He moved with lightning speed to an ottoman and grabbed a silk throw, one edged with long tassels. This one he wrapped around Vivienne’s shoulders. “For you, Miss Dare.”
Then he went to the window and shoved it open. Footsteps thundered down the corridor. Julian had jammed a chair beneath the doorknob, but that wouldn’t slow vampires down.
“Come, Miss Dare. You first.” He held out his hand, helped her leap out the window into the bushes outside. She gave a soft cry of protest as she landed amidst the branches, then fought through them. Sarah stood behind him waiting her turn, but he sent Julian out next, then lowered Sarah into Julian’s arms.
Julian treated Miss Dare’s daughter with delicate care.
Heath jumped out after. And Vivienne, holding the shawl around her, stalked to him.
“How are we going to get away?” she whispered fiercely. “You men are naked, I’m wearing nothing but a scrap of silk shawl, and Sarah’s nightgown is in tatters. We look like we’ve escaped from Bedlam. I have no money to even get us a hackney.”
“Calm yourself, Vivi. I’ll get us to safety.”
“No, Heath, I can’t just calm myself. What is your plan? I can’t just risk Sarah’s life on … on blind faith.”
She couldn’t trust him. He’d saved her life, but it was as though she could see inside him. As though she knew how he had failed his wife and daughter so many years ago.
“We have to get away as swiftly as possible,” he answered tersely. “Julian and I will shape shift, and you and Sarah will have to ride us.”
“Ride you?” Three voices—a soft girl’s, a throaty woman’s, and a stunned vampire’s—all shouted it at him.
“It can be done, Julian. We can change into a bigger creature. It will drain our strength quickly, but we’ll have enough to reach a sanctuary. Then we’ll need to feed. And do it copiously.” He wasn’t certain if the normal substitute—the blood of livestock—would suffice. He was willing to suffer. But Julian …
Julian had never looked more stunned. “Heath, where in hell can we find a sanctuary? We can’t go on hallowed ground. No vampire will defy the council—”
“There’s one who will. Stop asking questions and transform.”
Heath shifted as soon as he finished his command to Julian. His bones rippled, his joints twisted, his rib cage seemed to snap and open wide. Wings erupted. Though his body barely changed in form, his skin darkened to a deep, silvery gray. Vivienne gaped at him as though she was seeing a monster.
After what she had seen, her horror speared him.
The truth was, he was a monster. With his curse, he could destroy all humanity if he turned into a demon. And he would become a demon if he sought the one thing he could never have. Love.
Julian was showing off to Sarah. He flapped his wings and flew in a loop, landing at her feet. Heath expected her to be terrified. Instead she whispered, “I trust you not to drop me.”
Julian grinned. He dropped to one knee. “Your chariot awaits, my lady.”
She giggled shyly, then climbed onto his back. Her legs slid around his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck. Then she gasped as Julian took off and soared into the air. Heath also dropped onto one knee before Vivienne. It sent him back to the moment he had proposed to Ariadne, it made him remember how arrogant he’d been then.
Of course she would say yes. How could she not?
He’d been so cocksure.
“Trust me, Vivienne,” he said huskily.
“This is madness. How can you fly with me?”
He moved his wings. “Welcome to the world of madness, love. Trust me to be your guide through it.”
9
V
ivienne could hardly believe she was flying over the streets of London, her body lying along Heath’s back, her legs wrapped tight around his waist. Her breasts were crushed against strong muscles. She’d wrapped the shawl around her like a gown, but through the silk he was warm and solid beneath her, and the ends of his wings tickled her bare skin as they beat through the air.
She circled his powerful neck with her arms and looked toward her daughter.
Julian flew at Heath’s side, with Sarah on his back. Her daughter looked like a true faery with her blond curls flowing behind her dancing on the wind and her thin, white shift fluttering around her. But it was the look of delight on Sarah’s face that stunned Vivienne.
Sarah had not looked so happy for years.
This, despite the fact they were fleeing for their lives and her poor daughter had been locked up in a cell. Shock spiraled through Vivienne. She’d tried to give Sarah everything, all the
things she herself never had. But something had always haunted Sarah.
She had never seen Sarah look as strong as she did now.
