“I want you to stop this nonsense and come home with me, now. Your mother is worried.”
“She isn’t my mother. She isn’t even human.”
“Cara…”
“Where’s my real mother?”
“I don’t know. We never knew anything about her, except that she was a teenager in trouble. She needed a home for her baby, and your mother wanted a child. We helped bring you into the world late one night, and then we brought you home. You’ve been our daughter since that night.”
“All this time, you never told me.”
“Should we have told you the truth?” he asked quietly. “Would you have believed it?”
“I don’t know. How long have you been a vampire?” Cara stared at the man who had raised her. He looked the same as always—tall and dark and very handsome. His eyes weren’t blood red. She couldn’t see any fangs. His fingernails weren’t long. He didn’t smell like death.
“Over three hundred years.”
“Three hundred years.” She shook her head in disbelief. “And my…and Brenna?”
“Twenty-two years, give or take a few months.”
Cara’s eyes widened as she realized that her mother must have become a vampire the same year she herself was born.
“Did you make my…Brenna, a vampire?”
“Yes.”
“Did she ask you to?”
“No, but she was dying, and I couldn’t let her go. I was willing to live with her hatred rather than risk losing her.” He took a deep breath. “Please come home with me.”
“No. I need some time alone to sort this out.”
Roshan nodded. He could take her home by force, bend her will to his, but there was nothing to be gained by such high-handed tactics except her hatred.
“Be careful, Cara. Call us if you need us.” He hesitated, debating the wisdom of what he was about to say, but she needed to be warned. “Cordova is one of us.”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t believe you!”
“It’s true nonetheless.”
“I suppose you’re going to tell me that Anton is a vampire, too?”
“No, I’m not sure what he is, but I don’t trust him.”
“You’re just saying all that to scare me so I’ll come home.”
“I just want you to be careful. If Cordova comes to call, he can’t enter unless you invite him inside. He has the power to hypnotize you with a look. You need to be aware of the danger you’re in. Stay away from The Nocturne.”
Still clasping the crucifix in one hand, she looked up at him, her expression one of hurt confusion. It broke his heart.
“Are you sure you won’t change your mind and come home where you belong?”
“I’m sure,” she said, but she wasn’t sure at all. She no longer knew who to trust or what to believe.
He took a step toward her. She recoiled from his touch. It hurt worse than anything he had ever known. “Good night, Princess.”
The familiar endearment brought quick tears to her eyes. “Good night.”
Cara watched her father leave the room, then she locked the door behind him.
He was a vampire. Her mother was a vampire. Vince was a vampire.
Had the world gone mad? How could she have lived with her parents for twenty-two years and never suspected? Now, looking back, it was so obvious. Why hadn’t she seen it before? But, then, why would she? No one believed in vampires in this day and age. There were enough real monsters running around planting car bombs and molesting innocent children without looking for monsters of myth and legend.
She went to the window and looked out into the night, wondering what other monsters might be lurking in the shadows.
“Where is she?” Brenna asked anxiously. “What did she say? Is she coming home?”
“She’s staying at a hotel over on Fourth Street. She said she needs time alone, to think.”
“She knows, doesn’t she? And now she hates us for lying to her?” Brenna paced the floor. “I knew we should have told her the truth years ago.”
“We decided to wait, remember?”
“Yes, but now we’ve waited too long. What if she never comes back?”
Roshan drew his wife into his arms. “All we can do now is…” He started to say pray, but it had been years since he had done so. After all this time, he wasn’t sure anyone would be listening. He blew out a breath. “She’ll come around, in time.”
Brenna looked up, her gaze searching his. “Are you sure of that?”
“Yes. She loves us. She knows deep inside that we love her. Once she gets over the shock, she’ll realize nothing’s really changed. In the meantime, Di Giorgio will be there. I got him a room at the hotel.”
“I feel so helpless.”
“I warned her to be careful, to stay away from The Nocturne. And I told her about Cordova.”
“What did she say?!”
“She didn’t believe me. I was afraid she wouldn’t, but she had to be told. She needs to be aware of the danger she’s in.” Roshan rested his forehead against Brenna’s. “There’s something about Cordova…”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s different.”
Brenna tilted her head back so she could see her husband’s face. “Different? What do you mean? Different how?”
“He told me Mara brought him across.”
“Mara?” Brenna frowned. “Isn’t she the ancient vampire you told me about?”
Roshan nodded.
“I always thought she was just a myth.”
“No, she’s real enough, though few of us have ever seen her. It’s said that in all her long life, she has made only a handful of vampires. Her blood is strong, potent. I could sense it in Cordova. He could be a powerful enemy.”
“Or a powerful friend.”
Roshan grunted softly. “Mara has powers that no other vampires possess. I wonder how many of them she passed on to Cordova.”
It was a question that troubled Roshan far into the night.
Chapter 14
Cara woke late Monday morning after a long and restless night. She had dreamed of vampires—vampires chasing her, catching her, ripping out her throat, and drinking her blood. Vampires with hideous red eyes and skin as pale as death, their skeletal hands like claws as they reached for her.
Banishing all thoughts of vampires from her mind, she went into the bathroom, brushed her teeth and her hair, pulled on a pair of jeans, boots, and a sweater, and left the hotel. The library was closed on Sundays and Mondays, and the day stretched before her.