The much anticipated next Night 6 page were still on, plus there was that whole
impossibility factor with connecting to
someone in my sleep. Still, the
coincidences were piling up.
“Call Vlad,” I said, seized with a near
desperate urge to be proven wrong.
Both his brows shot up. “Why?”
“To see if he”—threatens your life,
tells you to put me on the phone,
anything like that—“sounds weird,” I
finished lamely.
Maximus stared at me, skepticism
written all over his face.
“It’s important,” I said, gripping his
upper arm.
After another penetrating stare, he went
over to where he’d thrown his coat and
pulled out his cell phone.
“Vlad,” he said after a brief pause.
“Sorry. I must’ve unintentionally redialed
the last number that called me . . .”
I waited with indrawn breath, expecting
to hear my name amidst an explosion of
threats. But although I could make out
Vlad’s voice on the other line, he spoke
too softly for the words to be clear. After
a minute, Maximus hung up and shrugged.
“He sounds fine.”
I let out my breath in a sigh that seemed
to come from my soul. Only a dream!
trumpeted across my mind. No matter how
it felt or my spontaneous nosebleed, if it
had been real, Vlad would’ve torn into
Maximus as soon as he heard his voice—
I froze, claws of doubt skittering up my
spine. Or would he? Vlad told me to get
away from Maximus and then contact him.
If Maximus knew the jig surrounding my
purported death was up, he wouldn’t let
me out of his sight long enough for me to
do that. Vlad also insinuated that Maximus
might be the one behind the gas line bomb.
If he believed that, would he tip his hand
about my ability to contact him in my
sleep?
No. Vlad was cunning to the point of
being a sociopath. He’d never reveal such
an advantage until it was too late.
Of course, there was another
possibility. Vlad might not reveal that I’d
contacted him in my dreams just to mess
with me.
“Going to tell me why I just crankcalled
my sire?”
Maximus’s wry voice cut through my
musings. Even though I didn’t believe the
insinuations Dream Vlad had levied,
niggling doubts kept me from replying
with the truth.
“I, um, had a dream that his plane
crashed,” I said, managing to hold his gaze
despite feeling like I had “Liar!” written
in neon lights on my forehead.
A grunt. “You need to get over him.
You’ll only make yourself crazy if you
don’t.”
Make myself crazy? I thought bleakly.
All signs indicated that I was already
there.
Chapter 13
Sweat dampened my clothes and my
muscles screamed, but I kept lifting and
lowering my legs in a smooth, controlled
rhythm. One hundred thirty-nine . . . one
hundred forty . . .
“You’ve got to stop. This isn’t healthy.”
Maximus’s arms were crossed, his
handsome features creased into a scowl. I
ignored him, continuing my leg lifts.
Cool hands locked around my ankles,
keeping me from my next set of lifts. “I
mean it, Leila. Stop.”
I glared up at him. “Let me go.”
His grip only tightened. “Not until you
tell me what’s been eating you the past
few days.”
Laughter came out in pants from my
exertions. “Should I start with my best
friend being blown to smithereens, or skip
to the part where you think his killer may
be my ex-boyfriend?”
Or maybe even you? my nasty inner
voice added.
I tried to ignore that voice, but it had
been growing louder. Maximus claimed he
hadn’t known about my being fireproof,
but he could’ve overheard that while I’d
been living at Vlad’s. He’d helped me
find the bomber, but what if that was
because he knew Adrian would already be
dead? Since then, he’d been adamant
about me holding off on looking for the
female vampire, citing concerns for my
health. But what if the heart attack never
happened? What if the only repercussions
from me overusing my powers were a
nosebleed?
“Something else is bothering you,”
Maximus said, letting go of my ankles. I
sat up and carefully picked my words.
“Exercise helps keep me strong and I’ll
need that to link to the female vampire
tomorrow. I’ve waited long enough.”
Maximus grunted. “Some days, you
remind me of Vlad.”
“Meaning?” I asked sharply.
“Your obsession with revenge. Next
you’ll want to drive a pole through that
vampire once you find her.”
The thought was appealing, but . . .
“It’s not just revenge. My family will
have targets on their backs as soon as the
killers find out I’m alive.” Then I
switched tactics. “Besides, I keep having
nightmares about Vlad finding us.
Exercise helps me sleep without those.”
All true. I’d let myself off easy last
night and regretted it when Dream Vlad
told me he was closing in on me. It wasn’t
real, but I woke up with a nosebleed and a
sense of foreboding anyway, both of
which I hid from Maximus.
His gray gaze became tinged with
green. “There are other ways to tire
yourself out before sleeping.”
