“Where are you, God?” She cried the words out among the clouds as she had done so many times before.
The wind carried back the answer. It caressed her skin with a loving touch and affectionately ruffled her hair. The wind surrounded her, enfolded her in the beauty of the night sky. The clouds shifted to allow her to pass through them, trailing a fine mist in her wake, dusted her skin with cool vapor so that if there were traces of tears, it was impossible to see them.
Come back to me, Destiny. His voice offered comfort. Offered paradise. Offered everything.
Why do you want me? Because I’m the light that burns so brightly you will not turn? Is that all there is between us? That and chemistry? I don’t know you at all, do I?
The wind murmured to her, a soft, consoling lullaby. She could feel the wildness subsiding deep within her, settling back to allow her heart and lungs to work without effort. A small sound, faint and far off caught her attention, so that without conscious thought, she changed direction, veering back toward the city.
You have only to touch my mind, Destiny, to find the things you wish to know. To really love, you have to choose intimacy. You have to choose to know your lifemate. You have not made that choice.
I was intimate with you! She was angry that he could accuse her of holding back. It had been difficult to commit herself physically to him. How dare he even think such a thing!
Intimacy is far more than physical, little one.
The lights of the city twinkled like thousands of stars, drawing her back toward humanity. Back toward Nicolae. She knew he waited. That he watched. Just how powerful was he? Had he somehow directed her feelings for him? Amplified them in some way she couldn’t detect? Was she already in his power? She knew the answer. She was totally captivated by him. Completely. Utterly and completely.
Destiny shimmered into her human form, landing easily, lightly. She was already moving, scanning, hurrying out of the secluded alleyway onto the street. Somewhere close by was the soft, discordant note that had disturbed her flight. A child’s muted crying tugging at her heartstrings. She hurried, her footsteps silent, her posture completely confident.
There were only a few people on the street so late at night. She scanned as she walked, checking the various apartments for the location of the child. Most of the buildings were dark and quiet. She could hear televisions blaring in a few apartments and music playing in others. The child was broadcasting sharp waves of grief. Unerringly Destiny turned down another side street where the apartment buildings gave way to small houses set close together. Rickety fences set a few of the properties apart, but duplexes and smaller single dwellings were built tightly against one another. Paint was chipped and peeling from the thin siding. Doors sagged, and gates were cracked and falling off their hinges.
Destiny vaulted a low fence easily and made her way around to the back of one house. Cardboard boxes and bundled newspapers were piled high, mountains of them, taking up most of the space in the tiny back yard. She should walk away, leave the city and get as far away from Nicolae as she could. But her mind was already tuning itself to his. Needing to be immersed in his.
Was it really the ritual words that had bound them together, or had her need of him started long ago? She had reached for him at every rising. His calm, his presence in the world had been her sanity. For years she had used him, forced him to share her pain, her damaged soul. She had sentenced him to a life in the shadows, forever seeking her. She had punished him with her silence, all the while sharing with him every aspect of the vampire’s torture and abuse.
I was already of the shadows, Destiny. You pulled me into the light.
His voice. His beautiful voice could take her into dreamland. Could weave fairy tales and bring hope.
Could absolve her of all guilt. Her lashes drifted down as she paused beside the rotting back stairs. There was always so much guilt. Would it never go away and leave her in peace?
The sound of the hopeless weeping dragged her out of her own despair. A child should never experience such heartbreaking emotion. Destiny could feel the vibrations of violence, the aftermath that lingered in the air. And she smelled blood. She hunkered down to peer beneath the wobbly stairs. The boy couldn’t be more than nine or ten years old. He was so thin, his clothes were far too wide, although his bony wrists and ankles were showing. He wore no socks and had holes in his shoes. Tears made muddy tracks in the dirt on his face. He rubbed his face continually with his knuckles, but he couldn’t stop the sobs that shook his young body. There were smears of fresh blood on his clothing, but she could see no open wounds.
“Hi there,” she said, using her gentlest voice, afraid of startling him. She had learned those soft, silvery tones from Nicolae. It always came back to Nicolae. “Is there room under there for me?” There was compulsion in her voice, a small “push” to make it easier for the boy to accept her presence.
He looked frightened, his eyes widening with shock, but he obligingly moved over to allow her enough space to squeeze beneath the stairs. Destiny sat tailor fashion, her body heat helping to warm the child.
“Bad night?”
The boy nodded mutely. Destiny could see the scars on the backs of his hands and arms. Defensive scars. She recognized them for what they were. “My name is Destiny. What’s yours?” She held out her arms, palms down so that he could see the slash marks on her arms. The same defensive wounds. “We match.”
He bent close in the darkness to examine her scars. “You have more.”
“But they’ve faded,” she pointed out judiciously. “And they don’t hurt anymore. At least not on the outside. What about yours?”
“Mine don’t hurt either.” His gaze locked with hers. “Well, maybe a little on the outside. I’m Sam.”
“A lot on the inside, right, Sam?” She brushed the pad of her thumb over the worst of the scars, leaving behind a soothing balm. “Tell me. This didn’t happen tonight. Tell me what’s wrong.”
He shook his head, the code of the streets keeping him silent for a moment, but it was impossible to resist the lure of her voice. His lower lip trembled, but he squared his thin shoulders. “I didn’t wash the dishes. I knew he’d be mad at her if I didn’t wash the dishes, but Tommy wanted me to play basketball. All the kids were playing, and I thought I’d only play for a couple of minutes.” His lashes were wet and spiky from his tears, and the weight in his chest was like a stone in hers.
Destiny already knew. The horror was seeping through the rickety floorboards and pervading the air beneath the stairs.
Nicolae.
She reached out to him as she always did. As she had done for years. And he was there. In her mind. As he had always been. Surrounding her with warmth. Giving her courage. Holding her in strong arms and giving her a refuge, a shelter when the pain of the world was too much to bear alone.
I’ll bring him to Father Mulligan, but the police will have to be brought to this place of death. She knew Nicolae would hear the sorrow in her voice. He would feel it in her heart. And he would share it with her and shoulder part of her burden.
“It was my fault.” The thin shoulders shook, and the boy covered his face with his hands. “She came home from work and she was tired. I heard her call to me to hurry, and I ran, but I was down the block and it was too late. I saw him go in. I knew what he was going to do to her. He was always so angry. He wanted money for his drugs and he took it out of her purse. She was crying because we needed it for food. That’s when he saw the dishes.”
“Sam, you don’t need to be in this place. I’m going to take you to a friend of mine,” Destiny said gently.