Shadows of Eternity

Chapter Thirteen

I n the morning, Leia woke feeling tired, lost, and confused. As she replayed her conversation with Rohan from the night before, it all seemed like a fever dream. In the early light of a new day, talk of vampires seemed ludicrous.

Rolling onto her side, she gazed out the window. The sky was a bright, clear blue. Birds were singing in the trees. She heard the laughter of the teenage girls who lived in the next apartment, the faint sound of a piano coming from the apartment on the other side, the barking of a dog. All the normal sounds of life. Of summer.

But there was nothing normal about Rohan. He was a three-hundred-year-old vampire. It was inconceivable and yet it was true. What was she going to do? Did she want to spend her life with a vampire? A man who would never grow old? Was love a strong enough foundation to build a life on when they were so different? Would those differences eventually tear then apart? How would he feel about her when she was old and gray and he was still young and virile and as sexy as hell? Would he grow tired of her? All the myths said vampires couldn’t reproduce. Did she want to be childless her whole life? Sure, they could adopt a baby, but she wanted to bear the child of the man she loved.

She knew he fed on people and that he’d eventually learned to feed without killing. Lordy, if he fed once a night … Good grief, it would amount to thousands of people! And how many had he killed before he learned it wasn’t necessary?

Feeling a tension headache coming on, Leia forced herself to get out of bed. Pulling on her bathrobe, she headed into the kitchen for aspirin and coffee. She needed a distraction, she thought, and reaching for the phone, she called Janae. “Hey, girlfriend, what are you doing today?”

“I’m supposed to take the kids to the zoo. Do you want to come along?”

She didn’t, not really, but she agreed to go anyway.

“We’re leaving in an hour, maybe,” Janae said. “Can you be ready?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, I’ll give you a honk when we’re out front.”

“I haven’t been to the zoo in ages,” Leia remarked as they bought their tickets and went through the turnstile.

“I bring the kids once or twice every summer,” Janae said, “even though it wears me out.”

Leia grinned at the boys. They were well-mannered, well-behaved kids, a little shy, which meant they didn’t often run off and get into trouble.

“How are things with Mr. Sexy?” Janae asked.

Leia sighed. “Not so good. He left for Arizona this morning.”

“Oh?” There was a wealth of unasked questions in that simple word.

“The dance troupe is performing at a pow wow there for a few days.”

“Ah. Did he ask you to go with him?”

“He asked me to think about it, but I decided against it. We’ve come to a crossroads in our relationship.”

“I see.”

Leia shook her head. “No, you don’t, and I can’t explain it to you.”

“Hey, this is me, your best friend. You can tell me anything.”

“Not this, although I’m dying to tell someone.”

They stopped in front of the giraffe exhibit, which housed close to a dozen of the critters of various sizes. Janae bought some lettuce and they lifted the boys up so they could feed the animals. Mike let out a startled wail when a long, black tongue plucked the lettuce from his hand, and then he laughed. “It tickles!”

Up and down the hills they went. “Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my,” Leia muttered as they stopped to rest in front of a lion’s cage. Close up, the beasts looked huge. The female paced back and forth while the male slept on a rock at the top of the enclosure.

At noon, they stopped for lunch and were lucky enough to find a table in the shade.

“Leia, what you’re not telling me is driving me crazy,” Janae said, wiping ketchup from Mike’s mouth.

“Maybe when we get home,” Leia said. “Where there are no little ears to hear.”

“I’ll hold you to it, see if I don’t.”

“Oh, I have no doubt of that,” Leia muttered.

It was near dark when they returned home. “I’ll be over as soon as the kids go to bed,” Janae said as she pulled up in front of Leia’s apartment.

Leia nodded as she stepped out of the car, wishing she had never said anything. What if Janae believed her? What if she didn’t?

Leia sighed when the doorbell rang. She had hoped Janae would forget about coming over, or that her husband would have made plans or the boys wouldn’t go to bed. No such luck.

“All right,” Janae said. Sweeping past Leia into the living room, she sat down on the sofa as if she intended to stay a while. “Let’s hear it.”

“I don’t know where to start. It’s so fantastically unbelievable.” Leia paused, wondering how to begin.

“Well, what’s the big secret?” Janae asked impatiently. “Is he from Planet Krypton or something?”

“Worse. He’s a vampire.”

“Uh-huh. Sure he is. And I’m Wonder Woman.”

