CHAPTER FIFTEEN

September 21, 1998

Las Vegas

Charles Tarleton entered a large banquet hall in The Seraglio with Lee at his side, feeling an eerie sense of déjà vu as he glanced around the elaborate gold-and-gilt patterned hall. He'd first met Meghann in a hotel in Cuba—also owned by Lord Baldevar. That time he'd been there as Alcuin's spy, to observe Meghann and report back to his master about Lord Baldevar's consort.

Now, some forty years later, he attended another party, this time at the behest of the engraved invitation to a retirement party that had arrived at Lee's house two days ago. The invitation would have been thrown into the trash if not for the neat, Palmer-method script message at the bottom—Please come to this party as guests of "Lord Charlton." You have every right to be angry but I can explain everything.

Oh, Meghann, Charles thought sadly, you think I can't guess what happened? I left you alone to pursue my own pleasure and you were left vulnerable to that bastard because of that damned blood link between you two. But don't you worry, friend. I'll help you fight whatever insanity pushed you back into his arms.

Charles scanned the crowd anxiously, disappointed when he realized there were no vampires in the brightly chandeliered room or outside on the sweeping balcony. Lord Baldevar and Meghann hadn't arrived yet. Charles suppressed the anxious voice that whispered maybe they weren't planning to come at all, that Lord Baldevar might have had second thoughts about exposing Meghann to her best friend.

"I don't understand," Lee said in a low tone to Charles after they were seated at a table by the balcony that allowed Charles a view of the entire room. "That press release outside says Lord Charlton is on the board of directors here. How can a vampire hold a position like that?"

"It's not as hard as you'd imagine to be a vampire and pursue your mortal interests. I managed to work for the NIH. False documentation is easy to obtain, and as for keeping normal hours… I just confided to the director of the NIH that I had porphyria so I preferred working at night."

"Wouldn't Simon have to go to board meetings during the day?"

"He'd send his lawyers," Charles explained. "With specific instruction on how he wants to vote on certain issues. If during the day a board did make a decision he wasn't happy with, he'd just call them together at night."

"But why would they kowtow to him?"

Charles rolled his eyes. "Why do you think? Actually, he probably doesn't even need to use vampirism to persuade them… Simon Baldevar gets away with conducting business at night because he's a financial wizard; no one's going to disdain his suggestions just because they come at night. Alcuin once told me that in four hundred years, Lord Baldevar never put a foot wrong when it came to investing and he has an uncanny sense for what will take off. He sidestepped the Crash of twenty-nine… damn near tripled his fortune through cotton speculation during the Civil War… and you're just trying to keep me from thinking about Meghann with that monster!"

Lee smiled sheepishly. "Guilty."

"Some of this is your fault, you know! Why the hell didn't you tell me Meghann's feelings toward that monster were changing?"

"Why?" Lee flared. "So you could badger her like you've done to me the past month? How many times do I have to tell you I'd never betray a patient's confidence or a friend's? And Meghann is both to me. And I didn't tell you because… well… I was scared you might cut her out of your life if she went back with him. Charles, I couldn't stay with you if you hurt Meghann!"

For the first time in weeks, Charles's jet eyes softened. "You really love her, don't you?"

"I owe her my life," Lee said simply. "But even if I didn't, I'd love her anyway. Meghann is special. I'm not going to stop being her friend simply on the basis of who she sleeps with, and you'd better not either."

"Don't you know that's what Simon Baldevar wants me to do?" Charles questioned caustically, lighting up a cigarette and ignoring Lee's censuring glare. "He's hoping I tear into her tonight and break her heart so he can convince her she doesn't have anyone in the world but him. Don't worry about me falling into that trap… I'm here to tell Meghann I love her and forgive her for what she's done with Lord Baldevar."

"You sound like an outraged father," Lee observed and rolled his eyes. "Somehow I can't see Meghann accepting you scolding her like a naughty child."

"What else can I do? Condone this lunacy? Has she completely lost her mind?"

