Claimed by the Immortal (The Claiming) (17 page)

People passed, some of them nodding and smiling, others totally ignoring her. She walked swiftly, stretching her muscles, bringing up her heart rate.

She wouldn’t go too far, she told herself. Just up a couple of blocks in a straight line so that if Chloe looked out for her she would be visible.

But damn, it felt so good to be out and moving again.

Even here in this poorer part of the city there were plenty of shop windows to glance into. Occasionally she paused at a display of exotic foods. One of the things she liked in this city was the blending of so many cultures. Here a Korean food store, there an Indian food store. Tiny little hole-in-the-wall restaurants scattered along the street issued enticing aromas of foreign dishes.

The farther she walked away from Jude’s office, the more the place felt like a real neighborhood. Most of the shops and restaurants were at or just below street level, with apartments rising over their heads. She began to hear different languages along with the different aromas.

This was one part of the city she had never worked, and she began to think she had missed something very special.

She had walked only a few blocks, though, when the sense of being watched turned into a strong sense of presence. Looking away from lighted windows, she realized that twilight was coming on faster than she’d anticipated. Either that or she’d lost track of time.

Turning, she started back to Jude’s office, reaching for whatever power she had used yesterday to keep that elemental away.

For a little while it pulled back. But then she felt it move in again, and the sensation was so strong that she quickened her step.

God, it was getting dark fast. What had she been thinking?

The urge to run was growing in her, but she forced it down. Whatever this force was that was coming after her, some instinct told her that fear would only feed it.

Instead she clung to that willpower she had found only yesterday, concentrating her thoughts on forcing the thing back. It gave a little, allowing her to breathe more easily.

Just another block, but night was almost here. She judged by the light that the sun must have nearly finished setting. Soon the shadows between the buildings would become inky.

Almost as soon as she had the thought, they did just that. At the same time, the watcher returned and her skin began to crawl. It was there—it was close. She willed it away, but this time it failed to yield.

Half a block to go. She gathered everything inside herself and envisioned herself sending out a blast of light against the elemental. This time it barely hesitated before it was on her again.

Her chest began to hurt. She felt cold all the way to her bones where only moments ago she had been warm enough. Panic fluttered in her, demanding she flee, but how could she flee this thing?

She could see no one else on the street. Where had everyone gone? She hurried her pace even more, while imagining her body growing warmer, her chest easing. A few moments of success...

Then she felt as if the wind had been knocked from her. She couldn’t catch her breath at all. Weakness poured through her, causing her legs to give way. Her diaphragm seemed to have frozen, and no matter how hard she tried to draw air into her lungs, it wouldn’t come.

She was going to die right here and now, and her mind fought back darkness, seeking something, anything, to push that elemental away before it was too late.

The night dimmed even more and she realized she was blacking out. It was over. She made one more monumental effort of will to drive that thing away, to gather one more breath.

She failed. Darkness moved in, claiming her and she had one last conscious thought:
I’ve been such an idiot.

Just as the last of the world seemed to fade, she heard Damien shout, “Caro!”

An instant later, steel arms surrounded her and lifted her. Like a newborn baby, she gasped for her breath. This time her lungs filled.

Safe now, she let go, let darkness claim her, a darkness that wasn’t supernatural at all.

* * *

Damien, torn between fury and fear, put the unconscious Caro on the couch. Terri immediately knelt beside her to check her out.

“What the hell were you thinking, Chloe?” he heard Jude demand.

“She was asleep. How was I supposed to know she’d leave because I spent ten minutes in the shower. I thought she knew better than that.”

Damien didn’t care about Chloe’s failure, didn’t care about anything except seeing Caro’s eyes open again. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been beside himself with fear, but he was now.

“Get a blanket,” Terri said. “She’s too cold, but she’s breathing all right.”

Chloe raced away and returned with a heavy comforter. Damien insisted on covering Caro himself and tucking it around her. For the first time, he wished he had some excess body heat to offer, but he knew he didn’t. Not one iota. Awake, his body was just above room temperature, not enough to act like a heater.

