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Logan watched in awe. She was a newly made vampire. Most were weak, uncertain. But not Mara. He knew he was responsible for her strength, at least in part, because he had never bequeathed the Dark Gift to another. Never weakened his power by sharing it. He was an old vampire, and his blood was ancient and powerful. Had anyone else turned her, she wouldn’t be as strong as she was, but his blood was her blood, older than any other.
She continued to draw on her power, reveling in it. It hummed through the air, vibrant and alive, a physical force manifested in the elements. The wind whipped around them, seeming to gather its strength from her presence.
She looked like an ancient goddess standing there, her long black hair blowing in the wind, her skin translucent, her arms lifted over her head.
He yearned to go to her, to pull her into his arms and make love to her, there in the grass, with the storm raging all around them. But his honor forbade it. Undead or mortal, she still had a husband, even though she seemed to have forgotten both Kyle and the child, at least for the moment.
He didn’t know how long they stood there. An hour, a year. Time lost its meaning as he stared at her, his mind replaying every night, every moment, they had shared. He had known, from the instant she had turned him, that he would never love anyone else. He had made love to women, countless women, beautiful women, but he had loved none of them. Only Mara. Always Mara.
Slowly, she lowered her arms to her sides. When she opened her eyes, the thunder grew quiet, the lightning ceased, the wind stilled.
“I know where they are.” Her voice was like smooth velvet over steel, her eyes as deep and cold as the grave. “We have to hurry.”
Chapter Forty-three
“Why, Tom?” Eyes wide and scared, Janis Ramsden backed away from her husband. “Why are you doing this?”
She bolted for the door as he came after her, murder in his eyes, but he was too quick for her. She screamed as his hand closed around her arm, his grip like iron.
Like any wild animal, she fought viciously for her life. Crying with despair, she used every ounce of strength and power she possessed, but she was no match for her husband. He wrestled her down to the floor, his eyes blazing with an unholy light as he straddled her hips, one of his hands grasping both of hers.
She rolled her head back and forth, sobbing, “Tom, please don’t do this!” as he pulled a wooden stake from under his coat. “No! No!” She screamed as he drove the stake deep into her heart, murmured, “Why, Tom?” as the light slowly went out of her eyes.
Ramsden left her body where it lay. He felt no regret for what he had done, no remorse at her death. He had made her; now that he was tired of her, it was his right to destroy her.
Taking a deep breath, Ramsden glanced at the child asleep in the crib. Some near-forgotten hint of compassion refused to let him leave the child in the same room with a dead woman. Dragging a blanket from the bed, Ramsden wrapped it around his wife’s body, then carried it outside and dumped it by the back door where it would disintegrate in the morning.
The two old women were next on his list. One thing he had always been careful to do was tie up all the loose ends from his old life when he was about to embark on a new one.
A quick search of their rooms and he knew Edna and Pearl had packed up and gone. How had they known? He smiled faintly. They might be old women and relatively new vampires, but they were smarter than they looked. They must have sensed that something was in the air. Deciding to err on the side of caution, they had fled without a word. Smart, he thought. Last night, he hadn’t quite made up his mind about whether or not to destroy them. Had he found them now, when his bloodlust was running hot, they wouldn’t have stood a chance. Smart, he thought again. Having gained his admiration, he decided to let them live, at least for the time being.
As soon as he disposed of the man and the child, he would be on his way. Although he had not yet decided on a destination, he was leaning toward Italy. It had been too long since he had walked among the ruins of the Colosseum, or viewed the beauty of the Pantheon, a remarkable building the Romans had built to honor the gods. Yes, he mused, far too long since he had ridden a gondola through the canals, admired the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, made love to a hot-blooded Italian woman. Yes, Italy, he decided, suddenly anxious to see Rome.
But first he had to get rid of the man and the child.
Walking down the corridor toward the lab, he smiled faintly. Nothing like a good meal before bedtime.
Chapter Forty-four
Edna’s hands were shaking visibly as she lifted the crystal wineglass to her lips and took a long drink. Pearl sat beside her on the sofa, her whole body trembling. Such a close call. Another few minutes, and they might have met the same fate as Janis Ramsden.
Thank goodness for preternatural hearing, Edna thought. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on Ramsden and his wife. She had gone looking for the doctor to ask him a question, only to pause outside the door when she heard Janis sobbing and begging for her life.
Grateful for preternatural speed and power, Edna had hurried back to warn Pearl that their lives might be in danger. Deciding it was better to be safe than sorry, they had grabbed what was at hand and quickly transported themselves back to their home in Texas.
“I feel bad about leaving the baby,” Edna remarked, her hands tightly clasped around her wineglass in an effort to still their trembling.
“I know, dear, but what else could we have done?”
“Nothing, I guess,” Edna said, “since the baby was in Ramsden’s room.”
“I’m going to miss the little guy,” Pearl remarked. “He was such a dear. It would have been interesting to watch him grow up.”
Edna pursed her lips, then blew out a sigh. “I have something to tell you.”
“Oh? Something juicy?”
“I was thinking the same thing as you, that it would be interesting to watch the baby grow, to see how he’d turn out . . .”
Pearl leaned forward. “Go on.”
“So, I drank from him. Just a little,” she said quickly, “but enough so that I’ll be able to find him if we ever want to check up on him.”
“You drank from the baby?” Pearl exclaimed.
“It was wrong of me, I know.”
Pearl clapped her hands together. “I think it was brilliant! I thought of it, too, but I never had the opportunity.” She took a deep breath. “Do you think Ramsden will come after us?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we shouldn’t have left. Doing so only proves we know what he did.”
