A Glimpse of the Dark Side: Adult Paranormal Erotic Romance Collection (12 page)

Kane was still puzzled as to why Lisette would
single out this young man. At any rate, Bonn couldn't be allowed to
roam around freely until he had been taught a few things, and it
seemed as Kane was the only one around to do it. Of course, he
could simply kill him, but even after all of these years as a
vampire, he got no pleasure from killing. No, if he could save this
new vampire; he would do so.

He spent the rest of that night with Bonn,
showing him the ropes, so to speak. They began by going back to his
last victim and removing her from the dump spot. The police
wouldn't find another body and would simply believe that the
murderer had moved on. That didn't mean they would stop looking,
though they would never find the murderer.

Just before dawn, having made sure that Bonn was
satiated for a while, Kane helped him locate a resting place that
would keep him safe as he slept. Heading back to his own home, Kane
made it just in time to sequester himself before the sun was
completely up. Even though the sun didn't cause him to burst into
flames, he found that it did drain him after too much exposure. So
he preferred to not spend a lot of time in direct sunlight.
Besides, his sleep was a healing one and replenished him in just
those few hours.

He was a bit sorry that he hadn't had a chance
to check in on Secret that night. It was okay, though. He knew she
wasn't going anywhere that he would be unable to find her. One lost
night wasn't going to ruin anything.

Reassured that all was well, Kane closed his
eyes.

"EVERYTHING IS GOING to be just fine, DeLisa,"
Secret said, as she tried to reassure her young client that she
didn't have to marry someone she didn't love.

"But what about my family?" the girl sobbed.
"They adore Davis! They've practically had us married since we were
in diapers!"

Pointing to the Seven of Swords that lay on the
table, Secret tapped it with her fingernail.

"See this card right here?" she asked. "This
shows that Davis hasn't been entirely honest with you about
something. All you have to do is find out what he's been hiding and
then go to your parents. They won't have their baby girl marrying a
liar!"

"But he'll never admit to me that he's lied
about anything. How will I find out what he's doing?" DeLisa
wailed.

"Because I'm gonna tell you, DeLisa," Secret
said to her in a quiet, calm voice.

Then she pointed to The Empress card that was on
the table.

"Okay, this card shows us that he's gotten
someone pregnant," Secret told her.

"You mean he's been cheating on me?" DeLisa
shrieked.

"I'm afraid so, honey."

"But who? And how could he keep a baby
hidden?"

"First of all, he doesn't know she's pregnant
yet. I'm not quite sure that she even knows, but she will
soon."

"Do you know her name?" DeLisa asked.

Secret had to pause with that one. She did know
who the girl was, but she had to figure out a way to make DeLisa
believe that she was seeing it in the cards, when, in fact, she
hadn't seen any of these things in the cards alone. All of it had
come from her special ability that she kept hidden for the most
part.

"Let me see if we can get a name for you,"
Secret said kindly, as she picked up her cards and re-shuffled
them.

She laid out a few new cards and pretended to
study them intently.

DeLisa was quite impatient and kept asking her
if she was getting anything. Secret held up her hand to silence the
girl. It was important to make it look good. Finally, she looked up
at DeLisa and spoke to her.

"I have a name," she said quietly. "Are you sure
you want to know?"

"Yes! I have to know, Secret! This might just
give me my life back!"

"Alright then, I'll tell you. I'm getting that
her first name is Bethany and her last name seems to be DuMonde.
Yes, I'm quite sure that's it. Bethany DuMonde."

DeLisa had suddenly gone quiet and her eyes were
wide.

"Are you sure that's her name?"

"Yes, honey, quite sure," Secret answered.
"What's wrong? Do you know her?"

"Actually, I do know her. I know her quite well.
She's my best friend."

Secret had also seen that, but she felt that it
would be better for DeLisa to work that out on her own.

"What will you do then?" she asked.

"It all makes so much sense now," DeLisa said.
"They always got along really well, and Davis wanted to invite her
to come with us sometimes when we would go to a movie or out to
eat. Not only that, but they would both be unavailable at the same
time when I wanted to go out for the night. Now, I know why."

