Pretty When She Dies (Pretty When She Dies #1)(84)

Heather swallowed hard. “He made me shoot Roberto. Then I had to go back to my apartment. He was there. He told me things. Horrible things.” Her fingers twitched over the gun again.

“This is impossible. He can't control the dead or the near dead when he's sleeping,” Cian declared. He looked angry and stunned by the turn of events. His gaze swept over the apartment looking for Roberto.

“He doesn't sleep anymore. He's so old he doesn't have to. He can now stay awake all day. Sit in a dark room, play with dead girls, and make the dead walk the streets.” She stood up slowly. “The bullets won't kill you, but they'll hurt. A lot. He told me to shoot you if I had to. You're supposed to come with me if you want Roberto back alive.”

Amaliya didn't like anyone pointing a gun at her, even if she was a vampire. She flinched when Heather aimed the gun directly at her chest.



“Get up. Get dressed. He is calling me to him. He's waiting.”

“Roberto doesn't mean jack shit to me. Let The Summoner kill him,”

Amaliya said with a shrug. “Besides, how do we know you really have him?”

Cian climbed off the bed, sleek, muscular and naked. She saw a flash of lust in Heather's eyes, then it was replaced with dullness again.

“Yes, how do we truly know you have him, Heather? Did The Summoner give you proof?”

Heather coolly tossed Roberto's keys and money clip at Cian's feet.

There was blood on them.

Cian stared down at the personal possessions of his servant with a dark expression on his face. “Get dressed,” he ordered Amaliya.

“I am not going to go out there and risk my life to save your freaking, backstabbing servant,” she said, and crossed her arms over her bare breasts.

“Fine. Then I'll go alone,” Cian said.

Heather trained the gun slowly toward him. “The Summoner whispers to me that if you don't come I am to shoot Cian in the head.”

“He'll heal,” Amaliya sneered.

Cian's brow furrowed. “What sort of bullets are those?”

“The exploding kind,” Heather answered.

Cian looked at Amaliya pointedly. “Chances are, I could not heal from that.”

For a moment, she pondered just running away. Just fleeing into the night and away from all this insanity, but looking at Cian, she knew she couldn't bolt. Slowly, she stood up. “Fine.”

Naked, she walked over to where her jeans were and began to pull them on. They had blood on them, but it wouldn't matter where they were going.

“I'm getting dressed,” Cian said to Heather.

“I'm coming with you,” Heather answered.

“Why don't we just kill her and be done with it?” Amaliya asked zipping up her jeans.

“Because if we don't go tonight, he'll up the ante. He'll do something even worse than taking Roberto,” Cian answered.

“He says he knows where your Grandmama lives,” Heather said in a voice that held no emotion, yet her voice quavered.

“I hope he can see this,” Amaliya said, and gave Heather the finger.

There was no way she was going to let The Summoner get her grandmother. She had to go.

With Heather standing guard over them, they quickly dressed. Cian handed Amaliya a David Bowie t-shirt. She shrugged it on and tied it at her waist. Her bloodied boots would have to do. Cian changed quickly into a black shirt and jeans and pulled on sturdy combat boots. His hair was now past his shoulders and his goatee looked a little scraggly. He was looking more and more her type all the time, she thought.

“Let's go,” Heather ordered.

“Where are we going?” Amaliya demanded.

“A ghost town,” Heather answered and waved them to the door.

“Great, just great,” Amaliya muttered. Her luck, as usual, was in the pits.

“Where?” Cian slid his mouse over the mouse pad to awaken the computer.



Heather blinked, looking confused. “I can get us there.”

“Where?” His voice was firm.

“Fenton,” she answered. “He says to come now.”

“I want to see how far away that is,” Cian answered her in a authoritative voice.

Amaliya was confused at first, then realized Cian wanted to know how far away they were going to be out of the city. They were restricted by the night and if they escaped, they would need to know if they had time to make it back to Austin or make another plan altogether.

Cian typed into the Google search and watched the map pop up.

“Okay. Let's go.”

Heather waved the gun at them. “You're wasting time on purpose.

He says you're stalling thinking Roberto isn't with him. But he is. I shot him and gave him to The Summoner.”

“Fine. Then take us to Roberto,” Cian said in a cold voice.

Cian took her hand as they slipped out his door. His touch was surprisingly calming. Her fingers tightened on his they walked into the elevator.

***

Jeff felt uncomfortable barging into a vampire's lair. Hunters only tracked their prey by day. Entering a vampire's lair at night was suicide. But after a day of arguing and planning, Samantha was determined to give Cian one last chance to see the truth. She had been unshakable in her belief that he was a good guy and needed to just see the light. Jeff wasn't sure coming to the apartment was the wise thing.