And to her amazement, she calmly went for her key, then made sure that the door was locked behind when she exited the cottage, this time of her own volition. He led the twenty feet or so to his own cottage and opened his door, ushering her in.
She took a deep breath as she walked through the doorway.
The cottage was like her own, with a bedroom, kitchenette, bath and living room. In their cottage, the sofa bed in the living room was made up. Here, it remained a sofa. She took a seat on the chair that faced the sofa. She was not going to let him sit next to her.
“Would you like something to drink?”
“No. You said you want to talk to me, so talk.”
He sat on the couch opposite her, a coffee table between them. He leaned forward and took a breath. His eyes caught and held hers
“You know the danger is real. A headless body was found floating in the Mississippi.”
“It’s hard to miss the newspaper reports,” she replied.
“And I told you, I know who the killer is.”
No, he might not be entirely sane, but he
“How can you be so certain?” she asked him.
“Because I know Stephan.”
She stared at him, as if digesting what he had said, then asked carefully, “And you’re certain that what you’re telling me is…real?”
“Stephan Delansky is very real,” he told her quietly. “I’ve come here because I came across one of his… associates who told me he was coming here. With an army.”
“An army?” she queried. “Who is Stephan Delansky?”
“An old enemy. But not just my enemy. A very dangerous man. Many years ago I took a trip to Kiev, in the Ukraine. I met a woman there. Katya.”
“The one I remind you of.”
“Yes,” he said very softly, then took a deep breath. “I’m from this area originally. After I met Katya, she came back here with me. I was head over heels, and so was Katya. Katie, I called her. We were going to go back there to get married, though. To Kiev. She had always dreamed of being married in a castle, and there are some great castles over there. But while we were still here, she thought she kept seeing an old friend of hers—Stephan. I saw her speaking to him once and asked her about him, even suggested she introduce us, but he had no interest in meeting me. Meanwhile, we kept planning our wedding. But before it could take place, Katie was dead. Because of Stephan.”
His voice was mesmerizing, compelling. It touched her in some deep core over which she had no control. She wanted to listen to him, wanted to believe him.
But she couldn’t help thinking that maybe the pain of his loss had made him delusional. She knew what it was like to deny the truth, to go through the fury, the agony and then the dull acceptance of loss.
Maybe he hadn’t come quite so far.
“Did he shoot her? Stab her? What?” Lauren asked softly.
His head lowered for a minute. She was tempted to reach out. To touch the lush darkness of his hair.
He looked up at her again, straight in the eye.
“Stephan is a vampire.”
She froze, staring at him.
Wishing that she hadn’t heard him correctly.
Knowing that she had.
“I see,” she said. But the only thing she saw was that he was delusional. It was so sad. The first man who had made her think she might want to at least have a relationship again, maybe even love again.
A relationship…?
OK, sex..
She told herself that she needed to get a grip. She had never been the type to indulge in casual sex.
Except there was nothing casual about this man.
Even now, after hearing him talk with complete seriousness about the existence of vampires, she still longed to reach out and touch the night-rich darkness of his hair.
He shook his head, the curve of his smile self-mocking.
“I know you don’t believe me. But I know your cop, the one who showed up at the bar,, the one who followed you here. His name’s Lieutenant Sean Canady. I went with him today to the morgue.”
“The morgue?” she repeated, staring blankly at him.
“I needed to see the body.”
