Page 18 of The Vampire's Hunter

Dani didn’t wake until the following evening, the events and uncertainty of the previous night having worn through her. Even working the midnight shift at the diner as she often did, she’d severely underestimated exactly how much vampiric hours took their toll.

Finally awake, she sat up in bed, quickly casting the covers off as her eyes searched through the dark. The dimly lit glow of the club’s neon lights from the night prior lingered behind her eyes, the constant thump of its music still ringing in her ears. Coupled with the hypervigilance she was forced to exert every time she was in a vampire’s presence—a heightened level of awareness to which she no longer accustomed to—the combination proved more than a little tiresome.

But Dani was nothing if not a survivor.

She stood from the bed, flicking on the bedside light as she went.

Only to let out a startled shriek.

Corbin sat in an armchair on the far side of the room, one long leg propped across the other where he sat frozen in wait of her, like a king who’d been waiting for a rather long time for his consort to wake. Though what was a few passing hours to an immortal?

“Get dressed,” he said, before quickly exiting the room, leaving nothing but those two words and a dark blur of movement within his wake.

Dani’s gaze fell to the edge of the bed. To the black dress bag which waited.

Play your role and in exchange, you’ll have your revenge, he’d said.

Wasn’t that always the path she chose to take?

The path of least resistance.

Though she was straddling uncharted territory here.

Unzipping the dress bag, Dani took her time getting ready, pleased, and yet not surprised, to find the clutch she’d abandoned at the club the night before had been retrieved for her. It waited on the bathroom’s granite counter, filled with all the makeup she could possibly need. Not to mention, a fresh toothbrush. She never left home unprepared.

When she finally emerged, dressed and ready, Corbin was waiting for her by the walled window, overlooking the glittering city below. “Hello, darling,” he purred, the smooth timber of his voice sending a little thrum of excitement through her. “You look lovely.”

His gaze raked over her.

The dress he’d left for her fit like a dream. A gold silk ballgown, finer than anything she’d ever worn, with a stunning draped neckline and a scandalously low, plunging back that brought out the sun kissed undertones of her skin and hair.

It made her feel like she was a golden goddess, her beauty beaming.

For a moment, Dani allowed herself to bask in his attention, to pretend this wasn’t all a dream. “Thank you,” she whispered. Some small part of her was convinced that if she spoke too loudly, she might break the spell between them.

“Shall we take our leave?” Corbin said, offering her his arm.

Oh, so gentlemanly.

Except when he wasn’t.

Like when they’d been in alone in the alcove.

She ducked her head, hiding a knowing grin.

Corbin was dressed in a three-piece suit that had clearly been tailored for him it fit him so well, like a glove, highlighting all the parts of him she’d once wished to explore.

Parts shestillwished to explore, if she was being honest.

With her hands, her tongue, her teeth.

One night. Nothing more.

Coarse words and yet, they served their purpose.

To remind her of how little she truly meant to him. Even if he’d offered her this favor, this chance at revenge.

Dani accepted his arm, following him out of the penthouse and down to the street below, where the town car already waited.

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