Page 45 of Secret of the Vampire
“Because she means nothing to me,” he said. “She is a means to an end. An object. I need her to help me get my love back, and that’s all. Once she’s done that, you can have her, and she can be ‘Kenya’ to you.”
Get his love back? Wait, what the hell did I miss?
“Do you agree to come with me? To learn how to be a djinn? To be a family?” He appeared right in front of me, nose to nose, and I didn’t even see him move. Dark sorcery wrapped around me, squeezing me like a constrictor until I couldn’t breathe.
“And you must mean it, my nephew. Don’t think you can pull the wool over my eyes because I will know. I know everything about you. Everything you think. Everything you feel. And though I understand you may have some natural hesitations, that is all it must be.” He backed up a step, and I sucked in a breath as he released me.
“Now,” he said. “Do we have an agreement?”
What fucking choice did I have? “Yes.” The word tasted like metal on my tongue. “If you take me to Kenya right fucking now.”
Marcus smiled, and this time it was true. “Then let’s go see your vampire.”
Chapter 17
Kenya
Isat in the corner of the kitchen of the swamp house with my knees pulled up to my chest and my arms wrapped around my legs—the same house where Killian had hidden me when I was ill—and watched the sun as it crept toward me along the floor. There would come a point where I would have to either risk it and move, fast enough that I won’t catch on fire as I cross the floor, or just let it burn me alive.
I wasn’t sure yet which option I was going to take.
I’d woken up from the djinn’s sleep on the couch, blinking against the sunshine coming in through the window of the living room. Sunshine I hadn’t seen in eighty years. Another five minutes, maybe less, and it would’ve been on me. With a hiss, I’d scrambled off of the couch and ran toward the back of the house, where Killian and Jamal had sealed the windows so we would be safe to spend our days here. I’d completely forgotten that most of it had been demolished by Killian’s anguish when he’d come here after Lizzy had left him. She’d come back, but the house had never been fixed. And now there were giant holes in the walls and roof.
Veering to the right, I’d gone into the kitchen, frantically opening cabinets as I looked for a place to hide for the day. But they were all too small for me to fit into, and none of the doors fit right, leaving cracks where the light could get through even if I’d managed to get into them somehow. This house had once been a place for crocodile hunters to find shelter. It wasn’t meant to be a home, and therefore only had the minimum requirements to keep a human semi-comfortable for a short period of time.
Faced with the option of either burning slowly or just getting it over with in one fell swoop, I’d curled up in the corner, far from the large window over the sink and the threat of day. Yet, in my panicked state, I’d forgotten what time of year it was and how I’d just lined myself up perfectly to be held captive by the encroaching sunset. Because once it started to go down, it would come right through the kitchen window, eventually brightening the entire room before it sank below the horizon.
And, in the time it had taken me to find this spot, the sun had already moved to the side of the house. I could probably get around it if I ran fast enough, but I didn’t know what I’d be running into when I got to the other room. Disoriented by the time of day and the brightness, I couldn’t seem to think straight.
I didn’t know how much time had passed when the front door opened and two sets of footsteps trod across the wooden floor of the living room.
“Where the fuck is she?”
Alex?
It sounded like him, and yet…it didn’t.
One set of footsteps approached the kitchen entry. I held completely still and waited, afraid to hope.
But it wasn’t my warlock who appeared to rescue me, but the djinn. “What are you doing?” he asked. “Do youwantto roast yourself?”
I’d kind of been thinking about it, yeah.
With a look of disgust, he waved his hand, and I watched as the blinds lowered and heavy curtains I hadn’t even noticed before pulled themselves closed, blocking out the rays of the sun, except for two thin strips of light on the walls on either side. After sitting there so long, I blinked in the sudden darkness as someone else came to stand beside the djinn.
I recognized him right away, even before my vision cleared enough to make out the blurry details of his face.
“Where are her glasses?” he asked the djinn.
When all he got was a shrug, he left the room and his boots trod back across the wooden floor.
I got to my feet slowly, wondering what was going on. Why was he here with the djinn? Did he come alone? And why weren’t they fighting?
I had a sinking feeling he wasn’t here to help me, and that I’d been right all along.
At that moment, he came back into the kitchen and tried to hand me something. I could only stand there, staring at his blurry face, hoping against hope I was wrong and looking for some sign this was all some sort of a trick.
“Kenya,” he said, holding his hand up higher. “Here’s your glasses.”