"Ask her," Lee said and jerked his head to the front of the banquet hall where Meghann stood with Lord Baldevar, one arm linked through his, smiling at the crush of people that came up to them.

"My God, I had no idea she was that beautiful," Lee said softly.

Neither had Charles… he'd never seen his friend look that radiant. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her and for a moment he only felt brotherly pride that his Meghann, with her glowing skin and sparkling eyes, was easily the most beautiful woman in a room filled with showgirls and models.

Charles smiled, thinking pregnancy rather becoming to Meghann. She wore an Empire-style voile gown, cut low and tied with velvet ribbons under her full breasts to show them to their best advantage, while the flowing material of her wide skirt masked the bulge of pregnancy. The dark green color of the gown emphasized her fiery hair, worn down her back in a simple plait held in place with jade combs. Charles's eyes were drawn to the magnificent emerald necklace and earrings she wore. The first night he'd met her, Meghann had those jewels on—Lord Baldevar must have saved her jewelry.

But that night her exquisite gems couldn't light up her pallid skin or lend any spark to her apathetic green eyes. It was that despairing air that gave Charles the courage to approach Lord Baldevar's consort, see if she might desire freedom from her master.

Tonight, though, the emeralds provided an exquisite backdrop to snowy-white skin that glowed with pearly luminescence and snapping green eyes that danced with merriment. Charles stared at Meghann, wondering if he'd ever have approached her had she looked the way she did tonight… all but humming with happiness as she clung to her master's arm, a blinding smile lighting her face when he looked down and caressed her cheek newly flushed from feeding.

No, Charles thought. He'd never think to ask this woman to leave her lover—it was plain that all he'd earn would be a firm rebuff at the least, possibly violence if he tried to point at any flaws in the man she was so enamored with.

Damn it, Meghann, Charles thought, lowering his shields and directing the thought at her. After all he's done to you, how can you possibly be so happy with him?

Meghann's eyes met his and a sweet voice entered his mind. He's done things you don't know about.

What things?

I'll explain if you allow me to. Gently, Meghann pried her arm from Lord Baldevar's and started toward her friends.

"Meghann!" Lee leaped up and put his arms around her, kissing her cheek before he gave her a reprimanding glance. "You shouldn't have taken off like that."

"I had to, Lee," Meghann said, and Charles heard no uncertainty in the pleasant but firm voice. "It was to protect you both. Charles?"

Charles stood up shakily, knowing his future friendship with Meghann was going to be decided by how he behaved now. Despite her radiance, he saw a shadow of uncertainty in the bottle-green eyes that never moved from his face.

A laugh almost escaped him… could Meghann actually think he'd reject her when all this month he'd worried she wanted nothing more to do with him?

Meghann came to his side at the tears in his eyes. "Charles, you don't have to cry over me."

Charles grabbed her in a bear hug, crushing the air out of her. "I'm crying because… Meghann, I thought you didn't want to be my friend anymore!"

"Oh, Charles." Meghann stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, clucking at the improperly knotted tuxedo tie. Expertly, she redid the bow. "I thought the same thing… I thought you'd never speak to me if I…"

"Meghann." Charles took her hands, forcing himself not to scowl at the signet ring that once again glittered on her index finger. "Please, honey. Explain all this to me. Why are you with him?"

Meghann's eyes met his again, burning with a disturbing intensity when she asked, "Do you trust me?"

"Always," Charles responded firmly. He knew Meghann wasn't asking if he trusted her to make the right choice regarding Simon Baldevar… no, Meghann wanted to know if he trusted her not to lead him into harm.

Meghann nodded and took his hand, stretching out her other hand to clasp Lee's. "I love you both; I've missed you terribly. I don't know what I would have done if you didn't show up tonight. Will you come with me now, so you can see all that's happened? This isn't something I can explain. You have to see it for yourself. Oh, wait—they're making their announcement." Meghann plopped down into an empty seat between her friends and made a shushing gesture to Charles.

Why do we have to sit through some mortal announcement before you tell me how you lost your mind'?