This was the first time since our
sidewalk kiss that he’d made a pass;
pretty chivalrous considering we’d been
locked in the same room for the past three
days. I was about to let him down gently
when that inner voice roared to the
surface.
Now’s your chance! Take your gloves
off and touch him. If the brunette’s
essence is anywhere on him, he’s guilty
as hell.
I paused. Could I be so ruthless?
You’re swimming with sharks, that
pitiless voice snapped. Either grow some
teeth or get eaten.
Maximus’s gaze grew brighter. Little
did he know why I was considering his
offer. Guilt competed with cold
practicality. Maximus had been nothing
but kind to me, but how well did I truly
know him? For that matter, Vlad had
known him for centuries, yet Maximus
was still going behind his back now.
Marty’s face flashed in my mind,
followed by my dad’s and Gretchen’s.
Someone had murdered my best friend and
would hurt my family to lure me out. I
couldn’t afford to be naively trusting when
I could be sure instead.
Very slowly, I stripped off my gloves.
Maximus’s eyes gleamed brighter, bathing
the room in a soft emerald glow. Then he
came over and knelt, each movement
deliberate, as if anything sudden would
startle me into bolting.
It might. My heart beat so fast it made
me slightly dizzy. I was about to play a
sensual version of Russian roulette with
the nearly thousand-year-old, six-and-ahalf-
foot vampire crouched in front of me.
There was a fine line between survival
and recklessness, and right now, I wasn’t
sure which side my actions fell on.
Maximus came closer with that slow,
leonine crawl. When he was only inches
away, he inhaled, and a frown stitched his
brow.
“What’s wrong?”
Damn vampires and their ability to
decipher emotions by scent. I glanced at
my hands and then back at him. Lies were
more convincing when peppered with the
truth.
“I don’t want to hurt you, but I don’t
want to put my gloves back on.” I
swallowed a lump that wasn’t entirely
made up of nervousness. “I—I want to
touch you.”
A low growl sent icy-hot chills up my
spine. Before my next breath, I was in his
arms. He kissed me with an intensity that
briefly made me forget my objective. Then
he pulled me onto his lap, shifting until I
straddled him.
A large bulge jutted between my thighs.
He grasped my hips and rocked me against
it, that hard length rubbing my most
sensitive spot. I gasped, but with a touch
of despair. It felt good, but also . . .
meaningless. With sudden clarity, I
understood the difference between lust
and lovemaking. If I had sex with
Maximus, I’d enjoy it the same way I
enjoyed Chinese food—with the
knowledge that too soon, I’d feel empty
inside again.
Damn Vlad! Even in another man’s
arms, the memory of that hardhearted
vampire tormented me. I tore my mouth
away.
“Maximus, stop.”
His hands stilled, but he gave my neck a
long, hungry lick.
“What’s wrong?”
For starters, you’re not the man I’m
still in love with. Besides that, I’m not
sure I can trust you. “I . . . it’s too soon.”
I dropped my head as I said the words,
letting my fingers play over his shoulders
as if in apology. No trace of foreign
essences there. Then I sat back with a
sigh, trailing my hands down his arms. An
all-too-familiar essence thread popped up,
making me silently curse Vlad again. He
wasn’t only embedded in my skin; he was
in Maximus’s, too.
His hands slid over my thigh. “Too
soon for sex, perhaps, but there are other
things we can do.”
I stopped his hands by working down
his arms to grip them.
“Sorry. It’s, ah, too soon for that, too.”
His disappointed sigh made me feel
guilty. Tease! my conscience mocked.
That devious inner voice didn’t care. It
urged me to grasp Maximus’s hands in a
pretense of concern while I searched them
for incriminating essence traces.
“It’s fine.” Wry smile. “I’m not getting
any older.”
Another essence trail was imprinted on
his right hand, but it didn’t belong to the
brunette vampire or to Vlad. Whoever it
was felt very guilty when he—or she—
touched Maximus, but if it wasn’t the
female killer, it wasn’t my business.
“Thanks for understanding,” I said
before dropping my hands and rising. “I,
ah, think I’ll hit the shower now.”
I wouldn’t even need to make it a cold
one. For the third time, I cursed Vlad. It
wasn’t fair that he’d been the only man to
inflame my heart and my body. Wherever
he was, I hoped my memory still burned
him inside and out, too.
Maximus got up, too. Then his head
cocked as if listening—and I was on the
floor, his big body protecting mine from
an explosion of glass. Over the noise from
our window shattering, I heard him groan.
Felt him shudder so violently that his grip
became excruciating, but before I could
scream, he let go. Then he grabbed
several knives and leapt up.
