Chapter Twenty-Two

Sunday morning. Alone. Dawn felt a strange sensation flood through her chest, a tightening around her heart and hard lump in her throat. Tears were escaping from her eyes and she couldn’t stop them. It had only been one week and two days—nine days—since Mateo Two Moons entered her life. Well, if she counted the first time she had seen him in her dreams, which she knew now really wasn’t a dream, it had been two weeks and two days.

It was such a very short span of time, zilch when compared to eternity, since this vampire had invaded her entire world in every way. Nothing was, or ever would be, the same. She wiped angrily at the wayward tears wetting her cheeks and the pillow under her head. She hated waking up without him, but she hated the idea of him lying Dracula-like in some gloomy cave even more. Would it be better when she was lying there in that black hole next to him? She shuddered and pulled the sheet and bedspread up to her chin.

Her mind was a vortex spinning with all the information he had given her about his clan of vampires, dhampyres, and everything else last night. Worst of all, was the information he disclosed regarding Chloe’s fate. A roaring furnace couldn’t warm the icy blast that chilled her to the bone.

If only she could remember all the romantic and beautiful memories from last night and forget about the rest of it.

The out-of-control sex in her front foyer was the prelude to an evening of enchantment and romance. Dancing with Mateo among the twinkling lights at the rooftop lounge to the soft guitar music of Joseph Red Feather would always be one of her most cherished memories. The sexual game they played afterward that led to an extra erotic love-making session, still made her body quiver with residual longings. An elated smile curved her lips.

Making love with Mateo was beyond anything she ever imagined. She hoped the intimate part of their lives would never change, but would it still be the same when they were together on the mountain for all eternity? She pushed those thoughts away. For a moment longer, only those perfect images from the previous night filled her mind, and the tears stopped. But she couldn’t pretend forever that everything was as perfect as she wanted it to be.

The unwelcome image of Chloe clouded her happy thoughts once again. Dawn squeezed her lids shut and tried to block out the tragic picture Mateo described about her friend’s fate at the top of the Superstitions. The tears returned heavier than before.

Although, she wished she could give Chloe’s family some sort of closure, she knew it would probably be easier for everyone to believe she had fallen to her death somewhere in the high rugged peaks of the Superstitions like it was believed so many before her had done. If they only knew...

Dawn became aware of a new concern that rattled her to the core as a fierce determination claimed her. No one could ever know the truth about the half breed dhampyre children, human mates, and centuries old vampires who lived at the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine. Mateo and his entire family’s existence would be threatened. She knew she would protect them with her life, because soon she would also be one of those hidden secrets.

Wiping away the last of her tears, she forced herself to get out of bed. As she glanced at the clock, she gave her head a disgusted shake. It was nearly noon.

“What have you done to me, Mr. Two Moons?” she said with sigh. Well, for one thing, he totally destroyed her internal clock. Tomorrow was Monday, so tonight she would have to remember to set the alarm for the next morning. She couldn’t trust herself to wake up early enough to make it to school on time.

With all that happened over the past few days, she had almost forgotten she was still a school teacher. Just a very short time ago, teaching had been one of the most important things in her life. But the idea of being at school tomorrow with the students and the other teachers, who had no clue of all the unbelievable secrets Dawn now harbored, seemed completely foreign and so removed from her new life with her immortal lover.

Every day, every minute, since Mateo entered her world, it was getting harder and harder to function in a normal way. There was no denying she was his love slave in almost every way already, even without being under his vampire spell. Why did she even think she could pretend to live her regular life any longer?

Since she missed three days of teaching last week, however, she had to at least try to be responsible about her job for as long as she was still here. There were loose ends to tie up in her life before she became Mateo’s mate. Besides, what if something happened and she ended up not being with him in his hidden village on the mountain for all eternity? Something unforeseen might happen and they would break up and she would still need her teaching job, right? She gave a loud snort. She was acting like she was still living in the real one’s world. That world ceased to exist the first night she went up on the Superstitions and confronted her destiny.

His handsome face floated through her mind and the love she could not deny overflowed from her heart. She would live on the mountain with her dangerous and sexy vampire; she would have his dhampyre babies and do anything else he compelled her to do. He didn’t need to bite her in the neck, wrist, or thigh to make any of those things happen. He was her eternal mate as much as she was his, and she would never be able to live without him.

Dawn sighed. It was seriously time to get up and do something ordinary, like laundry. Ugh. She glanced over and saw the extra pregnancy test on the bedside table. Maybe she should just get that over with once and for all. As she slipped into her blue robe and started to grab the pregnancy test her phone started ringing.

“Hi, Mom,” she said cheerfully and with a sense of relief that she was diverted for the time being from the dreaded blue stick in the box.

“Hi. Finally. I’ve been worried about you. I haven’t heard from you and you haven’t picked up when I’ve called lately.”

