Page 64 of Twilight Longings

“Is that any way to talk to the one who made you?”

“Just go.”

“We had a deal, dear boy. It’s time you paid up.”

Saintcrow snorted disdainfully. “I thought we settled that.”

“I guess you thought wrong.” Eleni’s predatory gaze moved over Kadie. “Is she as tasty as she looks?”

“You’ll never know,” Saintcrow said, slipping a protective arm around Kadie’s waist.

Eleni smiled, showing a hint of fang. “You can’t watch her all the time,” she remarked. “I’ll be in touch with you soon. We need to renegotiate our deal.”

She didn’t give him a chance to reply, merely vanished from sight.

“What kind of deal did you have with her?” Kadie asked.

Saintcrow blew out a sigh. “I’m not sure you want to know.”

“I’m sure that I do.”

“We can talk about it at home.” And so saying, he drew her closer and transported the two of them back to the big gray house on the hill.

Once inside, Kadie sat on the sofa, arms crossed over her breasts. “Why don’t you start at the beginning?” she suggested.

“You never had a virus,” he said. “Luca, who we thought long dead, apparently managed to escape the soul-catcher. At least his soul did. In an effort to avenge himself on me and Kincaid, he cast a spell meant to incapacitate us. Only it didn’t go as planned. Instead of striking us, the curse affected all the young vampires in Wyoming, rendering them unconscious. Many died. All those we consider family were in Arizona at the Ravenwood reunion. All except you. Since Kincaid and I are both ancient, we weren’t affected.”

“What does that have to do with your sire?”

“I’m getting to that. The curse rendered you unconscious, helpless. It lasted for months. Kincaid and I tried to find Lucaand when we finally did, we discovered his soul had taken over the body of a young girl, who he quickly abandoned. We managed to find him again, and again he eluded us. At the moment, we have no idea where he is, or whose body he’s inhabiting.”

Kadie tapped an inpatient foot on the floor. “What about Eleni?”

“She came to see me one night when I’d about given up hope that you would ever recover. She said she had been thinking about me and wanted the two of us to spend some time together. I refused.” He held up a hand when Kadie started to speak. “When she made a veiled threat against your life, I agreed to spend a week with her—”

“You did what?”

“Calm down. I agreed to the week, with the stipulation that there would be no intimacy between us. Kincaid and I were at a loss as to what to do until we got wind of some ancient artifact called the Methuselah Stone. We went to see Izabela and some wizard by the name of Romar. They agreed that if we could find the Stone, it might have the power to cure you. But no one knew where it was. As it turned out, Eleni had the Stone and said she would cure you. For a price.”

“What did she want, as if I couldn’t guess?”

“Just what you think. She agreed to give me the Stone if I’d spend the night with her. Don’t get your feathers ruffled. I found a loophole in the deal we’d made. She gave me the Stone, but she didn’t know how to control it. Izabela did. When Eleni said it was time for me to pay up, I reminded her that she hadn’t actually been the one to cure you and that, technically, Izabela had healed you. Eleni wasn’t happy, but she seemed to go along with it at the time.”

“Apparently she’s changed her mind.”

“Yeah.”

“You aren’t thinking about doing what she wants, are you?”

Sitting down beside her, he said, “I don’t know. She’s centuries older than I am. She has the power to force me to do whatever she wants.” The fact that she did was infuriating. He had spent centuries in control of his own life, answerable to no one, a law unto himself. Until Eleni came to town.

“I won’t hear of it!” Kadie exclaimed, her eyes shooting sparks. “You’remyhusband, not hers.”

“No sense getting riled up about this, sweetheart. I have no desire to take that viper to bed, but we’ve got to be sensible. It’s just one night.”

Kadie shook her head. “What makes you think if she gets one night, she won’t want two?”

Saintcrow shrugged. “What’s the alternative? I let her kill you? That’s not an option.”

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