The Vampire's Curse, A Paranormal Romance (Undead in Brown County #2) (3 page)

That statement about Alex had me a little perplexed. Alex had been changed into a vampire within the field so it had no control over him? That
would
be a big problem, given the fact that the perimeter of the containment field was the only barrier we had against vampires and other unusual creatures. I was glad I had not seen a werewolf yet.

“
How do you know?”

He hesitated, a deliberate frown creasing his beautiful mouth, “He got away from us. Crossed the boundary line and then came back.”

I turned away from him, “And he’s angry at me. Who told him that it was me?”

“
Victoria. She wasn’t trying to cause trouble.”

An unladylike curse bubbled from my lips, “Bullshit.”

Then I recalled seeing my mother before I passed out in my bedroom and my anger was swept away thoroughly by another stronger emotion. Turning to look at him again, I searched his face for any sign of consolation, “Michael, my mother is back.”

He looked at me for a long moment, a trace of pity looming in the depths of his eyes, “I know. She came to see us. She sensed that Alex was in trouble.”

“
Why was she able to come into the house without an invitation?”

“
How do you know she didn’t get one?” He countered, tilting his head to one side and gazing at me expectantly. Oh, shit. Had Katie invited her in? I was sure that she would have mentioned that at some point during our conversations that morning.

“
I think the containment field doesn’t work for her either. She was turned within the field like Alex was.” He said quietly, “It doesn’t matter. Now that Alex is a vampire again, he’s of no use to her as a guardian for you. I would imagine she’ll probably take him back to California.”

I was really hoping all she wanted was to take Alex back. With that thought, I began to feel like a coward.

I let out a breath, “I really hope so.” However, I would still feel like I had taken the easy way out if that really did happen. I wanted my mother to be gone to save myself pain. I wanted Alex to be human again—to be my friend. I did not have very many friends.

“
With Alex gone, you’ll be unprotected.” There was an honest concern in his tone and his mouth was pressed into an uncompromising line that reminded me strangely of an iron bridge. A bridge to nowhere. Evidently, he did not consider himself my protector.

Swallowing a fierce sadness, I bit out, “I don’t want protection. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.” My voice sounded snappy and defensive. I could have kicked myself for going overboard with the bad attitude.

I stared resolutely at the wall, hoping he did not sense the fear in me. Protection sounded great, but after what had happened to Alex, I was terrified to bring anybody else into this. My eyes snapped back to him.

“
Did you find Luanna?” Luanna had been one of the rogue vampires that had been sent to us by the Council. Her mate, Gunter, had been the one who dealt the blow to Alex that effectively ended his life.

“
Yes. We’ve managed to get only a little information out of her. We’ve got her contained for now in one of the larger caves under the meadow.”

“
What did she have to say?”

“
That Gunter acted alone.” His eyes flashed with annoyed rage, “I know she’s lying, but I can’t prove it.”

“
Would it help if I talked to her?”

“
It may drive her mad, having a warm-blooded human so close. She hasn’t fed for days, and she’s much younger than I am.”

“
Well, talk to Victoria about it. If you both agree, then I’ll try.” I hesitated for a split second, realizing that would be a huge error on my part, “But I’m not going out there until my mother leaves. I don’t want to see her.”

He tipped his head back in exasperation and threw one arm across the back of the sofa, “You don’t have anything to fear from Selena. She didn’t come here to get back her old life, Sarah.”

My hands clenched into tight knots as hot anger flooded my brain, “I am
not
afraid of her.”

When he rose from his seat and moved towards me, I froze. Until that moment, I had not realized how small the room seemed to have become. With him there, the space appeared small, cramped, the furniture tiny and fragile.
Almost as fragile as I was
. The heat in my stomach began to come alive again, sending tickling little electric bolts into my arms and legs and then centering again low in my womb. I had felt desire in the past, but nothing compared to this thick rolling warmth that stole through me so deliciously. I felt perspiration begin to dampen my palms, but I tried to ignore it.

The tingling, mesmerizing heat blazed even hotter in my veins as I watched him stroll towards me. There was a blatant elegance in the careless way he moved, from the slight swing of his arms to the fluid action in his long legs. He leaned over me, his eyes cold and calculating, his cool breath swirled over my cheeks like a freezing winter mist.

“
You’re not afraid?”

I could not move. He was holding me prisoner without chains, without bars of any kind. He held me with the steady, penetrating focus of a hunter who will not be denied his prey. My fingers itched to touch him, to trail over his skin in slow gliding strokes. But he could not have me. No one could really have me. I could not let them. I could not let him.

Trying to gain any amount of control over the situation, and myself I gestured towards my injured ankle. However, I could not stop looking at his mouth, wondering how it would feel to have those lips locked with mine in a slick, demanding kiss.

“
I would think you might try to be more of a gentleman. I do have a sprained ankle.” I said weakly.

His striking blue eyes crinkled at the corners as he gave me a slow, sweeping smile. I saw a tiny vein in his jaw pulse and knew he was angry on some level. Nevertheless, any attention from a man that required me to give up any part of myself seemed totally wrong. Then again, what did I know? It was not as if I had ever been in a real relationship. I did not think that Trevor Kincaid counted because although we had sex couple times, it certainly was not a committed relationship. He had a girlfriend that I did not know about while we were seeing each other. Sweet, huh? Yeah, he was a real winner.

Michael tossed a dismissive glance over his shoulder at me and wandered back to the windows again. He leaned against the wall, his face turned away from me.

“
Did Alex tell you about the Breath-Giver?” He asked.

I released the breath I had been holding back, “Yes, a little.”

“
I’ve been wondering what my chances would be if I asked her to change me back into a human as she did Alex.”

