When Sarah Solomon took refuge in an old cottage in the woods, she knew it would only be a matter of time before the monsters came a' calling.
Cursed with a power she neither wants, nor knows how to harness, Sarah has become a target, but who is he...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
'Listen, I know you're mad...'
Michael's face darkened. 'Mad? I'm not mad, Sarah, I'm furious! How could you not tell me? What the ever-loving fuck possessed you to think you'd keep this to yourself until now?'
My heckles rose. 'Do not shout at me!'
'Shout at you? I want to...' He broke off, slamming his fist against the driver's side window.
'What? You want to what? Come on, you big bad vampire you. You think I'm scared of you?'
He turned sharply, his eyes wide as he stared at me. 'I'm not trying to scare you... fuck.' He stared out the window. 'I need out of this car right now.'
And with that, Michael opened the door, the force of the traffic rushing by on the motorway, making the car rock a little as the noise surged into the space he'd left behind. He slammed the door and rounded the front of the car, crossing to the grass verge at the edge of the layby, where the heavy border of trees thickened the night into an almost impenetrable gloom. With his back to me, he threaded his fingers into his hair and released a howl of frustration into the shadows.
I got out of the car, anger still bristling down my spine as I approached where he stood. 'Look, I know I should have told you sooner...'
His laughter was cold. 'Oh, you think?'
I snapped. 'Yes, Mr Sarcasm, I do think. But you know what? I had just killed a vampire leader's second-in-command, had been told all the vampires in Paris wanted me dead and was trying to get out of the city before my death became a reality. That very same vampire leader cornered me in the ladies bathroom, because apparently it's a completely normal thing for him to go wherever the Hell he wants, licked the blood from my wounded hand and threatened all of you, and you think I was going to rush straight out and put you all in danger by tattling on him?'
Michael whipped around, glaring at me. 'He did... what?'
I sighed, exhausted of this. 'He threatened all of you. He said the consequences would be severe. And maybe I shouldn't give a shit about a bunch of vampires, who, by the way, are meant to be my immortal enemies and for some weird reason aren't, but I do, okay?'
Michael stepped towards me, shaking his head furiously. 'No, no, the other thing you said. He did what to you?'
I stared up into his face, weirdly embarrassed as I waved my injured hand in an awkward fashion, like it was an appendage I wished I could shake off. 'He licked... well, you know, he tasted the blood. It was gross and strange and...' I broke off, confused.
Okay, so it hadn't been completely gross. I thought of Sébastien's face as he'd sucked at his bottom lip, his eyes glinting with want and pleasure. Swallowing, I blinked away the image from my mind.
Michael's face dropped. Why did it feel like he knew exactly what I'd been thinking?
'Sébastien said that his people would demand nothing less than my life. I thought he was going to do it. I really did.' I frowned. 'He said a bunch of other stuff too, about how he hadn't agreed to help you because he owed you anything and that he had another reason for wanting to find out what this whole thing was about.'
