Lover Eternal

checked for bullets with fast, sure movements before anchoring it at his hip. Flashing martial-arts stars and matte- black ammunition clips that he tucked into the belt. Another, smaller knife he hid somewhere.

He took his black leather trench coat off a hanger and swung it on, patting the pockets. He pulled out another handgun from the weapons cabinet and assessed it quickly before burying it in the leather folds. He put a few more throwing stars in the coat's pockets. Added another dagger.

When he faced her, she backed away.

'Mary, don't look at me like I'm a stranger. It's still me under, all this.'

She didn't stop until she hit the bed. 'You are a stranger,' she whispered.

His face tightened and his voice grew flat. 'I'll be back before dawn.'

He left without any hesitation.

Mary didn't know how long she sat and stared at the carpet. But when she looked up, she went over and grabbed the phone.

CHAPTER 24

Bella popped open her oven, took a peek at dinner, and gave up the fight.

What a mess.

She grabbed a pair of pot holders and extracted the meat loaf. The poor thing had cowered away from the sides of the pan, blackened on top, and developed drying cracks. It was inedible, better suited to the construction supply trade than to a dinner plate. A few dozen more of these and some mortar and she'd have that wall she wanted around her terrace.

As she shut the oven door with her hip, she could have sworn the high-end Viking stove was glaring at her. The animosity was mutual. When her brother had done over the farmhouse for her, he'd gotten her the best of everything, because that was the only way Rehvenge did things. The fact that she'd preferred the old-fashioned kitchen and the squeaky doors and the gentle aging of the place hadn't mattered. And God help her if she'd kicked up a fuss about the security measures. The only way Rehvenge had permitted her to move out was if he made her home fireproof, bulletproof, and impregnable as a museum.

Ah, the joys of having a bossy brother with a lockdown mentality.

She picked up the pan and was headed for the French doors to the backyard when the phone rang.

As she answered, she hoped it wasn't Rehvenge. 'Hello?'

There was a pause. 'Bella?'

'Mary! I called you earlier today. Hold on a sec, I've got to feed the raccoons.' She put the phone on the table, shot out to the yard, dumped the load and headed back in. When the pan was in the sink, she picked up the receiver. 'How are you?'

'Bella, I need to know something.' The human's voice was strained.

'Anything, Mary. What's wrong?'

'Are you… one of them?'

Bella sank down into a chair at her kitchen table. 'You mean, am I different from you?'

'Uh-huh.'

Bella glanced over at her fish tank. Everything always looked so calm in there, she thought.

'Yes, Mary. Yes, I am different.'

There was a rush of breath on the line. 'Oh, thank God.'

'Somehow, I didn't think knowing that would be a relief.'

'It is. I… I really have to talk to someone. I'm so confused.'

'Confused about…' Wait a minute. Why were they even having this conversation? 'Mary, how do you know about us?'

'Rhage told me. Well, showed me, too.'

'You mean he hasn't wiped… You remember him?'

'I'm staying with him.'

'You're what?'

'Here. At the house. With a bunch of men, vampires… God, that word…' The female cleared her throat. 'I'm here with about five other guys just like him.'

Bella put her hand over her mouth. No one stayed with the Brotherhood. No one even knew where they lived. And this female was a human.

'Mary, how did you… how did this happen?'

When the story was all out, Bella was stunned.

'Hello? Bella?'

'Sorry, I… Are you okay?'

'I think so. I'm all right now, at least. Listen, I have to know. Why did you put the two of us together? Rhage and me?'

'He saw you and he… liked you. He promised me he wouldn't hurt you, which was the only reason I agreed to set you up on that date.'

'When did he see me?'

'The night we took John to the training center. Or don't you remember that?'

'No, I don't, but Rhage told me I'd gone there. Is John… a vampire?'

'Yes, he is. His change is coming, which is why I got involved. He'll die unless one of our kind is with him when the transition hits. He needs a female to drink from.'

'So that night, when you met him, you knew.'

'I did.' Bella chose her words carefully. 'Mary, is the warrior treating you well? Is he… gentle with you?'

'He's taking care of me. Protecting me. I have no idea why, though.'

Bella sighed, thinking she knew. Given the warrior's fixation on the human, he had probably bonded with her.

'But I'll be home soon,' the female said. 'Just a couple of days.'

Bella wasn't so sure about that. Mary was so much deeper in their world than she realized.

The smell of gas fumes was nasty, O thought as he maneuvered the Toro Dingo around in the dark.

'That's good. We're good to go,' U called out.

O shut the thing off and surveyed the area he'd carved from the forest. Hat, about forty-by-forty-feet square, it was the layout of the persuasion building plus room for them to work.

U stepped into the leveled area and addressed the assembled lessers. 'Let's start getting the walls up. I want three sides raised. Leave one open.' U motioned impatiently with his hand. 'Come on. Move it.'

The men picked up frames made out of eight-foot-long two-by-fours and carried the things around.

The sound of an approaching vehicle stopped everyone, though the lack of headlights suggested it was another lesser. With their superior night vision, Society members were able to dance around in the dark as if it were high noon; whoever was behind that wheel dodging trees had the same acuity.

When Mr. X got out of the minivan, O went over.

'Sensei,' O said, bowing. He knew the bastard appreciated the respect and somehow pissing off the guy just wasn't as fun as it used to be.

'Mr. O, it looks like you're making progress.'

'Let me show you what we're doing.'

They had to shout over the clapping of hammerheads, but there was no reason to worry about any of the noise. They were smack-dab in the middle of a seventy-five-acre plot of land about thirty minutes from Caldwell's downtown area. To the west of the property was a swamp that served as one of the Hudson River's flood zones. Covering the north and east was Big Notch Mountain, a pile of state-owned rock that climbers didn't favor because of its rattlesnake dens, and that tourists found all-around unappealing. The only point of exposure was from the