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"What do you mean?" He bristled at the thought of her getting anywhere near the man. "You're not going anywhere without me. I won't risk that."
She shook her head. "I mean, maybe I can tell you if Keaton was bitten during the attack." At his answering scowl, she said, "I still have Rachel's bracelet."
"Where?"
"Here, with me. It's in my purse in the other room."
"I need you to go get it, Savannah. Now."
Chapter 13
Savannah woke up from an unusually heavy doze, in bed alone.
How long had she been asleep? Her head felt thick, like she was coming out of a light anesthesia.
Where was Gideon?
She called out to him, but the empty house was silent. Pushing herself up from the mattress, she made a bleary-eyed scan of the dark bedroom. "Gideon?"
No response.
"Gideon, where are you?"
She sat up and tossed the sheet away from her. Turned on the bedside lamp. On the pillow next to her lay a piece of paper. A note scribbled on the back of the unused bus ticket that had been in her purse. The handwriting was crisp, precise, forward-tilting and bold--just like him.
Sorry had to do it like this. You're safe here. Back soon.
Savannah looked around the bedroom. Gideon's clothes were gone. His boots and weapons. Every last trace of him, gone.
She knew where he went.
Through the fog of whatever he'd done to her, she recalled his explosive reaction when she'd used Rachel's bracelet for another glimpse of the vampire attack that night in Professor Keaton's office.
Keaton had been bitten, just as Gideon suspected.
No longer the man he was, but a slave to the command of his vampire Master.
An individual Gideon seemed hellbent to find.
He had nearly climbed the walls with restless energy as the afternoon dragged on outside the house. He couldn't wait to get out of there. He'd paced anxiously, waiting for the chance to head out and confront Keaton, then hunt for the Minion's Master.
Savannah had wanted to go with him, but his refusal had been harsh and unswerving. He'd been adamant that she stay right where she was, leave him to deal with the situation as he saw fit--alone. Or with his brethren of the Order, if necessary.
It wasn't until she had insisted she wouldn't stay behind, digging her heels in with determination equal to his own that he finally gentled.
He'd kissed her tenderly. Brought her into the shelter of his arms, and carefully touched his palm to her forehead. Then...>"I thought he really liked me. He had his pick of anyone he wanted in school, and he'd just broken up with the prettiest, most popular girl in my class. But there he was, pursuing me." She sighed softly, still moving her finger along the curve of Gideon's dermaglyphs, whose color was rising not in desire again, but anger for her pain. "We went on a few dates, and after several weeks, he started pressuring me to take things further with him. I was a virgin. I wanted to wait until I met the right one, you know?"
Gideon caressed her arm, letting her talk, while inside he knew where this was heading and he didn't like it.
"Finally, I gave in," she said. "We had sex, and it was awful. It hurt. He was clumsy and rough."
Gideon growled. He didn't want to imagine her with another man, let alone one who would be so careless with her.
"We dated for a couple of months afterward," she went on. "Danny never treated me any better. He just took what he wanted from me. After a while, I started hearing rumors that he had been calling his old girlfriend again. That he was only with me to make her jealous. They got back together, and I didn't even know about it until I saw them making out at one of his games. He never cared about me at all. He pretended to be one thing with me, but the whole time we were together, he was only using me to get something he really wanted."
"Bastard," Gideon snarled. He was pulsing with fury, wanting nothing better than to teach the little asshole a lesson. Throttle the human son of a bitch for hurting her. "Savannah, I'm sorry."
"It's okay." She shook her head where it rested against his chest. "I learned from it. It made me more careful. More protective of myself, of my heart. And then you came along..."
