Kissed by Darkness(36)

“And that reason would be?”

“Part of it is Inigo’s energies. They are … different.” She frowned for a minute then continued. “It’s also what I told you before, Morgan.” Her voice was soft, gentle like she was trying not to scare me. “You’re … changing. Something in you is waking up.”

I swallowed. Hard. I really didn’t like the sound of that. “What does that mean? What’s changing?” I couldn’t be turning to full vampire. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Not after three years. You either changed right away or you didn’t. I was supposed to be immune. I really, really did not want to have to drink blood.

She reached over and squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry, Morgan. Bastet seems to think that whatever it is, it’s a good thing.”

I glanced at the cat still perched on Cordelia’s lap glaring at me. Fantastic. I felt so much better.

“So, my memory loss or whatever is part of this change?”

“Possibly, yes. Along with the oddness, the otherness, of Inigo’s energy and the sudden increase in your own abilities.” Her fingers skimmed Bastet’s fur and the cat let out a tremendous purr. “It’s the new abilities that particularly convince us that it’s not just the vampirism taking hold. It’s something else. Something more.”

Something stronger than vampirism? For a minute, Jack popped into my mind, but I brushed the thought aside.

She stared out the window a bit absently. I didn’t interrupt. I wanted to, but something held me back. I was sort of a jump in with both feet kind of girl. Cordelia struck me as needing a bit more processing time. Must be a cat person thing.

“Yes, it’s definitely something more. Something that hasn’t been seen in this world in a very long time.” Her voice had turned all singsong on me. It was a bit eerie, and that damn cat just kept glaring at me. Talk about creepy. I felt the sudden need to leave. Quickly.

“Great. Thanks for the help, Cordelia. It was good to just talk about it, you know? Makes me feel a little less like a crazy person.” Operative term being “little,” but I didn’t mention that.

Her laugh tinkled out, light and bright as I stood to leave. “Oh, Morgan, you are many things, including crazy, but you’ve yet to lose your sanity.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. She had a point. I definitely had my crazy moments.

As I turned to leave, Bastet hopped off Cordelia’s lap and with the arrogant grace of a goddess, strolled over and rubbed herself against my legs. It was only once, but it was the oddest feeling, as if she’d given me her blessing, a benediction of sorts. Now that was definitely crazy talk.

“See!” Cordelia chirped happily. “I told you she liked you.”

Sure. Just don’t feed her after midnight.







I wasn’t sure what I expected from the house of a Sunwalker. Maybe the Bat Cave? Jack’s house was definitely not the Bat Cave. It was a well-kept white Cape Cod thing with a big front porch and shutters painted forest green. The front yard was immaculate with a neatly trimmed lawn and masses of roses perfuming the air. It was so totally Mayberry, it was almost nauseating.

It even came with its own soundtrack. I winced as the budding pianist inside hit a very wrong note before continuing his plodding way through what I was pretty sure was Beethoven’s Ninth. Classic. I remembered it well from my own piano playing days. No doubt I’d played it just as badly once upon a time.

The porch had a couple of very nice deck chairs, so I made myself comfortable in one of them. No point in disturbing the lesson and scaring some poor kid with my badass vampire hunter-ness. It was a great afternoon for just relaxing. I leaned my head back, closed my eyes, and focused on the low drone of a nearby lawn mower and the distant sound of kids screaming and laughing on a playground. The sun was out, the breeze was light; it nearly put me to sleep.

“To what do I owe this dubious pleasure?”

I started awake to find Jack looming over me, his face impassive. The breeze kicked up a little, stirred his dark hair and wafted his scent under my nose just enough to kick my hormones into overdrive. Like they needed help.

I tried really hard to avoid staring at his crotch which was, unfortunately, right at eye level. Damn. Too late. What was wrong with me lately? Seriously, my libido was getting way out of control.

I heaved myself somewhat less than gracefully out of the chair and cleared my throat. I wasn’t nervous. Honest. Just, you know, a little unprepared.

“Uh, hey, Jack. How’s it going?”

He quirked a brow at me. Damn, but I hated when people did that. Mostly I hated that I couldn’t do that. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get one brow to go up like that. Maybe I was genetically flawed.