The image made her sick to her stomach. Pressing one hand to her mouth, she unlocked the front door and dashed into the bathroom. Bending over the toilet, she was violently ill.
Tom was there to hand her a damp towel when she got up. "Do you know where he is?"
Vicki wiped her face, then rinsed her mouth. "No," she said dully. "I haven't seen him since he drove me to work."
"I don't know what his game is," Duncan said, "but I don't have to tell you that you're in danger. Whatever you do, don't let him in."
"But if he meant to hurt me, he's had plenty of opportunities to do so."
Duncan shrugged. "Like I said, I don't know what his game is. Maybe he likes to pick one girl and string her along until he decides to leave town."
Vicki tossed the towel into the hamper. "Thanks for letting me know."
"I'm sorry," he said. "I know that you… " He made a vague gesture with one hand. "I know you liked him."
"It never would have worked anyway." She wanted to make Tom think it didn't matter, that Antonio hadn't meant that much to her. She failed miserably.
Tom gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Do you want me to stay?"
"No." All she wanted was to be alone with her broken heart.
"Are you sure? I don't like the idea of you being here alone."
"I'm sure."
"You've got my number. Call me if you need me."
"I will."
She walked him to the door, stood there while he climbed into the Camaro and drove away. With a sigh, she closed and locked the door. If she didn't have the worst luck in the world with men, she didn't know who did. Not only was Antonio a vampire, he was a liar and a killer.
She was about to go to bed when she heard a knock at the back door. Alarm skittered through her. Should she answer? She clutched the crucifix at her throat. Was it Falco, trying to trick her again?
She called, "Who's there?" when the caller knocked a second time.
"Antonio."
"Go away. You're not welcome here."
" Victoria, I can explain."
"No." She shook her head, her hand tightening around the thick silver cross. "You lied to me! Tom told me everything. He saw you."
" Victoria, please listen to me. I did not kill her. It was Falco."
"I don't believe you!"
She waited a moment and when there was no reply, she pressed her ear to the door.
Hearing nothing, she drew back the curtain. Antonio was standing near the door, bathed in a slender ray of moonlight, one hand pressed against his left cheek. His eyes were closed. Was he hurt?
She was about to turn away when she spied a dark figure moving stealthily toward the house. A figure with glowing yellow eyes.
With a wordless cry, she flung the door open, grabbed Antonio by the arm, and dragged him into the kitchen.
Heart pounding, she slammed the door in Dimitri Falco's face.
His scream of outrage rattled the windows. He stared at her through the glass, his eyes burning with hatred.
"You will be mine!" he screeched. "Though I kill a hundred women, nay a thousand before I take you, you will be mine!"
And so saying, he vanished from her sight.
Chapter 21
Turning away from the door, Vicki stared at Antonio's back. She was alone in the house with a vampire, a vampire who Duncan was convinced had just killed a young woman.
Maybe she should have let Antonio and Falco fight it out again. Maybe they would have killed each other this time. But even as that uncharitable thought crossed her mind, she knew she couldn't have let that happen, because deep in her heart, she didn't want to believe Antonio had lied to her.
Moving in front of him, she saw that his hand still covered his cheek.
"Are you all right? Can I— Oh my Lord!" she exclaimed when she saw his chest. "You're bleeding! What happened?"
" Duncan shot me."
"Here," she said, pulling a chair out from the kitchen table, "sit down."
"Do not fret, Victoria. I will be all right."
"Yes, yes, I know, supernatural healing and all that. Sit."
He dropped into the chair.
"Let me see," she said, reaching for his hand.
"No, Victoria."
"Let me see." She pulled his hand away from his cheek, and wished that she hadn't.
The left side of his face was badly burned. In some places, it was black. The burns extended beyond his cheek. Blisters were scattered down the side of his neck, and when she eased his shirt away, she saw that they continued across his shoulder and down his arm. "What happened?"
"He threw holy water on me before he shot me."
She had read that holy water repelled vampires. She'd had no idea that it burned them so badly. She knew he had tremendous healing powers but this… She had never seen anything so ugly.
Unbuttoning his shirt, she slipped it off his shoulders, revealing a smattering of more burned flesh and a small, neat hole in his chest only a few inches away from his heart. It seemed odd that the bullet had done less damage. The bleeding had stopped. Even as she watched, the angry redness around the wound faded, the hole grew smaller and then just disappeared.
"Amazing," she murmured. "Simply amazing." She looked at his cheek again. "I've got some first aid cream. It might ease the pain."
He looked doubtful, but she had to feel like she was doing something to help, no matter how insignificant it might be.
He sat unmoving while she smeared the ointment on his cheek, down his neck, over his shoulder and down his arm.
And all the while Tom's warning voice echoed in the back of her head. You're in danger.
Don't let him in.
Capping the jar, she put it on the counter. "You didn't kill that girl, did you? Tell me you didn't."
"I did not kill her." He looked up, his gaze searching hers. "I found Falco with her. She was already dead."
She folded her arms over her br**sts. "Every woman he kills from now on will be my fault."
"No!" Rising, he reached for her, then dropped his arms to his sides. "You are not responsible for anything that madman does. You cannot blame yourself."
"You heard what he said! He said he didn't care if he had to kill thousands of girls before he got to me."
" Victoria, he will continue to kill until he is destroyed. It is what he does, what he has always done."
"Then why does he want me so badly? What makes me any different from any of the others?"
"Perhaps because I want you."