onto the bed. He followed her down, his hard, large frame covering her much smaller
one.
Fear began to eat away at her desire. She tried to drive it back, tried to recapture the
earlier feeling. Cassidy swooped down and captured her mouth, his tongue and lips
practically eating her alive, stealing the very breath from her body. His hands seemed to
be touching her everywhere. Stroking. Caressing. She could feel his heavy erection
pressing against her thigh as he fingered the thin scrap of her panties.
Sweat broke out all over her body. Partly arousal, partly fear. Blythe lay paralyzed,
unable to move forward, unable to stop. Her breathing became erratic and she could
feel tears seeping out of the corners of her eyes, sliding down her temples and
disappearing into her hair.
Cassidy suddenly stopped and pulled back. She could see the growing horror on
his face and knew that she'd ruined her one chance with him. Sobs broke from deep
within her and she rolled aside, curling into a tight ball of misery.
"Blythe?" He levered his body off her and wrapped his arms around her, making
her cry even harder.
"I'm sorry," she managed to get out in between her tears. She tried to stop, but it
was as if some dam within her had been broken. She hadn't cried in the long year she'd
spent with Prince, or when her mother had passed away, but she cried now. Not only
for what had happened, but for what, now, would never happen. She cried for the past
and for the long, lonely future to come. For she knew now that something inside her
had been irreparably damaged during her time with Prince. She wanted Sam Cassidy
with every fiber of her being. Even now her body was still damp with desire, crying out
for him. If she couldn't be with him, then she would never be with any man.
"Shh. It's all right, sweetheart," he crooned in her ear. She felt his arms slide
beneath her and then she was cradled against his hard, warm chest, his heartbeat a
comfort as she snuggled close to him. He murmured to her as she cried, words with no
meaning that somehow calmed and reassured her.
Blythe didn't want to leave the safety and warmth of his arms, but she knew it
wasn't fair for her to stay here. She could feel his cock against her hip. It wasn't as hard
or large as it had been, but she felt like a tease sitting all but naked in his arms when she
didn't plan on doing anything about it.
Without looking at him, she crawled out of his arms, tugged the covers over her
and turned away. She knew it was cowardly, but she couldn't bear to face him. Not yet.
Not until she was able to put the shattered pieces of herself back together again. She
knew she'd never be the same, but she was a survivor and would manage somehow.
She waited for Cassidy to leave. Most men would have yelled and screamed at her.
Many would have taken what she'd offered, even if she had changed her mind. All of
them would have left her. But she should have known that Sam Cassidy would be
different. He'd been surprising her, shattering her myths about men from the moment
she'd met him.
The bed dipped as his full weight came down behind her. She tensed, but he did
nothing but tuck the covers tighter around her before draping his arm across her and
pulling her back tight against his chest.
"Sleep," he whispered against her ear. "Everything will seem better in the
morning." She felt the light touch of his lips against her head and she felt her heart turn
over. She knew then that she loved Sam Cassidy and because she loved him, she knew
she'd have to leave.
The stress of the night overtook the workings of her mind and she felt herself
drifting off to sleep just as the sun was rising over the city.
Chapter Twenty
Sophia awoke to a yell. She sat up in bed, blinking furiously. For a moment, she
didn't even remember where she was. Then it all came flooding back--the shower, the
amazing sex, Zane.
The first rays of sunshine were filtering in through the window.
Sunshine!
Panic hit her like a ton of bricks. She bolted out of bed and drew the drapes shut
tight. Zane was on the floor on the far side of the bed away from the window. Sophia
could see the slashes of red on his face, arms and chest where the sun's rays had hit
him.
"Get under the bed," she yelled, but he didn't move. Scurrying back to his side, she
winced at the burns on his body. They were already starting to blister. "Zane, you have
to get under the bed."
His movements were sluggish as he dug his fingers into her area rug and tried to
pull himself toward safety. She realized then that he was weakening as the sun rose on
the horizon. Placing her hands on his body, she pushed, helping him slide beneath her
bed frame. It was a tight fit, but they managed.
"Why didn't you go home last night instead of falling in bed next to me? Of all the
lame-brained things to do." She continued to berate him as fear beat at her. "You'll be
all right, won't you?" He always appeared so strong and invincible, it was scary to see
him so weak. She realized just how vulnerable he was when the sun was out. Not only
was he susceptible to its rays, his entire body weakened as it fell into a sleeping state.
"I'll be okay," he promised as he curled his fingers around hers. "The burns will be
gone when I awake." She could see the hesitation on his face before he reluctantly
continued. "I'll slip into my day sleep any minute. My heart will stop beating and I'll
appear as if I'm dead." He watched her carefully and she forced herself not to react.
