When Darkness Falls(58)

“Excuse me.” The man gestured toward the street. “Could you help me? One of my contact lenses popped out over in front of my car. I’m sure it’s there somewhere, but I can’t see well enough to find it.”

“Sure,” Jennifer said. Crawl around on the dirty street looking for a tiny clear lens? Why not? This guy was stunning. She glanced at Bob, but he, too, was smiling and saying, “No problem, we’ll give you a hand.”

They followed the guy to a Mercedes. For the first time since Bob’s announcement, Jennifer was glad they were no longer an official couple. She wondered if she could communicate this state of affairs to the stranger.

“It’s right here somewhere,” he said. “It’s nice of you to help.”

Jennifer caught her heel on the edge of the curb and stumbled.

“Oh, let me give you a hand.”





Chapter Twenty-Nine


It happened without conscious thought when Devon took hold of the woman’s arm. Operating on instinct, he spun her body into his. She hardly had time to look surprised, and her boyfriend seemed unaware that anything at all was happening when Devon grabbed him, too. Devon breathed in the woman’s perfume, the same as Haley’s. The scent excited him more. It was what had drawn him to her in the first place. He turned toward the street, closed his eyes, and flung himself into the night. They sped, the three of them, past people whose faces blurred, Devon gripping the woman tight against his chest and holding the man to the side. When Devon needed to cross a street, he darted between cars. The sensation of speed filled him with wonder and longing, as did the woman’s warm body against his. For a long, delicious second, anticipation surged through him.

He didn’t know where he was going, didn’t know Hollywood, its streets or its neighborhoods. But he stopped in a perfect location—the middle of a paved alley. Cars drove by on the streets at either end, but they were far away. He released both his captives. There were no streetlights in the alley. Office buildings, closed and dark, lined either side. Devon could see everything, but the woman was straining her eyes, peering around her.

“Where are we?” She stared at Devon, her mouth dropped half-open. “How’d we get here?”

Devon seized her by the hair and forced her against him. The man clawed at Devon’s arms, and Devon flung him toward the buildings with a flick of his wrist. Out of the corner of his eye he watched the man slam against a brick wall and slump onto the concrete.

He kissed the woman’s mouth and ran his fingers down her back. She’s beautiful. She seemed dazed, responding to him at first, and then trying to pull away. Devon clamped his hand over her mouth. Her struggles only excited him, and he shoved her to the ground.

Time didn’t speed by as it had in his dreams. He felt her flesh give beneath his hands, the heat of her body as she fought him. He stared into her eyes and inhaled her fear and it drove him into a frenzy. He bit into her flesh, tasting her everywhere. It was as if he were dying of thirst and she was water.

Yet when it was over, and her lifeless body lay on the concrete, Devon still craved her. No, not her. But something. Someone. Blood with a different taste.

The cold desert wind chilled Devon’s flushed cheeks, making him shiver. Purple and gold bruises decorated the woman’s arms, and thick red scratches streaked down the insides of her thighs. Devon pulled the woman’s skirt down. Her hair, which was dark, almost as dark as Haley’s, blew across her face, obscuring her smooth, honey-colored skin. A trickle of blood ran down from the corner of her mouth. Devon stared, feeling a mix of fascination, horror, and longing, until he heard a moan and a shuffling sound. The man had staggered to his feet.

Devon spun around. His fist crashed into the man’s jaw. Hunger drove him, and he flung the man to the ground face down, conscious only of his need. The feel of the man’s flesh under his and the sound of his cries of pain were almost as satisfying as the woman’s.

Devon put his hands on the man’s head and wrenched it sideways. The snap of the man’s neck echoed down the alley, following Devon as he stumbled away. At the mouth of the alley he bent over and retched, but his body refused to disgorge the blood he’d taken in, no matter how revolted his mind was. Devon doubled over, panting, the taste of blood in his mouth, his stomach churning, until the spell passed.

He walked on, past office buildings, liquor stores, and men sleeping in doorways. Past storefronts with flashing lights and signs that read “Live Nudes.” Blood stained his hands. He thrust them into his pockets and ran.

It wasn’t until he saw the church that he stopped.

? ? ?

“You playing some kind of vampire game?” The clerk waved her hand at Haley’s purchases, her gold and black fingernails gleaming in the glow from the store’s recessed lights.

“Oh. Yes. No. A party. A theme for a party.”

Haley wondered why she bothered to lie. It hardly mattered what the clerk thought. She took the red-beaded rosary and hung it around her neck. The Catholic grade school girl who still lived inside Haley shuddered, warning her of sacrilege. The clerk bagged the crosses and wooden stakes. Haley was amazed she’d actually found stakes, but apparently the vampire thing was big in the new age shops here. The only things she hadn’t bought yet were garlic, which she’d need to get at a grocery store, and holy water. Real holy water, the clerk explained, could only be found at a Catholic or Greek Orthodox church. Some of them had gift shops, but few would be open this late, and the clerk didn’t know of any one in particular Haley should try.