Read The Power Online

Authors: Cynthia Roberts

Tags: #Retail, #Suspense, #Thriller, #Fiction

The Power (30 page)

“Don’t start the, ‘It’s not you. It’s me.’, speech. I don’t think my heart can take it.” Jack joked with a smile. Lillian smiled. She leaned gently into him.

“It’s not me either.” She replied softly, and angled her head toward the window where she hoped Gina was reading their thoughts or hearing everything!

“Oh.” Jack grinned. “If it’s going to be a problem I can make up some excuse.” he volunteered.

“No. Come. Just be prepared. Gina can be pushy, and bossy, arrogant
, and well, judgmental.” Lillian bit out, and she smiled because she knew that Gina would not be able to resist listening in from outside, and would hear her every word.

“You’re afraid she won’t like me?” Jack guessed.

“No!” Lillian hated that she had led him astray. The last thing she wanted was to make him not feel good enough. “I meant of me. She tends to think that she knows what is best for me, that I think with my emotions instead of my rational mind.” she said bitterly.

Jack grinned. “Sounds like a mother to me, though she doesn‘t appear to be that much older than you.” he said, and Lillian frowned. Jack chuckled.

“I can take it if you can.” he raised a dark brow. Lillian shrugged. “What time should I be there?”

“Nine?”

“I’ll be there unless I get pulled away.” Jack pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her slender frame. “It won’t kill you.” he said lowly against her ear, and then he pulled her back, and dipped to kiss her. Lillian didn’t allow the kiss to deepen in fear that Gina was indeed watching and listening. “Let me give you ladies a ride home. I don’t like it, the two of you being out here alone.” Jack offered, and Lillian relented a nod for his sake of mind. He didn’t know that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, that Gina was as well. Oh, how had they come to this?

“Jack?” she said his name in near desperation, but then she looked up, and saw Gina standing there outside of the window.

“What is it?” Jack touched her face with both hands. He stooped down to meet her gaze in concern.

“Nothing.” Lillian whispered. “We should get home. It’s late.”

“Lilly.” he began, but she smiled, cutting him off with a quick kiss. “You should get some sleep for a change, Jack. You look tired as hell.” she pulled him along.

“Thanks for the compliment.” he bit out sarcastically, but he allowed
her to pull him toward his car where they all climbed in, and Jack drove them home.

 

 

Chapter twenty-f
our

 

“You want to tell him.” Gina said knowingly as they settled together in the basement. The room was pitch black, no windows or cracks to speak of. The room was completely underground where not a slice of sunlight could slip in. To get to the main floor, one had to climb a thirty foot set of steps to come to an airtight door, again with no windows or cracks. The two women moved around in the dark, seeing everything including the expressions on each other’s faces as clearly as if every light in the room shone down upon them. Lillian had changed for bed, darning a dark, pajama set made of expensive silk, and possessing a designer label. A gift brought only last evening from Gina, coming from a quaint little gift shop in Rome.

“It is forbidden.” Gina hissed. Lillian frowned.

“By whom?”

“You would expose us all.
” Gina tore back the dark comforter, and climbed across the bed, settling herself more comfortably. Lillian could feel the forced sleep was coming for her. Her eyelids were beginning to drag. Climbing into the massive bed, she pulled the blankets to her chin, and closed her eyes.

“I would never expose you.” she swore to her dark mother.

“No? Just yourself. He is a detective, a clever man. Do you think he would be too stupid to put two and two together, to figure out that you are one of the two that he hunts!” Gina spit out furiously.

“You don’t kno
w him like I do. He would…” she stopped, not sure she could bear to say the words out loud just yet in fear that they would not be true.

“What? Understand? Don’t be a fool, Lillian!” Gina snapped, and she too closed her eyes. “He is in love with you, but he believes that you are human, that you are kind and good. He will not understand that you take life only from those who deserve such a fate. He will still think of you as a cold-bloo
ded killer.” Gina warned.

