Page 64 of Night of the Vampire
"Home." There was so many things buzzing around inside of me, I didn't know where to start. Or what to think.
"I want you to come back to the house."
"That's not my home."
"Neither is a cheap hotel room."
I laughed. "It's not cheap."
Tossing the towel on the tabletop I'd just vacated he studied me as he fastened his jeans. I couldn't read the expression on his face.
"So, you're just going to keep running away? You're going to run away from me, just like you run away from everything else in your life."
My anger was back. "I'm not running from you."
"Yes," he said. "You are."
I glanced over at him. I wanted to ask him why he was here. And if he planned on going back out onto that stage. I wanted to know what he was thinking. I wanted to know what it meant that I'd let him bite me, and if it changed anything. But I did none of those things.
Checking my clothes one more time, I paused, but I could think of nothing to say. So, I walked out of the room. My thoughts and my emotions were in chaos. I didn't know why I'd come here. What I'd hoped to prove.
He didn't follow me as I retrieved my coat from the chair near the bar and left the club.
Chapter 22
Killian
Four nights had gone by since Lizzy walked out of this club. Four long, agonizing nights of not knowing where she was or what she was doing or who she might be with.
It was enough to drive me insane.
I craved her blood. Her body. The way I felt when her eyes were on me. I ached for her touch. To smell her sweet scent. To see the way she moved beneath me when I was inside of her. Even just to hear her voice. To sit across the table from her and talk.
I knew, once she accepted this thing between us, we would have all of the time in the world together. We'd have forever. And yet I couldn't help but feel we would never have enough and I didn't want to waste one minute of it. I wanted her near me now. I didn't want to wait anymore.
But I'd kept my vow and I'd given her the space she'd asked for, even after she'd come here seeking me out. Jamal was right. Forcing her to be glued to my side would only make her hate me. And I didn't want that.
So, I spent every night either at the club or back at the house with Kenya. When I wasn't with her, Jamal was. He was there right now, actually, because we could both see the boost she'd gotten from Lizzy's blood was wearing off even though she swore she'd be okay alone for a few hours. But I didn't want to risk it after seeing her fall into such a rapid decline that one night. So we took turns staying at the house with her as we had from the beginning. I think Jamal actually liked it. If he was with Kenya, it meant he wouldn't have to see me.
"Killian," Dae stuck his head into the office where I was supposed to be going over the club's numbers. "You have company."
My head snapped up at the exact same moment he made his announcement. I knew exactly who it was. I rubbed my face. "Let her in."
"I'm already here," Judy Moss announced as she squeezed past Dae and came into the office. "You can go," she told him. "This conversation is between Killian and I."
I saw Dae-Jung's jaw clench with the casual dismissal and stood up to catch his attention. "It's all right," I told him. "Go on back out to our customers and keep them entertained."
"Just yell if you need us," he told me, completely ignoring the affronted look the High Priestess of the Moss witch coven gave him.
"Aye, I'll do that." Once he'd gone, I walked over and closed the door, shutting out some of the noise. "What can I do for you, Judy?"
Walking over to my desk, she took off her coat—a frumpy blue thing that made her look as harmless as any grandmother and did not fool me in the least—and laid it over a chair. "You can tell me where my niece is," she demanded.
"Well, now, that I don't know," I told her honestly. "I haven't seen Lizzy in quite some time."
The look she gave me was skeptical.
"I'm telling you the truth."
