Page 19 of Kiss of Light

Tala pushed him backwards.

“Okay, I get it. Sorry I asked. Stay here.”

“I need to leave. Now. This apartment reeks of blood and it’s making me…” he gestured at his face and she saw the glint of canine.

“Hold it together for one second. Can you do that?”

He nodded and she quickly went to Camille. The woman was unconscious but breathing. She’d lost a lot of blood and the puncture wounds in her neck were still oozing.

“I thought fang marks healed up after you stopped feeding?” Tala asked, puzzled.

“The coagulant is in our saliva. If we lick the wounds, they close up. But we only do that if we want the source to live.”

“Source? You mean victim.”

“Whatever.” His voice was strained and Tala saw his fists were tightly clenched. The smell of blood was making him crazy.

She walked back to him.

“I need your saliva then.”

He blinked, surprised.

“Sorry?”

“For her. Camille. To stop her bleeding out.”

“I can’t…” his voice was strangled.

“I’m not asking you to lick her neck, doofus. Lick my finger.”

Tala held up an index finger. Uncertainly, Lemar took it and held it to his lips.

“You certainly know how to distract me, shaitun,” he murmured. Then he slid her finger into his mouth.

His fangs were still partially unsheathed and she felt the sharp points graze her knuckles. He sucked slowly as he held her stare. Heat rushed to her cheeks and his eyes glittered in amusement.

She snatched her finger away and went to rub it over Camille’s neck wound. To her relief, the punctures closed and faded almost immediately.

“Let’s go,” she told Lemar. “I’ll call an ambulance on the way. She’ll be okay.”

She retrieved her blades and they left the apartment, taking the stairs to the lobby. Lemar grimaced when he saw the concierge still slumped on his desk.

“When I saw this, I rushed upstairs thinking they might have hurt Camille and found they were still in her apartment. She sold me out.”

“She wanted eternal life. She thought they could give it to her.”

“Damned vampire movies. They have a lot to answer for.”

They stepped into the street. Tala’s SUV was parked close by, the keys in the glovebox just as she’d left it. She opened the door.

“Get in.”

“Not a chance. I’m grateful for the rescue, but I was serious when I said I’m not going back to Palissandra.”

Tala dragged a hand through her hair.

“Look, it’s dawn in a couple of hours. Let’s find somewhere to hunker down before you get a serious case of sunburn. And then we’ll talk.”

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