Meghann's eyes took on a dangerous shine. Do I appear crazy to you?

No, she didn't. Charles wasn't sure what he'd expected tonight but it certainly wasn't the lively beauty beside him. He'd imagined Lord Baldevar must have broken her in some way to get her back at his side. Now Charles was forced to acknowledge that, far from harming her, his enemy had restored Meghann somehow, banished the depression that kept her uncertain and tense all these months.

But how? It was beyond Charles's comprehension how Meghann went from the tight-lipped hatred and never-discussed fear that were her only emotions toward Simon Baldevar for forty years to staring at him with adoring eyes that followed his every move as he stood on the dais in the center of the hall with a cluster of men and women Charles intuited was the board of directors.

Lord Baldevar intercepted one of Meghann's glances and gave her a smile that transformed his hawkish features from the predatory mask Charles was so familiar with to an almost…

Charles leaned back in his seat, clamping down on his jaw to keep his mouth from hanging open with astonishment. Meghann wasn't the only one who'd changed. Charles kept his gaze on Lord Baldevar and observed that, while the vampire wasn't any less imposing a presence, there was something a bit less glacial about him when he looked at Meghann. If Charles didn't know his enemy so well, the meltingly soft amber eyes locked on Meghann would almost charm him.

Suddenly a soft hand took his. You see it too.

Dumbfounded, Charles could only nod. You have a lot of explaining to do.

Meghann nodded but then sat a bit straighter in her chair. Charles was about to question what caused this sudden alertness when he felt what bothered her, a bitter, dark hatred directed at Lord Baldevar.

Charles followed Meghann's gaze, finally settling on a raven-haired mortal woman standing off to one side of the dais. The woman's mouth was pulled into a little snarl that made her appear almost ready to leap onto the dais and attack not only Lord Baldevar but a man introducing himself to the room as Del Straker.

Puzzled, Charles watched the chairman of the board and vampire shareholder shake the hand of an elderly man with a shock of long white hair, almost yellowed with age. They thanked him for his eighteen years of service and the old man made a quick speech before a fiftyish, matronly-looking woman was invited to the podium… the new casino manager for The Seraglio.

Charles didn't have to read the unhappy woman… the betrayal and rage simmering in her eyes told him what must have happened, and he turned back to Meghann. One of your lover's victims?

Meghann gave a nonchalant shrug. I have no sympathy for women that exchange sex for promotion, and neither does Simon. Excuse me, I want to tell him we're leaving.

Bemused, Charles watched Meghann approach her lover from behind and wrap her small arms about his waist. She picked a fortuitous moment to drag him off the podium, right as the photographers started snapping pictures of the new casino manager being welcomed to The Seraglio by the board of directors.

Frowning, Charles wished Meghann hadn't chosen to speak telepathically to Lord Baldevar—he couldn't follow the conversation and he wanted to know what made Meghann blanch and seem so anxious. The fiend hadn't threatened her, had he?

"What's going on?" Lee too was disturbed by Meghann's abrupt change of mood—going from dazzling happiness to darkened emerald eyes and hands that fidgeted with her long plait of hair.

"I don't know…" Charles started to say but Lord Baldevar's putting one large hand over Meghann's and gently pulling it from her hair caught his attention. He grasped her hands and Charles would never know what he said to her but the nervous expression left Meghann's eyes and she smiled again. What did Lord Baldevar do to reassure her?

He reached into his tuxedo jacket and handed Meghann a valet ticket, and she reached up to kiss him good-bye… no polite, social gesture but a full, lingering kiss that made Lord Baldevar wrap one long, tuxedo-clad arm about her waist and pull her against him before releasing her with a small groan that reached Charles's keen ears.

The vampire gazed down at Meghann, and Charles felt the air between them nearly smolder. Good God, he'd never felt such an undercurrent of passion and sensuality as he did right now, observing Meghann with her lover.

"I think I see how he enchanted her," Lee whispered dryly at his side. "Be honest, could you resist that?"

