Page 17 of The Vampire Debt

Eventually, the vampire at my side is handed a single room key.

I barely hold in my protest. One key. One room. This day keeps getting worse. The only thing I can hope for is that all of us humans will be shoved into a small closet like room together while the vampires get their luxurious rooms to themselves. Though deep inside I know that won’t be the case.

Mr. Devereaux turns from me without word or gesture and walks away. He doesn’t even look back to see if I follow. My eyes narrow at his back. I have half a mind to stand here until he’s upstairs and then just walk right out the front door. I’d be half frozen before I made it even a quarter of the way to my home—and that’s if the demons didn’t get me first—but at least I wouldn’t die as a midnight snack.

But I’ve already pushed my luck for today.

My shoulders slump. Wishful thinking. If I tried to leave, he’d catch up to me before I made it halfway down the street. And no doubt I would be slain right then and there.

Reluctantly, I follow him up the stairs and through the narrow hall.

A few guests peek out through small openings in their door. If he notices, he doesn’t show any sign, but I feel the heavy weight of their gazes. Hushed whispers follow us. I try my best to ignore them.

“Vampire whore.” Reaches my ears in a hiss more than once.

I want to correct them, I want to tell them the truth—that I hate him as much as they, perhaps even more.

My face burns as I glare at his back. I know he hears the words as well as I, but he makes no move or effort to say anything to the contrary.

Mr. Devereaux stops at the last door in the hall and enters. I stop at the threshold. I can’t seem to make myself go further. The room is small and dark. And there is onlyonebed, and I don’t for a second believe I could claim it above him. This was a room made for a single occupant.

I expect to sleep on the floor but the thought of being in such a small space with a vampire who commands attention, who seems to swallow up the entire room even when he’s trying to blend in with a wall… it will be suffocating just as it was in the carriage.

I think of Xander… he would be furious to see me forced into such a situation.

“Come in and close the door,” the vampire orders.

His tone is gentle, and soft, almost sad, it throws me off guard. It takes a few seconds for me to remember who I am, remember what he is. I steel my spine and command my heart to harden to stone. Whatever the cause of this sullen state he’s sunk into, I will feel no pity for him.

I step through and close the door behind me. It locks with a soft click, but the sound resonates with finality.

A fire crackles in the fireplace on the far wall with a worn lounge chair. To the left is the bed. On the far right wall is an old dusty window with thick drapes pulled to the side to let the moonlight in, and between it and where I stand, is a table with a single chair.

This room was definitely made for one person.

The warmth from the fire makes the cold water soaking my skin chill me even more. I stand on just this side of the door and study his profile as he looks out the window into the night. Shivers rack my body and, try as I might, I can’t control them.

He drags his gaze to me and takes me in. Though his expression is blank, I feel small beneath his gaze.

“Strip,” he says.

My blood runs cold.

Demons take me…this is going to be worse than I ever imagined. Worse than him drinking my blood until oblivion swallows me.

“I will not,” I snap. I will fight him until I breathe my last breath. If he wishes to kill me then so be it, but I will not allow him free range of my body.

He sighs and rolls his eyes—the bastard has the gall to roll his eyes at me—then crosses the room in three long strides and grabs my wrist. “You will, unless you wish to die from the cold.”

With his iron grip, he drags me by the arm to the fire, only letting go once I stand before it. I shiver and wrap my arms around myself. The heat does feel good but if he thinks I’ll strip in front of him, then he is as delusional as he is evil.

A knock startles me. I stay put as he goes to answer it. I peek over my shoulder to see a thin man drag a trunk inside.Hehas a trunk of clothes but couldn’t be bothered to let me grab anything.

The two men speak softly then the door closes. He drags it to the foot of the bed and rummages around for a moment before pulling out a white garment.

He hands it to me and says, “Change into this.”

It’s not a question or a request but a demand.