Forever Claimed. Rachel Lee

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СКАЧАТЬ her. “Have you never thought, Chloe, what would happen to my kind if there were no food left?”

      Luc knew a moment of dark amusement as Chloe’s expression changed. Evidently she didn’t think of herself as a food group. But why would she when Jude restricted himself almost entirely to blood from blood banks? She probably hadn’t thought about where all that blood came from.

      Suddenly Terri gasped. Luc looked at her and saw her face filled with astonishment. “She’s healing,” she said. “My God, her wounds are closing.”

      Jude bent swiftly over the woman and looked. “You’re right. No ordinary human.” He straightened and looked at Luc. “What did you bring into my home?”

      Apprehension chilled Luc, the first he had felt in a long time. Rising, he moved swiftly to look at the woman. Her clothes were still blood soaked and ripped, but he could see that her wounds had closed just since he brought her here.

      “I don’t know,” he said. “Mon dieu, I don’t know.”

      “Hell,” said Chloe, who always had two cents to add. “If it’s not vampire and it’s not human, then what the devil is it?”

      Dani Makar woke suddenly, knowing she wasn’t alone. Worse, the first thing to assault her nose was the smell of vampires. She kept her eyes closed and tried to maintain a slow, steady rhythm in her heartbeat, even though she knew it was probably useless. Those bloodsuckers would have smelled it, heard it, the instant she awoke.

      But she tried to keep up the pretense anyway, hoping against hope. She knew what had attacked her. What she couldn’t figure out was why she was lying on something soft instead of the hard ground, and why she smelled humans, as well.

      She hurt from head to toe, but knew that would pass quickly. Despite all the things she had failed to inherit from her family, she had inherited two things: an acute sense of smell and quick healing from wounds.

      She’d also inherited a loathing for bloodsuckers, one which had been amply proved in the park. Now, as near as she could tell, they held her captive. She expected no mercy from their kind.

      Waiting for the instant she could no longer pretend to be unconscious, she tried to figure out how many were in the room. Listening, she was sure she heard two females and two males, though she couldn’t tell which of them were vampire and which were human. Her nose was clouded with their scents.

      The presence of humans and vampires together didn’t shock her. She had been taught about the hypnotic effect vampires had on humans. What she didn’t know was whether she was susceptible. She had, after all, been forced to resign herself to life as a normal without being fully normal.

      But after the attack that had nearly killed her, why would they want to keep her captive now? It didn’t make sense.

      “She’s awake,” said a deep voice.

      Then she heard a rustle and smelled the odor of human come closer.

      “Can you open your eyes?” a woman’s gentle voice asked.

      “Stand back,” said the same deep voice. “We don’t know what she is or how she’ll react.”

      That gave Dani her opening. If they were wary of her, she might be able to take advantage of it.

      Instantly she sprang up into a crouch and snarled, her gaze moving from one to the other. Even as she did it, she knew how pathetic she must look, like a puppy pretending to be a full-grown wolf. But maybe it would be enough.

      “It’s all right,” the familiar woman’s voice said.

      Dani glanced at her, taking in a tiny, dark-haired beauty wearing a sapphire cocktail dress. Her expression was kind. The other woman regarded her with consternation from eyes surrounded in entirely too much makeup.

      Then there were the men. In an instant she knew they were the vampires. One wore neatly tailored black and stood leaning against a desk. The other was seated and also wore black, though he looked a bit more disheveled. And like too many vampires, they were handsome, almost as if their change transformed them into objects of dark beauty.

      “We rescued you,” said the blond vampire, his voice slightly accented. “I found you in the park and brought you here.”

      Dani gave him another snarl. Like she was going to believe a bloodsucker?

      For long seconds, no one moved. Then the elegant man with the dark hair said, “You can leave if you’d like. I’ll show you the door.”

      She doubted that and didn’t move. Besides, she hurt all over and wasn’t yet sure how far she could walk. Her clothes were torn and covered in blood. She wouldn’t make it far before the police stopped her, and then she’d have to make up some lie about what had happened because normals absolutely didn’t believe in vampires, and she didn’t want to get committed.

      “It’s all right,” the woman in blue said again, her voice remaining gentle. She moved closer and Dani smelled vampire all over her, but also the scent of human. She might be in league with the bloodsuckers, but she was still a normal.

      The woman edged onto the couch beside her, moving slowly.

      “Terri,” said the dark vampire warningly.

      “It’s all right, Jude. She’s frightened. After the way she was attacked, how could she be anything else?”

      The woman called Terri smiled at her. “I’m Terri, and I’m a doctor. I’m both amazed and thankful at the way you healed. We thought we couldn’t save you.”

      Dani didn’t answer, choosing to reveal nothing.

      “I’ll give you something to wear so you can leave. I’m afraid my clothes might be a bit small on you, but at least they’ll cover you so you don’t have to answer questions.”

      Fear immediately spiked Dani. How could this woman know she didn’t want to answer questions? Then the answer came to her: she had healed too fast from nearly fatal injuries. Of course they knew she might have something to hide.

      Uneasier than ever, she edged away and adjusted her crouch, ready to spring if necessary. One hand felt for and found her necklace, the crystal wolf’s head that hung by a leather thong around her neck. It was all she had left of her old life, and her heart squeezed with relief when she realized she still had it. It had been her last gift from her mother, and she would probably never receive another. She drew a steadying breath and refocused on her enemies.

      Then the blond vampire with the faint accent spoke. “My advice would be to remain here until just before dawn. There are rogues on the streets, the ones who attacked you. You don’t want to encounter them again.”

      Dani finally spoke. “How do I know it wasn’t you, vampire? You and your friend?”

      Instantly she wished she could recall the words. She had just revealed too much, that she could tell they were bloodsuckers, and in so doing had made herself a threat to them.

      “Très intéressant,” said the blond one, revealing the source of his accent. “She knows what we are. So she must be able to smell us.”

      “I can smell you, СКАЧАТЬ