Chapter 20
Karson
Karson splashed cold water on his face. He glanced at his watch; he needed to leave and find Leah.
“Are you staying in tonight?” Her voice from behind startled him. His hearing was extraordinary, but she moved on soft, quiet feet. Witch’s hunter feet. Mostly, he still heard her move about, but his mind was distracted by Sarah and this latest inconvenience. He dried his hands on a towel. “I have to search for Leah before any further damage is done.”
She leaned on the door, staring at him with vibrant, troubled green eyes that curled something inside his stomach. Made him want to say something just to see them sparkle.
“Can you spare her life if you find her? You’ve turned many before her,” she pleaded, a line pinching between her brows. “You must have a way to keep them from feeding until they learn to control it.”
She didn’t understand the urge vampires had to feed. It was a bottomless well. No matter how much you drank, the thirst could never be fully filled. He’d warned her, but unless you lived with the ache, the hunger, the gut-wrenching thirst, it was not something you could comprehend.
“I’ve never turned drug addicts. If she can’t control her need for drugs, she won’t stand a chance of controlling her need for blood.”
His gaze was drawn to her teeth, chewing on her bottom lip. He imagined taking her lips between his teeth, biting down, tasting her sweet nectar. He shook the thought away.
“She might if it means she can be with her children, if it means she gets to live.”
If the woman had loved her children, she would have stayed home with them; she would have chosen their safety over the drugs. But she had left them alone at night, when anything could have happened to them. He’d sooner remove the threat for the sake of the children. Besides, they couldn’t afford to draw any more attention to his kind. Taking lives wasn’t something he felt guilt over. Instead, it felt like a release. There was a darkness—a fury—inside him that sang to kill. He kept it caged mostly, but sometimes it roared and he couldn’t hold it in. He had given Amelia a peek into his mind once when he had tried to turn her away from him, but he’d kept the worst of what he’d done hidden. There were some dark places, shadows of skeletons, that no one, especially a heart as pure as hers, should ever be exposed to.
He raised his gaze reluctantly. The way her eyes burned into his, pleading with him, caused a pang of guilt inside his chest.
He moved past her to the bedroom and sighed. “I will talk to her, but I cannot promise you anything.”
She tilted her head to the side, and it was so damn cute he wanted to kiss her dainty nose. “You’ll try to get through to her, give her a chance at least, please?”
He grabbed a black leather jacket from the bed and slipped it on. The children loved their mother. He’d read their confusion, fear, and grief, and it made his heart ache. But Leah had left bodies strewn across town; a vampire like her had to die.
But he said, “Yes, I will try.”
She stepped closer and wrapped her warm, soft arms around his shoulders. Her breath tickled his neck, sending tingles through his body. “Thank you,” she murmured.
“Don’t thank me.” The guilt tugged again. “I’ve made no promises.”
She peered up under her dark lashes. “You promised to talk to her, at least you’re prepared to try.” Her fingers drizzled up and down the back of his neck. “Do you have to leave right now?”
“The sooner we find her the better, before more innocent people die.”
She removed her arms and stepped back a little, and the space her touch left felt empty. “What if she comes here?”
“We have guards everywhere and she can’t get in. She needs to be invited in by a member of the household.”
She blinked. “You have to be invited in like in the movies?”
He brushed her hair off her neck, watching her pulse throb softly out of the corner of his eye. “Some fiction comes from fact.”
“So, how can Sarah get in?” She didn’t need his answer; she was both beautiful and smart. “She’s already been invited.”
“She’s been here on a few occasions with Ethan.” And attended lavish parties many years ago when humans were the buffet.
Her pulse increased at the mention of him. Interesting. A wrinkle carved her brow. “Ethan has exceptionally bad taste in women.”
“He hasn’t the best track record,” Karson drawled.
She raised her brows. “At leasthedidn’t date the hungry caterpillar.”
Laughter burst from Karson’s mouth, and she smiled. He didn’t date the woman. He had fed and fucked her once. He thought it was in Amelia’s best interests not to mention thedetails. His laughter faded as he stared at this woman he cared about with all the good parts in his heart that he didn’t even realize existed until he met her. Even so, the shadows still defeated the light.
