Night Walker (16 page)

Edie stood. “I have to work early tomorrow anyway. I had fun with you guys today.”

“We’ll have to do it again soon,” Lori said. “Maybe next time Calisto can join us... ”

Kate gave Lori a quick, grateful hug. “I can only hope.” They walked through the calm night to the excellent curbside
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parking spot Lori scored.

“Sure you don’t want a ride over to your car?” Lori asked.

“That’s okay.” Kate handed them their bags. “I’m just around the block. I could use the walk.”

“Be careful,” Edie said.

“I will. See you guys soon.”

Kate watched them drive away, waving before she walked toward the end of the block. Staring up at the moon, she wondered if somewhere in the city Calisto was looking at it too. It made the world seem smaller somehow, like they were closer together, sharing a moment, even though they were probably miles apart.

She shivered and kept walking. As she rounded the corner, she suddenly had the feeling she was being watched. The hair on the back of her neck rose to stand on end, and her pulse quickened. She picked up her pace, listening to everything around her. She didn’t hear another set of footsteps, but she didn’t turn around to check.

She was too afraid of what she might see.

What did newscasters instruct women to do when they walked alone? Keep your head up and have your keys out and ready. Now if she could only find her keys.

Kate groped through her purse, hurrying toward her car in the parking lot with her head held high, praying the paranoia was all in her mind and no one really followed her. Finally, she found her keys and grasped them tightly. Almost there.

Her instincts screamed at her to run, but she managed to cage her fears.

Clasping her keys in her fist, she walked toward her car where it sat under the dim yellow street lamp in a parking lot. Her inner voice begged her to hurry, more than certain she was in danger, but before she could run, something sharp poked through the back of her t-shirt.

“Scream, and you’re dead.”

120 LISA KESSLER

Chapter Fourteen

After he fed, Calisto wandered the dark streets of downtown San Diego, searching for the Fraternidad’s new ambassador, the fool who chose to break into his home and leave behind incriminating photos.

Fury churned in his gut at the thought. His pursuit of the arrogant bastard yielded no leads since he had no idea whom he was looking for.

Yet.

He’d already visited the Mission de Alcala, but he didn’t find anything new. None of the priests knew of the arrival of any monks from Spain. His stalker appeared to be keeping his presence hidden from the other priests as well.

Without a face or a name, he couldn’t search for mortals who might have seen the monk, which made his hunt even more futile.

Only by opening to all of the mortal thoughts around him could he locate the monk who dared to expose his existence. It would be an overwhelming task in such a large city, but he had no other choice.

Closing his eyes, Calisto braced himself for the pain and lowered his mental shields, welcoming all of the silent voices around him, searching for the thoughts of a monk who trespassed inside of his home.

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Entwined within the myriad of voices and thoughts, he heard a mental cry that filled his heart with terror.
Please God don’t let me
die…

He knew that voice. It haunted his every waking moment.

Kate.

By the sound of her plea, she was in trouble. But where was she?

Forcing himself to remain calm, Calisto struggled to find her, his mind searching for any others who might have seen her. Before he found any mental trace of her, he heard her scream.

He followed the sound, racing toward her as fast as his body would allow. Until the night settled into an eerie silence. He waited, listening, praying for a sign. His muscles contracted, ready to launch into action as panic festered inside him.

It was too quiet.

A delicious scent teased his senses.

Blood.

He tracked it to a dimly lit parking lot behind a broken-down liquor store. But he wasn’t prepared for the scene before him.

Kate lay facedown on the cracked pavement of the parking lot, struggling to break free from her attacker. The man crouched on top of her, his hand tangled in the back of her hair, pressing her face against the blacktop while his other hand held the blade of a knife against her throat.

“I told you not to scream, stupid bitch!” he said, looking around to be sure they hadn’t attracted any attention.

As the mugger reached for her spilled purse, Calisto emerged from the darkness, eyes glowing crimson with pure, primal fury. He yanked the leather-clad man away from Kate and held him off the ground.

