Night's Kiss (Children of The Night 1)

He laughed softly. "You have no idea, Carrie, my sweet."

Her eyes widened. "How do you know my name?"

"As you said, I'm not like the others." He drew her closer, one hand sweeping her hair from her neck. "Look at me, Carrie, only me."

She stared up at him, her lips slightly parted, a trace of fear in her eyes.

"See only me," he murmured. "Hear my voice, only my voice."

"Yes," she whispered. "Only you."

Slowly, he lowered his head. To anyone watching, it would seem he was kissing her neck as he turned her slowly around the floor. He drank quickly, taking only what he needed, and quickly sealed the two tiny puncture marks left by his fangs.

He lifted his head just as the music ended.

"Carrie?"

She blinked up at him, her gaze unfocused.

"Thank you for the dance."

"You're welcome." Frowning, she lifted a hand to her neck, then blinked at him again.

He kept his arm around her waist. "Are you all right?"

"I don't know. I feel a little dizzy."

"Come," he said, taking her by the hand, "let me buy you a drink."

Roshan was leading Carrie toward the bar when he saw Anthony Loken sitting at one of the tables toward the back. The warlock saw him at the same time and animosity flowed between them, a palpable sense of malice so strong that Roshan was sure the others in the room felt it without knowing what it was.

At the bar, Roshan ordered Carrie a tall glass of orange juice. Standing beside the woman, he was careful to keep Loken in sight.

The warlock turned his back to him, his attention again centered on the young man who shared his table.

Using his preternatural hearing, Roshan eavesdropped on their conversation. The young man was tired of pretending to be a vampire and he had come to the Nocturne in hopes of finding one of the undead. Loken nodded sympathetically. Leaning closer to the young man, he told him that his search was at an end. He, Loken, was a vampire. If the young man was sincere, he had only to come to Loken's lair to begin the transformation. The young man, whose name was Roger West, quickly agreed. Loken paid the check and the two men left the table, heading for the rear exit.

Roshan swore softly as he watched them leave the club. He had seen the results of Anthony Loken's last experiment.

He stood there a moment, undecided. It was of no consequence if Loken killed West. The young man meant nothing to Roshan. Mortals, in general, meant little to him other than their ability to satisfy his hellish thirst.

He danced with another one of the women in the club, drinking from her as he had from the first. Leaving her at the bar, he was about to go home when, on a totally inexplicable impulse, he found himself headed for Loken's laboratory on the outskirts of town.

CHAPTER 18

Roger West whistled softly when he saw Anthony Loken's car. "Nice," he said, running his hand over the top of the Lexus.

Grinning, Loken unlocked the door and slid behind the wheel. As soon as West was in the car, he pulled out of the parking lot, tires squealing as he turned onto the road and headed for home.

"Hey, buddy, slow down," West said, grabbing the armrest. "I'm not immortal yet."

Loken flashed him a smile. "All in good time." A whispered incantation gave him green lights all the way home.

"Is this your place?" West asked as Loken parked in front of a large house and killed the engine.

"It is indeed." Opening the door, he exited the car.

"You must be rich as hell," West muttered as he followed Loken up the stairs to the front door.

"Almost," Loken said. He smiled wolfishly as he opened the door. "Come in, won't you?"

"So," West said as he crossed the threshold, "how long does it take? To become a vampire?"

"Not long."

West nodded. He gasped, startled, as lights began coming on in the room.

Loken grinned at him. "A little magick, nothing for you to worry about."

West swallowed hard. "Vampire magic, right?"

"Not exactly."

"No?" West frowned. "What kind, then?"

"I'm a warlock, actually. A wizard, if you will."

"But I thought… you said you were a vampire."

"Yes, I did, didn't I? I'm afraid I lied."

"What the hell's going on here?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. West, but I'm sure you've told lies from time to time. It's a fact of life that we sometimes have to lie to get what we want."

West glanced at the front door. "What do you want?"

"You. For a little experiment."

"No way! I'm outta here!" With a shake of his head, Roger West started toward the front door, only to find that he no longer had control over his body. He looked back at Loken, his eyes wild and scared.

"Come along," Loken said, beckoning to him with his forefinger.

West shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere with you," he retorted, but his feet were following the warlock down a long dark hall, down a flight of stairs, into the basement.

"Climb up on the table," Loken said.

"Damn you!" West cried as he obeyed the warlock's bidding. "Let me go!"

"Lie down. This won't take long."

Roger West stretched out on the table, his heart pounding. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move, had no control over his own movements. Sweat broke out across his brow, gathered under his arms. "Please, let me go."

"Too late." Loken pulled a vial out of his coat pocket and removed the seal.

Pulling a syringe from the drawer of a large tool chest, he filled it with blood.

West stared at him in horror. "What… what are you going to do with that?"

"It's a test. For all I know, it just might turn you into a vampire. Then again, it might kill you," he said with a wicked grin. "Or give you eternal life. But we won't know until we try."

Loken wrapped a strip of rubber around West's upper arm, then poked around for a vein. Finding a good one, he inserted the needle and pushed the plunger home.

West stared at the blood flowing into his arm, and then looked at Loken. And then he screamed, his body writhing in agony as the vampire's blood seeped into his bloodstream.

"Shut up!" Loken said. "Tell me what you feel."

"It burns, it burns," the young man said, whimpering. "Make it stop… make it… "

He stared up at Loken, saliva dripping from a corner of his mouth. His body convulsed one last time and then lay still.