Part 19 (2/2)
And Shelby was a bigger problem than ever. She hadn't seen Revelin Scott, but she had certainly recognized Tux, Eva, and perhaps some of the others. And being abducted was surely not going to sit well with a sheriff. How far could he trust her? He could compel her to forget the past few hours, but if he did, would he ever know how much she trusted him?
Do some thinking about what's really important to you. What did he want? Surely not power. The position of Paramount he had given up in France had been one of both power and prestige. And after the last Patriarch, Evrard Verkist, had been ousted by Drago and Revelin Scott not even two years ago, la directrice had come to Ric and offered him the t.i.tle. It had been his great pleasure to turn her down. Now he wasn't even Overlord to a half dozen country vamps.
He knelt on the floor in front of Shelby. What he had told Scott was the truth-he hadn't felt alive until he had met her. But how was he going to keep her? Would she come with him if he left? Would she give up a career and the only kind of life she had ever known to embark on a whole new lifestyle with a creature that fed on blood and killed with the touch of a hand?
”Wake up, my sweet.”
The words were like pleasant background music to accompany Shelby's journey through the mist.
”Shelby...”
The voice became louder, more insistent, until it sounded right in her ear. Her eyes popped open.
”Welcome back.”
She stared, feeling as weak and groggy as she had the night she had been attacked in the woods. The last clear memory she had was that she thought she was going to die, yet the vision before her could hardly qualify as angelic. Not unless angels nowadays were dressing in black trousers and high leather boots.
Maybe this is a special corner of heaven reserved for female cops. She blinked, and wakefulness pulled her back to earth with a disagreeable jolt.
”Ric.” She glanced around the room. The rain had stopped, and silence framed the empty room. A lamp and end table were overturned, and the fireplace screen lay bent and twisted on its side like a wounded beast. ”What happened to everybody?”
”Gone. It's just us.”
That drew her gaze back to his. ”My G.o.d. Judson Tuxbridge? And Eva Hazard? They're both...” ”...like me, yes.”
”But what happened? This place looks like a battlefield, and you look like the last man standing.”
He smiled, but it was as bleak as the surroundings. ”I guess I am. For now, anyway.” He stood up and extended his hand to her.
”Come on. I'll take you home.”
She looked at the long fingers curled upward like an inverted spider. No matter how good he looked, she couldn't forget the memories of the evening-of being abducted from her house. Of having her will subjugated to that of another being. Of thinking she was going to die at the hands of someone she had given her trust to.
The moment of death was something she had felt only once before in her life, when, during a physical struggle with a suspect, the man had put his hand on her holstered weapon and was attempting to draw it and use it against her. But in that instance she had been able to fight back. Tonight, she had been helpless. A moment of certainty, of inevitability, had held her tightly in its grasp. She saw her whole life in that drop of time, sealed and suspended like a thing over and done with. The moment had hung before her, and while it seemed to stretch into eternity, there hadn't been time for fear or regrets or sadness. But now the moment had pa.s.sed, unfulfilled, and she had time once again for anger and questions.
”No. Not until you tell me what's going on.”
He took a long breath and stared at the fireplace.
She bit at her lip, impatient, but realized with a sudden dawning that conversation with a vampire was like interrogating a suspect. It was an art form unto itself. She had to be patient and persistent and remember that he wasn't intentionally trying to ignore her or avoid her question. She hoped.
Her patience was rewarded. He turned back to her. ”I was stripped.”
She stared at his chest and laughed in spite of herself. ”I should say so.” The pale skin of his lean torso glowed like a marble statue, naked and pure.
A deep stillness seemed to pervade him, but it was more like a vessel emptying than filling. More than ever she was reminded of a sculpture, perfect and cold. The laugh died on her lips.
”I was stripped of my rank. I'm no longer Overlord. And I can't stay here any longer.”
”Stripped? Why? For not killing me?”
”No. For killing the vampire who attacked you in the woods.”
”Which you did to save me.”
He nodded.
”So, let me get this straight. You saved my life not just once, but twice, and as a result you lose everything?”
”Not everything. I was retired 'with grace.' The hierarchy doesn't have a retirement policy. 'Retirement' from an elevated position is normally nothing more than a euphemism for the final journey to h.e.l.l.”
Even with the blanket Ric had draped over her, she suddenly s.h.i.+vered with cold.
”Take me home.”
* * * *Shelby was quiet on the drive home. Thoughts were streaming through her head so fast that if the drive had been five hundred miles instead of five miles she still wouldn't have had enough time to make sense of them all. But one thought kept returning. Ric had saved her life twice, and he had sacrificed himself to do it. No man had ever risked anything for her-not in Milwaukee, and certainly not in Shadow Bay. This man had risked everything.
Ric parked his SUV behind her house and exited the vehicle when she did. He was clearly intending to stay, though whether it was to protect her or simply be with her, she wasn't sure. In any case, she certainly wasn't going to ask him to leave.
A new thought came to her as she reached the front door. She put her back against the door and looked up at him. He was standing close, but his head was up, as if he were an animal testing the wind.
”How do we know it's safe? What if someone's here waiting for us?” she whispered.
He bent his head and his gaze found hers. ”It's safe. I would be able to sense were it not. The Undead give off a very recognizable scent to others of their kind.”
She nodded and turned, unlocking the door. As she stepped into the house, she realized she was questioning fewer and fewer of his statements. ”Ric, remind me never to become too complacent around you.”
”That's something, my sweet, that I don't think you'll ever have to worry about.”
She smiled, but a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her. Now that she was home, the desire for certain creature comforts was all she wanted to concern herself with. Leaving Ric to his own worries, she shrugged out of her clothes without her usual care, leaving them in a pile on the bedroom floor, and started running a hot shower. She stood under the pelting heat and blanked her mind, concentrating instead on the warmth and cleansing power of the water. It sealed her from the world, and for a few moments she was more than happy for the privacy. But she couldn't lock herself away forever any more than she could numb her mind from all the disasters of the past few days.
When she stepped out of the shower, the first cold thought hit her. Ric had said something about leaving. And she didn't remember him saying anything about wanting her to come with him. She pulled on a clean tank top and drawstring pants and sat down on the bed, her legs having little strength left to support her. He came into the room a moment later. As usual, he made no sound, but even with her eyes closed she sensed him.
She felt the mattress dip with his weight, and she opened her eyes. He had changed clothes before leaving his house, and he wore a white T-s.h.i.+rt and black sweatpants. But somewhere between her living room and bedroom he had lost the s.h.i.+rt. He was holding out a sandwich to her.
”You lost some blood. You should eat.”
She smiled. She wasn't particularly hungry, and had she been, his half-naked body was more appealing than what he held in his hand. But she did as he said and ate about two-thirds of the ham and cheese sandwich. When she was done, she stretched out on the bed, and Ric joined her.
”Why, Ric? Of all the men that have come in and out of my life, why you? Why did I have to get involved with a vampire?” There.
It was said. She didn't really expect him to be able to answer such a question, but it made her feel good that she had at least been able to at last voice the words aloud.
He was silent for only a moment. ”Vampires are basically static beings. We don't grow, and we don't age. We're nothing more than reflections of humans. When humans interact with vampires the things they see reflected in us often result in personal disaster.
In change. That's what we feed on-the changes we force the living to make. I never guessed when I met you that you'd be the one to bring disaster to me. To force me to change.”
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