She stared at him. Her pulse evened out a little. “Why does your grandmother think you two are vampires?”
“Because we are.” He pointed to the ground. “You mind if I sit?”
“It’s a free forest.”
Actually, it was Ellingham land, but telling her that wasn’t going to buy him any consideration. He sat and crossed his legs. “We’ve been vampires since 1665.”
Her lids lowered in that way a person’s did when they thought they were dealing with an obvious lie. “So you’re…” He could see her adding sums in her head. “You’re three hundred and fifty years old?”
“Three hundred and seventy seven, to be exact. I was twenty-seven when Didi turned me.”
Delaney’s silent stare unnerved him, but at least she stayed put. “Didi was a vampire before you?”
He paused. He was about to share Ellingham history with her. The kind of information that could be their undoing if she decided to use it against him. “Lady Elenora Ellingham, Dowager Duchess of Sinclair, was known for keeping an eccentric court. One of her suitors, a strange, wealthy Frenchman by the name of Alard Desmarais had revealed himself to her as a vampire. She thought it was a parlor trick until she got to know him.”
“What happened?” Delaney seemed rapt by the story now. Maybe he was making headway.
“In 1665, a plague struck London. It took my parents. Didi was bereft at losing her son and daughter-in-law. She refused to lose her grandsons as well. She begged Alard to turn us. He agreed on the condition that she would allow him to turn her as well.”
“Obviously, she agreed.”
Hugh nodded. “Then she turned us. I was the first since I was already at court. Then Sebastian, then Julian.” He blinked hard. Memories strobed through his brain, robbing his ability to speak for a moment. He’d never told this story to anyone outside of Juliette. There’d never been a reason.
“Are you okay?”
He was thrown by the compassion in her voice. It affected him almost more than the memories had. He looked away, unwilling to show her what he was feeling. “I’m fine.”
He stood suddenly, ready for a change of topic. “I suppose you’d like proof.”
She hugged the cat carrier to her.
“I didn’t mean by biting anyone.”
“That’s excellent news.” The slight quirk at the corners of her mouth told him she still didn’t believe him. She put the carrier back on the ground.
“How about this?” His fangs shot through his gums, and he opened his mouth so she could see them. In full vampire form, his pupils would shine like an animal’s, silvery white. He wasn’t sure there was enough moonlight to make that happen.
“Those are pretty convincing, but you can buy amazingly real fangs at the mall around Halloween. Or, you know, probably all year round in this town.”
He closed his mouth and sighed. “Maybe I should bite you.”
“Hey now—”
He held up his hand. “I won’t. Biting a person starts a process, and I’m not about to do that to you.” But he needed her to know that he wasn’t insane. They’d come this far. “What can I do to prove that I’m telling the truth?”
She frowned. “Hugh, it’s clear you believe you’re a vampire—”
“Because I am.”
She raised her brows. “I’ve seen you outside while the sun was up. I’m pretty sure that’s a big vampire no-no.”
He ground his teeth together. He couldn’t tell her about the amulet. They’d taken a vow as a family never to reveal that secret to anyone. “I can take a little sun.” Bloody hell, that sounded false even to his ears.
She smiled in a sad, sure-sure kind of way. “You’re a nice guy, Hugh. Maybe you should talk to somebody about this vampire thing—”
“Brace yourself.” So help him, he was about to do something he swore he’d never do. It was so…tween movie. Unfortunately, he was out of other ideas.
“What?”
He lunged forward, took her into his arms and sped through the woods. She inhaled sharply, a deep shuddering breath that took the place of a scream. He dodged trees and leaped fallen logs as he made a wide circle and brought her back to the creek’s edge a few moments later. They’d probably gone a mile.
He put her on her feet. “Now do you believe me?”
She wobbled her head in what he took to be a nod, then opened her mouth to say something and fainted.
Delaney woke up fully clothed on the four-poster bed. Even her shoes were still on. She blinked, getting her bearings. Soft snoring turned her head. Captain sprawled on the pillow next to her. The room was dark, but a little moonlight filtered through the curtains. She’d had the strangest dream.
It had been a dream. Or… She sat up and stared into the dimness, trying to comprehend the last thing she remembered.
Could Hugh really be a vampire? Vampires weren’t real. Were they? He’d seemed so earnest. And not the least bit off his rocker. But then there was that speed run through the woods. There was no denying he was something…more than human. Which brought her back to whether or not he could really be a vampire.
Her hand went to her neck. No bite marks that she could feel. She looked at Cappy. He purred as she checked his fatness for evidence of a bite. Nothing. Hugh had promised she was safe with him. As far as she could tell, he hadn’t lied about that.