Page 7 of Dead to Rights
Finn shrugged, the movement stretching the white cotton of his tee across his broad chest. “Where else is she going to go?”
It seemed unlikely, but since he couldn’t argue with the logic, he simply nodded and followed Finn past the bakery and down the narrow alley.
“That her?”
Noah shook his head, a surprised chuckle puffing from his lips. “Yeah, that’s her.”
Standing at the edge of the embankment, her hair flowing down her back like some wild river goddess, the female vampirestared out over the water. Just the way she had the first time he’d seen her, and that eerie stillness about her still unnerved him.
Finn didn’t respond. He didn’t move either. Instead, he seemed frozen, rooted to the sand, his eyes narrowed as they stared into the distance. Tension gathered in his shoulders, and something in the way he carried himself shifted.
“Everything okay?” he asked, his gaze going back and forth between the vampires. “Do you know her?”
“I don’t reckon so.” His brow furrowed, and his nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply through his nose. “There’s something familiar about her, though.”
“Familiar how?”
Finn hesitated before shaking his head. “Just a feeling.”
Okay, this was getting weird. Maybe they should have brought Orrin along after all.
Before he could suggest they turn around and head back to the diner, however, he found himself face to face with a petite baby vamp. One second, she had been standing by the water. The next, she was directly in front of them, staring up at Finn with the biggest blue eyes he had ever seen. The color of polished sapphire, they dominated her pixie-like face, sparking with pure mania.
Bane really hadn’t been lying. This close, she really did look crazy.
“Finn,” she breathed, an entire world of longing in that one syllable.
“Ma’am,” Finn responded, tipping an invisible hat at her. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“Finn,” she repeated, stepping closer to crowd against him. “I finally found you.”
Chapter three
Despitethesenseoffamiliarity about her, Finn was certain he’d never met this woman before that moment. She sure seemed to know him, though.
Leaning into him, she rested her hand on his chest, her slender fingers splayed over his heart. “I knew you’d wait for me.”
“Not to be rude, but I don’t even know who you are.”
He covered her hand with his own, gripping it gently as he tried to remove it. Rather than recognizing it as a boundary, however, she smiled brightly and flipped her hand over to link their fingers together as if she thought that had been his intention.
Finn grunted, taken off balance by the strength and desperation in her grip. He cleared his throat, determined to reestablish some semblance of sanity in the night’s sudden detour.
“I’m pretty sure you’re confusing me with someone else,” he said, his voice gentle but firm.
“You really don’t remember me?” she whispered, her eyes wide and searching, as though the truth would materialize if she only willed it hard enough. “The pond, the full moon—”
He shook his head slowly. “Sorry, but I think you have the wrong guy.”
She huffed and stamped her foot, her bottom lip sliding out into a pronounced pout. Then almost as quickly, the irritation vanished, and that wild, frantic energy returned, now dialed up to an eleven.
“That’s okay. I know you haven’t really forgotten me. Not deep down.”
He shot a glance over the top of her head, hoping for clarity, or maybe just backup, but Noah didn’t seem to know what to make of her behavior either. Instead, he shook his head, and while he didn’t say anything, the concern in his hazel eyes spoke volumes.
Their silent communication didn’t go unnoticed, nor did it appear to be appreciated.
“Who are you?” the vampire demanded, her babyish tone from moments before replaced by pure ice as her grip tightened painfully on Finn’s hand.
