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." "Wait a minute," I said, getting confused. "First you say you're leaving because the vampire slayers know about you. Then you tell me you're going on tour with the band, appearing in public. What makes you think the vampire slayers aren't going to be following you? This doesn't make a lot of sense, Darius," I said starting to feel angry. "I have a feeling you're leaving something out. Hiding something. What happened tohonesty , Darius? What happened to making our relationship a priority?" "Daphne, please. Don't get upset. I want you to come with me." That threw me. Of all the things he could have said, that wasn't one of them. Finally I said, "I don't know that I can do that Darius. I have responsibilities here. To the Darkwings. Let me think about it." "You told me to make our relationship a priority, so resign, Daphne. Quit." His voice was excited now. He reached across the table and squeezed my hand. "Listen. We can be a team. I'm serious about the band, but it's basically just a great cover for my intelligence work. Listen, Daphne, I'm not asking you to give up spying. My agency would take you on. I already talked to my handler. They figure if J can run vampires, they can too. Come with me, Daphne. I'm tracking down an al Qaeda terrorist cell in Germany. Some of its members may be operating in Italy. We could go back to your villa, Daphne. Come with me. We can do it all." I should be happy, I told myself. Wasn't it what I had dreamed about? Part of me wanted to grab the gold ring he was offering. But a small dark part of me whispered that I was being manipulated. And a little voice in my head added that maybe Darius still wanted to get back at J. Destroying the Darkwings, or even just stealing me away, would be a huge win for Darius and a big loss for J. I could be replaced on the team eventually, I guessed, but meanwhile it would be crippled. "I don't know," I said. "I do want to be with you, but you've just sprung this on me with no advance notice. I need to think out how this could work. When do I have to let you know?" "In forty eight hours. This whole operation is moving quickly. I'm going to get my gear together and meet with my handler tomorrow. I'll be able to nail down some of the details. I think we're flying out of the States on Sunday night, probably heading to Hamburg. And Daphne, you can't tell anybody about this. You understand that, don't you?" "You mean if I quit the Darkwings I can't tell them why?" "Pretty much. Tell them part of the truth. You're coming with me. On tour, because we want to be together. If J hears you're switching to a different agency, there's going to be hell to pay. And he doesn't need to know, Daphne. At least not yet. And neither does your mother," he added, giving me a meaningful look. He got up then and came over to my side of the booth. He slid in beside me and turned my head with his hand. He kissed me there in that dingy light in that crummy old bar. My body responded as it always did to his touch. But even his kiss couldn't stop the doubts racing through my brain. I wanted to think. I needed to think. I needed time to think. Darius said he had to get going. He had a lot to do yet that night. He finished up his beer and paid the bill. We left the bar and stood outside on the dark sidewalk. We were only a couple of blocks from my apartment. "I'll walk you back," he said. "No, don't bother, really." I wanted time to myself. The walk might clear my head. "It's early." "I don't like you out here alone," he said stubbornly. "Look, it's not even ten o'clock. There are lots of people on the streets. I'll be fine," I said firmly. He saw I wasn't going to change my mind. "All right. I'll get a cab and head downtown. How about if I come back to your place before dawn? Is that cool?" "Sure," I said without much enthusiasm. "Sure. We'll talk more then." He came close to me and put his arms around me, pulling me to him. "Daphne? I thought this would be what you wanted. It's a chance for us. Maybe our only chance." "I know, Darius. It's just happening so fast." Then he put his lips close to my ear and told me when he came back to my apartment before dawn we'd make love, and he told me what he wanted to do when he did. He said all that in a hoarse whisper, kissing my eyes, my hair, my lips as he said it. My knees turned to water. I groaned and sank into him. "That's not helping," I said breathlessly. "I wasn't trying to help," he whispered. "I was trying to convince you." He took his hands away then and I felt cold when they were gone. He kissed me once more, walked over to the curb, and hailed a cab. He waved at me through the window when it pulled into traffic, and I had an irrational feeling that things might never be the same between us again. I walked slowly in the direction of my building, arguing with myself. I was bitterly aware of the irony of my indecision. I was the one who had lectured Darius on making our relationship important and our commitment to each other a priority. But when I had to make the hard choices, I hesitated. Maybe I was just too old to give up everything and go running off with a man. Darius was only in his early thirties. I was over five hundred years old. I had seen many relationships between all sorts of men and women in those centuries, and few of them had lasted. Many of them had ended in betrayal. True love was a rarity. Yet I would be miserable without Darius, and I couldn't discount our passion. The level of our physical intensity was also rare, and the vampire in me, the dark side of my being, was drawn to the sybaritic, the sensational, the forbidden. It was drawn to Darius. But the human cost of being with him would be high. I would have to abandon my friends. I couldn't take my dog with me. And if my mother believed I was quitting the Darkwings for love, she would be sure to let me know how disappointed she was in meagain . Yet the idea of losing Darius and relinquishing all my dreams of our being together brought with it a blinding pain. I would be alone again. Suddenly resentment at my fate welled up with me. As a vampire, I had given up any man I cared about because I feared destroying him. The one time I didn't with Byron I had ultimately caused his death. For centuries I had wandered with no permanent home, always alone. What vampire ever had a lasting relationship? It was nearly impossible. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Darius was right, it might be our only chance. Why shouldn't I take it? Didn't I deserve to be happy? My heart wanted me to choose Darius. But that little voice in my head kept whispering doubts. It reminded me that Darius was still secretive. Would that change? I didn't know that it would. Look how different he was from Fitz. On my second date with Fitz, I had met his family. He had willingly told me about his past, and I believed he had told me the truth. I knew nothing about Darius's background
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Tematy
IndexHieber Leanna Renee Percy Parker 02 Walka œwiatła i mroku o Percy Parker
Lensman 02 Smith, E E 'Doc' First Lensman
Swann S. A. Wilczy miot 02 Wilczy Amulet
Benzoni Juliette Fiora 02 Fiora i zuchwały
Kaplan Andrew Skorpion 02 Zima Skorpiona
Anne Stuart Czarny lód 02 Zimny jak lód
Gauze Jan Brazylia 02 Brazylia mierzona krokami
Bidwell George Michał i Pat 02 Synowie Pat
Stuart Anne Czarny lód 02 Zimny jak lód
Eo Suttner, Berta von For la batalilojn!