Zen and the Art of Vampires - By Katie MacAlister Page 0,76

inner critic said with a mental shrug. He knows what happened last night and doesn't blame you. Why not let him go for broke?

Because it's wrong, a tiny little voice answered.

There was that word again - "wrong." It felt wrong, but for the life of me, I couldn't decide why.

"What happens if you're somewhere without people?" I asked, stalling just a little bit. "Somewhere isolated?"

He made a face. "We can survive on the blood of animals if we have to. It is not preferred, although sometimes necessary, such as when a Beloved is separated from her Dark One. But that will not happen with us."

Absently, I fingered my fork, trying to analyze my reluctance.

"Pia, my love, you hesitate. You wound me. Can it be that you prefer Kristoff?" Alec asked, pulling back.

His jade eyes were filled with pain.

"No, of course not." I felt lower than a snake's belly - here was a perfectly nice man, a man who cared about me, one who I knew was trying his best to help me, and I was spurning him for what? Kristoff? Mentally, I shook my head at that. I didn't want Kristoff. I might not be deathly afraid that he would kill me, but there was a darkness in him that boded ill for everyone. It wasn't for Mattias's sake, either, that I was hesitating. So then why was I not at this moment allowing Alec what he wanted?

"It is me, then," Alec said, withdrawing both physically and emotionally. "I have failed to capture your heart as you have mine."

"The situation with Kristoff," I said, using a feeble excuse. "It's - "

"Unimportant. You worry unduly that I blame you, love. I do not. I have known Kristoff for a long time. He has taken many women from me." Alec's lips curled in a wry smile. "And I have repaid the compliment, but you he shall not steal. You are mine... if you wish to be."

"I think that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. I'm flattered beyond belief, but after last night... well, I think I need to take things a little slower. I like you, Alec. I like you a lot. And if you really want to" - I waved my hands around vaguely - "for lack of a better word, feed off me, then go ahead."

His smile was tinged with regret. "I have rushed you, have I not? For that, I am sorry, and we will, naturally, proceed slower if that is your desire. You must forgive me for being impatient, my love, but when you have lived as long as I have, you have little tolerance for being made to wait."

I opened my mouth to protest, but he silenced me with a swift kiss. "No, you are right. You must have time. And I will be happy to give it to you, but I am very hungry for you, and since you said I may..."

He waited until the waitress, who had been within sight, moved off before returning to the spot behind my ear. "You do not know how much I anticipate this moment."

I clutched the edge of the table, bracing myself as if for an injection, torn between a desire to run away and a guilty sense of obligation.

The pain, when it came, was almost instantly over. Alec jerked back with an astonished look on his face, a smear of blood on his lip, which he quickly wiped off.

"Is something wrong?" I started to ask, but at that exact moment, several things happened in a whirlwind of action.

Two people who had been strolling toward us stopped, one of them pointing and calling out, "Dark One!"

The waitress, hearing that, dropped her tray and snatched up a steak knife, vaulting a table as she lunged toward us.

Alec leaped to his feet and jerked me after him, literally dragging me out from behind the table. A slight shimmer to one side resolved itself into the form of Marta, who clutched at me with intangible hands.

"Pia! You must come! The Ilargi has found us! He's taken Jack the sailor, and now he's trying to get Karl!"
Chapter 14
"Stay back!" I ordered Marta, which was utterly foolish because no one but me could see her, let alone harm her.

"The light must purge him!" the man who had screamed out the warning about Alec shouted as he, his companion, and the waitress closed in on us. "We must take him back for cleansing!"

"Run!" Alec said, pulling a gun from his jacket. He