Page 19 of Ouch! My Vampire Doms Don't Sparkle
If I could go back in time two nights, I would try to convince him to stay.He’s a stubborn asshole, though.It probably wouldn’t have worked.
Autumn is sleeping, curled up next to me in one of my t-shirts.I made the right call.She can’t be out in the city.It’s too dangerous.I need to keep her, protect her.
Her breathing is deep and even.The girl’s exhausted.Her blond hair curls about her face.Wild.Reserved.She’s a paradox—jaded, innocent, devilish, angelic.
I find a book about the crafting of the earliest Hawaiian surfboards.I cross-reference it with our library’s catalogue.We don’t have the book already, so I enter my credit card information and make the purchase.
The site’s algorithms point me to more books on the history of surfing.Several of them, we already own, but I find two more that we don’t.Xander will be annoyed.The surfing history room is his pet project.Sighing, I copy the link to the site and send it to him.It’s a peace offering.Will he take it?
From surfing history, I move to medieval weaponry books.It’s a more popular topic, meaning there is more to wade through.We have most of these.It’s a bust.
Fine.Contemporary Indian films.There are books, dissertations, and it’s a popular topic which is not fixed in history, so new volumes are constantly being produced.I find a couple of promising collections and browse through, selecting new books to house in The Corbin.
As I’m about to switch my search to midwifery, a thump sounds on the back door, across the hall from my office.
My mind instantly jumps to the day when Autumn pounded on the door, panicking because she had been seen.
But Autumn is safely in bed next to me.
There is no further sound.I start to settle back against the pillows and open the search bar on the book site.A niggling feeling of unease builds in me, though.
That thump.What caused it?
I can’t rest until I look.I must reassure myself that all is quiet.
Easing out of bed, I’m careful not to wake Autumn.I pull on a pair of jeans.Walk out of my room, through my office, across the hall to the door.
I open it, not expecting to find anything, but there’s a massive, unrecognizable form at my feet.It barely moves, groans something unintelligible.
The scent of old blood hits my nose at the same time I hear his low, anguished moan.His shirt has been ripped in places, like wild animals attacked him.I roll him over to see his face, but before I even get that far, I see the swirling, ancient tattoo on his bicep and shoulder.
This pathetic creature at my feet?
It’s Xander.
6
Autumn
“Autumn.”Will wakes me, shaking my shoulder.
I sit up and look around.The lights are dim.The basement windows, high up on the wall, show no light whatsoever.
“What is it?”I ask.“What time is it?”
“Just after midnight.There’s an emergency.”
I quickly swing my legs over the side of the bed, then stand, instantly awake.“What happened?”
“It’s Xander.”Will takes my hand and leads me through the office, then into the hallway.The cool, polished cement floor sends goosebumps up my bare legs.“He needs your help.”
“Yes.Of course.How can I—?”
The words get choked to nothing in my throat when I catch sight of the pitiful man slumped against the wall.
“Xander!”I cry, dropping to my knees beside him.His shirt is torn half-off.His eyes are slits, mostly closed but not entirely.There’s blood on his clothing, as well as some deep, nasty gashes over his torso, oozing more blood.The coppery-rotten tang of it fills the air.I have to stifle a gag.
Xander’s dark blond hair looks darker against his pale skin.His brows are furrowed, his mouth tightly closed.The muscles of his shoulders, bare where his shirt has been torn away, appear bunched with tension.I imagine that moving any part of himself, in any way, would mean pure agony.
