Bloodstorm (Heart of a Vampire) (10 page)

She laughed softly, kindly. “So it helped prepare you.”

His eyes widened, shining with something she couldn’t name. “Yeah,” he whispered and sat straighter, as if finding some pride in his human past.

But made her heart ache a bit for all this boy had lost. “Most of what you’ve read or seen on TV is myth.” She opened the door and sunlight flooded in, caressing her and touching the boy.

He cringed back into the shadows, but watched closely. When she didn’t burst into flames, he cautiously reached out and let the sunlight fall over his hand. Wonder filled his face as he scooted further into the light, turning to the sun and let it bathe his skin.

The light warmed her as well. Yet, at the same time, she could feel the sun tugging on her power, warning she would eventually weaken.

“
B-but...” the boy began, stopping and shaking his head.

Niki grinned. “We don’t combust in sunlight.” She closed the door. “Though during the daytime we are at our weakest. And if we’re in the sun for a while, it can take our strength. But it won’t kill us.”

“
Wow.”

“
My sentiments exactly.”

“
Will you tell me all of it?” he asked with sudden childlike curiosity.

“
Sure.” She turned back to the door. “But not right now. You need to sleep.”

They left the room, Niki quietly closing the door.

“
Poor kid,” Shane grumbled.

She shrugged. “I’ve seen worse.”

He took her arm, stopping her. “This vampire sounds like a monster. He has to be stopped before anyone else gets hurt.”

Niki stared into his heated glowing eyes. “What do you think I’m trying to do?”

“
Together, we can find him faster.”

She pulled from his grasp and hurried into the lobby. A bell dinged and a woman came from a back office, her eyes lighting up when she spied Shane.

“
Sheriff, what brings you out here?” Her name tag read Molly. She leaned across the counter, showing off an exorbitant amount of cleavage in the sheriff’s direction.

He fidgeted, color creeping into his cheeks as he glanced at Niki. “I’m visiting...”

Molly’s eyes frosted as Niki approached. “I need a second room, next to 113.”

The woman stiffly filled out the information and took Niki’s payment. The air was chilly in the room by the time she and Shane left.

To stall going into the empty room alone, Niki stopped in and checked the boy. He slept soundly, curled into a ball on the bed, covered from head to toe. Only a tuft of light hair peeked out from under the blankets.

With a sigh, Niki headed for her new room, expecting Shane to leave. Instead, he took the key from her and opened the door, holding it for her to enter.

She suddenly felt self-conscious being alone with him. Especially since a large bed dominated the room.
Heat flared through her. Shane stood close to her back, too close. The memories of his mouth and hands on her body back at the station turned the heat up a notch and she clenched her hands, seeking the control not to turn to him, to pick up where they’d left off.

He closed the door and dropped the key on the table before facing her. “So, are we going to be working together?”

“
Yes.” How she wanted to scream no, to avoid him and the heat inside that blossomed every time she thought of him. But she wasn’t an idiot. He wouldn’t leave her alone. It would take more time to avoid him than cooperate. Besides, he had inside knowledge of the town she could use.

Those were her only reasons. They had to be.

Shane stepped closer and brushed a lock of hair from her cheek before he tucked it behind her ear. She shivered as his touch sent thrills shooting to her curling toes. His scent wrapped around her, filling her with desire and... comfort.

Which didn’t make any sense and was the scariest part of all.

To ignore the growing feelings, she drew back and sat on the edge of the bed. “Thomas is obviously keeping young vampires. I don’t understand why.”

Shane grabbed the chair from the table and brought it nearer the bed. He sat facing her, their knees touching. “Younger vampires are easier to control, to manipulate.”

“
Still doesn’t make any sense.”

“
You were gentle with Robby,” Shane said.

Niki glanced at him, then away as emotions swamped her. Ever since meeting this man, the cold, lonely place she’d kept locked up inside had been crumbling.

“
Will you tell me how you were turned?” he asked.

She lifted a trembling hand but didn’t know what she meant to do, so let it fall back into her lap. He reached out and grasped her fingers. The shivers slowed.

Swallowing the pain rising in her throat, she stared at a thread-bare patch of carpet. “Why does it matter?”

***

There were so many ways Shane could answer that, but he didn’t think she would accept any of them. In fact, a few would send her running.

Finally, he admitted, “I can feel the agony inside you. Let it out.”

She shook her head.

He leaned closer, grasping her chin and nudging her to meet his gaze. Her eyes, green rimmed with red, flashed with so much pain it was all he could do not to pull her into his arms and try to ease it away. He knew what he was asking, and how difficult it might be. But if it helped her, if it helped them find Thomas...

“
I...” She swallowed. “I’ve never talked about it before.”

Shane stared at her. “Never?”

She shook her head, still trying to avoid his gaze. He couldn’t resist tracing his hand over her cheek. And he thought she pressed into his touch, just a little.

“
Try me,” he whispered.

She shook her head, nibbling her lower lip with one retracted fang tip.

“
I can help you get this vampire. But you need to help me, too. Tell me what we’re facing.”

The strained pain on her face made her paler than usual. It had him wanting to pull back. Leave her alone and let her forget.

But he knew it didn’t work that way.

All the pain was still bottled up inside her.

“
Niki,” he said.

“
You don’t understand.” She swallowed, her glance darting around the room.

“
Let me try.”

She took a deep breath and met his gaze. Her eyes were reddened, lips pressed together in thin lines.

She shuddered, but finally nodded. “It was my seventeenth birthday.”

