Page 32 of Vampire Runner

“I don’t know,” she answers just as quietly. “I thought I felt something, but now...” she trails off, uncertainty eroding her determination.

“Lan?” I ask. She’s close enough to me for him to have heard.

“Scans show nothing,” he confirmed. “Same with thermal. It’s an empty hall.”

Conflict wrestles with my instincts. I want to make Cassandra stay here, to stay safe from any potential threat. Except I want—need to save her, which means I need her beside me. She must sense the internal battle I’m waging with myself. Her small hand touches the back of my shoulder, pulling me back to her.

“Together,” she whispers.

She’s right. Together. Like it’s always been.

Resolved, I ease the door open, this one swinging out into the hall. The hall is empty and we leave the stairwell.

I look in the direction the guard went then towards where Cassandra is heading. Whatever balcony was there before, it isn’t now.

“There’s an addition,” I tell Lan, wanting to curse. Of course there is. Why wouldn’t there be an unmarked room?

Cassandra stops before the plain wooden door, no different in appearance than the two others in the hall. She raises her palms, hovering them a few inches from the door, and closes her eyes.

The air shimmers behind her. Then a figure just fucking appears out of nowhere. It grabs Cassandra by the throat and lifts her off the floor.

1866

Cassandra

I’m happier than I have ever been.

We’ve had spent the winter in a state of bliss, waking up each morning next to the vampire I loved. Ashe Halford is the man I never dreamed of finding, but somehow, I had been lucky enough to stumble into. Quite literally, I think with a chagrin smile and take another sip of the herbal contraceptive tea. A touch of magic ensures that I won’t create a child until we’re ready.

I’m selfish enough that I want my mate all to myself for some time. And now that we’re mated, my life expectancy has extended to Ashe’s. As a witch, I already expected to live close to two hundred years. Now, though, Ashe and I have centuries to spend together. A child can wait.

The tea room of the southern mansion is redolent with New World wealth. When I first came to the mansion, the home Ambrose and the other Nightshades had claimed reminded me too much of my family’s home back east. The magnificent chandelier in the foyer with white marble floors; the sweeping staircase carpeted in brilliant red; polished mahogany furniture and Turkish rugs atop gleaming white oak floors. In my childhood home, my family’s wealth and standing in the coven was on constant display. It was never a home.

Somehow, though, Josephine and the Nightshades make the mansion feel cozy. Not as cozy as my cottage, of course. Gentle scents of jasmine blend with something sweet from the kitchens, combining to create a tempting invitation to sit in one of the overstuffed wingback chairs and stay for a while.

Laughter echoes through the rooms, growing closer, and I finish the last bit of my tea before pouring myself a fresh cup of assam tea from the delicate porcelain teapot gilded in golden filigree. I pour another two cups, placing the teapot back down on the tray just as Ezra and Ashe walk in.

My heart flies into my throat, beating against me like a hummingbird. Even after spending most of the winter tucked away in my—now our— cottage, the sight of Ashe’s crooked smile fills me with elation. I feel like a young girl with her first crush, not a married woman who’s memorized her husband’s body.

“Hello, my beautiful mate,” Ashe says just before dropping a kiss to my offered cheek. “How was your visit in town?”

My mood dips, my earlier concerns rearing up. I gesture to the two teas, inviting them to drink. Both vampires accept the offer, with Ezra sinking onto the white sofa with a happy sigh. I wrinkle my nose, holding back the urge to admonish Ezra for sitting when he and Ashe had clearly just come from the stables and their clothing had a fine layer of dust. Ezra’s gold and red eyes sparkle with charm as he met my gaze. He knows exactly what I’m thinking. My grandmother would be appalled with me as I stick my tongue out at him.

The Nightshades have become my family, my friends. I never fit with my coven, craving freedom from their strict expectations and practices of magic. Even before Ashe and I mated, the Nightshades welcomed me with warmth. Only Ambrose holds himself aloof and, at times, we exchange terse words, but Josephine and even Kasar assure me that is simply how their sire is. It’s hard not to take it personally, sometimes.

“Charity will deliver any day now.” I start with something simple. Jane was the main reason I traveled today, checking on her progression as our doctor is traveling back from the coast. “Dr. Herschel may not arrive in time to deliver. I promised her and Johnathan that I will be ready to help at a moment’s notice.”

Her baby wouldn’t be the first one I’ve helped in the small town, nor, I doubt, the last, regardless of Dr. Herschel’s clear disdain for my “pagan” practices. I chew on the inside of my lip, thinking about the group of men I’d seen in the square as I left.

“Cassandra?”

Ashe’s voice has me giving him a forced smile and I set my tea cup back on the table. A look at Ezra shows the half-demon, half-vampire mirrors my husband’s concern.

“There are more men in town,” I answer at last, my gaze darting between the two males. “Not travelers, either. Charity told me they’ve been asking questions around town. About Ambrose.”

In spite of the mass witch hunts ending centuries ago, small cells of hunters have continued what they believe is a divine calling. They’ve killed as many innocent humans as they have anyone with paranormal blood.

Ashe squeezes my shoulder, a grim look clouds his face. “Ambrose knows,” he tells me. My heart lurches. If Ambrose is looking into it, I fear the threat might be real. “He sent Rhys and Malachi to see what they can discover.”

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