Night Thief (13 page)

Chapter Fourteen

Marguerite raced ahead, wiping stray tears from her cheeks. It hadn’t worked. Antoine shared the process with her more than once. He drank from his maker, and instantly felt a burning in his belly as his body changed. His eyesight and hearing improved, he thirsted, but not for water, and his strength increased.

Within minutes.

She’d taken Kane’s blood, and other than feeling closer to him than any other person on earth, nothing changed. She failed him.

Maybe his kind couldn’t make others.

Or maybe she just wasn’t worthy.

Either way, their marriage would only bring Kane pain. She would grow old and leave him—die. She had been so full of hope, so certain of her future. It hurt to feel it slipping away. She felt foolish for believing she could become more.

Her body had failed them both.

A sob escaped her, and she urged Candide faster. She didn’t know what to say, or how to tell him. Instead, she’d shut him out of her mind until she could think things through.

But weeping would give her away.

Candide slowed as they neared the stable, and Marguerite sucked in deep breaths, hoping to calm herself. She pulled her horse to a stop and dismounted. Kane arrived as she unsaddled her mare. He jumped to the ground, his features cold and hard.

He stopped her, taking the saddle from her arms. “Why are you hiding? Your mind is closed to me.”

“Sunrise will be here soon.” She called upon her all-too-easy-to-wear mask of charm and offered him a coquettish smile. Picking up a brush to groom Candide, she shrugged. “We needed to return, no?”

Kane rested the saddle on the rack and turned to face her, frowning. “I am not a wealthy duke to be charmed. Less than an hour ago, you gave yourself to me, and took me for your own. Now you lie to me. Why?”

And in that moment, her opportunity presented itself. If he hated her, he would not mourn her when she was gone.

When daylight came, she would leave him while he slept. She stared down at the rose around her finger, her heart breaking inside. She would always be his as long as she lived, but he would remember her as a betrayer long after her light extinguished from this world.

She told herself it was for the best.

That didn’t make it hurt any less.

She placed her hand on her hip. “You offend me with your accusation. Nothing I have said is untrue. If I choose to keep my thoughts my own, that does not mean I am lying.”

He stalked around her like the large jungle cat she now knew dwelled inside of him. The cat she had already pictured herself shifting into. It had been folly to think she could ever become like him.

She’d been a foolish woman in love to believe she could be a Night Walker.

Kane groaned and pulled his hair back from his forehead. “How can I help you if you will not confide in me?”

She took his hand, memorizing how it felt to have his fingers clasp hers like he would never let her go. “I have nothing to confide, Kane.” The first lie was always the hardest. “Nothing.”

…

They walked hand in hand to the
maison
and into Kane’s bedroom. She lay down on the bed. He didn’t join her. Kane lifted a large stone in the floor, exposing a dimly lit passageway underneath. He turned toward her, but his eyes did not shine with mischief the way she had grown accustomed.

“My daylight sleeping quarters are hidden underground. We will be safe there.”

She’d never be able to move the stone herself to leave during the day. Part of her wanted to surrender. When dusk fell the following night, he would understand that her body hadn’t changed. She was still mortal.

And he would pledge to love her anyway. She would age while he remained virile and young. She would pass away and leave him behind. Alone.

Marguerite steeled herself behind the mask of Le Voleur D’or. It was for the best.

“I cannot bear to sleep under the ground.” She reached for his hand. “Please, can we remain here? We can lock the door. There are no windows for the sunlight to enter.”

“If Gerard were to open the door, we would appear dead to him, Rita. He could call a doctor, and soon we would be burned in the sunlight.” He shook his head. “No, we must sleep below. I have a bedchamber there. You will not know you are underground.”

She sighed. “Just for one night then? Let me rest with you in your bed as husband and wife. I will reconcile myself to our new sleeping arrangements, but for tonight…” She lay back onto the bed. “Please, Kane.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, running a finger down her arm. The muscles tensed in his forearms, and she ached to be wrapped safely in his embrace, to hear him assure her that he could fix this.

“I was born into this world to uphold it and protect it.” His voice rumbled, soft and demanding. “There was never a choice for me.” His blue eyes met hers. “I never dreamed I would meet a woman like you, bold, intelligent, and brave enough to give up the sunlight and walk beside me in the darkness.” He bent to kiss her lips and whispered, “I love you, Rita.”

A tear slipped down her cheek before she could stop it. Kane pulled back. “You are crying. Are you in pain?”

“No.” A sob choked her throat. “No pain.” She wiped her tear. “I wish I felt something, but I am still mortal. Nothing has changed.”

He lay down beside her and pulled her into the refuge of his arms. “You are right, nothing has changed. You are still my wife, and I will always love you.”

“It will only hurt you when I am gone, and I do not wish to live the rest of my days telling people you are my son when I am old and gray. This will never work.” She pressed a kiss to the scar over his heart. “I love you too much to stay.”

“That is why you insisted we sleep up here.” The comforting caress on her back ceased. “You were going to leave me.”

“It would be better for both of us.”

He grabbed her arms and pulled her back from his chest. She couldn’t escape his intense stare. “We are one.
You
do not get to choose what would be better for both of
us
.”

Heat smoldered in her belly, pushing past the ache. “And
you
do?”

“That is not what I said.”