A brief sense of guilt overcame Dawn. Her mom was awesome, but she worried way too much. “No need to worry. I’ve been busy, but everything is perfect. How are you and Dad?”

“We’re perfect, too. So, what’s been keeping you so busy?”

Her mom’s curiosity was obvious. “I met someone, someone, umm, special.”

“Really? How special?”

Dawn giggled. It felt silly talking about Mateo like he was just some regular guy she was dating. “Don’t freak out, but he’s, well, he’s the one. I’m in love, big time.”

She heard her mom gasp and she wished she was able to see her face right now.

Ever since Dawn’s brother had gotten engaged a couple of years ago and married last spring, her mom had been more than a little anxious for Dawn to find someone to settle down with, too. She could only imagine how big her mom was grinning at this moment.

“Oh, my God. Seriously? Well, I need all the dirt on this guy. What’s his name? What’s he look like? When will I meet him?”

Dawn chuckled. “Well, his name is Mateo Two Moons. He’s Native American, from the local Apache tribe. He’s so amazing—just perfect in every way—and he’s absolutely gorgeous.”

“Wow. So, when are you bringing him to meet us? Thanksgiving maybe? I think Jeremy and Teresa are coming for Thanksgiving, too. I can’t wait for all of us to be together. That would be perfect.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, suddenly grateful her mom couldn’t see the look on her face. Yes, Mom, that would be perfect. But no, mom, we won’t be coming at Thanksgiving or Christmas or ever. He’s a vampire, you see, so he can’t leave his cave in the daytime. Wow.

“Soon, you’ll meet him soon,” she lied. A sick feeling made her stomach tighten. She had not lied to her mom since she was a teenager and told her those cigs in her backpack belonged to her friend. Her mom didn’t believe that story back then, would she believe her now?

“Maybe we’ll just plan a trip to Arizona soon. Your dad could use a vacation.”

Dawn tried to keep the spectrum of emotions tearing her up inside from edging into her voice. What if this was the last time she would ever hear her mother speak? “That would be great. Hey, Mom, I need to get going. Sorry.”

“Okay. But I need to hear more about this Mateo real soon.”

“Okay, soon.” She heard a slight tremor in her voice. “Hey, tell Dad hi for me. And, Mom, I really miss you guys.”

“Aw, Honey, we really miss you, too.”

“Love you, and Dad, too. Bye.” She held her hand over the speaker on her phone in an attempt to block the sound of her choked sob.

“Bye, love you more.”

She dropped the phone on the bed after she hung up, threw herself face down on the mattress and gave into the rush of tears she was unable to control. She couldn’t bear the thought of what her family would go through when she did go up to the mountain with Mateo and was never seen again.

The heartbreaking memory of talking to Chloe’s dad after her disappearance came to Dawn’s mind. Chloe believed she was going to find the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine for her father when she went up to the Superstitions and met her horrible fate. Dawn would be going to meet her destiny knowing how much her family was going to suffer after she was gone. How could she do this to them?

Somehow, she needed to stop thinking about all this stuff before she passed out from all this useless crying. She refused to give up hope that somehow Mateo would be able to figure out a way for her to continue to live her life here as a real one, and still be his eternal mate.

Pushing herself from the bed, she grabbed the pregnancy test from the night stand and headed to the bathroom. She would get this nonsense out of the way, so she could concentrate on getting ready for school tomorrow. She had papers to grade from last week and needed to work on a lesson schedule for the coming week. For now, she had to keep functioning like she was still living her old life, no matter how hard that was going to be.

****

Dawn parked her truck in the same spot Chloe parked her SUV when they had come here to camp a little over two weeks ago. It was also where Chloe’s vehicle had been found after her disappearance last week. The sun would be down soon. She double-checked to make sure the doors were locked. Hopefully, Mateo would get her frantic text messages as soon as he left his village tonight. If he didn’t, and she was sitting here alone for too long, well…Cowboy up, Cupcake.

The desert could feel lethal and lonely at any time, but at night the encompassing peril was strangling. She glanced around at the heavy darkness starting to blanket the view where, just moments ago, she had seen faded light. It was almost gone now and only foreboding black was settling over her truck inside and out.

She was having a hard time taking a full breath and the panic making her entire body quiver was ruthless. This sense of terror was even worse than the way she felt when she hiked up here with Chloe on that first night. Because now, she knew there really was something deadly and dangerous—immortal—hiding in the depths of the rugged mountain range.

Every sound made her breath clog deeper into her throat and chest. She kept imagining the horror Chloe must have endured when she had been out here alone the night she disappeared. But she hadn’t known the extent of the real dangers awaiting her on this mountain. Dawn was very much aware of the risk she was taking. Sitting at home waiting for Mateo to come to her was not an option either. She desperately needed him now, and she would wait here forever if that was how long it took for him to find her.