Stakes & Stilettos ib-4 Page 28

  My stomach turned over. "The airport?"

  "I figure he's going back to Europe. Now that Haven's gone, and you're moving on, there's nothing to keep him here anymore. Are you okay, sweetie? Amy said you and Veronique had a talk earlier and I guess I can tell that it didn't exactly go well, did it?"

  Thierry had left for the airport. He was gone. Shock quickly spread over me.

  "It…" I tried to swallow. "It went fine. But it made me realize a lot of things about me and Thierry. And yeah, it's over."

  "Sorry."

  "Don't be." I was speaking at a normal level now and my throat ached with every word.

  "Look, I want to help you through this, I do, but I have ten tables who need service glaring at me right now. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

  "Okay."

  "Chin up. It might feel sucky now, but in the long run it's probably the best decision. You guys were really different. I guess opposites don't always attract after all, huh?"

  "You're right." I sniffed. "See you later."

  I hung up and put my hands over my face and sobbed until I was all out of tears and felt utterly exhausted. The proverbial bed had been made and now I had to lie in it. Thierry was gone and Gideon was still here waiting for our appointment with destiny.

  I felt for a tissue, but the box next to the phone was empty so I reached to turn on the light. It didn't work. I stood up and walked over to the floor lamp next to the sofa, stubbing my already-blistered toe on the coffee table as I went.

  I swore loudly.

  Could the night seriously get any worse?

  I felt at the wall for the light switch, but it didn't work either. I'd shut the lights off before I went to bed, so they were working. Was there a power failure? Had we blown a fuse?

  I heard the floorboards creak and I froze in place. They creaked again.

  Somebody, other than me, was in the house.

  It wouldn't be George since he was still at the club. Then who? Was it Gideon? Had he followed me home and broken into the house? What was he going to do? Or, even worse, was it another hunter? I'd been bodyguard-free on my walk home, and somebody could have picked up my trail and slipped in through a window.

  I didn't care who it was, my survival instincts kicked in and I knew I had to get out of there. I made a beeline to the front door, turned the lock, and put my hand on the knob.

  Somebody grabbed me firmly from behind. Before I could scream, a hand came over my mouth and I clutched at him, clawing at his arms and imagining my death a thousand different ways. But if I was going to die, I was taking whoever it was with me. I waited to feel a sharp wooden stake at my throat, but there was nothing.

  "Shh, Sarah. It's okay."

  My eyes bugged. I released my death hold on his arms and he removed his hand from my mouth. I slowly turned around to face him.

  "What is going on?" I managed in a hoarse whisper.

  "Is that new?" Thierry asked, referring to my amazingly stylish Wal-Mart nightshirt. "I don't think I've ever seen that before."

  It was dark in the house so I could barely see him, even taking my improved vampire vision into consideration.

  "Shh." I peeked out of the curtain to the outside. Gideon was nowhere to be seen, but I wouldn't expect him to survey the house from a visible location. "George said you went to the airport."

  "Obviously that's not the case."

  I could barely breathe. I wanted to tell him everything in a rush of words but I held back, too stunned to think rationally. "I figured you'd never want to see me again."

  He cocked his head to the side. "Those actually were your words, not mine."

  "You shouldn't be here."

  He moved closer and studied me. "You've been crying."

  I shook my head. "Allergies."

  "I came here because there are a few things that must be said between us before I will accept once and for all that our relationship is over. That's why I'm here."

  I glanced out of the window again.

  "What are you looking for?" he asked. "Or, should I say, who are you looking for?"

  I blinked. "You shouldn't be here."

  "Why not?"

  "I told you that this was over, Thierry. I…" I swallowed hard. "I still mean it."

  "I don't think you do."

  I sucked in a quick gasp of air at that response. "Then you're wrong."

  His gaze grew serious. "Who is responsible for this, Sarah? Who is coercing you to say these things to me?"

  This was bad. Very, very bad. I'd already had second thoughts about telling him everything. It was too risky. Was I willing to put the lives of my friends and family in jeopardy just so I could tell Thierry I hadn't meant all the cruel things I'd said to him?

  I shook my head. "It's me. All me. And I don't know why you're here. You obviously accepted it when I told you the first time and didn't care one way or the other. It's better that way. You and I are through and it's never—"

  Placing a hand on either side of my face, he leaned over and kissed me. I gasped against his lips before wrapping my arms around his waist and opening my mouth to his. After a moment he broke it off and stared down at me.

  "We're through?" he said softly. "Are you so sure about that?"

  I cleared my throat. "I can't help it if you're a good kisser."

  "Who forced you to end things with me?" he asked again. "Was it the Red Devil? Who is he? What does he want from you? Please tell me. You don't have to be afraid."

  I tried to pull away from him but he held on to me tightly. "Why do you think that? Maybe this is the way I feel. I mean, your money—"

  "A lie. You don't care about my money."

  "I totally do. I love rich guys. The richer the better. Money makes the world go around.

  And, to say the least, you're way too old for me. My parents think you're eight years older than me, which sounds a lot better than 650 years older."

