Night's Master

This is who I am, he said. This is what I am.



And then, his gaze still locked on mine, he bit his wrist and held the open wound to Susie's lips.



“Drink.” He spoke softly, yet his voice rang with authority.



Susie obediently licked at the blood oozing from his wrist, once, twice, and then her hands grabbed his arm and she sucked greedily.



Once again, preternatural power flowed through the room. Susie's cheeks bloomed with color, her hair and skin took on a luster they'd never had before.



Cagin swore softly, his gaze focused on Susie.



It seemed she would drain Rafe dry before he said, “Enough!” and broke her hold on his arm. A flick of his tongue sealed the wound in his wrist.



Depositing Susie on the sofa, Rafe gained his feet. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, then looked down at Susie. “Do you know who I am?”



She nodded, though her eyes were filled with confusion. “What happened?” She glanced around the room. “Where am I?” When she saw Cagin, she smiled tentatively.



“What do you remember?” Rafe asked.



“I remember…” She frowned. “I remember some men came to the house. I don't know who they were. They took me outside and put me in a van….” She worried her lower lip with her teeth. Teeth that seemed much whiter than they had been before. “I don't recall anything after that.” She looked at Cagin again. “I remember you,” she said softly. “You saved my life.”



Cagin blew out a breath that seemed to come from the soles of his feet. “Go on.”



Susie put a hand to her head. “Why do I feel so funny?” She wrapped her arms around her middle. “I hurt inside. Why? What's happened?” She looked at me for the first time. “Kathy, what's going on?”



I wondered again if she would hate me for my part in her transformation.



Cagin moved to Susie's side and sat down. “I'll explain it all to you later,” he said, stroking her cheek. “When we're alone.”



“You two should spend the night here,” Rafe said. “I've got a spare room. You won't be safe at her place, or yours.”



“What happens now?” Cagin asked.



Rafe glanced at Susie, then at me. “Kathy, why don't you show Susie where the bathroom is. Run a bath for her.”



“All right. Come on, Susie.”



She followed me into the bathroom. I was relieved when she didn't ask any questions I didn't want to answer.



Once the tub was full, I turned my back so she could get undressed and then, after assuring her that everything was all right, I went back into the living room.



Cagin was sitting in one of the chairs, staring into the cold fireplace.



Rafe was standing at the window looking out. When I entered the room, he took me by the hand, led me into his bedroom, and quietly closed the door.



I sat on the edge of the bed. “Can't we please have a candle or something?” I asked. After what I'd seen earlier, I needed the reassurance of light.



Rafe left the room. He returned a few minutes later with half a dozen candles, which he placed on the dresser and the tables on either side of the bed. A wave of his hand brought them flickering to life. The tiny flames cast dancing shadows on the walls, which were painted a lovely blue-gray. The ceiling was white, to match the carpet. A quick look around showed a very large room with a fireplace in one corner. An enormous television screen was mounted on the wall across from the bed. There were no windows, of course.



“Why did you want Susie out of the room?” I asked.



Rafe closed the door, then came to sit beside me. “She'll die tonight.”



“What? But I thought…didn't it work?”



“It worked, but there's more to it than just an exchange of blood. Her mortal body will die in an hour or so, and when she rises tomorrow night, she'll be Nosferatu. Cagin needed to be prepared for what will happen, for himself, and for her.”



I ran my hand along the edge of the bed. “So, she's going to die, like, die?”



“In a manner of speaking, but only for a few moments.”



“Why didn't the serum work on you when it worked on the other two?”



He shrugged. “Probably because I wasn't made a Vampire in the usual way.”



I supposed that made sense. Technically, he had been born a Vampire. No one had brought him across, there had been no exchange of blood. It was the same with the shape-shifters. They had been born, not made, so there was no disease to cure, nothing to heal.



“Would you have been sorry if it had worked?” I asked.



“Before I met you, I would have said yes, but now…” His knuckles brushed my cheek. “I'm starting to hate what I am.”



“Why?”



“Because,” he said, his voice endearingly soft and sensual, “it's keeping me from what I want.”



I licked my lips. “What do you want?”



