Love Me to Death (Underveil, #1)(14)

Elena tried to put on her dress while he showered, but with her on the outside of the tub and the cord only ten or so feet long, she was jerked by the wrist every time he raised his long arms. It was almost like he was doing it intentionally. Then, a rhythmic tug, tug, tug, tug on the cord began, and he moaned.

No! No, no, no. This was not happening. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath, refusing to let her mind go there. She’d seen way too much when he stepped in the tub. Dang. Way too much and there was a lot to see. And he was…

Tug, tug, tug, tug, tug.

Crap. She slumped to the floor and waited…and waited. She leaned her head back against the wall, trying to block out the delicious smell of leather and spice coming from his vest wrapped around her. Oh, come on. How long could one guy…



Nikolai stepped from the shower expecting to find the vampire clean, frustrated, and needy. Huddled on the bathroom floor, she leaned against the tub, sound asleep. It made sense, he supposed. She had died today, after all.

Perhaps he should have left her dead in the convenience store. At least her end would have been quick and peaceful. Who knew what would happen to her now, especially if his uncle Fydor got his hands on her.

He scooped her up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom.

No. Letting her die would have been wrong. Fate had stepped in, he was sure of it. There was more to this girl than met the eye. Not human, not immortal, somehow she balanced on the sharp, dangerous edge between worlds.

He laid her down in the center of the bed and brushed the hair from her face. Who was she really? The daughter of his enemy, but she was an enemy to no one. Still, she had power in her. He felt it.

He had to come up with a plan. The first thing he needed to do was get the cord removed. The only way he knew to do that was to go to its place of origin, which was dangerous business not only for a human, but for a Slayer as well. The truce between the light elves and his people was tenuous at best and relied solely on his successful retrieval of the Uniter.

But first things first. Before he could accomplish anything, especially a complicated teleport, he needed rest.





Chapter Five


Elena woke in a tangle of arms and legs. Large ones. Not moving or even breathing, she shuffled through her memories and sorted out where she was and whose legs she was playing pretzel with. Ah. The death angel. The last thing she remembered was waiting for him to finish…yeah, that.

Okay, so now what? She was still in her dress and other than a headache and extreme hunger; she felt no worse for wear. So far, so good. The light peeking around the hotel blackout curtains indicated it was well past sunrise.

Like a human game of Pixie Sticks, she carefully slid an arm free, then a leg. But before she could free her other arm, Nikolai shifted position and trapped her all over again, pulling her in so close she could hardly breathe. She sighed and relaxed. Even if she had gotten loose from his grip, she was still bound to him by that damned cord.

Somewhere down the hall, the elevator dinged.

He mumbled something in another language and pushed against her, causing her to gasp. He was hard. And large. And so there. Thank goodness she had her dress on, or even in his sleep, this was a done deal.

Men’s voices rumbled in the hallway, and the hair on the back of her neck prickled.

“Hey,” she said. Maybe waking him while he was like this wasn’t a good idea. But he always seemed to be like this and something in her had warning bells going off. “Wake up.”

More mumbling in that foreign language. Then a crash from outside.

As if electrocuted, Nikolai grabbed the sword next to him and sat bolt upright in bed.

“What is it?” she whispered.

He covered her mouth.

Another crash and loud voices speaking a language she couldn’t understand from the hallway.

“They know we’re here. We must leave now.” Sword still in hand, he pulled her by the wrist to the bathroom where he grabbed his pants from the floor. “Help me,” he said, stepping into the jeans. She grabbed the waistband and pulled while he jerked up on the other side. Not bothering to zip up, he stepped into his boots just as the door to the room crashed in. He pushed her behind him and bolted into the main room, swinging wide with the sword.

There were three of them. All with red eyes like the guy from the shooting. Vampires. They hissed like snakes and scattered to avoid the swing of his sword.

“Hunted by my own people and now f*cking parasites?” Nikolai growled. “Who sent you?”

The tallest one answered. “Give us the woman.”

Nikolai backed up several steps, putting Elena within reach of her suitcase. “How did you find me?”

The three vampires closed in.

She knew he was about to zap them out of there. She wrapped her fingers around the handle and gripped it tight. The cash could be useful, especially if she could escape from Nikolai.

The vampires were only ten or so feet away now, just out of blade-striking distance, but they were eyeing one another as if they had a plan. Right when one reached for his waist, Nikolai swung. Elena closed her eyes. There was a grunt, then a crunch, and then a thud.

“Who’s next?” Nikolai said.

She opened her eyes and screamed when her eyes met the red ones staring up at her from the severed head on the floor. Blood oozed out, and she found herself no longer freaked, but transfixed, fighting the urge to run her fingers through the thick, crimson puddle. Hell, she wanted to roll in it. She shuddered and held tight to the suitcase. Holy shit. He had been right. She was turning into one of them.