Page 19 of Secret of the Vampire
Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I kept my steps at my natural pace. Just like any animal that was being hunted, I knew that showing any hint of fear would only incite the sorcery that was, even now, winding around me. Taking my measure. Trying to get a sense of my power.
Well…let it.
Maybe it would find out I wasn’t anyone it wanted to fuck with.
This dark magic followed me for two blocks, and in that time I only saw three other people walking down the street. One a college age kid who carried himself like someone who’d grown up here, and the other two a pair of middle-aged women who were obviously tourists, taking pictures of every other house while gesturing excitedly and sipping on coffees from Cafe Du Monde.
I kept walking, drawing the sorcery away from them before I slipped down a narrow drive between houses, stopped, and waited. I didn’t have to wait long.
The man that appeared at the other end was tall and lean with short, brown hair. He wasn’t classically good-looking, but there was something about him. Something sensual. Hungry. Powerful. It was a heady combination. And I wasn’t normally into guys.
But something about it wasn’t right. It felt wrong. Almost incestuous.
He came sauntering out from behind the houses and stared at me, waiting for me to say something. To question him. To throw a spell at him, maybe. But I wasn’t about to give this fucker the satisfaction. No. This bastard was going to come to me. I wanted answers, and I was going to get them tonight. Or I would die trying.
After a few minutes, he shoved his hands into the front pockets of his dark slacks and strolled toward me, his head tilted to the side and a smile playing around his eyes. He wore no coat, only a long-sleeved pullover sweater that looked like it did little to protect him against the night air.
Feet braced apart and arms hanging loose at my sides, I held my ground and watched him come, my body relaxed, my magic dancing along the surface, touching his with tentative fingers.
Through sheer force of will, I kept my heartbeat steady, kept any fear I felt hidden deep down. So deep there was no way he’d ever find it.
“Hello, Alex.”
How do you know my name?“Who the fuck are you?"
His brows lowered and the corners of his mouth turned down in an over-exaggerated frown. “Is that any way to greet your uncle?"
At that moment, the wisps of magic that had been feeling me out since he’d first revealed himself to me reached deeper, stretching down my nose and throat, seeping into my pores until it touched the very heart of me. The darkness that bled from the very marrow of my bones.
The demon smiled and my blood froze in my veins. Mostly because I felt no fear, no disgust as his magic mingled with mine. It wasn’t foreign to me. It didn’t feel like a parasite leeching onto me.
It felt like it belonged there.
“Do you see?” he asked. “You do recognize me even if you don’t want to admit it.”
This time, I could not control the wave of terror that filled me as I comprehended what he was suggesting. With some effort, I evicted him from my body. At least, that’s what it felt like, thathe, and not just his sorcery, had somehow twisted up inside of me until I was a part of him and he was a part of me. And when I pushed him away, a sense of loss hit me hard, bowing my shoulders for a moment before I was able to straighten to my full height again.
What the fuck was happening?
“What do you want?" I asked him when I could form a cohesive sentence.
"Aren't you the least bit curious?" he wanted to know.
I refused to play his game. "About what, exactly?" I needed time. Time to figure out exactly what this meant. I had entered this driveway ready to fight, to rid Kenya of this threat against her. But unlike the last time, I felt no interest for the vampire coming from him.
Only for me.
Again, he smiled. My changing the rules of his game seemed only to amuse him.
I pushed Kenya from my thoughts, not wanting to draw his attention back to her. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he was able to pull her right from my head and make her appear before my eyes. I didn't know what he was, but he was no ordinary warlock.
I got the distinct impression he wasn't even human.
Lifting one eyebrow, I waited for his answer. But instead of answering my question, he gave me a proposition.
“Let’s stop with the games. For now,” he added. “Because I do enjoy them immensely. However, we’re short on time, and I have an offer for you that I think you’ll find hard to refuse.”
I played it off, feeling him out. “I seriously doubt that anything you have to say will be of any interest to me.”
