Page 10 of Enchant the Dawn

As though reading his thoughts, she said, “How is Quill?”

“Same as always,” he said with an easy smile. “In love with my mother.”

Something that might have been jealousy smoldered in the depths of the vampire’s eyes and was quickly gone.

“Just how well did you know my father?”

“Intimately.”

Dominic lifted one brow. “You were friends?”

“Not exactly. He destroyed my coven and tried to kill me,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “But it was a long time ago.”

“I hope you’re not looking for revenge.”

“Not right now. Why have you come to New Orleans?”

“That’s my business, and it has nothing to do with you.” He stilled as there was a shift in the atmosphere of the room, a sense of movement in the dark, of malevolence. “Thanks for the wine,” he said and willed himself out of the bar and back to Maddy’s house.

Dominic strolled around the grounds, then settled down on the front porch swing. He wondered why Claret had followed Maddy’s scent home. Did the vampire mean her harm? Or had she assumed she would find him there?

Closing his eyes, he listened to the soft, steady sound of Maddy’s breathing as he inhaled her sleep-warmed scent and imagined her in his arms. In his bed.

Damn, he thought with a wry grin. He felt like a horny teenager with his first crush.

Hopefully, this affair would last longer and have a happier ending.

* * *

At dawn, Dominic returned to the rented house he shared with his great-grandmother. He was surprised to find her awake and sitting on the sofa, an ancient grimoire open on her lap.

“You’re up early,” he remarked, dropping down beside her.

“So are you.” She put the heavy book aside. “Where have you been?”

“I spent the night with Maddy.”

Her brows shot up. “You just met the girl and you’re already spending the night?”

“It’s not what you’re thinking,” he said with a laugh. “I slept on the front porch.”

“What on earth for?”

“Do you know a Transylvanian vampire named Claret?”

Ava stared at him. “In a manner of speaking. Don’t tell me you met her?”

“She bit me.”

“Stars above! She’s a vicious creature. She captured your parents years ago. Kept your father in a cage and fed off of him. She threatened to give your mother to her coven.”

“How did they get away?”

She fluffed her hair with one hand. “How do you think?”

“Ava to the rescue?”

“Indeed. I freed your father and then turned the warlock who had been helping Claret into a rather large, ugly vulture.” She smiled at the memory. “Unfortunately, someone has released Jasper from my spell.”

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