Page 21 of Black Curtain

It hit him then. No one was going to pick up.

And they weren’t here to inspect the house.

They were looking for his crew.

He blinked, and the woman stood closer to him.

It occurred to him he couldn’t see her breathing.

He knew what they were. He’d been following the news.

The phone continued to ring.

Then next time she moved, he didn’t have time to react.

By the time he opened his mouth, her fangs had already sunk into his neck.

The sheer strength of the suction-like pull on his vein made him gasp.

Then… it was over.

He felt calm.

Dan Lamas felt utterly at peace.

He let the phone drop to the carpet of the foyer.

It was still ringing.

He could hear it ringing.

He could hear––

4

PREMONITION

There was a bright flash.

A shock of green and gold flame.

The fire rose up, blinding me, erasing Black’s face.

I’d been staring at the tears in his gorgeous, gold-flecked eyes, half in awe, half in wonder. He was so beautiful. He really was the most beautiful man I had ever seen.

The smile. His perfect mouth and cheekbones.

The heat of the heart in his chest.

I couldn’t believe how handsome he looked right then, how incredibly gorgeous in the tux. His eyes shocked me. For their beauty… for their light. I couldn’t look away from how intensely he looked at me. His gold, cat-like eyes shimmered in the flame of all the torches around the pool, around the makeshift stage where we stood with Dalejem, Cowboy, and Angel.

Black’s eyes looked unreal. They looked inhuman.

At the same time, I saw so much ofhimin those gorgeous irises, my breath caught.

My heart hurt.

God, it hurt.

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