Before the man uttered a sound, Calisto hit him with all his strength, feeling the bones of the man’s face shatter under the force of his blow. But his rage wasn’t appeased, and hearing the man’s blubbering cries wasn’t enough to atone for harming Kate. He wanted to rip the man’s head right off his shoulders, but Kate was too close.

Instead, he threw the mugger away in disgust, finding some solace 122 LISA KESSLER

in the hollow thump as he connected with the graffiti-covered back wall of the liquor store that bordered the parking lot. The sight of the bloody body embedded in the crumbling stucco further satisfied Calisto, bringing a smug smile to his face. The man now resembled a bug smashed on a car windshield and it seemed a fitting end.

The scent of blood instantly surrounded him, intoxicating him with its fragrant call. Streams of it trickled down the wall from the mugger’s lifeless body. Such a waste—

“Calisto?”

The sound of her voice shocked him back into the moment. He turned and knelt beside her, hoping to block her view of the carnage that, only moments ago, was her attacker.

“I am here,” he whispered.

She nodded and her eyes drifted closed. She lost consciousness.

His hands trembled, inspecting her wounds. He couldn’t bear to lose her again. If only he had gotten here sooner. He smoothed her hair back, looking over her bruised face. Other than a split lower lip, a minor scrape on her cheek, and a bump on her forehead, she seemed otherwise unharmed. The haze of panic and rage gradually thinned.

He needed to get her far from the crime scene before the police arrived. He couldn’t risk having any connection to the bizarre death they were going to find plastered against the wall of the old liquor store.

After retrieving her purse and car keys, he scooped her into his arms. Slowly, he scanned the perimeter for any sign of a security camera. The yellow streetlamp sputtered, apparently the only witness to Kate’s attack. Satisfied they hadn’t been seen, he carried her to the old Volkswagen convertible.

Looking down at her face in the moonlight, his gaze strayed to her mouth. Part of him was sickened by his own attraction to the blood pooling on her lower lip. The scent enticed the beast inside of him, teasing his thirst, and seeing its rich redness on her sensual lips was almost more than he could bear. It awoke the predator in him, and right now he wanted nothing more than to be a mortal man again. A man who could offer her a future she deserved. A man she
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could love.

He didn’t have time for these thoughts, though. Not right now.

Forcing his gaze from her face, he reached to open the passenger door of her car, frowning when it only opened a couple of inches. He tugged, but the door pulled back. He bent closer to the car and found the cause of the problem. The sound of his own laughter surprised him. He forgot about the elastic band tethered to keep the door closed.

Dear God, what a mess of a car.

He almost heard her telling him again that she was “restoring” the car and it just needed a new passenger door.

Shifting her slightly, he held her in one arm and reached inside to unclasp the elastic strap from the door handle. When he took a step back, the door creaked and fell open. He carefully lowered her into the passenger seat and reattached the elastic bungee strap to hold the door closed again.

He stared down at her for a moment, wanting to heal every cut on her soft skin. But he couldn’t, not yet. He needed to get her, and her car, far from this place so neither he nor Kate would be implicated in any way with the gruesome murder site.

It also meant he would have to drive.

In all his years, he had never driven an automobile. The closest he had come was watching various assistants through the years as they chauffeured him. He wasn’t sure he could even remember how to start the car, but right now he had no choice.

Grudgingly, he got into the driver’s seat, and finding the lever underneath, he pushed it back so he sat comfortably behind the wheel. After trying three different keys, he found one that slipped into the ignition.

From what he had seen over the past hundred years, driving was not a complex operation, and he was an immortal with reflexes far more keen than a human man.

How difficult could it be?

He turned the key and nearly jerked the wheel off the steering column when the car surprised him by lurching forward. The car went 124 LISA KESSLER

silent. The engine wasn’t running. What was he doing wrong?

He stared at the gearshift, wondering if he should move it. His frustration reared up, but his agitation would not make the car drive itself. He had to keep a cool head.

