Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny) Read Online Free PDF Page B

where he was going but that he would always stay in touch and come
back when he could.  It was all very cryptic but she’d grown used to it.
    She went into the den and gathered the scattered clothing
and shoes from the floor.  Alex’s shirt was clearly ruined, but she thought the
spot on the dress could be removed. She didn’t mind picking up after the
Lakes.  They were so beautiful and mysterious.
     Nate, the old groundskeeper on the estate, once told her
that they were over a thousand years old.  He barked out a throaty laugh when
he said that they must know the real secret of a good marriage. 
    It was around that time that Sara had decided that her
brother, Ryan, might stay around more if she got him a job on the estate.  It
worked for a while, and he had stayed for almost a year.  He was working in the
garage and helping out on the grounds, but he clearly had some misgivings about
Vampires in general.  He had been hired by the household manager and had never
even met Alex or Aurora Lake.  A fact Sara pointed out to him on the day they
argued about human exploitation.
    “He looks at me like a steak dinner.” Ryan told his little
sister. 
    “It’s your imagination,” she said. “They never notice any
of us.  I don’t think they even know our names.”
    “I didn’t say he knew my name, just that he looks at me
like he might like to have me for dinner, and I don’t mean as a guest if you
get my meaning.”
    “That’s just paranoid.  Vampires don’t kill people, and
they don’t take blood from anyone against their will.”  She felt like she was
lecturing him, and that is what had started their little debate.
    “Paranoid is it?” he responded.  “You are too old to be
this naive, Sara. I know the party line, Vampires and humans living in harmony,
but you should know that there are groups out there who don’t buy it.”  Now he
was lecturing her.  “I’m not saying I believe in everything they say or do, but
some of it is very interesting, and it makes a person think.” 
    “Ryan, those groups are dangerous terrorists.  They preach
hate and commit violence.  Please, tell me, you are not involved with them.” 
Her eyes were wide and scared, and it was clear she was seeking his
reassurance.
    “No, baby girl, I am not at all involved with those
people.”  If you only knew why that would never be possible, he thought as he
assured her of his sincerity. I know that’s why Lake stares at me the way he
does, Ryan reasoned to himself. I’m sure he knows what those terrorist creeps
only suspect.
    He thought about the night he had been making a circuit of
the grounds after dark in order to find and replace any landscape lights that
were burned out.  As he worked in the private garden just outside the terrace
leading to the Lake’s bedroom suite, he suddenly felt that he was being watched. 
The hair on his arms bristled and his spine tingled with the sense of being
stalked.  His instincts were on full alert, and he felt a low growl rising in
his throat before he could think about where he was and what he was doing.  He
calmed himself enough to take a deep, shaky breath and look around. 
    In a small grove of walnut trees at the far end of the
garden, he saw a shadow beneath the nearest tree.  He sensed the presence of a
predator.  The shadow moved and the shape of a man appeared, stepping forward
into the dim moonlight.  There was only a sliver of a moon that night, and it was
still low on the horizon.  He saw a golden glow in the eyes of the man shadow. 
His own eyes closed, dilated and adjusted for the dim conditions, and when he
opened them, he could see that the man shadow was, in fact, a tall, tawny
haired, Alexander Lake. 
    Ryan realized his mistake immediately when he saw Lake’s brow
pull together in a frown and his eyes start to glow red instead of gold.  Lake
must have seen Ryan’s eyes glowing back at him in the moonlight.  Not Vampire
eyes, but still he knew that