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When the last of his life’s blood had bled away, I turned to Kate, but she had slumped to the ground. Head back. Eyes glazed.
I felt a momentary spark of concern, however a quick check revealed that she had only fainted. Hardly surprising really, given what she had just witnessed. Shredding her bonds, I traced my thumb down her jawline and to her neck, fingering the pulse of her veins pumping hot blood just beneath the surface of her skin.
I mustn’t leave her here. If the law found her there, they would likely try to pin all the deaths on her. Girl slays three, possible self-defence, made a much better story in the papers than murdering vigilante on the loose, police baffled. If she tried to tell them what she saw, they’d just stick her in a madhouse. And if she didn’t, if by some miracle she got away, she’d probably end up there anyway.
She’d seen what lurked in the shadows, up close and in vivid gory detail. She might never get another night’s sleep again.
Or she might not live to see the dawn.
“Ahhh little rabbit, you’re proving to be a lot more trouble than I bargained for.” Rising to my feet, I scooped Kate into my arms and thought of home. “Typical woman.”
Together our bodies slipped into mist.
It was as if I was awakening from a dream.
Blinking through the blurriness, I found myself lying on an antique sofa in a large open room that was all leather, stone, and timber. High ceilings. Oil paintings and ancient tapestries upon the walls. Timber furnishings. It was as if someone had built a medieval fortress straight from the pages of history, and it all culminated in the lord’s chair in the centre of the room. A high wingback. A leather cushioned throne.
Lucian sat in it like he was born to that chair, eased back with one leg crossed, drinking a tumbler of ruby red, a man completely at ease and in control of his surroundings. The master of all he surveyed.
Except he was no man.
He was watching me. He didn’t show it, but I could feel his eyes on me, observing my every move the way a wolf eyed a deer.
Panic’s cold fingers encircled my heart. Oh God. Where am I?
There were three doors in sight, but all were too far away. I’d never make it to one before he’d be upon me, and even if I could, I had no way of knowing which led out of this place. The only window was closed and opened out into blackness. How high could we be? Almost certainly too high for me to survive the fall but would that matter if-
“Ah!” I screamed and almost fell over the back of the sofa in fright as Lucian seemed to just materialise before my eyes, so close we were almost nose to nose. I’d never seen anyone move so fast. Hell, I hadn’t even seen him moving so fast. It was as if he’d moved faster than light. But that was impossible, wasn’t it?
He put a calming hand on my shoulder. His expression was impassive, but there was warmth in his eyes. It soothed my panic. “Shhh…You’re safe. You fainted, I brought you here to rest until you recovered.”
I had to fight to keep my fear from my voice. “And you couldn’t take me to a hospital because-”
“They ask too many questions.”
I swallowed. “What are you?” Each word was like a stone in my throat as my belly twisted in dread of the answer.
“I think you know.”
“Say it,” I pressed him. “Tell me!”
“A vampire.”
And there it was. The answer I had been expecting, dreading, and craving.
It was ridiculous of course, and if I hadn’t seen him, I’d have thought he was off his meds. But I had seen him, and I believed it. I believed him. I believed my eyes and what I’d seen.
“And you killed those men.”
“Three of them, yes. The fourth ran, but he won’t get far.” He said it like it was something as every day as remarking on the weather.
“Good.” I made no effort to keep the satisfaction from my voice.
He arched a brow. He might have taught the move to Roger Moore himself; it was as natural to him as a bird taking to the air. “Good?”
“They murdered my brother.”
His lips pressed together and curled in one corner. “You’re welcome.”