“It’s true,” Leia insisted, and wondered again what Rohan had done to her to keep her from freaking out when he’d told her. “I saw the proof with my own eyes.”

“If you’re making this up, I’ll never forgive you,” Janae declared. And then she grunted with satisfaction. “I told you from the start there was something off about him. And I was right.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I just can’t believe it.”

“Janae … ”

“Why don’t we hear anything about it on the news? I haven’t heard any reports of bodies drained of blood being found in the streets, or anywhere else.”

Leia set out a sigh. She never should have said anything.

“So, where is he now?”

“I told you, he went to Arizona.”

“Good riddance, vampire or not,” Janae murmured.

“You can’t tell anyone,” Leia said, leaning forward. “Promise me.”

“Don’t worry. No one would believe me.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

“That includes Trent.”

“Don’t worry, he’s the last person I’d tell. He’d never believe it.”

“Just forget I told you, all right?”

“I’d be glad to.” Janae shook her head. “Vampires, indeed.”

Leia made a face at her.” Stop looking at me like I’m insane.”

“Right now, I’m not sure you aren’t.”

“It’s not funny, girlfriend. I was this close to falling in love with him.”

“Well, let’s hope you’ve seen the last of him. That is what you’re hoping, right?”

“Oh, right,” Leia said, although she didn’t mean it.

And from the doubt in Janae’s eyes, her best friend didn’t believe she meant it, either.

Rohan took a last bow and left the stage. They’d had a packed house for opening night, and he’d heard from one of the other dancers that every performance was sold out.

He went to his dressing room to change and then, not wanting to go out the stage door, he dissolved into mist and left the building. He materialized a few blocks away.

It had been decades since he’d been to Bisbee. Once the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco, it had become a popular destination for tourists, thanks to its art galleries, vintage shops, and great places to drink and dine. Artifacts from Bisbee’s mining history could be seen in museums, including the Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum. The city also offered Old Bisbee Ghost Tours. Thousands of dollars in gold, copper, and silver had been mined here in the old days.

The old days … when the Lakota and the Cheyenne had roamed wild and free and no one had ever heard of the wasichu, or George Custer and the Seventh Cavalry, or imagined a time when the buffalo would be gone and the People would be confined to reservations, their freedom lost, their way of life changed forever.

Dammit! Why was he thinking of the past? He swore again. Perhaps to keep from thinking about the present, and Leia.

Leia. He hadn’t known her very long. How could he miss her so damn much?

As happened from time to time, he found himself thinking about the vampire who had turned him so many years ago. As he stalked the dark streets, he felt the old anger rise within him. How many others had his sire turned? How many other lives had he stolen?

Rohan swore softly. He didn’t think about his sire very often these days, but being with Leia reminded him of all he’d lost—his humanity, the chance to marry and raise a family, perhaps father a son.

There were other things he had naturally missed in the beginning. He’d had to leave the village because, as a fledging, he’d had to sleep from sunrise to sunset. There was no way to explain that to his family or his friends. People were bound to wonder why he didn’t eat, why he no longer participated in buffalo hunts, why he avoided the sunlight. Damn the man! If he ever got his hands on his sire …

Rohan blew out a heavy sigh. If he hadn’t found his sire in the last three hundred years, it was unlikely he’d ever find him now.

“About time you got home, honey,” Trent said, smiling. “What did you have to see Leia about tonight that was so important? You just spent the whole day with her.”

Janae shrugged. “Oh, you know,” she said, not meeting his eyes. “The usual things.”

“No, I don’t.” He patted the seat beside him and when she joined him, he slid his arm around her shoulders. “Is she in some kind of trouble?”

“Not really,” Janae said, shrugging. “She met this guy and they broke up and, well, you know, she’s upset.”

“Uh-huh.” His gaze probed hers. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing.”

“Janae, I know when you’re hiding something.”

“I promised not to tell. Besides, you’d never believe it.” She scooted out from under his arm and stood. “I’m going up to check on the boys,” she said, and hurried out of the room. A promise was a promise, she thought, as she tucked Mark under the covers, but what if what Leia said was true? What if Rohan really was a vampire? Leia’s life could be in danger.

Janae shook her head. The whole idea was ludicrous, and even it was true, she thought, dropping a kiss on Mike’s forehead, there was nothing she could do about it. She was a suburban housewife, for goodness sakes, not a vampire hunter.