Tick. Tick.
I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn’t. I tried to say, ‘it’ll be okay, don’t cry.” I couldn’t do that either. I felt my body being rolled to the side.
“Karson, you have to bite her,” Ethan’s voice waved in my head like a film stuck in slow motion.
I tried to say no, but it got lost in a pool of blood that gurgled out my mouth.
Wolf howled. It was a long, mournful sound, his sweet melody danced through my ears.
“You know I can’t, Ethan,” Karson shouted, his voice breaking. He was crying. The tough, indestructible head of vampires was crying.
“Karson, God damn you!” Ethan roared.
“You will have your happy ending, my love,” Karson whispered, “I promise you.”
My eyes blinked open. I caught a glimpse of Karson’s sparkling fangs coming toward my neck. I closed my eyes and melted against him.
“Amelia, stay with me,” the darkness whispered, his breath tickling my throat.
Tick.
From somewhere faraway a woman screamed, “No. Stop.”
Chapter 87
Karson
The male’s scream pierced the air. Filling Karson’s chest with annoyance. Monique had been torturing the vampire in the basement for hours, and the slimy little prick had given them nothing.
“Please, I told you I don’t know where Sarah is.” A sob choked his words. “She never told me . . .” There was a wet slapping noise, followed by a sharp crack and then his pain ravaged scream. “Please, stop.” His voice was gargled and wet sounding.
Karson’s fingers clenched as he prowled across the room, staring out the glass doors into the glittering darkness. Dark silhouettes stalked through the yard. He’d placed guards to keep watch in case Sarah was stupid enough to try and finish what she started. He drowned out the male’s whimpering. He’d heard him repeat the same lines over and over again.
He normally didn’t send Monique to do interrogations for him. It was a job he preferred to do himself. But she was livid Sarah had gotten the upper hand on her, and she needed to vent her frustration. And he didn’t want to leave Amelia’s side, not until she woke.
Karson turned back, his eyes sliding to her. She laid in bed. Her dark hair splayed across the pillow. Her normally flushed cheeks, were pale—too pale. The fire’s glow danced across her face. His eyes drifted over the smooth cut of her jaw, to her button nose and the soft swell of her lips. Her painfully frail body was still wrapped in the anaesthesia of the witch’s spell that saved her life.
Anguish clenched his chest like a cold fist. His throat tightened. She’d almost died, if they’d arrived minutes later, she’d be dead. And he almost bitten her. He shuddered at the thought.
He didn’t know exactly when he fell for her but he suspected it was the first time he laid eyes on her. Something had sparked in his chest, it felt like hundreds of stars exploding. It had been shocking to him. He tried to deny he felt that way about a witch. But the feeling only grew stronger, it kept calling to him like the night whispering to the stars.
Try as he might, Karson was helpless to stay away.
He took a deep shuddering breath and lowered himself to the chair beside her bed. Exhaustion tugging at his limbs.How long had it been since he slept?At least four or more days. Probably more, he’d lost track.
He took her soft, warm hand in his. Sweeping his thumb over the top of her knuckles. Her heartbeat picked up a little. He closed his eyes listening to the rhythmical thud, the sound like music to his ears.
He vowed never to leave her again. Never put her through the kind of agony he’d seen in her broken gaze as she’d begged him to stay with her. He’d stay with her from now on. He’d keep her safe and love her like she deserved to be loved.
And he’d find Sarah and end her miserable life.
The scent of blood swum up his nostrils. He opened his eyes and lifted his head to see Monique standing in the doorway.Her eyes fixed to his hand holding Amelia’s, and sharpened. Her dark skin, and tight fitted leathers, were splashed with the glittering, red tinged onyx of the vampire’s blood.
“Anything?” Karson asked quietly, so as not to disturb Amelia’s sleep.
She stalked in. “No, he swears he hasn’t seen her for weeks. I’m almost inclined to believe him.” She stopped by the glass doors. Picking blood out from under her long red, painted nails. “There’s only so many times someone can sever your intestines and snap your bones, before you relent. But I’ll feed and rest for a bit and try again.”
Karson nodded. He doubted the vampire knew anything. He couldn’t imagine he’d be strong enough to hold out with that kind of torture. There were Sarah’s parents of course. If anything would drag Sarah out of hiding, their torture would. But Ethan had pleaded with him to give him and Bob a chance to find her and talk her down. He’d agreed, reluctantly. But only for the sake of Ethan. And the knowing Amelia would be horrified if she found out he’d hurt them. If Bob and Marg were smart, they’d be long gone by now.
