Pretty When She Dies (Pretty When She Dies #1)(81)

She rolled her eyes. “I know it's dangerous, but sheesh. It's like the gestapo.”

She punched the button for the elevator and he stepped up next to her.

“One of the annoyances of life and going out. Trying to outwit the authorities.”

“I remember when I had a fake ID. That seemed so dangerous.” She laughed.

The doors opened and she hopped inside.

He deliberately waited.

“Coming?” she asked.

“I didn't want to make you uncomfortable,” he said smoothly. He waited calmly for his invitation into the elevator, and thus into Cian's little world.

“Come on. We can share an elevator. We're practically old friends.

Get in. Come on,” she laughed coyly. It was now obvious she was flirting with him.

The Summoner stepped into the elevator. As the doors shut, he reached out and banged the back of her head hard into the elevator wall. She crumpled without a sound. Leaning down, he picked up her key card and keys and pocketed them. Tucking his hand under her hair to grasp her neck, he lifted her up so she was leaning against him.

He could feel her heart beating against his chest. It was a delicious sound.

***

The walls were up for now, allowing them a spectacular view of the slowly rousing city of Austin. The sky on the horizon was turning lighter shades of purple and blue. Amaliya could feel the night washing away as the sun rose. She was curled up under the covers of the bed with Cian's arms around her.



Cian kissed her shoulder and rose up to sit beside her. “We'll have to close it soon,” he said.

“It makes me sad, you know,” she said softly. “Never being able to see the sun again.”

His hand slowly slid down her arm and he rubbed his fingers over hers. “I know.”

“I don't remember the last time I saw it. My last moment of seeing daylight happened and I didn't even realize it was important,” she said with her voice full of regret.

“I remember the green of the sugarcane fields and the sun glittering off the white shores as the sun set beyond the edge of the ocean.” His memory tinged his voice with sadness. “I didn't know it was my last day as a mortal, but I stood there wondering what Ireland looked like.

At that point, I could hardly remember anymore.”

He had told her his own story in the aftermath of their lovemaking. It had broken her heart.

Amaliya rolled onto her back and stared up at him. “Do you want to go back to Ireland?”

“Some days,” he admitted. “But then I remember that my family is long dead and my village long gone and that there is nothing there for me anymore.”

“I always feel there is nothing for me,” Amaliya confessed. “Like I belong nowhere. That I am always the visitor, the outsider, never part of the inner circle.”

“Is that why you always run?”

Amaliya frowned at him, but nodded. “Yeah. I think so. Always running to something, I guess. Just not sure what it is.”

He leaned over her, his leanly muscled chest smooth and cold to her touch. “Stay this time. Don't run.”

Amaliya was afraid of his request and she couldn't answer. She always ran away. It was her nature. When things became overwhelming, she always ran. But she had to admit, for the first time in her short life, after having sex with someone, she had not rushed away as soon as it was over.

“Amaliya,” he said again softly.

She pushed herself up onto her elbows and kissed him. Her lips caressed his and she playfully licked the tip of his tongue. It was her way to shut him up and avoid the conversation going in the direction she did not want it to go.

Distracted, Cian kissed her passionately and pushed her back down into the bed. Just as the sun was about to break the horizon, he fumbled for the controls and lowered the walls.





Chapter Twenty





Roberto cast a disdainful look at Cian's sleeping chamber. Amaliya's phone and car keys were right where he had left them the night before.

His Master was a complete idiot and Roberto was disgusted. Sliding off his jacket, he slung it over a chair and went into the kitchen to make himself some coffee. The sun was low over the horizon and the loft was awash in morning light. It was refreshing to his senses after sulking around the Magnolia Cafe all night. He had tried to amuse himself with a book, but had ended up sipping endless cups of coffee and contemplating leaving Cian.

Of course, if he did that, he would begin to age again and eventually die. He was not ready to do that. His relationship with Cian was always a bit odd. They had come together out of necessity. Cian needed shelter; Roberto wanted to live forever. For years they had enjoyed the wild life in Mexico, living rich and fine among the vampires there. They had what Roberto considered adventures until the modern age gripped hold of the world and drove it into the boring reality it was now.

Cian was happy to stay secure in Austin and build up his mini-empire.

Roberto had hoped that one day they would strike out again to new territory, but he could not be certain now. Cian's obsession with being normal and human had dissipated now that Amaliya was on the scene.

That was quite a relief, but it was clear that he was changing into someone Roberto did not know.

Cian was not reverting to the man he had been before. Roberto had found Cian beaten down, nearly destroyed by the vampire hunters. A man who was broken and without a home. Roberto felt he had helped cultivate the former slave into an educated and sophisticated man.