Immortals After Dark 05 - Dark Needs at Nights Edge

Conrad what he thought about the idea of a Néomi Wroth School of Dance, he’d said, “If it makes you happy, then enroll every Lore pup who’s willing to wear pink.” Scratching his head, he’d added, “Though I’ll need to figure out how to expand the studio... .”
    Conrad stirred then—but not from a nightmare. Once he’d turned to her, she smoothed the backs of her fingers over his cheek, and he resumed sleeping deeply. Nightmares were rare these days.
    Though he’d been apprehensive about taking her blood again, that one bite had already transferred her memories to him. Néomi had feared hers would be the ones that would send him over the edge, breaching the dam. Yet they actually seemed to be helping him. “I dream of music and laughter and warmth,” he’d told her. “It’s... soothing to be in your memories. Awake, I’m with you. And asleep, I’m with you. I like this.”
    She knew he wasn’t yet cured. It would take time. She just wished she had even more time with him. Given a new chance at mortality, she’d become greedy for immortality.
    Life held so much promise....
    Except for the fact that she had no idea what she was.
    Sometimes when she looked in the mirror, or if she caught her reflection in a window, she saw glimpses of her spectral self. The shadows around her eyes and under her cheekbones would appear in flashes.
    Her night vision was as flawless as it had been when she’d been a ghost, and when she slept, she dreamed of floating and moving things with her mind.
    This twilight, Néomi had awakened with a rose petal clutched in her fist... .
    Nïx had visited Néomi on several occasions. Each time, the Valkyrie blatantly scrutinized Néomi with those golden eyes, seeming fascinated. Just yesterday Nïx had come to Elancourt and said nothing, only blankly staring at her.
    “Nïx, what am I?” Néomi finally asked her.
    “Complicated?”
    “I came back wrong, didn’t I?”
    Nïx sighed. “I can’t get a sense of you whatsoever.”
    Néomi had no sense of her own self. She didn’t feel as she had when human—or as a ghost.

    Awkward doesn’t begin to describe this meeting.
    “Have a seat. Please,” Nikolai said, waving to one of the chairs in front of his office desk. Sebastian occupied the other.
    Conrad had traced to Blachmount Castle, Nikolai’s home, to meet with his brothers—at Néomi’s insistence. It was day in New Orleans, and she’d wanted to nap for the afternoon, so he thought he’d get this over with.
    His brothers had questions about the past—and Conrad wanted to formally purchase Elancourt from Nikolai.
    With his neck knotted with tension, Conrad reluctantly sat. He was already on edge from leaving Néomi for the first time since her return, but being back here made his uneasiness ratchet to another level.
    “I thought all three of you would be here,” Conrad said. “Where’s Murdoch?” He would leaven this tense atmosphere.
    “Missing in action,” Nikolai answered. “We presume it’s concerning his ‘secret’ Bride. I think for the first time in his existence, he’s having woman troubles.”
    “Might do him some good,” Sebastian said, then asked Conrad, “Does it not feel surreal to be back here?”
    He nodded. This castle was where Conrad and most of his family had died. His young sisters had wept here as they’d succumbed one by one. Blachmount was where Conrad had been born and raised—and raised from the dead.
    For three hundred years, Conrad had hated Nikolai for his decision that fateful night. Now Conrad was beholden to him for Néomi. Without Nikolai’s choices and Murdoch’s determination, he would never have known his Bride. He would never watch her readying for bed, brushing her long hair.
    Just yesterday, he’d thought, My Bride by fate, my wife by choice... .
    “I felt the same way when I first returned,” Sebastian said.
    Nikolai made a scoffing sound. “No, you didn’t—you were too busy decking me.”
    “The second time, then.”
    Uncomfortable silence ensued. Conrad peered around the paneled study. Nikolai tapped a pen against his desktop. Sebastian jogged his leg.
    Eventually, Nikolai rose from his chair. “I have something of yours.” He pulled a file from a cabinet, handing it to Conrad. Inside were the deed to Elancourt and the contracts of transferral.
    “I signed the property over to you and your Bride the night you got her back.”
    Conrad’s tension cranked up even more. “I can pay you for