Page 21 of Forsworn By The Vampire
"Maybe," I replied. "But somebody has to do it."
"And why do you feel that someone should be you?"
Ah, my vampire saw too much. But I just shrugged, playing it off. "Why not me? I'm one of the more powerful witches in our coven." Wandering away from the door, I kept one eye on him as I made my way slowly across the room to the chair that sat catty-corner to the couch. He watched me closely. I could see he was still tense, but he made no move toward me. Actually, he was back to playing statue.
"How did he know?" he suddenly asked.
"Know what?"
"That you were there?"
I paused for the briefest of moments. "I don't know."
His dark eyes narrowed. Just the tiniest of movements. "And now you're lying to me."
"I'm not," I lied.
He cocked his head but said nothing. However, his dark eyes drilled through mine as I held his stare. The muscles around my eyes twitched, and I suddenly felt like I was no longer alone. I mean, of course I wasn't alone. I was sitting here in the same room with him. But in my head. I wasn't alone in my head.
Too late I realized what was happening and I threw up my shields. Aunt Judy had taught us all how to do it, but this was actually the first time I'd had to. "Get out of my head, Jamal."
His eyes widened slightly, the expression on his face hard to decipher, then his jaw set into a stubborn line. "Stop lying to me, Leeloo."
I looked away and took a deep breath. He couldn't have seen much, or he wouldn't still be sitting there so calmly. When I turned back to him, I schooled my expression into one of boredom. "Look, that's not why I came here."
"Whydidyou come here?"
That was a good question. I stood up from the couch. "Know what? You're right. I shouldn't have bothered." I strode to the patio doors, the hairs on the back of my neck rising as he watched me leave. But he didn't try to stop me.
I stepped out into the morning sunshine and turned to close the doors behind me. Jamal had risen from the couch and now stood just out of the circle of light. I jumped when I saw him. I hadn't even heard him move. Slowly, never taking my eyes from him, I slid the door closed.
It wasn't until I was out of the courtyard and walking down the sidewalk toward the nearest streetcar line that I remembered I was still covered in his blood. And mine. And yet, the vampire had controlled himself.
Maybe I wasn't as irresistible as I thought.
Chapter 13
Jamal
Disgusted with myself, I used my mind to lock the patio doors and keep that fucking redhead out. Covering my face with both hands, I pressed my fingertips against my closed eyelids, wishing I could undo what I'd just done.
I'd broken my number one rule without even thinking about it. Just because I couldn't stand the thought that she was hiding something from me. And it was all for nothing anyway. All I'd been able to pull from her mind was an overwhelming sense of fear and some distorted images before she blocked me.
What the hell was it about that female that made me forget any morals I somehow managed to cling to?
You know what it is.
I flashed my fangs at the empty room. Nah. Fuck that.
Dropping my arms back down to my sides, I strode down the short hallway to the bedroom and attached bath at the end. I needed to get the hell out of that room and away from the scent of her. Try to get some sleep. I was working at The Fang tonight. And with any luck, I'd find a meal with big tits and juicy veins to take my mind off of that damn witch.
"What's up, man? What's happening? What's going on?"
Elias greeted me from behind the bar as I walked into The Purple Fang just after sunset. I lifted my chin in greeting as I pulled up a stool. We still had about thirty minutes until we opened the doors, and I wasn't on until the last show, but I couldn't stand being in my own head anymore. I needed other people around. Something else to focus on besides a certain red-headed witch. Before he could ask me anything about the night before, because I could fucking guarantee things were said after Killian and Lizzy got home, I said, "That woman is hanging around again."
He looked up from the paper he was writing a list on and raised one eyebrow. "Which one?"
"Dark hair. Red lipstick. Always dressed in red, too. With a black, leather jacket."