Resist the heat in those gold eyes, the implied promises that made Meghann gaze up at Lord Baldevar, her body all but vibrating with need and desire? No, Charles did not have that kind of puritanical denial running through him and he couldn't blame Meghann for lacking it either.

He understood Meghann seeking Lord Baldevar's bed. There wasn't a vampire in the world that didn't know his reputation for being a sensual, accomplished lover—all but an incubus in the way he could make women respond to him. But why did Meghann have to give him her heart as well as her body? Charles knew Meghann well—for forty years, she'd taken lovers and with the exception of Jimmy Delacroix she'd always separated her emotions from her physical needs. Of all the people in the world, why did she give her love to a creature that had none within him to give back to her?

Lord Baldevar smiled tenderly as Meghann left him but the moment her back was turned he locked eyes with Charles and a sharp pain entered Charles's temple as the vampire directed a message at him—Guard her with your life.

Charles rubbed his forehead, puzzled by the communication. He'd expected threats, expected his enemy to fill his head with all kinds of horrifying tortures to show what would happen if he dared try and tell Meghann to leave Lord Baldevar. But that simple directive and the unwavering gold eyes that held his with no hint of his former contempt or hatred…

Then Meghann came back to his side and Charles had no more time to ponder the unsettling contact between himself and Lord Baldevar.

Del Straker gave Simon a friendly poke in the ribs and extended a glass of scotch to him. "How are you planning to keep your wife if you let her go wandering around with two good-looking boys like that?"

Simon returned the mortal's leer with one of his own. "Can you think of better companionship for my young bride than two men with no interest in women?"

"No interest in…" Del's eyes widened and he let out a booming, good-natured chuckle. "Don't you think of everything! What better way to keep her out of trouble than sticking her with two gay boys? I shoulda tried that with some of my wives—instead, I let them go off with their girlfriends and damned if the whores didn't go out to pick up men. But now I make sure the prenup states they don't get a dime if I can prove they were cheating on me. You got that clause in your contract with Meghann?"

"I would not insult Meghann by asking her to sign some document that states I believe she won't stay married or faithful," Simon replied, enjoying Del's astonished gaze. He knew the much-married entrepreneur longed to point out the folly of a billionaire getting married without any attempt to protect his fortune from his wife's grasping hands, but Del feared offending a powerful shareholder with such blunt words. "Besides, I don't believe in entering into a marriage fully expecting it to dissolve at some indeterminate point."

"But she's pregnant," Del protested. "That means she'll be able to get child support along with alimony and when you think of what any sharp lawyer's gonna ask for—nanny payment, trust funds, monthly expenses, tuition…"

"Meghann will never leave me," Simon said with absolute certainty, for Meghann was no longer the quick-tempered, impulsive brat who'd abandoned him forty years ago; this time she'd honor her vows to him. He had to admit though, this discussion with Del was amusing—in the event of divorce, where could Meghann sue a four-hundred-year-old vampire for half his worldly goods?

"How can you be so sure of her that you'd risk your fortune?"

"Del, all you have to do is be certain of your wife's character before you marry her—make sure she's not some greedy, calculating, fortune hunter." Idly, Simon's eyes settled on Louise Caraway, guzzling down liquor at the open bar. Simon wondered if the alcohol was supposed to give her false courage so she could confront him or was she drinking to blot out her crushing disappointment at not being named casino manager?

"Damn barracuda," Del spat, following Simon's stare.

Simon raised an eyebrow at the rancor in Del's tone. "What has she done to you?"

The mortal hesitated but then began speaking after Simon slipped some reassurance into his thoughts. "You know I'm thinking of running for Congress back in Texas?"

Simon nodded and Del pulled him into a secluded corner of the hall, speaking in a low tone. "The damned bitch came up to me tonight," Del whispered, his voice shaking with rage. "Showed me a video she made of me with her and some little hooker. Now she's telling me the whore's underage! Simon, she told me she'd put the goddamned video in the hands of the Nevada D.A. if we don't make her casino manager…"

"I'll take care of it, Del," Simon said calmly.