“Isn’t that what I am?” Lillian asked lowly. Yes, she was a killer. She drank the blood of humans. Jack was human. Her falling in love with him, a mortal, a member of the
same group that she dined upon…it would be like a human falling in love with a cow!

“That was a ridiculous analogy!” Gina argued, but then she laughed. “A cow?”

“I drink from his kind.” Lillian voiced hopelessly. “You’re right. He wouldn’t understand. I don’t understand myself, and I hate what I know I must do, but I’m not ready to surrender to the alternative.”

“Nor should you be. You have just a
s much right to live as they do. Never forget that, Lillian!” Gina swore protectively.

“But
you said so yourself, Gina. We’re not alive at all. Lillian Saint Rose died in 1842. What is left of her is not human, does not have a soul.” Lillian felt when the sleep sank in.

“How could we move about without a soul? How could we even exist?” Gina argued in a sleepy tone. It was too late for this conversation. It would not be finished this night, Lillian realized
as she surrendered to the drug-like sleep that would not allow her to escape.

The nightmare that visited her oozed in fresh blood. The stench in the air was salty and metallic, and it called to her because the hunger was too great upon her for having been starved too long. The night around her was cold and black. She didn’t know where she was, just that the scent of her prey was near. With glowing, white eyes, Lillian stalked the prey on silent feet. She could hear a strong heartbeat thumping loudly in her ears. He was strong, she thought as she continued her hunt through the blackness. Usually, she could see through the darkness as clear as if it were day, but in her mind’s eye, in the nightmare, she could barely see two feet in front of her face.

The hunger clawed at her insides, seeming to tear at the inner lining of her stomach and her chest. It wanted loose, the demon within. It wanted its freedom, and the scent of the tempting blood in the air made her unleash the beast. Feeling the change come over her, she surrendered to it, and allowed it to show upon her face.

Stepping around the corner, the room was suddenly flooded with a light so bright that she had to shield her eyes from it. Then as if suddenly appearing there in the midst of his bedroom, Jack Stone stood. Bloody bite marks riddled his chest, and blood seeped from the wounds causing thick pools of the black,
tar-like substance to puddle on the floor. His amber eyes beseeched her as he held up his blood-soaked hands in disbelief. His beautiful eyes grew wide in alarm, and then in pain, emotional pain.

“Why?” he asked, staring right at her. “Why would you do this to me? I loved you, Lilly. My sweet, Lilly. I loved you!”

The confusion, the pain that dripped from his mouth caused her to bolt upright in bed so fast that she had nearly come out of it. Panting for a breath that deep inside she knew she did not need, Lillian opened her eyes wide to the pitch black room around her. There beside her, lying like a corpse, dead to the world was her dark mother, Gina. A dream, Lillian told herself. It had just been a dream. She had not killed Jack! She would never even think of doing so! Still panting, she turned to her bedside table where a digital clock read the time. If the clock was right, it was just after eight a.m. Shock registered on her pale face, and settled in her chest. That couldn’t be right! She had never woken during daylight hours before! What was happening to her?

Again, she turned, staring down at her dark mother. Gina slept, slept without breathing, without moving, without living. The sleep that they slept during the daylight hours was the sleep of the dead, meant to rejuvenate their bodies. It kept them young. It
healed their wounds, but never did it release them into the hours that the sun normally occupied. Still shaken, Lillian climbed from the bed. Taking her cell phone from the charger next to the bed, she went into her private bathroom, and quietly dialed Jack’s number. He answered on the fourth ring when she had been about to hang up.

“Yea
h.” he groaned sleepily into the phone, and Lillian released the breath that she had been foolishly holding. “Hello?” Jack called a second later when she gave him no response. “Lilly?” he asked, as if sensing that it was her. Tears slipped from Lillian’s eyes. The dream had felt so real.

“I…
I had a bad dream. I dreamt that…that you died.” She gave over a half truth in a shaky tone. She could hear Jack shuffling around as if sitting up.

“Honey, it was just a dream.” he returned gently.

“I’m sorry I woke you.” Lillian whispered, but she didn’t want to let Jack go, not yet.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jack offered, and she shook her head no.

