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Argeneau Family 12. The Renegade Hunter(65)

By:Lynsay Sands


"So," Jo said, drawing him from his thoughts. "You can turn only one, can have only one child every hundred years…" She raised her eyebrows. "What else?"

"We aren't allowed to bite or kill mortals," Nicholas said.

"And?" she asked.

Nicholas shrugged. "That's about it, other than we just aren't supposed to do anything that would make our presence known to mortals."

Jo nodded, was silent for a moment, and then asked, "So did you bite or kill a mortal? Or did you do something that would make the presence of immortals known to mortals?"

Nicholas looked away, but reluctantly forced himself to say, "I guess I bit and killed a mortal."

There was a long silence this time, and Nicholas wanted to look at her and see her expression, but didn't have the courage to do so. When Jo spoke, he wasn't surprised to hear anger in her voice.

"You guess you did?" she asked, finally. "What do you mean you guess ? Did you or didn't you?"

"Apparently I did," he admitted on a sigh and finally turned to look at her to see her blinking and shaking her head.

"Nicholas, this is one of those yes or no questions again. You seem to have a problem with those. Did you or did you not kill a mortal?"

Nicholas frowned and shook his head with irritation. "Yes, I guess I killed a mortal."

Jo blew her breath out with exasperation and flopped back against the bed frame. "No, you didn't."

"Yes, I apparently did," he said at once.

"Oh?" She snorted. "You can't even say it without a qualifier. I guess I did, apparently I did…" Jo shook her head. "You couldn't have done it. You can't even say it."

Nicholas scowled with irritation. He'd been loathing making this confession, afraid to see the fear and hatred cross Jo's face as she realized what he'd done. However, he'd never once imagined her reaction would be disbelief. Mouth compressing, he said firmly, "Jo, I killed a woman, a pregnant woman. I ripped her throat out and fed on her."

"Right," Jo said with disbelief, and then suggested, "So tell me about it."

"What?" he asked with amazement.

"Tell me what happened," she insisted.

"I'm not going to—"

"Because you didn't kill anyone," Jo interrupted with a certainty that was almost defiant.

Nicholas stared at her with amazement. Truly, she was something else; beautiful, funny, sweet, sexy, surprising… and frustrating as hell. Sighing, he said, "Jo, I wish it weren't true too, but—"

"It's simple, Nicholas. If you did it, tell me about it," she insisted. "Who was the woman?"

"I don't know," he admitted uncomfortably. Nicholas had fled the Toronto area, and Canada itself, that fateful day fifty years ago and not returned… At least, not until the start of this summer when he'd trailed a particularly nasty nest of rogues from the northern states and all the way up into Canada and Ontario's cottage country. That being the case, Nicholas had never had the chance to find out who the woman was. He suspected that was a good thing. Her face already haunted his nightmares. Knowing her name would only make it worse.

"You don't know?" Jo asked dryly. "Well, okay, so how did you meet this woman you didn't know but for some reason killed?"

Nicholas grimaced at her sarcasm, and then leaned his head back against the bed's headboard and closed his eyes. "It was after Annie died. I was… I didn't take it well. I shut out family and friends and basically wallowed in my grief," he admitted with self-disgust.

"I think that's probably natural," Jo said softly. . "Yes, well…" He licked his lips and opened his eyes to stare up at the ceiling overhead as the events played out in his mind. "That day I found a birthday gift Annie had got for a friend of hers at work. She'd bought and wrapped it ahead of time and it had been sitting on her craft table."

"Craft table," Jo murmured in a disbelieving voice, and when he glanced at her, she flushed and shrugged and muttered, "It just seems odd to think of a vampiress doing crafts. That's so… mundane," she finished finally.

"We're just people, Jo," he said quietly.

"Yeah, I suppose. People with fangs, who drink blood, live a long time, and apparently do crafts." She shook her head.

Nicholas smiled faintly, but tilted his head back again and continued. "I probably wouldn't have taken the gift to Carol if—"

"Carol?" Jo interrupted in question.

"Annie's friend at the hospital," he explained. "They worked the night shift together."

"What did Annie do at the hospital?" Jo asked curiously.