He was not accustomed to cursing the fact that he was a vampire, but he cursed it now. He seldom had cause to think about the ways it made him useless or helpless, but Caro was constantly reminding him.

Yet he had to face the fact a mortal man could do little more at this point. If she was going to go out on her own, she’d do it, and so what if he couldn’t wrap himself in that comforter with her right now and warm her?

At least she was still alive. He wondered if he would ever tell her what he’d sensed when he’d seen her on the pavement, how he could feel that elemental surrounding her and consuming her. How he had sensed her very life force draining away. How he had nearly panicked about losing her.

No, probably not good to tell her all that, and certainly not before he sorted out his own feelings. Vampires had strong emotions, but panic usually wasn’t one of them.

Jude touched his arm. “She’ll be all right. You said you had something to do tonight?”

Damien had to shake himself back to the present from the moments just passed on the street.

“Yes. Caro and I were going to try to enhance our powers.”

Jude lifted a brow. “Yours are coming back? I thought you feared you’d lost them.”

“I had, but believe me, they’re coming back. Maybe it’s the proximity to this elemental stirring up things that have slept for so long. I don’t know. I just know that I’m finding some of them again, and to meet this bokor I need every bit possible at my disposal. I don’t even want to attempt to find him until I’m ready.”

“Which puts Caro in danger longer.”

“Not much longer. Although we’re going to have a serious talk about this tendency of hers to go walkabout.”

A quiet chuckle escaped Jude. “Good luck. How often do you think Terri listens to me?”

Terri, still perched beside Caro, looked up. “I listen to you all the time!”

“When it pleases you, madam.”

Her blue eyes twinkled a moment, then she returned her attention to Caro. “She’s going to be fine. She’s warming already. And I need to get to work.”

She rose and went to kiss Jude. “You stay here. You might have to do some hunting tonight.”

“Me? For what?”

“Maybe you can locate that bokor for Damien. Just be careful.”

“I am always careful,” he drawled.

“Sure. I’ve seen it. Turning yourself into a torch is very careful.” She cupped his cheek. “Behave for my sake.”

Then she grabbed her coat and left.

Damien squatted and touched Caro’s cheek. He could feel warmth there now, just a little. “Why isn’t she waking? She’s breathing, she’s warming.”

“I don’t know, but Terri didn’t seem to be worried.”

Damien almost said that Terri didn’t have as much reason to be concerned as he did, then he stopped himself. Such a thought was unfair. He knew Terri well enough to recognize how caring a doctor and a human being she was.

He was just frantic with concern for Caro, a very strange place for a vampire to be.

He didn’t want to think about what that might mean, couldn’t afford to now. He had to focus on the threat, focus on enhancing his powers, not on the strange places his heart might wander.

There was no time for distractions now. Now he had to concentrate on saving Caro and perhaps other humans from whoever had summoned that elemental. And there must be others at risk. That shopkeeper had been right: organizations lived on after the men who founded them. Right now, somewhere, there was probably a board making plans to continue what Pritchett had started.

The thought made him turn briefly to Chloe. “Is there a board of directors for Pritchett’s company? People who might continue with the development plans? Or did all that die with him?”

“I’ll check,” Chloe said. “That should be easy enough to find out.”

“I don’t know the law,” Jude remarked, “but it seems to me if there isn’t a board for his company, all his death does is make the properties available for sale, and along with them all the demolition permits. There’ll be an heir somewhere, I should think, and if he or she doesn’t want to take over, the buildings will be sold.”

“Yes, but that’s in the future,” Damien said. “I want to know who else might be at risk now.”

“Why?”

“Because someone besides Caro may be being stalked. And while I can keep Caro reasonably safe if she’ll just stop haring off on her own, there may be others in trouble right now who don’t even know it.”

“True. Not that I’m especially fond of people who would tear down the homes of others, but I definitely don’t approve of using powers to kill people. Any people. If you’re right, that would certainly mean we need to act as fast as possible.”