Sophia swallowed the lump in her throat and blinked back tears. "I'll be here when
you wake at dusk. I've got plenty of work to do at home, but I'll be out for a few hours
this afternoon." She could see the protest in his eyes. "I've got to go to the police station
and see if there's been any new developments in the case. It's harder for them to put me
off if I'm there in person. I'll be careful," she added as his eyelids fluttered closed.
"Promise." She could barely hear him now and bent lower.
"I promise I'll be careful." She kissed the tips of her fingers and then placed them
over his lips. He sighed and relaxed. She waited and watched. He didn't move. Didn't
even so much as twitch. She chewed on her bottom lip as she watched his chest. It
wasn't moving. Reaching out her hand, she tentatively placed it over his heart. Nothing.
Nada. Zip. She'd been expecting it, but still it was very disconcerting.
"Okay," she muttered, sucking in a deep breath. "So my lover is a vampire. So
what?" Shaking her head, she ran her fingers over the crisp hair on his chest one final
time before levering herself off the floor.
She glanced at the window and then back at the bed. She wasn't satisfied that Zane
had enough protection. She wasn't about to take any chances. Pulling the sheets off the
bed, she spread them so that they were draped to the floor, covering one side and the
bottom of the bed. Walking around to the other side of the bed, she did the same thing
there using the blanket. Zane was surrounded on all sides. With the drapes closed, he
should be okay.
She lifted up one side of the blanket and peeked beneath the bed. He hadn't moved
; a muscle since his eyes had closed. Sighing, she dropped the covering and turned away.
She had work to do and Zane wouldn't be awake for hours.
After she had a quick shower and dressed, she gulped down a bowl of cold cereal
and went to work in her office. The police had finally identified the second victim. Ariel
Woodland had just been laid off work the week before she was murdered, so it had
been days before anyone had reported her missing. Her friends had all assumed she
was hiding out at home because she was depressed over losing her job.
"What did you two have in common?" Sophia pondered as she stared at the photos
of the two women. They were very different in looks. Janice had been fair-skinned with
light brown hair. Ariel was dark-skinned with long black hair. Janice had been a
student. Ariel had been an unemployed office worker. There had to be something that
attracted the killer's attention. Maybe it was simply that both women were in their early
twenties and attractive, but Sophia felt in her bones it had to be something more.
Picking up her phone, she dialed the first number at the top of her list. It was time
to talk to the family and friends of both victims. She dialed the first number, checking
her notes to see what she knew about her first contact. Ann Perreault was a close friend
of Janice Barton and the two women had gone to school together. Sophia tapped her
pen absently against her pad of paper while she waited for the phone on the other end
to be answered.
Ten minutes later, Sophia was on a first-name basis with the other woman and
figured she'd learned all she could from Ann. The woman was devastated by the loss of
her friend. "I'm sorry," Ann whispered. Sophia could tell she was desperately trying
not to cry, but had already lost the battle.
"I'm sorry too. It must be hard to lose your best friend. I was just hoping that there
might be something you could tell me that might shed some light on why Ms. Barton
might have been targeted by the murderer."
"There is no reason," Ann retorted. "Janice might have been a bit odd at times, but
she didn't deserve this."
"Of course she didn't," Sophia soothed. "I would never even suggest such a thing.
I'm simply trying to figure out what it was about her that caught the eye of the killer.
The more we understand about the situation, the better chance there is of catching
him." Something Ann had said had caught Sophia's attention. "You said she was odd at
times. In what way?" She could feel the other woman's hesitation. "I would never write
anything derogatory about Ms. Barton's character, Ann," she added gently. "I just want
to help uncover the murderer.
Ann sniffed again. "It wasn't anything really. She'd just know when the phone was
going to ring sometimes or she'd get hunches about things before they happened. Stuff
like that."
Sophia murmured soothingly and then ended the conversation a few minutes later.
Sighing, she crossed Ann Perreault off the list and then tackled the next one. James
Lemont was an ex-boyfriend of Ariel Woodland, the second victim.
It only took her thirty seconds on the phone with James to realize that there was no
love lost between him and the poor, departed Ariel. He certainly wasn't distraught over
her death.
"I wasn't surprised when I heard what happened. That girl was just totally
whacked at times, if you know what I mean."
Years of dealing with people like James allowed Sophia to hide her distaste for him.
She wanted to keep him talking. "No, I'm not sure I know what you mean, Mr. Lemont.
Maybe you could explain it to me."
He gave a cruel laugh. "She was always claiming that she had powers, you know.
