Everlasting Kiss (19 page)

“Do you think Rhys is still looking for us?”

“I don’t know. I should probably go back to LA and find out what’s going on.”

Daisy started to protest, but yawned instead.

He slid his arm under her shoulders and drew her up against his side. “Go to sleep, my little flower.”

“You won’t leave Boston without telling me?”

“No.” His gaze moved over her face. The thought of being away from her for even a day was almost unbearable. “Sleep, my love, there won’t be any more bad dreams tonight.”

She looked up at him, her beautiful green eyes filled with trust. A moment later, she was asleep.

Erik brushed a kiss across her cheek, marveling at the sweetness of her scent, the warm silk of her skin. He had lived for centuries. He possessed powers beyond compare. Yet this woman, this fragile human woman, had woven a spell around him he couldn’t break.

He felt the coming of dawn and with it a sense of heaviness, as if an invisible hand was weighing him down, trying to bury him in the earth where he belonged. Though he hated to leave Daisy, he needed to be away from her house and safely out of the sun’s reach.

He brushed a kiss across her brow. She smiled faintly, making him wonder if she was dreaming of him, dreaming of the two of them locked in each other’s arms. The thought of holding her body against his, of running his tongue over her skin, tasting her lips, her blood, aroused him instantly.

Muttering an oath, he dissolved into mist and fled the house before he put thought to deed. Moments later, he materialized inside his hotel room. He had left strict instructions at the desk that he wasn’t to be disturbed during the day. Still, he had not survived this long by trusting his fate to others. He quickly set wards around the door and the windows. His preternatural power, combined with his witchcraft, afforded all the protection he needed.

He took a quick shower and then, with his strength being leeched away by the rising sun, he fell facedown on the bed and surrendered to the darkness. And though he hadn’t dreamed since the night he became a vampire, on this day, he dreamed of making love to Daisy.

And in his dream, he wasn’t a vampire and she wasn’t the Blood Thief.

Daisy awoke slowly, reluctant to leave the beautiful dream she had been having. Sighing, she turned onto her side and closed her eyes, hoping to recapture the wonder of it. The magic of it. It had seemed so real…just her and Erik, sharing a candlelight dinner beneath a canopy of summer stars, dancing to music only they could hear, walking along a moonlit path, pausing now and then to kiss in the shadows. And then, in the way of dreams, the scene had changed and they were lying on a pile of furs in a room with a ceiling made of glass. The moon smiled down on them as Erik drew her into his arms. And in the way of dreams, she never thought to wonder where their clothing had gone. It was too wonderful to feel his bare skin against hers, to run her hands over his broad chest and shoulders, to bask in the touch and the taste of him. There was no time in this place of dreams, and they had explored each other at their leisure. She was ticklish. He was not. Her skin was soft and warm. His was firm and cool. Two halves, fashioned differently, yet they fit together to make a perfect whole…

“Erik…” Breathing his name, she opened her eyes. The dream had seemed so real, she half expected to find him lying in bed beside her.

“Hey, sis, you ever gonna get up? Breakfast is ready.”

The last vestiges of her dream vanished at the sound of Brandon’s voice.

When she entered the kitchen some ten minutes later, Brandon, her father, and Alex were waiting for her.

“’Bout time you got up,” Alex remarked.

Daisy stuck her tongue out at him as she took her place at the table. As usual, Alex had prepared enough food for a small army. This morning he served ham and cheese omelets, toast, fried potatoes, and a bowl of fruit.

They were halfway through their breakfast when Brandon cleared his throat.

Daisy and Alex exchanged knowing grins. Brandon always cleared his throat when he had something important to say.

“Well, go on, son, spit it out,” Noah said.

Brandon cleared his throat again. “Last night, after dinner, I asked Paula to marry me.”

Alex slammed his hand on the table. “Judging by that grin on your face, I’m guessing she said yes.”

“You guessed right, big brother. We’re getting married the week after Christmas.”

“So soon? Damn, bro,” Alex exclaimed. “You’ve only known her a few weeks.”

Brandon shrugged. “Long enough to know she’s the one for me.”

“I think it’s wonderfully romantic,” Daisy said. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks, sis.”

“I know your mom will be pleased,” Noah said. “You’ll have to call her later and let her know.”

Brandon nodded, his grin stretching ear to ear.

“How do Paula’s folks feel about it?” Alex asked. “I assume you’ve already told them.”

“They gave us their blessing, although I think they’d rather we waited a while.”

“Have you told Paula what you do for a living?” Daisy asked.

“No.” Brandon cleared his throat yet again. “I’ve decided to give it up.”

