Night's Promise(28)

And even as he considered it, he rejected the idea. He’d told Sheree the truth when he said he needed her. He didn’t understand why he felt such a strong connection with her. Truth be told, he no longer cared. But one thing he knew for certain. He would never willingly let her go again.





She was dreaming, but her dreams were like none she’d ever had before. She heard voices—familiar voices—coming from far away. She was aware of fingers caressing her, of someone sitting beside her. She tried to wake up, wanted to wake up, and couldn’t.

Filled with a sudden, inexplicable panic, she tried to scream, hoping the sound would wake her, but she couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. She was aware of sunlight falling across her face. Knew that it was day, knew, somehow, that she had been asleep for hours, and yet she still couldn’t move. Her eyelids were heavy, so heavy.

The light faded, leaving her in darkness.

She would have wept, had she been able.

This was death, she thought, and surrendered to the darkness.





Chapter Fifteen

“All right,” Mara said, glancing from Logan to Derek. “We need to get our story straight before we wake her up.”

“I already told her some men broke into her house and I scared them away, and then I brought her here because she was afraid to stay home alone.”

“Why didn’t you just erase the whole thing from her mind?” Mara asked. “That would have been infinitely easier.”

“I didn’t want to leave her unprotected. Besides, I wasn’t sure the suggestion I planted was strong enough.”

“And how are you going to explain the day she lost?” Logan asked.

Mara shrugged. “I guess we’ll just have to plant some memories. I’ll tell her we all went to lunch at Spago and then we came back here and spent the day by the pool. When she wakes up, she’ll ask to go home, and Derek can take her. Agreed?”

“Sounds all right to me,” Derek said.

“Or you could just take her home and erase the last two days,” Logan suggested.

“We could,” Mara agreed. “But, like Derek, I’d like to keep an eye on her, just in case she remembers something she shouldn’t.”

Logan frowned at his wife. What wasn’t she telling them?

“All right,” Mara said. “I’m going to wake her up.”





Feeling as though she had missed something, Sheree glanced around, momentarily confused by her surroundings. The room was large, with plush white carpeting and dark red velvet draperies. A pair of black sofas faced each other across a rosewood coffee table. In one corner, a round black table polished to a high shine sat between a pair of overstuffed red velvet chairs. Several expensive-looking paintings of landscapes decorated the walls. A sword in a silver sheath hung over the mantel.

She looked at Derek, sitting on the sofa beside her. Mara sat on the sofa across from them, holding hands with a handsome man. Was it her husband? Had they been introduced? If so, Sheree couldn’t remember his name.

“Are you sure you have to leave?” Mara asked, leaning forward. “We’ve loved having you here.”

“Thank you,” Sheree said, rising, “but I think I should get home.”

“I’ll drive you,” Derek said.

“I do hope you’ll come visit us again,” Mara said.

Sheree nodded.

“Are you ready?” Derek asked, taking her by the hand. “Your bag’s in the car.”

“My bag. Yes.” She smiled faintly. “Thank you for having me.”





Derek slid a glance at Sheree as he drove down the winding road that led to the freeway. Sheree stared out the window, her purse in her lap, a slight frown puckering her brow.

“Did you have a good time today?” he asked.

“What? Oh, yes. Your sister and her husband are very nice. I’m afraid I don’t remember his name.”

“Logan.”

“Yes. Logan. They seem very happy together.”

Derek nodded. He didn’t know any mortal couples, but the couples in his family were all very much in love. Whether it was just another perk of being a vampire or the men all had a knack for picking the right women to spend their lives with, he couldn’t say. “Are your parents happy?”

“Not like your sister and her husband seem to be. Oh, don’t get me wrong. My folks don’t fight or anything, but, well . . .” She lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “Maybe all couples get that way after they’ve been married a long time. I suppose eventually you run out of things to say to each other.”

He shrugged. Mara and Logan had known each other for centuries, but they hadn’t run out of conversation yet.