Shadows of Eternity

Chapter Sixteen

F or the next two days, Leia threw herself into cleaning the apartment. She washed the windows, scoured the sinks, the toilet, and the tub, cleaned the stove until it gleamed like new. She emptied the refrigerator and washed the inside. She dusted everything in sight—furniture, knick-knacks, the blinds in the spare bedroom, the lamp shades and the light bulbs. She washed her bedspread and shampooed the carpets, watered the plants, cleaned the mirrors, washed the dishes on the top shelf that she rarely used.

Each night, she fell into bed, exhausted. And each night, she lay there, unable to sleep, longing to hear Rohan’s voice, see his smile. Her body ached for his touch.

Maybe she’d been wrong to leave as abruptly as she had. Maybe she should have stayed and poured out her doubts, given him a chance to put her fears to rest. She was surprised he hadn’t called by now. In truth, she had expected to hear from him the day she left. Had she hurt his pride? Made him angry? Disappointed him in some way?

It rained the morning of the third day. Glancing out the window, she decided that the dark clouds perfectly suited her mood. She was angry now, angry that he hadn’t cared enough to call and make sure she’d made it safely home, disappointed that he hadn’t come after her and begged her to stay. But then, why would he? She had said she would stay and then she’d run away like a little girl afraid of the dark.

Sighing, she pulled on her bathrobe and went into the kitchen. She hadn’t eaten much of anything for the last two days and even though she wasn’t hungry, she forced herself to sit down and eat a fried egg sandwich and drink a glass of orange juice. Oddly, eating spiked her appetite and she ate a bowl of cereal topped with a banana.

After doing the dishes, she wandered into the living room and sank down on the sofa. Could he read her thoughts when he was so far away? Did he know how much she missed him? Did he miss her? Clutching a throw pillow to her chest, she let the tears that she’d been holding back flow down her cheeks unchecked and felt better for it.

Rising, she wiped her eyes and blew her nose, then grabbed her cell phone and called Janae.

“Hey, girlfriend,” Janae said enthusiastically. “I was just about to call you. My Mom’s taken the kids for a few days and Trent’s out of town, and I’ve got nothing to do.”

“Well, I’ve got plenty to do,” Leia said, “but I don’t want to do it.” She still had the outside of the windows and the screens to wash and the weeds in the window boxes to pull, but she couldn’t do that in the rain. “So, what do you say? Lunch?”

“Sounds good.,” Janae replied, a smile in her voice. “Where do you want to go?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll pick you up in an hour, okay?”

“Better make it two,” Leia said. “I just had breakfast.”

Janae laughed. “Okay, two hours. See you then.”

Leia’s mood brightened considerably as she ended the call and went to shower and dress. She wouldn’t have to sit home alone and mope all day, after all.

Janae was as good as her word. Two hours later, Leia heard the quick honk-honk of her horn. Grabbing her keys and her handbag, she hurried out the door.

“I thought we’d go to Jimmy Jax,” Janae said as Leia settled in the passenger seat. “Is that okay with you?”

“Sure.”

“So, I haven’t heard from you in a few days,” Janae remarked. “What have you been doing?”

“Mostly cleaning house.”

“Yuck.”

A short time later, Janae pulled up in front of Jimmy Jax, which was only a short distance from Leia’s apartment building.

It was early for lunch and the crowd was light. They found a booth near the front window, ordered burgers and fries and sodas when the waitress came by.

“Where did Trent go?” Leia asked.

“He didn’t say. You know how hush-hush he is about his job.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever told me what he does.”

“Well, he’s never really told me, either. All I know is that he works for the government, although I don’t know which branch, and he’s on call at a moment’s notice. And the pay is very, very good,” she added brightly. “In fact, lunch is on me.”

After their order arrived, Janae asked the inevitable question, “So, whatever happened to Rohan? You haven’t mentioned him once.”

“I guess we broke up.”

“No kidding? That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.”

Leia made a face at her. “I miss him.”

“Of course you do. The man was gorgeous, but you’re better off without him.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. There was a dark aura around you when you were seeing him. Now, it’s gone.”

Leia glanced heavenward, as if seeking divine help.

“I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true.”

“You never said anything about a ‘dark aura’ before.”

