A Midsummer Night's Demon - By Brenda Sparks Page 0,14
I had a dream and when I got up to get a glass of milk I noticed you out here.”
“Did you have another nightmare?”
“Yes, but this time you weren’t there to save me. He started doing terrible things to me.”
Hearing the hitch in her voice, his hand automatically reached for the nape of her neck to massage the tension there. “I promise I’ll find him, Lyn. I’ll make sure he will never be able to hurt you again.”
She nodded, looking at him with trust in her eyes. “I know you will. Did you find anything out at work tonight?”
“No. The facial recognition program didn’t produce any results from the ATM picture. It was a long shot to begin with, but it was worth a try.”
“I had better luck.”
Dread snaked up his spine, winding around his neck to strangle the words in his throat. What did she mean by she had better luck? She’d better not be trying to find the vampire on her own! He couldn’t speak; only stared in trepidation, as his fingers dug a little deeper into her neck.
She cleared her throat. “I figured we could use me for bait."
His hand dropped to his lap. “Never going to happen.” His voice carried a low menace at the thought of her in danger. “I don’t want you anywhere near that monster again.”
She laced her fingers in his. “Ky, think about it. I could call him, or email him requesting that we meet up again then you could be there to catch him when he showed.”
He brought her fingers to his mouth, running his teeth over her knuckles as he thought. He had already considered using her to lure the vampire out and dismissed it immediately. It did not surprise him that she could have contemplated the same plan. She’d told him she wanted to do something to help get her life back, take control, and put the nightmares to rest, but she had no idea what she would be getting into. She didn’t realize she’d be facing a vampire with preternatural speed and strength.
She deserved his complete honesty. Once he destroyed the debauchee, he would explain about vampires, make her understand that while becoming one might change a person physically by changing your organs and making your body require extra blood, your personality stayed the same. He’d help her to understand that just like people, some vampires were good and some were sick, sadistic bastards who deserved to die.
“I don’t want you contacting him, Lyn. He is a dangerous man. It is too risky.”
“I already did,” she stated softly, her eyes downcast. She had the decency to look contrite.
Anger flared to life, running through his veins like molten lava to heat his blood. He must have heard her wrong. She could not have gone behind his back, put herself in grave danger. He worked hard to keep his tone normal when he spoke. “What did you say?”
Their eyes met, and his icy stare held her captive. She swallowed, taking a deep fortifying breath before she spoke. Her words flowed from her lips in a rush, like the mighty Mississippi. “Please don’t be mad. I couldn’t think of anything else to do. He texted me. On my phone. Asking me to email him. I logged on tonight to my email account using your laptop. I emailed him, and pretended I didn’t remember the attack. He sent me back a reply. He wants to meet me again. I have the email. You can read it. Please don’t be mad.”
He brought her hand over his heart. Fear for her safety made it beat harder in his chest. He needed a minute to calm down, needed a second to think things through. “Go get the laptop. Show me the email.” His voice sounded surprisingly even despite the emotions churning inside him.
Ky watched her disappear inside. He pushed his hands under his thighs to keep from punching a hole through the wall. How could she be so reckless? If she gave the vampire the slightest hint of where he could find her, she would no longer be safe here, and he would have to find a new place for her to hide. The fingers of his right hand bunched around the empty blood bag. He shoved it in the pocket of his jeans when Lyn emerged from the house carrying his laptop.
She balanced it precariously on one hand while her fingers punched the keys.
“Come here.” He reached out to gather her into his lap