Eternal Kiss of Darkness

"Quite well," Bones replied. His lip curled. "She said to send her regrets for not coming today."

Mencheres gave Bones a dry smile. "Yes, I'm sure she deeply regrets not seeing me."

"You erased her memory of a vampire who kidnapped her and coerced her into marriage when she was only sixteen," Bones said softly. His eyes glinted green. "And then you didn't bother to tell either of us about it until that vampire came after her again a dozen years later, or tell us the reason why he wanted her so badly. That sort of betrayal tends to linger."

"Walk with me," Mencheres replied, not addressing that. He went out into the garden, stopping by the small reflecting pool, waiting until Bones was next to him before he spoke again.

"The future is like water. All our actions ripple over it, changing its reflection. If I had told either you or Cat what was to come, you would have altered your actions, making the reflections of who you are different than who you were meant to be. We would all like to change our future to the simplest path, the straightest line, the road of least regrets"

- Mencheres paused to smile sardonically - "but then the final outcome wouldn't be the same."

"Easy to say when you're the bloke who could see that final outcome in advance," Bones replied with an edge to his tone. "The rest of us had to wonder if those we loved would suffer or die because of our actions."

"We all wonder," Mencheres said quietly. "Even if we know, we still wonder." Bones didn't say anything. Then he picked up a small pebble and absently threw it into the reflecting pool.

"Something I've wanted to ask you, grandsire. You said you'd seen before I was even born that I'd be the one you'd share your power with. Why didn't you change me into a vampire yourself, then? You were there that night. Yet you let Ian sire me instead."

"To keep you safe. Patra searched my people for the one I'd prophesied would murder her. My wife thought it would be someone I had sired myself. You were unusually strong, Bones, even as a young vampire. If I'd changed you over, you would have been even stronger - too strong to stay unnoticed by Patra for as long as you did. So I let Ian change you. You were still of my bloodline that way, as I made Ian; but it gave you a chance to grow without rousing Patra's lethal interest until you were ready to defeat her.

As I said" - Mencheres gestured at the water in the reflecting pool, which still vibrated from the pebble Bones had thrown into it - "the smallest ripple can change everything." Bones gave Mencheres a look he couldn't decipher. "The power you shared with me increased my strength and gave me the ability to read humans' minds, all in the first night. It's been almost a year and a half since then. Haven't you wondered if anything else has popped up in the interim?"

Mencheres stared at Bones, unblinking. "I would think if you manifested more of my powers, you would tell me."

A smile ghosted across Bones's lips. "Perhaps. Unless, of course, it might cause a problematic ripple in future events."

Had Bones begun to manifest the power of visions? That was how it had started with Mencheres when he was not much older than Bones; he'd caught tiny, indistinct flashes that he'd first dismissed as imaginings and only later realized were slivers of the future.

Then again, it was also a possibility that Bones was just trifling with him. Bones knew that Mencheres's loss of visions disturbed him, and the cold part of Bones might think it was a fitting revenge to have Mencheres believe Bones knew something about the future but wouldn't reveal it to Mencheres.

Just as Mencheres hadn't told him what he knew about Bones and Cat.

But if Bones wasn't just attempting to trifle with him . . . "Then I can only trust in the blood vow we made when we merged our lines," Mencheres said, his tone hardening.

"Despite what happened in the past, I kept my vow to do everything that was best for you and for our line."

Boned nodded once at the reflecting pool before he turned away. "I don't intend to betray the vow I made when we forged our all iance. But mind those ripples, mate. They might surprise you with what they bring."

Chapter 11

Kira blew out a tight sigh as she stood outside a club named Around the World. This was probably another waste of time. Seven straight nights of going to bars, clubs, or even coffeehouses that were reported to have had unexplainable or supernatural events had so far resulted in nothing. Well, except her sleeping just as little as before, paying high cover fees, getting hit on by persistent men and women, and finding zero evidence of any vampiric presence.

Furthermore, Kira was starting to wonder if she'd read too much into Mencheres's gesture with her boss. If he'd truly wanted to see her again, he could have left a business card under her door. Called her. Returned her cell phone with his number entered into it, something easier to follow. Doubts crept into her. Mencheres knew where she worked and where she lived, yet it had been a week with neither sight nor sound of him since he'd mesmerized her boss. All she had driving her was a nagging persistence that said Mencheres didn't want to disappear from her life despite his very effective vanishing act.

Or her instinct was wrong, and things were exactly as Mencheres wanted them to be.

He'd said goodbye, and he hadn't contacted her since then. Maybe it was time for her to take the hint and quit chasing her tail.

If this place turned up nothing, she'd have to reexamine her actions. She might want to see Mencheres again so much that it was clouding her judgment, making her think her gut was telling her something that it wasn't. One last scouting mission, she decided, heading inside the club. Too bad this place had been last on her list for establishments that Mencheres or other vampires might frequent. It was a strip club, and somehow she couldn't imagine the suave Mencheres paying to see women take their clothes off. As for other vampires . . . well, they could mesmerize women into taking their clothes off if they chose to. Why buy the cow when you can get the cream for free, as the old saying went.

Kira paid the admission fee and was advised of the three-drink minimum bar tab.

Once inside, she did a slow sweep of the interior, which consisted of several bars, a huge center stage with a runway, a VIP area cordoned off by glittering floor-to-ceiling strands, draperied alcoves, and a small dining area, to her surprise. The inside of Around the World was actually more high-end than she'd expected, but she didn't plan to become a regular. Applause signaled that a dancer had just taken the stage. Kira decided to find a seat and order a drink. This was her last night of reconnaissance, after all. She might as well stay until she'd gotten a good look at the club's clientele. It was only 9:00 P.M. Probably still too early for a lot of the regulars.