When Darkness Falls(41)

“Why not? Can’t think of anything?” Devon spoke too loudly, trying to cover the trembling inside. Whatever was happening was bad, worse that he’d ever imagined.

“I like mysteries.” Lydia placed her hand flat on his chest. He tried to back away but hit the door behind him. “And I’m insulted you don’t remember.”

Devon pushed past her, returned to sit at the table, which at least he could keep between them. “Don’t joke.”

“I’m not joking.”

“Why did you do it?”

Lydia sat opposite him and leaned forward.

“It’s a wonderful life, Devon. I know, I sound like a Hallmark card, but it is. No one can hurt you. You’re invulnerable. You can do what you want, f*ck whomever you want, drink, eat—well, you don’t want to eat—but anything, it doesn’t matter. Your body will handle anything. And you’ll always be young. Happy. Healthy.”

“And the only price is killing others.”

Lydia nodded and smiled again, teeth gleaming.

“That’s all. Though you don’t necessarily have to kill, so long as you don’t let things get too far with any one particular person. You can stretch someone’s life out or kill in an instant. Give pleasure or only pain. Either way, you’re always satisfied. You’ll get to like it. Love it. You already do, but you can’t admit it. You get off on your so-called dreams.”

Devon clenched his fists. “I’ve always had dreams. Before I ever spent a night with you.”

Lydia shook her head.

“You had nightmares. But you weren’t attacking people, were you? Hurting women? Killing them? No. But since you had violent dreams before, you latched onto that as an explanation. You do things you can’t believe, can’t stand, so your mind nicely tells you it’s not real, you’re not really doing it. But you are.”

“No.”

Lydia stood. “I’m not going to play ‘Yes, you are,’ ‘No, I’m not’ all night. If you have other questions, let’s get on with it. Otherwise go home and come back when you really want answers.”

It might be crazy, but Devon had to know. “Suppose this were true. Suppose I believe you. What about Haley?”

Lydia sat at the table again. She lifted her glass of Merlot to her nose and inhaled. “What about her?”

“What happens to her?”

Lydia shrugged. “If you’ve never tasted her blood, and you divorce her now, send her away—nothing.”

“Why send her away?”

“Because after a certain point, you won’t be able to stop yourself.”

“So it’s send her away or kill her? And after that, anyone else I love?”

“I can’t help that,” Lydia said. “How was I to know you’d fall in love? You told me it was impossible.”

Devon’s chest tightened. It was still before dawn. No sunlight threatened to pierce the windows, yet he felt his heart would explode. “I was wrong.”

“Not my fault.”

Devon stumbled away from the table. “I need to get out of here.”

“Go ahead. The sun rises in two hours.”

? ? ?

Heart pounding in her throat, Haley hurtled along the expressway at seventy miles per hour. Expressway. When she’d used that word when traveling with Brian, people in L.A. had known right away she was from Chicago. They were freeways in Los Angeles. By whichever name, she hadn’t driven one in years. Brian generally drove their van to and from jobs, and she’d always taken the train to work. She clutched the steering wheel as she merged, gritting her teeth. The small car behind her accelerated and swerved around her.

Cars and trucks zoomed past her on both sides. Too bad, she was nervous enough at this speed. At least the car’s ride was smooth and the steering tight, unlike the cars she’d owned, which tended to start shaking over fifty miles per hour.

Haley arrived at the hotel an hour and a half later, her neck and shoulders stiff. Though she planned to see Lydia right away, she wanted to know where the hotel was first to get her bearings. She rinsed her face in the restroom off the lobby and bought coffee from a vending machine in the hall near the narrow alcove labeled Business Office. It was deserted, two desktop computers glowing in the darkness, a printer between them. She sat, took out her phone, and called Lydia.

? ? ?

Lydia watched through the back screen door as Devon headed down her driveway in the dark.

The phone rang. Lydia answered immediately.

“Oh, no, you didn’t wake me,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you, even over the phone…Yes, he has been here…He stormed out…Of course, come right over. I’ve been so wanting to meet Devon’s wife.”





Chapter Twenty


It was just after three-thirty A.M. Haley was surprised at the number of cars on the road already. Or was it still? She rolled down the window. The air felt a little too cool, but she liked being able to hear the traffic as well as see it, especially when she was so tired. Though with the adrenalin coursing through her, she doubted sleep would overtake her. She had no idea what to say to Lydia. Or to Devon, if he was at Lydia’s. But she had to do something.

Laurel Canyon Drive wound up and down the mountain, one lane each way. Haley drove slowly, despite the line of cars forming behind her, their headlights reflected in her mirror. Mirrors were tacked onto trees at some of the curves, but the few times she took her eyes off the road to look the car began to drift. Living in the Chicago area hadn’t prepared her for mountain driving.