Night's Touch (Children of The Night 2)

“So you planted the thought of coming here in my mind?”

She nodded, not the least bit guilty for tampering with his thoughts. “The nights can sometimes be long.”

“Too long,” he agreed. “And it must be worse for you. Tell me, what’s it like to exist for so many years? Do you ever tire of it? Ever grow bored with your existence?”

“Now and then.”

“How do you handle it?”

“There are ways to refresh yourself. The best way is to rest in the earth.”

“You mean, like burrow into the ground and sleep there?”

“Yes.”

“What about the bugs and the worms? Don’t they…”

“They will not come near you.”

The idea of burying himself in the earth should have been repulsive; instead, he found it strangely appealing. He glanced at the glass in his hand. He should have found drinking blood repulsive, too, but he didn’t. Funny, how one’s perspective changed when one became a vampire.

Vince was about to remark on it to Mara when he saw Anton saunter into the club as if he owned the place. Vince grinned inwardly. Talk about repulsive. He didn’t know what it was, but there was something about the man that made his skin crawl.

“Evil,” Mara said quietly.

“What?”

“That man is evil.”

Vince followed Mara’s gaze and saw that she was staring at Anton Bouchard.

Anton nodded at several women as he made his way to the bar. He hadn’t seen Cara DeLongpre lately, but courting her was no longer necessary. His mother had other plans for DeLongpre’s daughter now.

He was halfway across the room when he saw Vince Cordova sitting at a small table with a remarkably beautiful woman.

Anton snorted softly. Looked like Miss Cara Aideen DeLongpre had better find herself a new squeeze. Anton smiled at the pretty redhead waiting for him at the bar. He hadn’t wasted any time in finding someone to take Cara’s place. Her name was Stephanie and he had met her at The Nocturne last week. She was a looker, she was, with curly red hair, dusky skin, and dark brown eyes.

She smiled as he sat down beside her. Unlike Cara, Steph wasn’t interested in anything but having a good time. They’d had a hell of a good time last night, he thought as he kissed her cheek, and unless he missed his guess, they would be having another good time tonight.

Chapter 22

Cara sat in the middle of her living-room floor, sorting through cardboard ghosts, black cats, orange pumpkins, scary witches, and the other holiday decorations spread out around her. It would be Halloween soon. She had always helped her mom decorate the house on October first, and she was determined to carry on the tradition now that she had a place of her own, even though she missed the old, familiar decorations she had grown up with.

When she had lived with her parents, Halloween had been her favorite holiday. She had loved going trick-or-treating with her mom and dad when she was a little girl, seeing the looks on the faces of the other trick-or-treaters when they saw her mom and dad in their costumes…

Of course, she realized now that her father’s costume hadn’t been a costume at all, and hard on the heels of that thought came the astonishing realization that her mother’s witch costume hadn’t been a costume either…Funny, she’d never thought of that before. Cara shook her head. It was hard enough to imagine her mother as a vampire, but a vampire and a witch? No way! And yet, why was that any harder to believe than anything else?

Remembering days past filled Cara with bittersweet memories. Even when she had grown too old to go out trick-or-treating, it had been fun to stay home and hand out candy and see the costumes the neighborhood kids wore.

Rising, she began to decorate the house, but it wasn’t with the sense of fun and enthusiasm she had experienced when she decorated her parents’ home. Shaking off her gloom, she put a pair of Halloween candles on the mantel, along with a ceramic pumpkin and a couple of witches.

“Witches,” she muttered darkly. “Maybe I’ll dress up as a vampire witch this Halloween!”

By the time she finished decorating the house, both inside and out, it was two-thirty and she had to hurry to get ready for work.

She was about to leave the house when the phone rang.

Her spirits picked up when she heard Vince’s voice on the other end of the line.

“Hey, darlin’.”

“Hi.” The sound of his voice filled her with a warm glow. “How are you?”

“Same as always. Just thought I’d call and see what you were doing.”

“I was just about to leave for work.” Smiling, she toyed with the phone cord. “I guess you’re working.”

“Oh, yeah, got three cars in here today, and four more coming in tomorrow morning.”

“Oh.” She bit down on her lip, wondering if he was calling to say he was going to be too busy to see her tonight.

“Hey, you all right? You sound a little glum all of a sudden.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

She forced a note of cheerfulness into her voice. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

“Vince, I’m fine, honest.”

“All right. Listen, I’ve got to go. I just wanted to hear your voice.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“It’s more than okay. Vince?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m so glad you called.”

“Me, too. Later darlin’.”

“Bye.”

Smiling, she hung up the receiver. He had called just to hear her voice. He really was the sweetest thing. Last night, after they had made love, her stomach had growled rather loudly, reminding her that, since breakfast, she hadn’t eaten anything but a candy bar. Vince had insisted on ordering a pizza and green salad for her. He hadn’t eaten anything, saying he had already had dinner, but he shared a bottle of wine with her. Wine and candlelight and Vince, who could ask for more?

“Time sure goes by fast,” Sarah Beth said as she helped Cara hang a ghost and pumpkin mobile in the children’s reading room. “I can’t believe it’s almost Halloween.”

“I know,” Cara said. “Seems like the holidays come faster every year. It’s just a hop, skip, and a jump until Christmas.”

Sarah Beth groaned. “Don’t remind me. We’re spending Christmas with Dean’s family this year.”