AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But the demon doesn’t put up a fight. It just stares at me for a moment, then removes its claws, one by one. The girl gasps, her hands flying to her chest where blood seeps over her fingers.
Then the demon goes back down on all fours and saunters off into the shadows, the clicking of its nails on the stone fading as it disappears.
The girl looks at the blood on her palms and then eyes me sharply, a darkness coming over her expression, reminding me of what I tasted in her tears. “Nice pet,” she says stiffly.
“It let you loose, didn’t it?”
“Are you okay, Rose?” Van Helsing asks, and she nods. Of course the doctor is always so caring and considerate. Makes me look like a real asshole for not asking.
You are a real asshole, I remind myself.That demon would have shredded her to pieces and the truth is you probably wouldn’t even blink.
I sigh internally. Once upon a time I remember being someone who would care, but that person seems so removed from me now, it’s like it happened in another life, to someone else.
And yet I did choose Rose. I told the demon that she’s mine.
Now, what to do with my new possession?
But it is the middle of the night and I am tired, having talked and drank with Van Helsing into the wee hours. All this excitement has me riled up and yet I know I won’t perform at my best with her if I don’t get some sleep.
“Well, I best be off to bed,” I say, clapping my hands together. “That’s enough excitement for one night.”
“Please don’t make me sleep back in that room,” Rose says softly, averting her eyes to the floor.
I fold my arms across my chest as I appraise her. I can’t seem to figure her out. One moment she’s gazing at me with affection, the next she’s hard, the next she’s aching in her vulnerability. It’s making me feel things I shouldn’t be feeling, and I ignore the faint pinch in my chest, this compulsion of wanting to protect her.
“She can stay with me,” Van Helsing offers, a little too enthusiastically.
I cock my brow and eye him over my shoulder. “What?”
He raises his hands. “Why not?” he asks.I know she sure as hell isn’t staying with you, he adds in his head.
He’s got a point. I always sleep alone, and my bedroom is always off limits. I never let anyone over the threshold.
It’s where I keep the book.
I look over at Rose, and she’s staring at me with hope in her eyes. She wants to share his bed tonight. Whether it’s out of a fear or for other reasons—after all I don’t actually know if she and the doctor have anything going on between them—I can’t let that happen. Not after I made a big show to the demon that the girl is mine and no one else’s.
“I don’t think so,” I eventually say, and I watch the disappointment and fear cloud Rose’s eyes as I walk over to her. I grab her by the elbow, my fingers digging into her sweater on the off-chance she decides to run. “You want to stay here? This is part of the package deal.”
She gives Van Helsing a worried look as I lead her out of the room and up the stairs, back to the bedroom.
“Please don’t make me go back in there,” she says, her words trembling. “Please.”
“The demon likes you,” I say into her ear, catching the scent of her shampoo, that floral scent that instantly makes me hard. “I don’t think you have too much to worry about.”
“But there are…there are ghosts…of things from my past.”
I pull her to a stop and peer down at her. The nearest light, a candle in a sconce, is further down the hall, putting her face into shadow. Here her features look harder, but her eyes remain wet and vulnerable, the light from the far-off flames flickering in them.
“What do you mean you’ve seen things from your past?” I ask.
She licks her lips and she’s thinking something over and I try to push myself into her mind. But there’s a wall there, solid black and as strong as the doors fortifying this castle. This girl knows how to protect herself. Another thing I find intriguing.
“What did you see?” I prod.
She swallows hard and I’m distracted by the way her throat moves. I have this brief urge to sink my teeth into the sweet soft flesh of her jugular and I don’t know where that comes from since I’ve never been into drinking from other vampires.
“I saw…a baby,” she says, and the word comes out in a hush.