I did, too, voltage surging to my right
hand from a double shot of fear and
adrenaline. Vlad must have found us! This
was the same way he’d stormed a hotel
room when we first met. I expected fire to
soon surround us, but it didn’t. Instead,
another volley of gunfire sounded.
Maximus knocked me down and shielded
me once again, but this time, he didn’t
leap up after the barrage stopped. He
slumped forward, agony streaking his face
as vividly as the bloody holes all over his
body.
“Bullets are liquid silver,” he rasped.
“Run!”
I was horrified. Even a vampire’s
regenerative abilities wouldn’t be able to
expel that, and not only would it nearparalyze
Maximus, it would feel like acid
burning all through him. I shoved him off
me, but not to run. To slice an electric bolt
through whoever tried to shoot him with
that poison again. I yanked my gloves off,
grimly satisfied at the unearthly glow
suffusing my right hand. Then I held it up
while letting loose a snarl of my own.
“You want to kill him, Vlad? You’ll
have to go through me!”
Mocking laughter met this statement.
The door didn’t open—it flew across the
room to smash against the bed. A cloaked
figure appeared in the door frame, face in
shadows, but I caught a glimpse of dark
hair. I tensed, my heart twisting even as
the electricity channeling into my hand
became more intense. Could I kill the man
I loved to protect the man I didn’t?
“If you want him to live, don’t move.”
Moonlight fell onto the cloaked man’s
face, revealing short black hair, a smooth
jaw, and a wide, full mouth. Not Vlad, I
realized, or anyone else I recognized.
Who the hell was he?
The stranger smiled, showing fangs.
“You have questions, but we only have
time to answer one. Will he live or die?”
Belittling nod at Maximus, who writhed in
agony. “If you want him to die, fight me.
You’ll lose because I didn’t come alone,
and then we’ll take you anyway and kill
him. Leave with me willingly, however,
and I’ll let him live.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Maximus
managed to grit out.
I didn’t glance his way because that
would require taking my eyes off this
stranger; a mistake I wouldn’t make.
“I should trust you why?” I asked with
heavy sarcasm.
His eyes flashed green. “Because I’d
rather not lose my best leverage over
you.”
That single sentence spoke volumes.
Whoever he was, he wasn’t stupid. He
also wasn’t one of Vlad’s men. Vlad
wouldn’t attempt to use Maximus as
leverage against me. He’d know it was
pointless since he’d already told me he
was going to kill him.
Sirens sounded in the distance. The
stranger sighed. “Time’s up, little bird.
Which will it be?”
My hand ached with the overload of
currents coursing into it, but slowly, I
lowered it. Now wasn’t the time.
Maximus cursed between ragged moans of
pain. The stranger smiled.
“I heard you were smart. Let’s hope
your friend is, too.”
Something hard jabbed me in the chest.
I glanced down, seeing what looked like a
dart sticking out of me. By the time I
glanced back at the stranger, my vision
was already starting to blur and my legs
felt like they’d been replaced with jelly.
“Make sure you get her gloves” was the
last thing I heard before everything went
dark.
Chapter 14
When I came to, I didn’t open my eyes or
alter my breathing. Instead, I took
inventory while pretending I was still
unconscious. Headache, no surprise, but
other than that I felt okay. My arms were
behind my back. Thickness around my
fingers was gloves, tightness around my
wrists and ankles was restraints.
Uncomfortable gag in my mouth, selfexplanatory.
Then I moved on to my surroundings.
The pitch and roll beneath me had to be
waves, which meant I was on a boat.
Some of my captors were topside, from
the voices, but I could tell someone was in
the room with me.
So when I opened my eyes, my gaze
landed unerringly on the black-haired
vampire who’d shot up the hotel last night.
The only surprise he showed was to blink.
“Didn’t expect you to be up already,”
he drawled.
I glanced down at my gag and back at
him, raising a brow.
He translated the silent message. “Do I
need to tell you that screaming is
useless?”
I rolled my eyes. What was this,
amateur day? He smiled before rising
from the opposite berth. “I thought not.”
The vampire looked to be around my
age, but I judged him to be less than a
hundred in undead years. Really old
vampires had a certain . . . weight in their
stares, as if the passing centuries had left a
tangible heaviness. My nameless captor
didn’t have that, and if I was lucky, neither
did anyone else on this boat.
Young vampires were easier to kill.
“Water,” I said once the gag was
removed. Between that and the aftereffects
from being drugged, my mouth was so dry
that my tongue felt like a wadded-up sock.
The vampire disappeared and then
returned with a can of Coke. Even better.
