Everlasting Kiss (26 page)

“Good-bye, Daisy.” Leaning down, he kissed the tear away, then brushed her lips with his. “God bless you.”

Odd words coming from a vampire, Daisy thought. But before she could remark on it, before she could ask him to stay, he was gone.

Rhys stood over what was left of Mariah. He felt neither regret nor remorse for what he had done. She had brought it on herself, the ungrateful traitor.

Thunder rolled across the skies and he lifted his face to the storm, wondering, as he did from time to time, what his ultimate fate would be. He had never professed to believe in either heaven or hell, but if there was an afterlife, he supposed he was bound for hell. At least he wouldn’t be alone.

Rhys grunted softly. He’d have a few friends there in the pit with him, and a lot of enemies, he thought, looking at Mariah’s remains. He wondered if his old buddy ever thought about where they would spend eternity. Of course, Erik had other things on his mind just now.

Rhys smiled faintly. She was a pretty little thing, Erik’s Daisy. And head over heels in love with a vampire. He wondered if she realized what living with a vampire would mean. Delacourt was a decent guy, but he was still a vampire, with a vampire’s needs. Had Daisy considered what would happen in thirty or forty years, given any thought to how she would feel when Erik was still young and virile and she was an old woman? She didn’t have to age, of course. She could surrender to the Dark Gift, give up her humanity, her family, any hope she had of bearing children.

There was a reason why few vampires became vampires by choice. As exciting as it was to be Nosferatu, there was a heavy price to pay. You could live forever, but those you loved would wither and die. Food became a distant memory. The moon became your sun. Humanity became your enemy.

He glanced at Mariah’s remains again, bemused by his maudlin thoughts. She had betrayed him and she had paid the requisite price for her treachery. Tomorrow, the sun would take care of what little was left.

A thought took him to the flat roof of La Morte Rouge. Standing there, he looked out over the city, the undisputed master of all he surveyed.

He turned as he sensed a presence behind him. “Erik. What brings you here? I thought you’d be curled up with that pretty little flower.”

“I thought so, too,” Erik replied. “But who would know better than you that life rarely turns out the way we plan.”

“Indeed. So what happened?”

“Nothing. I just decided to let her go.”

“How very noble of you,” Rhys muttered. “What brought that on?”

“A lot of things.” It was more than just the doubts her father had planted in her mind. He couldn’t help thinking that circumstances more than anything else had brought them together. There was nothing like danger to intensify emotions. Maybe Daisy truly loved him. Maybe what she felt was nothing but affection multiplied by gratitude because he had saved her life. Of course, he had put her in danger, too. But mainly, he had decided to let her go because he loved her. She deserved far more from life than he would ever be able to give her.

“Erik?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Rhys nodded. “Fair enough. I’ve found fresh blood and a new woman to be a remarkable cure for most of life’s problems.” Lifting his head, he sniffed the wind. “I smell prey nearby.” He slapped Erik on the shoulder. “What say you, Lord Erik? Shall we hunt?”

Erik glared at Rhys. Lord Erik, indeed. How many years had it been since that title had been his? He wondered what had become of the land that had once belonged to his family. Was it still in Delacourt hands, or had others laid claim to his family’s birthright? And what the hell did he care?

Feeling the weight of Costain’s gaze, Erik faced his old friend. “Fresh blood,” he murmured. “Let’s hunt.”

She wouldn’t cry. Daisy sat by the living room window, staring out into the darkness. Erik was out there somewhere. If she homed in on the link they shared, would she be able to read his thoughts, or had he erected a barrier between them? The last time he had tried that, he had failed, but he had been hurting then, weak from pain and hunger.

He had left her with nothing more than a quick kiss and a hasty good-bye. Left her flat because he had listened in on her conversation with her father. She tried to summon some measure of anger, but she couldn’t. All she felt was a sense of overwhelming weariness and loss. She thought she might feel better if she cried, but she didn’t seem to have any tears. Just emptiness.

