Page 33 of Awakened Light

“I can take care of myself.” She smiled as she lit up a little fireball in her hand.

I laughed. “I know you can. But there are some nasty vampires on this block. They aren’t like my family. These are the monsters you’ve heard of all your life, and I don’t want you to get hurt. So just walk down the street using your magic to figure out which building she’s in, then keep walking, and Lothaire will meet you up the road two blocks.”

“Okay. I’ll see you when I’m done.”

We stared at each other for a moment, and my gaze slid down to her lips. It was almost impossible to keep myself from reaching across the car and pulling her in for a kiss I’d never want to come up from.

Instead of doing what I wanted, I just smiled and said, “I’ll be watching you. Be careful.”

Catrain smiled back, then turned to the door. After a moment, she turned back. “How do I get out?”

“Oh, shit,” I laughed and pointed to my door handle. “Just pull on that metal thing.”

She gave it a tug, and the door opened, causing her to smile wide.

“Be safe,” I whispered as she climbed out.

When the door closed and separated us, I considered racing out to her side to walk beside her. But everyone in Clan Lennox would recognize me in an instant, and I’d blow our entire plan. Instead, I sat poised and ready to act while I watched her out the front window.

Catrain strolled down the street looking more natural than I’d expected. If she was in awe of her surroundings, she hid it well. She’d told me how she’d perform the spell as she walked, and that it didn’t require any obvious magic. All she needed to do was hold Annella’s earring in her hand while she chanted, and it would gently pull her where she needed to go.

My heart pounded in my chest as she got a full block away. I knew I could make it to her in under a second, but there were also vampires around here who could do the same. And a beautiful woman walking alone on a street was an easy target for any man with loose morals... especially a vampire lacking them.

Which described every member of Clan Lennox.

“I’m close,” I heard her whisper. “It’s pulling me to the left. I think it’s this building across the street or the next one.”

I wanted to tell her not to get any closer and to keep walking, but she couldn’t hear me like I could hear her.

Instead of continuing straight, she crossed the quiet street and moved closer to the three-story stone buildings lining the road.

“Dammit, Cat,” I whispered under my breath. If she thought Annella was in one of those buildings, then it also meant the vampires would be nearby. “Don’t get close to them.”

Catrain kept walking until she made it to the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road. “It’s this building here,” she whispered as she passed by.

I held my breath while she kept walking, glad she followed our instructions to locate the building and keep moving. But as she moved passed the building, a tall, dark-haired man stepped out in front of her.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said as she kept moving.

I reached for my door handle, prepared to flash to her side and rip out his throat if he dared lay a hand on her.

Catrain ignored him and side-stepped his large frame. Instead of letting her go around, he spun around and stepped behind her.

“I’m okay, don’t come,” she whispered, and I knew it was for me.

“What?” the man asked.

“Nothing. Leave me be,” she said as she kept walking.

I practically shook in my skin wanting to race to save her, but I heard her once again.

“Stay. Put. I’m okay.”

“Are you talking to me?” he asked.

“No. Go away.” Her small hand closed into a fist, and I watched intently, prepared to make my move the second she needed me.

Was this a Clan Lennox vampire? A shady human? Unfortunately, vampires couldn’t detect one another. We didn’t have beacons over our heads declaring our condition. Unless we chose to show our true nature, vampires smelled, looked, and seemed entirely human. And even if we could sense one another, the distance to the one following Catrain would be too great to know for sure. I watched him closely for any signs he was one of my kind, knowing if he was, I’d have little time to respond if he decided to make a snack out of her.