Page 20 of The Vampire Always Rises
“I don’t understand who this Victor person is, but even if I did, why didn’t you just say, ‘Hey, I want to talk to you—can we have a little chat over here?’ rather than stuffing a bag over my head? You’re lucky I don’t have an elaborate hairstyle.” I ran a hand through my tangle of hair.
His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. An odd expression of speculation took hold of his face, almost as if he was trying to figure something out.Who are you?
“Do you often kidnap people you don’t know?” I shook my head. “You’re never going to get ahead that way.”
“What are you talking about?” He made a noise of annoyance, and pulled the car to a stop at an overlook. There wasn’t much of a moon, but what there was glinted on the now black sea. “Iknowwho you are. You are Victor’s woman.”
“I don’t know anyone named Victor,” I repeated, hitting the back of the seat in frustration. “My name, in case you are wondering, and you should be if you aren’t, since it’s only polite to know the name of your abductee, is Tempest Keye.”
“That name means nothing to me,” he said slowly.
“Thanks for that,” I said, then, with an irritated click of my tongue, started climbing over the seat.
“What are you doing?” he asked, reeling back.
“Climbing up front so I can talk to you rather than the back of your fat head.”
“My head is not fat!”
“I meant that figuratively rather than literally. Ow. Would you move your arm—ow! Stop trying to help!” I managed to get over the seat into the front without flashing too much leg. “If I’d known I was going to be doing this, I’d have worn pants rather than a sundress. Whew. OK. Now we can talk.”
The look he gave me was one of mingled puzzlement and exasperation. “You are not at all what I expected.”
“Since you evidently have me mistaken for someone else, I’m not surprised.” I stuck out my hand. “Let’s do this properly, shall we? Hi. I’m Tempest, and I don’t know anyone named Victor.”
He looked at my hand for a moment, then reluctantly shook it. “I am Merrick Simon.”
“I know.” I smiled at him, getting a good look at his face when he switched on the interior lights. He had a slightly Slavic look about him despite his Celtic accent, with high cheekbones, a sharp jawline, and a narrowly squared chin. I had the worst urge to reach out a hand and draw a line along that jaw, wondering if the hint of stubble felt as nice as it looked. Inner Tempest urged me to do just that, but I told her to turn off her motor, and stick to what was important—like why the vampire whom I’d fed was now kidnapping me.
“Howdo you know?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that Allie had told me all about him and his three Horsemen buddies, but remembered in time that she’d asked me not to mention it to anyone. I didn’t want to get her into trouble after she’d been so honest with me. “Um. That’s ... I can’t tell you.”
He squinted at me. “Why not?”
“Because I promised someone I wouldn’t. But you can take it from me that it was someone nice. That is, someone who isn’t a bad guy. Why did you kidnap me? Why didn’t you just talk to me? I mean, after what we’ve been through, you can’t think I’d yell or scream at seeing you.”
“What we’ve been through?” He looked downright confused now, and it struck me with a blow that was almost physical that he truly had no idea who I was. He didn’t remember me! We’d shared the most profoundly important physical relationship I’d ever had, and he didn’t remember it.
My brain whirled around trying to process this fact, and it wasn’t until he placed a finger under my chin and gently pushed upward that I realized my jaw had dropped at the realization. I blinked at him a couple of times, unsure of what to say that didn’t sound either bitchy or extremely needy.
“I ... I ... ” I stammered, and came to a halt. “We ... uh ... we’ve met,” I finished lamely.
“When?” He gave me a visual once-over. “I don’t remember meeting you.”
“We have, regardless.”
His gaze settled on my hair, an odd expression on his face. “Your hair ...”
I touched a curl. “It’s red.”
“Yes. There’s something ...” He closed his eyes for a few seconds, clearly trying to remember. I held my breath, waiting for him to tell me that he recognized the face of his savior, but all he did was shake his head, opening his eyes to reveal nothing but vague suspicion. “It’s not important.”
Oh, he did not just say that,Inner Tempest gasped in horror. I fought back the desire to tell Merrick just how we’d met, but my pride had me keeping silent. It was bad enough that I wasn’t memorable enough to remember having sex with me, but I’d be horn-chicken-swoggled before I went for the pity points and told him I’d saved his life.No,I told Inner Tempest,we’ve been hurt before, and we managed to get through it. This rejection is no different than any other. We will maintain our dignity.
Dignity can be overrated,came the thought wafting into my brain as if on the breeze.
“What?” I asked.
