Night's Touch. Amanda Ashley

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      “No.” The word was little more than a whisper. She peered at him through the darkness. What was there about him that attracted her so? She hardly knew him, yet he had been constantly in her thoughts since the moment they met. “My father will have a heart attack if he comes in and finds you out there.”

      “I doubt it,” he said dryly. “Besides, he’s not home.”

      “How do you know?” She glanced at the clock beside her bed. It was three AM. Where would her father be at such an hour?

      She thought Vince shrugged, though she couldn’t be sure. It was silly to sit here in the dark, she thought, and turned on the light on the bedside table. “You might as well come in.”

      “You sure?”

      “I’m sure.”

      He pushed the door open all the way and stepped inside.

      Cara looked up at him, her eyes widening. “You’re bleeding!”

      “What?”

      “There,” she said, pointing, “on your lower lip.”

      He wiped it away, thinking he would have to be more careful when he fed in the future. “I guess it’s too late to go for a walk.”

      She laughed softly. “Just a little. Besides, I’m not dressed for a midnight stroll.”

      “Can I see you tomorrow night?”

      “I’d like that.”

      He liked it that she didn’t play hard to get, and that she didn’t hold a grudge for the shoddy way he had treated her at the club. “What time should I pick you up?”

      “Nine, at the library.”

      “What are you, a bookworm?”

      “No, I’m a librarian.”

      “Really? I don’t think I’ve ever met a librarian before.”

      “I love books. It’s the perfect place to work.”

      “So, what does a librarian do?”

      “Since our library is small, I do a little bit of everything.”

      “Like what?”

      “Well, I read book reviews and publishers’ announcements and catalogues to keep informed on current literature. I buy books from publishers and distributors. I keep an eye on Sarah Beth, who’s my assistant, and make sure she keeps our database up to date. I’m in charge of the story hour, and sometimes I invite authors to come and speak. When there’s nothing else to do, I help put books away.”

      “Sounds like you’re pretty busy.”

      “Most of the time, but I like it that way.”

      He nodded. “So, where would you like to go tomorrow night?”

      “Any place is fine with me.”

      “How about a late movie?”

      She nodded. She didn’t care where they went, so long as they were together. She gazed up at him, willing him to kiss her, disappointed once again when he didn’t.

      Tomorrow night, she thought; she would get that kiss tomorrow night or know the reason why!

      Roshan paused in the shadows and drew his wife into his arms. “It’s a beautiful night. Why do you look so glum?”

      “I’m worried about Cara.”

      “Still?”

      “I can’t shake the feeling that something terrible is going to happen.”

      “What do you mean?” He had great respect for his wife’s intuition. “Is she in danger?”

      “I don’t know. I just have this bad feeling and I can’t shake it. It’s dark energy…” She shivered. “Like Loken’s. I always felt dirty when I was around him and that’s how this feels.” She looked up at him, her eyes wide and scared. “You don’t think he’s come back from the dead?”

      “Brenna.”

      “I know, I’m being silly, but…I want to go out to the lab.”

      “Why?”

      “I just need to see it, to prove he’s not there.”

      “All right, if it will make you feel better.”

      A thought took them across town to the laboratory. Roshan sensed the magical energy that surrounded the place immediately.

      “Someone’s been out here,” he said. “They’ve put a protective spell around the building.”

      “Can we cross it?” Brenna asked.

      “I don’t know.”

      He dissolved into mist and tried to slip under the door, but the spell was strong and it pushed him out. After resuming his own form, he walked around the perimeter of the building. In addition to the protective spell, the threshold shimmered with power. The lab wasn’t a home, but someone loved the building and what it contained. Combined with the protective spell, it made a powerful, impassable barrier, one he couldn’t cross even though he had been there before.

      “Now I’m really worried,” Brenna said. “Who would be interested in this place?” She frowned thoughtfully. Who indeed? Before Myra had showed her true colors, Brenna had spent a lot of time in her bookstore. Brenna had seen the way Serafina Bouchard looked at Anthony Loken when she thought no one was watching, but that seemed pretty far-fetched. Loken had been dead for over twenty years. That was a long time to carry a torch, especially for a dead man.

      “Come on,” Roshan said, taking her by the hand, “let’s go home and check on our girl.”

      Cara was sleeping peacefully, as Roshan had known she would be. He was about to leave the room when his nostrils twitched with the scent of vampire.

      Hands clenched, he glanced around the room. Not only was there a new vampire in his city, but the man had been in his house—in his daughter’s bedroom, this very night.

      Moving closer to the bed, Roshan examined Cara’s throat and neck, relieved that there were no telltale bite marks. Of course, not all vampires drank from the same place. Some preferred a vein in the wrist, others liked the inside of an elbow, or the inner thigh where the marks were not so obvious.

      Leaving the room, he went downstairs to tell Brenna to keep listening to her feelings.

      Eager to see Vince again, Cara was waiting outside the library when he drove up the following night. “Wow,” she exclaimed, “nice car!”

      “Thanks.”

      “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, СКАЧАТЬ