Damien looked down at the unconscious Caro and touched her cheek, testing its warmth. “As fast as possible,” he agreed. “But after this, we might have a slight delay. I don’t know if Caro will be up to enhancing her powers tonight.”

“What about you?” Jude asked.

“I can’t do it without her.”

Chapter 11

C
aro awoke in a state of near panic. She couldn’t move her arms, she still felt chilled deep inside and her head felt as if it had been pounded by a mallet. But as her eyes snapped open, she found herself looking into familiar midnight eyes.

“You’re okay,” Damien said. “You’re safe.”

She let her eyes close for a few seconds, struggling to make the mental shift from the last thing she remembered to her current state.
Cold. Safe.

She let go of fright and looked at Damien again. “I need to sit up.”

Instantly he pulled away the binding comforter and helped ease her into a sitting position. “How do you feel?”

“Weird. My head is killing me. I feel like I’m cold deep inside. But I’m here, obviously.”

“You must never do that again, not until we beat this elemental. My God, Caro, it was that close to killing you!”

“I know,” she whispered. She was used to taking risks, but she had to admit this had been a stupid one. “I thought I could push it away. I did before.”

“But it got your measure then. The bokor must have strengthened it.”

“Maybe.” She rubbed her temples.

“Coffee?” Chloe asked cheerily. “Or tea?”

“Coffee, please. Maybe it’ll help warm me up.” Then she fixed her gaze on Damien. “He strengthened it? How could he make it stronger? Why wouldn’t he have made it stronger to begin with?”

He settled back on the couch but took one of her hands in his. His skin felt slightly cool to her, which she supposed was a good sign despite the cold that seemed to fill her very center.

“Summoning these forces is a delicate balancing act,
Schatz.
The mage must ever take care that it doesn’t become so powerful he can’t control it. Naturally he wouldn’t want it to be any stronger than it must be to achieve his purpose.”

“But it’s stronger now?”

“So it would seem. The question is whether he did it to get at you, or whether it’s starting to escape his control. I suspect, though, that the bokor was behind this.”

“I still don’t get why it’s coming after me. Why should the bokor have been afraid that I saw what happened? Why in the world did he attach that thing to me? Surely he should have thought that no one would ever be able to prove anything.”

Damien shook his head a little. “I don’t read minds. But my suspicion is you may have originally been mistaken for one of its targets. Then you started pursuing the matter and became aware of its existence. The bokor might have become worried that you would find him. Certainly I’d think that he now has heard we’re looking for him. People talk. I think at some point the game changed, probably because of something you or we did.”

“So he may have strengthened it for that reason. But he can’t get at
you,
Damien.”

His expression turned slightly rueful. “I can’t guarantee that. I’m fairly sure that I’m not as easy for it to get at as you, but no guarantees.”

“The elemental, or the bokor, may not be aware you’re a vampire.”

“I hope not, although you figured it out readily enough.”

“I could see your aura,” she reminded him. “And then you moved faster than humanly possible. I’m reasonably good at putting things together.”

“Better than most, I think.”

She accepted a hot mug of coffee from Chloe gratefully. The first sip took some of the edge off the chill deep in her innards.

“So,” Damien said sternly, “will you promise not to go out alone again until we settle this?”

“It goes against my nature to be cooped up all the time. But yes, I promise I won’t do it again. I may need to get out and about, but I’m not stupid. I learned my lesson.”

“Thank you. You were so close to death,
Schatz.
Too close. I could feel that elemental draining you of life.”

“I felt it, too. I won’t get cocky again.”

“Good.” Then he astonished her by reaching out and hugging her to his side. He seldom did that, and after the way he had warned her there was just so much that he could pretend to be ordinary, she hadn’t looked for comforting touches from him.

She definitely liked it, however. Definitely liked his arm around her, liked being pressed to his side while she sipped her coffee. If she wasn’t careful, she might start to think there was something normal going on there.

But none of it was “normal” start to finish. Although as the department’s shrink had mentioned during her interview after that shoot-out recently, “What’s normal? There
is
no normal.”

Right now those sounded like wise words.

