Page 10 of The Dancer and the Dark
Long ago, Marie-Hélène had been on the verge of losing a woman who was as dear to her as a daughter. It had been tuberculosis, and Marie-Hélène had been out of the country on business when Chantelle had taken a grave turn.
At Marie-Hélène’s request, Gavin had been the one to turn her. He’d then relinquished all rights to the new vampire as a sire and turned her over to Marie-Hélène’s aegis with the understanding that if he were ever in the same position, she would do the same for him.
Chantelle might technically be his daughter, but in Gavin’s mind, she had only ever been Marie-Hélène’s.
“How is Chance?” He tried to distract his old friend from Chloe. “I haven’t heard from her in some time. I know she’s busy.”
“She’s wonderful. Did she write to you when she moved?”
“She did. Is she still enjoying the horse farm?”
“We both are,” Marie-Hélène said. “When I want quiet, all I need is to visit my darling girl and I am refreshed. It’s so beautiful there.”
“I’m glad she’s happy.” Gavin didn’t consider Chantelle his in any way, but there was a blood tie that neither of them could deny, though it was completely hidden from the immortal world. “And I promise, when and if Chloe—”
“But she must.” Marie-Hélène leaned forward. “Why would she not, Gavin?”
He was silent because he had no answer. It was the one thing about his life that haunted him. Gavin had found real love and belonging with a partner. He’d found a woman he actually wanted to spend eternity with.
And she was still undecided about immortality.
“It’s not about me,” he said. “It’s about this life.”
Was it though?
“Of course,” Marie-Hélène said. “I would never try to pressure her. It’s just…” Her eyes showed her age. “It is a dangerous world, is it not?”
“So we try to make it a little less.” Gavin leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Bid me farewell, my friend. I need to leave.”
4
Chloe slept on the plane even though she was sure she wouldn’t. She wanted to dissolve into thin air and disappear. She hated when people fussed over her, and now she had two overprotective humans and two overprotective vampires.
But all she wanted was Gavin.
It had taken everything in her not to beg him to come home. She knew how complicated it had been to find a time to meet with Marie-Hélène, and Chloe didn’t want Gavin to resent taking time from his business so she could cry on his shoulder.
Not that he would blame her. He wouldn’t. But she would know that she’d interfered with an important meeting, and there was no need for it.
She blinked awake, the events of the night before clear as daylight in her mind. By the time dusk had fallen and Ben had roused from his day rest, Tenzin had already spoken to Beatrice, who’d immediately sent a plane to New York to pick Chloe up even though she insisted she could fly commercial.
Audra was no help with that one; Audra hated to fly commercial.
They boarded an hour after nightfall and were in the air by the time Gavin woke in another time zone. They would fly for over five hours to get to Los Angeles, leaving plenty of time for them to get to Ben’s family home before dawn.
Chloe couldn’t bear the thought of knocking on her mother’s door at three in the morning. She didn’t even know if she would stay at her parents’ house when they arrived. If she did, Gavin would have to stay somewhere else. Her mother and father knew nothing about the vampire world.
Her mother. Her mother was the only one now. Her father had died never really knowing who Gavin was.
“Chloe, can I get you anything?” Audra gently touched her shoulder. “Steve just lay down to sleep. We’ve got about two more hours before we land.”
“I’m fine.”
“You can’t be fine.”
But she was. Or rather, she felt frozen. Nothing seemed real, and she didn’t know how to make sense of the emotions ricocheting around her head. It wasn’t as if she and her father were close. She had never been a daddy’s girl. Her father was a clinical, precise man who was—
Had been. Hehad beenone of the best oncologists in Southern California after seeing his mother waste away from bone cancer when he was only sixteen.
