Dark Melody: A Vampire Romance (Immortal Legacy Book 1) (7 page)

Nicole

Talking with Alec was a good idea but to do that I’d actually have to find him. I spent over an hour searching the streets of New Orleans, starting with the Dark Wind. Although the other members of Necro were there, Alec wasn’t. Next, I found my way back to the house he’d taken me to in the Garden District. It appeared to be completely deserted.

I should have been waiting for him outside his house when the sun went down.

There was nothing left to do but go back to Ethan’s office or home. Calling the police wasn’t an option. They’d think I was crazy.

Knowing Ethan was in danger, I was too agitated to go home so I headed back to the office.

When I got there, LaRee’s Voodoo Shop was crowded. LaRee’s drew all kinds of people, from tourists to those serious voodoo practitioners. This time of year was especially bad for crowds in the Quarter.

I was happy that we had a separate entrance.

As I made my way around the people that were standing in front of the store, I felt a prickly sensation run up my back. Stopping, I examined the crowd a little closer. No one seemed to be watching me.

Although I tried to shrug it off, the feeling persisted all the way up the stairs. Drawing in a deep breath, I turned to look down the staircase at St. Peter’s Street.

There were too many people on the street to know for sure if one of them was watching me. I could make out the muffled sound of jazz in the distance, but nothing really seemed out of place.

Dismissing the feeling as my overactive imagination, I decided that as long as I was in the office, I should probably look through Ethan’s files. Maybe there would be a clue to who Omar was and where I could find his nest.

If the vampire was as dangerous as everyone thought, I had no doubt Ethan would have been tracking him.

As soon as I turned to face the door, I stopped. A dim glow from the emergency lights crept from the cracked door.

I was positive I’d closed it when I left.

Could Alec be wrong?

Maybe Ethan had already been in and forgot to close the door completely.

Drawing in a deep breath, I pushed the door open a few more inches and peered inside. At first, all I could make out were long legs and a black pair of boots propped on my desk.

Just as I was ready to scramble down the stairs, a voice stopped me. “Don’t leave without saying hello.”

It was Alec’s voice.

Relief washed over me, although I wasn’t sure why. He was a vampire, after all.

I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

“It’s about time you showed up.” There was a critical tone to his voice.

“I’ve been looking for you,” I told him, wondering why I even felt the need to defend myself.

In a blink of an eye, he was standing next to me. “I smell another vampire on you. Who have you been with?”

I opened my mouth to say something, but no words would come out. Actually, I hadn’t even decided if I was going to tell Alec about Dash and what I’d discovered.

Now he was even closer, so close that I had goose bumps.

“Don’t deny it. I can smell him on you.” Alec’s eyes were glowing with hunger.

My heart was racing as I imagined him sinking his fangs into my flesh. To my surprise, the thought was almost erotic. It seemed that whenever I was near him, carnal images slipped into my head.

“I have seen another vampire,” I admitted. “I wanted to talk to him about something.”

“Are you crazy?” he thundered. “Does the word
vampire
not mean anything to you? Humans don’t keep company with vampires.”

Stunned by his outburst, I couldn’t think of a single thing to say in response.

The corners of his mouth dipped into a frown. Before I could stop him, he’d pulled me into his arms. His lips came down on my neck and I felt something akin to a jolt of electricity travel over every inch of my body.

I had to focus!

I had to think about Ethan!

Finally, I gathered enough willpower to pull away. “If I should stay away from vampires, then why are you here?” My voice trembled along with the rest of me.

For a long time, he said nothing and when he did break his silence, he answered my question with one of his own. “What is it about vampires that you find so compelling? It won’t do you any good to deny this. I feel the curiosity that draws you.”

I had no answer to offer. He was right. There was something about the vampire that drew me, but I had no idea what it was.

Was it my morbid curiosity about death?

“You long to lie on a bed of satin, with the grave to blanket your sweet body, but why?” he asked.

When his fangs scraped against my neck, I inhaled sharply. “That’s not true.”

“I can feel it in you. It seeps from every pore. You fear us, not because you fear death, but because you fear immortality. You are afraid of never reaching that final climax that is death.

Alec’s hand found its way into my shirt and beneath my bra and his fingers began squeezing my erect nipples. His touch was painful but arousing.

“Alec.” I moaned.

“What is it about this secret of Omar’s that you are so interested in?” he asked while continuing to caress my breast.

I tried to concentrate on giving him some kind of answer, but all I could think about was the searing need that his touch awakened.

“My only interest is in finding Ethan,” I breathed.

“I know what you really want,” he said, his lips next to my ear. “Let me give it to you. Let me relieve your suffering. It will be like nothing you have ever experienced,” he promised.

I shook my head, maybe a little too forcefully, which was telling. He knew exactly how he made me feel.

I had to focus on something other than having sex with Alec.

I wanted him way too bad. If I let go now, I would be lost. There was no doubt that I would end up as one his feeder. Maybe worse.

Death was interesting and at times, even alluring, but that type of death wasn’t something that held any appeal for me.

“Alec, please. You are not being fair,” I breathed.

“What did you want with that vampire?” he asked. “Maybe you wanted some of this.” Then he was sinking his teeth into my neck.

I barely felt the pain through the shock. Yelping, I jumped away and my hand flew to my neck. I felt something wet and warm where he’d bit me. When I pulled my hand away and saw the crimson against my pale skin, I was almost dizzy with horror.

“How could you do that?” I gasped.

