Vampire Betrayed (Vampires Destined) (2 page)

He captured her arm and drew her closer. “I don’t want to forget about it, Ariana. You question me as if you do not trust me. That concerns me.”

The scent of his skin, its usual comforting combination of spice and leather, didn’t soothe her. “Look, you’re standing right here in front of me. I think I would know if you were some kind of alien. I’ll admit the e-mails do freak me out a little. I mean, it sounds like they know you.”

As she spoke, she felt the urgent need to convince herself, to prove the sender a liar, but one look in Joaquin’s eyes told her she wasn’t going to hear what she wanted to hear.

“I see the fear in your eyes.”

There he went avoiding her question again. “It’s not fear you see. It’s irritation.” Her bravado lasted the space of a second until Joaquin leaned forward and flashed a smile.

She blinked. Was it just her imagination, or had she seen pointed teeth—long, pointed teeth? Her heart dropped to her toes, and she couldn’t find her voice.

“Ariana, you must have known that I am not what I appear to be.” His hand stroked her face. “But we are good together, yes? Why change things simply because I am not the man you thought I was?”

Pulling her arm free, she shrank away from his touch. “If you’re not the man I thought you were, then who are you?” More importantly,
what
was he.

No, she didn’t need an answer. Though the very idea was ludicrous, she already knew what he was. No matter how impossible it sounded, the pieces of the puzzle fit together too neatly to be denied.

The black depths of Joaquin’s eyes seared her, and she barely managed to force the next words past her throat.  “You’re not answering me.”

“Do you really want me to answer the questions, ’ma chérie’?” He sounded so calm, so unaffected.

“I want you to stop lying to me.” The words came out in a staccato fashion.

He turned his hand over to brush his knuckles down her cheek. “I am whatever you want me to be. I can be all things if you will only close your mind to the fear.”

“What are you saying?” Her chest burned, but her feet remained rooted to the floor. She couldn’t move, could barely control the shaking of her limbs.

“Have you ever been with a man who made you feel as alive as I do?” His thumb worried her lower lip.

Heat splashed her cheeks, and she shoved against his chest, hoping to take him by surprise, but it was like pushing against a brick wall. “This isn’t about sex, Joaquin!” She practically screamed the words. “What aren’t you telling me?” Dragging her hands through her hair, she practically pled with him to reassure her, to laugh the e-mails off and tell her they were fake. Then he could take her in his arms, and they could forget any of this had happened.

Instead, Joaquin tipped his head to one side and studied her a long time before replying. “Would my response make a difference in how I make you feel?”

“Of course it will! If you’ve been lying to me all along —”

“That is the second time you have accused me of that particular sin, but I do not lie.”

The abruptness of his tone shook her, made her take a step back so suddenly, her back bumped the wall. “A lie by omission is still a lie, Joaquin, and if you’re not going to be honest with me, you should leave.” She didn’t want him to leave. The idea kicked her in the stomach, but what other option did she have? If Joaquin was hiding a part of himself from her, she would never be able to trust him.

 “You don’t really want me to leave.” His pupils seemed to shrink even further. “Do I not make you feel like a woman when I touch you? Do I not hold you as a man would? Have I not shown you in every way possible how much you mean to me? Do you truly wish to turn your back on that?”

Was it her imagination or had his voice changed, taken on a lethal edge? His hand reached out to touch her hair, and she couldn’t stop him. Didn’t want to stop him.

Shivers skated down her spine as Joaquin pivoted slowly to face the door. “We will talk again later, perhaps when you have had time to think about the time we’ve spent together, how we make each other feel.”

This time, she couldn’t swallow. “We don’t have anything else to talk about.”

“So this is where it ends, then?”

The tight set of his jaw revealed his displeasure, but Ariana faced him bravely. “Unless you tell me the truth right now, yes.”

“I am a vampire. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

The words sent a shard of fear straight to her heart, and for a brief moment, Ariana thought she would faint. This couldn’t be happening. Vampires didn’t exist. Without thinking, she put one hand to her throat.

“Don’t play games, Joaquin.”

“You wanted the truth, and I just gave it to you. Do you now disbelieve me?”

“I don’t think you know the truth.” Hands clenched into fists, she glared at him. “If this is your idea of a joke, I’m not laughing. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I know I don’t want to be a part of it.”

“Do you not believe in vampires?”

Hysterical laughter bubbled up in her throat. “Do you know any sane person that does?”

Joaquin strolled towards the bedroom door. “Those I have converted are now believers.”

Her knees buckling, Ariana sank down onto the edge of the bed. “If that’s true, then why haven’t you converted me? I was an easy target.”

“You still are.” The sultry words splashed ice through her veins. “I did not because I fell in love with you the moment I saw you.”

A sob broke free, but before she could respond, she heard the door open then close just as quickly.

“Damn you, Joaquin. Damn you!” As she shouted at the ceiling, tears tracked down her cheeks.

* * * *

Inwood Hill Park

Manhattan

The night embraced him. Joaquin welcomed the darkness, needing the silence to confront his demons. Images haunted him, forever stamped in his mind.

The lights of Paris glittering over Ariana’s silky blonde hair. Slumberous violet eyes looking up at him as he lay atop her. Travelling the world, covering it from corner to corner, in just a short amount of time. Making love in every city. Every country.

They’d shared much more than just a bed. Their lives had become entwined, neither wanting a day to go by without a touch, a smile, or a kiss. There had been a desperate hunger to spend as much time as possible with one another.

And now, all of that was gone.

Perhaps he should have told Ariana the truth, but he’d known what would happen once he did. He placed his hand over his chest, that spot where his heart used to beat until he was savagely attacked one hundred and seventy-five years ago. He still remembered it as if it had happened yesterday.