Daisy glanced at Alex and her father. Alex looked chagrined. Noah looked relieved.

Brandon looked at his father, waiting for his response.

“I think that’s a wise choice,” Noah said. “Being a hunter is a dangerous business, and it’s a hard secret to keep. If your mother hadn’t been a hunter when I met her, I would have taken up another line of work. Any idea what you’ll do?”

“Mr. O’Reilly said I could work for him.”

Noah nodded. Paula’s father ran an enormously successful software company.

“You’re gonna become a computer nerd?” Alex asked disdainfully.

“It’s a perfectly respectable line of work,” Brandon retorted, obviously stung by his brother’s disapproval. “It’s going to be a small wedding, just family and a few close friends.” Brandon looked at Daisy. “Paula’s going to ask you to be a bridesmaid.”

“Me? She doesn’t even know me.”

“Well, we’re keeping it in the family. Alex, I was hoping you’d be my best man…”

Alex grinned. “I hate to break it to you, little brother, but I’ve always been the best man.”

“Her brother, Kevin, will be an usher,” Brandon said, ignoring Alex’s jibe.

Kevin, the ubiquitous Mr. Right, Daisy thought glumly. Not wanting to think about having to spend an evening with Kevin O’Reilly or sidestepping her mother’s matchmaking efforts, Daisy began to clear the table. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could get Erik invited to the wedding.

Since Brandon was giving up the family business, they decided to take Daisy’s compass and go for one last hunt together. After gathering their gear, Daisy and Brandon climbed in the front seat of Brandon’s old Firebird, Alex and Noah squeezed into the back, where they played Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide which way to go. Noah won and chose east, and Brandon headed toward the ocean.

“Hey, Daisy Mae,” Brandon said. “Any sign?”

Daisy glanced at her compass. “Go straight.” She watched the needle grow brighter, darker. “Turn left here.” They were nearing Boston Harbor now. “Left at the corner—stop!”

Brandon pulled up in front of a small bungalow located on a quiet side street.

Daisy stared out the window. The door to the bungalow was closed, the windows shuttered. There was no sign of life.

“Is this the place?” Noah asked.

Daisy nodded. The needle was bright red.

“Let’s go!” Alex said.

As they piled out of the car, they each grabbed their gear, then walked single-file up the narrow, rock-lined path.

Alex made short work of the lock on the security screen door and the three deadbolts on the front door, and they were inside the house.

As in most lairs, heavy blackout curtains covered the windows.

“Daisy, which way?” Alex asked.

Heart pounding, she murmured, “Straight ahead.”

Moving quietly, they passed through the living room, down a narrow hallway, and into a large bedroom.

“There’s nothing here,” Alex said. “Are you sure that compass is working?”

“In there,” Daisy said, pointing at the closet door.

Brandon opened the door and stepped inside, his flashlight making a sweep of the interior.

“There,” Noah said. “Another door.”

It was locked but Alex’s trusty lock pick made short work of it. Daisy followed her father and brothers into another room. In the eerie light cast by Brandon’s flashlight, she saw four caskets lined up side by side.

“Let’s go to work,” Noah said.

Alex lifted the lid on the first coffin. Brandon filled several vials with blood for himself and Daisy, then backed away. Daisy closed her eyes as Alex staked the vampire, then cut off its little finger as proof that he had destroyed the vampire. Those who paid the bounty on the Undead required some kind of proof—blood or a finger in the case of young vampires, the vampire’s ashes in the case of the ancient ones, since they disintegrated when they were staked or beheaded.

They moved to the second casket and quickly took care of business.

Brandon was about to open the third coffin when the lid flew open and a female vampire sat up, her eyes blazing red, her fangs bared.

“Stake her!” Noah cried, but before Alex could move, a male vampire burst out of the fourth coffin. Alex and Noah charged toward the male. Their combined strength drove the bloodsucker to the floor. He lashed out, his nails drawing blood as he tried to defend himself.

The female had her arms wrapped around Brandon. Her fangs were only inches from his throat.

Daisy jumped on the vampire’s back, hoping to distract her.

With all the stubbornness of a pit bull, the female vampire tightened her hold on Brandon and sank her fangs into his throat.

Daisy screamed as Brandon sank to the floor, his hands trying to dislodge the vampire. Daisy raked her nails across the vampire’s cheek, then pummeled the creature’s back and shoulders, but the vampire seemed oblivious as she continued to feed on Brandon.

With a wild cry, Daisy slid off the female’s back. Fishing in her pocket, she pulled out a stake and drove it into the vampire’s back.

