Embrace the Night

Page 51



Since then, he had kept his secret to himself, mingling with mortals only when his own company was no longer enough, when he needed to hear the sound of laughter, to be in the midst of those who were vital and alive.

After centuries of reveling in being a vampire, he had come to curse the loneliness of his existence, the selfish need for blood, the smell of death that was ever present in his life, but now he felt only joy.

Sometimes he felt as though he were being ripped apart. He yearned for a normal life, yearned for the sunlight, for the chance to marry and have children, to love and be loved. And yet, he enjoyed the powers that came with being a vampire. He had seen centuries come and go. He could change his form. Most people believed bats were the vampire's animal of choice, but he found it most unpleasant to squeeze his essence into such a small shape, and much preferred to turn into a wolf, though these days he did it rarely.

He possessed the strength of twenty mortal men; he had the power to hypnotize others, to bend them to his will. He had control over animals, over the wind and the rain. He could climb walls with the agility of a spider. In the blink of an eye, he could change shape, or dissolve into a swirling gray mist. But the novelty of such tricks, amazing as they might be, had dimmed long ago, and now, for the first time in years, he yearned to be mortal again so that he might love Sara.

Sara… she was asleep again, protected from him by her youth, her innocence. Fiend though he might be, he would not defile her.

Chapter Nine

Sara woke feeling wonderful. Jumping out of bed, she twirled round and round. It hadn't been a dream. She could walk!

She smiled when she saw an old wooden bathing tub in one corner of the room. A huge kettle filled with water hung from a tripod over a low fire. Bless Gabriel, he thought of everything.

She took a leisurely bath, her heart bubbling with joy as she propped her legs on the lip of the tub and wriggled her toes. She could walk!

Hunger drove her from the tub. She found some bread and cheese and a small bottle of wine in a basket. Wrapped in a blanket, she ate standing up, marveling that such a thing was possible. She could stand. She could walk, and suddenly a whole new world had opened before her eyes.

Sara glanced at the box of chocolates on the bedside table, at the room, though there was little to see—the bed she had slept in, the table, Gabriel's chair.

Several large boxes at the foot of the bed drew her eye, and she wondered why she hadn't noticed them before. She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to poke into them if they belonged to Gabriel, but her curiosity got the best of her.

A riot of color met her eyes as, one by one, she opened the boxes. She found delicate convent-made underwear: pantalets edged with lace, a camisole bedecked with a pale blue ribbon, a corset, a petticoat made of organdy, a pair of kidskin gloves, shoes with silver buckles, silk stockings.

Another box held a straw bonnet trimmed with a white feather and pink ribbons.