Embrace the Darkness (Darkness Series) (18 page)

****

Nicolas returned Amber to Lifeblood as quickly as he’d transported her to his hidden cabin. Her head spun. Her body swayed. Nicolas held her close, supporting her weight until she regained her equilibrium.

Blinking to clear her vision, she came face to face with her reflection. Wide, frightened eyes stared back from a long mirror over a row of sinks. She took a shuddering breath, filling her nostrils with the scent of disinfectants and ammonia.

“If this is the ladies’ room, you better hope no one walks in,” she said with a catch in her throat. She met his eyes in the mirror.

He smiled. “We’re alone—and back at Lifeblood. But I had to transport you to the ladies’ room to escape notice. It’s midnight. Shift change for the security guards. I couldn’t risk the parking lot—too many people.”

She nodded, unable to speak. She’d been to some cabin near Mount Mitchel and back in just over an hour.
Un-freaking-believable
.

In the mirror, Nicolas’ dark eyes shone with concern.

“I see your reflection,” she said in a choked whisper.
Just like I saw Gerard’s in the glass of my kitchen table.

“I thought it would be less disconcerting. One advantage of being a vampire is the ability to alter perceptions, although few of us have mastered the trick. Vampires don’t normally cast a reflection because legend says we can’t. But I know the truth. We are real so we have a reflection. And believing makes it so.”

“I see.” No…the hell she didn’t. She was as confused as ever. Gerard had filled her head with information on vampires and she still didn’t understand.

“Do you trust Gerard?” Nicolas asked, as if reading her mind.

She turned to face him. “I’m not sure. I want to.”

He nodded again. “I don’t know Gerard, but he’s in the parking lot now, and his mind is all but screaming with frustration and fear.”

A thrill shivered over Amber’s skin. “He’s here?”

“He’s waiting by your car, but I think you should avoid him. I think you should avoid
all
vampires. So, let me take you home. You can come back for your car tomorrow.”

“I…” Did she want to see Gerard when she was so confused? He’d only muddle her thoughts more. Not that Nicolas was helping. He knew more than he was telling, but she wasn’t thinking clearly enough to figure it out. She couldn’t even think of coherent questions to prod him into talking.

“I don’t think he’s a threat,” Nicolas said with a grudging sigh. “But he’s still a vampire. You know how I feel about that.”

Nicolas was playing head games—telling partial truths—keeping his damn secrets. She still wasn’t sure if her memories were real or implanted.

“Maybe I
should
talk to Gerard.” Regardless of her confusion, she trusted him more than she trusted Nicolas.

Nicolas gripped her shoulders, staring into her eyes. Her heart fluttered. There was a connection here too. She shared some sort of link with this man. Was it because he’d known her parents? Or was it something more?

If only he’d be honest with her—if only she could trust him…

“There’s much you don’t know, Amber,” he said softly. “And I’m hesitant to tell you for fear of endangering your life further. My best advice is to go to Florida. Spend time with your father. Get to know your step sister.”

Seriously? He expected her to walk away from a murder investigation so she could get to know a fifteen-year-old drama queen?

“I told you, I have a job to do. I don’t have time for a family reunion.” Especially not with a family who didn’t consider her a member.

“Then just go to Florida. Or take a cruise. There aren’t many vampires in Florida or on cruise ships. Too much sunshine. But mountains block the sun. So do tall buildings. So get out of the mountains and avoid big cities. Avoid vampires. Don’t investigate them.”

She didn’t have a choice. Mounting evidence pointed to vampires. She was aware of the dangers of such a probe—not just to her professional reputation for investigating mythical creatures, but to her health. If she wasn't careful, she'd attract the wrong vampire's attention and end up like her mother—or Andrew.

Nicolas’ warning echoed in her head.
“There’s much you don’t know, Amber. And I’m hesitant to tell you for fear of endangering your life further.”

“What could endanger my life more than knowing about vampires?” she asked, looking directly into his eyes.

“Isn’t that enough?” he asked with a sad smile.

And then he was…gone.

