Page 32 of Kiss of Light

Her voice was steady with conviction and he felt a flash of gratitude. He turned to face her.

“Why didn’t you do that shimmering trick when I had you in my grip?”

She frowned.

“Do you know, I never even thought of it. I guess I just trusted you’d come to your senses and not go allgrron me.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“A vampire rage is slightly more intimidating than ‘grr’, I’ll have you know.”

“Yeah. But I really hate fighting in my underwear so I’m glad you’ve chilled.”

He ran his eye appreciatively along her bare legs.

“Nowthatwould be a sight worth dying for.”

“And on that note, we’d better get going. We have a lot of ground to cover.” She made to get up but Lemar caught her hand.

“Thank you for not turning away from me, shaitun. I… I have not spoken of my sins in such a long time.”

“You’re not the only one with sins to atone for.”

“I doubt yours are as heinous as mine.”

She sighed.

“Let’s make a deal. We don’t have to like each other. But we need to trust each other. Just until Colorado.”

He nodded slowly.

“Just until Colorado.”

Tala turned away from him and pulled on her jeans. He saw, for the first time, that she too carried a mark. A tattoo, low down on her back where the curve of her buttocks began. An ankh, symbolising immortal life.

All shaitun carried it. It may not have been burned into her skin by an angry father, but she was branded just as much as he was.

Tala went into the bathroom, grabbing her phone on the way. Why the hell hadn’t the damn thing woken her up before sunset? She groaned when she saw the battery was dead.

Fuck. The power socket must have been broken. It hadn’t charged.

She brushed her teeth and took a shower, giving Lemar enough time to get dressed. The hot water played on her body and she closed her eyes, remembering the brief moment when Lemar’s face had been pressed to her pelvis.

Why hadn’t she shimmered? It was a fair question. Especially when she was in danger, her demon instincts usually kicked in before she even thought about it.

Clearly her instincts were on the fritz when it came to Lemar.

She washed her hair and got out of the shower, towelling off and dressing rapidly. She plaited her hair to keep it out of the way while it dried. She looked at her watch.

Already one hour after sunset. They were late. She walked into the bedroom to tell Lemar they had to get on the road, but her voice died.

Lemar was standing motionless, his hands secured with metal cuffs. In front of him, pointing a Glock straight at his chest, was a large man with a scar over one eye.

He grinned when he saw Tala.

“Hey there, Blondie. Miss me?”

Thirteen

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