Then she remembered. Her breath caught. Anxiety filled her along with an inescapable heat. Frightened and longing both, she asked, “Aren’t we supposed to do something tonight?”

He hesitated. “After what just happened, I’m not sure you have the strength. Let’s wait and see.”

Wait and see?
How long could she stand having this looming over her? Another day of anticipation and nervousness that put her on edge so badly that she’d hardly sleep. That had probably played a large part in her decision to risk that walk.

“I don’t know if I can wait another day.”

His smile turned wry. “I wish you meant that the way it sounds.”

“What are you two talking about?” Chloe demanded.

Damien lifted a brow, eying Caro. “Do you feel well enough to go to your place?”

She felt an unexpected urge to laugh. “Yes, of course.”

Chloe grumbled, “Nobody tells me a damn thing. Get out of here, you two, and keep your secrets. I’m just the assistant anyway.”

* * *

Damien borrowed Jude’s car for the trip. First he loaded it with the bags full of his purchases, and then he escorted Caro out.

“So being a vamp has its limitations? Too many bags to carry?”

“I could carry them and you, but I don’t want to expose you to the cold just now.”

That was thoughtful of him. But as the buildings zipped by on the way to her apartment, her stomach turned to lead with apprehension. She had agreed to this ritual of his, but that didn’t mean she was entirely comfortable. Even more, she was on tenterhooks wondering if he would postpone it yet another day. How would she endure that?

But what if he was right that she wasn’t up to it now, after what had happened? She didn’t exactly feel as if she had regained all her strength yet, and her head still pounded, though not quite as much.

Not tonight, dear, I have a headache.
The old joke popped into her head and made her smile. When they arrived at her place, he carried all the bags while she led the way. Her legs felt a bit stronger now, but the butterflies in her stomach hadn’t eased one bit.

What now?
The question hovered over her like that elemental she sensed was still nearby.

Once in her apartment, however, things turned disappointingly ordinary. She made more coffee. Damien put the bags in her bedroom, then made his protective circle of salt once again, chanting in that strange language.

Then...nothing. They sat side by side on her couch, not touching. Neither of them moved. Oh, this was going to be maddening. Her nerves were already stretched tight.

Finally his voice filled the silence and agonizing anticipation. “Let’s see how fast you improve,” he said. “We have time.”

Time was what was killing her right now. Nervous as she was, she still wanted him to touch her. Wanted him closer. Even wanted him to drink from her again if that was the most he would do tonight.

It had been such an amazing experience and she was still trying to absorb the fact that giving a vampire her blood could be as pleasurable as any sex she had ever had. More enjoyable, actually.

“Have you fed?” she asked, her voice a little throaty.

“Of course.”

“Oh.”

A quiet chuckle escaped him and she looked at him. Smiling, he reached out to touch her hair, trace her cheek and bring his fingers to rest in the hollow of her throat. “I warned you would want to repeat the experience.”

“So?” His amusement irritated her. “I want to repeat it with
you,
not with just any vampire. There’s a difference, you know.”

“I know.” His face darkened. “Believe me, I know.” He turned his head, concealing his expression from her briefly. “I know,” he said yet again. “There’s danger there, too, Caro. Don’t become too attached to me. I might not be able to give you what you want.”

“What do you mean?” Her heart sank as she realized that she
did
want more from him than just a good lay. A lot more.

“I’m not exactly sure,” he admitted. “There’s danger here. I told you of it. But I’ve been around for nearly three millennia, Caro. In all that time I have never claimed anyone. Perhaps I can’t. But I have also never lingered that long with any one person. Perhaps I can’t.”

“So you’ve been a playboy all along?”

He considered before answering. “I suppose you could call it that. But I do have an opinion on this much. There is nothing sadder than to give your heart and not receive a heart in return. After all this time, you are the first to make me wonder if I have a heart. Perhaps I do. But what if you’re unhappy with what comes from that? Or worse, what if it turns out I don’t have a heart to give?”

Her stomach took another plunge to her toes, warning her that she was steadily getting into trouble. But along with that warning came the realization that she might not be able to control this. “That’s a risk in any relationship,” she finally said.