Shrieking in pain, the vampire lifted her head, blood dripping from her fangs, but didn’t loosen her grip on Brandon.

Summoning all her strength, Daisy jerked the stake from the vampire’s back and drove it in again. She hit the heart this time, she was sure of it. A horrible cry erupted from the vampire’s throat as she rolled off Brandon. She twitched once and then lay still, her sightless red eyes wide and staring. A single red tear slid down her pale cheek.

“Brandon!” Daisy dropped down beside her brother. “Dad! Help!” Sobbing, she cradled Brandon’s head in her lap. “No, no, Brandon, stay with me,” she pleaded as his blood, still warm, soaked into her jeans. “Please, stay with me. You’ll be all right. Just hold on…”

She looked up through eyes blurred with tears as Alex and her father, both splattered with blood and gore, raced toward her.

Noah fell to his knees beside his son. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he drew Brandon into his arms and rocked him back and forth.

Daisy stared at her father and brother in disbelief. No one in their family had ever been killed by a vampire. They’d had some close calls, sure, but nothing like this. Even now, with the proof in front of her, she couldn’t believe Brandon was gone.

It was a somber group that gathered around the kitchen table later that evening. Alex had fixed a dinner that no one ate, and now they sat there, too numb with loss and grief to speak. They had done what needed to be done before leaving the lair near the harbor.

Noah had wrapped his son’s body in a quilt pulled from a closet and carried him out to the car.

Alex had decapitated the vampires to make sure they wouldn’t rise again, then collected the necessary proof that the kills had been made.

Daisy had stowed the vials of blood in the cooler. She had been tempted to leave them behind, but she couldn’t. The liquid in those vials had cost her brother his life.

Daisy and Alex had been about to leave the house when Alex paused. “Do you smell that?”

Daisy had sniffed the air. “It smells like death.”

Alex grunted softly.

Daisy followed Alex down a narrow flight of stairs to the basement where they made a grisly discovery—the bodies of a middle-aged man and woman shoved inside an old coal chute.

“They’ve been dead a while,” Alex said. “We need to notify the police.”

Daisy had turned away, sickened by the sight and the smell of the house’s former owners.

Alex called the police. The rest of the afternoon had passed in a blur of police reports and endless questions. There was no law against destroying vampires. Once the police had ascertained that the deceased were indeed vampires, Daisy and her family had been free to go. They had taken Brandon’s body to the local mortuary and made the necessary arrangements for the funeral, and then driven home.

“Your mother and Aunt Judy will be home day after tomorrow,” Noah said, breaking the stillness.

“How’s Mom taking it?” Alex asked.

“Hard.”

“Someone needs to call Paula,” Daisy remarked.

“I’ll do it.” Alex blew out a sigh. “I guess now’s as good a time as any.” Rising, he left the kitchen.

Daisy stared blankly out the window. Instead of a wedding, there would be a funeral. She still couldn’t believe her brother was dead. Brandon had been such a gentle, fun-loving young man. Once, he had confided in her that he didn’t like being a Blood Thief. When she had asked why he didn’t quit, he had admitted, somewhat sheepishly, that he knew Alex would tease him unmercifully. Daisy blinked back her tears. If only he had quit before it was too late. Funny, she had never really believed anyone in her family would be hurt. They were the good guys, after all.

She looked up, startled, when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it, Dad,” she said, thinking it was probably the police with more questions. Her father had been through enough for one day.

It wasn’t the police. Opening the door, she found herself staring up at Erik. The word
vampire
screamed in the back of her mind. In that moment, if she’d had a stake at hand, she would have destroyed him without a qualm.

“What’s wrong?” There was no mistaking the hatred in her eyes, though he could think of nothing he had done to put it there.

“My brother…Brandon…he’s…he’s dead.”

“I’m sorry. How did it happen?”

She clasped her hands together to still their trembling. “He was….” She took a deep breath and said it all at once. “He was killed this afternoon. By a vampire.”

“Ah.” That explained everything. “Do you know who did it?”

“Yes. She’ll never hurt anyone again.”

“I can see I’m not welcome here,” Erik said quietly. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Rage and impotent anger boiled within her. She wanted to strike out, to hurt as she had been hurt. Conversely, she had an almost overwhelming urge to invite him in, to rest her head on his shoulder and let him comfort her, but she couldn’t. He was Nosferatu. For all she knew, he might have been friends with the vampire who had killed Brandon.

Distraught, she could only stand there, drowning in grief that was too painful, too fresh, for words.

“Good-bye, Daisy.”

He was gone before she had time to respond.