Dread stirred in his gut. He had seen eyes like that before.
“About time you woke up,” the vampire remarked, licking her lips. “It’s no fun dining on someone who’s not fighting back.”
Dread turned to panic when she smiled at him, revealing a pair of shiny white fangs. Galvanized to action, Overstreet tried to get up, only to be pushed down again by one slender hand.
“Where do you think you’re going, my plump little friend?”
“Home?”
Her laughter rang off the walls. “I don’t think so. You’re mine now. And I’m going to drink you dry.”
“No!” Adrenaline shot through him. He had never hit a woman in his life, but this wasn’t a woman. And vampire or not, a good right cross to the jaw knocked her backward off the bed long enough for him to grab the bottle of holy water in his pocket. He pulled the cork as she sprang to her feet and hurled the contents in her face.
She let out a scream only heard in nightmares, her hands clawing frantically at her eyes, howling like a banshee all the while.
It gave him just enough time to get the hell out of there.
Outside, he glanced left and right, but there was nothing to see. No houses. No street lights. Nothing to tell him where he was. But the thought of what he’d left behind added wings to his feet and he ran as if the hounds of hell were snapping at his heels.
Two miles later he was wishing he was twenty years younger and thirty pounds lighter, but he kept plodding on, spurred by the memory of those hellish red eyes.
Travis and Ronan parted ways half an hour before the first rays of the sun peered over the horizon. In his lair, Travis paced the floor, fearing, with every breath, that he would never see Sara again. She was in the hands of a master vampire. How long would he keep her alive? What if he turned her?
Or violated her? Of killed her?
Each possibility was worse than the last.
Deep in despair, he sank down on the bed, his head cradled in his hands. “Sara.”
His head snapped up as the link between them quickened. She was alive! He clung to that hope as the dark sleep carried him away.
Chapter 28
Sara woke feeling as if she had the world’s worst hangover. Trying to sit up made the room spin and she fell back on the bed and closed her eyes. Only to open them again as the memory of the night past burst into her mind in living color.
She was the prisoner of a vampire. He had fed on her last night. She didn’t have a hangover from drinking too much. She was suffering from being used as a blood bank.
Glancing around, she couldn’t believe what she saw. She had expected to find herself in some dingy basement or locked in a windowless room. Instead, she was lying on a king-sized bed in a large room with cream-colored walls and beige drapes.
She stood slowly, then made her way to the door. It was locked, of course. Still moving cautiously, she opened the drapes of the nearest window, hoping she could open it and climb out. No such luck. The window was barred.
She paused a moment to watch the sun climb over the horizon, wondering if it would be the last sunrise she would ever see.
Thrusting that disquieting thought aside, she did a slow turn in the center of the room. There was no phone, nothing she could use to pick the lock or break it. Nothing to use as a weapon.
Resignation set in after she checked the adjoining bathroom. It was a large, square room with a bathtub, a shower, and a double sink. It also held a small refrigerator. Curious, she opened it. Inside were several bottles of water, three cans of soda, and a couple of sandwiches wrapped in plastic.
Grunting softly, she closed the door. At least he wasn’t going to starve her to death, she thought. Or kill her right away, since he had provided her with something to eat. But food could wait. There were no windows in the bathroom. Cupboards and drawers yielded nothing save a couple of washrags, a half-dozen towels, and an unwrapped bar of lavender soap.
She stared at it for several moments and then burst out laughing. Was that a subtle hint from her captor to wash her neck before he fed on her the next time? Or was he some kind of undead clean freak?
She sank down on the floor as her laughter turned to hot tears of despair. She told herself Travis would find her, but she didn’t believe it. Not for a minute. How could he? How could anyone?
When her tears finally subsided, she turned on the shower, not for her captor, but in hopes of washing away his touch. She washed her hair, scrubbed her neck until it felt raw. She would have liked a change of clothes, but then, she would have liked a lot of things. Like her freedom. If only she had stayed in Vermont. Right now, even marriage to Dilworth didn’t seem so bad.
After dressing, she was a little surprised to discover she was starving. Considering her dire situation, she would have thought food would be the last thing on her mind. But maybe it was only natural that she was ravenous. After all, she had provided dinner for a hungry vampire the night before.
Feeling another bout of hysterical laughter coming on, she took several deep breaths, then pulled a sandwich and a coke from the fridge. She had to keep her strength up, she decided as she went into the bedroom, had to be ready to fight or get the hell out of there if the opportunity presented itself.
Travis met Ronan
