Page 10 of Patrick’s Seduction (Scanguards Vampires #19)

10

A fter Patrick’s unexpected visit, Fallon had trouble sleeping. Their kiss replayed in her mind as if on an endless loop. He’d apologized for it, and she should be happy because that meant he wasn’t like Cameron. He was more thoughtful and concerned for her wellbeing. But it also threw up many questions that she couldn’t answer.

Had he really thought that he was the one who’d initiated the kiss? Or had he wanted to spare her the embarrassment by taking the blame onto himself? She’d never been so confused in her entire life. He’d promised that it would never happen again. Was he warning her in a subtle way that it was best if she never tried to kiss him again, because next time he would reject her kiss outright? Maybe she should be happy about the warning, so why wasn’t she? Why was she disappointed that he’d promised it would never happen again?

For the first time in over two months, she’d felt happy and safe, and for just a few short moments, all her problems had faded into the background, vanished into thin air. She wanted to hold on to that feeling for a little while longer, bathing in the warmth of his embrace and the tenderness of his lips, but she couldn’t. Her life was still a mess, and the tender kiss of a stranger who promised to help her couldn’t change that fact.

She tossed and turned in her bed, finally finding sleep. A loud noise awakened her, making her sit up with a start. Everything was dark around her. Only the moonlight shaved off a little bit of the darkness where it entered the room through the half-closed blinds. She turned her head to the clock next to her bed. Two-seventeen, it showed in large red numbers. The same shrill ring as before sounded, and she realized what it was: an alarm coming from her cell phone.

She reached for it and read the alert: refrigerator E3 is malfunctioning .

Fuck! She was fully awake in a millisecond. Refrigerator E3 was a fridge in her lab at UCSF, which held the most vital tissue samples needed for her current research. If they weren’t kept at an exact temperature, they would spoil within a short couple of hours. Each of the refrigerators and freezers was connected to a sensor that was set to send an alarm to her cell phone to inform her of any temperature fluctuations or a power outage.

Fallon jumped out of bed, put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, slipped over a thick sweater, and put on her boots. Ten minutes later, she sat in an Uber that drove her to Parnassus Avenue, where her lab was located within UCSF’s medical sciences building. She had to enter the complex by the main entrance to the hospital because all side entrances were closed at night. She showed her ID to the security guard on duty. She hurried through the corridors that connected the various buildings, using her access card to open several doors until she got into the elevator to take her to the ninth floor. It felt like the elevator was taking forever, but finally, it stopped, and she was able to get out on her floor. The corridor was well-lit, but deserted.

The sound of her footsteps echoed in the hallway as she walked to her left, then made a turn to the right into the next corridor, until she reached the door to her laboratory. She swiped her access card and heard the familiar beep. Pushing the door open, she entered the dark space and reached for the light switch to her right. She flipped it, but nothing happened. The light didn’t come on. Was there a power outage in her entire lab? If that was the case, she would have received an alert for each of the refrigerators and freezers, since they were all connected to the same power source. This was odd, to say the least.

She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and tapped on it, found her flashlight app and switched it on. The small beam from the app was sufficient for her to make her way through the lab without running into any equipment. The refrigerator in question was located in one of the corners of the laboratory, away from the windows looking out toward the hill where tall Eucalyptus trees—not native to California—provided shade in the summer months, and made the interior of the lab dark even during daytime hours.

She heard the humming of the refrigerators and freezers as she approached, her own footfalls accompanying it, when there was a third type of sound. She froze instantly, holding her breath, but there was nothing else, only the humming of the appliances and her heartbeat thundering in her ears.

Damn it, she was too jumpy these days, too nervous, too anxious. She’d never been afraid of the dark, even as a child. On the contrary, she’d loved the night, looking at the stars, admiring the moon. But ever since Cameron had started stalking her, she felt afraid in the dark. As if he was hiding behind every corner. It was ridiculous, of course, particularly here in her lab. Not only was the building secure, but the door to her lab could only be opened with an access card. She was safe here, maybe even safer than in her own flat.

With her cell phone light, she swept the floor in front of her, making sure there was no obstacle, and continued walking toward the refrigerators. As she passed a tall metal shelving unit containing various containers with fluids used in her research, she spotted what was wrong with refrigerator E3: its door was ajar, evidenced by the light streaming out from its interior. How in the hell had that happened? Had there been a minor earthquake during the night, shifting something inside it to force the door open?

Fallon quickly marched toward it and opened the refrigerator door wider to look inside. Everything looked fine. Nothing had spilled or fallen over. Relieved, she shut the fridge door, then assured herself that the doors to the other refrigerators were closed properly. They were. Happy that she’d been able to fix this issue without much effort, she turned around, ready to leave.

A sound to her left startled her, sending a chill down her spine. She perceived a movement, a big shadow approaching. All blood froze in her veins, paralyzing her with fear. With a shaking hand, she tried to direct her cell phone light toward the shadow, when she knocked her elbow on a shelf and the phone fell out of her hand. With a loud noise, it landed on the floor, the light pointing upward to the ceiling, throwing a sliver of light on the figure rushing toward her now. She tried to turn, tried to run, but she stumbled over her own feet. In mid-fall, she reached for the metal shelving unit to regain her balance. But before she could grip it, a hand snatched her shoulder from behind, jerking her back. As the intruder spun her around, her eyes perceived him clearly.

“No!”

A scream tore from her throat, before pain shot through her body, and her brain shut down, protecting her from the horror of the attack. Darkness wrapped around her as if to protect her, even though she knew instinctively that nothing could protect her from what was happening to her. Because she didn’t have the physical strength to prevent it, nor anybody who would save her.