Marguerite sat up, doing her best to glare at him, but the corner of his mouth curved up slightly into a crooked grin that made her heart flip.

“I meant that we talk, and
together
we decide what is best. You are not in this world alone anymore.”

Her shoulders sagged, the spit of anger spent. “I was so happy tonight. Being in your arms, making our vows to the moon and stars. My body has let us down.”

Kane leaned forward to steal a kiss, his teeth brushing her lower lip and sending a flush of heat through her. “Your body is perfect. Perhaps I did something wrong. We can try again.”

Try again. Why hadn’t that occurred to her? Marguerite swallowed the lump in her throat. “I would like that.”

“As would I…” He kissed her deeper, his tongue slipping past her lips to caress hers. When he drew back, he cupped her cheek. “We should go below and rest. We can face tomorrow when it comes.”

He lifted her into his arms to carry her to his private bedchamber below. Marguerite kissed his neck and mumbled, “
We
is a wonderful word.”

…

While daylight faded into dusk and the sun dipped below the horizon, Kane’s heart picked up a steady rhythm. His chest rose and fell, and his eyes blinked open. He reached for Rita.

His bed was empty.

He sat up; the scent of blood filled the room, mixed with a stench. He got up from the bed and found her on the floor, with dried blood around her eyes, nose, and ears and her body covered in waste.

“No.” He rushed to her side and lifted her into his arms. No breathing. No heartbeat. “No, no, no!”

Kane raced up into his bedchamber with preternatural speed and laid her body in the porcelain tub. He poured the warm water Gerard left each afternoon into the bath, but Rita remained motionless. Blood-tinged tears slipped down his cheeks and into the water. He’d done this. She was gone because of him. His fault. He never should have been so selfish to attempt to change her.

A rag floated in the water. Grabbing it, he washed her limbs tenderly. “Please, Rita. Please do not leave me.”

But she was already gone, her skin cold, her heart silent.

“Forgive me.” Kane clutched her hand. He shook his head, torment blossoming into righteous anger. He stood, throwing the wet rag across the room. Kane smashed his fist into the wall, cracking the stone. Pain throbbed in his knuckles, and he welcomed the physical ache. He struck the wall again with enough force to break bones in his hand.

“She was my heart, my soul.” Resting his head against the cool, stone wall, he whispered, “In tial.”

In tial
.

Kane rushed to kneel at her side. With a hesitant hand, he stroked her hair back from her forehead. Had he imagined her voice in his mind?

“Rita?”

A beautiful sound caught his ear. Her heart pulsed once more, and she pulled a deep breath into her lungs. Her lashes fluttered and finally, he gazed into her light blue eyes.

His vision blurred. Blinking back tears, he cupped her face and bent to kiss her lips. “Welcome back.”

Rita stared up at him as if seeing him for the first time. Gradually her lips curved into a smile. “I can hear your heart beating.” She pulled herself up to a sitting position. “I do not remember changing, but now I see…everything.”

Grateful that she didn’t seem to remember her mortal death, Kane rested his forehead to hers. “You are not in pain?”

She shook her head and laughter bubbled from her lips. “I think I am changed.”

He lifted her from the tub and carried her to bed. Lying beside her, he pulled her into his arms. “I thought I lost you.”

Her lips caressed the scar over his heart. “Never,
mi amour
.”

He smiled and bent to kiss her lips. “I should be so lucky.”

Epilogue

Through the square panes of glass in the doors, he could see Rita on the balcony overlooking the stable. She tended her roses in the moonlight. Tonight, they planned an evening at the lake.

He’d purchased the property as a refuge for them to share. He could shift into his jaguar spirit animal, and Rita kept the beast from straying too far. In turn, she’d mastered allowing the animal in her spirit to merge with her until she soared above him as a gorgeous white hawk.

A year had passed since they wed together under the stars. He still marveled at the magic in her laughter, and the joy in her smile.

He went out the door and approached her from behind, wrapping his arms around her slim waist. Rita turned in his embrace, and gave him a playful kiss, sliding her fingers into his hair.

He ran his hands up her back. “I have something for you.”

She smiled up at him. “Oh?”

He nodded and slipped one hand into his pocket. He pulled his gold watch free, dangling it in front of her. Rita rolled her eyes and laughed. He couldn’t resist tasting her lips.

Kane’s gaze locked on hers. “You are still my Le Voleur D’or.”

Rita grinned up at him with a sparkle in her eyes. “I did
not
steal your watch.”

“No.” He closed the distance between them, his lips caressing hers. “You stole my heart.”

Acknowledgments

I had so much fun writing this novella. Thanks to Liz Pelletier and Heather Howland for giving me the opportunity to bring Night Walkers into the world. And I also need to thank the entire team at Entangled Publishing. I’m so proud to be a part of the family.

Special thanks to KL Grady for the guidance with this story. I loved working with you. And I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Theresa Cole for helping me polish this one on such a tight deadline. You are the bomb! I’m so lucky to work with you!

Thanks to my son, Reno, for giving me a reason to visit Paris and tour Notre Dame. Hearing you sing in that cathedral was one of the coolest moments of my life.

Thanks to Panda, Ken, Sarah, and Kinley who all read this one for me, sometimes more than once. You rock!

And to Mary Leo, I just want to say, “Wow. That was a powerful fist bump!”

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