AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He lovingly turned a page, and it crackled like the peel of an onion. “I think perhaps this is something you will appreciate. ”
Here it comes. I couldn’t fight the curiosity—I had to glimpse what was in store. Adrenaline dumped into my veins, making me jittery and chilled, but still I managed to inch ever so slightly closer to him on the couch. Must know. “What is it?”
“It is a rare text, written by one of my favorite mathematicians. ”
Huh? Total disconnect. I gaped, trying to adjust what I’d thought would happen with the reality. “Mathematician?”
He paused for a subtle dramatic flourish. “Archimedes. ”
“Wait, what?” Archimedes was born in something-crazy BC—the book would’ve been as old as dirt, not buried in it. I sucked in a breath, the inconceivable truth blotting all other thoughts from my head. “Holy cr…crow. That’s older than Christ. ”
His black eyes pinned me in my seat. When he spoke, his voice was gravelly and confiding. “I knew that, of all the others, you would most understand. ”
Ru-roh. I inched back to my original spot on the couch, chilled again to my bones. That had sounded really personal, and it seemed to me personal was a thing one did not get with vampires. “Y-yes. ” I did a quick scan of my memory banks. “The text must be twenty-two hundred years old. ”
Was that why he’d taken an interest in me? Because I could chat math facts with him?
“Older than that,” he said triumphantly. “I have discerned other writings on these pages that are more ancient still. ”
I almost scooted closer on the couch—the nerd in me couldn’t help but be fascinated. My mind raced with the possibilities—what else might be written on pages more ancient than the Bible?
But then my heart skipped a beat as I remembered why I was there.
I was in trouble, and I had no clue when the repercussions would begin.
He placed the tray down with a clack, startling me from my reverie. “Enough of my interests. ” Adjusting his body, he faced me on the couch and reached his arms toward me. I could only stare dumbly. “Your hands, Acari Drew. I told you I would attend to your hands. ”
Oh crap.
I held my right hand out, chagrined to watch it tremble ever so slightly. I could hope he wouldn’t notice my fear, but I knew vampires didn’t miss a thing.
He edged closer and took my hand in his.
Here we go.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I forced myself to focus on what Alcántara was saying—something about ancient Greece—rather than on the fact that he held a part of my body cradled in his cool palms.
It took a conscious effort not to ball my hand into a fist. Hand injuries were tough—the wounds were trying to clot, but they kept splitting back open, and even though I’d washed them at the dorm, they still oozed dark red. All that smeared blood made me feel exposed.
He traced his finger along my palm—in the path of the deepest cut. A creepy feeling wiggled up my spine, both prickly and warm at the same time.
If Alcántara could tell how terrified I was, he didn’t let on. Instead, he just kept talking, his voice a soothing, Spanish-accented lull. “…And Archimedes was the greatest of them,” he was saying.
Greatest of…mathematicians, Greeks, what? I tried to tune in, holding on to his words as a way to normalize the situation—to stop that disturbing cold-hot that was spreading its way deep into my belly. I forced a stiff nod. “Yes, Archimedes. Ahead of his time. ”
“Would that I could have known him. ”
Ohmygod. Alcántara was leaning in. Dipping his head closer to my hand, like a dog about to sniff. Or lick. Oh God.
His lips parted.
Oh please no, a little girl voice keened deep inside me. He wouldn’t lick my palm, would he? I wanted to pull away, but the vampire’s cool grip tensed ever so slightly.
“Are you familiar with his work?” His breath was hot on my broken skin. His eyes, focused on my bloody cuts. Was he going to feed from me? My belly roiled with terror and revulsion.
No he won’t. No he won’t. No he won’t. I tried to will him to keep his mouth away from my open skin. My heart was pounding so hard now, I felt the pulse throbbing in my head.
