Page 12 (1/2)
He aith the night in the lush third-floor bedrooradually sharpening in response to the usual stimulants The silken softness of the satin sheets caressed his naked flesh The plump feather pillow cradled his head The warmth froh the brick chimney in its center The beat of the music from the stereo he&039;d set to turn on at dusk, with the help of an automatic timer, filtered softly fro called "Melloith a sultry rhythm that lived up to the title The electric air freshener spilled the scent of the ocean into the rooradually
All of it designed to comfort him in an existence where there was little comfort He took his pleasures where he could find thes instead of in people He surrounded hi scents and soothing sounds As he cah Not anyainst his, instead of the cool satin Her erotic scent filling hihs of pleasure surrounding hi hith filtered into hian to sharpen And then he went stiff with the sense of eone
He threw back the covers, leapt fro his s to tell where she was But his mind refused to focus His brain screamed for action, and he complied He threw on his clothes and ran downstairs to search the house, already knowing she wasn&039;t there
Netty awaited him at the foot of the stairs "She left you a note," she said, as if reading his thoughts "In the library, on the desk"
He shot a worried glance over her careworn face, and thenin his wake
"Were you here when she left?"
"No I&039;ve been in and out today, did so for her, took care of some bills She was still in bed sleepin&039; last time I checked in"
Damien strode to the desk and snatched up the envelope with his name scrawled on the front He reined he could still smell her scent in the ink, feel the warmth of her hands on the stationery
"Damien" It ritten at the top of the sheet in her slanced over the paper at Netty, and she nodded once, then turned to leave the roo her hands all the way
When the door closed behind her, he read on
I couldn&039;t stay after last night I don&039;t know if I can face you again, with the way I acted I&039; of me to put you in that position, and I don&039;t want you to feel guilty or responsible, no ht happen down the road You&039;ve done nothing but look out for me You&039;re the kindest man I&039;ve ever known, Damien Maybe that&039;s what made me want you
Still, I hope you can understand nohy I need so away for a few days, soetfor me I want to be by myself, and I hope you&039;ll respect that
There was nothing e But as he&039;d read her words, he&039;d felt what lay beneath them Her hurt Hurt he&039;d caused She was asha hi he wanted her to feel!
And so in the lines about going away that rang utterly false in his nore
She hadn&039;t gone anywhere He was sure of it even before Marquand arrived, breathless, agitated, waving a bit of paper in front of hiet out of the house" He said it without prea in "I nored hi to puzzle out the truth hidden in Shannon&039;s lies
"Da to me? Bachman knohere you rest He&039;ll try for you by day as you lie defenseless"
Finally Marquand&039;s accented words penetrated the haze of pain and loss "Impossible No one knohere I rest"
Marquand thrust the sheet of paper into Damien&039;s hands Dalanced down and read the brief note "Bachman, he rests in a hidden rooh the second guest rooh I don&039;t knohere exactly"
There was no signature, and the words were typed No way to judge the handwriting Daaze ed "It&039;s possible"
"I can&039;t believe she would--"
"I can&039;t figure how else the bastard could have come upon this information But worry about that later, Daet yourself another resting place, one well away from this house" Marquand paced the roo the sheet of paper in his hand "How did you co and turned to face Daes left for Bachman at the front desk of his hotel" He tilted his head to one side "Honestly, Dain to use your powers more efficiently It&039;s an elementary matter to use our mental powers to influence the actions of humans I caused the clerk to leave his station for a es Simple"
"If it&039;s so simple, then where the hell is Shannon?"
One of Eric&039;s dark brows quirked upward "I told her to rest until nightfall Mentally It&039;s worked before Only this tione when I woke up"
"Interesting"
"Interesting? It&039;s dangerous"
"It&039;s possible she closed her h I&039;ve rarely seen it happen Then again, she&039;d have no reason to do it, since she has no idea what you are" His gaze sharpened "You didn&039;t take my advice and tell her, did you?"
"Of course I didn&039;t tell her"
Eric shrugged "Then I can only assuered her in so at the man He was so damned calone and I get the feeling she&039;s in danger The only thing we ought to be doing right now is looking for her"
"So, look What&039;s stopping you?"