There was laughter dancing in his cold blue eyes. “No need to panic. I barely broke the skin.”

“Does this mean I’m going to -?” I couldn’t even make myself say the word
turn
, in order to finish the sentence.

“No, you are not a vampire, but if I didn’t have the self-control that I do, or if I were another vampire, you would likely be dead now. Is that what you want?” he asked, a harsh note to his voice.

Giving him the evil eye, I shook my head. “This vampire isn’t like that. He’s basically a closet Light Seeker.”

Smirking, Alec cocked his head to one side. “Do you really think that Light Seekers don’t kill? Please tell me you’re not that naive.”

I opened my mouth to come back with something and then realized that I didn’t know what to say. It was something that I hadn’t actually thought about.

“They are killers, the same as I am,” he said. There was a wicked gleam in his eye that drove home his point.

“Either way, he didn’t feed on me,” I shot back.

“But he could have. That’s my point,” Alec growled.

“Why do you care anyway? Remember, I’m just human. Food for the immortal.”

He seemed startled by my question. For a fraction of a moment, I thought I saw confusion in his hard eyes.

I was beginning to think he had no idea himself.

A calm seemed to settle over him and he leaned one shoulder against the wall. “So, tell me about your vampire.”

I hesitated. There was a possibility that Alec wouldn’t believe Dash’s story. Hell, I wasn’t even sure I did. Mostly I didn’t, but it was the only thing I had to go on.

There was no doubt Dash believed what he said, but was it real? I wondered if it were possible for a vampire to be delusional.

If I was going to find out what happened to Ethan, I was going to need all the help I could get, which meant I’d probably have to trust Alec. I explained what Dash told me, and then slipped into silence while I waited for him to respond.

His reaction wasn’t long in coming. Alec’s lips spread into a wide smile. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. This secret is nothing more than myth, and I don’t believe there are other dimensions to reality.”

“Okay then, why don’t you tell me something, Alec? Why do you think vampires are what they are?”

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again.

“Do you think vampires just happened?” I asked.

“We are what we are.” He shrugged.

Shaking my head, I started wagging a finger at him. “That’s a copout and you know it. There’s a reason for everything. Nothing is just chance.”

“Okay then, you tell me. Why are there vampires? What are we?” he asked, his voice dripping sarcasm.

“Maybe you can find out from Omar, whoever he is. I think Dash is right about one thing. Vampires are not cursed creatures. There has to be more to it than that.”

Reaching out, he grabbed my arm and pulled me to him until my head was resting against his chest. “And how would sweet Nicole know what a vampire really is?”

This time, I was the one left speechless. The fact was that I didn’t have the slightest idea of why there were vampires. Before that night in the Lafayette Cemetery, I’d been sure no such thing even existed.

But there had to be a logical reason
why
they existed. The first vampire had to be created somehow.

“Let’s walk and enjoy the night,” he said, taking my hand in his.

I let him lead me out the door without protest.

The throng of people on St. Peter’s Street had dwindled and the night had grown quiet. In the distance, I could hear the laughter of a woman. Somewhere nearby, sirens blared, but these sounds were not uncommon.

Alec led me to an area of the Quarter where the streets were darker. Normally, I wouldn’t have dared walk the streets at night, but I was with Alec. As long as I was with him, I would be safe, from strangers anyway.

As we walked, a comfortable silence fell over us. The silence didn’t bother me. I was still trying to put my thoughts in order and analyze my feelings for Alec. Just being close to him was addictive. The more I was with him, the more I seemed to want him.

“Alec, what about Ethan? Aren’t we going to look for him?” I asked, shattering the calm of the moment.

“In time,” he said, not bothering to elaborate.

I was alarmed by his lack of concern. “But won’t they kill him?”

Suddenly it occurred to me that the reason he wasn’t concerned was because they couldn’t kill Ethan. “
Can
they kill him? I mean, I thought vampires couldn’t die.”

“Yes, vampires can be killed. Anything that lives can also die,” he replied.

“But vampires are not really alive.”

“We are alive, just a different kind of alive. When a vampire turns, their body dies and is reborn to an existence of eternal darkness. Perhaps it is the darkness that dwells in the soul that gives us life.”

“No, I don’t think so,” I said, shaking my head. “If you were reanimated by the darkness of the soul, all vampires would be evil, and I haven’t seen any evidence of that.”

“Don’t let yourself be seduced by that darkness, Nicole,” he warned.

What he was saying didn’t make sense. I knew Ethan was a good man, and there wouldn’t be any convincing me otherwise.

“What about Ethan?” I asked again.

“They won’t kill him, at least not yet.”

Stopping, I turned to face Alec. “But how do you know this?”

“I think they’re using him for bait. This is why Victor went through the trouble of letting me know. I doubt he just happened by while they were taking Ethan. I know Victor and he wouldn’t have bothered with Ethan.”

“So you don’t trust Victor?” I asked.

I didn’t blame him. From the moment I saw the vampire, I knew there was something bad about him.

“Not at all.” Alec shook his head. “They are using Ethan, but I already have a plan in place.”

“Is he as powerful as you … this Victor? He was in that vision with you last night. He was in the bed, touching me. How could he do that without you knowing he was there?”

A shadow dropped over Alec’s features. “He has no manners. If I hadn’t have been so preoccupied, I would have sensed him sooner.”

“Oh,” I muttered. The blood rushed to my face as I remembered the intimacy I’d shared with him the night before.