She stared up at the painting over the fireplace, remembering how thrilled she had been when Erik gave it to her. At least she had something to remember him by.

After turning out the lights downstairs, she went up to her bedroom. She undressed, brushed her teeth, combed out her hair, then crawled into bed, only to lie staring up at the ceiling, while a little voice inside her head kept repeating, “He’s gone. He’s gone. He’s gone…”

She told herself it didn’t matter. He was a vampire, after all. Human, but not human. Real, but not real. Alive, but not alive.

“Why would you want him anyway?” queried her conscience. “What kind of life could the two of you have? Even though he saved Alex’s life, your parents will never really accept him. He can’t give you children. You can’t grow old together. You’re so different. You’ll never be equal, you’ll never truly understand him. It’s like you’re Lois Lane and he’s Clark Kent. His supernatural powers will always overshadow your humanity.”

All true,
Daisy admitted.
And you haven’t even mentioned the worst part. I’ll grow old and wrinkled and one day, I’ll die. And he won’t.

“I didn’t want to bring up the obvious,” her conscience said.

A single tear leaked out of Daisy’s eye and slid down her cheek. When she reached up to wipe it away, she remembered how Erik had kissed her tear from her cheek before he left her.

That memory, that last tender act of affection, unlocked the floodgates and unleashed the tears she had been holding back.

Sobbing now, she turned onto her side and wept.

Erik paused in the act of calling his prey to him as his mind filled with images of Daisy. She was lying in bed, crying, because of him.

“What’s wrong?” Rhys also paused, his eyes narrowed as he lifted his head to sniff the wind.

Erik shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Uh-huh.” Rhys turned his attention back to the women he and Erik had chosen as prey. Wrapping his arm around the waist of the taller woman, he lifted her hair away from her neck and sniffed her skin.

Erik blew out a sigh as he glanced at the second woman. She stood unmoving, her brow furrowed. Muttering an oath, Erik exerted his will and she walked toward him, her face wiped clean of expression.

Rhys smiled knowingly. “You’ll feel better after you’ve eaten,” he promised, and drawing the woman into his embrace, he bent his head to her throat.

Erik stared at the woman standing in front of him. She was plump and pretty, with curly blond hair and vivid green eyes. Probably a nice girl. But she wasn’t Daisy. And although the woman’s blood called to him, he found no pleasure in taking it. It was sustenance, nothing more. It was like craving champagne and settling for beer. It quenched his thirst, but that was all.

Pulling her roughly into his embrace, he drank quickly and released her from his thrall, then watched as she walked away, weaving slightly.

Rhys shook his head; then, with an aggrieved sigh, he sent his prey away.

Erik shoved his hands in his pants pockets. “What are you looking at me like that for?”

“I should have known you wouldn’t take it all.”

“Yeah? Well, I’m surprised you didn’t.”

“Yeah? Well…oh, forget it. Let’s get out of here.”

Erik fell into step beside Rhys. “Any idea why Mariah wanted your head?”

“Sure. She wanted to be Master of the City.”

“You’re kidding! She never could have pulled it off. She wasn’t strong enough.”

“Or smart enough.” Rhys turned his gaze on Erik. “In case she gave you any ideas, just remember that I’m older and—”

“Wiser and stronger,” Erik finished, grinning.

“And don’t you forget it.”

Erik grunted softly. “As if you’d let me.”

Side by side, they wandered the city’s dark streets. Erik didn’t know where Costain’s thoughts lay, but his own thoughts were lodged in a small white house with yellow trim where a precious flower shed tears over a soulless monster.

It was midmorning before Daisy found the energy to get out of bed. As she stepped into the shower, memories of the past week splashed over her like drops of water.

The night after Mariah had been destroyed, Rhys had shown up with a diamond necklace and a bouquet of flowers for Daisy, and a bank draft for two hundred thousand dollars made out to Alex. The Master of the City had made no mention of Erik, and as much as she had wanted to, Daisy hadn’t been able to bring herself to ask about him.

