Demon in My View

NEEDING TO GET AWAY from the magic-choked atmosphere of the house, Jessica slipped out of her room and down the stairs.

'Where are you going, Jessica? I'm just about to serve dinner.'

She froze, hearing Hasana's voice, and turned to see Dominique and Hasana standing together in the next room.

'I was planning to go for a walk, perhaps wander in the woods a bit,' she answered. 'Is there something wrong with that?'

Hasana sighed. 'Jessica, do you really think you should be going out there alone?' Jessica could hear a hint of annoyance in her voice.

'Do you really think I can stay inside until Dominique has killed all the vampires?' Jessica snapped in return. She knew Hasana was trying to help, but she felt like a wolf caged in the shepherd's barn.

'I could at least deal with a few of them,' Dominique said, watching Jessica as if for a reaction. 'After a while, the others will probably decide you aren't worth the trouble.'

'After you murder another dozen or so of them,' Jessica choked out. She had a sudden, vivid image of Aubrey with Dominique's knife in his heart. She would not wish Dominique even upon Fala.

'It isn't murder to kill something that died thousands of years ago,' Dominique argued. 'Murder is what they do every night, when even you know they don't need to kill in order to feed. Murder is what they did yesterday to your mother.'

Jessica took an involuntary step toward Dominique and felt the first warning strike from the hunter: a slight burning sensation on the surface of her skin, which flared for a moment and then faded.

Hasana put a hand on Dominique's arm to get her attention. 'Dominique, I hardly think that comment was necessary.'

Dominique sighed. 'If she's going to be staying in this house with you and Caryn, then I need to know whose side she's on,' she asserted. 'Well, Jessica?'

'If it's a choice between you and them,' Jessica spat in answer, 'then I would choose the vampires any day. At least they don't preach the morality of their killing.'

She spun away, trying to ignore the tension between her shoulders, where she expected any moment to feel the point of Dominique's knife.

CHAPTER 25

IT WAS NOT YET SUNSET when Jessica arrived, once again, at the doorway to Las Noches.

There were fewer people in the room than the last time, which was probably related to the fact that Fala and Aubrey were fighting near the bar.

They stopped in surprise as Jessica entered and began walking fearlessly toward them.

Fala recovered her wits first and slammed Aubrey back into the bar. The sickening crack of a broken bone reached Jessica's ears even above the music of Las Noches, but she knew he would heal almost instantly.

However, Fala used Aubrey's moment of pain to whisper a threat into his ear. Jessica could only hear the end of it as she approached. Either deal with it now, or I will.

Fala left the club without giving Jessica a second glance.

Aubrey stretched, already recovered from Fala's attack. As he turned toward Jessica, she saw him check for the knife at his waist, then shake his head, seeming neither surprised nor concerned to find it gone.

'You're an idiot, you know that? ' Aubrey said as Jessica approached. 'We both are.'

'How do you figure that?' Jessica asked. She ignored the fight that she had just witnessed; she knew she was probably the reason behind it.

Parched from the walk in the sunlight, she considered trying to find something to drink in Las Noches's bar, but worried that she might knock herself out if she chose the wrong thing. While there was nothing in the bar that could kill a vampire, there was plenty that could damage a human.

'You know most of my kind is trying to kill you—particularly  the   one  who  just left—and still you come into New Mayhem at sunset,' Aubrey answered dryly.

Jessica had to laugh at that. 'My mother was killed yesterday beside a church in broad daylight. If any of your kind was really trying to kill me, it wouldn't matter where I was.'

She decided that she could probably identify water if she saw it, so she rounded the bar to search.

'Are you trying to poison yourself?' Aubrey inquired, watching her.

'Oh, bite me,' she taunted automatically, before the irony of the remark registered.

But Aubrey took her at her word. In a graceful movement, he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her toward him.

'A tempting offer.' He gently brushed the hollow of her throat with the thumb of his free hand as he spoke.

'You wouldn't.'

He leaned down and she felt his lips at her neck. It would never occur to you to be afraid, would it? he silently asked.

If you wanted to kill me, you would have done so long ago. She projected the thought and knew that he could hear it.

Are you so sure?

No, she answered. But if you bite me I'm going to bite back, and do you really want this crowd to see a human do that? She was well aware that they had an attentive audience by now.

Is that what you want?

Jessica didn't quite understand Aubrey's question, but he must have sensed her confusion, because he added, I did something similar to Ather, and we both know how that turned out. Aubrey had been changed shortly after a fight with Ather. He had slit her throat when she had tried to feed on him. Even Fala has suggested that I change you.

You're right, you are an idiot, she commented in response. And yes, that is what I want, which means you can't do it.

Jessica was referring to the fact that Aubrey's line retained its power because every one of them fought. That struggle, as the blood was drained out, was what gave them their strength.

Yes, Jessica was more than willing to become one of their kind. Her hatred of Dominique had finally convinced her. But her readiness meant that she wouldn't fight, and her strength as a vampire would suffer. She would certainly be weaker than Fala. In essence, if Aubrey changed her now, it would be the same as his allowing Fala to kill her.

Aubrey knew all this as well, of course, so he released her and she stepped back casually, smoothing her shirt as if the confrontation had been normal. He reached past her, into the bar, and pulled out a bottle of water. She accepted it calmly and took a drink.

CHAPTER 26

WHAT WAS HE TO DO about the human called Jessica? Aubrey had had that thought before, and the answer was no more forthcoming than it had ever been.

Jessica had no idea how close she'd just come to having every drop of blood drained from her body. The feel of her pulse beneath his lips had almost broken even his self-control.

He needed to hunt, but he hesitated to leave her alone. Fala's threat was still fresh in his mind.

The decision was made for him as he heard a faint cry coming from just outside the building. It was a