Tree Of Souls (Transfusion Saga #6) - Stephanie Hudson Page 0,35

raised my hand to put a fist in my mouth when I suddenly spotted the blood on my fingers. This was such a sobering sight that suddenly I burst into hysterical laughter that I knew marked the sign for both exhaustion and stress.

Which was when I found myself stood at the sink, first looking down at my hands and then back up at my face. Now seeing the tear tracks were back, and although they were clear this time, they were still far too visible as they continued to run down my face, dripping to the sink from my chin.

So, I calmly removed my glasses, folding them gently before placing them on the counter. Then I first scrubbed at my hands before I went about washing my face. And I did this quietly, even methodically, all the while the tears didn’t stop, but they just continued to run down my cheeks, silently continuing despite how many times I tried to wash them away.

In the end I gave up trying what seemed like a hopeless endeavor. No, instead I cupped my hands, drank down as much as I could to rid myself the bitter taste of bile and undressed. I decided it wasn’t a good idea to shower for fear I would fall asleep, slip and crack my head open. And seriously, after everything I had survived over the last few weeks, then dying in a two-star hotel from being clumsy wasn’t exactly how I would have imagined going out.

When I was down to my underwear, I walked over to the bed, briefly glancing at the window and seeing nothing but that damn sign.

Kingston Plaza…like the bloody land of Kings or something!

Fucking typical!

I tore my face from it, not even bothering with the curtains before I crawled beneath the sheets and turned out the light, closing my sore, tired eyes on everything that was now wrong with my life. And like all those nights before Lucius had become a fixture in my life…

I dreamt of a Vampire King.

“Amelia…my Amelia…my Khuba.” The moment I heard this being whispered in my ear, every muscle in my body tensed before I heard that consuming voice of his cooing down at me,

“Be easy, sweetheart…calm for me,” he told me, and I found I could do little else but obey, relaxing back as if feeling myself sinking under. Which was when I finally opened my eyes and saw Lucius leaning down over me in the bed. He was dressed how he usually was, in some dark suit only without the jacket. A tight fitted waistcoat that was a dark red this time and the black shirt underneath was rolled at the sleeves, showing his thick leather glove. But despite how sexy he looked, there was a haunted look to his features.

He looked…worried?

Actually, he looked as if there was a pain behind his eyes and it was one I couldn’t understand. Did he feel guilty that I had discovered his secret? But surely, for that to happen he would first have to have felt something for me. Could it be possible that he had fallen for us both?

No! I was not doing that! I was not going to that dark place.

Which was when I started to mutter,

“This isn’t real.” And I knew it wasn’t because there was no way he could have found me. At least not this quickly. I had left no traces since leaving behind the Ferrari. There was also no reason why he would come looking for me, unless he had been ordered to do so…had my mother put him up to this? Gods, the idea was sickening.

“It’s as real as it needs to be,” he told me cryptically, making me frown and turn my head away, which was when the bed started to shift beneath me. I felt strange…as though it was made of a liquid I couldn’t yet feel soaking into my skin. But then I looked down at myself and saw that I was back to wearing what I had been before I had changed, swapping clothes with the flight attendant.

It was the last thing that Lucius had remembered me wearing and that’s when I realised this was his doing, not my own. This was Lucius’ control, something that was confirmed when he rose from the bed and without touching me, he beckoned me closer with his hand. I felt myself floating up, being pushed from behind by the body of vapour that the sheets had turned into, before then evaporating