Page 72 of Blood Submission

Laney tried to put what she’d experienced into words. “Um. I heard them threatening Dante, and everything just got really sharp and clear. I wasn’t scared, or angry, or anything. And it was like the air turned purple, and I could see their…spirit? Aura? I don’t know. Then I just imagined it being squeezed from their bodies.” She hung her head and plucked at a loose thread. “It’s not the first time this has happened.”

“Laney, those things that took you? They were vampires that were created by Luukas, but they’d left this colony to serve another vampire.” Her voice dropped. “A real bitch.”

“They were also possessed,” Gracesaid.

“Possessed?” Laney asked.

Keira nodded. “That bitch I just mentioned, she found an ancient altar hidden deep underground. There were demons chained to it, well, their spirits were anyway. At least, until she figured out a way to free them. And she did that by finding bodies for them to live in. Vampires created by a powerful Master Vampire work the best and last the longest.”

Laney recalled the stench of rot and the decomposing bodies. “They didn’t seem to be taking very good care of themselves.”

“I think the bodies are dying, because Leeha—the aforementioned bitch—is dead now. And since she was technically their creator because she re-animated them after the possessions with her own blood, they won’t survive long in those bodies.”

Vampires, demons, witches…if Laney hadn’t seen the stuff she’d seen with her own eyes, she’d think these two were crazy. But she had seen it. Still, she was confused. “What happened to the original owners of the bodies?”

The two women looked at each other. “We’re not sure, “ Keira admitted.

“Um, one thing you should know,” Grace said. “My mate, Aiden. British, dimpled chin, sexy grey eyes…he has one of those things inside of him.” Her face grew cautiously hopeful. “Maybe you could get itout?”

Laney stared ather.

“Grace, I think we should wait,” Keira said quietly. “We don’t know enough about Laney’s magic. None of the vampires survived her exorcism.”

Grace refused to be deterred. “Can you do it, Laney? Can you get that fucking demon out and leave my Aiden in there?”

“I…I don’tknow.”

“You said this has happened before,” she coaxed. “What happened? Were they humans or vampiresor…?”

“They were humans,” she toldher.

“And?”

“They died,” she whispered.

A heavy silence descended upon theroom.

“Well, shit.” Grace covered her face with her hands.

“Grace, it’ll be okay,” Keira got up from the bed and went over to soothe her. “When you’re cleaned up and fed, we’ll talk more about this,” she said to Laney. “See what we can figureout.”

Laney didn’t respond.

Eventually, they’d gone to let Luukas know she was awake, and with nothing else to do, Laney had taken a quick shower and put Dante’s shirt back on over her last clean pair of jeans. Now she sat staring at the book on the nightstand with one hand clenched in the comforter and one hand over her stomach, trying to hold in the butterflies.

She wanted to see Dante.

The front door opened and closed, and Laney jumped up off the bed and ran out to the other room in her socks. It wasn’t her male, but the female vampire. “Where ishe?”

She smiled and opened her mouth. Then she snapped it shut and the smile fell from her face. “He’s not coming.”

“What’s yourname?”

“Oh, sorry.” She strode forward on long, graceful legs and held out her hand. It was pale and delicate, but her grip was strong when Laney took it in her own. “I’mShea.”

“Hi, Shea. I’m Laney.” She gave her a small smile. “Do you know where heis?”

“Sure do,” Shea said. “But I think you should wait for him to come uphere.”

Laney laughed. It sounded bitter to even her own ears. “Yeah, no. Dante has no plans to come here. Take me to him. Please,” she added. “I need to seehim.”

Shea eyed her up and down. She must have passed the inspection. “He’s underground. I’ll get you in there.”

“Thank you!” Acting on impulse, Laney huggedher.

Shea stiffened for moment, then her arms came around her and she hugged her back. “Go get your shoes,” she toldher.

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