****

Gerard sensed her before he saw her crossing the parking lot to her car. He met her halfway, shoving her pocketbook into her arms as he pulled her into a bear hug. She hesitated for only a second before wrapping one arm around his waist. Then, she stepped back to sling her bag over her shoulder. Their gazes locked. Held. A shiver of apprehension shook him to the core.

“Where were you?”

“Cedar Plank. Nicolas—the vampire who keeps saving me from other vampires—rescued me again. Another vampire attacked as I was coming out of Lifeblood. Nicolas chased him off and then he took me to his cabin.”

Fear sucked the blood from his veins like a starving vampire. Cedar Plank was almost a two-hour drive by car. How had she gotten there and back so quickly? And why had Nicolas saved her? Again. What was his connection?

Despair settled dark and heavy in his gut. He should have been able to get to Amber before Nicolas. Unless Nicolas was stalking her.

“Get in the car,” he said, his tone harsher than intended. When Amber started to protest, he gentled his voice. “Please. We can’t have this conversation here.”

She dug her keys from her purse and pressed the button to unlock the doors. Gerard climbed into the passenger side. Amber remained silent until she pulled onto the highway.

“Buckle up,” she said.

Gerard smiled faintly but obliged. Then he took a deep breath and turned to face her. “How did you get to Cedar Plank and back again so quickly?”

Mortals couldn’t travel at vampire speed. It wasn’t possible.

Amber’s next words proved him wrong. “I took the Vampire Express.”

His heart skipped a beat. “You couldn’t—”

“I did.” She spared him a brief glance and then turned her attention back to the road. “Nicolas held me close and dragged me along as he rushed through the trees and over the mountains as fast as a freight train. It was very disorienting.”

Gerard stared at her profile. His heart thumped against his ribs. “You couldn’t survive travelling with a vampire. You’re mortal.”

But another possibility would explain it—a possibility he wanted desperately to deny.

“Well, I did survive,” she argued. “So, I guess it
is
possible.”

Fear gnawed deeper. “It isn’t
humanly
possible. The gravitational force would crush your lungs. Even if you survived, once you arrived at your destination, you’d get the bends, much the same way a diver does when rising too quickly to the surface. And yet, here you are. Alive
and
well.”

“So? What does that prove?” She tried sounding tough, but anxiety tinged her voice and shone in her eyes.

A shiver chilled his skin. “You won’t like the answer.”

****

Amber climbed out of the car before Gerard could come around to open her door. In the army, soldiers didn’t open car doors for other soldiers. Neither did cops. And working in a male-dominated field, she didn’t expect chivalry. She wanted equality. But Gerard was old fashioned. And damn it, she kind of liked that about him.

He placed his hand on the small of her back and walked her to the door. Her heart hammered against her ribs with each step.

Awareness heightened her senses. She felt her blood heating her skin. Smelled the spicy scent of Gerard’s cologne mingled with fear. Sweat beaded her brow. Her hands shook.

Fumbling with the key, she somehow managed to insert it into the lock and push open the door. A blast of air-conditioning soothed her hot cheeks—but not her nerves. She trembled like a junky in desperate need of a fix.

As she crossed the threshold into the living room, she ripped off her blazer and tossed it toward the sofa. It landed on the seat cushion, one sleeve dangling over the side to touch the floor. She dropped her purse on the desk and unstrapped her gun, placing it next to her purse. In a daze, she moved to the sofa and dropped down beside her blazer.

Gerard picked up her jacket, smoothing out the wrinkles before neatly folding it over the back of the sofa. He sat beside her, angling his legs toward hers. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It didn’t do a damn bit of good.

I need my pills!

“Tell me about your father.” His voice cut through the fog clouding her thoughts.

Her heart thumped against her ribs. She didn’t like talking about her family. There were too many painful memories. Too many unanswered questions. “There’s not much to tell. He was a marine. I joined the army. He didn’t like it. We argued a lot and when he retired, he moved to Florida and remarried. His stepdaughter is fifteen and very obedient. I never was.”

His eyes shone with sympathy. “And your mother?”