After Rhys left, Alex had insisted on taking Daisy out to dinner at the most expensive restaurant in town, even though Daisy hadn’t felt much like celebrating. How could she, when her heart was breaking?

The next day, Alex had surprised her by taking her to the bank, where he deposited a hundred thousand dollars into her savings account.

“You can take a long vacation now,” he had said with a wink. “I know that’s what I’m going to do. Why don’t you come with me?”

But Daisy wasn’t in the mood for a vacation. She just wanted to be alone. As though sensing that, Alex decided to go back to Boston and spend some time with their parents.

Daisy had agreed that was probably a good idea. No doubt the folks were feeling pretty lonely, with just the two of them rattling around that big old house. Alex had left for home the next day.

Daisy sighed as she stepped out of the shower. Her house had been feeling pretty empty ever since Alex left.

After slipping into her favorite sweats, she tied her hair back into a ponytail, brushed her teeth, and then went downstairs.

She hadn’t been functioning very well since their encounter with Mariah. Every time she thought she had shed her last tear over Erik, a new flood arrived. At night, her dreams were plagued by nightmares, fragmented dreams that quickly shifted from one hazy scene to another, dreams that made no sense, even while she was asleep.

Last night had been the worst of all. Her nightmares had been peopled with monsters—a ravening ghoul preying on baby dolls with painted faces had transformed into a huge black bat devouring a lamb. The bat had metamorphosed into a big black wolf stalking a rabbit. Lastly, the creature had turned into a red-eyed vampire draining a young girl with russet-colored hair and green eyes….

Daisy paused in the act of opening the refrigerator. How could she have been so blind? Of course the monsters in her nightmares represented Erik, her unconscious fear of what he was. She, of course, had been the prey in each scenario, helpless to save herself from the ravening beast.

She pulled a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and poured herself a glass, then dropped two slices of bread into the toaster.

“You’re better off without him,” she muttered. If only she could make herself believe it.

After buttering the toast, she put it on a plate, then sat down at the kitchen table, the toast forgotten. Maybe it was time to move back to Boston. As much as she loved living on her own in LA, she felt a sudden need to be with her family.

She gave herself permission to spend the rest of the day grieving for what might have been. She relived every memory, recalled every word Erik had spoken, wept for the love they had shared, and then wrapped up all the memories and locked them away in the back of her mind. Later, she took down the painting he had given her, wrapped it in plastic, and stowed it in the back of her closet. From now on, she would concentrate on the future and forget about the past.

Tomorrow, she would call a real estate agent and put the house up for sale.

The decision brought with it a sense of peace. She would go home and lick her wounds. Thanks to Alex’s generosity, she could take a long vacation. Maybe she would look for a new line of work. One thing was for certain. She, Daisy Louise O’Donnell, had had her fill of vampires.

Damon stood outside the woman’s house for the second time in as many nights, his anger growing with every moment. From time to time, she passed in front of one of the windows. He stared at her, imprinting her features on his mind. She was a pretty woman, but he was blind to her physical beauty. He saw only a puny mortal who was partly responsible for killing the woman he loved.

He cursed softly. Had Mariah been honest with him, had she taken him into her confidence about what she had planned, she would still be alive. But she had always treated him like he was still a punk kid, forcing him to sneak around, trailing after her like some pathetic creature who couldn’t be trusted, leaving him to watch from the shadows while she put her plan into action, just as he had stood in the shadows and watched this mortal female and her brother betray Mariah into the hands of the Master of the City.

Damon expelled a deep breath. He knew what he was doing was dangerous, knew that should he be caught, he would be destroyed, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered now but avenging Mariah’s death. How she would laugh at that, Damon thought bitterly. A muscle clenched in his jaw. Perhaps if he had been more assertive, she would have treated him with respect. But it was too late to think about that now.

Damon closed his eyes, remembering how he had followed her that last night. Hands clenched into tight fists, he had watched her walk into a trap. As much as he had loved Mariah, his sense of self-preservation had kept him from going to her aid. Not that he could have stood against the Master of the City. Rhys Costain’s fury was something Damon hoped never to see again. Mariah had been powerless against the older vampire.

