Predatory (Immortal Guardians #3.5)(42)

After what seemed forever, the door creaked slowly open. No light came from inside. No one stood in the opening. If anything, the blackness seemed deeper, more silent than the night. Ethan felt Cassie cringe away from the open door.

“You’re safe.” Maybe.

He pulled her inside. The door closed behind them.

“Come.” The voice was a deep rumble. Disembodied. Terrifying.

Even knowing who spoke, Ethan couldn’t control an instinctive shudder. He led Cassie further into the darkness.

Suddenly, a candle flickered on, quickly followed by more and more until the room was ablaze with their glimmering lights. With a quiet whoosh, flames leaped in the fireplace.

A figure glided from the shadows. Tall and muscular, he moved with that strange flowing motion only very old vampires achieved, those who no longer remembered they’d once been human.

Ethan knew by Cassie’s frightened gasp when she finally got a good look at their host. And if Ethan hadn’t been determined not to make an ass of himself, he would’ve gasped too.

“Hello, Ethan.” The vampire shifted his gaze to Cassie. “You come bearing gifts. A beautiful woman and . . .”

Screeching and hissing, the cat leaped from Cassie’s arms.

“A bad-tempered cat.” He smiled. “We’ll dine well tonight.”

Ethan grabbed her hand before she could make a dash back to the door.

“Cassie, meet Zareb.” He took a deep breath he no longer needed. “My maker.”

Chapter Four

Cassie didn’t think there was room inside her for more fear. She was wrong. Zareb had an overwhelming presence. His movements were too fast, too smooth, too predatory. He’d pulled his long black hair back and fastened it with a leather thong that had a silver medallion on it. His sharp cheekbones and exotic darkness drew attention to his eyes. He had terrifying eyes. They were slightly tilted and glowed yellow. Glowed. Yellow. No white showed, and he had vertical slits for pupils. Cat eyes.

The yellow glow should have been the scariest part of him. It wasn’t. There was something else. . . .

He captured her with his eerie stare, and suddenly she couldn’t understand why she had ever thought his eyes were strange. His gaze drew her, filled her with a yearning that was almost pain. It reached down, down to a place never touched before.

She couldn’t blink, couldn’t look away, couldn’t control the erratic beating of her heart, and couldn’t seem to breathe. Cassie gasped for air even as she sank into the alien beauty of those eyes. And if her heartbeat felt as though it was stalling, threatening to stop altogether, she couldn’t muster the energy to worry about it while the yearning grew and grew.

Cassie jerked as Ethan commanded, “Stop it.” She didn’t think he was talking to her.

Startled, she closed her eyes. She concentrated on breathing and felt her heartbeat kick back into a normal rhythm. What had just happened? You couldn’t breathe, your heart was stopping. She’d almost died.

When she opened her eyes, Zareb had turned his attention to Ethan.

“And here I thought you’d brought her as a gift to atone for abandoning your loving father.”

Ethan simply stared at him from the shadows.

Zareb smiled. “I suppose the loving father reference was a bit overdone. But you do owe me some recompense for my anger, and yes, there were a few moments—very few, I’ll admit—of heartfelt sorrow.”

Ethan made a dismissive sound. “I brought you a pet that will suit your ‘loving’ personality.”

The cat poked her head from beneath the couch and hissed her general discontent with everyone in the room.

Zareb’s smile widened. “So you have.”

Cassie’s whole body thrummed with her need to run to the door, rip it open, and race screaming into the night. Her instinct had it right, but her mind insisted she listen to reason.

Even if she could escape, even if she could go home, even if she could be safe there . . . Okay, so none of those “even ifs” were viable options. And it wasn’t just about her anymore. If she tried to run to family, to friends, she’d put them in danger too. The police? They’d question her and then release her. Back to square one.

Besides, wherever she went, her nightmares would follow. She still saw Felicity’s body and those other people when she closed her eyes. If Cassie didn’t do something to help stop the ones who had murdered her friend, she might never sleep again.

At this moment, Ethan offered her a lifeline, even if it was frayed and liable to dump her into the deep without warning.

She blinked hard. No tears. Not yet. She would do the sobbing and wailing thing in private, if they ever allowed her to be alone again. If she lived long enough. Until then, Cassie would stuff the huge empty place inside her with answers to her questions. She took a deep breath and met Zareb’s gaze. “What did you just do to me?”

“Women.” Zareb’s sigh was filled with drama and sly amusement. “They can never just accept things. They always want explanations.”

Thank heaven he didn’t try to meet her gaze.

“I was merely playing. I rarely allow myself recreation time. You wouldn’t have died.” He cast a quick glance her way. “I’m very careful not to kill unless it’s unavoidable. I’ve killed often over the centuries, and the Second One is too close, too powerful now.”