Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch) (41 page)

“At a carnival.” He paused for a moment, on the fence about whether he wanted to share any more information with her.
Appearing to finally thaw out some, he continued. “I was still human at the time. Working in a traveling sideshow as a psychic. He caught my act and was impressed when he discovered I was legitimate.”

“You mean you were
actually psychic? For real?”

“I was -
am
- telepathic. I can see things through the minds of others.”

“
Seriously…like you can read what people are thinking?”

“No. More like what they
’re experiencing. Their surroundings…what they’re seeing and hearing.”

If she’d heard this
claim a few months ago she would have been skeptical. Now, it didn’t seem implausible at all. “How’d you use that in your act?”

“
Most of the time we used cards that had pictures printed on them. They would be handed to a person in the audience who could choose one and I would tell them what object they were looking at. It was all pretty hokey, but the marks loved it.”

“
Did you say you were still…” She lowered her voice, though it was doubtful anyone could hear them over the noise of the lunch crowd. “…you were still human at the time?”

“That’s right.”

“So then Asher was the one who made you this way?”

“Yes. He
was hoping to take advantage of my telepathic abilities.”

“
How do you mean?”

“
Basically he intended to use me as something of a tracking device for others like him. To give him the upper hand in the elimination of his superiors. He was power hungry. Still is. Gives him a charge to have control over others.”

Sami wasn’t sure she wanted to hear any more.
Yes, she had an inkling of his ruthlessness but to have it spelled out in front of her in this way was still disturbing. “When he changed you…what was it like?” she wanted to know.

Tristan frowned slightly.
“What was it
like?
”

“
Yeah…what did it
feel
like? Was it very painful? How long did it take?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I’d just like to know what to expect.”

“What to
…what to
expect?
Are you telling me he’s promised to initiate you?” He stared at her in disbelief.

She didn’t get why he looked so blown away.
You’d think he would’ve seen this coming. “Why does that surprise you?”

His reaction completely floored her. Out of
nowhere, the placid voice dropped to a menacing hiss and he snapped, “Because this whole thing is just
ridiculous!
He’s just toying with you - don’t you realize that? Carrying one of his sick games way too damn far, and dragging me into the middle of it! Well, I have news for you - nobody, and that includes
you
, will ever have
any
kind of a future where that man is concerned! If you think for one second that any of this is going to work out in your favor, then lady, you’re delusional!”

Thunderstruck, Sami watched in silence as Tristan
stormed off.

~*~*~*~

Sprawled on his stomach across the bed with a paperback copy of Bram Stoker’s
Dracula
, Dane was so absorbed in the prose that at first he ignored the faint scratches at his bedroom window.

When they escalated into light taps, he finally
pulled his attention away from the book long enough to look up. There was nothing visibly unusual. The brown and green plaid curtains were tied back on either side of the window, exposing the dusky dark of early evening. He could just make out the skeletal shadows of pine trees at the far edge of the backyard, familiar and innocuous. The oblong outline of the small garden shed loomed before the tall trunks. Other than that, nothing.

He eased himself off the bed and treaded warily to the window
, his eyes scanning the perimeters of the yard while he unlocked and lifted the sash. The night was still and quiet, only the high-pitched echoes of crickets interrupting the silence. From somewhere off in the distance, a dog began to bark. He leaned forward with his head out the window and looked around. To the left was the corner of the brick house and his mother’s rhododendrons. In front of him, the manicured lawn gave way to the garden shed and the dense growth of forest beyond.

Turning his head to the right, he thought he saw a tiny shadow dart quickly into the shelter of the trees. A stray cat maybe. Or a possum.
Nothing out of the ordinary.

“
Boo!
”

The feminine voice
in his left ear startled him into jumping nearly out of his skin, banging his head hard against the window frame in the process. “
Shit!
Ow! Dammit!”

Eva giggled. “Did I scare you?”

“Yes, you scared me - what the hell do you think?” He rubbed the top of his head. “Damn! What are you doin’ out here? Tryin’ to kill me again?”

“Maybe.” A coy smile played about her lips and he did a double take at the strange way she was looking at him. Almost flirtatiously. But that was
probably just wishful thinking.

“What are you reading?” She reached for the hand
still clutching the book and lifted it, allowing her forefinger to slide lightly across his thumb. “Ah…
Dracula
. Great piece of literature, but I assume you aren’t using it as a reference. You won’t find much truth in there.”

Rattled by her odd behavior, he found himself tongue-tied. “It…um…I was just, um…passing time. The time. Before bed. Going to bed.
I wasn’t tired or anything.” Listening to his own asinine babbling made him feel idiotic. He could only imagine what she thought of him.

“Passing the time sounds like a good idea.
Would you come for a walk with me?”

“A
walk…oh. Okay. We can do that.” He banged his head against the window frame again while retreating back inside. “
Ow
. Lemme…um…I’ll meet you outside. Hang on.”

“Where are you going?”

“I was just gonna let my parents know.”

“I wish you wouldn’t do that. They might get the wrong idea. You know what I mean?”

“Oh. Yeah. Okay.” It wasn’t as if he hadn’t used this very tactic before to sneak out and meet Imogen. It was still early, but maybe his mom wouldn’t come in to check on him before she went to bed. Besides, it didn’t really matter - not anymore. Throwing one of his long legs over the windowsill, he climbed out rather clumsily.

