Night's Mistress (Children of The Night 5)

We made love one last time and he fell asleep in my arms. Not wanting to say good-bye, I left him while he slept. I saw him from time to time through the years. I never blocked the blood link between us as I did with so many others; instead, I kept it open so that I would always know where he was . . .

Thinking of him now was like losing him all over again. With a sigh, she saved her work and closed the document. She had been in Chicago in 1947, buying a new wardrobe, when she felt Runs With Thunder’s life force fade and finally disappear. There was no way to describe the feeling, but she had known when he drew his last breath. It was a pain like nothing she had ever felt before. Filled with sorrow, she had gone to ground for the next ten years.

Runs With Thunder had been her last fledgling, until Vince came along. She had turned no one since then.

And now she never would again, she thought with a sigh of regret, but perhaps it was just as well.

Chapter Twenty

Lou McDonald leaned back in her chair, her feet propped on a corner of her desk as she listened to the latest update from Cindy.

“Mara had another appointment last night. According to her chart, the baby’s growing and gaining weight and Ramsden isn’t expecting any complications. Oh, one more thing. I overheard him tell Susan that he thinks Mara’s either lost her powers or she’s losing them.”

“What do you mean, lost them?”

“I’m not sure. I didn’t hear the whole conversation. Is it possible she isn’t a vampire anymore?”

Lou grunted softly. “Who knows what’s possible these days? Kind of makes sense, though.” She drummed her fingertips on her thigh. “If she’s not a vampire anymore, it would explain how she could get pregnant.”

“True enough,” Cindy agreed.

“Anything else new on that end?”

“Not really. What’s going on with you? Made any kills lately?”

“Just one. It’s not as easy as it once was, you know, now that the vamps have gone back underground, so to speak.”

“Underground,” Cindy muttered. “That’s a good one. Which one did you take out?”

“Travis Jackson. I caught him off guard in L.A. He went down hard.”

“Chalk up one for the good guys,” Cindy said, a smile in her voice.

“I’ll get his grandmother one of these days, and that other old broad, too,” Lou said in her best wicked Witch of the West voice.

“I can’t believe those two old ladies are giving you so much trouble,” Cindy said with a laugh. “I mean, come on, girl.”

“Hey, if you can do better, go for it.”

“Very funny.”

“They’re not as easy to corner as you might think. They used to be hunters, remember? They know all the tricks that hunters use, which makes them twice as hard to find. But I’ll get ’em. Both of them. You wait and see.”

“I know you will. Listen, I’ve got to go. Ramsden’s calling me.”

“All right. Talk at ya later.” Lou tossed her cell phone on the desk, then gazed out her office window. Hunters had been trying to destroy Mara for centuries and they had all failed. But she wouldn’t fail, and when it was a fait accompli, her customers would double and so would the price of her services.

She was about to leave her office when her business phone rang. She stared at it a moment, then decided to let the machine pick it up.

“Lou? This is Kyle Bowden. Dammit, where the hell have you been?”

“Avoiding you,” she muttered, then swore softly when her cell phone rang. Knowing she couldn’t avoid him forever, she picked up the phone. “What can I do for you, Bowden?”

“You can do what I’m paying you for. I want to know where Mara is, now. No more games, no more evasions.”

Lou considered a moment, then shrugged. What could it hurt if Kyle knew where Mara was, as long as Lou knew where they both were? “She’s in Tyler, Nevada, just outside of Reno.”

“What’s she doing there?”

“Her doctor is there. Thomas A. Ramsden. He’s not listed in the phone book, but his office is on Franklin, between the bank and the post office.”

With a muttered “Thanks,” Bowden ended the call.

Lou grunted softly. It might have been a mistake, telling Bowden where to find Mara, but what the hell? The guy was in love and the baby was due in a few weeks. Might as well let him spend a little time with the mother of his child while he could, since Mara’s days were numbered one way or the other once the baby was born. If Ramsden didn’t kill her, Lou would take her head, vampire or not.

With that thought in mind, Lou went home to pack a bag. Whatever went down when the baby was born, she intended to be there to see it all firsthand.

Chapter Twenty-one

Logan stared at Mara, a bemused expression on his face. “You want to learn how to drive a car, now?” He glanced at her ample girth.

“What’s the matter?” she asked with a frown. “Don’t you think I’ll fit behind the wheel?”

His laughter thrilled her even as it irritated her. “Come on,” he said, “there’s nothing to it.”

As it turned out, sitting behind the wheel, even with the seat all the way back, turned out to be a tight fit.

Mara glared at Logan. “Don’t say a word.”

He shrugged as he settled into the passenger seat. “I’m not the one who ate a whole pizza last night.”

“I didn’t eat the whole thing!” She hadn’t eaten the crust.

He wisely refrained from making a comment. Instead, he spoke to the car and the engine revved to life.

“There’s nothing to driving,” he said. “You just tell the car where you want to go, and it’ll take you there.”

“That’s not how you do it.”

“Yeah, well, I like being in control.”

“I want to drive, the old-fashioned way.”

“Put your seat belt on.”

“You don’t wear yours.”

He didn’t say anything, just looked at her. She felt a rush of resentment. He was a vampire. He didn’t need a seat belt. She did.

Logan spoke to the car, telling it to release control to the driver, then he looked at Mara. “Okay, that’s the gas,” he said, pointing. “That’s the brake. Those are the headlights. Make sure the street is clear before you pull out of the driveway. Hey,” he admonished as she stepped down hard on the gas pedal, “take it easy.”