Winter's Touch (Immortal Touch Series) (28 page)

“What is it you don’t understand?”

“He sent that to me. Why? Why would he send that to me?”

Ah, maybe now we can get somewhere.
“Who sent it to you, sweetie?”

“Nobody. It doesn’t matter.”

Abby fought to reign in her frustration. “Okay. Why don’t we start at the beginning. The person who sent it...was this who you’ve been with the past few months?”

“Yes.”

“I see. And what did he do to you, exactly?”

“Nothing. He did nothing.” She sounded a little too defensive.

“I don’t believe that for a minute. You wouldn’t be crying this way if nothing happened. I want to help you, honey, but you’ve got to be straight with me. Did he hurt you?”

A slight hesitation.
Then in a soft voice, “I’m in love with him.”

Bingo.
“Then he’s the one who bought those things for you. Well, it’s all starting to make sense now.”

“Mm-hm.”

“Jeez. He must be loaded.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So what’s the deal? Is he married?”

“No.”

“An escaped convict or something?”

“No.”

“You’re not pregnant, are you?”

“No.”

“I’m running out of ideas here. Help me out.”

Eva wiped her nose with the tissue in her hand. Reluctantly she confided, “He’s
...sick. And I don’t know how to help him.”

“Sick? Is he on drugs?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“
What’s wrong with him?”

“
It’s...um, some kind of blood disorder. He’s...seriously anemic.”

“Well, there are several different types of anemia.
Some more serious than others, but they’re all treatable. Do you know exactly what he has? Is he seeing a doctor?”

“No. I mean, yes. He’s being treated.
”

Abby
considered the strange situation. It didn’t seem as if her daughter was telling her the whole story, but at least she’d gotten this much out of her. It was like pulling teeth to get her to open up anymore. “Then I don’t really understand what the problem is.”

“Oh Mom, it’s so hard to explain
!” Nervously fidgeting with the music box in her lap, she accidentally opened it part way and hastily snapped it shut when the first note played. “I guess it’s just that he doesn’t think there can be any kind of future for us. He...doesn’t think he can have children. And I told him I want them someday, so...oh, I don’t know. It’s all so complicated. He sent me away and gave me the impression that he never wanted to see me again...then he sends me this. It makes no sense.”

Frankly, it sounded like nothing more than a case of cold feet to her.
Not complicated at all. The guy simply panicked, and was now having a change of heart. “Does he love you?”

“I thought he did.”

“Huh. You know what I think? I think he’s scared. He either assumes he isn’t good enough for you, or he’s worried that not being able to have children will be an issue.” She paused. “
Is
it an issue?”

“No, I don’t care about that. I just want to be with him. That’s all that matters.”

“You better think about that, honey. Because it wouldn’t be fair for you to say that now, then somewhere down the road start resenting him for it.”

“I
get what you’re saying but I’m telling you, it doesn’t matter to me in the least. Really. I love him, Mom. I can’t imagine ever loving anyone the way I do him.”

I
t
was
blatantly obvious that she had fallen fast and hard. Eva had had boyfriends before, plenty of them had come and gone over the past five or six years, but not one had ever even come close to putting
that
kind of look in her eyes. Abby grinned, thinking that she wouldn’t be a bit surprised if they were planning a wedding soon. “Well, there’s always adoption. With the money this guy must have, it shouldn’t be a problem. What does he do, anyway?”

“He’s a musician.”
Eva harbored a secretive smile.

“A musician? With a bank account that allows for genuine sable?”

“Family inheritance. His grandparents were wealthy.”

Oh, to be so lucky.
“How old is he?”

“Twenty-three.”

“And where does he live? Seattle?”

“
Seattle?” Eva looked confused for a minute. “Oh...the letter. No, he...yeah. He lives near Seattle.”

Something didn’t seem to be adding up. “Where did you meet?”

“What difference does that make?” Her tone was edgy.

“I was just asking.”

“We met when he was here visiting some friends. Can we get back to the issue at hand?”

“What issue would that be?”

“The issue of what I should do!”

Abby chewed on the inside of her lip, contemplating. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing here. And how was she supposed to know what the right thing was, anyway? Hell, she couldn’t even hold on
to her own husband. Who was she to try to give advice regarding love in any form? She probably had less insight on the subject than anyone.

“Baby, I can’t tell you what you should do. That’s something you’re going to have to
decide for yourself. I can tell you this, though. If you really do love him, you have to try to find a way to work this out. I can’t promise you a happy ending, but you’ll never forgive yourself if you don’t at least give it your best shot. At least in the end you’ll know you did everything you could.” There, that sounded good. Nice and objective.

“It might not be as easy as that.”

“Nothing worth having is ever easy.” Oh yeah, she was on a roll.

Eva tapped
her fingernails restlessly against the wooden lid. “I’ll have to leave again for a while. You know that, don’t you?”

“Do whatever you have to do. Just let me know where you’re going next time, will you?”

“Oh, Mom. I love you so much, you know that?” An arm reached around her shoulders to pull her in for a hug.

Music to a mother’s ears. “I love you too, sweetie. Now
cheer up, will you? I don’t want to see you miserable forever. Life goes on.”

