“I wanted something different, and this was the architect’s idea.”
“It’s not very…vampiric,” she says.
“It can be, if you want it like that. Do you prefer the gothic, Lucy?” I pour myself out some blood substitute into a glass, knowing I’m going to hate every mouthful. “And don’t forget, I’ve seen where you live.”
“Yeah? Well I’ve seen where you live, and I have a stake. Don’t forget it, vampire,” she says with a half-hearted curl of her lip before it breaks off into a yawn. “I don’t mind the gothic, and I quite like this. Maybe something in between,” she says, the back of her hand covering her mouth.
“Come, sit by the fire,” I say, walking through to the comfortable living area I don’t think I’ve ever used.
“You say you don’t have any thralls or progeny here, so who lit the fire?” Lucy asks as she takes a seat.
“It’s possible for vampires to have staff,” I say, taking a seat next to her.
Lucy eyes my glass. “Staff?”
“I have an arrangement with a local human to look after the place.” I take a sip and very nearly spit the liquid back into the glass. “And on this occasion to fill my larder.”
“I think you’ve done a good job of that yourself.” Lucy looks pointedly at my glass. “Given I’m here.”
I take a swig from the glass and force it down. I could go a decade without feeding, but I’d be no use to anyone, particularly Lucy.
“I will feed when I need to feed,” I respond. “And if I want my dinner hot, you’ll know about it.”
Lucy squirms, albeit not uncomfortably, on the couch. The look on her face is similar to the one she wore after the kiss we shared.
A kiss I need to happen again, regardless of the fact I’m playing a game I could so easily lose. I doubt the Van Helsing clan will give up one of their own easily. But I made a bargain with my little female, and I don’t intend breaking it.
She will be mine, and I will protect her and her unborn child with everything I have.
“I need to make some calls,” I say to Lucy. However, she isn’t listening because her eyes are closed and her chest moves up and down in deep, sleeping breaths.
I wonder if my fierce little vampire hunter ever thought she’d be fast asleep on a vampire’s couch? I get a blanket out of a nearby cupboard, neatly concealed in one of the stone alcoves which dot this former church, and cover her with it.
She shifts a little in her sleep, the corner of her mouth quirking into a smile.
“Dominik,” she says quietly, and hearing my name on her lips makes my old dusty heart hit a beat or two. “The vampire must die,” she adds, her words slightly slurred with sleep, only distinct because my hearing is excellent..
It would seem Lucy has a way with words even when she has no conscious knowledge of them. But when you let a predator into your life, you have to be prepared to live with them, even if it’s impossible to tame them.
Lucy has already tamed me. But if there is one thing I will never do to her, it is ask her to bend to my will. The freshness of her, the refusal to be cowed or pushed around, was the first thing which made her stand out to me.
The second was the almost instantaneous knowledge she was my mate.
Fate has a way of throwing everything it can at you in a deep, dangerous swoop, with all the wind rushing and all turning on the final strike.
I need to make a deal with Damek before I can keep my Lucy all to myself. It leaves as bitter a taste in my mouth as the blood substitute I pour down the sink. But if it’s what I have to do in order to ensure I get what I want, then a deal will have to be done.
Lucy
I jumpas I regain consciousness, flinching wildly, and for a moment, I’m not sure where I am until the memories of yesterday come flooding back.
Except I’m not on the couch. I’m in a huge bed, between clean sheets, and in a bedroom with white-washed walls, dotted all over with exposed brickwork. Light filters into the room with the strange white-blue spectrum which means outside there has to be snow.
I stretch out, discovering I am still clothed, which has to be a good thing, even if the fact I’m here means Dominik must have brought me to this room. Because the last thing I remember was talking to him by the fire.
My bladder makes itself known, and with a groan, I throw back the covers. There are two doors side by side, so I take my pick and hope one is a bathroom, which, thankfully, it is.
The large room has a heated floor, which is most welcome, and I swiftly use the facilities with a sigh of relief. Once I’m done, I’m able to inspect a little closer. The entire place is clothed in a swathe of pretty white and grey marble. A large shower head hangs in one corner, making this place a wet room. Fluffy towels hang on a heated towel rail, and my guess is the huge mirrorabove the sink is heated too. A tall window sheds light into the room, and the rest comes from spots high in the ceiling. It is a marvel of opulence.
