Night's Touch (Children of The Night 2)

Feeling numb, she got out of the car, walked up the steps, unlocked the door, went inside, and closed the door behind her.

She stood there in the dark a moment, and then laughed humorlessly. If what Anton had said was true, she had been in the dark her whole life.

What if it was true? What if her mother and father were vampires?

But they weren’t her real parents. And if they were vampires, why would they want a human child? What did they intend to do with her?

She lifted a hand to her throat, then shook her head. If they meant to use her for food or some other nefarious scheme, wouldn’t they have done so by now?

Even as she told herself it was impossible, some inner voice whispered that everything Anton had said was true. It explained so many things. It explained everything.

She ran up to her room, turning on lights as she went. She felt betrayed. Her parents had lied to her. Every answer they had ever given her to explain their strange lifestyle had been a lie. She blinked back her tears, saddened because she knew that she would never trust her mother or her father again.

Vampires! They drank blood from the living. They were dead but not dead. In movies, they were generally depicted as soulless monsters who killed indiscriminately to sustain their own existence, or else they were portrayed as humorous creatures, like George Hamilton in Love at First Bite or Leslie Nielsen in Dracula, Dead and Loving It. She suspected the truth was somewhere between the two extremes, but it didn’t matter.

She couldn’t stay here any longer; she couldn’t face them, not now. For the first time in her life, she was afraid of her parents, afraid to be alone with them.

She pulled a suitcase from her closet and tossed in the contents from her dresser drawers. She filled her overnight case with the items from her bathroom, then grabbed her suitcases, her handbag, and her keys and ran out of the house.

She had to get away before they got home from The Nocturne. If it turned out that Anton had lied to her, that there really was a logical explanation for her parents’ behavior and that they weren’t vampires, well, then they could all have a good laugh about it later. But for now, she had to get away. She needed time alone, time to think, time to find out who she really was.

Roshan stood in the center of the living room. “She’s not here.”

“Maybe they went out for coffee,” Brenna suggested hopefully.

“I don’t think so.” Roshan took the stairs to his daughter’s bedroom two at a time. A single sweeping glance was all it took to tell him that she had packed her bags and left.

“But why?” Brenna asked when he told her the news. “Why would she leave? Where would she go?” Her eyes widened. “You don’t think she ran off with Bouchard?”

Roshan snorted softly. “If she was going to run away with anyone, it would be Cordova.”

“We’ve got to find her.”

Roshan paced the floor in front of the hearth. Cara had seen them at the club. She had come home, packed her bags, and left. Why? There had to be a connection. What was he missing? And where would she go?

He opened his senses, hoping he could detect her whereabouts, but he had never taken his daughter’s blood. The only way to find her would be to go outside and follow her scent.

He kissed Brenna on the cheek. “I’ll be back.”

“Wait! I’m going with you.”

“No, you stay here in case she changes her mind and comes home.”

“You don’t think anything’s happened to her, do you?” Brenna asked anxiously.

“No. I’m going out to see if Di Giorgio’s home, then I’m going to go look for her.”

“All right. Hurry!”

It took only moments for Roshan to reach the house Di Giorgio occupied at the rear of the property.

The bodyguard answered the door on the first knock. “Mr. DeLongpre,” he said, his brows rising in alarm. “Is something wrong?”

Roshan came right to the point. “Cara’s gone.”

“What?”

“You heard me. She packed her bags and left.”

Di Giorgio swore. “I…I don’t know what to say. I watched her go into the house. Saw the lights come on downstairs and then in her room. I didn’t hear her car leave, so I assumed she was in for the night, and I went to take a shower. It’s my fault, and I have no excuse, sir.”

“It’s all right, Frank. I’m going out to look for her.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“No. I’ll call you if I need help.”

“Very well, sir. Again, I’m sorry.”

With a nod, Roshan vanished into the night.

It didn’t take him long to find her scent. Though he was on foot and she was in her car, he had no trouble following her across the city to a hotel. He noted it was in a decent part of town.

Going inside, he stopped at the desk and asked what room his daughter was in.

“I’m sorry, sir, we don’t have a listing for a Cara DeLongpre.”

Roshan didn’t argue. He left the hotel, dissolved into mist, and drifted up the stairs, his senses guiding him to Cara’s room.

Taking on his own shape once again, he knocked on the door.

“Who’s there?” Cara’s voice, hesitant, suspicious.

“Your father.”

He heard the click of the lock. A moment later, Cara stood in the doorway. A large silver crucifix dangled from a thick chain around her throat.

Roshan lifted one brow. Obviously, someone had already told her the truth. “May I come in?”

She stepped back, her fingers curling around the crucifix.

Roshan entered the room and closed the door behind him. The fear in his daughter’s eyes cut him to his very soul. “Why have you done this?”

“You’re a vampire, aren’t you?”

He considered lying and dismissed the thought immediately. Right or wrong, he had been lying to her for years. It was time she knew the truth. “Yes.” He gestured at the cross. “Do you really think you need that?”

“Better safe than sorry.” She took a deep breath. “Is my…is Brenna one, too?”

“Yes.”

Cara stared at him, tears welling in her eyes. He knew she had hoped he would deny it, that he could make everything right again.

“How did you find out?” he asked quietly.

“Anton told me. He said you were drinking blood at The Nocturne.”

“And you believed him?”

“Where are my real parents? What happened to them? Did you…?”