Part 21 (1/2)
11.
F or an instant, terror filled her. It couldn't be...
There had been so many years when she had run, when she had spent her days and nights in hiding. There had been years when she had thought she had managed a real escape. Then she had finally realized that she would never live in peace if she didn't face the truth, and become a hunter. And still, no matter what pretense of confidence and a.s.surance she had cultivated, there had still been the awful and absolute fear, the horror....
She bolted up to a sitting position, all thoughts of exhaustion gone, ready to defend herself. But she wasn't being attacked. Not physically, at least.
Bryan MacAllistair was seated in the huge wing chair that flanked her bed. She had no idea how long he had been there. He could have been there when she entered the room; she had never so much as glanced around.
She hadn't seen him. Worse, she hadn't even sensed his presence!
She fought for control.
Swinging back a lock of hair, she clasped her arms around her knees and stared at him, slowly arching a brow. ”What the h.e.l.l are you doing in my room?”
He smiled grimly and queried, ”What were you doing in mine?”
”Trying to find out who you are,” she said flatly.
He lifted his hands. ”My credentials speak for themselves.”
”Your credentials are bulls.h.i.+t.”
”I beg to differ. I'm not entirely sure about yours, however.”
”My diploma is at my office,” she informed him dryly. ”And I imagine it's completely in order,” he said pleasantly, then stood, walked over and sat on the foot of her bed.
”What were you doing at the hospital?” he demanded.
”I knew the girl,” she said indignantly.
”So you dressed up like the cleaning woman to visit her corpse?”
”What were you doing at the hospital?” she demanded.
”I went to kill a vampire,” he said bluntly.
She swallowed, staring at him. No, gaping. ”You've been listening to your own lectures too long, Professor.”
”Get off it.”
”What?”
”Don't try to turn your psychology on me. You know what's out there.”
”I...” Who the h.e.l.l was he?
”You know that's what the girl has become,” he said. It wasn't a question; it was a statement. ”You know it, and your buddy the cop knows it. How you know it would make an entertaining story, I'm sure, but the truth is, you both know exactly what's going on.”
She let her lashes fall. Then she sighed. ”There has been vampire activity in the area before,” she told him. She felt a chill. She forced herself to think, rather than feel. ”So how do you know the truth of what's going on? Who the h.e.l.l are you? Where did you come across a situation like this before?”
”All over the world,” he said curtly. ”We're dealing with the here and now, though, and that's what matters.”
”I see. So...have you taken it on yourself to rid the world of vampires?” she asked, genuinely curious despite all her suspicions about him.
”I don't think any one person can rid the world of vampires. Like all other creatures, they have an instinct for survival. These days some of them hide as suburban housewives and stockbrokers. But I've been following one in particular.”
”Oh?”
”The creature in Transylvania. The one who took Mary, and is apparently in New Orleans now. The one known as the Master.”
”The Master?” He even knew her enemy's name. ”The Master,” she repeated, then could have slapped herself. She was starting to sound like a parrot. She was unnerved, and she needed to keep it together. Repeating his words would get her nowhere.
And of course the Master was in New Orleans. Had Romania been a tease? Had he known that she would be there? She had felt the evil before she had gone, no matter how hard she had tried to deny it. She knew it now. Knew it every waking moment.
Knew it from the color of the sky.
There had been times when it had almost been possible to believe it was over, that the Master had been killed, that the darkness might never come again. But he had always been out there. And that was why she had to hunt.
But there was no way to explain any of that, especially to a man who needed to be explained himself.”You were going to stake Mary!” she said.
”You bet. She's a creature of the Master's now. There's no choice.”
She stared at him. ”I believe, then, that we're on the same side.”
”Are we?” he asked. ”I don't really know you.”
”And I don't know you.”
”Those kids trusted you,” he said quietly. ”And look what happened to them.”
Dear G.o.d, that hurt. But it was true.
”I knew nothing about that party until I received Jeremy's note,” she said, and that, too, was true. ”What were you doing in the area-without lifting a finger to help?”
He didn't reply but let out a soft groan of exasperation. ”What matters now is this-you should stay out of it,” he told her.
”What?” she demanded.
”I don't know what you know about the Master, but trust me, you're up against something you haven't encountered before.”
”Oh?”
”There have been times through the years when vampire hunters, warriors, even kings, tried to kill him. They all failed. He has learned skills throughout the centuries that allow him to evade those who would stop him, and he's constantly on the move.” He stood suddenly, pacing, and she was stunned by the ardor in his voice. ”I have dedicated my life to finding this creature, to stopping him. There is no greater evil that walks the earth.” He turned to her. ”You need to take a step back. You and your friends. Whatever strength you think you have, whatever you think you know, you are facing a danger with a greater strength than you can begin to imagine.”
She frowned, taken aback by his fury.