“It is,” he agreed. His fingers caressed her throat, sending shivers of delight to every nerve ending in her body. “I would drink from you, but you’ve been weakened enough by that attack.”

As she watched, his eyes grew golden again, and he smiled. “You are an adventure for me. I like it.”

“I’m an adventure how?”

“You surprise me. You engage me in ways few do. You don’t give in easily to restrictions, yet you enforce restrictions in your job. An interesting mix.”

“There are laws, and then there are other restrictions.”

“True,” he agreed. “But I sense a free spirit behind the uniform and badge. You don’t have to keep it cooped up all the time.”

“What do you mean by free spirit?” Although she liked the sound of it, she wasn’t sure what he meant.

“There’s a person inside who’d like to come out more often. I see glimpses of her. She’s a person who can desire a vampire, consider performing a ritual that scares her, that even wanted to be drunk from just to find out what it was like. The same person who took a dangerous walk today.”

“Maybe not so smart.”

“There’s a wealth of experience to be had by those willing to take the risks. I think you know that. Your job isn’t without its own set of risks.”

That was true. Every day that she put on her uniform, she never knew what she might face. Of one thing she was sure: her job seldom bored her. Maybe that was part of the reason she had chosen it. Not just as a reaction to what her grandmother tried to teach her, not as a reaction to a worldview that hadn’t been able to save her parents.

“I never thought of myself as an adrenaline addict.” But maybe she was.

“I wouldn’t call it that. But I think you like new experiences. You’re curious, and you want to taste a variety of fruit. So let yourself.”

Then he took her by surprise, sliding down the couch a bit and drawing her over until her head rested on his lap. “Do you mind?” he asked, running his fingers through her hair.

“Just don’t act so ordinary I start to expect it from you.”

He cracked a laugh and caressed her cheek with his cool fingertips. “I’ll never be ordinary.”

“Do you wish you were?”

“Before you, never.”

“And now?”

“Now, a few times, I’ve wished I were an ordinary man so I could be what you need.”

“How do you know what I need?” she demanded. But even as she made her demand, she felt the touch of his fingers, oh so gentle, like a caress to her soul. It softened her, and weakened her, in ways she liked. It was almost like a kind of relaxation, almost like the way she felt when she climbed into bed after a hard day. Her soul unleashed a sigh of contentment.

“Sometimes,” he said, “you need a man who doesn’t have to be afraid of comforting you. Or holding you.”

“Are you really that afraid?”

His fingers paused in their light strokes of her cheek and neck. “Not anymore,” he said finally. “Rest a little. Then we’ll see if you’re refreshed enough for the ritual. If not, it’ll have to wait another day.”

“I don’t want to wait. This is nerve-racking. And what if someone else dies?”

“But we can’t proceed if you’re still weak,
Schatz.
It won’t help either of us. It could even drain one of us. So we’ll wait and see.”

* * *

He could tell she didn’t like the part about waiting, but there was nothing else to be done about it. Self-denial in and of itself could enhance one’s strengths. He had frequently practiced it as a priest, often fasting. Then there was the other part—her weakness right now. She might be feeling strong enough, but he could tell she was still not fully recovered. There was a danger in that, the danger that she could take power away from him, albeit unconsciously, to restore her own.

No, this had to be as equal a give-and-take as he could ensure, one that would empower them both, not weaken one of them.

Otherwise he would have gladly started the ritual right this moment. He closed his eyes, his nostrils filled with all her enticing aromas, and imagined how it would be. The ritual cleansing, full of delights itself, to be carried out thoroughly and gently. His hands passing over every inch of her to wash away the detritus of the mundane world, hers washing him the same way.

The mere thought was enough to bring his Hunger to the brink of madness.

Then the candlelit, perfumed room, laying her down in her robe, binding her tenderly to her bed posts so she wouldn’t awaken the predator in him. Uncovering her delights little by little, massaging her with scented oils until her skin gleamed and she was breathless with need for him.

Until she glowed like white-hot fire beneath his ministrations. Oh, that was going to test his self-control.