Page 28 of Midnight Enchantment

Lily had to admit it felt good to be out of the house. Ava drove them to the city’s biggest ice cream parlor. The lights were bright, the walls papered in a red-and-white stripe. The tables and chairs were white wrought-iron, the tables covered with cloths that matched the wallpaper.

Ava ordered a banana split for Lily and a hot fudge sundae for herself. They took a table for two by the front window.

“I talked to your father,” Ava remarked after a moment.

Lily looked at her. “And?”

“I convinced him to let you stay here for a while.”

Relief whooshed out of Lily in a sigh. “Thank you.”

“I understand your need to make your own decisions, but you have to promise me that you’ll tell me where you’re going when you go out. Like it or not, you have to remember that you’re a rare gift. A miracle. Others in the supernatural world are curious about the details of your birth. Your parents and Dominic are naturally concerned for your safety.”

Lily stared at her. “People are interested inme? That’s why my dad never let me go anywhere alone?”

Ava nodded. “You don’t realize what a miracle your birth was. I’m not trying to scare you. I just want you to be careful. Be aware of your surroundings. Pay attention to your instincts.”

“You don’t think that’s why Raedan was seeing me, do you?”

“I don’t know. But if it was, he probably wouldn’t have left.”

Lily glanced out the window, let out a gasp when she saw a tall, dark-haired man standing outside staring at her.

“What’s wrong?” Ava asked.

Lily leaned forward, her gaze probing the darkness. “I thought I saw Raedan.”

“I don’t see anyone.”

“He’s gone now.” Lily sat back, her shoulders slumped. “I probably just imagined it.”

Raedan cursed softly as he vanished into the night. He hadn’t intended for Liliana to see him, but he missed her so damn much, he didn’t know how much longer he could stay away. He had needed to see her, to assure himself that she was all right. But seeing her again had been a mistake. One look and he was smitten all over again. He had known hundreds of women in the course of his existence—old, young and in-between. Pretty or plain, rich or poor, all had been the same. He had cared for some, made love to many, but the love of his life had been his last wife—until he met Liliana Falconer. He didn’t know what there was about her that intrigued him so, but his need for her was unlike anything he had ever known. It was as if she had soothed an ache he hadn’t known he’d had until he left her.

He swore softly as he ghosted through the darkness. Leaving her had been the right thing to do. The noble thing. The unselfish thing. He knew it without doubt. And yet the thought of spending the rest of his existence without her was more than he could bear. Without her, he felt lost, empty inside. Adrift in a world in which a creature such as himself didn’t belong. Would never belong.

What was worse, the blood-demon inside him knew it, too. The demon’s voice whispered to him constantly, urging him to give in to his vampire nature, to surrender to the hunger that burned inside of him, to glut himself on the warm, rich, blood of his prey.

It’s what you are, the insidious voice taunted him night after night.Submit to your true nature. Satisfy your lust and your thirst. You know you want to.

“Shut up!” he roared. “Just shut the hell up!”

And inside his head, he heard the echo of the demon’s mocking laughter.

At home later that night, Lily stood at her bedroom window and gazed out into the night. Raedan was out there somewhere. Did he miss her at all? Was he sorry he had left her? Or had he already found someone new? Was everything he had said to her a lie? Had he ever really cared for her?

With a sigh, she crawled under the covers. Closing her eyes, she whispered, “Raedan, come back to me.”

A moment later, she was asleep.

And he came to her there, in the dark recesses of her mind.

Liliana, my love, how I miss you.

Why did you leave me?

It was for the best.

Not for me.She held out her arms and he stretched out beside her.

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