Free Night's Promise by Amanda Ashley Page A

anything. Best to get it out in the open now.
    “It’s this thing between us,” she said in a rush. “It’s so new and yet it’s so intense. It’s a little scary, and now you’re telling me you’ve got secrets you can’t share, and you say you’d like us to get to know each other better, and people are looking for you, and you don’t know who or why, and . . .”
    Derek pressed his fingertips to her lips. “Whoa, girl, I’m sorry I asked.”
    “I just think we need to be honest with each other or there’s no point in going on.”
    Her words splashed over him like ice water. She was right: There was no point in their going on. “You’re a wise woman,” he said quietly. “I think maybe we’d better end this before you get hurt.”
    When she started to speak, he shook his head. “There are things about me that I can’t tell you. That I’ll never be able to tell you. Things that would make you hate me if you knew.”
    Leaning forward, he brushed a kiss across her cheek. “Good-bye, Sheree.”
    Before she could ask him not to go, he was out the door.
    Outside, Derek took a deep breath. The scent of rain was in the air. Overhead, the wind chased the clouds across the darkening sky. A sharp crack of lightning released a whiff of ozone, followed by a distant echo of thunder.
    He stood there for several minutes, staring at Sheree’s house. A thought took him home.
    For once, he was glad to find his mother and Logan in the living room when he arrived.
    “We weren’t waiting up for you,” Mara said. “We just got home from a wrap party at Justin’s.”
    Derek nodded. Justin Price was the grandson of Sterling Gaylord Price. Sterling had been a famous Hollywood movie producer in his day. He’d also been a notorious lech, a trait apparently handed down to his grandson. Logan had backed Justin’s latest project, a big-budget 4D remake of The Ten Commandments .
    “This film’s got Oscar written all over it,” Logan said, glancing at the gold statue on the mantel. “I think Oscar is gonna have a little brother. But, enough about me. How was your evening?” he asked, then frowned. “There’s blood on the sleeve of your jacket.”
    Derek glanced at the stain barely visible against the dark cloth. “Yeah. I got into a bit of a scuffle with a couple of hunters.”
    Mara’s head snapped up. “Hunters? Where?”
    “At the Den. Two of them.” He held up a hand, staying his mother’s next question. “They weren’t looking for you or for me, by name. Apparently they saw me with Sheree a couple of nights ago and recognized I was a vampire. They got a little too physical trying to get my identity from Sheree and I put a stop to it.”
    “Did you kill them?” Mara asked.
    “No.” He’d wanted to, but not with Sheree there, watching his every move.
    “Did you catch their names?” Logan asked.
    Derek shook his head. “They were both built like Mack trucks. One had a long scar on his cheek. Sound like anyone you know?”
    “The man with the scar,” Mara said. “Was he blond, with funny-colored eyes?”
    “Yeah. You know him?”
    “His name is Aurland. Richard or Rudy, something like that. He’s from North Carolina. I’ve never known him to come this far west. He usually pairs up with his brother-in-law, Silas Fortenberry. Another big guy, dark hair.”
    Derek nodded. “That’s them.”
    “There haven’t been any hunters in this area for fifteen, twenty years,” Logan remarked.
    Mara nodded. “So why now?”
    It was a damn good question, Derek mused, but one for which he had no good answer.
    “What are you going to do about the girl?” Mara asked. “Being seen with you could be dangerous for her.”
    “I know. It’s over.”
    “You care for her?”
    “Yeah. She . . .” He scrubbed his hands over his face. How could he explain how he felt when he was with Sheree? She soothed him in a way he didn’t understand.
    Logan stretched his legs out in front of him, his hands laced behind his