The Ornament

Chapter Two



regori stared at the photo in his hand. His G finger traced her long hair lovingly and his gut clenched with desire at just her image. It didn’t matter that Kaylee was dead. Gone forever, she lived on in the form of her photo, her scent and her home.

He fired her cleaning service as soon as he found out about her death. He didn’t want them in here washing away her scent as though she didn’t exist—had never existed.

After a year though, the scent of his lover and mate had dissipated. It faded to the point where even he, with his acute sense of smell, could barely pick up her scent in anything with the exception of the basket, which held her soiled clothing. After so many months, even that had begun to fade.

Weak, he stumbled downstairs to the living room and made his way to the sofa. With luck, he would remain here undisturbed until after he had 8

The Ornament



joined his love in death. He could no longer force himself to continue on in a world that contained such sorrow, such pain.

Crumpling the small photo in his hand, Gregori fell to the couch and lay on his stomach, one arm pinned beneath him, the other dangling over the side, his hand resting on the floor.

He was too weak to turn over and make himself comfortable. He’d only fed a handful of times since Kaylee’s death. He was starving and soon would find the oblivion of death, where he would join his precious beloved Kaylee and they would spend eternity together. Perhaps they would be luckier in the afterlife and be able to stay together.

Gregori refused to live another day without Kaylee in it. He lay on his stomach on the too-short sofa, staring at the TV across the room.

Damn. He didn’t even have the strength to close his eyes.

The sound of breaking glass caught Gregori’s attention. Under normal circumstances, he would have investigated, but with his energy depleted, he could do nothing but listen as the intruders made their way into the shrine that was his Kaylee’s home.

“Find the jewelry. I’ll get the electronics.” One of them headed for the stairs and presumably Kaylee’s bedroom. “This will show that idiot vampire that we mean business when we tell him 9

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to leave humans alone. They have bagged blood they can drink, but no, they always find one of the most beautiful women and use them as their donor slaves.”

Gregori heard the conversation, though they spoke in little more than whispers. He mentally snarled. Why had he picked tonight to weaken himself? Why wasn’t he strong enough to protect her home? He wanted it to remain unmolested at least until his death. Then he wouldn’t care. He would be with his beloved Kaylee.

At full strength, he would have killed anyone with the audacity to defile his shrine. Today, he could only watch as the hooded figures split up, one heading upstairs and one walking toward him to take the things his Kaylee had worked so hard to possess. Unholy rage filled him when the hooded figure sauntered over to the wide-screen TV and began cutting the wires.

When Gregori heard footsteps on the front porch, he wondered who else had arrived to invade his shrine. Why had he picked tonight to bleed what was left of his blood out into the sink, thinking this would be a good night to die?

He heard the snick of the lock on the front door and the click of the latch. Whoever it was had a key. The door shut quietly behind the new intruder, then with a loud screech, the newcomer rushed the thief at the TV and Tased him with the 10

The Ornament



device she pulled from her purse. The burglar shuddered for a few moments as the sound of electricity arced through the air before he fell into a heap onto the floor at the newest intruder’s feet.

What the hell was going on here? For a year, he visited this home nightly and for a year, no one but he had ever entered the home. Tonight, the night he decided to let himself starve and die, the world declared open season on Kaylee Hamilton’s former residence.

What was it that the woman was after? In his experience, thieves were generally men. Women stole to feed their children, men usually did it for drugs, booze or cigarettes. Tall and willowy, with long, silken hair, she could have been Kaylee returning home from a day of shopping. The coat even looked like something she would have worn.

The woman stared down at the unconscious intruder. “What do I do? What do I do?” Shit! She even sounded like her. Was it his imagination or did the woman really have a similar-sounding voice. She’d had a key. Perhaps she was a sister he didn’t know about.

Not wanting to see her hurt, he tried to communicate with her in the only way he could. If he could still think, he could still reach her through a mental link…he hoped. The intruder at your feet wasn’t alone. He has an accomplice upstairs in the bedroom. You should leave before he comes 11

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downstairs. He may be armed. Gregori had to try to warn her. After all, she did sound like his Kaylee and he didn’t want to see the woman murdered in front of him. That would be more than he could take.

The woman’s gaze darted toward the stairs, then she turned toward the couch and froze.

Gregori would have done the same had he been able to move. Kaylee! For a moment, his heart knew joy again, then he remembered. He’d seen his beloved’s beheaded body, the stake through her heart and the garlic stuffed into her mouth.

No. This wasn’t his Kaylee. His mind played tricks on him as he neared death. Either that or she was here to escort him to the other side. Whichever it was, the woman before him wasn’t his Kaylee alive again. He pushed all thoughts of a Christmas miracle from his mind. It couldn’t be his beloved, no matter how much he wished it to be so.

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The Ornament