“Brice can wait,” Gabriel said smoothly.
“There is no reason for Brice to wait,” Francesca told him. “I expect you to be gone when I get back, Gabriel.”
A small smile softened the hard edge of his mouth. “I do not think that will happen.” He watched her go out the front door, amusement never once touching his smoldering black eyes. The moment the heavy door banged shut behind her, Gabriel flowed through the room to the window. Francesca was moving down the street quickly on foot. She hadn’t used her car as a human would and she hadn’t dissolved into mist and streamed through the air as a Carpathian might. As Gabriel watched, she began to run. Her body moved lightly and fluidly, poetic in its beauty.
He reached out with his mind and merged with hers so that he was a quiet shadow. Francesca was very afraid of him. She meant every word she had said. She had been conducting some kind of experiment, one that had allowed her to remain in the sun with the humans. She had spent a great deal of time and energy researching, looking for a way to make the change. It had taken several centuries to get her body to the point that she could do so. She had been so adept at appearing human in her thoughts and actions that she had fooled even such an ancient as he. Now he had ruined it for her by giving her his ancient blood. She was very upset over that. And she was determined that these were the last few years of her life. She had been considering spending her last years with Brice, growing old in the manner of humans. She intended to meet the dawn when those last few years were gone. She had been planning it for some time.
“I do not think so, Francesca,” he whispered aloud. His body slowly wavered, shimmered into transparency. He dissolved into a fine mist and streamed from the house through the partially opened window. At once the mist took the form of a large white owl, his favorite method of traveling. Strong wings spread wide and took him high over the city.
Francesca ran as fast as she could along the sidewalk. She could hear her heart thudding wildly, heard the soles of her feet hitting the walkway, the air rushing in and out of her lungs. In her wildest dreams she had never once thought this could happen.
Gabriel.
Her people whispered of him.
Twins. Legends.
They were dead, not alive. How could this be? He had taken her life away from her, forced her to live an endless solitary existence. Now that she had finally found a way to live like a human, to perhaps have a human relationship, to live and die like the others she had watched come and go throughout the years, Gabriel had come back from the dead. What if he insisted on claiming her?
There was no way to run from one such as Gabriel. He was an elite hunter. Gabriel could track the ghost of a trail, let alone his own lifemate. Francesca slowed to a fast walk. Maybe he would just go away again. He had all but admitted Lucian had risen. He was still hunting. He would have no interest in her. She would never accept his claim on her. He had forced her to exile herself from her own people, her own homeland. She’d had no choice in the matter. A solitary female living among men so desperate for lifemates would have made their lives an endless misery. And she knew she could not tolerate the loss of freedom. The Prince of their people would have guarded her carefully in the constant hope one of the men would be her true lifemate. They needed children desperately. She knew she was compatible with only one Carpathian male and he had rejected her to devote himself to the protection of their people. She had lived as she wanted these centuries, secure in the knowledge that she was strong and powerful and no human could match her and no vampire could detect her. It was easy enough to hide from her people because such behavior was so unexpected.
They had lost so many of their woman and children over the centuries that every woman was guarded closely; the women were needed to bring children, especially female children, into the world. Most of the children born were males, and most did not survive beyond the first year of life. Their species bordered on extinction. Francesca had come to terms with her solitary existence. She wasn’t about to change her entire life because Gabriel had suddenly decided to show up out of nowhere.
She felt moisture on her face and glanced up at the sky. It was perfectly clear above her head; the stars were out in full force. Surprised, she reached up and touched the tears on her face. That made her all the more determined that Gabriel would have no say in her life. Already he had made her cry. He had ruined everything. He had taken the sun from her recklessly, without thought. That was Gabriel. He made decisions and expected the rest of the world to fall in line with him. He was a law unto himself and he would expect Francesca to do whatever he dictated.
Francesca turned the corner, took a deep breath and walked into the hospital parking lot. She didn’t want anything to appear to be abnormal. Brice met her soon after she entered the building, leading her to believe he had left strict orders that he be alerted immediately upon her arrival. He led her through the halls to a private room. There were teddy bears and balloons and flowers everywhere. The little girl in the bed was very pale with dark circles under her eyes. As always, Brice never told her exactly what was wrong with the patient; instead, he allowed her to perform her own “strange” examination.
“Do her parents know you asked me to look at her?” Francesca asked softly.
Though her voice had been low, the child stirred and opened her eyes. She smiled at her visitor. “You’re the lady Dr. Brice says is such a help to people. My mom said you would come and see me.”
Francesca glanced at Brice with a quick frown of impatience. She had told him a thousand times not to mention her to anyone. She could not afford publicity. They had argued more than once over the issue. She touched the child’s thin little hand with a fingertip. “You’re in pain, aren’t you?”
The little girl shrugged. “It’s all right. I’m used to it now.”
Cold air stirred the curtains unexpectedly and Brice glanced at the window, checking to assure himself it was closed. The last thing they needed was a draft in the room. Francesca was concentrating wholly on the child. Nothing else touched her mind at these times. It was as if only the child and Francesca existed. “My name is Francesca. What is yours?”
“Chelsea.”
“Well, Chelsea, would you mind if I held your hand for a few minutes? It would help me understand what’s going on inside of you.”
A slow smile lit up the little girl’s face. “You aren’t going to poke and prod and stick me with needles?”
Francesca returned the smile. “I think we can safely leave that job to Brice.” She took the small hand in hers. The skin was very thin, almost translucent. This child was wasting away. “I’m just going to sit here with you and concentrate. You might feel warm in spots, but it won’t hurt.”
Chelsea’s eyes rested on Francesca’s face, studying her expression before she decided to trust her. She nodded solemnly. “Go ahead, I’m ready.”
Francesca closed her eyes, focused on the child and only the child, driving every other thought from her head. She sent herself seeking outside her own body, becoming as insubstantial as energy, heat and light. Entering the child, she began a slow, careful examination. The child’s blood was a mess. Massive attacks were being launched in the bloodstream and her pitiful antibodies could not possibly make inroads against the invading army. Francesca continued to look at each organ, the tissue and muscle, the brain itself. Sorrow swamped her for a moment, endangering her position within the child’s body. She felt great empathy with this little girl who had suffered for so many years of her young life.
She swayed, blinking rapidly, bringing herself back into her own body. As always, she felt disoriented and weak after an out-of-body experience. She sat for a moment in silence before she looked up at Brice.