Embrace the Night

Page 239



"There's no need for you to be jealous, cara. My heart belongs to you." His gaze, dark and intense, rested on her face. "Only you. It always has. It always will."

His words, softly and sincerely spoken, made her realize how foolish her anger really was. With a sigh, she moved into his arms, her head pillowed on his chest. "What are you going to do?"
"About what?"

"The cure?"

"I won't know until I see exactly what it calls for," he answered, but he already knew he would try it, regardless of the danger. They could not go on as they were. If he could not be mortal again, then perhaps it would be best for all concerned if his life came to an end. In time, Sarah would forget him.

She would marry again, have the children he knew she longed for.

"I think maybe you should forget it. I don't want you risking your life for me. And if it doesn't work, you'd be in grave danger."

He nodded, remembering the touch of the sun on his face and hands, the excruciating pain, the fear that he would perish in flames before he could return to the cellar.

"Come," he said, swinging her up into his arms. "There are only a few hours until dawn, and I would spend them with you."

She snuggled against him, her mind in turmoil. She had been so sure that a cure for what he was would solve all their problems. Now it sounded as if the cure was worse than the disease.

And then Gabriel was kissing her, his hands moving over her body, discarding her clothing, caressing her skin with his lips, sweeping her away to a world that was only big enough for two, and there was no more time for thought; there was only the touch of his hands and the rough velvet of his voice as he whispered that he loved her, would love her to the end of his existence…

Chapter Eight

She was on edge all that day, unable to concentrate on anything for more than a minute. All she could think of was that Gabriel was meeting Quillan at midnight; that they'd have the formula in their hands. Only two weeks until Halloween, she thought. Only two weeks to make a decision that would have monumental influence on the rest of their lives. Quillan had said the journey back to life had always been fatal. Did she want Gabriel to be mortal again badly enough to risk his life? If the cure didn't work, Gabriel would die a horrible death. Gabriel had said he would not let her go in this life, that he would not stand by and watch her die again, and so there were really only two choices: they must find a cure for what he was, or she would have to become a vampire… and she knew that was something she could never do.

Maybe Quillan was right. Maybe Gabriel should transform her against her will. Maybe she could accept it then, but even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew she would never forgive him, that no matter how difficult the decision might be, it had to be her own.

Never had the hours of the day passed so slowly. She tried to read, tried to watch TV, but she was too