"I'm very sorry, DeLisa," Secret said.

"Well, I'm not sure that I am," DeLisa laughed.
"I mean, sure, I'm kind of pissed that they went behind my back,
but this actually works out for me. I'm going to confront them and
then tell my parents. They definitely won't have me marrying a
cheater, liar, and the father of someone else's baby. Yes, the more
I think about it, this is perfect!"

"So, you're not upset then?" Secret asked.

"Not really. Funny, isn't it? Most girls would
be destroyed over something like this, but I'm totally fine! Of
course, Bethany will no longer be my friend because I can't have a
best friend that would do something like this to me. But I'm
actually fine. Thank you so much, Secret!"

Reaching across the table, Secret took DeLisa's
hands in hers and gently squeezed them.

"You're going to be just fine, DeLisa," she
said. "I promise. Your next relationship is going to be so much
happier."

"I'm already a lot happier! You've helped me
regain my life. I can't thank you enough!"

Releasing DeLisa's hands, Secret rose from the
table.

"Just continue to believe in yourself and you'll
find that everything will be wonderful."

DeLisa continued to thank Secret all the way to
the front door. In fact, she even left a pretty hefty tip on top of
Secret's usual fee.

Smiling as she watched the girl go down her
front walk, Secret felt happier than she had in a while. So far,
she hadn't noticed any more of those feelings of being watched.
That had gone a long way to relaxing her, even though she was still
on the alert in case they returned.

She was starting to think that maybe she had
imagined it all. Then she would remember that empty booth in the
bar and the abandoned glass of wine. She knew that someone had been
watching her that particular night. Maybe it was just a fluke. At
any rate, she wasn't going to let it consume her.

DeLisa was her last client for the day and now
the evening belonged to her. Just as she was headed into the
kitchen to figure out dinner, her cell phone rang. Glancing at the
caller ID, she saw that it was Adele Dubois.

Bloody hell
, she thought.
That's the
last thing I need tonight!
She decided to let it go to voice
mail. There was no way that she would be able to handle that woman
at the end of the day. It was why she always scheduled Adele's
appointments at the beginning of the day, or at least only one or
two into the day. She had virtually no energy left after a reading
with Adele.

A mere few minutes later, as she stood surveying
the contents of her refrigerator, her phone rang again. Adele. Once
more, she let it go to voice mail.

After another five calls, Secret gave up and set
the phone to silent. She would never get anything to eat at this
rate.

Finally, deciding on a salad and some boiled
shrimp, she set out what she needed to fix a light dinner. She just
bought the shrimp, fresh the day before, and now was the perfect
time to cook them. Starting the shrimp boiling, she made the salad
while they cooked. In the middle of her preparations, her doorbell
rang.

She froze. Surely Adele wouldn't be so bold as
to simply show up here uninvited or without an appointment. Moving
silently to the front of the house, she ducked into her reading
room briefly and glanced out the window so that she could see her
driveway.

Oh, thank god! It's only Marielle! What a
relief,
she thought.

Secret hurried to the door and opened it for her
friend.

"Hey, I didn't expect to see you tonight!" she
said to Marielle.

"Well, I tried to call you a little earlier to
see what you were doing tonight but no one answered. Since I was
almost here anyway, I thought I would just stop by."

"You're just in time for dinner! Come with me to
the kitchen. I'm sorry about the phone. I had to turn it off
because Adele kept calling."

"Adele! What did she want?" Marielle asked.

"I have no idea," she replied. "I didn't want to
answer; at least not until I had eaten. But she kept calling and
calling. I haven't even listened to her voice mails."

"Hmm, well, do you mind if I listen to them?"
Marielle laughed as she picked up Secret's phone.

"Knock yourself out," she replied. "By the way,
I'm having boiled shrimp and salad. Do you want to join me?"

"Oh yum! Will you make your special homemade
cocktail sauce?"

