Page 130 of Bonds of Starfall

Voices carried to her.

Rin pressed her ear to the door, shifting carefully to not put too much weight on it and risk giving herself away.

"One week…" Valkar’s voice carried to her, muffled by the door. She held her breath, desperate to hear and calm her racing heart—for once, from fear and unease and not the Nova.

"She doesn’t know?" a voice asked, one that sounded somewhat familiar to her. Where had she heard it before?

"No," Valkar replied. He said something else she didn’t catch, until: "…Solar City."

Thatshe had heard very clearly.

She shifted forward, and her hand fell against the door, making it squeak open a bit further.

All at once, Rin paused.

Shit, she couldn’t be found here!

She made to turn and tiptoe quickly down the hall, but just as she took her first step, unhurried footsteps sounded from the door, and it opened in a swift clang, letting out the heady scent of cigars and iron.

"Looks like I’ve caught a little eavesdropper."

Rin turned, heart in her throat, only to find a male with short-cropped dark blonde hair and cold red eyes peering down at her. He was huge.

And his sights were set right on her.

Rin stumbled back, but the beast of the vampire reached for the back of her shirt and caught it in his hands, tugging her forward harshly. The neckline cut into the front of her throat, and she winced as it cut off her air slightly.

Rin jabbed her elbow into the vampire’s side, but he didn’t even flinch, and her elbow stung from the muscle she’d hit. Dammit.

"Let her go, Daryk," Valkar said, from where he sat at a long, dark wooden dining table.

A red runner was placed down the very center of it, topped with a candelabra and a pitcher of thick red liquid—blood. There were two plates, one before Valkar and the other empty. Had that been for the male holding her? Daryk?

The vampire released her, and Rin smoothed down her shirt and stared daggers up at him. The side of his lips twitched.

"Menacing," he commented, red eyes raking from her bare toes to bed-rumpled hair.

And the tone of his voice…

Her eyes widened. "You’re one of the bastards who broke into the motel!"

"Took you long enough to realize," Daryk said, turning his attention to Valkar like she wasn’t a threat. "Boss, want me to take her back to her room?"

Valkar steepled his hands, rings glinting in the candlelight. "No. Who do you think let her out?"

"You?" Daryk asked, incredulous.

"Of course I did." The crime lord waved a hand, and flames sparked to life, turning to long tendrils that snaked through the air and reached for her. She didn’t have time to back away; the pleasantly warm rope-like flames curled around her wrists and tugged her forward.

Rin gasped as they shoved her into the seat right across from Valkar—the one with the plate before it—and danced in midair, moving to the back of the chair until the flames pushed the chair in. Then, the flames turned back to ropes, locking tightly around her wrists and pinning them to the armrests.

Rin snarled. "Let me go, you bastard!"

Not looking away from her, Valkar said, "You can go, Daryk. My wife and I have a date."

She wasn’t able to turn and look as the other vampire left, but heard the snick of the door.

Alone with Valkar, Rin cursed and struggled against the flaming bondage.