“Where are we going?” Vivienne cried against the rush of the wind.
“A sanctuary,” Heath shouted back. They were soaring high, for Heath had claimed this would keep the vampire council’s legions of bats from pursuing. A veritable army of the winged creatures had streamed out of the council’s building and had followed them, but Heath had been right. When they’d flown through thick clouds, the bats had dropped back, letting them escape.
They were safe—at least for now.
“Hold on,” Heath called to her.
As if she wouldn’t! Julian went first, plunging downward, and her heart leaped in fear for Sarah. But Sarah gave an excited squeal. Heath followed, and they rushed down through clouds again. Strange how the clouds almost looked like land from above, but they were nothing but vapor when they flew through them. When they emerged, the city was spread out beneath them.
A snaking ribbon of sparkling black cut between the lighted buildings. It was the Thames, and they followed it. They flew away from the city toward the larger estates that dotted the river. Enormous houses appeared to be slumbering in the night, and generous lawns stretched down to the water. Then Heath began to dive downward again, more sharply. Vivienne tightened her hold around his neck. Thin streams of moonlight cut through the clouds as they swooped toward the ground. The silvery light illuminated a house ahead of them—a sprawling, elegant mansion of light stucco, topped with large, slate roofs.
“Is this one of your houses?” she gasped, by Heath’s ear.
“No. It belongs to an ancient vampire. It is a sanctuary for
vampires hunted by the council. And also a place where the undead can go to indulge every carnal pleasure they desire.”
“I don’t think I will desire anything carnal ever again,” she whispered. But the drink she had been given was making her heart pound again, and heat swept through her body. She fought the urge to squirm on top of Heath. Her quim was pressed right against his rock-hard derriere.
It was as though even the slightest thought of carnal things had triggered lust again. And that made her
think
. Fear sliced into her. “Will Sarah be safe here, in such a place?”
She will be. I will ensure it.
Vivienne gasped in shock. She’d heard his words in her
head
. As though she could read his mind. “How—?”
When you and I made love it created a special bond between us, Vivi. Before that, I could not see into your thoughts. I still cannot, but we can communicate this way. You can send your thoughts to me, just as you would speak to me.
This should be impossible. But again, the incredible was happening.
How do I do it? Can you hear this?
Yes, Vivienne, love, I can
. He half-turned his head to face her. His lips curved in a smile.
But she couldn’t smile back. Her heart was too heavy with fear.
I’m afraid Sarah won’t be safe here. How can she be, in a house where men indulge carnal desires? How can you ensure it? Sarah is beautiful—I don’t want her to become prey. I’m terrified she will be raped. That would destroy her soul. Heath, I can’t let that happen—
She broke off her thoughts as Heath landed on the ground. He gently put her down. Moonlight flashed along his eyes as he gazed intently at her face.
Did that happen to you?
Despite the silver glow in his eyes, she saw pain there for her. It stunned her. She had clutched the silk wrap that was wound around her body, holding it to her as tightly as she could. No man had ever looked at her as though he cared.
“I was never raped. My mother protected me until I was sixteen. After that, after she died, I made certain … I made certain I chose my protectors.”
Heath captured her hand and lifted it to his lips, the way a gentleman did to a woman he admired. And his silver-green eyes spoke of such concern for her, she had to lower her eyelids. She shivered even though it was a warm night and she was bundled in silk. It was his look; she couldn’t cope with that look.
She drew her hand back, holding her silky cover tightly. “All those things that had once scared me when I was young in the stews—the strength of men, their anger, my mother’s drinking—all those things seem so meaningless compared to the fears I now have. Now I know I’m a succubus and a group of demented vampires wants to kill me and Sarah.”
“Vivi—” But Heath broke off as Julian dropped toward the lawn. He landed with Sarah, who slid off his back. Sarah’s blanket fell to the ground, revealing her slender form, covered only by her thin, tattered nightgown. But Sarah didn’t seem to notice. Her cheeks glowed pink. “Mother, that was the most wonderful thing! It was so horrible to be taken prisoner, but to fly about London—oh my goodness, it was so exciting!”
