She didn't even get a chance to respond before he stepped back abruptly. He slipped into his coat. "Don't leave this room tonight and don't open the door to anyone but me. In the morning don't leave until I'm here to escort you."

With a blink and that strange popping sound, he was gone.

She gasped. Startled beyond belief, she stared at the spot where he'd stood. Okay, now she'd seen everything.

"That would explain how he appeared in the crypt and how Sorley appeared tonight,"

she murmured to the empty room. "What have I gotten myself into?"

Apparently, something really, really bizarre.

Puzzled and caught between lingering arousal and irresistible curiosity, she sank down on the bed.

Chapter Nine

The ancient one explored the tunnels, though in his trip through the insidious maze he'd yet to discover the resting place of the evil. He thought once he'd entered the tunnels under theGunn Inn he'd feel the power of the black hell immediately. Instead he experienced only the drip of water as it made its inexorable way through the caverns.

"Where are you?" he asked the dark.

Nothing answered him back, no feelings intruded to prove iniquity other than himself existed in this tunnel. A twinge of worry raced into him, making him wonder if he'd imagined the evil shadows that had helped him as much as the good shadows helped MickyGunn not long ago.

Where had the wickedness gone?

Malevolence this potent didn't dissipate with ease, no matter what some thought. Few mortals or immortals could perform a ritual to rid their world of the purest form of evil, which he'd felt in these tunnels before Ronan and his band of mortals had fought him.

He wanted the sinister energy with a blazing necessity that demanded fulfillment this minute, and the longer he wandered to find the evil, the angrier he became. Darkness parted for him as he walked.

It didn't take much longer.

As he stepped into a tunnel he hadn't traversed before, the power hit him like a punch to the stomach. He gasped for breath, then dropped to his knees as emotions burst through him like an explosion.

Fear. Hate. Loathing. Desperation. Panic.

He laughed and threw back his head. "Yes! Yes! Come into me! Make me one with you!

For I will be the greatest evil!"

Power surged inside him like a draught of fresh air for a drowning victim. He inhaled deeply.

"Yes! Yes!" He threw his hands up over his head and laughed again. "Come within me!"

Night flowed like new rain over his drought, a renewal of gloomy spirit, a pouring of unimaginable hate deep into his psyche.

He achieved his wish to be replenished by the hate, his body jerking as a kaleidoscope burst inside his head. Yellow, red, blue, green, the spectrum of the universe invaded his dim spirit, his despicable vampire soul.

When the feeling eased, he opened his eyes and rose to his feet. He licked his lips and smiled. He required sustenance and the empowerment he'd received assured success. A deep chuckle issued from his throat.

Time to feed.

With his newfound energy bursting forth, he left the tunnels and rushed toward Pine Forest.

Cloaked, he waited outside Jekyl's Hotel until the restaurant section closed for the night.

He saw a young waitress leave from the back entrance and make her way to her car, start it up and defrost the windows. He smiled. Little did the poor soul know stepping out of the hotel restaurant would be the stupidest thing she'd every done. After she left and proceeded down the main street, she drove until she reached her home on the outskirts of town.

Stupid humans.Despite fear and the cops suggesting they stay home at night, the woman didn't care. Perhaps her employer demanded she work late. She would wish she'd defied her employers.

He pondered, as the waitress stepped out of her car, if she thought she was immune to horror and death. So many humans thought they couldn't be harmed, their relentless sense of immortality their eventual downfall.

As the woman whistled, the vampire hovered nearby, ready to uncloak and show her what he could do for her. If she'd never experienced ecstasy in her small life, she would this last time.

A crackling in the nearby bushes made the woman jump back, a gasp coming from her throat as she showed fear. He laughed as a cat jumped from the hedgerow. The waitress looked around, her eyes full of fear. She'd heard his laughter, no doubt.

Before she could react, he popped into visibility in front of her. Her mouth opened on a silent scream, and before she could squeak he grabbed her and yanked the woman into the bushes by the side of the house.

Settling her under him, he held her arms over her head and looked deep into her eyes. He used his considerable charms to seduce her, to bring her into a state of languor that meant she would no longer struggle. As he probed the woman's long repressed fantasies and made her warm for his explorations, he bit into her neck. Blood spurted in all directions.Gore would be all over everything, a greeting for the police when they came to the scene.

As the sweetness of her life force drained down his throat, he gulped and enjoyed the musky scent of her arousal. He loved it, thrived on it, and inhaled it with a glorious and profound need. She tasted delicious. Until now she'd never known such excitement. He wouldn't leave her to her miserable life. Instead, he would take all she had to give and leave her to be found in the morning, cold and alone but having satisfied his needs.

Several moments later he reared out of the bushes with a roar of strength. He didn't care if the neighborhood could hear him. Instead he screamed again with his newfound invincibility. With the addition of the woman's blood, he felt equal to anything Ronan and his crew might throw at him.

No one could defeat him this time.

With a final smacking of his lips, he dissolved into the night.

Ronan took his time walking through town, keeping to the backstreets. Cold wind brushed across his cheeks, a light snow flurry coating his hair with white. Snow crunched under his feet.

He could have popped into the cemetery outside town and searched for Clarissa's camera and located it within seconds. Then he could have been back in her room and handing her the camera. Maybe he could have convinced her to sleep with him, without getting into the complicated particulars of his immortal status.

Right.At this point, he didn't see that happening. He'd missed the power curve and now she'd want a full explanation, just as he'd vowed.

"Damn it, why did I promise her?"

Maybe because he'd never intentionally hurt a woman in any way, and when he promised a woman something, he followed through.

Instead of rushing back to her, he chose to wander and take time to think.God, how he needed to think.

He wanted to take Clarissa more than anything he could remember wanting in a long time. If the phone hadn't interrupted them in the elevator he would have had her.

Experiencing the glorious sensation of her hot, wet cunt squeezing his cock and rippling around him in orgasm would have been fantastic. He gritted his teeth in exasperation.

Who was he kidding? It was a lot more feckin' complicated.

His emotions jumped from staggering desire to total frustration. From the first time he'd seen her in the cemetery, a punch of attraction had hammered his gut, but he'd never guessed the other emotions that would come from knowing her. It scared the hell out of him.

As he thought about her alone and vulnerable in her hotel room he almost went back, almost popped into her room. Hehad to keep her safe. He didn't like this atypical alarm crawling inside him like maggots, eating away at his defenses. He stopped and allowed the wind to flow over him. Wait a minute. What was he afraid of? She'd asked him that earlier and he hadn't answered. He feared for her safety, yes, but something else worried him. The suspense and danger rippled around this town like a live wire unleashed.

Something felt off in the breeze, more odd and misshapen than the ancient one's ugly head.

Damn it all to hell. He couldn't afford this wimpy attitude. He stuffed apprehension back where it belonged. Moments later he realized what created his original concern.