The caffeine would help my headache, and
watching him pop the soda can tab meant
he hadn’t doctored the contents, so I
wasn’t about to be drugged again.
I gulped at it when the vampire held it
to my lips, which meant that I let out an
extended burp when I stopped
swallowing. If that burp happened to be
aimed in my captor’s face, well, it wasn’t
my fault. I was tied up.
“Charming,” he said dryly.
“I lost my concern for social niceties
when you shot my friend up with liquid
silver,” I replied in an even tone.
“Speaking of, I want to see him.”
The vampire’s mouth quirked. “You’re
not in a position to make demands, but
yes, he’s still alive.”
“You don’t want to take me to him,
fine,” I said, thinking fast. “I assume you
know I pick up psychic impressions from
touch, so take these gloves off and let me
touch you. Then I’ll know if you’re telling
the truth.”
The vampire chuckled, a brighter green
swarming in the peat-moss color of his
eyes. “Touch me? Don’t you mean use that
deadly electrical whip you can manifest to
cut me in half?”
I stiffened. How did he know about
that? Aside from Vlad, Maximus, and a
handful of Vlad’s guards, everyone who’d
seen me wield that power was dead.
“That’s why those rubber gloves are
duct-taped onto you,” he went on,
unperturbed. “Just in case.”
“What’s your name again?” I asked,
glad I sounded casual.
Those wide lips stretched further. “Call
me Hannibal.”
I smiled back. “Okay, Hannibal, what
do you want me to do? Use my abilities to
find one of your enemies? Tell you if
someone is betraying you? Or read the
past from an object?”
Hannibal laughed, and though it was
more Dr. Evil caliber than chilling, it was
still foreboding enough to creep me out.
“I don’t want you to do anything, little
bird. I’m merely the delivery boy. I don’t
even know who I’m delivering you to. All
I know is you’re worth three times as
much alive, but if you try anything, dead is
still a good payday for me.”
Hannibal gave me a cheery wave
before leaving the room. I said nothing,
trying to think of a way out of my
predicament. I was not going to let myself
or Maximus be delivered to some
unknown baddie. I’d find a way out of this
if it killed me.
The fact that it might didn’t deter me.
After everything that had happened, I’d
rather an early death while fighting than
living with more regret than I already had.
Every ten minutes, one of my captors
would check in on me. I’d seen four
different faces in addition to Hannibal’s,
and from the paneled walls, queen-sized
bed, curtained windows, and the size of
the room, whoever hired them had deep
pockets. If I weren’t trussed up to the
handicapped railing, I’d have enjoyed
traveling in such a nice vessel.
The only window had the drapes
drawn, but from the lack of light peeking
out, it was still night. Guess Hannibal had
been telling the truth about me not being
out that long. Lake Michigan was the
closest large body of water to the hotel
and it was larger than some seas, so it
might be a while until we arrived at our
destination. Or we might arrive in
minutes.
That’s why I was concentrating, trying
to channel all the currents in my body to
my right hand. After several moments, the
overload of electricity began to form into
what felt like a spike. It pushed against my
glove, seeking the smallest crack to free
itself from its heavy rubberized cage.
No such crack existed, but my goal was
to make one. Better to be killed trying to
escape than meekly be delivered to
whoever wanted me dead or alive. I
should never have surrendered to
Hannibal, but I hadn’t anticipated him
knowing the full extent of my abilities, and
Maximus’s life had been on the line.
He’s probably dead already , my nasty
inner voice whispered. You gave yourself
up for nothing!
My teeth ground together. How I hated
the dark part of me that continually
foretold failure or futility. It had driven
me to a suicide attempt at sixteen, but it
would not defeat me now. Dismal odds or
no dismal odds, I was getting out of this.
I refocused on my right hand, willing
more currents into it. If that spike of
energy became sharp and strong enough, it
would punch through the rubber and I
would get free. Come on, I silently urged
it. Drill, baby, drill!
Was it my imagination, or did the layer
of rubber around that energy spike feel
like it suddenly . . . dented?
My heart pounded, either from
excitement or from being overly strained. I
didn’t need a doctor to tell me that
building up so much electricity was
hazardous to my health, but I kept
concentrating, willing those inner currents
to grow and strengthen. Sweat beaded on
my upper lip, my vision blurred, and my
whole body started to tremble, yet I kept
focusing—
White light briefly suffused the room
and I heard a zzzt! right before an ominous
cracking at my feet. I looked down, both
elated and mildly terrified to see a small
but distinct hole. Good news: I’d broken
through my glove. Bad news: I might’ve
punched a hole all the way through the
boat’s hull, too.
