Midnight Embrace (34 page)

She shuddered at the thought. This was better. Much better. Though she had been thoroughly repulsed by what she had to do to survive, once she got past it, it wasn't so bad. Almost pleasurable, in fact.

A life against nature
, Alesandro had said. But it was life. And she very much wanted to live.

Her skin felt suddenly tight, and she glanced up at the sky. It would soon be dawn. Where was Alesandro?

Analisa blinked back a tear as she watched Alesandro pull on his shirt. She wanted to beg him to stay. It wasn't fair that he should have to leave her, not now, when they had made love so tenderly. She wanted to rest in his arms, to fall asleep in his embrace.

As though sensing her thoughts, he sat down on the bed and drew her into his arms. "I do not want to leave you, 'Lisa, you know that."

"I know."

"I will come to you tonight as soon as I can."

"Promise?"

He nodded. "I love you, my sweet Analisa. Dream of me."

"I will." She lifted her face for his kiss, closed her eyes as he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply.

When she opened her eyes again, he was gone.

Elisabeth whirled around at the sudden knowledge that she was no longer alone. She breathed an audible sigh of relief when she saw it was Alesandro.

"Were you expecting someone else?" he asked with a wry smile.

"I can't stop thinking about Rodrigo."

Alesandro grunted softly. Sooner or later, he was going to have to do something about Rodrigo. He had let his old friend terrorize his life for far too long, partly because of the love he had once had for the man, partly because of the guilt he still carried for Serafina's death. But he had Analisa to think of. And now he had Elisabeth to consider. Like it or not, he was responsible for her, too.

He looked up, askance, as she tugged on his arm. "Alesandro, the dawn…"

With a nod, he took her by the hand. "Just relax," he murmured, and dissolved into the crypt, drawing her with him.

"It's so dark!" Elisabeth exclaimed.

"There is nothing to fear." He settled down on the feather mattress and drew her down beside him. "Do not try to fight it. Just close your eyes and let the darkness surround you."

"Will I dream?"

"No."

"Will I wake up?"

He laughed softly. "Of course."

He knew when the sun cleared the horizon, knew when the Dark Sleep took hold of her. Her hand tightened around his as it drew her toward oblivion, and then, abruptly, her grip loosened.

He could see her clearly in the dark. Enhanced by the glamour of the Dark Gift and her recent feeding, her skin was unblemished and had the bloom of youth. The lines around her eyes and mouth were less noticeable, her hair was thick and lustrous.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and followed her into the dark maw of oblivion. His last conscious thought, as always, was of Analisa.

Chapter Twenty-nine

Rodrigo paused, his head bowed over his latest victim. Eyes widening in disbelief, he buried his fangs in the tender skin of the woman's throat. He had done it! After four hundred years, Alesandro had bequeathed the Dark Gift to another, something Rodrigo had never done. Rodrigo licked a drop of blood from beneath the woman's ear. What had it been like, to bring another across, to watch the hellish transformation, to know that you had robbed a woman of life and yet given her another life in exchange?

He glanced down at the woman in his arms. Her vivid green eyes stared back at him, empty of expression. Her skin was pale, almost translucent. His mind probed hers. She was twenty-five years old. Her husband had mistreated her and she had run away. She had no children. Both of her parents were dead. She had a younger brother who was in prison, and a sister who was a nun.

He laughed softly. A diverse family, to be sure.

And what did she have to live for? He probed her mind again. She lived in a small room above the bakery where she worked for room and board and a mere pittance. She had considered taking her own life on several occasions, but lacked the courage to do so.

He grinned as he stared down at her, curious to know how she would react if he bestowed the Dark Gift upon her, and even more curious to know what it would feel like to drain her dry and then fill her with new life.

He probed her mind one more time, searching for her name.

"Kathleen Fowler." He spoke it aloud, savoring it on his tongue as he bent his head to her throat once more.

She shuddered in his arms, her skin growing more pale, her lips turning blue as he drained her life's force, and then, when her heartbeat had grown so faint even he could scarcely hear it, he tore a gash in his wrist and pressed it to her mouth.

"Drink, Kathleen," he purred. "Drink your fill and then come and walk eternity with me."

He closed his eyes as her mouth fastened on his wrist, her throat working frantically.

Rodrigo smiled faintly. What would Alesandro think when he discovered that another vampire walked among them?

Chapter Thirty

Analisa woke slowly, stretched, and then sat up with a jerk. Rising, she went to the window, drew back the heavy draperies, and raised the sash. Sunlight poured into the room, over her skin. For a moment, she closed her eyes and let the warmth wash over her. How good it felt on her face and arms.

Opening her eyes, she gazed at the scene below: the greening grass, the multitude of flowers blooming, the way the late afternoon sunlight shimmered on the small pool in the center of the gardens. How beautiful it looked! Poor Mrs. Thornfield. She would never see the beauty of this place again. Poor Alesandro, to have dwelled in darkness for four hundred years.

Feeling hungry, she rang for Frannie and asked the maid to have Cook prepare her something to eat.

"Dewhurst wants to know if you'll be wantin' the carriage brought round."

"The carriage?"

"He thought you might be wantin' to go visit Mrs. Thornfield."

"Oh. I… that is, I think I'd better wait and talk to Lord Alesandro."

Frannie eyed her strangely. "Yes, miss, as you wish. Will that be all?"

"Yes, for now."

With a curtsey, Frannie left the room.

