Embrace the Night

Page 222



He would have laughed if he hadn't been in such agony. Once before he had tried to send her away, and she had stubbornly refused to go. And now it was happening again. Was this to be the pattern of his life from now on, to find her and lose her again and again, to ease his fiendish hunger with a few drops of her precious blood, to watch her grow old and die in his arms?

A harsh cry rose in his throat. He would not do it again. Could not do it again. "Go home, Sarah. Forget all of this."

He flinched as her arms slid around his waist. It was a sign of his weakness that he hadn't heard her come up behind him. Had she been an enemy, he would likely be dead now, a wooden stake through his heart. An hour ago, a moment ago, he would have welcomed death, but now Sarah was here, and life was again worth living.

"We've been through all this before, Gabriel," she said, pressing her cheek against his back. "Take what you need."

"And what if I can't stop this time, cara? What if I take too much? What if I take it all?" He took a deep breath and let it out in a long, shuddering sigh. "If you decide to stay with me now, I won't watch you die, not this time. Are you prepared to live the life of a vampire?"

"I don't know. It seems like such a horrible way to live."

"Horrible?" He stared down at her hands, locked around his waist. It hadn't been a horrible existence, but it had been lonely. He remembered how it had been when first he'd been made, watching people he knew grow old and die, watching the world change, until there was nothing left of the life he had known, the world he had known. Until there was no one alive who remembered who he had been.

But then he had met Sara Jayne, and she had made it all worthwhile.
And now she was here.

Again.

Offering to ease his hunger. Again.

"Gabriel, maybe there's a cure for what you are. I mean, surely, in this day and age, there must be something we can do."

"A cure?" He frowned. Over the centuries, he had heard whispers of such a thing from other vampires, but he had never believed it or pursued it. There had been too much to see, to learn. In spite of the loneliness, he had enjoyed his existence, and the supernatural powers that came with it.

A cure? Perhaps, but he couldn't think of it now, couldn't think of anything but the need to get Sarah out of the house before it was too late, before the ravening hunger that lived inside him became overpowering.

"We can talk about it tomorrow," he said. "But now you must go home." A shudder racked his body.