B00528UTDS EBOK Page 2

  “Do you mind?” Sarah’s anger was simmering. As long as she could grasp that anger and not look into his eyes, she would be fine.

  “Sarah … is that your name?” he asked in a deep - silky voice.

  “What do you want?” she would not raise her eyes to look at his face, nor would she answer his question.

  “Just to talk … that’s all.” He placed his fingers beneath her chin and forced her to look at him.

  His brown eyes burned with hunger - a hunger that pervaded her senses, sending fear straight into her heart. Sarah took a step back.

  For just a second, a look of confusion entered his eyes and they lost their power over her. Sarah took the opportunity to run, but the sand made her progress slow - painfully slow.

  Then he was there again, knocking her to the ground. The pail flew out of her hands and the clams spilled onto the sand. He was lying on her - his face only inches from hers. Again she was pulled into his eyes. Sarah fought to break free of his hold, but her struggles were in vain. He was much too strong.

  His eyes glowed with an inner light that drew her in and terrified her at the same time. He drew back his lips to reveal long - white fangs. Sarah panicked, her mind screaming the unbelievable truth that this was not a man at all, but a vampire. She would succumb to a creature of the night.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited for his teeth to pierce the artery in her neck, but the seconds passed and she felt no teeth - no pain. Sarah opened her eyes. He was still staring at her, but his eyes had lost the ravenous look of a moment ago, and his fangs were no longer visible.

  The look in his eyes was soft, almost whimsical. Sarah was startled when she felt his cool lips against hers, and even more surprised to feel her body responding to his touch. His tongue was in her mouth and he was kissing her, but his kiss was so demanding - so voracious that it was frightening. Despite her fear, she wanted him to kiss her. Sarah’s heart craved his kiss - her soul knew his touch.

  Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck, returning his kiss with a passion that matched his. When he pulled back to look down at her, she saw a deep pain in his eyes that tugged at her heart.

  He got to his feet and started to walk away. He was going to leave her there in the sand - longing for his touch.

  “Wait a minute!” she called after him. “Who are you?”

  He continued walking, refusing to turn and look at her.

  Sarah got to her feet and ran after him. “Who are you? What is it that you want?” she asked, breathless from running to catch up with him.

  Slowing his pace, he looked over at her. “I came here to kill you.”

  Stopping in her tracks, Sarah stared after him in stunned silence.

  He seemed to be waiting for her to say something, but she couldn’t find any words.

  “You need to run Sarah. Run as far away from here as you can get … run far away from me!”

  “Why didn’t you do it then? Why didn’t you kill me?” she asked.

  He stared at her for a long time. “I don’t know,” he told her. Turning away, he started walking again.

  “At least tell me your name.” She fell into step beside him.

  He stopped suddenly, and when he looked at her she saw fury leap from his dark eyes. “Did you not hear me? I was sent here to kill you. You should be running away from me, not following me!”

  Sarah stopped and watched him walk away.

  What was wrong with her anyway?

  He had just admitted that he was going to kill her, and she was still chasing after him. Even more bizarre than this was the fact that she actually wanted him to come back.

  * * * *

  Sarah took what clams that she’d been able to save and dumped them into the kitchen sink so that they could be cleaned. Aunt Jeanie watched her with open curiosity. Her aunt was smart. She had always been good at picking up other people’s thoughts and feelings. Sarah had never been very good at hiding things from Aunt Jeanie.

  “He came for you again,” Jeanie stated.

  “He is a vampire.” Sarah turned from the sink to look at her aunt. “Is that one of the big secrets that I’m not permitted to know? That there are vampires?”

  Her aunt clucked her tongue. “Girl, you do look for the sinister in everything.”

  Sarah shook her head. “I just want to know who he is and why he came here to kill me. That’s what he said … that he came here to kill me.”

  “You do remember that I told you to be back before dark,” Jeanie said, shaking a finger at her.

  “Do you know who he is?” Sarah asked.

  “What did he look like?” Jeanie asked as she stepped over to the sink to start the task of shelling and cleaning the clams.

  “He had brown hair … about to here,” Sarah said, pointing to the top of her shoulders. “And he had brown eyes. He was a lot taller than me.”

  “Well it doesn’t sound like the one I thought it might be.”

  “Who is it that you are talking about? What about this vampire thing? I’ve seen some strange things, but vampires? Really?” Sarah was getting impatient.

  “There are some things that you just don’t understand yet,” her aunt explained while she attended to the clams, running cold water over them.

  When she was done, she dried her hands on a dishtowel and flung it over the towel holder. “Come and let’s have a chat.” Jeanie grabbed Sarah’s arm and led her to the kitchen table. “How about a nice cup of lavender tea?”

  Without waiting for a reply, Jeanie stepped over to the stove and put the teapot on to cook. When the pot started whistling, she removed it from the stove and poured the tea into two cups. After setting a cup in front of Sarah, Jeanie took the chair opposite of her.

  “Sarah, you’ve lived among witches long enough to know that things are not always what they seem.”

  Sarah nodded but said nothing.

