Page 4 of The Curse of Eternity
What I’d never witnessed before, on a vampire’s face anyway, was an apologetic expression. That was new, and strangely…disarming to my rapid heartbeat.
“Your ‘family’ will not find you here. I have covered my tracks well enough. However…” He grasped the antique desk’s wooden chair and dragged it noiselessly across the carpeted floor. As he sat directly in front of me, his dark eyebrows pulled together. “I am prepared to release you, as long as you agree to convince your fellow hunters to leave me be.”
“Excuse me, how stupid do you think I am?”
“I never said you were unintelligent—”
“Right, so we’ll just ‘leave you be’ to eat whoever you please. Capture a hostage and you think you get an ‘all you can eat’ free pass?”
“Fortunately for you, and the rest of the public, I abstain from human blood,” the vampire said, and I was too baffled to reply. Yeah, like I believed that—but admittedly, this was the strangest interaction I’d ever had with an undead. He leaned back in his seat, appearing relaxed with one leg across his knee. “I am aware this must be a peaceable arrangement.”
My eyes narrowed. “Such a pacifist, chaining up a woman.”
He huffed, which must’ve been a choice since he didn’t exactly needto breathe. “As I said, merely a precaution. It would be unwise to allow a descendant of Helsing to roam freely around my residence.”
“Observant,” I remarked, and his shoulders rose and fell.
“The one who destroyed Dracula is notorious, legendary even, to my kind. As are those who carry his bloodline.”
My frown deepened. “But you don’t want to kill me?” Sure, vampires would sometimes keep people around as their own personal vending machines, but then why was he stopping to chat?
“No,” he answered slowly, “I am disinterested in murder.”
“You expect me to believe that you’re not with the colony I was hunting? Your ‘kind’ has been leaving a bloody trail all throughout Albuquerque!” A horrible thought sunk to the pit of my stomach—but no, my family and the Tsosies couldn’t be dead. I couldn’t believe he’d be able to take out all of us. The vampire’s silence turned deafening, spiking my anxiety.
“I assure you, I played no part in that. Nor did I even know they had come to this city until I smelled their ‘colony.’” The vampire shifted, his gaze diverted to the closed drapes on the farwall. “I was only passing by when I glimpsed you through the second story window. I thought you were an innocent person, unaware of your proximity to monsters. Then I smelled the blood on you, and when you withdrew your weapon… It became obvious you were the hunter, rather than the victim.”
When I scoffed, the vampire’s gaze returned to mine. No longer exasperated and sincere, his features hardened, clearly irritated.
“What will it take for you to accept my words?” he demanded, voice quiet, but I was already biting my tongue. Nothing I could say would make this better. “Perhaps some time alone will aid you in collecting your thoughts.” The vampire stood in a blur, and my heart jumped into my throat.
“Because that’ll work!” I blurted, and he paused. “Leave me here, chained up like an animal, and I’ll come to heel? You’re as bad as any of them!” It was stupid to argue, but I could handle a fight. Being left defenseless, on the other hand? I stifled a shudder.
The vampire stood stock still, but I looked away before he could see any terror in my eyes. All I had to do was wait, just until my family could find me—
“Alright, I will release you.”
What did he just say?My attention snapped back to the vampire, but my spine pressed into the chair when he moved closer. Then he stopped, like he’d sensed my discomfort.
“And you must promise not to fight me.” Dark eyes stared into mine, close enough to reflect the blue-gray of my irises. “Do we have a deal?”
“Sure,” I answered with conviction, my heart pounding. The vampire pulled out a key from the back pocket of his jeans. A shiver skittered down my arms when his cold hand brushed against mine to unlock the shackles. Unsurprising,since vampires couldn’t create their own body heat, being mostly dead.
My left wrist came free, and I gasped when my hand fell limp onto my lap. Pins and needles itched down my arm, the blood rushing in a torrent. Another loud turn of the key rang out from the second shackle, freeing my other hand. Before I could so much as take a breath, the vampire’s face appeared inches from mine.
“I will not hurt you unless you force my hand,” he warned, and straightened up.
Flexing my numb fingers, I stood. While I tracked his reaction, he measured mine in return. When he pivoted toward the doorway, I took my chance. The only way to incapacitate an undead was to traumatize their spinal column, so I aimed my knee for the base of his back. Too fast, he spun around to catch my leg—and raised it high.
Unbalanced, I toppled backward. My hip hit the floor with a thud, and I rolled onto my front to push myself back up. When I rose, the vampire was waiting, shaking his head in disappointment, and my ire ignited. Grabbing for whatever I could, I yanked an old landline telephone free from the wall and chucked it at the vampire’s head.
He dodged it, but the corners of his eyes tightened, his jaw clenching at my destruction. Desperate to distract him, I reached for something else, an old teacup, and threw that next. This time, he caught the cup in his right hand, and tossed it onto the cushioned armchair I’d just vacated. The vampire approached one step at a time. Until I was backed up against the wall opposite the door, our position forcing me to glare up at his irksomely handsome face.
“I did warn you,” the vampire muttered, raising his hand. I flinched, but he was only holding a bunch of sand. On impulse, I charged him, ducking down under his arm to elbow his side. Istruck true, and the blow shoved him aside long enough for me to make a mad dash for the door. My booted foot crossed the threshold before his hand clamped down on my arm, sending another flash of needles through my magickally-frayed nerves.
He yanked me around to face him, and I threw a punch at his straight nose. In a blur, he blocked it, catching my fist in his grasp. Hands occupied, I drove my knee into his abdomen. The vampire took the blow, only to release my arm and grab behind my knee while pulling my fist in an arc. Twisted around, I was thrown to the floor when he let go.
Before I could regain my wits, he was on top of me, pinning me down with his hands gripping my forearms.