Vivienne wanted to fret—Sarah could have been killed—but she also didn’t want to snap at Sarah, when the girl had endured such an ordeal….
Heath caught hold of her wrist.
It’s better to let her be happy, Vivi. It was his voice in her head. Let’s not frighten her.
She is
my
daughter
, she thought angrily. Sarah was all that mattered to her now. Sarah was her life. And she wasn’t going to scare her daughter, she was trying to take care of her. She pulled her arm free of Heath’s hand.
He let her go. And she hugged Sarah tight. It was so good that Sarah was not terrified, but she wanted to ensure her
daughter remained … cautious, wary, sensible …? She wasn’t quite sure.
Julian draped the throw around Sarah’s slim shoulders. His body began to ripple. His muscles twisted and jerked as though they could fly off his body.
“Oh goodness,” Sarah gasped. Sarah reached out toward Julian and Vivienne pulled her daughter back.
He let out a roar and another harsh cry came from behind her. Vivienne spun around to see Heath’s body writhe, his muscles pop, his jaw shudder from side to side. He looked like his body could blow apart. He looked in agony. Terror for him froze her.
She knew what was happening. They were both transforming as they had before. She knew they would survive it, but it was terrifying to watch. Slowly, their wings collapsed inward and shrank. Heath’s skin lightened, as though sunlight was pouring over him, but it was a change from the inside out.
Sarah gripped her hand tightly.
Vivienne glanced from Heath’s transformation to her daughter’s face. Sarah was watching Julian, obviously afraid for him.
And that frightened Vivienne.
“Christ,” Julian muttered. He looked like a normal, naked human male again. He shook his body all over, like a dog throwing off water. She looked to Heath. He was doing the same, stretching his long lines of muscle.
Then, to Vivienne’s shock, Julian offered his arm to Sarah like a gentleman escorting a lady. “No,” Vivienne said firmly. “I will take her. You are naked and a vampire, and Sarah has on nothing more than a tattered nightgown.”
“Mother. I won’t look.”
Julian looked sheepish, and he swept up the blanket and wrapped it around his hips like a towel. Sarah whispered, “Thank you.” And she left her mother to move to his side.
Vivienne swallowed hard. She had gotten so accustomed to seeing Sarah as frail. She’d forgotten her daughter could be strong, stubborn, and determined.
But Sarah was also vulnerable. Vivienne had not given Sarah the same warnings she had learned, when she had grown up in the stews. She hadn’t wanted to tarnish Sarah’s naïveté. Now she had to ensure Sarah did not lose her heart to a vampire.
For heaven’s sake, what was she thinking? There were far more immediate worries. Heath came to her side, utterly naked, to escort her.
She frowned at him, her brow lifted. “You said this is a sanctuary for vampires, but this looks like an estate. I have been to houses here. They belong to earls, dukes. How did a vampire acquire this? Or, like you, is he a vampire peer?”
“We should get inside first.”
She noted he had not answered either of her questions, but she let him lead her. They hurried through the darkness to the house. Sound spilled out into the moonlit garden, though all the windows were dark. But when she and Heath followed Sarah and Julian to the flagstone terrace, she came to a halt.
She couldn’t just trust him blindly. She just could not do that with any man. “Did the vampire kill someone to get this?” Without answers, she did not want to step foot into this pitch-black, yet obviously occupied house.
“It doesn’t matter, Vivienne. It’s a sanctuary for you and Sarah. That is all you need to know.”
“It’s not enough,” she cried. “I—”
The glass-paned doors flew open. Two black-clad men stormed out. They carried crossbows. One clicked his boot heels together and gave a sharp bow. “My lord Blackmoor. We did not know you were to return.”
“Neither did I,” Heath answered casually, as though he was not standing naked with a woman wearing nothing but a silk shawl. “I take it His Grace is within?”
“Of course. Follow me. I will lead you to him.”
His Grace. There was a
duke
who was also a vampire? Why would Heath not answer her questions?
But Sarah was happily walking with Julian into the house. And Vivienne’s blood ran cold. In stories, vampires were supposed to be able to attract humans. If Sarah hadn’t inherited any sort of demon blood from her … didn’t that make her vulnerable to Julian’s vampire skills?