Pretty When She Dies (Pretty When She Dies #1)(60)

The chamber opened and Cian slipped out before shutting it again.

Samantha caught a glimpse of Amaliya curled up on her side, apparently asleep. Samantha slid to her feet and rushed over to Cian and threw her arms around him. He pushed her away before she could crush him close.

“I need to feed,” he rasped.

She drew back and realized he looked very pale and a bit gaunt.

“Cian, ohmygawd!”



“I had to give her a lot of blood.”

Roberto grabbed her arm and drew her away from Cian. “Let him be.”

Cian nodded to his servant, then turned and disappeared into the shadows.

“I've never seen him look like that!”

“That is because he never allows himself to go that far into the hunger.” Roberto let go of her. “Perhaps you should go home now. It is very late.”

“You're trying to get rid of me,” Samantha said in an accusing tone.

Roberto whirled on her, and said in a fierce voice, “This is not about you!”

Samantha drew back, startled. “Yes. Yes, it is! I'm his fiancée, *!”

Roberto drew slowly near her, his manner more menacing than she had ever seen. “Do you not understand that he is truly a vampire? Not your romance novel vampire, but a real vampire who feeds on blood and is truly, terribly dangerous.”

Tears, hot and angry, sprang to her eyes and she leaned toward Roberto, and said, “He's a good man no matter what he is. And I'm not leaving.”

Flinging up his hands, Roberto stormed away, leaving her alone outside the chamber.

Feeling extremely grumpy, she walked over and sat down again.

Unable to help herself, she glared at the closed off chamber. That girl had to leave and soon. That was all there was to it.

It was nearly an hour later when Cian came down the stairs from the second floor of his apartment. He looked yummy in a clean white t-shirt and black jeans. His hair was longer than usual and his face had the beginnings of a beard, but he looked much more like himself than he had.

“You're still here,” Cian said with surprise when he saw her.

“I couldn't just leave,” she answered and stood up. For once she wasn't sure if she should run and fling her arms around him.

Cian looked touched by this comment, but his hazel eyes seemed darker than normal. He walked past her to collapse into his leather chair at his computer desk. “It'll be all right. You should go home.”

“Is she going to go apeshit and kill everyone in the building?”

“No. No. She's fine now,” Cian said softly.

He wasn't looking at her and Samantha shifted awkwardly on her feet.

“I want her gone.”

Looking up, he was clearly startled by her vehemence.

“I don't like what she's doing to you. To us.”

“She'll leave soon,” Cian assured her, but his gaze seemed distracted.

“What happened?” Roberto asked as he reappeared from the library.

“Why was she in that condition?”

“The Summoner attacked us on our way back.”

“The guy who made you?” Samantha heard the shrill sound in her voice and made a face.

“Yeah. Him. He sent one of his minions. It was evidently the man she killed in Dallas,” Cian answered.

“She killed someone?”

“In self defense,” Cian assured her.

“Yeah, right. She's a vampire,” Samantha said sullenly and she crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

Cian slightly smiled at her, then continued, “Anyway, it was an animated corpse. It nearly wrenched Amaliya's head off and she somehow...” Cian rubbed his bottom lip looking confused and a little disturbed.



“And then,” Roberto prompted.

“She banished it.” Cian stood up and folded his arms over his chest.

“She actually banished it back into the earth. And her eyes...they turned white like The Summoner's when he controls the dead.”

“Can you do that? Cause that's kinda icky,” Samantha said.

“No, I can't. Which is why I'm confused.” Cian shrugged.

“If she can do what this bad guy can do, then maybe she's on his side.

Did you think of that?” Samantha could not believe how stupid men could be around a good pair of tits.

“I'm sure she's not. She's a fledgling. I believe her when she says she's a pawn in his game,” Cian said firmly.

“You have to consider that maybe he can control her from afar. She is very new. Closer to real death than you,” Roberto pointed out. “And he can control the true dead.”

Cian bristled at this suggestion and Samantha felt her fear elevate to a new level. She had never seen him this agitated before. If anything, she would have described Cian as sensible, easy going and calm by nature. But now he looked dark, a bit angry, and defensive.

“She's afraid of him. She nearly died tonight,” Cian retorted.

“It could have been a ruse to gain your sympathy,” Roberto suggested, calmly.

“Yeah, what he said,” Samantha cut in.

“I was there. I saw what happened. I know that what she is saying is the truth. I will help her again tomorrow night and maybe the night after. I don't know. I just need to make sure that when she leaves here she doesn't walk straight into his trap.”