Embrace the Night

Page 144



Heavy-hearted, she went into the parlor and sank down on the sofa. What was she going to do about Gabriel? About Maurice? About Nina?

She stared at the strings of garlic around the windows, praying they would keep Nina's evil at bay. And what about Gabriel? If Nina was evil, what did that make Gabriel?

He survived by feeding on the life's blood of others. She could visualize him lurking in the shadows of the night, waiting to prey on the unwary, his fangs penetrating living flesh.

It was too horrible to contemplate, too awful to envision, and yet it was true.

Feeling suddenly chilled to the depths of her soul, she huddled in a corner of the sofa, shivering uncontrollably.

"Oh, Gabriel," she murmured, "what are we going to do?"
Come to me.

His voice, deep, resonant, was calling her.
Like a sleepwalker, she rose to do his bidding.

Her hand trembled as she reached for the latch, and then she was inside the room. Gabriel's cloak lay like a splash of black paint against the snowy counterpane.
"Sara…"

He held out his hand, and she went to him, her heart beating wildly as she placed her hand in his. Images of fangs and blood-red eyes flitted down the corridor of her mind.

Gabriel dropped her hand and looked away. "The cross," he said, his voice harsh. "Take it off."

She slipped the delicate silver chain over her head, her mind whirling with images of Gabriel as he had looked that day in the cellar of the cottage, his eyes burning, his flesh taut, pale.

With an effort, she shook the ghastly images away. Turning away from the bed, she dropped the crucifix into her jewelry box and closed the lid.

He met her gaze then and she saw the hurt lurking in the depths of his eyes. Such changeable eyes, she thought, sometimes dark with passion, sometimes filled with an eternity of loneliness, sometimes blazing with an unholy light…

"You're afraid of me." It was a bold statement of fact, not a question. "Yes." She looked at him curiously. "Why aren't you… how can you…"
"Be awake?"

Sara nodded. "I thought you slept during the day."