I didn’t hear any footsteps, but I hadn’t
expected any strange sounds to go
uninvestigated. Seconds later when the
guard with the thick beard and long black
hair appeared in the doorway, I’d already
covered the hole with my foot.
Of course, if that hole started spurting
water, I was dead.
“You’ve got to let me out!” I
improvised, banging against the pole and
making more of a ruckus. “I, um, I have to
pee!”
The guard, who I’d nicknamed Captain
Morgan because of his looks, shook his
head in disgust.
“Humans,” he muttered. Then he
disappeared.
I waited, breath sucked in, but he didn’t
reappear and water didn’t start shooting
up beneath my foot. Then I exhaled with
relief and ruthless determination. Ten
more minutes until the next guard checked
in with me. In that time, I’d have to get
free, and once I did, I’d have to kill them
all.
Chapter 15
Thankfully, I got loose without punching
more holes into the floor, but I barely
made it to the blind spot behind the door
before the next guard came to check on
me. I cursed my heartbeat as I heard those
light footsteps come nearer. Could the
guard hear that I was no longer secured to
the railing? If so, I was signing my own
death warrant. Hannibal’s warning echoed
through my thoughts. Dead is still a good
payday for me . . .
Nerves and fear added to the electricity
shooting into my hand, making a tiny
shower of sparks rain from it. The air felt
thicker and I caught a whiff of ozone. Then
the guard paused at the doorway before
rushing forward with a muttered “What?”
My wrist snapped, the currents arcing
out as though they had a will of their own.
The blond guard didn’t utter another word,
but his mouth was still moving when his
head hit the floor. The rest of him stayed
upright for a few seconds, arms flailing as
though he was trying to get his balance.
I was too worked up to be sickened.
Fear-fueled adrenaline surged through me,
acting like jumper cables to my currents. I
peeked down the hallway, saw no one,
and at once seized on a way to lure
another guard in the room without
arousing suspicion.
“What are you doing?” I asked in a
shrill voice. “Stop! Get your filthy hands
off me!”
I punctuated that by making a slapping
sound and then crying out as though in
pain. After that, I made ragged
whimpering noises interspersed with cries
of “Don’t, no, stop!”
Moments later, Hannibal muttered, “I
told you not to damage the merchandise,
Stephen. Fuck someone in the hold instead
—”
My wrist snapped as soon as Hannibal
crossed the threshold, but he took one look
at the body and slammed the door back
into me. The whiplike current sliced into
his waist instead of his neck, but not
deeply enough. He was still standing.
“Bitch,” Hannibal snarled as something
red hit the floor.
Part of me was screaming in disgusted
horror, but survival instinct trumped
everything else. Hannibal lunged at me
and I whipped another sizzling current at
him. It cut through his shoulder all the way
down to his side, blanketing me in a veil
of red as his momentum carried him into
me.
I shoved him away. He fell, but the half
of him that had a head kept flopping
toward me. Only a few inches of flesh
attached his left side to his torso, yet he
still wasn’t dead?
“Bitch,” he rasped.
My eyes bugged. He could talk, too?
I didn’t want to see what else Hannibal
could do. Another burst of current turned
him from a large Y shape into a dotted i,
but I didn’t have time to breathe a sigh of
relief. More footsteps sounded in the
hallway.
“Not inviting me to the party?” an
amused voice asked.
I didn’t wait for him to see that the
“party” had taken a lethal turn. As soon as
those footsteps got close, I whipped a bolt
into the hallway, hitting the Captain
Morgan look-alike. He stared at me with
the oddest expression on his face. Then
everything north of his jaw slid off, hitting
the floor with a thud that was echoed by
his body moments later.
“What the fuck.”
A fresh surge of adrenaline shot through
me. The fourth guard stared at the remains
of Captain Morgan with disbelief. Then he
disappeared up the stairs with vampiric
speed.
I ran after him, desperation or
overexertion making my heart feel like it
would burst. The vampire was already at
the controls, punching a button as he
glanced back at me—
The bolt cut him across the face, but I
was too far away for it to kill. I lashed
another one at him as I scrabbled up the
deck so fast that I fell. Immediately,
something heavy smashed into me, pinning
me down before it bashed my head against
the thick fiberglass.
The fifth guard had joined the fight.
My vision swam while pain seared my
mind, but if I focused on that, I was dead.
Instead of protecting my head as I
instinctively wanted to do, I laid my right
hand against the vampire, shooting
everything I had left into him.
Immediately, his weight was gone. I
crawled backward so fast that I almost
pitched myself overboard, but I grabbed
the railing just in time. Then I held on,
looking around with frantic resolve for my
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