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She nodded, stifling a yawn. I paid the waitress in cash, and we headed back to the Jeep.

We arrived just after 2 AM. Zand’s condo sat at the edge of a small resort town, near Duncan Bay. The high-rise building stood tall against the moonlit night. Perfect for hiding out in an obscure community.

I pulled up to the front entrance, where the security lights illuminated the circular drive.

“I can let you out here and I’ll go park in the garage.” I told Morgan. I was sure she wanted to get upstairs as soon as she could.

“Okay, I can’t wait to lay down. I’m so tired.”

“It’s the twentieth floor. The elevator needs a key card.” I handed her a small plastic card with a large letters Z, and V, embossed on it along with the numbers 2112. “I’ll bring up all your bags.”

She hesitated while her hand rested on the door handle. “Can you carry everything by yourself?”

“Morgan, I’m a vampire.” I whispered it out the car door like it was a secret.

“Oh shit. I forgot.” She chuckled through her tiredness.

“Go on up. I’ll be right behind you.”

Morgan took the key card and her purse. I watched her walk through the glass doors into the lobby, and past the front desk. My eyes didn’t leave her until she stepped safely into the elevator.

I pulled around to the underground garage, finding the reserved spot marked with Zand’s number. I parked in spot 2112 and I cut the engine off. I gathered Morgan’s luggage from the back, along with my lone bag. More alone time with Morgan made me happy, and it also made my cock hard.

Locking the Jeep doors with the key fob, I headed toward the elevators. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. I blamed it on my paranoia. This was the first time I was solely responsible for a person, and this person was human. Morgan wasn’t just any human. She was a human that I cared about and loved. I would have to be drained of all my blood before I admitted this weakness for a human out loud. Pretending that I wasn’t in love with her was getting harder toconceal. But I knew I could do it. I had faced bigger challenges in all my years, human and vampire.

CHAPTER THREE

HARLEN

The elevator climbed as the floor numbers lit up in sequence. At the twentieth floor, the doors slid open with a soft chime. The hallway stretched before me. The plush carpet muffled my footsteps and made it hard for me to push the large rolling suitcase at a brisk speed. Lifting the luggage wouldn’t be difficult, but I didn’t want the handle to break off. Companies didn’t make sturdy and lasting products like they used to.

After a short trek down the hall and around the corner, I approached the condo door. I felt it. Something wasn’t right. The door was slightly ajar. Morgan was probably too tired to close it behind her when she entered. There was a sliver of light coming through the doorway. I pushed the door open enough for me and all the bags to fit through.

Stepping inside the condo, I dropped the bags on the floor in the entryway.

“Morgan?” My voice sounded too loud in the dead silence. I waited, but there was no answer.

She couldn’t be asleep this soon, and I didn’t hear the shower running. I moved deeper into the condo. The living room was empty. There were no signs that Morgan had entered the space. I turned toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

“Morgan, hey, you in here?” I called again, fighting to keep my voice steady.

An eerie, child-like laugh floated through the air. Not Morgan’s laugh. I followed the foreign sound toward the master bedroom. The door to the bedroom was wide open. I took a step inside, and the world tilted beneath my feet.

Past the bed, Teresa stood on the balcony. How was she here? Her dark silhouette appeared against the night sky. Her flaxen hair whipped around in the wind across her pale face. She looked the same as when I followed her to that poor student’s dorm room. She could even be dressed in the same clothes or something similar.

Teresa was here in the flesh and Morgan was— FUCK! there, pinned against the balcony railing. Teresa’s hand was fastened around my lover’s throat. She was holding Morgan suspended partly over the edge of the metal railing. Twenty stories up, Teresa had Morgan hoisted in the air and leaning on the edge of the railing. Morgan’s feet were dangling over the railing on the safe side of the balcony. But there was no real safe side in her current position.

“Harlen, my lover.” Teresa crooned. Her voice annoyingly scratched at my eardrums. “Right on time. I was worried you might miss the show.”

Morgan’s terrified eyes found mine. The look of horror in her eyes gnawed at me. Morgan’s lips tried to form my name, but no sound came out. Teresa’s grip on her neck was too tight and unyielding.

“Let her go.” I said, while moving slowly toward the balcony door. “She has nothing to do with this.”

Teresa giggled. “Ha! Nothing to do with this? She has everything to do with this. Darling, she’s a message for your brother.”

My hands clenched into fists. “Whatever beef you have with Zand, it’s between you two.”

“No?” Teresa tilted her head, studying my movements carefully. “You’re here, aren’t you? Playing fetch for your big brother again.”