He took one of her fluttering hands, turned it upright on his knee and traced the lines on her palm, trying to give her comfort.

“
I’d become engaged to my father’s choice for my husband. To celebrate, we had a Mardi Gras ball at our plantation outside New Orleans.” Her eyes blurred, her hand gripped his in a tight fist as memories overtook her.

Her voice came as a halting, strained whisper. “I still remember how cool the evening was. The band played, and the night was full of laughter. People danced and drank and ate.”

She shuddered. “My father had ordered a huge banquet, and this cake, so tall, covered with purple ribbons and on the top, a crown for me.” She blinked, and her grip on his hand relaxed a fraction.

“
Thomas Montgomery was a guest. An investor from out of state. I didn’t know much about him, nor did I care. It wasn’t my business.”

Trying to lessen some of the tension thrumming through her body, he said, “You don’t strike me as the dutiful daughter type.”

She met his gaze. The red in her eyes spread as she relived the past. “Things change.”

“
I guess they do.”

“
When the party was over, near dawn, those staying at our plantation retired to bed. My family and finánce. Thomas.”

Her nails dug into his hand, but Shane refused to pull away. He’d asked her to tell him about this nightmare, and he’d be damned if he’d let go now.

“
The screams woke me. I raced out of my room, down the hall, to my little sister.” She took a deep, shaky breath. “Thomas stood over her. Blood was everywhere and I knew she was dead. I ran to my parents, but they too...”

He couldn’t stand it any longer. “You don’t have to tell me.”

Her eyes flashed, completely red now. She was caught up in her own personal nightmare. “I didn’t understand what was happening until Thomas caught up to me. I fought, but was so weak. I can still feel his teeth sinking into my neck, his claws scratching down my arms and back.”

“
How did you get away?” he asked, his throat tight at hearing the horrors she’d experienced.

“
I don’t know.” She blinked, glancing around the motel room. The red in her eyes was slowly beginning to fade and he knew she was back. “The next few days are a blank. When I came to, I was in the barn.”

She glanced at their entwined hands and abruptly jerked back. Standing up and pacing, she quickly said, “I knew what I was, because my horse lay dead beside me, drained of blood. Other animal carcasses were scattered around the stall.”

Shane watched her halting movements, feeling her pain.

“
I went back to the house and found the mutilated remains of my family. It took me a day to bury them. Then I ran.”

Shane couldn’t stop himself. He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. “It’s over now.”

***

Niki shook her head, trying to move away. She could feel everything as it had been, and it was tearing her up inside. This man had pushed her to remember and it hurt too much.

Yet, his touch was comforting, helping ease the pain away.

“
But it’s not over.” The words flowed from her as in the corner of her room, the ghostly images waited. Her parents, brothers and sisters. She stared at them, letting her anger build and flow over the hurt. That’s what she needed to dull the pain. “They haunt me.”

Shane followed her gaze. He blinked a few times, then his eyes widened. “Ah.”

Startled, she searched his face. “What do you mean, ah?”

“
I see them. They’re so sad and lost.”

She shook her head. After everything else, it shouldn’t be a surprise the man could see her ghosts. “They are lost. My family cannot rest in peace until Thomas is dead.” She pulled back, ignoring the warmth that lingered though Shane no longer touched her. “That is the only reason I live. To avenge their deaths.”

Shane chuckled, but his smile disappeared as he realized she was serious. “You’ve spent the last two hundred years tracking down Thomas to kill him?”

“
Yes.” And after false leads and too much time, she’d finally found him here in this little town.

“
There must be more to life than revenge.” He reached for her, but she inched closer to the ghosts softly moaning for her to save them.

“
Not for me.”

He grabbed her, not letting her run, and traced her jaw with his fingertips. His golden eyes were soft, kind. She tried to harden her heart, steeling herself as she backed from his comforting touch. The very fact she yearned for his embrace made her want to flee.

“
I will find him,” she said. “And he will die.”

Shane dropped his hands. “You’ve become a hard woman.”

His words cut, but she held her ground. “Perhaps. But people do what they must to survive.”

“
And what will you do when he’s dead?”

She shrugged. “I haven’t thought about it.”

Though she had, many times. And she’d accepted it. The Council would come for her, and she would be executed for destroying her sire. And suddenly, she couldn’t see Shane in black or white, sheriff and Keeper.

Would he do it? Would he kill her?
Right now, looking at him, she thought maybe, he might just hesitate before taking her life on Council orders.

His jaw clenched and he stepped toward the door. “I’ll be back at dusk. Maybe the boy can give us some hint where Thomas might be staying--though the odds of him still being there...” His gaze pierced her. “Wait for me.”

Trying to hide the nerves making her hands tremble at the thought of working with him, she shrugged once more. “Don’t be late.”

His face flushed and he strode closer, wrapping his strong arms around her and pressing his lips to hers. Her knees went weak as heat and need and some even softer emotion plowed through her.

He lifted his head, scowling. “Wait for me.”

Before she could snidely answer, he stormed from her room, slamming the door. She didn’t understand why he was so upset. It wasn’t like they had... Her fingers drifted over her throbbing lips. She didn’t know
what
was between them, only that it was beginning to consume her.

But nothing could come of it until Thomas was dead. And after that, she’d be the one hunted. There was no hope for these strange feelings--and she couldn’t afford the distraction.

Chapter Eight

S
hane sped out of the motel parking lot, riding his anger. It was better than trying to fight the need to take Niki home and tie her down, keep her safe. Some ravishing along with that would be just fine too.