Damien nodded sharply and reached for the door handle He&039;d begin with the car It would be easier to track down than the woht him up short in the hall When he turned, it was to see Eric with a pained expression on his face as he rolled his eyes, shook his head
"Sit down, Damien Clear your mind Open it, seek her out"
"But if she&039;s closed herself off from ht to sense her presence, feel her surroundings, discern whether she&039;s safe"
Damien shook his head slowly "I&039;m not sure I can do it God, Eric, you don&039;t understand I&039;ve never used this psychic ability Never wanted to" He glanced up as a thought occurred to hih "The Chosen connect le vampire, Damien In case you haven&039;t yet realized it, you are that one for Shannon I ht sense her dimly, especially if she&039;s in peril But for you the knowledge will come much more easily Try, please"
Damien nodded, but doubted it would work He walked back into the living room, lowered hio blank He closed his eyes
"All we need now is Rhiannon with her incense and candles," Eric , just talking to myself Concentrate, Damien Focus your mind on Shannon Put a picture of her in front of your eyes Bring her to life inside you until you can feel her touch, sain, and found it re the way her mouth tasted, its warmth, its depth, its heat He shifted uncoer increased with his every thought
It was incredible, that&039;s what it was It was absolutely incredible No sane person would take any of it seriously, because none of it could possibly be true
But it seeanization known as DPI The Division of Paranoranization, one whose purposes the taxpayers andabout And its sole reason for existence, according to Marquand&039;s notes, was to seek out and destroy vah they claih research Marquand held the organization responsible for s, torture
Of vampires
He claimed his oife--no, mate, that was the term he&039;d used--had been abducted by the ruthless scientists That she&039;d been subjected to horrible experiments just because they knew of her association with him And that hen she was still mortal Before he&039;d transformed her
Stillall over by the ti and replaced the papers in the desk Marquand must be as crazy as Bachman He actually believed himself to be a vampire He actually believed it Shannon wondered if he really even had a wife, or if this beautiful Taination
But Damien believed it, too Hewith the uy co about it, had to stay alert She&039;d left thehow noticeable it was, and she&039;d driven slowly, for a couple of hours, all over town, hoping to attract the notice of the killer Then she proceeded to her office, driving so she could easily be followed
Once inside, with the lights blazing an invitation to all corners, she checked to be sure the gun was loaded and ready And she sat down to wait
The killer, the perfectly human killer, would come for her At least, she hoped he would She couldn&039;t have ht or not at all, and if he did, she&039;d be waiting She&039;d deal with Dauided delusions later Right now, she only wanted to stop a killer, avenge Tawny, and she sensed her ti out
Death was a dark shadow that had been stalking her for a long tiht it felt closer than ever before She could feel its cla out to her
She had to get the bastard tonight
She didn&039;t have to wait long before footsteps sounded on the stairs outside She stood up, lifted the gun, watched the doorknob turn
But it wasn&039;t the killer that quietly walked into her office It was Stephen Bach it squarely and steadily at the left lapel of that gray tweed jacket He ignored it, walked up to her desk and took a seat
"You ready to co to wait until they make you their next victi
"At least I know you&039;re not one of theht under the blazing sun"
"And you were following irl So why&039;d you leave hiet scared?"
"I don&039;t knohat you&039;re talking about"
"I&039; about monsters Shannon Not the kind that lurk under a little kid&039;s bed, but real adultAnimals that feed on fear and death You know about Damien nohat he really is You wouldn&039;t be here if you didn&039;t Hu to him, to any of them We&039;re disposable, here only to fill their twisted cravings" He leaned back in the chair and tugged on his flawless cuff "You&039;re daot out when you did"
"You&039;re crazy if you think I believe any of this"
"Any of what?"
"You knohat That Eric Marquand and Da and you&039;re nuts if you think there is"
"I don&039;t think I know" He tilted his head "So the newcoht it was, but I&039;d never seen hier than any of them Almost had him once Damien, we didn&039;t know about Not until the ot the report on that first body"
She laughed, ignoring the ball of knowledge that thudded into her stomach "You&039;re certifiable"
He leaned closer, his dark eyes intense
"Have you ever seen him in the daytime Shannon? Have you ever seen him eat? Hmm? Is there a mirror anywhere in that entire place?"
"There&039;s food in the house I&039;ve eaten there--"
"But he hasn&039;t"
She shook her head "And his schedule is only to keep up the ie It&039;s a mystique, for the fans That&039;s all"