“I’m sorry. I guess I just wanted to hear your voice.”
“Did it scare you that much?”

“More than you know.” She whispered eerily.

“I guess that means you care about me a little bit, then?” she could hear the smile in Jack’s voice; it soothed her fears somewhat. “So, tell me how did I die?” he asked in good humor.

“A vampire killed you.” Lillian stated immediately.

“All this talk of vampires is getting to you, Honey.” Jack chuckled softly. “They don’t exist, Darling. I’m sure you already know that.” he spoke in a gentle tone of concern that was underlined with humor. Oh, but we do exist, Jack. You see, I am one of them, and I have existed as an immortal for one hundred and eighty-six years. You didn’t know that I was old, did you? Does that make me a lecher, wanting you the way that I do?

“Lilly?” Jack called, tearing the tormented thoughts from her brain. She obviously had let the silence go on too long. “Do you want me to come over?” he offered kindly.

“No.” Lillian shook her head negatively. “Gina is here.” she reminded.

“Right.” Jack quipped. “Well, tell me what I can do to make you feel better?”

“I’m fine. Really.” Lillian relented. “It was a stupid dream.” she was feeling like an idiot now, but the dream had been so real.

“Are you sure?”

No. I’m afraid, Jack. I’m afraid to go on with you, but I’m even more afraid to let you go. I’m afraid to leave this city because I know that there is another working these nightly streets. I’m afraid with you working the case you may run into this dark creature, and even as strong as you are, you will not be a match for his strength, his power. I long to protect you, to tell you everything, but how can I? I will protect you, Jack, Lillian vowed to herself. I will protect you even if it means sacrificing my own immortality. You will not be alone out there! I won’t allow it!

“Lilly?”

“I’m sure.” Lillian whispered. “Sorry to wake you. Goodnight, Jack.” She said in a loving voice.

“Anytime you need me.” Jack returned, a smile in his voice. “Good morning, Love.” he corrected her earlier sentiment. Right, it was morning! 

Love? Was Gina correct? Was Jack in love with her? This was getting out of hand, Lillian thought, but the thought that Jack may indeed be in love with her was a comforting one, and one that filled her with warmth, happiness and desire for him.

But it could never work! Jack was mortal
, and she was not! She would never pull him into her world. She would never dream of asking him to join her world, where he would have to give up anyone and everyone he had ever cared about. Jack deserved better than the coldness of the immortal. He deserved to be happy! She wanted that for him, happiness, even at the cost of her own happiness. Yes, Jack Stone meant a great deal to her. The realization was striking, but deep down she had always known. Since the moment she had met him again she had known that he was the one she would have spent the rest of her life with. That is, if she had remained mortal, had remained human.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter twenty-
five

             

The restaurant was romantically lit where they sat in the midst of the room. Ewan had just ordered for her in French none the less, and Nicole had to admit that she was thoroughly impressed. “So what will I be dining on tonight? Please tell me you didn’t just order me snails.” She teased softly. Ewan’s smile was handsome, suave, and it caused her to hold her breath in anticipation.


Filet Minion. Fish.” he reassured her, and Nicole smiled beautifully. Did he know the affect that he had on her? How could he miss it? She was sure she had to be as easy to read as a paperback! God, she couldn’t stop smiling, couldn’t stop praising her luck. Just last week she had been contemplating spending the rest of her life alone. Who would want some crazed fanatic after all? Even she knew that she was obsessed. How could she not be though, after the way her parents had perished, after finding the journal? Perhaps, Detective Stone was right though? Perhaps it was all in her overactive imagination? Oh! The years she had spent studying anything and everything on the subject of vampires… She had even taken a vacation to Romania, hoping to discover more clues in nearby Transylvania. Was she just a fool chasing a fool’s dream? She had found no evidence in America, Romania, or Transylvania to suggest that her would-be creatures of the night did in fact, exist. No, all she had ever stumbled upon were myths and legends. The closest she had actually come to discovering a real and true vampire had been here, recently in New York, in the city that she called home.

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