~
*~*~

On
a secluded mountain trail within the Mount Hood National Forest, a lone backpacker was pausing to adjust his straps when he was startled by the sound of a voice calling out behind him. Turning, he was surprised to see another hiker approaching.

“Oh man, you nearly gave me a
friggin’ heart attack. Snuck up on me there.”

The second hiker
, a statuesque blond, drew closer and smiled apologetically though somehow the smile didn’t quite reach his dark eyes. “Sorry about that. I must apologize for the interruption,” he said in a cultured voice that carried what sounded like a faintly British inflection.

“I didn’t expect to see anyone else
way out here.”

No response.

Eric Lancaster shifted his backpack nervously. He’d never been the least bit apprehensive about hiking alone - after all, he was fit and strong - but something in the way this man was staring at him gave him the creeps. It was the eyes, maybe...they reminded him of the eyes of some of the more violent mental patients in the psychiatric facility where his girlfriend worked. Insane. Unpredictable. You never knew
what
was going on behind those crazy eyes.

“So where you hail from, dude?
England?”

Still no response.

Uneasiness crept up within him, drying his mouth. He coughed self-consciously.

“Would you look at that.” The stranger finally spoke, and Eric tried to follow his gaze to see what he was talking about.

“What?”

“You’re bleeding.”

Before the words had time to register in his mind, Eric felt the impact as his head met the solid barrier of a cottonwood tree. He staggered, stunned, lifting his hand with confusion to touch the sticky wetness running down his face.

“Wha
...what the fuck, man...”

“You really shouldn’t be out here in your condition, you know.”

“I think you broke my nose!”

“I’ll break more than that.” The man grabbed him by the front of his
insulated jacket and slammed him against the same tree with brutal force. He held him there, radiating sheer malevolence as the shock evolved into full-blown terror.

“Oh
shit
, look, whatever you want, you can have it...please...”

“
Do you think I don’t know that already?” The cold voice was filled with derision. One of his hands reached up to snatch the jacket’s hood out of the way.

“What are you doin’, man?”

“Shut up.”

Eric screamed, more from
horrified shock than pain as the sharp fangs penetrated his skin ruthlessly.
This can’t be happening...nobody is this strong...he must be high on something...this can’t be happening! It can’t!

The blond lifted his head. A trickle of blood dripped down the side of his mouth and he caught it with his tongue. “Not bad.” He smiled, and the look was pure evil.

“
Jesus!
” Eric tried to squirm out of the
thing’s
grasp but was held with his back against the tree in a grip of steel. “Please...what did I do to you? I’m sorry, whatever it was, I’m
sorry
...I’m so sorry...”

“You
want to know what you
did
to me? Is that it?” The eyes bored into him with hatred. “Then I will enlighten you. You are
pathetic.
A weak, fragile, pathetic creature whose life means absolutely
nothing!
”

Abruptly, he released his hold on the jacket and took a step backward
s. Wiping the excess blood from his mouth with a hand, he sighed wearily. “And I would give anything to trade places with you. Because I don’t even know what I am anymore.”

~
*~*~

Eva sat cross-legged on her bed, holding the music box in her hands and running her fingers absently over it as she thought.

The first issue that needed settling was the question of why he’d sent her the thing in the first place. After all, he’d ordered her never to attempt to contact him, to forget about him completely. Yet here in her hands was a stark reminder.

If he truly wanted her to forget him, then why would he send her the most compelling evidence of his affection?

It did seem the sort of thing the dark side of Julian would do. Something to torture her, a reminder of what she would never again have. Mockingly throwing in her face what a naïve fool she’d been for loving him.

But s
he didn’t want to believe that. Deep inside her, she
couldn’t
believe that. Though he’d callously said he could never love her, she had felt it so strongly. And if she could be so mistaken about that, then never again would she be able to trust any of her instincts. So again, she was back to
why?

The answer seemed clear. He didn’t
want
her to forget.

Her mother’s words came back to her.
In the end you’ll know you did everything you could.

In the end. How would it end for them?
With him one day being discovered during one of his macabre exploits? With her deteriorating into a frail, elderly woman while he stayed forever youthful? With him losing control and accidentally killing her? There could be no happy endings for them. He’d been right to send her away.

But Eva wasn’t one to give up so easily
. Where there was a will there was a way, and possibly even an antidote. Something made him the way he was - it only stood to reason there also had to be something that could restore his humanity. A way to reverse the process.

An intriguing concept, but how could she help him when even he knew nothing about his own condition? Vampirism wasn’t an exact science. Nearly all the information available was woefully inaccurate. If only she knew the details of what happened that
morning, the day he was murdered. There must be some clue somewhere that would shed a light on the mystery and point towards a possible cure.

To try and forget him was inconceivable. There was no hope of that. He was as much a part of her as her own
breath. It was time to start searching for answers.

And where better to start than at the beginning?

~*~*~

She had ruined him.

The moment he’d looked into the eyes of that hiker and felt
pity
, he knew the irreversible damage had been done.

He’d gone from wanting to break every bone in the young man’s body to helping him down the mountain so he would be within easy walking distance of medical attention. After a
subliminal reminder that he had merely fallen into a ravine -
you never saw me, you sustained your injuries when you slid down an embankment
- he left and returned home, to the place that held only memories of her.