Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 49441 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49441 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
I saw the flash of light as the curtains pulled to the side. Then the momentary howls of pain as the rays landed on the vampires, lighting them up.
It was a quick process for a creature of the night to die by exposure to daylight.
And within a minute, the howls were gone, and the darkness descended upon the room again.
I moved into the doorway, finding Roxanne sliding down the wall, knees to chest.
Even across the room, I could hear her frantic breathing, the hitch in her breath, the sniffles of fear.
I hadn’t been able to get a good look at her before, so I had no idea if she’d been hurt in any way, if those vampires had feasted on her, if they’d tortured her. All I did know was she was panicking. And she needed some support.
Moving into the room, I saw the piles of ash on the floor. The only evidence those men had ever once existed, died, and relived again. Only to meet their ends in a hotel room. By a witch.
“Roxanne?” I asked, edging around the bed, finding her sitting with her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped around them, and her head ducked.
A quick appraisal said there were no obvious signs of an attack on her.
But she was clearly distressed regardless.
“Roxy,” she told me again, voice thick.
“Roxy,” I said, squatting down at her side and reaching out to press a hand onto her knee.
When she didn’t immediately pull away, I reached around her, scooping her up and pulling her to my chest.
“I just wanted to get a coffee,” she sniffled into my chest. “I didn’t want to wake you up. And I knew there was a coffee bar in the lobby. I didn’t think anything of it,” she told me as I carried her back to our room.
“It’s not your fault,” I told her, cursing myself for her ability to even get out of my sight. “Are you hurt?” I asked as we moved into our room.
I turned, sitting down on the bed with her on my lap.
“I… no. Just… bruised,” she said, sucking in a steadying breath as she leaned her face against my chest, not ready to get up, to move away from me yet.
I didn’t understand the sensation, had never felt it before in my life, but there was a strange warmth that moved across my chest as I held her. All I knew was it felt good. Better than blood fresh from an artery. Better than the freedom from an existential crisis that came from mortality. Better than anything I’d ever felt in my three-hundred-or-so years.
“Let me see,” I said, using my free hand to reach for her arms, lifting them, inspecting the bruises left by the hands of the piles of ash in the other room.
Even if they were babies, their strength was a solid ten times as strong as a human man.
The fingerprint-shaped spots on her skin were a deep navy blue and violet with angry red around the edges.
They spanned her wrists.
And there were identical marks on her throat.
“How long did they have you?” I asked.
“Half an hour, maybe,” she said.
Half an hour.
How was she not worse off?
“Once they let go of my mouth, I started to chant a ward I remember my grandmother using to keep the coyotes from slaughtering her chickens and ducks,” she admitted. “It, ah, it’s a lot more effective on a dog than a vampire,” she admitted. “But it seemed to zap them when they touched me. It made them… tentative.”
I nodded at that as I angled her back with one hand, lifting up the hem of her shirt to reveal large bruises across her stomach.
“It didn’t seem to bother them as much when it zapped their feet,” she admitted, reaching to pull her shirt back down.
“I should feel for your ribs.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted, taking a deep breath until she meant it. A breath deep enough that if she had broken or bruised ribs, she would have been in agony. She must have curled up to protect herself.
“How about I run you a bath?” I suggested. “And order you that coffee you wanted?”
Her head tilted up, watching me with those pretty green eyes.
“Okay,” she agreed.
I shifted her onto the bed.
Then went to do something I wasn’t sure I’d ever done before.
Cater to a woman.
What’s more, something about it simply felt… right.
CHAPTER NINE
Roxy
The softer, sweeter, more… human side of Nathaniel was back as he set up a bath full of foam, placing towels, a washcloth, and a coffee at the side for me.
I waited for the door to close then stripped and climbed into the tub.
There was maybe just a moment or two of comfort and ease from the pain from my bruises. Before my mind started to drift back to the other hotel room.