Dark Destiny Page 0,24

wanting to keep forever in her mind the memory of her mother's face, her scent and the way she smiled when she handed her the teacup.

She looked across the table at Mary Ann. "Thank you. I haven't thought of that in years. The last memories I had of my family were... bad. Frightening. I made myself forget everything so I could forget that. My mother was such a beautiful woman."

Mary Ann smiled. "I'm certain you must look a great deal like she did. What a wonderful memory. Do you have brothers or sisters?"

Destiny shook her head. "I was the only child."

"Other family?"

Nicolae popped into her head instantly when she should have said no. His voice, his presence. Destiny felt him strongly. What was he to her? Mortal enemy. No, never that. Destiny raked her hand through her hair, shaken by the depth of her attachment to him.

Mary Ann was waiting for her answer, seeming comfortable with the silence. Destiny's life was silence. She hadn't talked so much with anyone in years. Other than Nicolae.

"How do you know when you can trust someone?" Destiny asked softly. "How do you know they won't betray you?"

"I think sometimes it's instinctive," Mary Ann answered carefully, "although it is always possible to make a mistake. Usually you reserve judgment until you've been around someone, until you've seen their true character."

"Is that what you're doing now?" Destiny tilted her chin.

"With you?" Mary Ann's reply was mild. "You want something from me I can't give you. You want me to condemn you. You've saved my life at least twice. I like you as a person. I know you're troubled, but that doesn't make you the monster you want me to name you."

Destiny heard the swell of conversation in the bar, the blare of music. Laughter erupted from a table only a few feet away. She waved her hand. "This isn't real. You think you live in reality, but this isn't real."

"Of course it is. It's as real as your life has been, just completely different. You can't go back; I can't go back either, but we can go on."

"That's not true," Destiny said softly, raising her vivid eyes to meet Mary Ann's gaze. "It isn't true that you can't go back."

For the first time Mary Ann looked uncomfortable. She rubbed her fingertip along the tabletop as she composed her thoughts. Weighing her words. Thinking it through before she spoke. "I presume that means you can do something to my mind to alter my perception of reality."

Destiny nodded slowly, hearing the sudden increase in Mary Ann's heart rate. "I can take away your memories of me. Of everything you've learned about vampires. You won't remember and you won't ever have nightmares. You won't be in danger from... anyone."

"You can do that?"

Destiny smiled suddenly. There was no amusement in the depths of her eyes. "You would be shocked at what I can do. Yes, easily. I'm one of them, Mary Ann. I'm one of them, and I've become comfortable being one of them."

Mary Ann shook her head. "You're something different, Destiny. I don't know what, but you aren't anything like that creature who wanted my blood."

Destiny leaned across the table. "What do you think I exist on?" She placed her palms flat on the table, leaned closer still. Her voice was a soft hiss of warning. "I can hear your heart beating. I hear the blood rushing in your veins." She ran her tongue over her small, perfect teeth. "I have to fight to keep my incisors from lengthening. I haven't fed in two risings. I think about hunger every moment I'm awake. It crawls through me, an addiction I can't overcome. Don't make the mistake I did. Don't ignore the fact that something beautiful, something alluring, can be the most dangerous thing you will ever encounter."

Mary Ann's frown slowly disappeared. She leaned closer still. "It isn't going to work, you know. I know what you're doing. Of course the idea of vampires is frightening to me. I had no idea such things existed outside of movies and books, but I've had two days to think about that thing. He felt evil. I'm not scared of you, but you're deliberately trying to frighten me. You want to drive me away from you. I threaten you in some way, don't I? Why are you so afraid of me?"

Destiny pulled back as if Mary Ann had slapped her. She forced air through her lungs, forced the roaring in her head to