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to me, drew out the person I used to be. He gave me genuine smiles, laughs, and cries.
Something knotted and twisted deep down in my heart loosened its grip. I never
knew it could do that. My grief, my dirty little obsession, didn t seem so constricted.
Laurent must be disappointed in me. He d made me promise to move on afterwards,
to find someone to love and continue living. I would ve promised him anything. Instead,
I nurtured and grew this demon inside of me. Fed it alcohol and drugs so it would blind
me, make me forget. It taught me not to feel.
Colby helped me tame it by giving my life purpose but it never went away. Until
now, I didn t think it could.
Rurik was a man who couldn t get sick, who couldn t grow old, and was difficult to
kill. Someone who appeared to care for me.
All I needed to do was let go of my past.
A knock on my door made me jump and squeal like a greased pig at a country fair. I
struggled with the blankets tangled around my legs so I could stomp out of bed and check
the peek hole. Would I ever get some sleep?
 Delivery for Ms. Bence.
That stopped me in my tracks. Only two people in Budapest knew my real last name
and one of them lay asleep in the tub. My heart dropped. I felt like a kid who got caught
stealing money from her mom s purse.
Another knock echoed through my room.  Ms. Bence? Yeah, that was his voice, all
right.
Colby.
He wouldn t even have to stake Rurik, just open the bathroom door and let the
sunlight in. If I didn t answer soon he would break the door down. In my over-sized,
teddy bear printed PJ s, I cracked the hallway door open. A man in a navy blue uniform
with a matching cap stood looking at his feet. He held a bouquet of white lilies.
He raised his piercing green eyes to glare at me.
 What are you doing here? I hissed.
Colby placed his hand on the door and pushed it open then scanned the room behind
me. Meeting his clearance, he brushed past me as he entered and laid the flowers on the
manila envelope across the room.
I closed the door and leaned on it. Without its support, I think my knees would have
given out.
 I wanted to check on you. You sounded strange last night when you called. He
stared at the envelope, his back to me, and traced a finger around it.  Like you had other
things on your mind.
 What do you expect? I m hunting vampires with Nosferatu lurking in the shadows.
He spun around.  You saw more? His eyes shone with excitement, almost the way
Tane s did when he spoke of Colby.
 I saw Tane, Dragos  sidekick, at the club. That s why I left early, before he saw
me.
He pointed his finger at me and raised his voice.  You should have brought him to
me. That s your job, remember?
 My job was to lure Rurik. Who, by the way, lay in the bathtub. I had to swallow a
hysterical giggle and struggled with it until it became just a grin.  I m not Tane s type.
He likes men maybe you should check him out yourself.
That took the wind out of his sail. He dropped his arm to his side.  He s gay? His
voice returned to a normal volume.
 I don t know, maybe he s bi, but his date was a guy named Eric. I tried to hint.
Maybe I could lay it on thicker but Colby could catch on and make me tell him
everything. Then we d all be dead.
He nodded, his expression lost in thought.
I stood away from the door confident my legs would support me now.  I ll admit, I
feel like I m over my head. You ve pitted me against some pretty strong monsters. It s
one thing to take on street thugs and small timers but this is beyond me. They re going to
get me if we re not more careful.
 I agree. The tension level in this city is high. Things are about to explode. He
leaned against the table and crossed his arms.  I m thinking of bailing out.
 Really? Colby s never given up on a hunt as far as I knew. Hope made me
lightheaded. With him gone I had one less thing to worry about. This would solve half
my problems.
 The contractor has offered to pay triple our price to finish the job. Most of the
others want to stay. What about you?
 He tripled the offer. Damn, that bastard, Tane. What was he up to? If he wanted
Rurik dead, all he had to do was not warn him of the attack on his resting place yesterday.
 Who said it was a he? Colby s voice sounded strained.
I shrugged.
He stalked up to me, backed me against the door, and then loomed.  I can t help you
if you keep secrets. I know you, Connie. You ve been hiding something since Rurik took
you from that club.
Colby s stare pierced mine and I glanced away. I ve faced centuries old vampires
who were less intimidating. The memories of his ruthless training returned, of spending
nights with him building my mental shields while he used his small psychic abilities to
pound at them. Drunk, exhausted, starved I learned to defend my mind or pay his price. It
gave me chills and my stomach clenched.
He placed his hand against the door and leaned down to my level, then lifted my chin
with his free hand to look at both sides of my neck. He found it clean of vampire bites
and sighed, letting go of my chin, but he didn t back off.  Do I need to search other body
parts?
 No! Horrified at the thought.  I m clean. I m nobody s meal ticket.
 I m worried about you.
He should be. I was worried about me too.
 I-I m in trouble. I caught myself about to look at the bathroom door and stomped [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]