Damon grinned into the darkness. He might not be able to best Costain in a fight, but he was strong enough to execute Costain’s two mortal accomplices. It wouldn’t bring Mariah back, Damon mused as he crossed the street toward the woman’s house, but it would do wonders for his self-esteem.

Daisy was getting ready for bed when the doorbell rang. She knew it wasn’t Erik, told herself she didn’t want it to be Erik, but she couldn’t suppress the rush of anticipation that swelled in her breast as she slipped into her bathrobe, then hurried down the stairs to answer the door.

Even though she hadn’t really been expecting Erik, she couldn’t stifle her disappointment when she saw the young man standing on the other side of the door. “Can I help you?”

“I hope so.” He gestured at his oil-stained jeans. “My car broke down and my cell phone’s dead, and…” His eyelids fluttered down and he swayed unsteadily on his feet.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes, ma’am, it’s just that…” He braced one hand on the door frame. “I lost someone I loved recently, and I haven’t felt much like eating the last few days.”

“I know how you feel,” Daisy said. “My brother passed away not long ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, ma’am. I hate to ask this, but could I use your phone?”

“Sure, just let me get it.” Drawing her robe around her, Daisy went into the living room to retrieve her phone. When she returned, the young man was sprawled facedown on the porch.

Kneeling beside him, Daisy rolled him onto his back, then shook his shoulder lightly. “Don’t move,” she said. “I’m gonna call 911.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I’ll be fine if I could just have a glass of water.”

Daisy bit down on her lower lip. She was alone in the house. He was a stranger. But he was just a skinny kid, not more than sixteen or seventeen. She couldn’t just leave him lying out here on the porch. Besides, she had a Crocodile Dundee–sized knife in her kit. And with that in mind, she helped him to his feet.

“Why don’t you come in for a minute, until you feel better,” she suggested.

“Are you sure it won’t be too much trouble?”

“Of course not.” Slipping her arm around his waist, Daisy helped him inside.

She knew she had made a terrible mistake the minute they crossed the threshold, when the seemingly innocuous young man flung her across the floor. She cried out as the back of her head slammed against the wall.

She stared up at him, mute, her eyes widening with horror when his lips drew back, revealing his fangs.
Never show fear.
How often had her father drummed that warning into her head? Unfortunately, her courage seemed to have deserted her and all she could think was that she was going to die, and she would never see Erik again.

She cried out when the vampire grabbed her by the throat and jerked her to her feet. “Why?” she asked, gasping for breath. “At least…tell me why.”

“You were there when Costain took her life. Now I’m going to take yours.”

Daisy looked into his eyes and knew it was pointless to ask for mercy. She tried to speak, tried to rescind her invitation, but fear trapped the words in her throat. Knowing it was useless, she struggled to free herself, but her hands and feet were puny weapons against the strength of a vampire.

She was going to die. She gasped for breath as his hand tightened around her throat, and then he was bending over her, brushing her hair away from her neck.

A choked cry of pain rose in her throat as he buried his fangs in her neck. Erik’s bite had been sensual, pleasurable. This bite brought only pain and fear. Darkness ate away at the edges of her vision. The frantic beat of her heart echoed loudly in her ears and then, gradually, slowed. The strength went out of her limbs.

Whispering Erik’s name, she fell into blackness.

Rhys leaned one elbow on the bar as he regarded the man beside him. And then he shook his head. “You look like one of the walking dead,” he muttered.

“Very funny,” Erik replied sourly.

“Come on, snap out of it. The world is filled with young, beautiful women, and they’re all ours for the taking.”

“They aren’t her.”

Rhys muttered a pithy oath. “They’re all the same in the dark.”

“You’ve turned cynical in your old age, haven’t you?”

Rhys grunted softly. “It never works out, you know that. You love them for twenty or thirty years and then they die on you, and what have you got left? Memories and a broken heart.” He shook his head. “I learned my lesson the first time around.”

