Dream Vampire Read Free Page B

you were with them? You really did kill Stephen? And you’re going to kill me now, too?” Surely he was crazy.
    He compressed his lips into a firm line for a few seconds before speaking. “Of course not. Let me get you some wine, or perhaps water, then I’ll tell you everything. I shouldn’t have blurted it out in that thoughtless way. I do apologize.”
    She watched him glide through the room and enter a door which, judging by the sounds she heard, must have led to the kitchen. He came back only a moment later carrying a bottle of wine, a pitcher of water and a crystal goblet on a tray, which he set on a nearby table.
    Pointing to the tray, he asked, smiling, “Which do you prefer?”
    She glared at him, rising to her feet. Moving to stand in front of him, she spoke with exaggerated calmness, “I don’t want any of your damn wine or anything else. I want you to tell me what you meant by saying you saw the men who killed Stephen. If you really did, why didn’t you go to the police? Why didn’t you help? Why didn’t you stop them?”
    “I would have stopped them, had I arrived in time.”
    “Were you there, on the street? I don’t remember seeing you.”
    “No, I’d just returned from many months abroad, and was going through the main level of the house, removing the sheets from the furniture, when I heard a commotion outside. I went to the window, and saw you, bent over someone’s body, screaming and crying. I didn’t realize immediately it was your husband, Stephen. The three men took off running down the street. When you left to get help, I came out to see what I could do for the injured man. He was seconds away from death—his heartbeat faint. I knew he wouldn’t be alive by the time you returned with assistance. When I realized it was your husband, and that he was going to die, I told him—in his mind—that I would take some of his blood so I could carry his essence and his memories. It was the least I could do for you. He thanked me. He was a fine man.”
    She backed away from Michael, her horrified eyes wide and her mouth open. Fisting her hands at her sides, she yelled, “That’s a ridiculous story. You’re just repeating things you’ve read in vampire books. How could you make up such a terrible thing, when you’ve seen how painful my husband’s death was for me? You heartless bastard!”
    He reclaimed the distance between them and grasped her upper arms, pulling her close, lifting her to her toes, making escape impossible. “I am far from heartless, when it comes to you. I will finish the story and you will listen. After I drank some of Stephen’s blood...”
    She flailed at him, struggling wildly in a futile attempt to get away, then began to sob. “Please stop. Why are you doing this to me? Why are you making up these horrible things?”
    He gathered her against his chest, and held firm—one hand on the side of her head, forcing her cheek against the silk of his shirt—the other curled around her waist. As her crying subsided, she became aware that something seemed—off. She concentrated for a few seconds and noticed she could feel her own heart beating, but she couldn’t hear or feel his. Closing her eyes, she really listened, trying to detect a rhythm in his chest that she could use to debunk his fantasy about being a vampire, but there was nothing. She opened her eyes as he began speaking again, the resonance of his voice vibrating through the bones of her face.
    “After I drank some of Stephen’s blood, I gave him a mental command that he would feel no pain, and that he could drift off into a peaceful sleep. Which he did. After his soul left his body, I turned my attention to the cretins who’d killed him. Their scent was easy to follow. They stank of fear and alcohol. I found them under a bridge by the docks, celebrating their good fortune, congratulating each other for a job well done. Of course, my arrival was a complete surprise. An unpleasant one. I was tempted to make