Page 104 of Love Bleeds

I pushed the thought aside as I caught up to Crimson. I wanted to pull him aside, but before I could, the automatic doors to the law firm opened.

Three vampires stepped out.

My heart stopped cold in my chest. I didn't know two of those vampires, but the one in the middle I'd seen before--when he'd sucked my blood out of my body.

Don't be scared, Luke,I told myself.You got this.

I'd drained that bottle of blood on my way here, and it had been kind of disgusting when I wasn't in the heat of battle and I had time to think about what I was doing, but I'd gotten every last drop out of that bottle. I was fully charged.

At least, I hoped so.

"So you've finally decided to come home," Nicolai said, stepping forward while his cronies stayed behind, watching in silence. "And you've brought a friend too." His gaze cut to me, but only for a moment.

I wanted to say something. A smart remark or something heroic, but my throat constricted in a way that made it impossible for me to form words, even if I had been able to come up with something witty.

"See," Nicolai continued. "This is why you should have shed your human affectations. I could never have baited a true vampire like this. If you'd done as I told you, you wouldn't have been swayed in your ambitions because you felt pity for a skin-covered blood container I captured."

Crimson's jaw tightened, but other than that, he let no emotions show on his face. "Did you hurt her?"

Nicolai smiled, but the expression didn't reach his cold, dead eyes. "You know I'm not one for unnecessary violence. I thought I'd let you do that. At least then it serves a purpose. To remind you of your place, of course."

I felt as if I had swallowed something cold and slimy that was slowly expanding in my stomach, making me want to vomit--preferably on Nicolai's polished shoes.

"Let me see her," Crimson said. I couldn't believe how composed he still sounded, as if all of this didn't makehisskin crawl.

But maybe he was simply used to it.

"I don't believe you're in any place to make demands," Nicolai said. "But the fact that you've brought your friend along puts me in a generous mood." He glanced at me again, and I swore I could feel spiders walk all over my body. "The coven cries for the blood of those who killed Zenon."

I'd had nothing to do with that, but I doubted it would help my case to bring that up.

Nicolai gestured to one of his cronies, who stepped forward to grab a hold of my arm. He was taller than me by half a foot and his fingers dug into my arm as if they were made of steel. I didn't think about escaping, not yet. I thought about getting into the basement.

The clock was ticking.