Keri Arthur - Hearts In Darkness

San Francisco, the city where she and Jake had met, and the place where her family still ran a successful hotel business. This time, she might just convince him to make the move. Leaving her alone. Something she'd feared most of her life.

She bit her lip. I'm being selfish. As long as Jake survived, it didn't really matter where he lived. It wasn't as if she couldn't hop on a plane and visit him.

"Being alone is something we all fear, Nikki."

She pulled back and looked him in the eye. "Do you?"

His smile made her heart do odd things in her chest. He touched her face, his thumb trailing heat down her cheek as he wiped away her tears. "I fear it as much as anyone else, and for good reason. I have lived three hundred years alone. I know its taste and do not like it."

"Then why continue to push me away?"

"Because I fear seeing you dead more."

Anger surged. She wedged her arms between them and thrust him away. "So you'd rather see me miserable than dead? Great. Just great."

He sighed and thrust a hand through his hair. "We barely even know each other. We may share thoughts and we may share passion, but we have never once shared our dreams or our desires for the future. I do not know your favorite movie or color or food, or even what you like to read. And you know as little about me. How can you trust what you feel when we do not even know if what lies between us will last?"

What she felt had been strong enough to survive six months of not seeing him. Six months in which she'd swung between anger and aching loneliness. "But you won't even give us the chance to find any of those things out."

"No."

"You're a coward, you know that?"

His smile held a touch of sadness. "You will not change my mind, no matter what you do or say."

She glared at him for several minutes, then shook her head and swept up a room key from the coffee table. "I'm going for a walk."

"It's after midnight. You need to rest."

"I need fresh air more." She stalked from the room and slammed the door behind her.

The sound echoed through the silence and, no doubt, woke the other guests. Michael took a step after her, then cursed and swung back to the window. She needed time alone, time to cool down… and so did he. Time to forget the warmth of her touch, the smell of her hair. Time to forget his need to hold her and love her and never let her go.

He crossed his arms and leaned a shoulder against the window frame. In the darkness beyond the window, light flickered, distant flames of civilization. They looked lonely, those lights, lost in the darkness.

He knew exactly how they felt.

But he shouldn't be thinking about Nikki or loneliness or anything else except what they were here to do.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Contact was instant.

Michael?Seline's mind voice seemed almost hesitant. You okay?

Fine. We've just arrived at the resort.

No problems?

A couple. One of the young vamps who attacked Nikki at the warehouse turned up at the airport, but he melted away before we could question him much.

You're slipping, Michael. You don't usually let fledglings get the better of you.

He snorted softly. Jasper had gotten the best of him for more years than he cared to remember. But he couldn't really regret that because if it hadn't been for Jasper he wouldn't have met Nikki. He didn't get away, Seline. He melted, literally.

Surprise rippled down the telepathic line. That's not possible.

Well, apparently it is.

Her amusement shimmered. My, don't we sound a little testy tonight. What's wrong—have a lover's tiff, did we?

Irritation swept through him. The last thing he needed right now was Seline dissecting his love life—not that he had one to dissect.

Ever heard of anything like that happening before?

Spontaneous melting? No, but I'll do a search through the files, see what I come up with. Anything else happen?

She was referring to events with Nikki, even if she didn't come out and say it. But that was something he had no intention of discussing. The old witch thought him a coward, too—something else she hadn't yet come out and said.

Yes. We came in with a couple who might just be our next victims. I want you to do a search on

Lucas Rodeman—and pay particular attention to his wife, Ginger.He didn't bother describing them.

Seline would see their images in his mind.

You suspect her?

Yes, and for two reasons. I couldn't touch her thoughts—or rather, there was nothing there to touch.

You're the strongest telepath I've ever met, Michael. That shouldn't be possible.

Shouldn't be, but it was. Up until now, Nikki had been the only other person he'd never been able to fully read.

There's more. Nikki did a reading on her and saw images of a man calling forth fire from rocks.

She says Ginger isn't human, that she's a part of this place, neither good nor bad.

Is Nikki clairvoyant? I know you said she has psychic abilities.

Yes, but her fields are psychometry and telekinesis.And the fact that she had read Ginger had him worried. Developing a new psychic ability at her age was almost unheard of.

Keep an eye on her, Michael. It's unusual for something like that to be suddenly happening.Seline hesitated slightly. How much do you really know about thralls? Could it have something to do with that?

I don't think so. The original intent of a thrall was a servant, and only eternal life is given. Besides, I'm not clairvoyant, so it's hardly something she'd pick up in the transfer.

No, but you didn't make Nikki a thrall to make her a servant. You did it to save her life. Perhaps that is the difference.

That still doesn't explain why she's suddenly developed this extra ability.

No.Seline's unease sang down the line, and only succeeded in increasing his own. It may only be a singular event. It may not be a new talent emerging.

Her tone told him she didn't really think this was the case, and neither did he.

I'll do a search on thralls, see what I can find, she continued. And I'll check what entities we might have living in that area.

He glanced at his watch. It was nearing one. Nikki had been gone ten minutes. Good. I'll contact you tonight.

Do that. And remember what I said earlier. Her heart lies wrapped in darkness, Michael. Don't trust her.

He frowned. Trust who? Nikki?

But once again, the old witch cut the connection before he could finish his thoughts. He thumped the window frame. Damn, she could be annoying.

He glanced at his watch again. If Nikki didn't come back within the next five minutes, he was going after her—no matter how mad that might make her.

He couldn't let her wander around alone at night in a place where people had a habit of disappearing.

Nikki stopped beside the pool and stared into the crystal water. The lights had switched off as she'd come down the stairs, and only moonlight played on the gently rippling water. She glanced at her watch.

It was close to one, so maybe the lights were on a timer. Most normal people were asleep at this hour, anyway, not wandering the night as furious as hell.

But then, most normal people weren't in love with a vampire who had the mindset of a brick wall.

For half a minute she thought about jumping in the pool, clothes and all, simply to cool down. Only the fact she'd have to walk dripping wet through the hotel stopped her.

Yet she was more annoyed at herself than she was at Michael. He'd warned her from the very beginning that he couldn't share his life with her. Warned her that no matter what, he would walk away. It shouldn't come as any surprise that he was fighting his feelings, fighting her , every step of the way.