Page 25 of Twilight Longings

“Hell, no. What are you doing here?”

“I got lonely.”

Eyes narrowed, Saintcrow stared at his sire. He was pretty sure he knew what was coming. Her next words proved him right.

“We’re both alone at the moment,” she purred, running her finger through his hair. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t console each other.”

Saintcrow snorted. “Forget it.”

Eleni sank gracefully to the ground beside him. “Your woman is lovely,” she said. “It would be a shame if something happened to her before a cure can be found.”

Saintcrow swallowed his anger at the implied threat. “What do you want from me?”

“Just your company for a few days.”

“I don’t have time to be your pet,” he retorted. “I’ve got more important things to do.”

“Yes, yes, I know. You’re trying to find Luca. An impossible task, I should think, considering his current condition.”

“Nothing’s impossible,” Saintcrow said, though there was no conviction in his voice. Try as he might to think positively about a cure for Kadie and putting an end to Luca, he was losing the battle.

“A week,” Eleni said. “Is that so much to ask? After all, if I hadn’t turned you, you would have been dead long before the love of your life was born.” She ran her fingertips down his arm from shoulder to wrist. “I can compel you, if necessary.” To prove her point, she unleased a bit of her power. It speared through him like heat lightning, searing his flesh, turning his blood to liquid fire. He gasped with the pain of it, every muscle in his body tightening in response to the agony sizzing through every fiber of his being.

He hissed, “Stop it,” through clenched teeth when he realized he was crushing Kadie.

“Do we have a deal?” Eleni asked.

Breathing hard, he nodded. When the pain subsided, he ran his hands lightly over Kadie, making sure he hadn’t broken her ribs. “With one exception,” he said. “No sex.”

“Very well.” It was an agreement she had no intention of keeping. She rose in a single fluid motion. “I shall see you at your place tomorrow night,” she said. “You won’t like what happens if you fail me.” And with that not-so-subtle threat, she was gone.

Saintcrow blew out a breath. “Forgive me, Kadie,” he murmured. “Whatever she forces me to do, it has nothing to do with us or my love for you.”

Rising, he brushed a kiss across her lips before he cocooned her in the blanket and returned her to the arms of Mother Earth.

Damn Eleni, he thought bitterly. And damn whoever had unleashed this accursed plague on the young of his kind. Materializing at home, he called Kincaid. “I’m going to be unavailable for a few days,” he said. “Don’t try to contact me unless it has something to do with finding Luca or a cure.”

“What’s going on?” Kincaid asked, a frown in his voice. “Where are you going?”

“Eleni has threatened to destroy Kadie if I don’t spend some time with her.”

“Damn. I guess you couldn’t say no.”

“I could, but what’s the point? She’s my sire.”

“Well, shit, that’s rough.”

“Yeah. I just hope one week doesn’t turn into two.”

“Anything I can do?” Kincaid asked.

“I don’t think so.” Saintcrow swore under his breath. He couldn’t help thinking this was all his fault. He had thought about Eleni a few months ago and now she was here.Damn, damn, damn.Could things possibly get any worse?

Chapter Seventeen

Luca smiled faintly as he poured a drink for a customer. He had taken over the body of the bartender at Abner’s Ale House a few days earlier. After leaving the body of the little red-haired girl, his strength had waned as he drifted from place to place in an effort to find a suitable host. In his weakened condition, it hadn’t been easy. Some bodies had accepted him but, for one reason or another, hadn’t been a good fit. Some had been suitable but had refused to receive him and he’d been too weak to overpower them. There had been days when he couldn’t remember who he was or where he was, days he feared would be his last. His various hosts had carried him across the country until, at the last, he had ended up outside a saloon in New Orleans.

He had been on the edge of desperation when he bumped into a man leaving Abner’s. As Fate would have it, the man tended bar in the saloon. Roger Bingham was the perfect specimen—a man in his early thirties, single, in good health, and not at all bad-looking. Best of all, his mind was easily manipulated. Luca had slipped into the man’s body and easily captured his mind.

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