Page 4 of Sinner's Salvation

“Fuck,” Brian said.

Indeed.

Rage flared hot through her body again, settling into her bones, hardening into resolve.

She was going to destroy that Homeland Security agent, and then she’d destroy the source of his information. Those were the clear threats, because if they were still trying to figure out what made her different, they didn’t know enough.

She needed more information before she did anything. All she knew right now was that she was in a smallish room, on a bed or gurney, and Brian was seated somewhere to her left.

She moved one wrist, just a bit, no more than a tightening of muscles, but it was enough to tell her that her arm was restrained by something cool and hard. Metallic. Without looking at it, she had no idea if she could break free or not, and she wasn’t ready to open her eyes and put herself into play yet.

“Fuck,” Brian said, again. “Fuckity, fuck fuck.”

The urge to laugh almost overtook her. He was such a prickly, prudish young man at the oddest of moments.

Anna listened, hard. Taking in all the information she could with her ears, nose, and skin.

His breathing was too fast. Not enough for it to be a problem, yet, but he was angry and frightened.

Air moved and the sound of footsteps told her he was on his feet. He walked until he was level with her head, then turned and walked until he was a few feet past her feet.

He did it again.

And again.

Cloth grazed her arm, and he stopped pacing.

“Anna?” he asked softly, sounding very close. “Can you give me a sign that you aren’t...dead?”

What kind of a sign? They were most likely under observation. Anything she did would give whoever took them clues she didn’t want them to have.

Hands skimmed over the top of her head and down to the base of her skull. Searching, probing, but very carefully.

The scent of blood grew stronger, hers and his.

Thirst clawed at her throat, but she ignored it. There had been other times during her long life when she’d gone without blood for long periods. She could ignore it for now.

Brian sighed. Loudly. The fingers in her hair patted her once, like she was doing a good job. Then he moved away and sat back down on a chair that squeaked.

“I donotunderstand what’s going on,” he groaned. His voice was slightly muffled, as if he’d covered his face with his hands.

“That...guyshot you, then me,” Brian said, continuing his one-sided conversation.

Interesting. The hesitation revealed thatguyhadn’t been Brian’s first choice to describe the man who’d shot her.

“So, you should be dead, but your wound isn’t visible anymore. In fact, you look completely fine. Healthy. As if nothing happened, which is impossible, because he shot youpoint blank in the head.” Brian’s voice went up, as if he were trying very hard to control panic.

He’d watched the fight between her family and the British vampires. He’d known about her healing abilities. He’d seen them in action before either of them left the hotel. He already knew she could heal...

Wait.

Was he talking out loud, as if to himself, to feed her information? To distract and feed false information to anyone listening to them?

“I was restrained and blindfolded, and now we’re stuck in some kind of military facility. No one knows where we are.”

Good grief, could he be more obvious?

If she reacted now, whoever was monitoring them would likely conclude that they were working together, and his life would become even more precarious.

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