“To make you stop whatever you’re doing before you destroy the whole house. What’s got into you?”
He quickly reined in his power, only then noticing that Kadie was huddled on the floor and that everything in the room made of glass had shattered – lamps, picture frames, a delicate Chinese vase, the crystal candleholder on the mantle, the windows. Reaching down, he lifted her onto the sofa beside him.
“Talk to me,” Kadie said. “What’s going on?”
“I was thinking about what Kincaid suggested and....” He shrugged one shoulder. “I can’t do it. Call me vain or stubborn orstupid but there’s no way I’m going to give up the power that’s taken me centuries to achieve. No way in hell.”
Kadie bit down on her lip. She didn’t possess half the supernatural power he did, but she knew how addictive that feeling of invincibility could be. Laying her hand on his arm, she said, “We’ll find the answer, Rylan, I know we will.”
Later that night, lying in bed with Kadie’s head pillowed on his shoulder, Saintcrow thought about the fledgling vampires he had let drink from him. Why had the males died, but not the female? Had it just been a fluke? Or had Elowynne concocted it in such a way that his blood only affected the males? And if so, why? What was she really after? How long had she been a vampire? Vampires were made whereas witches were usually born that way, although some normal people had the innate ability to learn simple magic.
He was still pondering her motives when he surrendered to the Dark Sleep.
Chapter Fourteen
Kadie sat at her computer idly taping the fingers of her right hand on the desktop, her mind trying to unravel the questions running rampant in her mind. Who was Elowynne, really? What was she after? Rylan was sexy as hell, but Kadie thought it was highly unlikely that Elowynne had lusted after him for almost a thousand years. There had to be more to it than that. But what?
With a shake of her head, she left the house and walked down the hill toward the town.
It was eerie, walking the empty streets which, not so long ago, had bustled with crowds of happy people. Sometimes she missed their company. Not that she had spent a lot of time with any of the tourists but she had, on occasion, spoken to some of them from time to time, asking if she could take their pictures to be used in her magazine ads. She loved spending time with Rosa, Sofia, and Holly. When they were in residence in Morgan Creek, they went to the movies together, went shopping, played cards, swam in the pool, worked out in the gym. But sometimes she just missed being with mortals, something Rylan never understood. She especially loved seeing the children. Not having a child of her own was her only regret. She knew Saintcrow would let her adopt a dozen babies if it would make her happy, but she also knew it wasn’t something he had ever wanted.
When she reached Main Street, she turned toward the bridge, remembering the rainy night she had crossed it for the first time, a decision that had changed her life forever. And how glad she was now that she had done so.
She wandered from one end of the town to the other, wondering if they would ever open Morgan Creek to the public again. Wondering what they would do if they couldn’t find a solution to the poison in Rylan’s blood. Since drinking from Oriana, he had been reasonably calm, at least outwardly. But hecouldn’t depend on Oriana forever. They needed a cure, not a band-aid.
She turned around to head back home when Rylan materialized beside her.
“What are you doing down here?” he asked, falling into step beside her.
“Nothing, really. Just taking a stroll. Reminiscing about the night I came here. I remember I’d taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way and that I was nearly out of gas. I pulled my SUV over and looked at the bridge, thinking that it didn’t look sturdy enough to support my car. I had just decided to walk across and see if I could find some gas when it started to rain buckets. So I drove across the bridge looking for shelter and the rest, as they say, is history.”
“Still no regrets?” he asked.
“Still asking that same question after all these years?”
“Maybe just the big one,” he said.
She flinched at the flash of anger in his eyes, the accusation in his voice. Sometimes she hated it when he read her mind.
A muscle flexed in his jaw. “Well?”
“All right! Sometimes I wish I had a child! Is that what you want to hear?”
“Dammit! I said you could adopt as many brats as you wanted. Why the hell didn’t you ever do it?”
“Because I knew you didn’t want any! Because I thought it would be unfair to bring a baby into our house. It would never have had a normal life, not with two vampires for parents.”
“Ethan and Holly adopted Jenny,” he reminded her, his voice flat.
“But Ethan wasn’t dead-set against it,” Kadie retorted, hot tears stinging her eyes. “I don’t want to argue about this. I made my decision and I’m not sorry. I love our life together. I love Morgan Creek. I love you, Rylan Saintcrow. And you darnwell know it!” Dashing the tears from her eyes, she transported herself home.
Saintcrow stared after her, his inability to give her a child fueling his anger. She had given up the idea of adopting a baby because of him. He loved her for it. And sometimes he hated her for it. He had never wanted a kid, didn’t want the responsibility, didn’t fully trust himself to be around an innocent child and not be tempted to take a taste. Some vampires were addicted to the taste of the blood of children, claiming it was sweet and pure, unlike anything else. He had never indulged in such a thing, knew he would never forgive himself if he did so. And he sure as hell didn’t want the temptation under his roof twenty-four hours a day.
Dammit!
Overcome with anger and rage because he couldn’t give Kadie what she wanted most, he transported himself to New York City. With his hunger out of control and a sudden urge to kill, he stalked the busy streets in search of prey.
He grabbed the first lone woman he saw, mesmerized her with a glance, and pulled her into the shadows behind a delicatessen. She was middle-aged, plump, and homely but he didn’t care. He sank his fangs into her throat, closed his eyes, and drank, intending to take it all. And as he drank, he caught a glimpse of her life. She was a single mother with five kids ages two to eleven.