had stumbled into this place had died of natural causes, or if they had been killed when they were no longer young, or when they got sick. Everyone she had met seemed healthy. She thought of Donna Stout. The woman was probably in her late sixties. It seemed obscene, somehow, for the vampires to feed on a woman old enough to be a grandmother. She thought again of Carl Freeman. He had been unable to endure living here any longer, had hoped to provoke Saintcrow into killing him. And it would have worked if Kadie hadn’t pleaded for his life. How many other people, desperate to escape this place, had provoked one of the vampires into killing them, or had taken their own lives?
She was thinking about going back to Saintcrow’s house when a subtle shift in the air warned her she was no longer alone. Hurrying toward the car, she reached for the door handle, only to have someone grab her from behind.
“So, what are you doing out here all alone?”
She cringed as she recognized Kiel’s voice.
“You’ve been driving me crazy.” His arm slid around her waist, holding her immobile while his free hand moved brazenly over her body, touching, squeezing, while his tongue licked the side of her neck.
Revulsion roiled in Kadie’s stomach. Frantic, she jabbed him with her elbow, stomped on his instep, but he quickly captured both her hands in his, then backed her up against the car, trapping her between the Corvette and his body.
“Saintcrow will kill you for this.” She was shaking so badly she was surprised she could speak.
“I’m willing to take my chances.”
“Don’t, please.”
“I’m tired of this stinking place. Tired of the others.”
She shrieked as his eyes went red, felt the bile rise in the back of her throat when his fangs scraped the skin of her neck, drawing blood.
“You taste even better than I thought you would.”
“No!” She struggled in his grasp, but it was futile. Helpless, she closed her eyes and tried to pray, but she didn’t know what to pray for. Rescue? Or death?
The decision was taken out of her hands when someone pulled Kiel away from her.
Afraid of what she might see, Kadie kept her eyes tightly closed.
She heard a terrible, high-pitched scream, a horrible sucking noise, and then silence.
“Kadie?”
“Saintcrow?” She opened her eyes, felt her knees go weak with relief when she saw him standing in front of her.
“Are you all right?”
“You lied!” She glared at him, her body trembling. “You told me no one would bother me. That they would smell you on me and I’d be safe.”
“He’ll never touch you again.”
She glanced past Saintcrow, but there was no sign of the other vampire.
She didn’t ask what had happened to her attacker.
She really didn’t want to know.
She was still shaking when Saintcrow took her home.
A short time later, Saintcrow stood in the doorway of the living room, his arms folded over his chest. Regarding Kadie through hooded eyes, he asked, “What were you doing out there alone?”
“I was bored.”
She was sitting on the sofa, wrapped in a warm blanket, a cup of hot tea clasped in her hands. She couldn’t stop shaking.
With a wave of his hand, he dimmed the lamps, then ignited a fire in the hearth.
Kadie looked up at him. The light from the fire cast golden highlights in his thick black hair. It didn’t seem right for a vampire to be so outrageously handsome. He was a killer. No doubt he had killed the vampire who had accosted her, and probably hundreds, maybe thousands, of others, human and vampire alike.
“Thousands?” Saintcrow asked, his voice thick with amusement. “Really?”
“Too few?” she asked sweetly.
Saintcrow shook his head. “You really have a low opinion of me, don’t you?”
“In spite of your name, you’re no saint.”
“True, enough. But I’m hardly the monster you think I am, Kadie. If I was, you and all the others would be dead by now, drained of blood long ago.”
“Only a monster keeps people enslaved. Whether it’s for gold, glory, or blood, it really doesn’t matter to the people you’re keeping here. We’re still slaves. Worse than slaves. We’re like cattle to you, aren’t we?”
“I’m guessing you see the world in black and white, don’t you? Right and wrong. No middle ground. No shades of gray.”
“Pretty much.”
“Would you rather I had let Kiel feed on you against your will and then just let him go?”
“Of course not!”
“I warned him once. He knew what the penalty would be if he touched you again,