In the Dark. Jen Colly

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СКАЧАТЬ probably give up on her hair and point it at her feet. Leaning against the wall again, she tipped her head upside down and rubbed the already wet towel over her hair vigorously, drying it as best she could.

      Her breathing came in short, labored bursts. As she stopped drying her hair and lifted her head, her vision darkened, and she let the towel fall. Blindly searching with her hands for something solid, she fell against the wall with a thud and slid to the floor.

      Chapter 2

      She lay on the bed before him, her small frame perfect. Soren had piled several blankets on her, helping her body keep its warmth. He gently repositioned her arms and pulled the blankets over her shoulders. This was the second time he’d carried her unconscious. She hadn’t spoken yet. He was beginning to worry.

      Not wanting to leave her alone, he picked up her black purse and sat in the only chair in the room, silently praying the rickety thing wouldn’t collapse with him in it.

      He looked again through the few contents of her purse. She was without a doubt the most unprepared woman he’d ever run across. Holding up her license, he compared it to her. He shifted carefully in his chair. What was it that drew him? Vampires could be any shape, size, and skin tone, but each one had jet-black hair. And so did she. Since he’d been a fledgling, he hadn’t been crazy over the color, but now that hers had dried, he wanted to bury his hands in that dark mass of hair.

      What he wanted more, was to bite her again. And he could have her, do anything he wanted with her. She was his by law. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment then stood and left the room, closing the door softly behind him, closing her off from his sight. Shifted his shoulders, rolled his head from side to side, but nothing eased his restlessness. Thirst sated, he did not need more blood. Regardless, he seemed to want it. And he wanted it from her.

      It must be a simple biological reaction, possibly rebelling from deprivation. Being a full grown male, he would require sustenance every six months. He’d been pushing a year. The events of tonight had made it quite obvious why feeding should be done every six months, despite personal reasons for avoidance.

      If he were going to stay in that room with her, watch over her, he would have to find something else to do with his teeth.

      On the counter in the modest kitchen lay a bowl of small, round apples. Thankful to have something solid to sink his teeth into, he took two.

      The door opened and Gustav entered, having had no trouble with the temperamental latch. Gustav spared him only a glance before beginning the ritual of replacing his weapons in their proper places. He stuffed his gun into the silverware drawer, along with several small throwing knives that Soren was certain he also used for meals.

      “Eating me out of house and home again?” Gustav asked, as he mounted his short sword on the wall behind the couch. A deadly decoration.

      “I wouldn’t be hungry if you hadn’t taken so long,” he said.

      “Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve had to deal with these bastards? I’m lucky Geoff still has his van. I’d like to see you dispose of two bodies in under an hour.” Gustav snorted as he removed his jacket, then walked past him, headed for his room.

      Three solid seconds later, Gustav marched from his bedroom.

      “Oh, come on. You put her in my bed?” he whispered harshly.

      “Back off.”

      Gustav let out an irritated sigh. “What happened tonight?”

      “I don’t know.” Soren looked at the door she was hidden behind. “I just wasn’t thinking.”

      Gustav crossed his arms, unmoving. “You’re always thinking. You’ve got it all planned out.”

      “Not tonight,” he said, avoiding his friend’s steady stare.

      “So when you said she’s mine up there, you were being literal.” Gustav still studied his face, his reactions.

      “Yes. She knows what I am, what I took from her. I’m sure of it.” He could not let a human wander the world with knowledge of vampires. To do so meant the death of thousands of his kind. Their laws limited him to two simple choices. Keep her or kill her.

      Gustav shrugged. “I could kill her if you want. Then it’s not a problem anymore.”

      Soren glared at him.

      Gustav’s jaw dropped. “You’re really keeping that bit of human.”

      “I can’t explain it. It’s been so long since I’ve fed, and I want more,” he said, ignoring his friend’s shocked expression and going to the door. “I need to think. Watch her.”

      He had enough to deal with right now, and explaining his thoughts and feelings to Gustav was not on his list.

      “She better not wake up,” Gustav grumbled.

      Holding the door open, he paused. “Warn your lord about the demons.”

      “He knows,” Gustav said, and Soren shut the door behind him.

      The sharpness of the door closing sounded somehow final. Halfway up the stairs he stopped, fighting the urge to return. He didn’t want to leave the human.

      Faith. He didn’t want to leave Faith. The more he thought of her, the more anxious he became. What if she woke? She didn’t know Gustav, and might be frightened. If she became hysterical, his friend would probably shut her in the bathroom. It sounded completely preposterous, except for the fact that Gustav became irritable when something new was thrown his way, and tended to act on impulse.

      He headed back down the stairs. She’d already faced two demons and his less than admirable attentions. One of Gustav’s tirades would scar her for life. He opened the bedroom door and Gustav looked up at him, a smile curving beneath his goatee.

      “Back so soon?” Gustav said in mock innocence.

      “Get out.”

      “I see why you want to keep her, and why you crave her. She’s stunning.” His rich, mirthful laughter rang through the room.

      Soren pulled the card key to Faith’s hotel room from her wallet and shoved it into his friend’s hand. “Go find her things.”

      “With pleasure,” Gustav said with a cocky smile, and smacked the small wooden arms of the chair as he practically leaped out of it. “I can’t really blame you—”

      “Out,” he snapped.

      * * * *

      The springs in the mattress creaked, bringing her slowly around. After prying her eyelids open one at a time, Faith looked around the room. She lay in bed, her head throbbed, and the dim light was bright enough to compound her headache with stinging darts of pain. She couldn’t see much, but from what she gathered, the only thing to see was an odd wooden chair with some kind of canvas holding it together.

      Again, the springs in the mattress creaked, but this time she’d been awake enough to realize she hadn’t moved. Someone sat on the edge of the bed.

      She tried to sit slowly, not liking the vulnerability СКАЧАТЬ