Chapter 16.

Max hadn't managed to get Lou into bed with her again since that first night. She'd spent last night in her own lonely motel room, and he hadn't argued with her, though she guessed from the circles under his eyes that he'd been up most of the night. Didn't he realize he would sleep better with her safe in his arms?

But no, he preferred to pace the floor, straining his ears to hear any sound of trouble. Maybe stepping outside every now and then to take a look around, make sure her door was still locked. She knew exactly what he was doing-because she was doing much the same, in an effort to watch over Stormy.

h.e.l.l, maybe they should all just hunk together. Save everyone a lot of time and worry.

Still, he didn't ask. So she got out of the car after dinner and went to her own room, instead of his, all too aware that the earlier storm was long gone. The skies had cleared, except for the occasional lingering finger of cloud, and the wind had died to a gentle ocean breeze. Max had suggested they find a boat and head to the island, despite the added risk of going there by night.

Lou had changed her mind, though, by saying he had a feeling that was just what the vampire wanted them to do.

h.e.l.l.

The clock read 12:03 when she heard the sound of a door closing. She'd drifted off and could have kicked herself for it, but she hurried to her own door and opened it just a crack.

Stormy was walking across the parking lot. She wore a pale blue nightgown, filmy and light, and the breeze caught it and sent it waving behind her. She was barefoot. Where the h.e.l.l was she going? Not to the cars. No, she veered to the side and headed around to the rear of the motel.

Max wasn't dressed. She wore a hockey jersey and panties. Nothing else. She snagged the extrablanket from the foot of the bed, because it was faster than going to the closet for her coat and shoes.

Tugging the blanket over her shoulders, she hurried outside to follow. When she pa.s.sed Lou's door, she almost stopped and called out to him. But she decided to see what the h.e.l.l was going on first-and kept walking.

Behind the motel, there wasn't much. A Dumpster full of garbage. A thin ribbon of pavement that wound around from the front. And beyond that, a rolling stretch of unmown gra.s.s that ended at a patch of spindly trees.

Stormy walked across the field, heading for the trees. Max swallowed hard, giving one last glance back toward the motel, wishing she had alerted Lou. Too late now. If she went back, she would risk losing sight of Stormy. She shrugged the blanket from her shoulders, dropped it in the middle of the gra.s.s and then kept walking even as Stormy disappeared into the trees. At least there would be some sign where she had gone, in case she didn't come back, Max thought. She considered calling out to her friend but wasn't sure that would be the best thing to do. Didn't they say you should never startle a sleepwalker awake? Grudgingly, she admitted to herself that she was afraid of just who or what might wake up if she did.

"h.e.l.l." Max trudged on. She stepped on pointy twigs and bristly patches every few yards. She stumbled and hopped and fought to avoid the unseen hazards on the forest floor, though it was little use in the dark.

Stormy had no such problems. She walked smoothly, steadily, either intuitively placing her feet in the right spots or simply oblivious to the discomfort of bare feet on the forest floor, and twigs and branches in her face.

Max pushed the branches away as she went and thought she must be the noisiest thing in the woods this night, the way she was crashing through the underbrush. Stormy, on the other hand, didn't seem to be making a sound. Then again, Max thought, she might not hear Stormy over her own ruckus, anyway.

Even keeping her friend in sight was becoming a challenge.

And then it wasn't a challenge, it was impossible, because Stormy was gone. Vanished.

Max strained her eyes in the darkness, but she couldn't see her. She hurried forward, racing toward the spot where she'd last sighted Stormy. The woods ended there, suddenly and without warning. Max emerged onto a steep embankment and came to a startled halt. The slope angled sharply downward, dirt, gravel and sand. Hardly any gra.s.s grew there. At the bottom there was water, a tiny cove where the ocean lapped at the sh.o.r.e. A small boat sat on the beach off to one side, and a still, pale form lay nearby.

"Stormy!"

Max jerked into motion, starting down the slippery slope. The surface was loose and fell away under her feet. Her legs slid downward, and she leaned back in an effort to keep her balance. In another heartbeat, her hands were grasping the ground behind her, her b.u.t.t and legs skimming downhill fast, even though she dug her heels in to try to slow her descent. And then she was at the bottom, scrambling to her feet and hurrying to where Stormy lay on the ground.

Her friend's nightgown was wet, the ocean waves rolling in gently, reaching to her legs. Max fell to her knees, grasping Stormy's shoulders. "Storm? Honey? Come on, wake up" She lifted her friend's upper body in her arms and searched her still face. She'd obviously taken a fall. G.o.d, had she broken her beautiful neck? "Stormy? Jesus, talk to me!"

"She's still alive. There's no need to panic."