  "You knew that from nearly the moment we met. I've tried to push you away for your own good because of our many differences, but you wouldn't let me. How is it any different today?"

  How was this different? The fact that Thierry didn't want to take my break-up at face value was unbelievable, especially since he'd reacted so coldly only a couple hours ago.

  "Look, Thierry, this isn't right—"

  "You love me," he said. "I know this more certainly than anything else in my life."

  I glared up at him. "Somebody needs an ego check."

  "And I love you." He swallowed. "I love you, Sarah. I know if I tell you that in my many years I've never felt like this for anyone else, you probably won't believe me, but it's true. I had my fortune told two hundred years ago, and it said that my true love would one day arrive and that I would fight for her. I always thought it was a lie until I met you. I love you. Only you. That's how I know that you were lying to me earlier. And that's how I know you're afraid. But I'm here now and nobody is going to hurt you."

  It was obvious. I was dreaming. I guess I'd been more tired than I'd thought. I'd come home, turned off the lights, and fallen completely unconscious enough to have a very vivid dream starring the man who was now out of my life forever. The real Thierry would never say these things to me, would he?

  But then Thierry kissed me again and it felt very real.

  A tear slipped down my cheek and that felt pretty real, too.

  "How did you know?" I whispered against his lips. "How did you know I was lying?"

  "I just knew." His lips curled to the side. "Now are you going to tell me who has you afraid, or do you want to continue to keep this terrible secret from me?"

  I bit my bottom lip and let out a long, shuddery breath. "It's Gideon Chase."

  I'd never seen shock on Thierry's face before. It didn't really suit him. "But… Gideon is dead."

  I shook my head. "Empty casket. He's horribly burned, but he's not dead."

  And then, as quietly as I could, I told Thierry everything and with every word I spoke I felt the h
orrible weight that pressed against my chest lift little by little. I told him about

  Gideon's plan for me to sire him, and of his threats if I didn't. I told him that Gideon was the one who'd killed Stacy. And finally how Gideon had forced me to break up with him.

  His expression grew more grave and serious with everything I said, and there was a fierce look of determination on his face by the end when he met my gaze.

  "And yes," I said. "The Red Devil obviously isn't the real one. Hindsight is twenty-twenty and all that."

  "I will refrain from saying I told you so."

  "I'd appreciate it." I let out a long sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you know. Now we can fix this together."

  He didn't say anything to that.

  "Thierry?" I prompted. "How are we going to fix this?"

  "That is a very good question," he said. "Gideon Chase is a formidable hunter, and one who has never shown any mercy. Now he's desperate to be cured even if it means becoming the very thing he's hunted for his entire life. There is no easy answer to this."

  "But we'll figure something out, right?"

  He stroked the hair off my forehead and tucked it behind my left ear. "Yes, we will. But until then we need for him to believe that I know nothing. It's safer if we play along with his little games."

  "So what do we do?"

  "I'll be leaving on the next plane to France, and you can sort all of this out here by yourself. Please let me know how it all turns out."

  I gaped at him. "Please tell me this is another attempt at that humor thing you've been trying lately."

  He frowned. "I'm not very good at it, am I?"

  I shook my head. "I love you even without the knock-knock jokes. Seriously."

  His expression softened. "This is good to know."

  "Gideon is convinced I was successful at breaking up with you."

  "Then he must continue to think that. As far as anyone will know, we're no longer together."

  "Everyone? Even George?"

  His dark eyebrows raised. "Especially George. If George knows, the world knows."

  "Good point." I twisted my hand into the silky material of Thierry's black shirt. "So we'll stay away from each other until this is over."

  He nodded slowly. "That would be best."

  "Then you probably should be leaving now."

  "I should." He kissed me again deeply and it nearly took my breath away. "I'm very glad you have the gold chain. Much safer that way, isn't it?"

  "This doesn't feel very safe to me," I breathed against his mouth.

  He picked me up in his arms. "George is working until 6:00 a.m. at the club. That, I believe, gives us four hours until he returns."

  I wrapped my arms around his neck. "For a master vampire, you're very good at math.

  But… but we need to figure out what we're going to do about Gideon. And how can we make everybody believe that we're not together? Obviously I'm a really bad liar if you figured it out."

  "We'll find a way. But not tonight. Or, at least, not in the next four hours."

  "But—"

  "Do you love me?" he asked very seriously.

  "Yes." My eyes filled with tears again. "I love you so much."

  "Then that's all that matters. You haven't known me that long, Sarah. You don't know how I can be when there's something I want and someone's standing in my way. And I want you." He frowned then. "However, there is one thing that troubles me more than anything else at this very moment. More even than Gideon Chase."

  "What?"

  He met my gaze and smiled. "That nightshirt definitely has to go."

  My heart swelled. I hugged him tightly against me and felt right then that everything was going to be okay as long as we were together.

  And, quite honestly, my nightshirt was seriously ugly.

  "I can definitely deal with that," I said just before I kissed him again… and again.

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