Sanctifying Grace (Resurrection) (21 page)

I gazed levelly back at him. He was young, younger than me in human terms, but not in vampire years
; in that respect, he was much, much older than me. He topped out at just shy of six foot, lean yet muscular, with hazel eyes and blonde hair, and the usual strikingly pale complexion and a handsome face, boyish, and charming. He reminded me a little of Brad Pitt, but deadlier. His teeth were alarmingly white with those tiny sharpened points I recognised. I realised those same teeth were getting longer. Oh my!

I didn’t know where to look
, but when I dropped my gaze, I saw another part of his anatomy stirring. I blushed crimson. He chuckled, knowing exactly the effect he was having on me, and I wondered if he was doing it purpose.

Since Roman
, I had not been attracted to another man, in spite of Viktor’s calculated attempt early on, and when that particular vampire had tried to seduce me, I had felt revulsion in spite of the attraction. This time, it was purely attraction.

I cleared my throat nervously, feeling the throb of my pulse in my neck. Evander was aware of it
, too, and his chuckle deepened to a sexy laugh. I refused to look him in the eye, knowing I would be lost if I did.

Where the hell was Roman when I needed him? Evander stepped closer and his scent permeated the room. He was filling the air with seduction and I didn’t know if I could resist him. He wasn’t exactly enthralling me, but it was close, and I couldn’t tell how much was my natural reaction to him and how much was his vampire ‘charm.’ Oh, hell.

So softly that I might have imagined it, Evander spoke. ‘If you tire of him, or he of you, remember me.’

Then he was gone and I was left, shaken and stirred
, and deeply upset with myself.

Roman took ages to return
, but by the time he did, I had gained enough control over my libido that I thought I could act normally. I didn’t fool my lover for one second. He halted a foot into his office, as if he had run into a brick wall. Anger stirred behind his eyes as he scented the air. I knew he could smell my arousal and the other vampire’s hand in it and I hung my head, shame in every line of my body.

I had betrayed him. No matter that he’d had sex with scores, if not hundreds of women, since we had first met, and I had never had so much as a lustful thought about another man (forget the lead singer of that band in Cardiff – Gavin
, was it? he didn’t count because I really hadn’t known Roman then), I still felt disloyal. I felt unclean.

‘I will kill him.’ Roman was furious. He was marble cold outside
, but I could see the heat inside. He was struggling to control his rage in front of me and my heart twisted at the pain I must be causing him.

I couldn’t let this unknown vampire take all the blame. My reaction to him was mine and mine alone.

‘Don’t blame Evander,’ I said, tears gathering at the corner of my eyes.

‘Who should I blame
? You?’

‘Yes. Me. I’m sorry, Roman.’

‘You have nothing to apologise for. Evander knew exactly what he was doing.’

He may well have, but the instant attraction I felt towards him had not been all his own making. I must share some of the responsibility for it.

‘I will deal with him later,’ he promised and I knew there would be no turning Roman from this path. Miserably, I sat down on the couch. My ability to cause trouble for my lover knew no bounds, so it seemed. Why, oh why, could we not just enjoy each other’s company when I appeared to him? There were always complications.

‘Have you thought about the problem of your mother’s brother?’ he asked, abruptly changing the subject.

I nodded and turned my attention to the problem of my long-dead uncle whose continuing existence was threatening my own. ‘Can you enthral them?’

‘Your grandmother is no problem, but your grandfather is one of those who cannot be enthralled.’

‘And you know this how?’

He stayed silent, letting me make that particular discovery for myself. ‘You’ve already tried, haven’t you?’ I demanded.

‘It was necessary. I am trying to ascertain the difference between the two types of humans, and I believe it is in the genes. It will be some time before I am certain and there is so much about DNA we simply do not understand, but I am positive the trait is hereditary. Unfortunately, it appears to be a recessive gene, like the gene for ginger hair. This does not bode well for my kind, but it is of no immediate concern because there are so many billions of you.’

‘Are you telling me that
, at some point in the future, vampires will be unable to resurrect more vampires?’

‘It is a possibility, yes, but unlikely.’

‘And here I was thinking you were doing all this research to try to find a way to resurrect me,’ I said. I managed to keep a tight hold on my bitterness. Every time I thought I understood him, every time I thought I had a handle on our relationship and what he felt for me, he would unfailingly turn me upside down.

‘You have jumped to the wrong conclusion, again,’ he said. ‘This discovery is merely an outcome of my main research.’

He knelt at my feet, and held out his hands, a vision of supplication. ‘I love you, Grace. How many times do I have to tell you, for you to believe me?’

I took his hands in mine, and he squeezed my fingers gently. We stayed that way for a while, neither of us wanting to break the tender moment, or so I assumed, but that was shattered when Roman, whose thoughts had clearly run along different line, said, ‘I wish to feed.’

He let go of me and rose to his feet. ‘I refuse to leave you here, so I will take you to my house and you shall wait for me there.’

His house was familiar. It was the same one where Wilfred had met his death. Where I had killed Wilfred, I amended. The memory was uncomfortable
, but not unbearable, and it wasn’t the first time I had been back there since I had murdered the man, so I made myself comfortable and waited.

It wasn’t a total surprise to find Evander in the living room some time after Roman had gone hunting. I guessed there was unfinished business with him. I didn’t even need to see him to know he was there: I could smell him. His scent was so different
than Roman’s, yet just as alluring; more so, perhaps. I breathed him in, his unique fragrance seeking out all the tiny corners of my body and soul, filling me with swirling desire.

I groaned, a sound of desire and despair.

‘You feel it, too,’ he said, stepping through the doorway. ‘You and I, are we meant to be?’

