“You have a great deal more than you yet know. Since I met you I sensed it. Apart from your beauty, it was one of the first things to engage my attention. It was at a low level, to be sure, but it was there. You have no idea how long it’s been since I met someone with innate power.”
“There must be others. What about this bokor?”
“I don’t know if his power is innate, or something he’s built through spells and practice. There’s a difference. People like you just have it, whether you ever use it or not. I was like that once. Apparently I am again, thanks to you.”
“I’d feel a whole lot happier if I knew how to direct and use these powers. Right now it’s hit and miss. I’m never sure of what I’m doing or whether it’s right.”
“Close your eyes.”
She did so, wondering why.
“Now imagine this power of yours as a light at your very center. See it. Feel its heat.”
She tried, and gradually she could clearly envision a white flame at her center. And little by little she felt its warmth.
“Some need spells and incantations,” he said quietly. “Some use them for focus. Some use them to call upon powers they don’t have themselves but can summon. A mage like you needs no spells. In fact, you can make your very own if you concentrate. So now imagine that light flowing down your arm and out of your fingers. Feel it.”
It took a while.
“Don’t try too hard—you can stymie it. It’s part of you like your blood. Let it flow.”
As soon as he said “Let it flow,” something in her seemed to shift and click into place. She lifted her arm a bit and felt the warm light moving down it to her fingertips.
“You see?” he asked.
She opened her eyes and nearly gasped when she saw faint white light shooting from her fingertips. “Oh...” she breathed.
“Now think of it doing something, preferably innocuous.”
She saw one of the candles still burning on her dresser. Pointing her finger at it, she imagined the light snuffing the flame. At once the candle went out.
“I can do it!” Amazement filled her.
“Your grandmother was right. You’re a powerful mage, Caro. Try something else.”
So she pointed her finger at her dresser again, and thought of the top drawer opening. At first she feared she would fail, but then, jerkily, the drawer pulled out.
“Woohoo!” An excited cry escaped her.
Damien laughed and hugged her close. For a moment she luxuriated in the embrace, but questions remained. “What about the bokor?” she asked. “What do I do when we meet him?”
“It’s simple, Schatz. I’ll fight him because I have the experience. What I need you to do is see the darkness that’s gathered around him, and imagine your light extinguishing it.”
“That sounds easy enough.”
“It’s never easy when power meets power.” His voice had grown deadly serious. “Don’t go in there tomorrow night thinking any of it will be easy. Whether this bokor has powers of his own or has simply summoned them, there will be a fight and we could lose. He clearly has a lot of experience, too.”
The warning sobered her. “Should I be scared?”
“It’s never wise to go into this afraid. Fear weakens us. But yes, things could go wrong. Very wrong.”
She thought about that. “Well, that’s not so very different from being a cop. Every time I make a traffic stop or answer a call, things could go wrong. I’m used to that.”
He ran his hand down her back, a cool touch. She liked the cool silkiness of his skin and caresses. Not cold, not icy, just cool. She wiggled closer and he sighed.
“Your warmth is like heaven to me,” he said. “Like heaven.”
So she wrapped herself even more closely around him, as if she could surround him in her warmth. It seemed to her, really, that she had little enough to offer him. He had powers she could barely imagine, he had abilities beyond the human and he was sexy with every breath he took. The world must be his for the asking.
“So I’m just food,” she said finally, because some aching, worried part of her needed to know.
“You insult me.”
“I do?” She couldn’t hide a spurt of irritation.
“You do. I may be a predator, I may need human blood to survive, but there’s more to me than a jungle cat. I give thanks for every gift of blood. As for you...”
He suddenly rolled her over so that he lay on top of her. “As for you,” he said, dipping for a quick kiss, “you’re far more than food to me. Far more. I like you. I like being with you. I like arguing with you. In fact, I like you too damn much for the good of either of us.”
With that she had to be content, she supposed. At least he wasn’t just after her blood, as he so amply proved in the next hour as he made love to her all over again, this time without bonds, this time without ceremony or ritual. This time he held her still only by gripping her wrists gently.
He still managed to carry her to the stars as he united them in the mystery of love.
Caro collapsed on the couch at Jude’s office, having agreed to do nothing foolish during the day. Chloe greeted that promise with a snort, but Caro ignored her. Tonight they would face the bokor. That was enough to keep her in line until later. Regardless of her promise to Damien, she knew for a fact that she had no intention of taking any unnecessary risk until the right time.
Chloe ordered them some breakfast, and remarked that Caro looked exhausted.
“Just sleepy. I was up all night.”
“Why do I find that easy to believe? Vampires.” But her tone was teasing. “Actually, I’m going to need some sleep today, too, since I gather tonight is the night. Jude will want everyone on deck.”
Caro hesitated. “What’s your view of working with a vampire? Or living with one.”
“Uh-oh,” Chloe said.
“What uh-oh?”
“Another one bites the dust. In the past year I’ve seen three women fall for vampires.”
“And?”
“They’re all married to them now. Don’t ask me how it works. I only see enough of Terri and Jude to figure out how they work it out. Basically, Terri took permanent night duty at the M.E.’s office, so they work the same hours and fit everything else in around the sun. Seems to make them happy enough.”
“And the others?”
“So far so good. A few months isn’t a great sample, though.”
Caro nodded, taking it in. “Were they claimed?”
“Oh, sweetie,” Chloe said, “now that’s the thing.”
“Why?”
“Because they were all claimings. And you have absolutely no idea how hard vampires fight it. One of our friends, Luc? He totally lost his mind when his claimed mate died. He was so far gone he kidnapped me and kidnapped another woman too to try to get his vengeance.”
“No.”
“Yes. He was willing to do just about anything to end his pain, including asking another vampire to kill him.”
“What happened?”
“Well...” Chloe smiled faintly. “However unwillingly, he got involved in a dustup we had here a few months ago. Some rogues—vampires who don’t want to obey the rules about not treating humans as cattle and slaves—tried to take over the city and run Jude out. Luc came to give us a warning and the next thing I knew, he was up to his eyeballs in another claiming. Maybe you’ll meet her. Dani.”
“And they’re married, too?”
“Yup.”
“How the heck does a vampire get married?” She knew the rules. Birth certificates, residency, filling out forms in offices that were closed by dark.
“I do a little computer magic, make the legal licenses, and then Father Dan marries them.”
“Father Dan?”
“Hang around with us for a while,” Chloe suggested. “Jude fights demons. He has a few clergy who work with him.”