Everlasting Kiss (Everlasting 1)

"Really?" She smiled, pleased that he thought himself under her spell. And then she yawned.

"Sleep, love."

"When I wake up, will you still be sleeping?"

"Most likely."

She worried the corner of her lower lip. "Is it really like death?"

"In a way, I suppose it is." He stroked her cheek. "Vampires aren't supposed to dream, you know, and I never did, until I met you. Thank you for that."

"You're welcome." She wanted to know more about the Dark Sleep, but her eyelids were heavy, so heavy. Resting her head on Erik's shoulder, she closed her eyes. She would ask him more in a minute...

Erik watched Daisy's eyelids flutter down, heard the change in her breathing as sleep claimed her. She was beautiful, he thought, an angel come to earth.

He kissed her cheek, the lethargy that came with the rising of the sun weighed him down. Wrapping his arm around Daisy's shoulders, he closed his eyes and tumbled into the Dark Sleep of his kind.

Alex prowled from one room to another, his hands clenched, his thoughts chaotic. He had tried going back to bed, but knowing one of the world's oldest vampires was resting in his closet made sleep virtually impossible. He had stretched out on the sofa, but again, sleep eluded him. How was a hunter supposed to get any rest with two vampires in the house? He didn't trust Erik Delacourt any more than he trusted Rhys Costain.

At the sound of thunder, he moved to the living room window and drew back the curtains. He had been so preoccupied, he hadn't even realized it was raining. Lightning sizzled across the skies. He stared at the rain. Why was he standing here, watching the storm, when he should be taking Costain's head, and Delacourt's, too?

Alex slammed his fist down on the sill. Dammit, he was a vampire hunter, not a nursemaid. He had been trained from childhood to hunt the Undead, not babysit the Master of the City and his sidekick. And what about Daisy? How could she be in love with the same kind of scum that had killed Brandon?

Alex muttered a vile oath. What kind of brother was he, to stand here and do nothing while a vampire bedded his sister? What would his parents think if they knew? And what about Brandon? His brother must be turning in his grave. Alex groaned as a wave of guilt swept over him. Brandon had always been the smarter of the two of them, the one who had known what he wanted out of life, the one who hadn't been afraid to tell their dad that killing just wasn't in his blood. Brandon should have lived. He would have made a good husband, a good father, done something important with his life.

"It should have been me, bro," Alex murmured. "It should have been me."

He glanced at his watch. It was a quarter after one. Most vampires were rendered helpless until sundown, but Delacourt and Costain seemed to be exceptions to that rule. Alex snorted softly. So, they could be awake during the day, but how deeply did they sleep when they were at rest? If he grabbed his blade and opened the closet door, would Costain awaken?

Turning away from the window, he began to pace the floor. Instead of fireplace ashes, why not go to the meet with the genuine article and collect the reward? Of course, he'd have to take Delacourt out first. Alex raked his hands through his hair. Daisy would never forgive him. Oh, hell, she'd just have to get over it.

Digging into his vampire hunting kit, Alex withdrew mallet and stake, then dropped a bottle of holy water into his pocket. Delving into the bag again, he withdrew a long-bladed knife and a whetstone. He held the blade up to the light, turning it one way and then another. Maybe with Delacourt out of the way, his sister would give Kevin O'Reilly a chance.

"What do you think you're going to do with those?"

Alex pivoted on his heel at the sound of his sister's voice. "Avenge my brother's death and my sister's honor."

"Alex..."

"Don't try to stop me. We're hunters, Daisy, or have you forgotten that? I don't know what kind of supernatural spell Delacourt's worked on you, but you seem to have forgotten who you are."

"And you seem to have forgotten that Erik saved your life."

"What about Brandon?" Alex glanced toward the stairs. "It was creatures like those two that killed him."

"Erik didn't do it, and neither did Costain."

Alex made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "Same smell."

"You're not thinking clearly," Daisy said, moving farther into the room. "All vampires aren't the same, just as all humans aren't the same."

"Oh, please," Alex said, grimacing. "Get hold of yourself and think with your brain instead of your hormones!"

"You're not thinking at all! I won't let you do this. This is my house and I want you out of it, now!"

"You're kicking me out?" he asked in astonishment. "Your own brother? You're choosing that bloodsucker over your own flesh and blood?"

"I told Erik and Costain they would be safe here," Daisy said, and then frowned. "This is about the money, isn't it? You're still hoping to collect that reward!"

"What if I do?" Alex asked sullenly. "It's two hundred thousand dollars! One last kill and I could retire."

"Rhys said he'd make it good," Daisy reminded him.

"Yeah, right! Like I'd trust the word of a vampire."

Daisy stared at her brother as if she had never seen him before, unable to understand his sudden about-face. Was it just nerves? Had he been drinking? Or had the lust for the reward overridden every other consideration?

"Alex, please tell me what's going on. You're scaring me."

"I just feel like we're on the wrong side, helping vampires, when a vampire killed Brandon. Why," he asked, his voice dropping to little more than a whisper, "why couldn't it have been me?"

"Is that what this is all about? You're feeling guilty because you're alive and Brandon is...is gone?"

"He had everything to live for. Everything."

"Oh, Alex." Closing the distance between them, Daisy took the knife from her brother's hand and laid it on the table, then drew him into her arms. He resisted for a moment, then seemed to go limp in her embrace.

All this time, she thought, and she had never known her brother felt this way. Alex had always been the joker in the family, never taking anything too seriously, never letting himself get involved with anyone other than his own family. Had he secretly been jealous of Brandon the whole time? In some warped line of thought, did he think that destroying Erik and Rhys would somehow make up for the fact that he was alive and Brandon was dead?

Murmuring words of comfort, she patted Alex's back, her heart breaking when she realized he was crying. They were the first tears he had shed since their brother's death.