Max jerked her head up at the sound of the deep male voice coming from very nearby-instantly aware that it didn't belong to Lou or to Jason. And then she saw him, standing on the sh.o.r.e with the waves lapping over his feet and the sea wind lifting his long, black hair from his shoulders. Clouds parted, and the moonlight bathed his face. The same face she'd seen earlier tonight, in the drawings done by his victims.

Instinct told her to back away. She didn't. In fact, she moved closer, rising to her feet to put herself between him and Stormy. "You'll leave here if you know what's good for you, " she said.

His brows rose. "Courage? Or foolishness?"

"Probably a little of both. Now, get the h.e.l.l out of here before the rest of my friends arrive and stake your sorry a.s.s." She was painfully aware she had no weapon. Nothing to use to fight him off.

"Stake me? That's actually rather funny." He stepped closer.

She bent quickly and s.n.a.t.c.hed up the biggest rock within reach.

"Calm down, Maxine Stuart. You have no friends coming, and I think you know that rock in your hands can't harm me."

"I also know it's going to hurt like h.e.l.l when I cave your skull in with it." She lifted the rock. "Stay back."

He lowered his eyes to Stormy. Then they widened.

Max stole a quick look downward, too, afraid to take her eyes off him for more than an instant. But Stormy's own eyes were open. And they were a deep, dark black that almost seemed to glow in the moonlight.

Her eyes fixed on the man's, the vampire's. She muttered something that sounded like "Print meu" as her strange eyes turned to focus on Max and the rock in her hand. And then she shrieked something in that gibberish language she was always speaking, even as she shot into a sitting position, twisted her body and wrapped her arms around Max's legs, toppling her to the ground. She clambered up her, clawing, pounding. All Max could do was try to cover herself with her own arms, but that did little good. Her best friend was beating the h.e.l.l out of her.

"Tarfa! , S'terge-o ca-t-i tram us , sut in cur!" Stormy ranted.

The man shouted a single word. "Stai!" To Max's amazement, Stormy went still, then turned her head slowly toward him, her eyes welling with tears. "Dragostea cea veche iti sopteste la ureche." She reached a hand up to him. "Print meu." For a moment he seemed about to take it. But then she pa.s.sed out, rolling off Max and onto the sh.o.r.e.

"Just what the h.e.l.l is the meaning of this?" the vampire asked, his voice dangerously quiet, trembling, his eyes moist and focused on Stormy. "What kind of game are the two of you playing?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. She's sick. All I want to do is help her." "Do you think I believe a word of that?" he demanded. "Where did she learn to speak those words?"

Max blinked. "You mean...you understood her? What did she say?"

He sighed and started to turn away, but Max reached up and gripped his arm. "What did she say?" she cried. . "She called you a b.i.t.c.h. Said to get away before she kicked your a.s.s, to put it bluntly."

Max winced and closed her eyes tightly.

"And then she said, 'Old love will not be forgotten.' His tone had softened, and his eyes were on Stormy now. "I am not so foolish that I'm not aware this is some kind of a trick, " he said.

"I don't really care what you think." Max knelt beside her best friend, leaning over her, touching her face.

"Move aside, " he commanded.

"If you think I'm letting you touch her, you can think again, pal."

"You'll never get her back up that hill by yourself." He put a cold, powerful hand on her shoulder. "And if I'd wanted to hurt you, you'd be long dead by now."

She turned to stare up at him. "What have you done with those two girls? Where are Delia and Janie?"

"They're fine. Would you like to see them?"

She was so stunned, she sucked in a breath.

"Come to me on the island. The two of you, " he said, nodding at Stormy. "Alone and only by night." He smiled slowly. "I think you've already realized I'll never allow you to reach it by day."

"I knew it..." She looked around her. "This was your doing, wasn't it? Somehow luring Stormy out here in the middle of the night, putting her under some kind of trance-"

"Come to me by night. Bring her to me. When you do, the girls are yours."

"I'll get those girls back, make no mistake about that. But my way, not yours. Never yours."

He shrugged. "Why am I bothering to negotiate with a mortal? I'll take her with me now. It's not as if you can stop me. La revedere, Maxine Stuart."

Max stood between him and Stormy. He reached for her to move aside. "You son of a-"

"Get your hands off her!"

The shout came from halfway up the steep hill, as Lou shot down it. Even as the vampire turned in surprise, Lou was. .h.i.tting him like a full body rocket. The impact took both of them into the surf, where they tumbled and rolled.

Max shot after them. "Lou, don't. Jesus, look out! He's the-" The men sprang from the water, crouched, facing each other, knee deep in the froth. Something glinted, and Max saw the knife in Lou's hand.

"You're no match for me, mortal, and I think you know it."

"Maybe not. But I guarantee I'll put a hurting on you that you won't soon forget." Lou lunged forward, swinging the blade.

