Night's Surrender by Amanda Ashley Read Free Book Online

center of attention. All she’d done was have a drink with a handsome man. How could she have known that something so innocent, so ordinary, would cause such a tempest in a teapot?
    She was only vaguely aware of Logan and Mara taking their leave. A short time later, Rane said he needed some air.
    Looking up, Abbey met her mother’s gaze. Of all the people in the family, surely Savanah would understand her attraction to a vampire. “Mom? Do you ever miss being human?”
    â€œSometimes,” her mother admitted quietly, and then she sighed. “Most of the time.”
    She should have been surprised by this revelation, Abbey thought. Why wasn’t she? Had she known, on some unconscious level, that her mother had regrets about her decision? “Does Dad know how you feel?”
    â€œI’m not sure. We’ve never discussed it, and I try not to have any negative thoughts when we’re together. It would hurt him to know how I feel.”
    â€œWould you do it over again?”
    Savanah smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle from her skirt. “I . . . I honestly don’t know.”
    â€œIf you weren’t sure it was what you wanted, why did you ask Dad to bring you across?”
    â€œBecause I love him, of course.” Savanah shook her head. “We were married for eighteen years before he turned me. I knew what he was. I knew his family.” She shook her head again. “I thought I knew everything there was to know about being a vampire, but of course, I didn’t. It’s like jumping out of an airplane. No matter what people tell you about it, you can’t really know what it’s like until you’ve experienced it for yourself.”
    â€œWhat do you miss the most?”
    â€œLittle things. Seemingly unimportant things I once took for granted. Like being able to enjoy a latte. Or eating a bowl of popcorn while watching a movie. Or seeing my reflection when I pass a mirror. It was frightening the first time I looked in a mirror and saw the room behind me and nothing else. I felt like . . . like I didn’t exist anymore.” She smiled wistfully. “Not being able to see how you look in a new dress takes all the fun out of shopping.”
    Abbey rose from her chair and went to sit beside her mother. Wondering how she could have been so blind all these years, she took her mother’s hand in hers. “I’m sorry you’re unhappy, Mom.”
    â€œI’m not unhappy,” Savanah said, patting Abbey’s hand. “I have a good life, a loving husband, a wonderful daughter.”
    â€œBut?”
    â€œI don’t want you to see Nick again.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œThis isn’t a life I would choose for you. I know how exciting dating a vampire can be. They have an innate glamour, an allure, that’s hard for mortals to resist. And then there’s his age. Your father said he’s ancient, which means he must be over five hundred years old. That’s quite an age difference, don’t you think?”
    Abbey licked her lips. Was it possible he was that old? She thought of Mara, who looked like she was twenty but was, in reality, over two thousand years old. What if Nick was that old? Did he even remember what it was like to be human?
    â€œIt’s better to end it now,” Savanah said. “Before you get in so deep you can’t get out.”
    Abbey nodded, but she was afraid it was already too late.
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    Logan confronted Mara in the Cordovas’ guestroom later that night. “It’s him, isn’t it?”
    â€œYes.” There was no point in lying. Mara had kept secrets from Logan in the past, but her acquaintance with Nick wasn’t one of them. However, she had never discussed her relationship with the other vampire with Logan. He knew only that she had turned Nick and left him, as she had left so many others.
    â€œDammit. I thought he was dead.”
    â€œAren’t you