‘Nooo,’ I wailed.

‘You cannot fight it. You should not fight it. Whatever you have with Roman, it is nothing compared to what you can have with me.’

He was only three feet away and I could feel the pull of him, heady and insistent. My insides flooded with heat and my pulse quickened.

‘Come. Let me take you from here. You can be mine and I can be yours.’

‘Roman,’ I croaked, ‘I can’t leave Roman.’

‘Yes, you can. I will worship you, body and soul. We are meant to be together. You know it.’

‘You will take her, and use her, and discard her, like you have so many others.’ Roman’s voice was cold and full of death.

I let my breath out in a rush, as my desire abruptly fled. I looked from one to the other, confused, not understanding the currents that invaded the room.

‘Ask the lady what she wants,’ Evander said, and I felt the pull of him again, and I was weak with longing. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Was he enthralling me? Is that what this was about?

He held out a hand and I fought not to walk towards him, to take it and everything else he was offering me.

‘Evander!’ Roman cut through the sexual tension, his voice knife-sharp. ‘I know what you are doing, even if she does not. And it will not work. I won’t let it.’

‘If she comes to me of her own free will, then you will have no choice.’

‘Don’t bet on it.’

‘The others will not like it if you challenge me over a human, especially one who no longer wants you.’

‘The others know what you are capable of and won’t believe for a moment that you did not influence her.’

‘Would you risk your research for a mere woman?’ Evander asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Interesting. I believe you mean it.’

R
oman said nothing: his fury didn’t need words. Not once had he looked at me and the contrast between his expression and the calm, seductive smile on the other vampire’s face was shocking.

‘You can have her, then. I hope she brings you joy. I would not fight over a human, even one as captivating as her.’  He turned on his heel and sauntered out of the room. Roman waited for a minute to be certain he had gone.

I spent that minute wondering what the hell had happened. One second, I had been panting after Evander like a bitch in heat, unable to think of little else but him and my desire for him: the next I was back to my normal self.

‘Did he enthral me?’ I asked.

‘No. Not even he would dare to do that. It is not acceptable to enthral a human whom another vampire has already laid claim to. And I would have fought him if he had: he knew this, so he chose to try to entice you away from me of your own free will.’

I hung my head, ashamed and annoyed at myself. ‘I’m so sorry,’ I whispered.

Roman was unconcerned. ‘Don’t be,’ he replied. He sounded almost cheerful. Almost. I risked a quick, shy glance at him. He met my gaze steadily.

‘It was not your fault. It was all Evander’s.’

‘But – ’

‘Believe me. It is not the first time he has done this. He has somewhat of a reputation. It was lucky I returned when I did, else you would have stood little chance against him.’

I had no idea what Roman meant and I said so.

‘Pheromones,’ he said. ‘We all have the ability to release pheromones into the ai
r to help us seduce and enthral our prey. Evander appears to have a more potent formula and a better ability to control it. Like a human with sex appeal, Evander makes full use of this ‘ability’.

He smiled wryly. ‘So, you see, it is not your fault.’

‘But what if he had …?’ I couldn’t complete the sentence; now that Evander was not in the room, all I felt was distaste for what he had nearly made me do. I would have liked to have had a shower, to wash away the residue of the pheromones I imagined I could feel my skin. I was aware I was being ridiculous, but I couldn’t help the way I felt.

‘I still would have fought him,’ Roman said. ‘Even though he had not enthralled you, his method was not… acceptable. Of course, if you
are
attracted to him, and it is not the result of the pheromones, then I will not stand in your way.’

I didn’t know how to take that statement. Was he saying he cared so little for me that he would be unaffected if I decided I wanted to jump someone else’s bones instead?

‘Don’t be stupid.’ His voice was harsh, a growl just below the surface. It was hard to conceal anything from him. ‘I mean, I love you enough to let you find happiness elsewhere, if you cannot find it with me.’

It didn’t matter how many times he told me, and in how many different ways, I still had trouble believing he loved me. And why wouldn’t I not believe him: I was a short-lived, ordinary-looking, human, and
none of his kind would give me a second’s thought if I didn’t have the odd ability to time travel. Once Roman’s time and mine converges, even that interesting quirk would disappear. Why should he want me then?

‘I cannot stand the stink in here,’ he announced, turning swiftly to the door. ‘Come, we will pay a visit to your grandparents. I need to know if they are still planning to emigrate.’

My maternal grandparents lived on a small holding a few miles west of Brecon. It had originally been a fair-sized farm, but family legend spoke of bad decisions and acres being sold off to pay for them. My mother never spoke much about her childhood, but I gathered the intention to travel to Australia and start a new life was a result of the economic climate in the early- to mid-1970s and the failure of my grandfather in buying back enough of the land to convert the smallholding into a viable farm. On Andrew’s death, my grandmother lost all heart for the move and my grandfather had gone to work for a local grain merchant, my mother had grown up and met my father, and history had plodded along the path it was meant to.

Roman failed to get me on the bike again, so we used his Range Rover. I felt much safer in that.

He parked it at the bottom of the lane; a wise move. It was quiet enough and secluded enough out here that a car at this hour of the night might be noted, and we trudged along the rutted road in silence. Actually, I trudged: Roman walked with a graceful, loping stride.

The house was in darkness, except for a night light in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

‘That’s probably Andrew’s room,’ I whispered.

‘I never understood the human need to have lights on all the time,’ he replied. ‘There is nothing to fear in darkness itself.’

I shot him an incredulous look. He thought about what he had said, then shrugged. ‘Apart from us,’ he amended, ‘but a mere light will not keep us away. It just means they can see our teeth better.’