Max gasped, shocked at the speed of his strike, and the brutality of it, as well. The blade sliced deep, and the vampire jerked backward, clasping his upper arm. Blood swelled, oozing between his fingers, coating his hand and dripping from it.

"d.a.m.n you!"

Lou shrugged. "Stick around and finish the fight, " he said. "I dare you. You'll bleed out in the process, but what the h.e.l.l do I care?"

"You know just enough about my kind to be dangerous, " the vampire all but growled.

"I know more about your kind than I ever cared to, " Lou said. "Your move, pal."

The vamp's eyes narrowed. He nodded once. "You're a worthy adversary-for a mortal. It's going to be a shame to kill you."

"On that we agree."

"See to the one called Storm. I'll want her in good health when I return to take her from you. We'll finish this another time."

Lou tilted his head in acknowledgment. And then the vampire was gone in a blur of speed that seemed to move southward along the sh.o.r.e and then vanish.

Lou turned toward the sh.o.r.e, dragging his legs through the water as he folded the sizable knife and dropped it hack into his pocket. Max ran to him, wrapping him in her arms. "G.o.d, Lou, he could have killed you."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." He hugged her hack, then set her slightly away from him to look at her, his hand moving her hair off her face. "Jesus, Maxie, what did that b.a.s.t.a.r.d do to you?"

She shook her head. "It wasn't him. It was Storm." He lifted his brows. "Storm did all that?"

All what? she wondered. She knew she hurt pretty thoroughly, over most of her body, but she had no idea what she looked like. "Most of it. Some of it I may have gotten half tumbling down that freaking hill."

He bent over Stormy, gathering her up into his arms. "I feel like I ought to be carrying you back to the motel, too, " he said, moving northward along the beach in search of an easier way back up.

Max kept pace right beside him. She saw him notice the little boat, resting on the sh.o.r.e. "That solves one problem, " he muttered. "Are you sure you're all right, Max?"

"I'm fine, Lou. Really." She wasn't-in fact, she was hurting more and more as the adrenaline levels inher blood returned to normal and the fight-or-flight impulse faded. She put a hand on his shoulder. "I can't believe you attacked a full-fledged vamp to defend me-for the second time now. You know as well as I do how powerful they are."

He shrugged. "I know their weaknesses, too. The way they feel pain so much more keenly than we do.

The way they tend to bleed out when cut."

She nodded. "He'll have to wrap that sucker tighter than tight if he's going to last until dawn."

Lou made a face. "No doubt he'll manage. Then he'll heal with the day sleep, and I'll have to start from square one"

"Not if I have anything to say about it, you won't."

They found a path that wound up a far more gradual slope, back through the woods, and emerged beside, rather than behind, the motel. The entire way, Lou was watching her, eyeing her, worried and protective and angry.

He stopped in front of Stormy's door. Max said, "Wait, I've got a key in my room." She'd left her own door open, so she hurried inside, wincing when the change in her gait brought a fresh stab of pain in her side. Then she grabbed her keys and went back out to open Stormy's door.

Lou carried Stormy in and laid her down on the bed. "Her nightgown's pretty wet, " he said.

"I'll get her changed." Max went to Lou, where he stood beside the bed. "You don't have to wait, Lou. I can take it from here."

"Bull. You look like you p.i.s.sed off a wildcat, honey. You give her the once-over, and then it's your turn."

She smiled slowly, opened her mouth to deliver the obligatory smart-a.s.s comeback. He put a finger to her lips before she could get a word out. "Just do it, Max."

"I'm doing it already."

She went to Stormy's dresser and got out a T-shirt. Then back to the bed, to gently extract the sleeping woman from the wet nightgown. She put the T-shirt on her and lowered her carefully back to the mattress. That done, she got a warm washcloth from the bathroom, and wiped the dirt and sand from Stormy's legs and feet. As she did, she ran her hands over her friend's limbs, feeling for broken bones, hunting for bruises or cuts. She inspected Stormy's head carefully, too, but found no injuries. Finally she drew the covers over her and tucked her in.

"Do you think she's all right?" she asked.

Lou nodded. "She's breathing fine. Her pulse is strong. And if she was physically healthy enough to do all that damage to you, I have no doubt she's all right. It's you I'm concerned about."

"I'm sure it's not as bad as it must look."

"It would have to be pretty bad to be as bad as it looks, kid. Come on."

"Back to your room?" "That's where the first aid stuff is." He held out a hand.

She took it, noting, as she did, the scratches down her own arms. "h.e.l.l, it's worse than I thought."

He nodded, and when she winced on the way to the door, he drew her close to his side, his arm around her. He made sure Stormy's door was locked behind them, then led Max to his room and took her inside.

He took her all the way to the bathroom, then had her sit on the edge of the tub while he turned on the faucets and closed off the drain.