“You know how she died.” Pain tightened her throat. She hadn’t just died. She’d been brutally murdered. And recalling the details was like losing her all over again.

“I know how she died,” he said softly. “But what was she like? How did she meet your father?”

A smile touched her heart and her lips. “They were high-school sweethearts. I think they broke up when my dad joined the marines, but then Mom found out she was pregnant. When Dad came home on leave, they got married.” And she was born two months later.

“How does Nicolas figure into it?”

She knew nothing more than what Nicolas had told her—and she wasn’t sure she could trust him. “He said he knew my dad when he was still mortal. Apparently, they grew up together.”

“Then he’s not an ancient.”

She explained about Surratt, fighting the sadness and fear that filled her with rage when she recalled her mother’s death.

Gerard frowned, as seemingly confused by Nicolas’ motives as she was. “But he’s been watching over you since you were a child. Why?”

Her throat closed. Nicolas
had
saved her. On more than one occasion—but had he also betrayed her?

“Tell me everything he said,” Gerard softly commanded, the compassion in his voice prompting her to obey.

She told him what she remembered and what Nicolas had told her. “Nicolas didn’t erase my memory this time. So, his agreement with Surratt is null and void. Surratt could come after me again.”

A shiver snaked down her spine. Memories tormented her. Had it not been for Gerard, she would have wished to forget vampires existed.

Gerard took her hands in his, staring intently into her eyes. “You have me to protect you now. I won’t let Surratt hurt you.”

“How? It’s not like you can catch him in his coffin and drive a stake through his heart. When he sleeps, you sleep. And ancient vampires are harder to kill. Aren’t they?”

“They’re stronger and faster, but the brain and heart are just as vulnerable. Destroy either organ and you destroy the vampire—even if he’s awake.”

“Might need those silver bullets after all,” she mumbled. In case her hand wasn’t steady enough to aim accurately, she could just keep shooting until the vampire stopped twitching.

She didn’t tell Gerard her mother had spoken to Colonel Timmons all those years ago. Despite their growing intimacy, she wasn’t sure she could trust him either. But Lord help her, she couldn’t resist him. She wished she could blame it on glamour, but she was terribly afraid it was something else. Something more human and less easily explained than lust.

Gerard’s eyes grew distant, his voice contemplative. “How was Nicolas able to shield you from the physical pressure exerted on the body when traveling at vampire speed?” A note of concern crept into his voice. “There has to be an explanation.”

“Why does there have to be an explanation? There’s no explanation for vampires.” Maybe it was the cop in her, but she didn’t like the unexplained. Then again, some mysteries were best left unsolved
.

Gerard searched her face, as if looking for the answer in her eyes. “There’s but one explanation and it doesn’t make sense either.”

Irritation prickled her skin. “If it doesn’t make sense then it can’t very well be the answer, now can it?”

She sounded like a shrew but she somehow sensed what he was feeling and it scared the hell out of her.

Pulling away, she stood and put space between them so she could clear her head.

“You know,” he whispered, his voice riddled with the terror she saw in his eyes. “Or you suspect.”

“Know what?” Some secret knowledge tapped at the back of her brain. She didn’t want to open that door and look inside. But she knew, deep in her gut, that whatever it was, it would change her life forever.

“I didn’t think it was possible.” Awe over-shadowed fear as he slowly rose to his feet. “But there’s no other explanation.”

Fear twisted her stomach into a tight knot. Her throat tightened. “What are you saying?”

“Your father was a vampire.”

Her mind recoiled, refusing to accept his words. “My father isn’t a vampire. He’s up every morning at the butt-crack of dawn.”

“The man who raised you might be your father, but I’m pretty sure you’re not his offspring.”

“I wasn’t adopted and my mother didn’t cheat. Greg
is
my father, and he isn’t a vampire.” But she wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

Gerard’s eyes shone with sympathy. And something else.
Pity
. It made her physically ill. She ground her teeth.

“What did Nicolas tell you?” he asked.

“To stop investigating vampires.” She stepped back, putting more distance between them. His complex emotions affected her judgment.