Page 107 of Trapped By the Blood Ruby

“The witches?”

“No.”

“Other demons?”

“No.”

I sighed, turning to Laurent. “Can I talk to you out there?”

He led me out, shutting the door behind him.

“Clearly I’m new to this whole world. You probably got more from that than I did. Can you control yourself enough to get answers from his blood, or should I keep picking away at him?”

“Fine,” he said. “But I don’t want you in there for it.”

“Why not?” I lifted my chin. “Afraid I’ll see something I haven’t already.” His lips pressed into a thin line. “All right, fine. Just…find out why his master wants me.”

“I already have an idea.”

“Then see if you can confirm it. I’ll…leave you to it.”

He stared at me a moment longer, then disappeared through the door. I waited until the screaming started, then I fled.

I needed something to cleanse my mind of what Laurent was doing downstairs. In the drawing room, I recovered my sheet music. I sat down at the piano and looked it over. Laurent had admitted to writing it. I had been curious about the lack of composer listed. He’d titled it Dark Moon. It was fourteen pages long with a lot of repetitions, but slow and mournful. It’s like he’d known exactly what I’d needed after my ordeal with the witches.

I began to play. I’d been playing almost every day since Laurent gave me this piece. I tried not to think about the other vampires listening, focusing entirely on the notes. Page by page, time slipped away. With each measure, I noticed more things about the music that I hadn’t before.

A shoe scuffed against the floor—intentional when it came to vampires. I caught sight of Hassan creeping into the room and pretended not to notice, but my lips twitched.

He took a seat on a nearby sofa. After playing through the song twice, I sifted through the storage compartment in the bench before starting on another. This one was above my skill level, so it was a disaster. Hassan didn’t seem to mind. He stuck it out for quite a while. When he finally slipped away, the drawing room felt too quiet.

Then I felt Laurent’s presence. Having his blood gave me a stronger awareness of him, especially when he was nearby. As if my body recognized his nearness and came to life. My heart beat faster, my skin pricked, my breaths turned shallower.

After yesterday, even my core reacted, making my panties damp.

He stood in the doorway. I didn’t turn to look. Not yet. Instead, I flipped back to the beginning of my music and started over. The song came out a little better this time, except for one problematic section. My fingers kept snagging on the black keys. I ran through it again and again, trying to work out the kinks, but it only got worse. Frustrated, I groaned and slapped the keys, making the most awful noise, then dropped my hands into my lap.

Laurent’s low chuckle made me turn. He came to stand beside the piano, running his hand down the back of my head, fingers trailing through my hair. Then he leaned forward and looked at the part I was struggling through. I could smell the delicious scent of him.

“Hmm. Yes. Tricky section.” He straightened.

I swiveled, looking up at him. Not a hair out of place. Like he hadn’t finished torturing a demon. “What did you discover?”

His hand dropped and he walked over to the sofa, sinking down. “Things are more complicated than I expected.” His head lolled back, eyes falling closed. I looked at the masculine lines of his throat, the bulge of his Adam’s apple as it bobbed.

He was so nice to look at. The thought made my skin flush. I pushed it aside.

“I’m expecting a call from Bastian any minute,” Laurent added. “I don’t want to draw any conclusions until Dr. Kennedy has had chance to look into the ruby.”

“That’s the artifact she’s researching?”

“The very same.”

“And you think it’s responsible for what’s happening to your family?”

“It is my only lead, but I know next to nothing about it.”

“What do you know?”