“
Oh.” The idea of Michael being human was soul stirring. The possibilities stretched out before me like a dazzling parade. I envisioned him laughing beside me at the kitchen table, eating my French toast. I could see the two of us walking quietly together, hand in hand down the driveway to get the mail. Pretty pictures. But it was completely unrealistic, I reminded myself sternly. And I was still extremely skeptical of the whole “breath-giver” thing.

Alex had told me before he had gotten hurt that he used to be a vampire and then some strange unearthly creature turned him back into a human. Sounded too farfetched to me, but then again, I did not used to believe in vampires either.

Michael turned his head back towards me, “What price do you suppose she might ask for such a thing?” The timbre of his voice was ripe with vulnerability.

I watched the play of emotions cross his face. Hope. Frustration. Passion. However, I remained silent, fearing a return of those heartbreaking scenes that had played out in my head. There were more practical questions to ask. If Michael were human again, what would that mean to the Council? The vampire Council had sent him here because of some crime. If he were human, would they permit him his freedom?

“
Why did they send you here? What did you do wrong?” I finally asked.

A mysterious grin lifted his lips, “They were afraid.”

“
So you didn’t actually do anything wrong? They just fear you?” I refolded my arms across my chest and met his suddenly hostile stare calmly, “That sounds like a load of horse shit, if you ask me.”

He shrugged slightly, “They wanted an excuse. They found one.”

His muscular body turned my way, and he crossed the room in a few decisive steps. I noticed with a startling sense of awe that his eye color had changed. Instead of the crystal-blue hue that I had seen time after time, even in my dreams, his eyes were brilliantly silver and the dark brows arching defiantly over them were creased with tension. He grasped one of my hands, pulled it towards him, and turned it over.

“
Michael…” I breathed his name like a prayer.

I watched, disbelievingly, as he pressed a fiery kiss into the palm of my hand. I had never before felt the alarming sensation of Michael’s lips on my flesh. It was a moment I would not soon forget. Every other sensation in my body ground to a sudden and silent halt when I felt the warmth of his lips. It seemed as if every other part of my body had gone numb with the shock of it. But the palm of my hand was burning. A rolling heat made me gasp.

When I raised my head to look at him, all I saw was a blur of motion. He had moved so fast that I had barely realized he was leaving. I heard the backdoor open and the screen door squeak as he passed through to the back yard. Then a terribly cold silence fell over the room.

I looked at the hand he had kissed. There was nothing there. I had expected it to be blistered and red. Curling my fingers into the place where he had pressed his mouth, I leaned my head back against the armchair and sighed. It was a good thing that he had decided to be a gentleman. Because I was positive that the next time we were completely alone, I would not have the will to keep myself away from him. Stupid, sexy vampire.

Chapter 3

Katie kept her promise to stay in touch. She called shortly after Michael made his hasty departure. She sounded tired and understandably irritated, but the conversation was amicable, and I hung up thinking that she and I were on the same page. I did not tell her that our mother was back. I figured that the less my sister knew, the better off she would be.

When I finally climbed into bed that night and turned off the lamp next to me, I still felt very uneasy. I had been anticipating another visit from my mother with a sickening fear. Would she want something from me? What about Katie? My feelings for my mother had morphed into this blackened, lurking phantom that hovered inside my gut and pushed away common sense. It was a heavy burden that caused me to look at myself harshly. I recognized suddenly that I had few real friends. My father had trusted me to run the Inn, but did not have enough confidence in me to encourage me to go to college. Was I even smart enough for college?

The self-doubt had begun to wear away the fragile threads of confidence that had sustained me for most of my life. I tried to push the dark tendrils of doubt out of my head. There was nothing wrong with me. I was a good person and capable of great accomplishment. Right?

I flung myself onto my back and pressed my fingers against my cheeks. I could not let this black cloud of self-hate saturate my brain anymore. I closed my eyes and tried to take some slow deep breaths. I am a great person, I told myself. I am worthy of being loved.

Then I heard a sharp, jarring tap on my window. I jerked back in surprise and stared at the window. What if it were Alex? Or my mother? Tentatively, I pushed the covers off me and put my feet on the floor. Another louder tap sounded, rattling the windowpanes.

With an impulsive burst of courage, I stepped to the window and yanked on the strings that brought the blinds up. I stared outside, but saw nothing at first. Without thinking, I unlocked the window and pushed it open. A bitterly cold rush of air assailed me as I stood there in my worn pink striped pajamas. The night outside was grimly silent except for the whistling of the wind through the window, and I shivered in trepidation.

A large human form rose up from the roof under the window, and I jerked back in surprise with my heart slamming in my chest.

“
You weren’t expecting me?”

A human form, perhaps. However, not human anymore. Alex had become something radically different from the easy-going, All-American guy that I had come to know. His golden hair was brighter, glistening like cold diamonds in the frigid night air, and his eyes were lit with emerald fire that seared every object he gazed upon. His powerful, stunning body balanced expertly on the balls of his bare feet and his hands settled firmly against the outside frame of the window with the lean angular muscles of his arms tensely bunched. He was barely dressed at all, only wearing a ragged pair of cut-off jean shorts.

I took another step back from the window and shook my head in denial, “Oh, God. Alex…”

Tears blurred the image of the creature before me. My friend was gone. An ache so profoundly painful struck me in the chest, pressed me back from the window and against the far wall of my bedroom.

“
Let me in.” His voice was low and sweetly melodic.

A frantic sob escaped my throat in response. The wind continued to pour through the open window, rattling the edges of the upraised blinds against the window casing. The only source of illumination was a single nightlight plugged into the wall by my bed, but it was enough.