Shiver (Night Roamers) (7 page)

“
Don’t those earrings bother you?” I asked incredulously.

She
touched her ears, then threw her head back and laughed so hard, I saw a hint of fang. “Why, because they’re ‘cross’ earrings?”

“Well, yeah.”

She waved her hand at me. “No, not at all. I like garlic, too, by the way. And don’t get me started on holy water. I’d bathe in it if I had to; wouldn’t bother my skin one bit.”

Obviously, my knowledge of
true vampires was crap. I’d already learned that they could survive in the sun. Because of their extremely sensitive eyes, they just preferred… not to.

I sat down across from her on an oversized
lime and pink beanbag chair. “So, did you hear about Duncan?” I asked, gauging her reaction.

Her eyes
softened. “My dad told me about it. It’s tragic.”

“Tragic?
” I looked at her in horror. “It’s a nightmare. Ethan showed up last night, I ended up in the hospital, and Duncan is missing,” I grumbled. “Tragic is even an understatement.”

“
I’m sorry for your loss,” she answered. “Obviously, if Ethan got his hands on him and he’s missing, he’s… dead.”

“
What if he isn’t dead? You have to help me find him,” I begged, hating myself for having to do it.

She sighed an
d stood up. “I’ll do what I can – because we’re almost family now. Plus, I really like Duncan. He’s a cutie.”

Cringing, I ignored the “family” comment.
“Have you or any of the others seen Ethan around?” I asked.

She turned to me. “No, but Ethan will be found only if he wants to be found.”

Just then, my mom knocked on the door and opened it. “Nikki, Caleb’s here already. Oh, hi, Celeste,” she said, smiling. “I didn’t know you were in here.”

“I
decided to drop by to see if I could help in any way.”

My mom walked over and gave her a hug.
“Oh, you’re such a sweetheart.”

As sweet as a ghost pepper
, I thought.

We followed my mother d
ownstairs, where Caleb was lounging in the great room. As soon as he saw us, he stood up and gave us one of his electric smiles.

“Good, you made it
, Celeste,” he said, stepping towards her. He hugged her close and I caught him whispering something into her ear.

She nodded.

“Anne, sweetheart,” asked Caleb, after releasing his daughter. “Do you have any coffee? I’m simply wiped out.”

My mother smiled at him adoringly. “Of course, I’ll fix you a cup. Black, right?”

“Yes. Thanks, hon.”

She nodded. “Anyone else?” she asked
.

Celeste and I both shook our heads.

After my mom went into the kitchen, Celeste quickly headed for the door.

“You’re leaving already
?” I asked.

“She’s going to make sure we’re not being watched,” interrupted Caleb. “I sensed another presence when I arrived.”

I looked towards the windows, which were covered with blinds, and my stomach clenched. “Oh,” I said.

“
Don’t worry; it’s probably nothing, maybe a deer or bear. Now, sit down,” said Caleb, motioning towards one of the club chairs, “and tell me what happened, last night.”

I sank down into it
. “Um, okay.”

He
moved across from me and leaned against the arm of the other chair while I gave him a rundown of the last twenty-four hours. I watched as his face darkened when I mentioned Ethan.

“He’s lucky to be alive,” he growled
, standing up. He began to pace. “I let him live and now he dares to disobey me? This won’t do.”

The last time I’d seen Caleb this angry was when he’d caught Ethan trying to seduce me.
That was the night he’d banished Ethan from Shore Lake. The last time I’d actually even spoken to Ethan.

I swallowed. “So, do you think he killed Duncan?”

Caleb turned to me, his eyes glowing slightly. “Probably, he’s always been a loose cannon. Never liked to follow the rules much, either. After meeting you, he became even more unruly.”

Normally Caleb didn’t frighten me
, but the way he was looking at me now was a little unnerving. There was a definite hunger fueled by rage that I saw reflected in his eyes, and something told me he was trying to restrain himself.

I stood up and moved farther away
as nonchalantly as I could. “So, do you think he murdered those girls, too?”

I watched as h
is eyes began to glow even brighter. I guess talking about dead girls fired him up.

He licked his lips and nodded. “Possibly. I think it
was definitely a Roamer. There was blood missing from the girls.”

“What about the others in your gr
oup? Maybe they killed them and not Ethan?”

When he smiled
this time, I could see his sharp fangs. “Oh…I know where this is going,” he said, leaning forward. “The thought of him feeding on humans scares you.”

“Well, y
eah!” I said. “And to be honest, you’re kind of scaring me right now, the way you’re looking at me – like you’re ready to pounce or something. Caleb, I seriously doubt my mom would be too happy if something happened to me and you were the only person around.”