Like some voodoo queen or something. She thought she was something special." He
snorted. "Guess being special didn't save her in the end."
Sophia swallowed her anger and her disgust even as a kernel of an idea began to
take root in her mind. She asked a few more questions, then brought the conversation
with Mr. Lemont to an end and swiftly dialed the next number on her list. Her list of
questions grew as she talked to one person after another who had known either Janice
Barton or Ariel Woodland. Some people on her list weren't answering their phone, so
she made herself do some other work as she waited for time to pass so she could try
them again.
Morning drifted into afternoon as she continued to work, managing to write several
more articles and send them out to her waiting editors. She resisted the urge to check on
Zane every five minutes, only going into the bedroom twice during the long day. She
kept trying the numbers on her list until she'd reached just about everyone. It was late
afternoon when she finally hung up the phone for the final time. She'd taken what she'd
inadvertently uncovered in her first two phone calls and all she'd learned from Laurel
Rose about what had happened in Salvation, North Carolina, and played a hunch. None
of the families would talk about it, but several of the friends had confirmed that both
women were different. Some of them had even been adamant that each of the women
had had some kind of psychic ability.
"Bingo," she muttered as she made notes on her computer. It seemed that the
Dalakis family might have been right in their assessment of who might be targeting
their family. Not that it brought them any closer to finding out who the killer might be.
It was time to take another tack on the problem.
Grabbing her phone again, she hit her speed dial.
"Cassidy." The male voice barked on the other end of the line.
"What do you know about Jeremiah Stoner?"
He paused. "Other than the fact that he was a psycho killer?"
Sophia scowled. "I'm serious. Did anyone ever check into his personal life, his
journal, anything like that?"
She could almost feel Cassidy's interest perk up. "We didn't look too deep. The
man was dead and we didn't want any more questions than necessary. You know
something."
It wasn't a question. "Yes. Maybe. I'm not sure." Sighing, she rubbed her tired eyes
and leaned back in her chair. "I've been talking to the family and friends of the two
victims."
"And?" She could hear the impatience in Cassidy's voice.
"And," she drawled, "I got curious, considering what I've learned from Laurel Rose
over the past week."
"Don't make me have to come over there, Sophia," he growled.
Sophia smiled, totally unconcerned by his threat. She had his number and the man
was a softie--at least when it came to the women he considered under his protection.
And that small, select group now included her. "The families won't confirm anything,
you understand, but the friends had some interesting stories to tell."
Silence.
"They were both psychic, Cassidy. At least to some small extent."
"Shit."
"Shit is right. Seems like Stefan and Laurel Rose were on the right track when they
thought this was connected to Stoner. The cult he was a member of was all about
drinking people's blood to absorb their powers. If these women did have psychic
ability, then that's why they were targeted."
"That makes sense. We have to dig into Stoner's past and see if we can't discover
who some of his associates were." Cassidy huffed out a breath. "Okay, I'll call the
sheriff in Salvation and see if I can't get him to talk. Maybe they came across something
in their search for Stoner. Officially, he's still listed as missing."
"They never found his body?" Sophia hadn't realized that.
"And they never will. Not without tearing down the church and digging with a
backhoe."
Sophia didn't know whether to be appalled or impressed by the Dalakis brothers.
Considering what Stoner had done, she tended to lean toward being impressed. They
were good men to have at your back, but definitely not people you wanted as enemies.
"You'll have to be extra vigilant around Laurel Rose and Delight. They're both
special and the killer might make a try for them."
Cassidy was already ahead of her. "This place is a fortress during the day and
there's no way a human could get past both the men at night. I'm more worried about
you and Blythe."
Sophia's stomach clenched and she placed her hand over it. "I don't have any
special abilities, so I should be fine. Besides," she hurried on before Cassidy could
interrupt her, "the killer had plenty of time to hurt me in the cemetery if that was his
aim."
"I still don't like it. You should come over here for the day. I could have a cab come
and pick you up."
She smiled in spite of her anxiety. Cassidy was very much like the other men even if
he wasn't a vampire. They were all protective, almost to the point of being overbearing.
Not that she could blame them in this particular situation. "I'll be fine, and besides, I've
got work to do."
"Promise me you'll be extra careful."
"I will," she agreed before she said goodbye and hung up. She'd leave this
particular research in Cassidy's capable hands. For now, she'd go down to the police
station and badger them for a bit. Hopefully they'd learned something new that might
help. The killer might be from the Dalakis brothers' past, but he was in New Orleans
now and they had to find him before he took another victim.
Sophia thought about having some lunch, but quickly remembered that there
wasn't really that much to choose from. She glanced at her watch and realized it would