  “Though most people can’t see them, there are always spirits around us. Sometimes when that picture falls off of the wall, or a glass is knocked from a table, it isn’t just an accident. But you already know this stuff don’t you?”

  “I know auntie, but vampires?”

  “Like I said, there are many things in this world that you simply are not aware of, but that doesn’t make them any less real.”

  “Why do you think he wanted to kill me?”

  “That’s another question.” Jeanie placed a finger to her cheek, which she often did when she was thinking. “More importantly, why didn’t he kill you?”

  “I asked him. He told me that he didn’t know why he didn’t do it. And then he just left.”

  “Vampires! They’re a secretive bunch. You could go through your whole life and never even know that they existed. Chances are, if you did run across one, you would not live to tell about it, which makes this situation all the more curious.”

  “I want to find out who he is?”

  Jeanie looked over at her niece with narrowed eyes. “Now tell me why do you need to know that? I would think you would be more concerned with the why … than the who?”

  “There was something about him. Something almost familiar.” Sarah tried to explain what she couldn’t understand herself.

  “Hmm.” A look of concern clouded her dark green eyes. “It’s settled. You must join us for Midsummer’s Eve. You will need the protection of the coven.”

  How could Sarah argue with this? Even the one that had come to kill her had basically told her that she was still in danger.

  “Do you remember Clyde from the fishery?” Jeanie asked, changing the subject abruptly.

  Sarah nodded.

  “Well you know he passed away and his viewing is tonight?”

  “Yes, I heard that. Are you going?” she asked her aunt.

  “The family was wondering that since you were in town and all … maybe you could come and visit after the viewing? You know … like you would do for some of the people in town when you were younger?”

  Sarah drew h
er brows together. What her aunt was asking was if she would go to the viewing and see if she could communicate with the deceased. Sarah had been able to communicate with the dead for as long as she could remember.

  While growing up, some of the locals would frequently ask her to attend viewings so that they could have one last conversation with their loved one. Her talent was often misunderstood. She could not contact the dead at will. They chose when and where, or even if they would communicate with her. But the one place that they would almost certainly be present, was their own funeral. The thought of attending a viewing or a funeral made her feel sick.

  It’s not that Sarah minded helping the bereaved. It was just that when you touched death too often, it had a way of creeping into your life in unexpected ways. This was why she’d turned her back on the craft and everything paranormal. You never knew when something or someone might come back to haunt you.

  Jeanie reached out and covered Sarah’s hand with her own. “What happened to Gina was an accident. You know that don’t you?” Jeanie asked, reading Sarah’s thoughts.

  Gina had been her best friend growing up. During their first year of high school they’d gone to a beach party with a few of the locals. It was that night that Sarah came face to face with death in a very personal way.

  Though Sarah tried to talk her out of it, Gina went into the water anyway. She wasn’t the only one that had gone into the water that night, but she was the only one that did not come back.

  They blamed Sarah for it. She talked to the dead and brought death to those around her. The kids teased her mercilessly. She should have hated them for it, but maybe it was true.

  There had been a warning that morning that something would happen. She’d gone into the bathroom at school. Quickly slipping in there to brush her hair before the next class, because the wind had made such a mess of it.

  One minute she had been looking at her own reflection, and the next she’d seen Gina all bloated and gray, staring at her with her dead eyes. It had been a warning from the other side. She’d tried to tell Gina that she had a strange feeling about going out that night, but her friend wouldn’t listen.

  Jeanie snapped her fingers. “Have you been listening to me?” she asked Sarah.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear what you said.”

  “They said that it’s really important. Besides, it would give you a chance to brush up on your skills,” Jeanie added.

  Sarah wanted to say no, but Clyde had always been nice to them whenever they went to the docks to buy fish. She decided that she’d do it for Clyde’s sake. It would give her a chance to say goodbye.

  Sarah gave her aunt a weak smile. “Okay,’ she agreed.

  * * * *

  Hidden in the large oak, Darrien watched her through the kitchen windows. From the expression on her face it was obvious that she was upset, but she seemed to be surrounded by some kind of force that kept him from probing her mind. He could sense her, but he couldn’t read her thoughts.

  Why couldn’t he bring himself to snuff out her life?

  He’d been so close to doing just that. To sinking his teeth into her flesh and drinking of her sweet nectar. Her fear had been tantalizing, inflaming his hunger even more, but then the memories came back. The memories of another human – another enchanting witch, weaving her spell over him until he was mad with desire. But in the end, she had refused eternity. She had chosen death instead, leaving him to endure an endless existence without her.

  While she had loved him, she had also hated what he was. She’d hated him for what he’d done.

  If only the witch could have forgiven him. How could he have known what she would become to him, and that she would eventually extract a revenge on him more tormenting than an eternity in the fiery pits of hell? Loving a woman that had been dead for over two hundred years, was a fate worse than any hell that man could dream up.

  Since the night that she’d left this world, his soul had known no light. With a heart so black, it was little wonder that he was known among vampires to show no mercy to his victims. But then he’d peered into Sarah’s terrified eyes - eyes so green they appeared to have captured the stormy sea within their depths. There had been that flicker of light that touched his heart, and he had been unable to take her life.