Coming from out of the darkness, the vile creature had caught him off guard, but Joaquin took back control days later. After he’d risen, it hadn’t taken him long to track down his sire.

The vampire who had created him never killed another innocent. Joaquin had made sure of that, but it didn’t change what he’d become.

The leaves crunched beneath his feet, a reminder that fall had arrived. The air was crisp and cool, the scents a mixture of pine and just the hint of rain.

“Damn it, Ariana.” He pressed his spine against the gnarled trunk of an old oak and searched through the darkness with night vision an owl would envy. Though he was alone and hundreds of miles away from her, he swore he could smell her perfume, that intoxicating blend of spice and jasmine.

His hands curled into fists, and curses littered the air. He’d broken the rules, allowed himself to get close to a human. That was the warning his sire had given him in a last ditch effort to remain alive. He’d offered advice like a father might. Joaquin had still killed him, but he now understood what the bastard meant.

Interacting with humans was risking the chance of exposure, opening himself up to the possibility of discovery and to vampire hunters, but it was so much more. With Ariana, he’d opened himself up to agonizing pain and a reminder that he didn’t belong in her world.

So he was condemned to spend his life alone.

And this time, he’d remember the warning.

* * * *

Ariana threw her hairbrush across the room and cursed. “Damn it! Why couldn’t you have just been a normal guy?”

“Because you don’t have the ability to recognize the animals.”

The sultry response had Ariana spinning around, wishing she hadn’t launched her hairbrush. It might have come in handy as a weapon.

A tall, voluptuous redhead faced her. Wearing a long white dress that skimmed the floor and accentuated her curves, the woman glided forward without touching the floor. “I can see I’ve surprised you.”

“Who the hell are you, and how did you get in here?”

White teeth gleamed in a bright smile. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Charon.”

“That still doesn’t tell me how you got into my house.” Now on her feet, Ariana backed towards the door. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. I’ll just call the police, and you can explain it to them.”

“Please.” Charon waggled her fingers. “You are not in any danger.”

“Yeah, that’s what my last guest said before I saw his fangs.”

A scarlet-tipped nail tapped at bright pink lips. “Oh, you must mean Joaquin.” Charon waved a finger to and fro. “He’s a cagey one, for sure.” With a sigh, she positioned herself on the edge of Ariana’s bed and crossed her legs, dangling a silver sandal. “I’m so sorry about all of this, Ms. Bautiste.” At Ariana’s gasp, Charon held up one hand. “Please don’t be frightened that I know your name. I’m only here to help.”

“Help what?”

“We’ve been trying to catch Joaquin for years.”

Intrigued, Ariana ventured forward. “We?”

“Forgive me. I tend to forge ahead like everyone knows what I’m talking about.” She gave a cheerful laugh and leaned back against the mattress. “Now, where was I? Oh, yes. The ‘we.’ Well, I’m a part of a guild of vampire hunters.”

Ariana’s breath caught in her throat. “You hunt vampires? And do what with them?”

Charon tipped her head back, causing her copper-coloured hair to fall closer to the bed. Her green eyes blinked slowly. “We have to protect humans. That’s why I knew where to find you. We’ve been watching Joaquin and realized, once he’d starting seeing you, he intended to convert you.”

Though the words made her shiver, Ariana disputed them. “Joaquin would never hurt me.”

“Unfortunately, vampires always show their true colours eventually. I can’t explain why he hasn’t harmed you before now. Who knows why vampires don’t kill? But—” She rose with the grace of a queen. “—I can tell you that Joaquin always kills his...um, how shall I put this delicately? Paramours.”

Heart sinking, Ariana stumbled, the back of her knee connecting with the desk chair. She didn’t want to listen to the woman’s words, didn’t want to believe them. Joaquin wouldn’t kill her. They’d shared something special. Hadn’t they?

“I know you’re probably thinking what you had with Joaquin was special. He has an innate charm which convinces women he would never harm them. In fact, that’s what all his prior victims thought also.” Charon rose and floated forward or maybe Ariana was just seeing things. She wouldn’t be surprised.

“If you’re wondering how I know,” Charon continued the conversation while Ariana tried to keep up, “I tried to talk with them, too, but they wouldn’t listen. I certainly hope you will.”

Ariana couldn’t get past the word ‘victim’. She wasn’t a victim and wouldn’t allow herself to believe that Joaquin would come after her. He’d said he loved her. That had to mean he wouldn’t hurt her...didn’t it? Or had her distrust in him now changed him? Another shiver snaked its way down her spine.

“Ah, I can see the disbelief in your eyes. Now, I know this might be difficult for you to see, but you must look at these photographs.” Charon slipped two pictures into Ariana’s hands. “Take a look at these, and then tell me if you still believe you’re safe.”

The images magnetized her gaze. A grotesque display of bleeding necks and long, golden limbs bent at odd angles, hair matted with blood, which pooled onto the concrete beneath their heads. “Who are they?” Her voice was as rusty as an unused chainsaw.

Charon tucked the pictures back into the folds of her dress, though Ariana had seen no pockets. “The last two women Joaquin slept with.”

“No! Joaquin wouldn’t do that. He isn’t capable of doing that. This has to be some kind of trick!” Her head was spinning. Hadn’t she seen and heard enough for one day...for a lifetime? Her world had begun to tilt like an amusement park ride.

“How do you think he survives? What do you think he does when he leaves you night?”

Closing her eyes, Ariana pressed her palms against her temples, trying to shut out the vivid pictures Charon had waved in front of her face. But the images she saw seemed to take on a life of their own, contorting and twisting in her mind until she saw them everywhere.

A beautiful blonde with an oval face. Joaquin standing over her, his teeth bared, dripping with blood. And then the necklace. She watched him rip it from the woman’s throat before walking away.