Page 19 of The Vampire Debt

I’m not at home, not with my sister—I am sleeping in a room with a vampire who has made no qualms about letting me know just how disposable I am.

I roll over to my back and look up into dark sapphire eyes, ringed with red.

Shit.I don’t move. The red seems to glow in the dim watery light.He needs to feed…

“Get up and get dressed. We leave in less than an hour.”

My breath quickens, bracing my sleep addled brain for what is undoubtedly to come next.

It seems a long moment passes before he turns on his heel and walks out the door. I don’t waste a second, scrambling out of the uncomfortable bed.

I pluck up my clothes spread out in front of the dying fire and pull them on, moving as fast as I can until I am fully dressed. Only then do I slow, ready for his return. I fold the shirt I wore last night as best I can, trying to get the wrinkles out. A useless waste of time.

I expect him to be back any second, but time passes. I look out the window to the soot covered town below. The stone of the buildings is dark and covered in patches of some type of lichen. It looks nearly identical to Littlemire, with small differences in the layout of streets and placement of shops.

The edge of dawn slices across the horizon, a thin line of molten gold, stark against the deep blue sky. Demons cry, wailing as they are chased into hiding once more by the sun.

I wait and wait… and wait.

I have nothing left to do, other than to spend time with my thoughts. I had promised Kitty I would kill him and return to her. I had promised myself I would kill him.

Then again, I am dead anyway. I don’t know when or how… but I won’t let him decide, I will take fate into my hands as much as I am able.

I look around for a weapon only finding the fire poker. Not ideal, too large to hide, but I wrap my fingers around the handle anyway.

The door creaks open and I spin to face him.

Calmly, he closes the door and crosses the room, stopping before me. His gaze flicks to his folded shirt on the chair then back to me. The red that earlier ringed his irises is gone.

“Don’t bother.”

The way he practically dares me with his arrogant smirk and overly confident words is too tempting to resist. I have killed one of them, and I will gladly do it again, and again, and again until the world is free of these cruel monsters.

I lift my arm and thrust the poker at his heart.

Mr. Devereaux adjusts the cuffs of his sleeves without looking up.

“Stop,” he says. His voice is barely above a whisper, but it echoes in my head painfully.

My arm is frozen, outstretched, the iron tip of the poker only an inch away from piercing his flesh. I try to pierce his heart, but my body doesn’t move.

What the fuck is happening?

The vampire lifts his head and meets my gaze.

He sidesteps the poker, then slowly, oh so slowly, he lifts a hand and guides my arm to the side. His fingers graze down my arm to my hand. The way he moves is like a dance. Controlled. Graceful.

Swift as lightning He grips the weapon and wrenches it from my grasp, then tosses it across the room where it clanks against the dusty wood flooring.

I can’t move. My body is frozen in place, no matter how hard I struggle against this invisible hold.

He takes one step closer, then another, until his chest is mere inches away from mine. I can only stare into the midnight blue depths of his eyes.

The backs of his knuckles graze the side of my neck as he pushes my hair back and off my shoulder. His fingers splay over my neck from my jaw to my collarbone. With the slightest amount of pressure from one finger, he tilts my head back and leans in.

Warmth from his breath caresses my skin as he draws his face close to mine. I swallow hard, my heart thumping wildly against my ribs. The ruby ring reappears around his irises and his fangs descend.

His mouth hovers over the crook of my neck, warm breath caressing my skin. I wait for the sting of his fangs to press down.