"How?" the mortal whined, his mouth pulled into a pucker that reminded Simon of a small child denied something. "She could have made a dozen of them…"

"Del, on my word of honor, by this time tomorrow night you will have your video along with any duplicates, and Louise Caraway will never bother you again."

How delicious power was… always Simon enjoyed this moment when supposedly influential mortals stood before him in abject gratitude.

"If you're right… how can I thank you?" Del said, pumping Simon's hand up and down.

"What are friends for?" Simon said expansively. "After all, when Meghann said she adores the ocean did you not agree to give us that wonderful estate you bought in the Hamptons as a wedding gift?"

Del had said no such thing—he and Lord Baldevar had been negotiating the price of the multimillion-dollar property for weeks. But now the mortal stopped pumping his hand and gave Simon a long stare before he finally nodded. "That… that's what I said. Thanks for your help… friend."

A friend in need, Simon thought wickedly and bid Del a good night. He left the banquet hall and turned his thoughts to Meghann. She'd been worried about tonight, though she tried not to let him see her anxiety. What a sweet child she could be—not wanting him to think she lacked confidence in his plans. He understood Meghann's fear… battle was something she had little experience with, and after Guy's attack it was only natural that she'd dread the confrontation Simon knew would take place tonight. He didn't think Meghann feared for her own safety but rather for that of Charles Tarleton.

It'll be over soon, darling, Simon promised and prepared to join Meghann but Louise Caraway planted herself in front of him, weaving in a drunken manner.

"You double-crossing son of a bitch," she slurred, and everyone in hearing vicinity gasped in shock.

Simon reached into their minds and commanded them to forget what they heard before he grabbed Louise by the scruff of her neck and forced her through a nearby fire exit so he could speak to her in the privacy of the empty stairwell.

Louise scowled when he blocked the door but her frown changed to fear when Simon gave her a sharp crack across the face. "Clear your desk before working hours begin tomorrow, madam. As of this moment, The Seraglio no longer employs you. You may contact the personnel office regarding your severance package."

"You can't fire me!" Louise howled but her outrage was replaced by uneasy apprehension when Simon raised his hand again. "You… you were supposed to make me casino manager. You promised!"

"Did I indeed? Produce the papers where I made this vow."

"You won't get away with this," Louise hissed. "You give me what I want or I'll tell that little teenybopper you knocked up everything you did to me!"

"If you value your life, you will never again mention Meghann in my presence. A whore has no right to speak of a lady so far above her," Simon said pleasantly, knowing his even tone terrorized Louise far more than a shout ever could. He grasped Louise by her shoulders and banged her head into the heavy steel door, knowing the blow would make her see stars. "It has come to my attention that you are making a pest of yourself with the board. I expect all videotapes of your activities with Del Straker to be delivered to my home at three tonight. If it is entering your devious little brain to try and deceive me, keep in mind the marvelous Mother's Day present I plan for next May, Louetta Caraway." Simon gave Louise a malicious wink and chucked her under the chin. "That's right—I know all about little Louetta Caraway and the seedy trailer park she grew up in. I admire your attempt to claw your way out of such a sordid background—did you develop your aversion to sex because of your father's overtures?"

"No one knows about that," Louise gasped.

"No one except myself and the mother you've stashed away in that nursing home under a false name," Simon agreed, his smirk widening as Louise slumped, glaring at him with the impotent hatred he reveled in.

"Your mother recovered rather nicely from her stroke," he went on, watching her alarm grow with each word. "But I rather doubt that devoutly Pentecostal dame could withstand the horror of watching her little girl perform all manner of foul acts with another little girl. It might bring—what do doctors call the penultimate stroke resulting in death? Ah, yes—the Big One. Try to betray me and I'll personally hold your mother's head in place while she watches a videotape you never want to come into her possession. Remember, Louise, I'll expect those tapes at three—no earlier, no later."

Simon shoved Louise through the door, happy to find himself in this isolated area of the hotel where he could disappear with no one the wiser. He dismissed the mortal from his thoughts and flew to Meghann.