“Are you ever sorry you killed her?”

Rhys blew out a sigh that seemed to come from the very depths of his being. “Every damn day.”

Erik had never felt sorry for Rhys Costain. The man was diamond hard and bulldog tough. If Rhys had ever had any qualms about being a vampire, ever entertained any doubts, he had never given a hint of it, at least in Erik’s presence. Erik had long suspected that killing Josette was a wound that had never healed. Now, seeing the pain in Costain’s eyes, he knew he had been right.

“You should go back to your little mortal,” Rhys said quietly.

“I thought you said such relationships never work.”

Rhys lifted one shoulder and let it fall in a negligent shrug. “There’s a first time for everything. Who knows? Maybe you’ll break the mold.”

Erik shook his head. “I can’t.”

“Why the hell not? You’ve been pining away for her for days.”

“I’m afraid…” Erik blew out a breath. “The more I’m with her, the more I want her.”

“You’re afraid you’ll bring her across.”

“Exactly. And she’ll hate me for it.”

“Did you ever talk about it?”

“She doesn’t want me. She made me promise I wouldn’t turn her against her will.”

“So make her think it’s what she wants.”

“I won’t do that. I can’t do that.”

“My love is dead. You’ve abandoned yours. What do you say we go find ourselves a couple of good-looking babes and drink until we can’t drink any more?”

Erik snorted softly. “That’s your answer for everything, isn’t it?”

“What else is there?”

He had a point, Erik thought. If he’d been a mortal man, he would have drowned his sorrows in a bottle of booze, but, since he was a vampire, that wasn’t an option.

He was about to accede to Costain’s wishes when a terrified shriek broke through the barrier Erik had erected between himself and Daisy.

Spurred by a soul-deep fear such as he had never known, he left the club, streaking with preternatural speed across town toward a little white house with yellow trim, and praying he wasn’t too late.

Erik burst into Daisy’s house, the scent of human blood almost overpowering the scent of vampire. Erik’s fangs lengthened in response to the threat as he crossed the threshold.

The sight that met his eyes brought him up short. For a moment, he could only stare at the scene before him. Daisy lay on the floor, her face ashen. Damon hovered over her like a bird of prey. He sprang to his feet when Erik entered the room, his hands curled into claws, his fangs dripping blood.

“What have you done?” Erik demanded, the words little more than a snarl. He didn’t wait for an answer. In the space of a heartbeat, he was on the other vampire.

Under ordinary circumstances, he would have taken Damon down without much effort. But Damon was high on the blood he had just consumed. Daisy’s blood. With a hiss, Damon twisted out of Erik’s grasp.

Fangs bared, they came together in a rush. Damon let out a howl as Erik sank his fangs into his shoulder and ripped off a hunk of flesh. Blood sprayed from the wound. Fighting for his life, Damon found the strength to break Erik’s hold. He retreated a moment and then, with a wild cry, he lunged at Erik.

Erik stood his ground. At the last moment, he sidestepped and as Damon’s momentum carried him forward, Erik grabbed him around the throat. A sharp twist broke Damon’s neck; a stick of wood plucked from the fireplace assured that the other vampire wouldn’t rise again.

“Daisy!” Crying her name, Erik dropped to the floor beside her. Lifting her into his arms, he cradled her against his chest. She was dying, her heartbeat slow and irregular, so faint he could scarcely hear it. Her skin was cool beneath his fingertips. “Daisy. Dammit, don’t do this!”

“Erik?” Her eyelids fluttered open. “Erik, are you there?”

“I’m here.”

“Are you holding me?”

“As close as I can.”

“I love you,” she murmured. “I never stopped.”

“Let me bring you across before it’s too late.”

“No…”

She didn’t want to be a vampire.

She didn’t want to die.

She didn’t want to leave Erik, but she couldn’t endure the pain that burned through her any longer. With each labored breath she took, the world around her grew darker. In the distance, a faint light grew bright, brighter, beckoning her. Indistinct shadows moved beyond the light.