Night's Touch (Children of The Night 2)

“I’m fine.”

“I can see that,” Brenna said, “but after last night…we just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Oh.” Cara glanced at Vince, then unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Vince followed her.

Roshan and Brenna remained on the porch.

When Cara realized her parents were still outside, she turned back toward the door. “Aren’t you two coming in?”

“We can’t enter without an invitation,” her father said. “Remember?”

“Oh, right,” she said, recalling that vampires needed an invitation. “So, you really can’t come in unless I invite you?”

Her father nodded. “Exactly.”

Cara grinned, thinking how odd that was. “What happens if you try?”

“The threshold repels us.”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Would you like a demonstration?”

“Sure.”

Cara stepped back and her father moved forward. As soon as he reached the threshold and tried to cross, it was like he ran into an invisible barrier.

“Are you doing that on purpose?” she asked.

“No.”

“Amazing. Well, come on in, both of you.”

Although he was standing a few feet behind Cara, Vince felt the ripple of preternatural power as her mother and father crossed the threshold into the house. He glanced at Cara, but she seemed unaware of it. It was probably a good thing, he mused. If she didn’t sense her father’s power, then she probably hadn’t sensed his, either, though her father’s power was so strong, Vince wondered how she could remain oblivious. But then, most mortals were completely ignorant of the supernatural world.

Cara smiled at her parents. “Do you need an invitation to sit down, too?” she asked, thinking Sarah Beth would never believe any of this. Not that she would ever tell her!

“No, dear,” Brenna said, taking a seat on the sofa, “but it is good manners.”

Roshan sat on the sofa beside his wife. Cara sat beside her father, leaving Vince to take the chair.

“Is there anything else I need to know about your…uh, lifestyle?” Cara asked. She frowned, thinking about all the old vampire movies she had seen. Her parents didn’t seem anything like the ravening monsters portrayed on film.

Her mother and father exchanged glances. Cara wondered if they were communicating with each other somehow, saying things only they could hear. She had a feeling they were deciding how much to tell her and how much to keep secret.

After a moment, her father said, “Most of what people believe about vampires is false. The truths are that silver burns our skin, we can pass unnoticed among humans if we wish, we are capable of changing our shapes, and we cast no reflection in a mirror.”

Cara stared at her father. Funny she’d never noticed that the only mirrors in her parents home had been the ones in her own room. Now that she thought of it, she realized that the drapes had always been drawn across the windows, as well. Her mother loved jewelry, but none of it was silver.

Cara glanced at Vince. Did he find this conversation as bizarre as she did? He smiled at her, his expression impassive.

She took a deep breath. She didn’t want to talk about vampires anymore, so, to change the subject, she said, “We went to the hospital to see Frank, but they said he’d gone home.”

Her mother and father exchanged looks again. It was obvious they understood why she had changed the subject.

“Frank’s resting comfortably,” her father said. “He asked me to thank you for the flowers and the candy, and to tell you that he would be back on the job on Monday.”

Now you see why we wanted you to have a bodyguard. Though her father didn’t say the words aloud, Cara could almost hear them hanging, unspoken, in the air.

“I’m glad he’s going to be all right,” she said, “though I can’t understand how he could recover so quickly.”

Vince glanced at Roshan, but said nothing.

“Some people have remarkable recuperative powers,” Brenna said to fill the silence. She glanced around. “I love what you’ve done with your new place. It suits you.”

Cara smiled, thinking Vince had said the same thing. “Would you like to see the rest? It’s not very big, but I like it.”

“Of course,” Brenna said. “Are you coming, Roshan?”

“In a minute, love.” He waited until his wife and daughter had left the room, then focused his attention on the other man. “Just how serious are you about my daughter?”

Chapter 25

Vince stared at Cara’s father. It was all he could do to keep from laughing. They were vampires, both of them, yet DeLongpre glared at him like a character out of a gothic novel, asking the hero about his intentions—except that Vince was no hero, and he had no right to court DeLongpre’s daughter. Other than the sizzling physical attraction between them, they had nothing in common and no hope for a future together. He knew it, and so did DeLongpre.

Vince blew out a deep breath. “I love her.”

“Does she know what you are?”

“Only what you told her.”

“Except that she didn’t believe me.”

Vince shrugged. “Is that my fault?”

“Your whole relationship is built on a lie.”

“I know that. Don’t you think I know that? I want to tell her, but…”

“You’re afraid you’ll lose her.”

“Yeah.”

“And you can’t exist without her.”

Vince nodded. “Why do I get the feeling you’ve been down this road yourself?”

“I loved Brenna the moment I saw her, but I never pretended to be anything other than what I am. If you love Cara, you owe her the truth before things go any further.”

Vince swore softly.

DeLongpre’s eyes burned into him. “You know I’m right, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“So you’ll tell her?”

“When the time is right.”

Anger rolled off the other vampire. “And just when will that be?”

“How the hell should I know? I don’t like…” Vince cut his words off in midsentence as Cara and her mother reentered the room.

“What don’t you like?” Cara asked, sitting beside her father.

“The way the playoffs are going,” Vince lied smoothly. “My team’s losing.”

Brenna looked at Vince sharply as she sat down, her expression telling him she had heard the entire conversation between Vince and her husband, and that she agreed with Roshan.