“To spend the rest of my life with you.”



“Rafe…”



“You should get some rest,” he said. “You've had quite a night.”



“What was it like, bringing Susie across?”



“I'm not sure I can describe it.” He looked past me, his thoughts obviously turned inward. “You can't imagine what it was like, the wonder of holding her life in my hands, the rush of power that flowed through me as I took her to the point of death, and then gave her life back to her.” He paused. His eyes, as dark and deep as eternity, burned with bright intensity as they gazed into mine. “I wish it had been you.”



Looking into his eyes, hearing the heartfelt longing in his voice, for that one brief moment in time, I, too, wished it had been me.



At my request, Rafe left the candles burning after we went to bed. I wasn't sure I would ever be able to sleep in the dark again. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Rafe bending over Susie's neck. I smelled the coppery scent of her blood, saw the hellish red glow in Rafe's eyes as he took her to the brink of eternity, and then brought her back. I saw the gleam of insanity in Pearl's eyes, the madness in Edna's, the hatred in Travis Jackson's. I remembered being locked in a cage, the sting of the needle and the helpless terror that had followed, the fear that I would die in that cage, that my parents would never know what had happened to me.



Rafe woke me twice during the night, his touch and his voice soothing my fears, chasing the nightmares away.



He'd been right, I thought, I never should have watched him bring Susie across.



Toward dawn, when he thought I was asleep, he went into the living room. Curious, I slipped out of bed, padded silently down the hall, and peeked around the door frame.



Rafe stood in front of the sofa, his back toward me. “How's she doing?” he asked.



“She was scared,” Cagin said, “but she calmed down some when I explained what was happening. She even made a joke, saying she'd never been a morning person, and now she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.”



“How do you feel about it, about what she's become?”



“It doesn't matter. I'm thirty-five years old and I've never been in love until now.” He shook his head. “I loved her from the minute I saw her. If anyone had ever told me that was possible, I wouldn't have believed it.”



“It happens,” Rafe said quietly. “She'll sleep until the sun sets. When she wakes up, she'll be ravenous.”



Cagin nodded.



“She'll probably attack the first person she sees, which will most likely be you. If she does, don't let her take too much.”



“What would happen if she…can shape-shifters be turned?”



“I don't know why not. Might be interesting to find out.”



“Interesting,” Cagin repeated. “Yeah, right.”



“I've got some bottled blood I keep for emergencies,” Rafe said. “If you can get her to drink it, it will take the edge off her hunger and help her to control it. It will make it easier on you, too, if she wants to feed off you.”



Cagin grunted softly.



“I've never known a Vampire to feed off a shape-shifter,” Rafe went on. “I don't know what the effects, if any, will be on either of you.”



“I guess we'll find out.”



“Maybe so. Just don't let her get away from you. Every fledgling reacts differently to being turned.”



“This just keeps getting better and better,” Cagin muttered.



“If it goes sour,” Rafe said, “just remember it was your idea.”



“Right.”



The two men regarded each other for a moment, then Rafe started to turn away from the sofa.



I hurried back to the bedroom as fast as my legs would carry me. Diving into the bed, I pulled the covers over my head and pretended to be asleep.



I heard the soft click as Rafe closed and locked the door. I could feel him standing there, staring down at me.



He pulled the covers back on his side of the bed. “I know you're awake.”



Blowing out a breath of exasperation, I sat up. “Is Susie going to be all right?”



“I don't know. I hope so.”



“Your face…”



“Pretty bad, I guess.”



“No. It's…I…” In the light of the candles, I could see that the ugly burns were almost gone. Only a rough redness remained in the worst places. The rest of his face was healed, as if he'd never been hurt.



He rubbed his hand over his cheek. “I told you it would heal.”



“You said days, maybe weeks.”



He shrugged.



“It was the blood, wasn't it?”



“Yeah.”



“Was it mine? Or Susie's?”



He slid into bed and pulled me down beside him. “Yours, of course.”



I snuggled against him, my head resting on his shoulder. “This is getting to be a habit, our sleeping together.”



“I'd like to do more than sleep,” he muttered.