Eva was already skipping off in the direction of the forest,
dancing and twirling gaily, her long green skirt swirling around her legs. “Come on, slowpoke!”

He had to run
so he didn’t lose her in the darkness, and even then he could barely keep up. She darted through the woods like a graceful deer, dodging trees and tangled clumps of overgrown vegetation while he tripped and stumbled behind her. With only the crescent moon to light their way, it was difficult to make out his surroundings. “Wait up, would you?”

Stopping, she turned to face him with
her hands on her hips. “For a superior species you’re not very coordinated, are you?”

“It’s dark out here - what do you expect?” He finally caught up to her and she slowed down enough that he could keep pace beside her. “We goin’ someplace in particular?”

“I’m looking for the perfect spot.”

“For what?”

“Oh…you’ll see. Just keep walking.” She tossed her auburn locks with a mysterious smile. He silently followed along as they walked deeper and deeper into the forest, the only sound a consistent crunch as dead twigs snapped beneath their feet. For a while they only walked, saying nothing. He began to wonder what the point of all this was.

“Hey, Eva…”

“I love it out here at night, don’t you?” She peered at him with her catlike eyes. “So quiet and secluded. Nobody within miles. We could do just about anything and no one would ever know.”

There were
about a million ways he could have interpreted that, but only one sprang to mind. It frustrated him that she would tease him that way, especially after the talk they’d had yesterday. He wished he knew what to make of it. “Does Winter know you’re here?”

“Does it matter?”

“Eva, what’s up with you tonight? Are you okay?”

“
I’m wonderful. Couldn’t be better.”

“Well…was there some reason you came to see me?”
His foot got caught in a thick mass of weeds and he floundered to regain his balance. “I mean, why are we out here?”

“
Why…don’t you enjoy my company?”

“You know I do…it’s not that. But we could have hung out at my house.”

“Not for what I had in mind.” Stopping suddenly, she cocked her head to one side. “I hear water.”

Dane was still stuck on her previous comment. Just what
was it she had in mind? It couldn’t possibly be what it sounded like - could it? “Um…what?”

“Water. Listen.”

“Oh. We’re almost at the Salmon River.”

“
That’s perfect. Why don’t we stop here for a while.” She rested against a tree, hands folded demurely behind her back. “We can have a little chat.”

“All right.” He considered
having a seat on the ground but since it was pretty damp he chose to stand instead, awkwardly avoiding her green eyes while they studied him curiously.

“So, Dane. Tell me. What am I going to do with you?”

Was she
trying
to confuse the hell out of him? He wished he had more experience with females so he could better understand their language. It almost seemed as if she was coming on to him, though he could easily be wrong. But as much as he didn’t want to make a fool of himself, he couldn’t resist testing the waters. “Do whatever you want with me,” he replied boldly.

“You can bet on that.” She looked him up and down. “Kind of a
puny thing, aren’t you?”

Whether i
ntentional or not, her tactless observation was insulting enough to put him on the defensive. “Just because I’m skinny doesn’t mean I’m not strong,” he informed her.

“That so?” A slow smile spread across her lovely face. “
Well, let’s see you prove it. Come show me, baby. Show me how strong you are. You want me to make a man of you, don’t you?”

Dane couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She was saying things he’d only dreamed of, things he never thought he would
ever
hear from her. It was surreal.

She crooked a finger and beckoned him with it. “Tell you what, stud.
If you can take me, you can have me.”

He
didn’t waste any more time trying to analyze her ambivalent behavior. Instead he strode confidently over to where she stood and faced her, trapping her between his arms with his hands against the tree behind her. “Consider yourself taken,” he said as he leaned in for the kiss he’d always fantasized about.

“
You sure about that?” She pressed her small hands lightly against his chest and he experienced a fleeting moment of euphoria before he was slammed to the ground so hard he could have sworn he felt something snap in his back. Gasping, he struggled to recover his ragged breath while she knelt by his side, leaning over him with a triumphant smile as her clear green eyes faded to blue.

“You’re gonna have to do better than that, little boy.”

The deep masculine voice didn’t come from Eva. Instead the lovely redhead had been replaced with a man, a dark-haired devil who grinned down at him malevolently. The stranger was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, his muscular biceps straining against the tight fabric. Dane fought to reject what his eyes and ears were telling him, denying the lie that replaced reality even as the searing pain in his back began to fade to a dull ache.

Straightening, the man offered his hand
. Dane reluctantly took it and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. “Where’s Eva?” he demanded in a hoarse whisper.

“If I were you, I’d concern myself more with the matter at hand than the whereabouts of
a dead woman walking.”

The words didn’t even have a chance to sink in before a fist of iron smashed into the side of
Dane’s head and sent him flying into a thicket of shrubs. He lay there in the scratchy brambles in shock, his head reeling painfully. What the
hell
had just happened?

The man’s pitiless voice cut through the fog.
“For a runt like you, she signs her own death warrant? This has got to be a joke! I mean,
really!
”

“What…what’s…who
are
you? What’d you do with Eva?”

“I haven’t done anything with her
- yet. But you can rest assured she’s going to get what’s coming to her.” He drove one foot into Dane’s side, causing him to cry out in pain. “You’re making this way too easy. Get up and fight, you pathetic stray cur…show me you have what it takes to be one of us! Or do you plan on lying there in the dirt, cowering like a mouse?
Come on
, little boy!”