“I didn’t want to scare you.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry anymore,” Leia said, with sigh. “So put your crystal ball away.”

“Very funny.” Reaching for a French fry, Janae asked, “What are you doing tonight?”

“Nothing.”

“How about a movie?”

“As long as it’s not a happy-ever-after romance. I don’t think I could handle that right now.”

Janae laughed. “No worries. It’s the latest Spiderman.”

“Wait a minute! Doesn’t the hero always get the girl?”

It was close to an hour later when Janae dropped Leia off at home. “Pick you up at 7:30?”

“Right. See you then.” Leia watched Janae pull out of the driveway, then unlocked the door and stepped inside. She froze in the entryway, certain there was someone else in the apartment.

“Relax,” said a familiar voice. “It’s just me.”

Her heart fluttered wildly when Rohan materialized next to the sofa. She started to ask how he’d gotten in, then bit back the question, knowing what the answer would be.

“How are you, Princess?” His deep voice washed through her like warm whiskey on a winter night.

“What are you doing here?”

“What do you think?”

Moving into the room, she dropped her handbag and keys on the hall table, her whole body yearning toward him.

He didn’t move, merely watched her, his dark eyes unreadable.

Suddenly nervous, she sat on the edge of the sofa, her hands clasped in her lap. She could feel his gaze on her face when he came to stand in front of her.

“Why did you leave?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t know.”

He quirked a disbelieving brow at her. “Why, Leia?”

“If you must know, I was afraid.”

“Of me? Why? Have I ever hurt you?”

“No, but … ”

“You have questions,” he said, his voice flat. “Ask them.”

She took a deep breath, then blurted, “Do you hurt the people you … you feed on?”

“Is that what you think?”

“I don’t know what to think,” she retorted.

“No, I don’t. I take what I need, wipe the memory from their minds, and send them blithely on their way. Just like I did with you.” He shoved his hands into his back pockets. “I told you I killed people when I was first turned.”

“But never since then?”

“I didn’t say that. I’ve killed people in self-defense when it was my life or theirs.”

“What other powers do you have besides the ones you told me about?”

“I’m strong. I’m fast. I heal quickly. I never get sick. If I drink from someone who’s drunk or ill in any way, it doesn’t affect me. My senses are incredibly sharp. I can smell you when you’re a mile away. I can think myself wherever I want to go.”

She blinked at him, mightily impressed, but a little frightened to think he possessed such inhuman powers. “Can you make me do things against my will? Tell me the truth,” she said, when he hesitated to answer.

His dark eyes held hers, a silent promise in their depths. “I could, but I never have, and I never will.”

“Have you ever turned anyone into a vampire?”

“No.”

“Never? In over three hundred years?”

He shook his head. “It was forced on me against my will. Why would I ever do it to someone else?”

Why, indeed? she thought.

“Anything else you need to know?” he asked.

“I want to know where you got the name Rohan. You said you’d tell me when you got to know me better. I think you know me better now.”

He chuckled. He did, indeed. “Rohan was the name of the first man I killed after being turned. I took it because I never wanted to forget how guilty I felt when I realized what I’d done. As for Stillwater, I picked it out of a phone book.”

“Oh.”

“I probably shouldn’t have told you any of this.” He knelt on one knee in front of her and took both of her hands in his. “Give us a chance, Leia. Put your fears away. I would never hurt you, or force you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable or unhappy. I love you, and I think you love me.”

She trembled with anticipation as he slowly leaned toward her, closed her eyes as his lips found hers. His kiss was achingly sweet, filled with love and need and hope.

She felt bereft when he lifted his head.

His gaze searched hers. “Leia?”

“Heaven help me, I do love you.” Unable to resist, she melted against him when he pulled her into his arms and fell back on the floor, drawing her down on top of him.

He rained kisses on her cheeks, the tip of her nose, her chin, before his mouth covered hers in a long, searing kiss that drove every doubt from her mind.

When she was breathless, he wrapped his arms around her and stood in a fluid motion, drawing her up with him.

“Do you want to go out for dinner?” he asked. “Or stay home and make out like randy teenagers?”

“I can’t.”

“What? Why not?”

“I’m supposed to go to the movies with Janae.”

