The Vampire's Curse (11 page)

Evey's fangs were already coming out. "An innocent little thing like you? Of course not." And she punctured the bag and began sucking away.

Kyle and Jackie left the room before Evey could finish.

***

Kyle was touched by Jackie's gesture to give Evey the bag of blood even though he figured she probably shouldn't have. That, and how she was going out of her way to help him, a complete stranger.

When he walked next to her he made sure their shoulders brushed. "Thank you for doing this for me," he said.

Her cheeks colored. "Don't worry about it."

His grin was proud. "You blush a lot."

She stopped suddenly, ignoring his comment. "I forgot. I guess you'll want a kiss now?"

Hell yeah he wanted a kiss
, but not the kind that she was thinking of nor in the place she was thinking of. Not tonight at any rate.

Instead he took her hand and planted a kiss on the top of the smooth flesh. He could feel the quickening of her pulse through her wrist and hear the beating of her heart. Was he sensitive to it because he was a vampire or because of how she quickened his blood as well?

She let out a sound that was almost a giggle. "It doesn't quite work like that."

Was there sadness in her voice or was he hearing things? "I know, but I figured that if someone's out to get you then I might want to stay like this so that we'll have a fighting chance."

She pulled her hand away from his awkwardly. "Listen, thank you for what you did for me and Evey today, but I don't need a protector. Mike isn't even sure if those ferals were really after me or not, it could have been a mistake."

"But he's not sure, right?"

"Right."

"So then ...?"

She rubbed her face with her hands. "You're only hanging around with me because I can give you a temporary relief, because I'm grateful to you for saving me and because I want to help you, I'm introducing you to my sister. That's all that this is."

He scowled, hating her for putting it into words like that. "With the way you tried helping me the last time I should be wondering if there's going to be an ambush waiting for me outside those doors."

He pointed to the doors that led to the area of the hospital that was friendly to sunlight.

He felt her shame coming off her in waves. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't think he was coming to arrest you."

He decided not to let her in on his other complaints. While he was sure that the police of this city would be out looking for Sarah, he doubted they much cared whether or not she was found. His case had been more or less treated like a joke when they thought he couldn't hear them.

He had the best of both worlds, according to a couple of patrolmen chatting in front of a water cooler. He was a man with the strengths of a vampire but capable of walking around in the daylight, able to live a normal life.

“
Lucky son of a bitch
,” They’d said.

Yeah, he felt really lucky. Lucky that he was fired from his job for being unreliable and unable to stay alert, had to be away from his family because he had thoughts of biting them, and was treated like a criminal even in a town filled with the supernatural. Yeah, that was peachy.

"Whatever then, fine, you're right. All you are to me is a temporary relief. That means that if someone's out to kill you then I'm going to be around to make sure they don't. The last thing I need is for the woman who can cure me to get put in the ground because she couldn't accept my help in return for hers."

This time he felt a mixture of emotions rolling off her, most of which he regretted. The hurt and embarrassment were the strongest of those emotions, and she looked away from him.

He wanted to tell her he was sorry, but the words refused to leave his throat.

Out of all the months he’d been like this he never felt anyone's emotions. Why with her? Why not anyone else?

He thought back to the strange conversation—that he understood no part of—that she had with her vampire friend. They knew something Kyle didn’t, and he intended to find out what it was.

Something else from her hit him just then: disappointment. He had to take a step back to understand why.

She was disappointed with him and sad for herself. Why? He didn't get it. Why were women so complicated even when he could feel what they felt?

This time the words did come. "I'm sorry."

The bad feelings he felt inside her didn't disappear, but they did shrink considerably, and that made him smile, but also curious as to why she would hold feelings like that deep inside her.

She didn’t accept his apology, but he did sense the speck of relief she felt when he spoke the words. She nodded and led him back to the lobby. "I'll introduce you to Carly."

He didn't know why, but he swore that by the end of this ordeal he'd make her more than a temporary relief to him.

EIGHT

Kyle stood outside Jackie's window on the beige painted concrete ledge. He leaned against the wall and kept his ears open for any suspicious sounds. The gentle night wind was cold, but he didn't shiver against it since he barely felt the chill as a vampire.

Kyle leaned over to sneak a glance through her window. She slept peacefully under a blue blanket, unmoving but for the rise and fall of her chest. Despite the closed window, if he strained his ears and concentrated on her, he could hear her breathing.

She was safe, and he stood straight again with the knowledge that she would stay that way. He would make sure of it.

His eyes scanned the silent streets, watching for any possible threats and contemplating when he'd gone to meet Jackie's mother in the hospital. The woman had been interesting enough but her other daughter was not to be seen.

"You know how much she hates hospitals, but she told me to call her the second I knew you were alright." Her mother said to Jackie after giving Kyle a sweet smile and hearty handshake for rescuing her daughter.

The look on Jackie's face at the mention of her sister was not expected. As if she'd seen it coming that her own sister would not bother with checking on her in a hospital.

Kyle didn't care what excuse the mother gave. Not liking hospitals was hardly a reason to not make sure your only sister was unharmed.

It made him curious about the relationship of the three girls if the other daughter could get away with doing something like that. How could the mother just gloss over the fact that one of her daughters wasn’t there with the other? Or was Carly Moore really that sensitive to hospitals?

