Page 75 of A Velvet Kiss After Dark

Lou sighed. Tabitha chomped through her pencil eraser in retribution as what she was about to hear.

"Listen, uhm, I've been meaning to bring this up to you, Tabby, but something is going on with management over here and they're wanting more hot celeb stories than anything. The old vampire/werewolf politics schtick don't sit well with the average reader anymore. Management wants something more 'reality TV aimed'. You know the type, honey, who's wearing what brand and who's dating who in the supernatural world of the posh and not-so-nice? Think you can write any stories like that?" Lou asked.

Garbage. He wanted garbage.

Important world news, not so much.

Clicking open a document she had saved on her laptop, Tabitha droned on sarcastically. "Sure thing, Lou. What about this? 'Spice Girl Bit by Famous Vampire — Vows Baby is on the Way!'"

She could hear Lou jump out of his chair. "No crap? Now that's what I'm talking about! Which one of 'em was it? The pretty blond one?"

"Nope," Tabitha said, then crunched into a handful of potato chips. Each bite made a chomping sound that cut Lou off perfectly. It was an old trick of hers. It was the least she could do for payback.

"It's not Ginger, is it?" Lou said, his voice was growing more excited by the minute. "Please, tell me it's not poor old Ginger!"

"Yup, you got it. I've got it all written up and ready to go. I'll email it straight over to you," Tabitha said.

"Great, great. I'll let you know when the copy goes live."

"Don't bother," Tabitha said around a mouthful of salty bits. "Don't care."

She ended the call before he could summon a response.

Her back was tight from being in the chair all day long, so she head outside to her 40-floor high balcony for a breath of fresh air. An ashtray waited for her on her outdoor table with a half a cigarette in it. When it undoubtedly beckoned her, she grabbed it and lit up.

She only coughed a little as she stared out over downtown St. Louis. The most beautiful city in all the world, in her mind. Beautiful, fanciful skyscrapers, the Gateway arched looming like the portal it was in the background and behind it shimmied the mighty Mississippi river. She loved this place, and her new apartment even better. Bigger salary, better accoutrements.

Still, as she blew out an acrid bite of smoke, the deep sense of melancholy that never quite went away returned. It always returned. Like a sunrise or a sunset…it couldn't be discounted. And it always came when she stood outside on her balcony that faced the archway which had so changed her life forever. It reminded her of Kane. A man she'd thought to consider as a lover…as maybe someone worthy of more than just a misguided friendship.

He'd never returned. Not any of them. Was Kane or Alexis or Seth alive down there? Were they dead? These were the questions that nagged at Tabitha every single minute of every day. No matter how hard she tried, she never felt at ease.

She'd asked everyone she could about the kingly figure who'd rebuffed her in the blink of an eye back to her former life. No one knew of him. Not a single whisper of his name among werewolf or vampire-kind—King Illius of Hell. Not one soul whom she'd spoken to had heard word from the infamous werewolf merc-for-hire, Kane Gunner, or from his comrades in arms, Alexis or Seth. No one had heard a peep.

One thing she'd learned, something that had been difficult to swallow upon returning to her former life—which had felt so far removed from who she'd become through her journey—was that time was not equal. It did not equate.

For three days spent in Hell had cost her three months in earth time.

Three whole months of her life lost and gone forever, and no Kane to speak of.

Three months in Hell.

A novel by Tabitha Burke, she thought dryly.

Only, this time, the novel was in progress and nearing its end. It was a true story and one she'd been pledging time to write day in and day out. This was no ordinary headline story for the Vampire News Network gossip column she wrote for, this was a novelization of her experiences, with perhaps a pinch of desire thrown in for taste.

And no one in the world knew about her rather deeply coveted tale but her and her lonely old laptop.

Every day she wondered. It was like experience her own internal hell over and over again, never managing to escape it. Not enough wine or drugs existed to vanquish all that had happened from her mind, nor the utter loss she felt at losing Kane.

And so she couldn't help but wonder if one of these times she'd be glancing out the window and looked out over the horizon, if he'd be standing there. Having come home finally.

She craved answers. She'd love to know if the man she'd secretly fallen in love with was okay, that he wasn't hurting or being tortured. But each week that passed without his company was like a sickness to her heart that weighed more and more heavy as the months grew further away.

A tear strayed down her cheek as she gasped for breath. The lump in her heart hurt so terribly, she doubled over in another attempt to breathe normally.

This was normal for her. These panic attacks. This massive sense of overwhelm that kept her locked inside her apartment out of fear of venturing out.

Oh, Kane, how could I have left you down there? I'm so sorry, my angel. I'm so sorry for everything.

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