Not knowing what else to try, he pushed one of the pedals at his feet to the floor and turned the key again. This time the car didn’t move, and it roared to life. Grasping the gearshift, he jammed it into the first position and glanced over at Kate.

Why couldn’t she have owned a car with an automatic transmission?

Shaking his head, he put some pressure on the gas pedal and slowly released the clutch. Thankfully the car rolled a few feet, but without warning it jumped forward. He pressed the clutch back to the floor before the engine lost power again.

Calisto slammed his hand against the wheel, muttering under his breath in Spanish. At this rate it would take him all night to drive her home.

The faded yellow convertible pitched forward again, threatening to stall as he continued out of the parking lot, thankful it was late. The streets were fairly empty. At least he wouldn’t get into an accident with another car. Her car staggered ahead, lurching each time he tried to release the clutch, bouncing and jostling them both until Kate finally stirred and woke up.

§

“Are we out of gas or something?”

Calisto watched her with a tight smile. “Not exactly.” Kate winced in pain when she laughed. “You can’t drive a stick-shift, can you?”

“Does it show?” Calisto pulled over, finally allowing the engine to stall.

She nodded her head slowly to avoid more pain. “Just a little.

What happened?”

“You don’t remember?”

“I remember being mugged. And I remember seeing you, but everything after that is blank.” She watched his eyes as Calisto
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reached over to brush her hair back from her face, and his touch sent shivers through her body. This wasn’t how she had hoped she would run into him, but she learned a long time ago fate didn’t always work out the way you expected.

“He ran off when I found you. I tried to take you back to my house to clean up your wounds, but I am afraid your car had other plans.”

“I think I can drive.”

“Are you sure?” Calisto studied her. “You hit your head when he attacked you. I—”

“How did you find me?” Kate interrupted.

“I heard you scream. I got there as quickly as I could.”

“Thank you.” Unexpected tears filled her eyes. “I was so scared. I thought he was going to kill me… or… ” Calisto turned and pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair while she wept. She’d never been so terrified. What if Calisto hadn’t heard her? What if no one had come to her aid?

Would she be in his arms right now, or in a morgue?

He whispered against her hair. “You are safe. No one will ever harm you again.”

Something about the way he said it made her believe him. She felt protected in his arms, and gradually her tears faded.

“I hoped I would see you again, but this wasn’t how I pictured it would happen.”

Calisto smiled, drawing back to meet her eyes. “I was under the impression you wanted nothing more to do with me, no?”

“I’m not sure what I want anymore,” she said.

He placed a tender kiss to her forehead and held her close.

“Mercy Hospital is not far from here.”

“No, we don’t need to do that.” Just the thought of the health insurance nightmare of going to an emergency room made her head hurt. “I’m just scraped and shaken up. I’ll be all right.”

“Where are you staying? We can park your car and I will call a taxi.”

“No,” Kate trembled, shaking her head slowly. “I’m sorry. I don’t 126 LISA KESSLER

want to be alone just yet.”

“Then come back to my house. I will clean your wounds and you can rest.”

She winced when she pulled back to meet his eyes. “Are you a nurse?”

He tenderly brushed the backs of his fingers down her uninjured cheek.

“Do you need one?” He smiled.

Grinning, she asked, “Do you ever answer questions?”

“My answers do not please you?”

Kate rolled her eyes at him, laughing again, and flinched. “Stop it… It hurts when I laugh.”

“I am sorry. I would rather see you laugh than cry.” She smiled. “Let’s find a safe place to leave my car… And I better drive before you give us both whiplash.” Calisto nodded and handed her the keys. “As you wish.”
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Chapter Fifteen

An hour later, the cab pulled away from Calisto’s driveway. He helped her inside his house and up the stairs to the master bedroom.

She looked around the room, her gaze lingering on the blank walls and undecorated furniture, as if she wondered why he hadn’t bothered to make the spaces cluttered and lived-in.