Why the hell didn’t I mesmerize him? The thought flitted through Saintcrow’s mind as he unleashed his power. It hurled the man backward into the side of a building, momentarily stunning him. Saintcrow was on him before he recovered, burying his fangs deep in the man’s throat. The drunk stabbed him again. It fueled Saintcrow’s rage and his hunger. He drank deeply, hardly aware that the man was weakening. It wasn’t until he heard the clatter of the knife on the pavement and the man slid bonelessly to the ground that he realized the guy was dead.
Dammit!He pressed a hand to his side, felt the warmth of his blood where the blade had cut him. The pain was negligible, the wounds already healing.
He glanced up and down the street, relieved that there was no one in sight. He hadn’t intended to kill the man but, damn, it had felt good.
~ * ~
Kadie was home when he arrived. She glanced at his bloody shirt and then looked into his eyes. And knew what he had done.
“Is that why you blocked me?” she asked with quiet condemnation. “So you could go out and kill someone?”
“Kadie...”
She shook her head. “I know vampires kill, Rylan. I know you’ve killed many times in the past. But I thought....” She bit down on her lower lip as tears gathered in her eyes. “I thought we were better than that.” When he took a step toward her, she held out her hand, her palm toward him. “No! Don’t touch me. There’s blood on your hands. And in your heart.”
“Dammit, Kadie, the man came at me with a knife.”
She lifted one doubtful brow. “While he was mesmerized?”
“He wasn’t. He was drunk and I....”
“And you were spoiling for a fight,” she said flatly.
Her tone, her disapproval, cut deep and kindled his anger. How dare she judge him? She was still a fledgling compared to him. She had no idea of the kind of life he’d led when he was first turned, the hell he’d been through. He was one of the oldest of his kind. He made his own rules....Dammit! He hated it when she cried. The sight of her tears quenched his anger like a splash of cold water on a hot day.
“Kadie.” Just her name, a plea on his lips and in his heart. He had changed his whole life to win her love. Had he lost it in one careless act of violence?
Kadie drew in a deep breath and let it out in a long, slow sigh filled with sadness and pain. Rylan needed her now more than ever. How could she condemn him for what he’d done when hewas fighting for his sanity, perhaps his life? When his own blood was trying to destroy him?
Wordlessly, she closed the distance between them, took him by the hand, led him to the sofa, and tugged him down beside her. “Promise me that you will never block our blood link again,” she said, her voice laced with ice.
“Kadie...”
“Promise me, Rylan Saintcrow, or we’re through.”
Anger flared in the depths of his beautiful dark eyes and was gone. “I promise.”
“I can’t begin to fathom what you’re going through. But you can’t shut me out. We’ve gone through every other trial together. We can’t stop now.”
He nodded. “Promise me that you won’t meet with Kincaid and the others behind my back again. I don’t like it.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Why are you making such a fuss? I’m sure you know we’re all worried sick about you, just as I’m sure you know everything we said.”
She was right, he thought. But then, she was always right.
“I’m sorry, darlin’. I don’t know what got into me tonight. I guess whatever is poisoning me is getting worse.”
“We’ll find Elowynne,” Kadie said. “We have to.”
He grunted. “We don’t know that she’s the answer, or that she’d help if she could.”
“Right now, she seems to be our only hope,” Kadie said, trying to keep the discouragement out of her voice. She peeled off his ruined shirt and tossed it into the fireplace, and then slipped her arm around his waist. His skin was smooth and cool against her own.
A moment later, Kadie transported them to a white sandy beach. Saintcrow walked into the surf and rinsed the blood from his wounds. Millions of stars winked down at them as he returned to Kadie’s side and drew her down beside him. A quietbreeze carried the scents of sand and sea. A full moon smiled down at them as gentle waves lapped at the shore in a never-ending game of touch and go.
“Does this mean you’ve forgiven me?” Saintcrow asked.
“No,” she replied, with a sassy grin. “It just means I’m horny.”