  But they would send others!

  Someone would come and do what he had been unable to do. Her very existence was forbidden. She was a danger to the ancients. Their world would only go on as it had, if they could be rid of the sisters.

  Darrien had been selected for this task because he was so ruthless. What would Omar do when he realized that his chosen assassin had failed? What would he do when they sent someone else to finish the job?

  When Omar had sent him to eliminate the witch, he hadn’t known that she was a Fabre witch.

  Would it have made a difference if he’d known?

  Somehow Darrien doubted it. It might have made all the difference a couple hundred years go, but not today. At least it hadn’t until that moment that he’d been ready to take her life, and found that he couldn’t do it.

  Ascending into the dark sky, Darrien let his hunger guide him to his prey, like he had every night for centuries, but tonight he would do so with less enthusiasm. The hunt didn’t seem quite as alluring as it had before - before he had lost himself in those beautiful - bewitching eyes.

  * * * *

  Sarah and Jeanie waited outside the funeral home until they saw the people begin to leave. The funeral was to be tomorrow. Tonight, friends and family would have one last opportunity to view the deceased before the coffin was closed.

  “You ready for this?” Jeanie gave her an encouraging smile.

  Nodding, Sarah followed her aunt through the parking lot to the large double glass doors of the mortuary. Like every time she came to one of these places, Sarah felt an ache in her stomach, and with each step she took, the pain grew worse. She knew it was anxiety, but was at a loss for how to control it.

  Jeanie led her into the viewing room where Clyde’s family was waiting for them. The metallic gray coffin was positioned between two large flower arrangements. Resting on the top of the coffin was a spray of white roses. The oppressive atmosphere of the funeral home tightened the knot in her stomach. The grief around her was overwhelming. It was like a black fog encircling her, finding its way into her mouth and nose to cut off her breath. She felt as if it would smother her until she was as lifeless as the body within the coffin.

  Over the years, Sarah had come to dread these occasions. The one thing that she had discovered was that the dead were far easier to deal with than the living.

  Sarah would not go to the coffin and peer in at the body of the old man. She knew that Clyde was no longer in the shell that had once been his body. No, Clyde wasn’t in there at all. At the moment, the old man was standing next to his wife.

  Mrs. Morris was inconsolable. Someone was asking Clyde’s wife a question, but all she could do was shake her head while she sobbed into a white tissue. Clyde was standing next to his wife, trying to talk to her, but of course Mrs. Morris wasn’t aware that he was even there.

  Though Clyde was now in spirit, he appeared exactly as he had every time Sarah had seen him. He had on a black cap and blue overalls. He was still wearing the rubber boots he would wear at work to keep from getting fish guts on his shoes. His hair was completely gray, as was his mustache. To Sarah, Clyde still looked like he was among the living.

  Clyde glanced over and saw Sarah standing by the viewing room doors. Leaving his wife’s side, he drifted over to Sarah and her aunt. “Thank heaven you’re here! Will you tell this woman to stop her crying and listen to me?”

  Sarah smiled sadly, shaking her head. “Clyde, she can’t hear you now. You’ve passed away.”

  “Well I know that! Otherwise I wouldn’t be standing in this godforsaken corpse mill,” he frowned.

  Mrs. Morris noticed Sarah and came running over to her. “Oh dear girl! I’m so glad you could make
it. Can you contact Mr. Morris for me? You know … he has all of the passwords to our online accounts and the fool never gave them to me.”

  Sarah looked over at Clyde. He appeared to be somewhat confused.

  “Well?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Tell her I forgot them myself.”

  “He doesn’t remember what they are,” she told Mrs. Morris.

  The old woman frowned. “Well a lot of help he is.”

  Clyde held up his hand. “Oh wait a minute! Tell her I did write them down on a piece of a paper and hid it in one of the couch cushions.”

  Sarah relayed the message to Mrs. Morris, who seemed relieved, but had gone back to crying in her tissue. “Tell him I’m mad as hell that he went and had that heart attack … just before he was going to take me to Seattle for our anniversary.”

  “He can hear you,” she told the woman.

  Clyde shook his head. “Tell her I’m sorry, and that she should still go and celebrate our time together.”

  Again, Sarah relayed the message before turning back to Clyde. The old man’s attention seemed to have wandered. He was peering to his side, seeing something that was invisible to Sarah. She assumed it was the light and he was ready to cross over, but Clyde once again turned to Sarah.

  “Gina wants to know why you ignore her?”

  Sarah gasped. Gina was the one person that she had never been able to communicate with. She hadn’t heard a peep from her friend.

  “I can’t see her … or hear her,” Sarah told him.

  Aunt Jeanie put a protective arm around Sarah.

  “She wants you to know that if you don’t run now, you will be seeing her soon,” Clyde told her.

  Sarah stood there in shock, her mouth wide open.

  “Your friend wants you to know that if you close yourself off, she can’t help you.”

  Sarah shut her eyes and tried to concentrate, but she just couldn’t pick up on Gina’s presence.

  Giving up, she opened her eyes, but Clyde had vanished.