Single White Vampire (Argeneau #3)(59)
"You're very old," the woman said in hushed tones. She blinked her eyes open to look at his handsome young face, frowned in confusion, then closed them again. "It's your soul that must be old," she corrected. "Very old. You have had many loves."
Kate felt something tighten in her chest before the woman corrected herself again: "No, not loves. Lovers. You have had many. Many, many," she added, sounding surprised again. Then she blinked her eyes open to ask with some vexation, "When have you had time to sleep?"
Kate's lips twitched. She supposed Lucern had been with many women. He was a healthy male of over six hundred years. Even if he'd only had one lover pery ear, it meant six hundred. If he'd had more than three a year… The mind boggled. In dismay, she decided she would have to ask him if vampires could get and pass on STD's. She hoped not, but really, it was something she needed to know.
"You had begun to weary of life," the psychic went on, grabbing Kate's attention. "It all seemed so hard, and the cruelties of man had begun to wear you down. But something—no, not something, but someone—someone has reinvigorated you. Made you feel it might be worth living again. That there is still joy to be had."
Kate's tongue seemed stuck to the roof of her mouth. Someone? Who? Some secret part of her hoped it was she. At the same time, the idea terrified her. She was attracted to Lucern. She had even come to like and respect him, but—
"Hold on to her." The woman was staring deeply into Luc's eyes, "You will have to fight for her, but not in the way you are used to. Weapons and physical strength will do you no good in this battle. It is your own pride and fear you will have to fight. If you fail, your heart will shrivel in your chest, and you will die a lonely, bitter old man, regretting what you didn't do."
Lucern jerked his hand free, then stood and walked away. Kate turned to follow, but the psychic suddenly latched onto her hand. "Wait. Your man will be all right for a minute."
Kate stiffened. "He isn't my man."
The psychic's expression suggested that Kate wasn't fooling anyone. The woman said, "He is special, your man. But to be with him you will have to make a choice. You will have to give up all. If you have the courage, everything you ever wanted will be yours. If not…" She shrugged and released Kate's hand. "Now go to your man. Only you can calm him."
Kate hurried after Lucern, aware that Jodi was on her heels. The skin of her wrist still tingled where the psychic had touched her, prickled as if she had been shocked. Kate rubbed it absently, her thoughts scattered. She would have to give up all, but would gain everything she ever wanted? How was that even possible? She shrugged the concern away as she rushed out of the room and spotted Lucern disappearing around a corner.
By the time the two women had caught up with him in the Roundhouse Publishing hospitality suite, Luc was seated at a table, surrounded by fans.
Allison was gesturing for Kate to join them across the room. Kate glanced uncertainly from her boss to Lucern.
"I'll see if Luc's okay. You go see what your boss wants," Jodi suggested, giving her a push toward the head editor. "We haven't much longer here, anyway. They're closing up early to allow everyone time to prepare for the Renaissance costume ball and banquet."
Oh, yes, Kate thought as she moved toward her boss. Tonight was the costume ball.
Lucern nodded solemnly as the reader he had been speaking to stood and went to speak with Jodi. He was becoming used to talking to readers. He had tried his best not to at first, but Kate's lecture in his home kept popping into his mind—how, without them, he wouldn't be published. That he touched their lives, and that they only wished to tell him so. He'd learned to respond in somewhat of a pleasant manner to the embarrassing compliments they gave, but had found that with this little effort the readers opened further to him. They told him things, gave him parts of themselves he didn't know how to handle.
One woman had told him she'd just lost her young son, that life seemed bleak and endlessly cruel to her but that she'd found escape and hope in his books. Perhaps life would be good again someday. Then she had forced a laugh and told him she only wished that vampirism were true, that if she had believed in it, she would have searched the earth for a vampire to save her child.
Lucern had ached for the woman. He'd felt her pain reaching out to him and seeping into his body. He knew it was wrong, but he hadn't been able to let her just walk away. He'd slipped inside her mind and… not removed her pain, but veiled it somewhat, easing it for her so that the good memories were stronger than the bad. She'd walked away smiling.
He had met many wounded people today. Once he'd opened to them, he couldn't seem to close them out. But he had met many people who were just fine, too. He had found the whole experience interesting, to say the least. He had written his books for purely selfish reasons, to record the truth. But now he saw that the books were touching the lives of many others. It made him want to try his hand at genuine fiction, something he had never considered. He had started his life as a warrior. After a hundred years of that, he'd been something of a rakehell. When he had tired of that, he had donned a scholarly persona and buried himself in history. Perhaps it was time to turn to more creative pursuits. But would he be good at it?
"Okay. Time to go." Kate suddenly appeared at his side. "Allison is closing the hospitality suite early so everyone has plenty of time to prepare for the Renaissance ball."