Page 67 of Midnight Enchantment

“I don’t like the idea of your going alone.”

“I’ll be all right.” Lily summoned her cell phone. “I’ll call you if I need help. Hurry!”

Ava wove a spell around Lily that carried her where she wished to go. It wasn’t as dramatic or as quick as being transported by a vampire but the results were the same.

She landed at the front door, only then remembering she was in her nightgown. But it didn’t matter. She tried the latch. It was locked, of course. Pounding on it with both fists, she called Raedan’s name.

A minute passed. Two. There was no response. She tried to magic the door open, but when nothing happened, she pounded on the door again, harder this time. “Raedan!”

The door opened with a squeak of hinges and he was there. Lines of pain bracketed his mouth. His brow was sheened with sweat that looked like blood. His eyes were red, his cheeks sunken.

“Lily … what … the hell … are you … doing here? Go home.”

He doubled over, his hands clutching at his belly as a groan was ripped from his throat. “Go … home. You’re not … safe … here.”

Ignoring the voice of her conscience that screamed at her to get out of there as fast as possible, she pushed him inside and shut the door. He staggered toward the sofa and fell onto it, his body convulsing.

Lily followed him. Kneeling beside the couch, she offered him her arm. “Drink, Raedan.”

“No.” He groaned deep in his throat. “No.”

“Don’t argue with me. Don’t you know I can feel your pain? If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for me. Now drink!” When he still refused, she resorted to the same tactic she had used before. Conjuring a small knife, she made a shallow cut in her left wrist, then held her arm to his mouth.

He latched on to it like a hungry baby suckling at his mother’s breast. Surprisingly, this time there was no pain, only a rush of sensual pleasure as he drank from her.

When she started to feel light-headed, Lily tugged her arm away, let out a little cry of denial when he refused to let her go. Only he didn’t drink again, merely ran his tongue over the wound as he had before.

Murmuring her name, he lifted her onto the sofa and held her close to his side.

Lily sighed as Raedan’s eyes closed. The tremors that wracked him gradually ceased as the tension went out of his body. They couldn’t go on like this much longer, she thought bleakly. For his sake as much as hers, they had to find a way to destroy the blood-demon without killing Raedan at the same time.

There had to be a way. There just had to be.

With the coming of dawn, Raedan slipped into the rest of his kind.

Lily eased out of his arms, yawned and stretched, and then went in search of something to drink, although she didn’t have much hope of finding anything. And she was right. There was nothing in the house to eat or drink save for half a bottle of red wine.

Sitting at the small, round table in the kitchen, Lily conjured a loaf of bread, a jar of blueberry jam, a glass of orange juice, a cup of coffee heavily laced with cream and sugar, and a butter knife.

She ate leisurely, refusing to think of anything unpleasant. When she finished, she wandered through the house. All the rooms needed painting. The only furniture was the table and single chair in the kitchen, the sofa in the living room, and a double bed in one of the tiny bedrooms.

Curious, she opened the closet, noting that his shirts and pants were hung with care, his shoes and boots in a neat row on the floor. A shelf in the closet held his underwear and sox. A guitar case stood in one corner. Curious, she opened it and plucked the strings. Did he play when he was here, alone? Who had taught him? Would he play for her if she asked?

Closing the case, she peered into the bathroom. It held a couple of large towels and men’s toiletries.

Why did he live here, she wondered, when he could live anywhere he wanted? He drove an expensive car, wore top of the line shirts, trousers, and boots. Surely he could afford a nice house, or at least a suite in a five-star hotel.

She should go home, she thought, returning to the living room, but she was reluctant to leave him. He looked vulnerable, lying there on the sofa. Helpless, although she knew he was neither.

She made a quick call to Ava, assuring her that she was fine and would be home later.

After ending the call, Lily glanced around, but there was nowhere to sit except the sofa. With a shrug, she conjured an easy chair, a book, and a candy bar, and spent the next two hours lost in a mystery written by one of her favorite authors.

Later, she changed out of her nightgown and into one of Raedan’s t-shirts, picked up her book, and went outside to sit in the sun. Odd, she mused, that a vampire would choose to live at the beach when he could never stretch out on the sand and get a tan. Did he miss the daylight? Or had he lived in darkness so long he no longer thought about it?

When the sun grew too warm, she conjured a beach umbrella, stretched out on her belly, and took a nap.

Ava reclined in the easy chair in her work room. Mason sat on the floor, his back against the wall, watching her. She had been sitting there, staring into the distance, since Lily called. There was a faraway look in her eyes that made him wonder what she was thinking. He knew asking would be a waste of breath. She wouldn’t tell him until she was ready.

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