He blew out a sigh. “Okay if I wait here until you get home?”

“Aren’t you going to ask me not to go?”

He shrugged. “I don’t want to interfere in your life or keep you away from your friends.”

Leia didn’t know whether to be hurt or pleased. And then she grinned. “You could come with us.”

“Is that a good idea?” he asked. “As I recall, she wasn’t too keen on our dating.”

“True,” she said, and frowned.

“Change your mind?”

“I was just thinking of something she said at lunch today.”

“Oh? What was that?”

“It’s silly, but she said that when we were dating, I had a dark aura around me.”

Well, damn , he thought. Maybe Janae really did have some psychic ability .

“You don’t believe in that kind of thing, do you?” she asked.

Rohan grunted softly. “In this instance, I think I do.”

“What do you think it means?” It worried her that Rohan didn’t brush it aside as foolishness.

“It’s probably because you’re hanging around with a vampire, darlin’.”

“You don’t think it means something more ominous?”

“Like what?”

“Like something bad is going to happen to me?” she asked. And frowned. Where had that thought come from?

He smiled reassuringly. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Stop worrying. Go have a good time with Janae. I’ll be here when you get back.”

“I’m not really a Spiderman fan,” Leia remarked as she fastened her seatbelt, “so this better be good. What’s wrong?” she asked when Janae didn’t reply.

“You’re with him again, aren’t you?”

Leia stared at her. “How can you possibly know that?”

“Dark aura,” Janae said curtly. “Do you have a death wish, or what?”

“Let’s not start all that dark aura stuff again,” Leia said. And then, unable to help herself, she asked, “What do you think it means?”

“That he’s dangerous. Maybe not to you, but then again … ” Janae shrugged. “Just be careful.”

“Are we going to the movies or not?”

With an aggrieved sigh, Janae pulled out of the parking lot onto the street.

“I asked him to come with us,” Leia said, after a moment.

“Well, I’m glad he didn’t.” Janae paused. “Why didn’t he?”

“He said he didn’t want to interfere in my life or keep me from seeing my friends.”

“Well, that was darn nice of him,” Janae said, her voice thick with sarcasm. “Just promise me you’ll be careful. You haven’t slept with him, have you?”

Leia felt her cheeks heat as she struggled for an answer.

“You have, haven’t you?”

“Just once.”

Janae sighed as she pulled into the theater parking lot. “You’ll never leave him now,” she muttered darkly.

Later, on the way home, Leia wondered if either of them had paid any attention to the movie. She had felt Janae worrying about her the whole time, imagining the worst. Good thing Janae had blown her off when she’d told her the truth about Rohan. If Janae had believed her, she would probably come running over with a wooden stake in one hand and a bottle of holy water in the other as soon as they got home. Since neither of them had ever mentioned Rohan’s being a vampire again, perhaps her psychic friend had forgotten about it. Either way, she certainly wasn’t going to bring it up now.

“I’ll call you soon,” Janae said.

“Why don’t the four of us go out to dinner when Trent gets home?” Leia suggested. “It will give the guys a chance to get to know each other, and you’ll realize you’re all wrong about Rohan.”

“I’ll ask him,” Janae said. “In the meantime, you be careful, girlfriend.”

“Yes, Mother. Good night.”

Leia found her vampire reclining on the sofa when she entered her apartment. He’d kicked off his shoes and looked right at home.

“How was the movie?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Spiderman saved the day.”

He sat up, beckoning for her to join him. When she did, he slipped his arm around her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Janae. She keeps warning me about you.” She bit down on her lower lip. “A while back I told her something I shouldn’t have.”

Shit. He had a bad feeling about this. “Let me guess. You told her what I am?”

Leia nodded. “But she didn’t believe me, and she hasn’t mentioned it since. I think she forgot about it.”

“Maybe.” But he doubted it. Later tonight, after Leia had gone to bed, he would go to Janae’s house and wipe that little bit of damning information from her mind while she slept. Erasing what he was from her memory would be safer for him. And for her. Fortunately he could manipulate her mind from outside the house, since she wasn’t likely to invite him in.

And while he was at it, he would prevent Janae from seeing that damn, dark aura around Leia.

That would be better for all of them.