"Of course! It wouldn't be right otherwise."

Both women laughed, as Secret went back to her
salad preparations and Marielle put in the code for Secret's voice
mail. As she listened, her face went from smiling to outraged to
concerned.

"Hey, Secret," she said. "I think you need to
listen to these. She sounds like she might actually be on her way
over here."

"Oh, God! Here, let me have the phone," Secret
said as she reached for it.

"Your first unheard message: 'Secret, you've got
to be there! Oh, my God, I've got to see you! I need a reading!
Sam's whore has finally done it! She's made him file a restraining
order against me! I've got to find out what to do, please...'"

"End of message. Your second unheard message:
'Secret, it's me again! I'm on my way to your house. You've got to
do a reading for me! Don't say no. I'm almost there!'"

"End of message. Your third unheard message:
'Don't you ever answer your damned phone? What kind of a psychic
are you if you don't know when to answer you own phone? I'm almost
there. You can't say no!'"

Secret didn't bother listening to the rest of
them. Deleting the messages, she set her phone on the breakfast
bar.

"Well, now what do I do?" she said almost to
herself.

"I'd call the cops if I were you," Marielle
said. "She sounds unhinged, sweetie."

"I can't call the cops," Secret said. "I don't
have a great relationship with them. I'm not exactly their favorite
person."

"Oh, please! This is fucking New Orleans! Home
of the Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. Surely, they can move past the
fact that you're a Tarot reader."

"If they knew the rest of it, they'd probably
tar and feather me. But it seriously isn't the best idea to get
them involved. If Adele is really headed here, I'll just have to
handle her when she arrives."

"Do you still have that handgun in your
nightstand?"

"Yes, but it's not going to come to that. We're
not shooting anyone."

"If you say so."

Just as they were starting to settle back into
preparing food, they heard the squeal of tires on the street.
Exchanging looks, they set down their glasses of wine and headed to
the front of the house. Sure enough, Adele had arrived and was
flying up the sidewalk to the front door. Her car was parked across
Secret's small, but carefully maintained yard at an odd angle.

Adele looked like a mad woman.

As they watched her approach through the window
of the reading room, Marielle started shaking her head.

"Now can I convince you to call the cops?" she
asked.

Secret was actually a bit unnerved by this new
development, but she focused on this situation and knew that no one
was going to get hurt by it.

"No, Mari, we won't need them," she replied.

At that moment, Secret's doorbell began to ring
over and over again. "Secret! Secret! You've got to let me in!
Please, Secret, I need to see you!" the woman screamed in between
ringing the doorbell.

Finally, Secret opened the wooden door, but not
her glass storm door. Up close, Adele looked even more frightening
than she had coming up the walk.

"Adele, you know this is highly inappropriate.
I'm not seeing clients tonight. Call me in the morning and we can
set something up. You need to go home now."

"Secret, you don't understand what that bitch
has done!"

"Yes, Adele, I do understand. I heard it on your
message. But I simply cannot see you tonight. If you don't leave on
your own, I'll have to call the police."

"No!" she screamed. "You've got to let me
in!"

Suddenly, with almost superhuman strength, Adele
lifted one of the medium size clay pots filled with plants that sat
on either side of the front door. Before anyone knew what was
happening, she threw that pot through the glass door, completely
shattering it.

After that, everything happened so quickly that
neither Secret nor Marielle could totally recall the events. What
they did know, is that Adele was quite suddenly yanked up and away
from the door. In her place stood a rather tall man with jet black
hair, aquamarine eyes, high cheekbones, and quite a sensual
mouth.

The man was facing Adele, speaking to her in low
urgent tones. She seemed to be under some sort of spell as she
nodded slowly and finally walked down the steps and back out to her
car. As she drove, they all watched her brake lights disappear down
the street.

Only then, did the man turn to fully face
them.

"I don't believe that you'll be having any more
trouble from that woman," he said in a deep, pleasantly modulated
voice. There was a slight accent that Secret couldn't identify but,
in the end, that was of little importance.