Adam by Jacquelyn Frank Page B

him.
     
     
    Adam walked through the tightly grouped wagons and tents the Gypsies had pitched on his father’s lands the night before. In honor of the Beltane festival, gaily colored banners had been set to fly. These wanderers were often labeled as thieves and whores, pickpockets and criminals, but Adam had never agreed with that harshly judgmental assessment.
    Since Demons had begun to find themselves forced to emulate the human culture more and more over the centuries in order to keep from standing out and attracting unwanted attention, they could appreciate how restrictive such narrow-minded thinking could be. However, it had been wise for Demonkind to keep a low profile as humans began to heavily populate the earth. All they had to do was watch how the more blatant Lycanthropes and, worse yet, the Vampires had made targets of themselves and were now hunted by superstitious human zealots. As powerful as the Nightwalker breeds were, they had their weaknesses that the peoples of the sunlight hours could exploit, causing them great harm and even death.
    The Gypsies were perhaps the closest things to humans who were aware of what Adam’s family’s true nature really was. While to most outsiders his kin looked like just another wealthy noble family, the Gypsies had their ways of seeing beyond that facade. They, too, lived mostly in the night, and with their own mysteries and mystical perceptions of the future, they were perhaps destined to one day be the first humans who would earn the label of Nightwalkers for themselves.
    Adam was interested in the Gypsies’ nomadic lifestyle. It always amazed him how widely things changed from clan to clan and year to year. Sometimes he saw the same face every holiday for years, at other times he never recognized a single one from Samhain to Beltane.
    He had been busy since leaving Noah, chasing down a few Demon strays in need of enforcement, so he was ready to enjoy a little time to wander on his own for a while. The Gypsies were just the distraction he needed to get his mind off ...
    Disturbing females. The encounter still clung to him, like a mist hugging low and damp to the ground. The form of the sensual little female Vampire seemed burned into his mind like the sun burned itself into a man’s eyes after he had stared at it too long. He needed a healthy distraction, although he couldn’t imagine why hunting had not been enough to do the trick. Usually the focus he devoted to his craft was all-consuming and burned away all of life’s minutiae. He had been frustrated to discover that was not the case in this instance. Those dark, damnable eyes had dogged his thoughts with unending stubbornness.
    Adam turned his attention to his immediate surroundings once again. The tents were open, fires were warm and inviting, and almost everywhere there were gaily dressed young women singing and dancing. Soothsayers were setting up areas where they could read runes, tarot, or other fortune-telling devices for whoever paid a bit of coin in exchange. The men were gambling or peddling, the children running madly about as if there were not a care or danger to be found in all of the world. It was a jolly and exotic atmosphere, one that truly delighted him.
    As he moved away from the encampment and into the forest, Adam felt his senses clearing of the clutter of stimuli the Gypsies provided. He began to settle into a peaceful place within himself.
    The soft snap of a twig came from above him and he looked up sharply. All of a sudden he could sense the presence of another being. Just the water content in the blood was enough to attract his attention, but it was the sudden appearance of a pale and beautiful face amidst a cloud of ebony hair that really grabbed hold of him.
    She was wearing clothes this time. After a fashion. They clung to her womanly figure in most places, or flowed in careless drapes away from her in others. The rich satins and velvets were all tawny and gold in color, emphasizing the