Detective Carter immediately went to ask his questions. Did she know Charles Clayton? And had she ever heard of a woman named Sarah Valier?

Kyle's shoulders sagged when she answered a no on both accounts.

Detective Carter explained to Patty what the possible situation was with the ferals before promising Kyle he would continue to search for Sarah. And until then, as promised, he would protect Jackie, which was what brought him standing outside of her apartment window.

"Are you sure you don't want to come inside?" She'd asked when he told her of his plan.

He cocked his head and gave her a lazy smile, his eyes traveling up legs, torso, breasts and face and back down again

He didn’t want to worry her, but there was one
big
reason why that wouldn't be a good idea. He gave her the second biggest reason instead. "You don't look like the kind of person who can relax knowing there's someone you don't know walking around your apartment all night. I’m more useful outside."

That, and the spot outside her window really was the perfect place to stand watch. The only windows to her apartment were on this side, and no one could get in or out of the building without passing through the doors three floors under him. He had all entry points covered.

She gave in with some reluctance, and he loved feeling the disappointment roll off her. Mixed in with relief, which was not so thrilling.

A woman who didn't know what she wanted. It was typical, not at all unusual, and showed a lot of potential. Had he not been cursed the last time he tried dating the woman he was assigned to protect he would have jumped at the opportunity.

No, he'd learned his lesson, and while he was sure Jackie was nothing like Sarah, what he'd seen and felt in her emotions and actions was enough for him to know that he didn't dare risk it.

Sarah, narcissistic bitch that she was, couldn't take it when he decided enough was enough and wanted to do the right thing: to break it off. He wound up cursed because of it. He couldn't even tell the police in this city what color her hair was since it changed every three days, nor could he tell them exactly where she was from since he was ninety-nine percent sure her French accent was fake.

Kyle sighed and rubbed his face. If he knew it was such a bad idea to repeat his mistake with Jackie, why wouldn't he stop thinking about taking her to bed? Putting her under him and having those long legs of hers wrapped around his waist while he rode her?

Kyle leaned against the wall, his eyes were wide open but he could still see the erotic images in his head.

He was attracted to Jackie. More than that. He wanted her, but there was no way in Hell he’d risk her life to go back on a promise he made with himself.

He clenched his fists, desperate to fight off the images until he heard a groan coming from inside Jackie's room.

Kyle’s ears perked. What? No one could’ve gotten in while he was out here. He looked back into the dark bedroom and scanned for intruders.

The room was empty but Jackie and the long shadows of her room. She tossed and turned under her sheets, nearly throwing them off herself.

A nightmare, he thought, lifting his hand to rap on the window, but stopped when she groaned again. He eyes zeroed in on her face, which contorted pleasurably as she panted for breath, and her nipples pebbled noticeably under her thin pajama top. It hit him what was really happening.

An erotic dream
. Even from outside he could smell her.

Kyle’s fingers twitched to open the window, step inside and make her dreams reality. The lust inside him boiled at the sight of her, but he forced his vow to the forefront of his mind and didn’t move.

He was there to protect her. Not have sex with her.

Don’t touch, don’t even think about it
. Standing with a rigid back and clenching fists, he walked along the ledge to the other side of the building and sat down, his legs dangling over the edge.

He needed the distance but it almost wasn’t enough. Sweat beaded on his brow despite the wind and cold. He could still
smell
her. Moving away a few feet did nothing to stop the want he felt.

He rubbed his face to regain control. "Keep your hands to yourself, McKane."

He couldn’t let this happen. Lust or not, he was in control of himself. After what happened to him with Sarah and what was happening to Jackie with the killer vampires, neither of them would benefit from the distraction of sex.

Kyle pulled his cell out of his inner jacket pocket and dialed his brother's number. He needed a voice to talk to. Something to get his mind back on track.

He was about to hang up when Tom finally answered.

"Kyle?"

"Sorry, I know it's late."

"Which has nothing to do with anything since I haven't heard from you in over a month!"

Kyle winced. Maybe putting off this call and not answering his phone when he knew it was Tom wasn't such a great idea. He hadn't meant to ignore him, but he'd wanted to call with the good news that he'd found a cure, which had yet to happen.

"How's mom?"

He heard Tom sigh. "Worried sick. She wants to report you missing but I keep telling her you'll call, which you should. I think she thinks you’re dead or something."

He winced again. "I’m sure it’s not that bad, and she won't even be awake this time of night."

"Don't you mean morning? And you should leave a message if she doesn’t answer. Anything to let her know you’re alive. I can’t keep making up stories."

The finality in Tom's voice brought on enough guilt that guaranteed he would do as his brother said.

Neither spoke for a moment, and then Tom broke the ice. "Are you close to a cure?"

Kyle smiled. "Very. That's what I'm calling to tell you. I might be coming home soon." He decided to leave out the part about wild vampires.

Tom laughed. "That's great! How'd this happen? Where are you?"

"I met some people who are like Sarah, only not scary beyond all reason, and they're helping me out. There's one girl here who can give me a temporary cure every night."

"Really? Great! So is it a pill you take or something? Because if you’re so close and you have something even temporary then you should probably come down to visit for a while."

Kyle shifted. "Uh, no, it's not a pill. Actually, the girl who can give me the cure is a witch, and how she does it is ... well..."