His Dark Embrace

“About time! So, what are we waiting for?”

Chapter 18

Sky dropped her suitcases on the floor, then stretched her arms over her head. It was good to be home. She had arranged to have whatever she couldn’t carry on the plane sent overland. Her apartment in Chicago had come furnished, so there hadn’t been much to ship other than her winter wardrobe, about twenty pairs of shoes, her book collection, a few photo albums, a hope chest that had belonged to her grandmother, and a large box of odds and ends that she didn’t need but couldn’t part with.

She kicked off her shoes and ran a hand through her hair. Granda’s house had always been home, and now it belonged to her. And Sam. How she wished her brother was here now.

Curious, she went to the front window and pulled back the curtain. Was Kaiden still in Chicago? Or had he returned to Vista Verde, as well? And if he had, what then?

Turning away from the window, she carried her suitcases upstairs. Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with Harry? He was a nice enough guy, he made good money, had a promising future, and he loved her. But no, like Bella Swan, she had to fall in love with a vampire.

She grinned as she tossed her underwear into the top drawer of her dresser. Edward Cullen was pretty sexy, but her vampire was sexier.

Her vampire. Sky closed the drawer with a bang and began hanging her jeans in the closet.

Logically, she knew she should have nothing more to do with Kaiden Thorne. After all, she had seen a number of horror movies, and things rarely ended happily for the foolish female who fell in love with the sexy vampire or werewolf or mummy.

But all the logic in the world couldn’t change how she felt about Kaiden. Right or wrong, vampire or not, she loved him and there was nothing she could do about it.

After putting everything away, she looked out the window. A single light burned in the front window of the house across the street.

Was it for her?

Was she crazy to be thinking about going over there, alone, at night? Maybe so, but if he’d wanted to hurt her or drain her dry or turn her into a monster, he’d had plenty of chances over the years.

But was giving him another chance now, when she knew what he was, a good idea? Or the stupidest thing she had ever done? She bit down on her lower lip. He had gone to Chicago to see her, claiming he wanted to talk. So, she would go over there and listen to what he had to say.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she took a quick shower, put on her favorite blue sweater and a pair of jeans, carefully applied lipstick and eye shadow, dabbed a little perfume behind her ears, and she was ready to go.

Humming softly to keep her courage up, she hurried down the stairs and ran across the street before she could change her mind.

The door opened before she rang the bell.

She wished she had a camera to capture the look of surprise on Kaiden’s face, then wondered if vampires could be photographed.

“Sky.” The tone of his voice mirrored the surprise in his eyes.

“Hi. Are you busy?”

“No.” He frowned, a deep V forming between his brows. “Is something wrong?”

She shook her head. “You said we needed to talk.” She bit down on her lip, suddenly uncertain. “So, talk.”

“The front porch is hardly the place,” he said, taking a step back. “Maybe you should come inside.”

“Said the spider to the fly,” she murmured as she crossed the threshold.

“We can go over to your place if that will make you feel safer,” he said. “Or we can go to one of the clubs.”

“No, here is fine.” She stifled the urge to laugh at the look of bewilderment on his face.

Moving into the front room, she perched on the edge of the sofa. “I’m listening.”

He looked down at her, his arms folded over his chest. “What do you want to know?”

“What do you think?” She looked at him as if he wasn’t too bright. “This was your idea, remember?”

Thorne nodded. Why had he thought talking about this would be a good thing? What could he say? What should he say? Curious to know what she was thinking, he let his mind brush hers. He wasn’t sure what he expected to find—confusion, fear, curiosity. Certainly not love and acceptance.

“You’re not talking,” she remarked, a faint smile playing over her lips.

“There’s really not a lot to say. I was turned a long time ago. I’ve been around the world. I’ve seen some things, done some things I’m not proud of.” He paused, wondering how honest to be.

“What kinds of things?”

“What do you think?”

“Oh.” She chewed on the edge of her thumbnail, trying to find a tactful way to ask the question uppermost in her mind. In the end, she just blurted it out. “Do you still kill people?”

“No, not for a long time.”

“Do you like being a vampire?” Even though she knew that’s what he was, it was still a shock saying the word out loud, knowing it was true.

“What choice do I have? It’s what I am.”

“You weren’t acting like one until just recently. Did Granda’s potion have anything to do with that?”

“Everything.” He sat in the chair beside the sofa, then leaned forward, his elbows braced on his knees. “Whatever was in it kept my vampire tendencies at bay and allowed me to live like a mortal. I tried like hell to recreate it, but like I told you, something’s missing and no one knows what it is.”

“Why did that man, Desmarais, want it? He’s not a vampire.”

“He is now.”

“When did that happen?” she exclaimed.

“A few days ago. Apparently he went looking for a vampire to turn him.”

Her eyes grew wide with disbelief. “Why would anybody do that?”

“I don’t know for sure, of course. I don’t know what effect Paddy’s potion had on Desmarais, but I’m guessing it increased his vigor, made him stronger, maybe slowed the aging process. Without the potion ...” He shrugged. “If you want to stop aging, becoming Nosferatu is the best way to do it.”

Sky shuddered. “I hope you won’t take offense at this, but I can’t imagine why anyone would ever want to become a vampire,” she said, and then frowned. “Did you want to be one?”

“No. The same vampire who turned Desmarais seduced me a few hundred years ago.”

She blinked at him. “A few hundred years ago? How old are you, anyway?”

After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “I’ve been a vampire for 432 years.”