He closed his eyes for a few seconds
, and when he opened them back up, I noticed a change. “Sorry,” he smiled. “I haven’t fed for a while. Sometimes the hunger is so strong, it takes control.”

“Great,” I muttered.
“Maybe you should feed before you come to visit from now on.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “You’re safe with me.
I can control it.”

From the way he
had been looking at me before, I wasn’t so sure.

“What about my mother?”
I asked.

“What about your mother?”

“She’s starting to look like a holocaust victim.”

He frowned. “It’s the cancer. I told you before. It’s ravaging her body.”

I raised my eyebrows. “
Are you sure it’s not from being bitten by you?”

He licked his lips and smiled. “I don’t think you know what you’re talking about.”

“You told me…”

Just then
, we heard screams of terror coming from the kitchen, and Caleb disappeared through the doors with lightning speed.

I jumped up to follow him when the front door crashed open. As I turned to look, something g
rabbed me and I was whisked outside into the darkness.

I struggled with my captor as we sped through the darkness, but he tightened his hold until I could do nothing but await my fate. When we finally stopped, we were in some kind of cold, abandoned factory. The moment we landed, his mouth began ravaging my flesh.

“Ethan,” I gasped, trying to dislodge myself from his embrace.

“Oh, God I’ve missed you,” he groaned, his lips trailing a wave of heat all along my neckline.

With all my might, I shoved
him away. “Please,” I breathed, as his icy blue eyes locked with mine. The raw hunger reflected there terrified me and I took a step back.

He
glanced down at my bandaged wrist and scowled. “What happened to your arm, are you okay?”

I stared at him incredulously. “Okay?
Am I okay? You just kidnapped me and the last time we were together… actually, the last two times… you almost killed me.”

Ethan stepped towards me and gripped my shoulders. “
No. That’s not true,” he murmured. “I’d never harm you, not intentionally.”

“You drained me of too much blood, Ethan. And then last night…”

He raised his eyebrows. “Last night?”

I glared at him. “Yeah, last night! You showed up and scared the shit out of me and Duncan
! The truck rolled, I ended up in the hospital and Duncan… where is he, by the way? What have you done with him?”

“I don’t know what you’
re talking about,” he answered with a totally perplexed look. “I just got back into Shore Lake tonight.”

“That’s bull cr
ap!” I hollered, hitting him with my good arm. “I saw you last night. Don’t lie to me!”

“I swear I wasn’t here
. In fact, I’ve been with Drake in New York and it wasn’t until tonight that Julian found me and told me what was happening. I rushed back here to make sure you were okay.”

I stared at him, wondering if he was insane. The person staring at me last night
was definitely Ethan. Unless he had a twin – a vampire twin – there was no mistaking his handsome face. He had to have been lying.

“You’re not going to tell me what you did to Duncan, are you?” I whispered
in horror.

“I haven’t seen that guy since the night I left
.” He ran a hand through his dark hair. “Obviously something is going on around here and I’m being framed for it.”

I snorted.
“Now, why would someone do that? And how would it even be possible?”

He smiled bitterly
. “I’ve made a lot of enemies, Nikki,” he said. “And some of those beings have incredible powers, well beyond even my capabilities. You can’t even imagine the things they can do.”

“Are you saying there are more dangerous things out the
re than you Roamers?” I asked incredulously.

He threw his head back and laughed. “
Roamers? That’s a riot. I see you’ve been talking to Celeste.”

I crossed my arms under my chest
and frowned. “Well, you’re certainly not human. I mean, you drink blood and can obviously fly like the wind.”

“
I may not be human… anymore, but we have the same feelings, Nikki, and urges…” he answered with a seductive tilt of his lips. “Ours are just more intense.”

I felt my face turn red
and attempted to change the subject. “So, um… you think you were framed? Well, what are you going to do now?”

With a
determined look in his eyes, he moved towards me, and soon I was back in his arms and something inside of me began to stir.

I cursed myself.
Why couldn’t I resist him?

“
What am I going to do now?” he whispered into my hair. “Well, I’m glad you asked...”

“Please, just bring me home,
this isn’t right,” I pleaded, closing my eyes, breathing in his sweet butterscotch scent.

For the love of God, h
ow could anyone resist him?

“Right? It’
s totally right.” He inhaled deeply, “God, you smell wonderful.”

Since he was both man and vampire, I wasn’t sure if smelling wonderful
to him was a good or bad thing. Before I could consider the consequences of smelling good, he raised my chin and captured my mouth with his. When his tongue pushed through my lips and sought mine, I gave in and pulled him closer, taking in his heat.