Ravenous

'You may be hard to catch, Holly, but I've kissed you.'

'So? Do I need shots?'

Mac squeezed his eyes shut. 'There's no vaccine against the Dark Larceny.'

'What?' Fear and revulsion lurched in her gut.

'You'll forgive me,' he said, casting a glance from under his long lashes. 'Eventually.'

Holly narrowed her eyes. 'Not today, sweetheart.' She jerked her hand, snapping the reservoir of her power into play. A searing burn ran up her spine as the magic surged through her body. She staggered, grabbing the counter.

Stay with it. The pain will pass.

The kitchen door flew open, slamming against the wall.

A shudder rattled the dishes in the cupboards and toppled a magazine from the table to the floor. Rain smell began to sweep away the odor of onions and cheese.

The atmosphere of the house began to concentrate around Mac, growing thicker, shimmering like oil. Pushing his hands through the thick, resistant air, he gaped wildly around him. 'What's happening?'

Holly blinked hard, clearing her pain-blurred vision. 'You're leaving. It's an old hex against unwanted suitors. The house still has it in its bag of tricks.'

Mac looked stunned. 'Your suitor? Who has suitors these days?'

Holly gave a lean smile. 'You asked if I was available. You qualified for the free ride.'

The air around Mac turned hard as glass, an invisible shield that pushed him toward the door. Arms flailing, he glided across the kitchen tile, his stockinged feet offering little resistance. He groped for purchase, grabbing at the handle of the fridge door, the cupboards, tipping over one of the chairs.

'What's happening to me?' he cried.

'Bye.' Holly waved.

Inexorably Mac slid toward the open door. A whirlwind churned at the back entry, scattering a stack of old newspapers. Mac clutched at the door frame, arms and legs stiff with resistance. 'Holly, help me! How do I stop what she's done to me?'

Pain. Desperation. Fear. In those words she had heard Mac the man. Shocked, she took a step forward. His cry rang with confusion, the shreds of a soul clinging to life. He'd said it. I'm not as bad as you think. Some part of him had not yet been devoured. But what can I do? It would take more than her pity to save him from Geneva.

He had stopped himself once, but that restraint had lasted mere seconds. If she let him back in the house, he was going to kill her, or worse.

The moment she realized it, the house's power peeled him away without mercy, tossing him over the side of the back deck.

The door slammed.

The locks turned.

The bolt shot tight.

A ragged scream. The garden would have its fun next. It wouldn't kill a demon, but it would make him darned reluctant to return.

Holly rushed to peer out the window. The backyard was clogged with shadows, the heavy rain bringing on an early dusk. Still, she could see it was empty. No Mac. Where did he go? Did he get away already? Is it the kiss that starts the Dark Larceny off and running?

The kitchen seemed suddenly gloomy and strange, as if the shadows had seeped in around her. What's going to happen to me now?

She flipped on the light, blinking as her eyes adjusted. I need help. We both need help.

Alessandro. She grabbed the phone and dialed his house, praying the early darkness meant he was up by now. It rang once. Twice.

'Hello? Caravelli residence.'

The voice was sultry as a dirty martini, and clearly female. It struck Holly like a two-by-four to the gut.

Holly gaped at the phone. What the hell?

This was the hour when vampires were getting out of bed.

Who was Alessandro entertaining?

Chapter 23

'Give me that.' Alessandro stormed into the room and wrenched the phone out of Omara's grip, not caring that she was his queen. 'That's Holly's voice.'

He had heard it from the next room. At the other end of the phone line. Vampire hearing, yes, but it was the sound that mattered most to his cold, dead heart. He would hear it if she called his name from the other side of the continent.

Omara laughed, letting go of the handset one second before it succumbed to their tug-of-war. 'I think your little witch hung up. What, could she be jealous?'

Alessandro put the phone to his ear, but there was only a dial tone. He slammed the handset down, imagining Holly in her kitchen, staring at her own phone and thinking the worst of him.

After his visit to Sinsation, he had thought he and Holly had a measure of hope on their side. Now he could see there was a dark force working against even the smallest spark of sanity, and her name was Omara. An anger close to nausea rolled through his gut. 'Why did you do that?'

'Do what? The phone rang; I picked it up. I was merely being courteous.'

He flipped clammy hair out of his eyes. He had been drying off from the shower, and now wore only a pair of sweat-pants. 'You don't merely do anything. You do nothing without cause.'

Omara stared up from where she lay between his bed-sheets, mischief in her honey-colored eyes. She propped her head up, supporting herself on one elbow. 'You know, you're a grouch first thing. Very entertaining.'

Alessandro rubbed his face, wishing he could think faster. He conceded the point about his mood. A tangle of dark thoughts dragged at him, and his back hurt from sleeping on the couch. Immortality didn't preclude the need for a decent mattress. 'I'll call her back.'

'First I need to go back to the hotel.' Omara sat up, the teasing over. 'It's time to convene a council of the local leaders—the packs, the fey courts, the crows, whoever can be counted on to stand with us. Moving against the demon now may expose my vulnerabilities, but we cannot wait any longer to form a plan of action.'

'Are you sure?'

'I cannot put my safety before the safety of an entire city. Even I am not that selfish.'

The words were bold, but she looked small and vulnerable alone in his king-sized bed. She was drowning in one of his T-shirts, her slight figure lost beneath folds of gray cotton. Last night she had come to Alessandro for safety, slept under his roof—a vampire had no choice but to sleep in the daytime—but she had slept alone.

They had not felt the pull of the Desire. As he stood there looking at Omara now, he admired her courage, but the urge to touch her remained utterly dead. She saved me from a life of complete loneliness. She gave me a place in society when I lost my clan. She made me her champion. I owe it to her to fight at her side.

But sex—he wasn't so naive to believe it ever had been love—wasn't part of the bargain anymore. The queen held his fealty, but he loved Holly. The centuries-old on and off Desire between the queen and her champion was finished. Alessandro felt a door shutting on a part of his long life. He felt no real sense of regret, just an urge to move forward.

Which meant resolving a host of problems. The first was to get a half-naked vampire queen out of his bed. 'Is it safe to go back to the hotel?'

'I don't know, but I need fresh clothes. I wasn't thinking about my wardrobe when I left.'