Page 12 of Incandescence

I managed a smile. “No turning back now.”

His stare glowed with arousal and need. “No turning back,” he echoed.

We both knew this was do or die. We had nothing more to lose. I had no idea if wood through the heart killed a vampire or even if beheading one would destroy it once and for all.

But if glass was our only weapon, I wasn’t about to spend the next few hours speculating or doing our best to kill the monster when escape was within our reach.

I only hoped drinking the vampire’s blood hadn’t mentally bound us to him even more. An invisible link we wouldn’t be able to break.

The elevator dinged and my thoughts tuned out. I turned to Alexander and he nodded before we moved silently out of the vampire’s chambers and into the living and dining room.

It was oddly thrilling to be so ultra-aware of the man I’d kissed, to sense him near me even without seeing him. The chef pushed his trolley toward the dining table while the big guard stepped just outside the elevator and crossed his arms.

Though Alexander and I hadn’t exchanged plans, we seemed to know exactly what to do. He moved toward the guard while I approached the chef, who was retrieving the hot, fragrant dishes from his food trolley and carefully placing our meals onto the table.

I picked up the nearest metal serving dish by its stub handle. “So sorry,” I murmured politely, before I swung the dish hard. Meat and vegetables in some kind of gravy flew through the air and splattered across the marble floor before the metal dish clanged loudly against the chef’s head.

He fell like a sack of potatoes.

I turned just in time to see the guard step forward, his fist flying at Alexander. I heard the smack of flesh, stood transfixed as Alexander bent forward with a grunt at the impact to his gut. Then he looked up and caught the guard’s other flying fist in his hand.

“Time to knock some sense into you,” he said congenially, before he punched the guard’s jaw. The big man crumpled like deadweight.

I frowned. It couldn’t be that easy, surely? But then the vampire blood we’d ingested had filled us with physical strength as well as mental sharpness. Was that why the vampire hadn’t wanted Alexander or any of his donors to drink more than a few drops?

I strode toward Alexander, determination filling me. “Come on,” I urged.

He held out his hand and I clasped it before we ran together toward the elevator. I expected the same barrier to stop us going all the way. When nothing happened, and Alexander pressed the button and the doors slid closed behind us, I turned to him and began to giggle uncontrollably. “We did it!”

His face turned white. “I don’t fucking believe it.”

“Believe it, Alexander! We’ve just escaped the bloodsucker’s nest!” I pressed a hand to my mouth, my eyes wide. “I thought the vampire’s blood would increase our bond to him. I was so wrong.”

Alexander tipped his head back, his voice breathless with elation. “It’s why he never wanted us to drink more than what we needed to keep us alive. The blood makes us not just physically stronger, but mentally too, immune to his brainwashing.” He looked back at me, his jaw taut. “He’ll come after us. We have to be prepared for that.”

The elevator dinged before its doors slid apart, revealing the carpeted foyer of the ground floor. Glass sliding doors were invitingly close. I turned to him and clasped his hands. “Then we run and we keep on running. Because nothing will make me come back here. Ever. Again.”

He squeezed my hands. “Agreed...on both counts.”

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