A Blood Seduction (Vamp City #1)(33)

"What makes it do that?"

"No one knows, but they think it has something to do with the magic of V.C. because no slaves ever had glowing hair before this place was created. Vampire saliva, shared during feeding, has always had a healing effect on humans. But only the humans in Vamp City have ever actually turned immortal."

The girl's skin was perfect, unlined. "You look like you're twenty."

She grinned. "I was born in 1950. That makes me . . . oh, goodness. Over sixty years old."

Quinn gaped at her.

"I was nineteen when I was caught and sold in a slave auction. Within a couple of years, I stopped aging."

"Arturo bought you?"

"No. I was bought for his master's, Cristoff's, slave hall. I . . ." Her face tightened, shadows darkening her eyes. "I didn't like it there. After a few months, Arturo bought me and brought me here, and I've never left. And never want to. He's not like the others. You're very lucky he's chosen you."

Quinn turned back, resting her chin on her hands. Without a doubt, she owed the vamp for getting her out of Francesca's clutches. And he really didn't seem to be like the others. Still, there was no way she could accept that this was it. That she would spend the rest of her life in this house, serving a vampire. She had a brother to save, a job to get back to, a life to live in her world, the real world, where the sun shone and the roads were paved and every man walking down the street wasn't trying to eat her.

It would kill something inside her simply to give up and give in, even if Zack weren't involved. Arturo might not be one of the truly bad guys, but it was highly unlikely he'd simply let her walk away. She was going to have to play this carefully.

"Do you ever leave the house, Susie?"

"No, and I don't want to," she said quickly. "It's safe here. I'm safe here. I like it here."

"You might be able to go home. Back to the real world. I did."

Susie shook her head. "It's unlikely I'd survive. A few vampires have tried to take their slaves with them through the Boundary, but the slaves instantly revert to their true age. Even if they weren't too old to live, the shock of aging that quickly usually kills them. No, there is no going back for me, and nothing to go back to."

"Horace is older than you, isn't he?" Suddenly his comment to her before, that his family had been gone more than a century, made sense.

"He's more than a hundred years older than I am, yes. He was one of the first slaves brought in after V.C. was created."

Quinn closed her eyes, trying to absorb Susie's words. This girl was over sixty. Horace, one of the first brought in, was a man of the 1800s. He must have looked and talked just like he did now, back in 1870. Incredible. She hadn't time-traveled. Not exactly. And yet . . .

"Do the vampires ever let their slaves go? Those who haven't turned immortal?"

"No. They don't let any go. But not all vampires live within V.C. Those who live in the real D.C. need slaves, too."

She looked at the girl with surprise. "How many live in the real world?"

"I don't know. With the magic failing - "

"Thank you, Susie. That will be all, cara mia." Arturo's rich voice had Quinn's attention whirling to the doorway, her heartbeat jumping.

"Yes, sir." Flashing a quick smile, Susie rose, picked up her supplies, then grabbed Quinn's discarded clothes.

When Quinn made a sound of objection, Susie met her gaze. "I'll wash and mend them for you."

Chastened, Quinn nodded. "Thank you, Susie."

Arturo closed the door behind her, then moved toward the window, out of Quinn's line of sight. She didn't like having him behind her, but she was bare from the waist up, with nothing to put on.

With a sigh, she levered herself up, amazed that her back no longer hurt. Swinging her feet over the side of the bed, she sat, crossing her arms over her chest. She'd rather be able to see him, all things considered.

She found him watching her from the far side of the room, his body utterly still, his gaze quite active, dropping to her chest, to her legs, then slowly climbing back to her face, a heat in his eyes that made her shiver. Had he come to claim his sexual rights as her slave master?

Slowly, he moved toward the bed, his steps as silent as any predator's. "Stand up."

"Why?"

"You make a terrible slave, cara. I wish to see your back."

Turning her back on a vampire hardly seemed like the smartest move. Then again, as fast as he moved, what difference did it make? She did as he asked, keeping her arms crossed over her chest as she rose, which effectively hid all evidence that she had br**sts. Lucky her.

His fingers skimmed her shoulder blade, then her hip, two places untouched by the lash. "Is the pain gone?"

"Yes. Completely." She looked at him over her shoulder. "What's in the ointment Susie used? It has some serious antipain properties."

A gleam of laughter entered his eyes. "Magic." His head dipped, his cool lips pressing against her bare shoulder.

She shivered at the gentle, sensual kiss, her ni**les hardening beneath her forearms. "Vampire . . ." Her voice sounded breathy.

His hands came around her, grasping her arms, tugging them lightly as if to open her to his gaze.