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“What happened? Why did Jackson wake you up?” The words came tense and full of restraint.
“Cassie, it is I. All of me. Awake.”
The connection went silent. He looked at the phone to confirm the call was still active. It was. “Cassie?Amour?”
“Oh my God. You’re awake. Fully awake?” Hard to say if that tremble in her voice was emotional or technical.
“Oui.At last.” He had shed the blanket, though not the sunglasses, as he watched the walls of green pass the window beside him. The light still prickled over his skin and made his eyes water, but his vampire’s panic had subsided.
“It’s not what you hoped it would be, is it?” she asked, sensitive to his every mood even now, when she couldn’t possibly be aware of his muddled thoughts.
Dominique closed his eyes. “Non.” That was true of so many things right now.
“Well. At least now you know for sure.”
That he did. But at what price? This madness could yet cost countless lives tonight when he faced Adilla once more at a disadvantage. Including the lives of those who slept around him now and had placed their fate in him.
“So if you weren’t awake right now, they would all be dead already,” Cassidy reasoned after he summarized events for her.
“But if I had never dabbled with this folly in the first place, none of us would have to be here now. Geneviève would not be here now,” he clarified. So strange to have these discussions with her aloud and trying to convey the depths of his feelings in words and tone.
“Are you going to wait another day, then?” she asked, tentative hope in her voice.
He considered this. Dismissed it. “The risk of being discovered again is too great. Garrett is too fragile. Jackson is only one. There are no more shots to wake me up, and…Geneviève will not last that long. It doesn’t matter how weak I will be, I cannot afford not to end this. Somehow.”
A short time later, Jackson eased their giant box on wheels into the campground and slipped into a vacant spot next to a party in high gear. Several families had gathered around a set of grills that smoked and sizzled with their dinner. Children darted underfoot. Pop music streamed from a wireless speaker.
Garrett eyed them suspiciously. “Could be sentries. Probably compelled.”
Dominique snorted. “What they are is fresh blood, you fool. Why else do you think Adilla encourages a campground this close to his lair?”
“Jeez,” Jackson said.
Garrett gave Dominique a look that hovered somewhere between horrified and resigned.
Several greetings floated their way when they emerged from the RV. “You look like you had a long day on the road,” one woman called, all smiles. “Want to join us for dinner? We’ve brought way too much.”
While Jackson and Garrett looked at each other as though trying to decide if they should bring weapons, Dominique turned his most beguiling dimpled smile on the woman. “We would love to,chère.Merci.”
She chuckled throatily, her cheeks coloring. “Well, c’mon over. You’re in for a treat. Bryce here makes the best burgers in the neighborhood.” At the grill, a man in a cheerful “Kiss the Cook” apron waved a spatula in acknowledgment.
“Wait. What are you doing?” Jackson’s tone said he suspected him of being up to the very worst.
Dominique laughed, feeling freer than he had in years. “I am going to have my last solid food ever. And I intend to enjoy every bite.”
48
Certainty
Jacksonfinishedhis“bestburger in the neighborhood” at a brisk pace and chased it with another energy drink. Well rested, and loaded with carbs, protein, and caffeine, he was ready for whatever the night would throw at him. While he ate, he made minimum conversation with their hosts and kept his eyes glued to where the Lord of Night was enjoying his last supper on a rock outcrop overlooking a rushing stream.
Beside him, Garrett polished off the helping Jackson had cut up for him so he could eat it one-handed with a plastic fork. “I think I need more magic juice. This arm is taking too damn long to heal.”
“Won’t that interfere with your plans?”
“I’m just trying not to fall apart while we’re all still in this hot mess. The rest is for later.”
Jackson shook his head. “I don’t suppose you’ve talked with Dad about this?”
