Page 12 of Vampire's Hearth

I narrowed my eyes as my heart thudded against my chest.How? How does this man know?I drew the cold air into my lungs, careful to keep my voice steady. “How would you know?”

“That’s a story for another day.” His voice strained as he spoke.

I shook my head. “Then we might be at an impasse.”

“I sense we have gotten off to a poor start,” he said as he caught my gaze. “My name is Mac.”

I tilted my head. I was stuck here with a man talking about vampires. My stomach clenched. And now he was trying to be nice? I glanced at the wall behind him. It wasn’t like I was going anywhere. I sighed, deciding to make the best of it. “Aurora,” I said. “But you can call me Rory. Everyone else does.”

He stood. “Getting you out of here will take a bit of time. But you seemed to have the necessities in that bag of yours.”

“Probably everything we need for the night.” My words came out matter-of-fact.

Mac didn’t flinch. “Want to tell me what you were planning on doing?”

“No.” I sighed. “I just can’t leave yet.”

“Are you going to explain that statement?”

“No.”

Mac shook his head in the light beam, his face showing a change in resolve. “Do you have anything in there for a fire? The least we can do is get some light in here.”

Cormac

Thankfully, she didn’t insist on using the name I gave her because I hated it, but after her reaction to David’s story and the way her heart thudded in her chest at my mention of vampires, I would have to tread lightly. She knew something.

“Is it safe to light a fire in here?” Aurora’s voice reminded me of tinkling bells.

I looked around, seeing everything, even without the beam from her flashlight. “Yes, see, there is a scorched ring right there.”

She shined the light toward where my finger pointed before she alternated spotlighting me and the ring. She carefully pointed the light away from my eyes and not into them. “How did you even see it from over there?”

“I just did.” I tried to sound nonchalant, but I had a nagging voice in my head, wondering if I appeared angry. Nothing positive would come from telling her my brothers and I had lit fires there over a hundred years ago before my father had declared this space off-limits.

She pulled a long-burning fuel log and a lighter from her bag and held them out for me.

“Are you sure there is enough air?” she asked as I took them.

“There is a vent in the ceiling,” I said without looking up. “When the moon is right, the light will shine through and onto the center stone.” Was the moon why my parents had decided this room was sacred? I often wondered if my mother hadn’t been conferring with a witch for her entire life.

The light wavered as Aurora shivered. “Did you work as a guide here before?”

“My brothers and I used to spend a lot of time in these caves,” I answered as I flicked the lighter and set the flame on the log. I looked over at her. She put on a baggy gray sweater at some point, but it didn’t stop a tremor from going through her at inconsistent intervals. “Are you cold?”

The fire threw bits of light around the room. She gazed at our surroundings before she turned to me and nodded. “A bit, yes.” She flicked off the flashlight as the fire grew.

“Do you have a way to stabilize your ankle?”

She shook her head. “No. I will have to stay off it.”

My eyes darted around the room, looking for additional fuel but not locating any. “Can I at least help you get closer to the fire?”

She smiled, her eyes crinkling. “If you could just get my bag, I’ll crawl over?”

I nodded and wordlessly picked up the sack as she turned onto all fours and crept closer to the warmth. When she stopped, I placed her things beside her.

“Thank you,” she said, looking up at me. The flames danced in her green eyes. “I feel horrible because I only have enough sleeping materials for one. We can split them up. The tent for me and a sleeping bag for you? It seems we’ll be stuck here for a while.”

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