The staff would most likely think her a heartless creature for not going to the hospital, Analisa thought with a sigh. Would it be better to make the trip and pretend to visit the housekeeper?

Sitting at her dressing table, she picked up her brush and ran it through her hair. She hated lying, but she could hardly tell Frannie and the others the truth.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror, trying not to think of Alesandro spending the night with Mrs. Thornfield. She told herself she was being foolish, that there was nothing to worry about. But she couldn't help being jealous.

Frannie returned a few moments later and filled the ewer with hot water. Analisa washed quickly. Frannie helped her dress, and she went downstairs to breakfast. Everything seemed to remind her of Mrs. Thornfield and Alesandro. She looked at the food on her plate. Never again would Mrs. Thornfield be able to enjoy one of Cook's sumptuous meals; Alesandro had not eaten solid food in four hundred years.

With a shake of her head, she finished her breakfast and left the table. She sent Dewhurst into town to pick up the mail and then spent a leisurely hour reading the morning paper. She was about to put it aside when she noticed a small article on the last page.

Body of unidentified young woman found on the roadside. Police say possible cause of death may be an animal attack, due to wounds in the victim's neck and amount of blood lost.

Fear congealed in the pit of Analisa's stomach. The woman had been killed by a vampire. She knew it as surely as she knew the sun would rise in the east. But which vampire?

She laughed mirthlessly. Only a few months ago, she had not believed such creatures existed, and now she knew three of them, one of them intimately!

Frannie brought her a pot of tea a short time later. Feeling strangely numb, Analisa sipped it slowly. So much had happened since she'd met Alesandro. Her life had changed in ways she had never imagined. She had a closet filled with dresses and gowns, shoes and silk stockings and delicately made undergarments. She had learned to read and write, she knew how to do fancy needlework, how to behave at a large dinner party. She had fallen in love, experienced its joy, and its pain, basked in the pleasure of her lover's touch.

Her lover. Where was he now?

Putting the half-empty cup aside, she went outside to wander aimlessly through the gardens, trying not to imagine Alesandro and Mrs. Thornfield hunting for prey the night before, or lying side by side now, trapped in the Dark Sleep.

Finding herself standing outside the barn, she opened one of the big double doors and went inside. Alesandro's big black devil horse whinnied softly when she approached the stall.

"Hello, Deuce," she murmured.

The stallion's ears twitched at the sound of her voice.

"Do you miss him?" She took a step forward, warily reaching out with one hand to stroke the horse's neck. His coat was as smooth as silk. She stroked the stallion's neck for several minutes and then, growing braver, she took another step forward and rested her forehead on his shoulder. "I miss him, too," she murmured. "He asked me to marry him, you know, and I said I would, but now—"

"Now?"

She whirled around, her hand going to her heart. "Alesandro! You frightened me." She looked past him to the doorway, surprised to see that the sun was already setting. "I didn't know it was so late… where is Mrs. Thornfield?"

"She is up at the house, getting her things."

"Oh. What reason will she give for leaving your service?"

"She is going to tell them she has decided to retire." His gaze focused on her face, the blue of his eyes looking almost black.

"What's wrong?" she asked, disconcerted by the intensity of his look.

"Have you changed your mind, 'Lisa?"

She bit down on her lip. He must have heard her talking to his horse, she thought.

" 'Lisa?" He stood there, vampire still, waiting for her answer. He was wearing black again, and she wondered absently if there was some sort of vampire code that decreed they must always be attired in black.

"I haven't changed my mind." Seeing him, hearing his voice, chased all her doubts away.

"This is not the first time you have had second thoughts about us," he said quietly. "Not that I can fault you for that, considering all that has happened."

"I have no doubts when we are together," she said, "so perhaps you should never leave my side."

He closed the distance between them and drew her into her arms. "I never should have let it come to this," he remarked, shaking his head ruefully. "I did not intend for this to happen. In four hundred years, I have allowed no mortal to get close to me, to matter to me."

She tilted her head back so she could see his face. "Would you rather I were a vampire, as you are?"

He had thought of it many times, but it was the first time she had mentioned it. The idea filled him with excitement, and horror.

"It would make things easier in many ways," he admitted, "but I would not see you changed, Analisa. I love you as you are."

"But I won't always be like this."

He brushed a lock of hair from her cheek, ran his thumb back and forth across the velvet smoothness of her skin. "You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen," he said quietly, "but I am not in love with your appearance, 'Lisa. I love the gentleness of your heart, the bravery of your soul."

"So you would love me just the same if I were old and wrinkled?"

He nodded.

"And it would make no difference when we made love?"

"Perhaps I would blow out the candles."

She made a face at him, and then she laughed.

"It is good to hear you laugh." He brushed a kiss across the crown of her head, then drew her up hard against him. "What am I do to with you?"

"Marry me, my lord," she said, "as you promised." As soon as they were wed, she would order him some new coats, she thought. Of course, he looked elegant in black, but she thought he would look equally gorgeous in blue to match his eyes.

"You have but to name the day," he assured her, then rested his chin on the top of her head. "Rodrigo has bequeathed the Dark Gift to another."

"When? Why?"

"Last night. I do not know why." He frowned. "Who can say why that madman does what he does? Perhaps, like me, he grows weary of being alone."

"A good guess, Dr. Avallone."

Alesandro whirled around to face the intruder standing just inside the barn door. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I have come to settle what is between us once and for all," Rodrigo replied. His gaze moved slowly, insolently, over Analisa, and then he licked his lips. "And she will go to the victor."