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Daisy screamed as Brandon sank to the floor, his hands trying to dislodge the vampire. Daisy raked her nails across the vampire's cheek, then pummeled the creature's back and shoulders, but the vampire seemed oblivious as she continued to feed on Brandon.
With a wild cry, Daisy slid off the female's back. Fishing in her pocket, she pulled out a stake and drove it into the vampire's back.
Shrieking in pain, the vampire lifted her head, blood dripping from her fangs, but didn't loosen her grip on Brandon.
Summoning all her strength, Daisy jerked the stake from the vampire's back and drove it in again. She hit the heart this time, she was sure of it. A horrible cry erupted from the vampire's throat as she rolled off Brandon. She twitched once and then lay still, her sightless red eyes wide and staring. A single red tear slid down her pale cheek.
"Brandon!" Daisy dropped down beside her brother. "Dad! Help!" Sobbing, she cradled Brandon's head in her lap. "No, no, Brandon, stay with me," she pleaded as his blood, still warm, soaked into her jeans. "Please, stay with me. You'll be all right. Just hold on..."
She looked up through eyes blurred with tears as Alex and her father, both splattered with blood and gore, raced toward her.
Noah fell to his knees beside his son. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he drew Brandon into his arms and rocked him back and forth.
Daisy stared at her father and brother in disbelief. No one in their family had ever been killed by a vampire. They'd had some close calls, sure, but nothing like this. Even now, with the proof in front of her, she couldn't believe Brandon was gone.
It was a somber group that gathered around the kitchen table later that evening. Alex had fixed a dinner that no one ate, and now they sat there, too numb with loss and grief to speak. They had done what needed to be done before leaving the lair near the harbor.
Noah had wrapped his son's body in a quilt pulled from a closet and carried him out to the car.
Alex had decapitated the vampires to make sure they wouldn't rise again, then collected the necessary proof that the kills had been made.
Daisy had stowed the vials of blood in the cooler. She had been tempted to leave them behind, but she couldn't. The liquid in those vials had cost her brother his life.
Daisy and Alex had been about to leave the house when Alex paused. "Do you smell that?"
Daisy had sniffed the air. "It smells like death."
Alex grunted softly.
Daisy followed Alex down a narrow flight of stairs to the basement where they made a grisly discovery--the bodies of a middle-aged man and woman shoved inside an old coal chute.
"They've been dead a while," Alex said. "We need to notify the police."
Daisy had turned away, sickened by the sight and the smell of the house's former owners.
Alex called the police. The rest of the afternoon had passed in a blur of police reports and endless questions. There was no law against destroying vampires. Once the police had ascertained that the deceased were indeed vampires, Daisy and her family had been free to go. They had taken Brandon's body to the local mortuary and made the necessary arrangements for the funeral, and then driven home.
"Your mother and Aunt Judy will be home day after tomorrow," Noah said, breaking the stillness.
"How's Mom taking it?" Alex asked.
"Hard."
"Someone needs to call Paula," Daisy remarked.
"I'll do it." Alex blew out a sigh. "I guess now's as good a time as any." Rising, he left the kitchen.
Daisy stared blankly out the window. Instead of a wedding, there would be a funeral. She still couldn't believe her brother was dead. Brandon had been such a gentle, fun-loving young man. Once, he had confided in her that he didn't like being a Blood Thief. When she had asked why he didn't quit, he had admitted, somewhat sheepishly, that he knew Alex would tease him unmercifully. Daisy blinked back her tears. If only he had quit before it was too late. Funny, she had never really believed anyone in her family would be hurt. They were the good guys, after all.
She looked up, startled, when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it, Dad," she said, thinking it was probably the police with more questions. Her father had been through enough for one day.
It wasn't the police. Opening the door, she found herself staring up at Erik. The word vampire screamed in the back of her mind. In that moment, if she'd had a stake at hand, she would have destroyed him without a qualm.
"What's wrong?" There was no mistaking the hatred in her eyes, though he could think of nothing he had done to put it there.
"My brother...Brandon...he's...he's dead."
"I'm sorry. How did it happen?"
She clasped her hands together to still their trembling. "He was...." She took a deep breath and said it all at once. "He was killed this afternoon. By a vampire."
"Ah." That explained everything. "Do you know who did it?"
"Yes. She'll never hurt anyone again."
"I can see I'm not welcome here," Erik said quietly. "I'm sorry for your loss."
Rage and impotent anger boiled within her. She wanted to strike out, to hurt as she had been hurt. Conversely, she had an almost overwhelming urge to invite him in, to rest her head on his shoulder and let him comfort her, but she couldn't. He was Nosferatu. For all she knew, he might have been friends with the vampire who had killed Brandon.
Distraught, she could only stand there, drowning in grief that was too painful, too fresh, for words.
"Good-bye, Daisy."
He was gone before she had time to respond.
Chapter 27
After leaving Daisy's house, Erik told himself that their parting was for the best and would have come sooner or later. Still, even knowing there could be no future for the two of them, he had hoped they could find a way to make it work. Of course, that was impossible now. A vampire had killed her brother, something Daisy would never forget or forgive. Still, he had promised not to leave her until she was safe.
He stood in the shadows for a moment, and then, feeling a need to be with his own kind, at least for an hour or so, he closed his eyes and willed himself to his lair in Los Angeles. He took a quick shower, then slipped into a pair of black slacks and a T-shirt. Since he had left his car parked in front of Daisy's house, he spent a moment deciding how to get to La Morte Rouge.
Not sure what his welcome would be, he opted to walk.
It was a beautiful clear night.
He found Rhys sitting at the bar in the nightclub, a willowy blond on one arm and a buxom redhead on the other.
"Well, well, well," Costain drawled, shooing the two females away, "look who finally showed up. Where in hell have you been?"
