Page 23 of Incandescence

I shivered at the voice I already knew all too well. The vampire’s tone was smooth and modulated, with undertones of power. “I’m looking for a dark-haired, slender woman and a tall, well-built man.” His voice changed, almost smoky with persuasion. “You will tell me where I can find them.”

The floorboard overhead squeaked a little as they walked closer to the hallway trapdoor.

“I saw them only fifteen minutes ago.” Rory’s voice had also changed. He sounded passive, his last bit of resistance worn thin. “But I think he might have left with the female. Probably went back home to that dump where they live.”

I held my breath, too scared to move for fear the vampire would pinpoint us.

“Where they live?” the vampire asked in a mild voice, though the threat of violence simmered.

When Rory blurted out where he thought we resided, the vampire drawled, “I know the place. You’re certain that’s where they’ve gone?”

“Not really,” Rory admitted. “I was enjoying Amelia’s strip show.”

Silence reigned for perhaps a minute, and I sensed the vampire deepening his brainwashing of Rory, and probably anyone else in the room.

“If you see either of them again, you will bring them to me when the sun is down.”

As the vampire told them his address, I went hot then cold, giddiness assailing me and my belly cramping hard. I bit into my lip to stop from crying out, sweat beading on my brow at the effort. If he took us back to his nest, we’d never leave again. The leech would chain us to the walls if he had to.

The floorboards creaked again, a tread that moved toward the front door. Alexander put his arm around me, balancing me while my whole world slowly spun on its axis.

“Sorry for troubling you.” The vampire’s voice pierced the air like an arrow, smooth and well-modulated. “Enjoy the rest of your night.”

The door slammed shut and I sagged against Alexander as he turned me in his arms and said in my ear, “Let’s stay here until morning. We’ll sleep behind the stairs...the toxic fumes shouldn’t be anywhere near as strong there.”

I nodded. I didn’t have any better ideas. I was too numb to do anything more than wait in the blackness as he fumbled around making up our temporary bed. I heard his soft footfall before he clasped my hand in his and he led me to the blankets.

“This is never going to end,” I whispered bleakly as I shrugged off my backpack and lay on the blanket he’d folded to better protect us from the hard concrete.

The music throbbed back into life in the house as Alexander lay beside me. I turned to him, needing the comfort of his arms around me. Needing the man who not only understood my fears, but had lived through more than I imagined any human should.

A jagged pain through my belly pushed the breath from my throat in a wheeze. “The hunger pains are coming back,” I said through gritted teeth.

He drew me to him. “Fight through them, distract yourself with other thoughts.”

I sucked in a shaky breath that filled my lungs with dark-spiced male. I touched his face with my hands and pressed my lips to his. Awareness danced through my nerve endings. I wanted more than his arms around me. I wanted all of him. “I needyouto be my distraction,” I whispered hoarsely.

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