to her feet.

“And only last night you were demanding me to look
inside your head. Fickle woman.”

“Not that I mind, why are you back here?”

“You cannot rent a car.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“You do not have a driver’s license.”

Damn, she’d forgotten about needing one to rent a
car. Heck, she couldn’t fly either, not without identification. “So, what are
you saying? You’re going to drive me home?”

“Yes, I am.” Rathe opened the car door for her. “Are
you hungry? There’s a truck stop not far away.”

Stunned he would jeopardize his life for her, she
was relieved, too. She had to get home, preferably in one piece! “Yes, starving.”
Actually, the thought of eating greasy food made her want to vomit, but she was
going to force food down her throat, even if it killed her! No way was she
gonna turn into a vampire, not without a fight.

He was putting the dogs in the car when she smelt
it — the awful smell of decaying flesh. “Rathe, do you smell it?”

“You can smell the Damned?”

“Yes, and it’s not the first time. Just before the
nightmare man appears, I can smell decomposing bodies. Last night, in the woods,
I smelt it, too.”

Searching the dark sky, he ordered, “Get in the
car.”

When he was in the car with her, she asked, “Won’t
they find us?”

He shook his head. “No, I’ve hidden us. The Damned
would have to be right on us for us to be discovered.” Putting the car in
reverse, he turned and drove back onto the highway. “Mariah, I think it’s a
demon vamp the spell is hiding you from.”

“Demon vamp?”

“A vampire who lost his soul. Hence the term
‘Damned’.

“Oh. God, what do I do now?”

“My advice is simple — do not break the spell
hiding you. If it does, you will be exposed to him, and he can easily find you.”

“Don’t break the spell. Sure, sounds like a viable
plan,” she said sarcastically. “Rathe, why does this vampire want with me? What
did I do to make him determined to kill me?”

“It’s not you personally. When a demon vamp — the
Damned — becomes fixated on its prey, they won’t stop until they kill it. The
vamp searching for you is obsessed and wants only to end his game when he kills
you.”

The man in her nightmares was real! A demon vamp. One
of the Damned. How could she fight such a monster if he did find her?

“Where do you go at dawn?”

“To the earth, where we rejuvenate and sleep.”

“Does the Damned sleep in the ground, too?”

“No, they usually sleep in coffins.” He explained,
“Once a vampire loses their souls, they can no longer withstand the purity of
earth and cannot return to it.”

“Oh.”

Back on the road, he stopped at a supermarket. Told
to stay in the car, she watched him enter the store. When he came back, he had
a sack of dog food in one arm and several plastics sacks in his other hand. Giving
her the sacks, he tossed the dog food in the back of the SUV. Opening the bags
he’d given her, she found a toothbrush, toothpaste, couple of bottles of water,
and a brush for her hair. For the dogs, bowls for food and water. While he fed
her dogs, she brushed her teeth, taking a sip of water and spit it out on the
ground.

Tackling her hair with the brush when he got in,
they drove back onto the highway. Several miles later, a truck stop came into
view. There were a dozen semis parked in the paved lot, their windows dark. Rathe
drove past them and the cars parked at the restaurant, heading toward the empty
space beyond.

“Uh, you passed the restaurant.” He parked beside
a lone lamppost, and turned off the engine. “Why did you park way out here?”

“Less conspicuous for me while I catch a bite to
eat.” He grinned, chuckling when she rolled her eyes at his attempt at humor. “I’ll
meet you inside the restaurant after I feed.”

“Sure.” Getting out of the car, the smell of deep
fried food hit her nostrils and nearly made her puke. “I think I’ll walk the dogs
before I eat. Please, go ahead and find a blood donor. We'll be fine.”

Letting the dogs out, she saw him walk around the rear
of the SUV and opened the tailgate. He reached in and seemed to be searching
for something. When he had what he sought, he returned to her.

“Don’t walk too far. Keep your eyes and ears open
for anything out of place, or unusual. Call out if you smell the Damned.”