Dessie froze in place for all of two seconds. Those were fangs. Like, actual fangs. “Nope.” She stood and edged sideways, past the chair, aiming with her butt for the door. “No. No way. Nope.”
Garrett cocked his head, looking even deadlier, if that was possible. “What are you doing?”
“Leaving.” A buzzing echoed through her head as if a hive of bees had taken up residence between her ears. The room tilted, and she reached back for the doorknob, which was cold and a little grimy. “I can handle shifters and Grizzly motorcycle riders. Yep.” Darkness edged in from the corners of her vision. “But vampires. I don’t think so.” It was just too much.
As if on cue, lightning zapped outside.
She jumped and tried to twist the knob without looking.
“I think you might be in shock,” he mused.
“That makes sense.” Her voice sounded like it had come from far away. Far away, where reality had somehow gone. “Thank you for the ride and for the, ah, the education. The entire experience has been illuminating.” She turned the knob, pivoted, and almost walked into the pizza delivery kid. Instead, she yelped and jumped back, her heart racing so fast she nearly doubled over.
Garrett was at her side within seconds, handing over bills and taking the pizza. He shut the door. “Sit down.”
She walked as far away from him as possible and sat on the bed. The smell of pepperoni wafted through the room, and her stomach growled. How could she be hungry right now? “I don’t want to be vampire feed.”
He snorted and put the boxes on the table. “Quick lesson. Vampires don’t need to take blood to live. We make our own just like you do.” He dug into a bag and drew out paper plates and napkins. “We do drink blood in extreme situations—for example, to heal ourselves or during sex.” Frowning, he flipped open the lids of two of the boxes.
Sex? They took blood during sex? “I don’t want to be turned into a vampire.” She’d read a vampire novel years ago. Now she swallowed over a lump in her throat and casually reached for her bag, which was sitting on the floor.
He shoved a piece of pizza in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. After he swallowed, he gestured her toward the open boxes. “You need to eat. Also, you can’t be turned into anything but what you are, so stop worrying about it. When an immortal mates, the only thing that changes are the chromosomal pairs, if the other mate is human. Other than that, we don’t change anybody.”
Even so, her time on this fun ride had just ended. “Okay.” She drew her knife free and then tugged her laptop bag over her shoulder. “I’m going to go make my own way now. Thank you for everything.”
He just watched her while he finished his pizza. “It’s storming. Where do you think you’re going?”
She shrugged. “I’ve hitchhiked before. It’s okay. I’m fine.” She looked harmless, so people would pick her up on the road. It probably wasn’t safe, but neither was staying in the same room with a vampire who thought she was lying to him.
“No.” His voice was soft. Too soft.
She shivered. “Yes.” She kept her head high as she walked casually toward the door. Though she didn’t want to stab him, she would. There was no doubt he underestimated her ability to fight, and that was good. Taking him by surprise was the only chance she had.
“Dessie, there are at least a dozen reasons you’re not going anywhere, but the only one that matters to you is that I’m not gonna let you. So put your knife away, grab a piece of pizza, and have a seat.” He flopped a piece onto a plate and held it out.
She tightened her grip on the handle.
He sighed.
Then the world crashed in. A bald man flew through the window, shredding glass and then rolling to come up on two feet with a gun in his hand. The door burst open, and two more men jumped inside, both with weapons.
Dessie stumbled back, adrenaline bursting through her veins. The first man was the one who’d been following her around town the week before. She’d forgotten all about him until right now. How had he found her?
Garrett pivoted, manacled the man who’d come through the window around the neck and twisted. The guy’s neck broke with a loud snap.
The second man fired rapidly at Garrett, while the third swung his weapon toward Dessie. She reacted instantly, slicing his wrist with her blade. He screamed and dropped the gun. He was at least six feet tall with a broad chest, but he moved gracefully like he could fight. His hair was blond, his eyes green, and his beard dirty. Ducking his head, holding his bleeding hand, he charged her. She jumped back and swiped across his shoulder, slicing clean through his denim jacket. Blood spurted as he flew past her.
She danced away, keeping her legs loose as Garrett and the other man grappled. How badly had he been shot?
The bleeding man caught her around the legs and took her down. Her heart pounding, she stabbed him in the shoulder, planted her feet flat on the ground, and flipped them both over to land straddling him.
Something cracked loudly above her head.
She focused on the man beneath her as he pulled his arm back to punch up. Reacting instinctively, she flipped the knife in the air and brought the heavy steel handle down in the center of his forehead, as she’d been trained. His eyelids fluttered shut, and his body went limp.
Gasping, she partially crouched to go help Garrett but stopped cold. Both bodies lay crumpled at his feet, their heads at odd angles. Now that the danger had passed, her hands started to shake. She looked up at Garrett to see fury swirling blue and silver through his eyes. How had she ever thought he was just human? She gulped. “You’re angry.”
He cocked his head, his fingers curled into fists. “You’re empathic?”
