Longing for You, стр. 34
Just before she fell over the edge, Amelia told Byron, “Bite me,bite me now.”
Amelia’s hips started to jerk as a searing heat surged from hersex and speared all over her body. Her vision went white, and she heard ahigh-pitched whistle in her ears. Suddenly all the energy she had disappeared, andshe fell forward onto Byron. Her body started to shake, and Byron wrapped herarms around her.
“It’s all right. I’m here, you’re safe.”
Amelia opened her eyes, and she heard a clear voice in her headsay, Welcome, Amelia. We’ve been waiting for you.
* * *
Alexis lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. She never slept muchas it was, but after today, she was never going to sleep. She had come so closeto telling Katie the truth of how she felt about her. Katie had this knack oflooking in her eyes and finding the truth, but verbalizing it was different.
Things just seemed to get more complicated every day. She hadfinally had a phone call from her informant in Paris, and it was not what shehad expected to find. Victorija had become a recluse and her Duca, Drasas,appeared to be the figurehead for the Dreds since their encounter in Scotland.
She’d shared this information with Byron earlier this evening, andneither of them knew what to make of it. Victorija was not one for delegation.She liked power and control, so there must be something else going on. Therewere also smaller vampire families, clans, newly turned vampires going to theDred banner. They were building their numbers, but to what end?
Alexis was shaken from her thoughts when she heard a low moancoming from Katie’s bedroom. Katie was dreaming.
But then the moan became, “No, please don’t. Josie, no.”
Alexis was by the side of her bed in seconds. Katie was thrashingaround, quite distressed. She fell to her knees and took Katie’s hand.
“Shh, shh, it’s all right. I’m here.”
Suddenly Katie gasped and her eyes popped open. “Alexis?”
“You were having a bad dream.”
Katie turned over on her side to face Alexis. “Josie was chasingme, and I couldn’t get away.”
Alexis put both hands around Katie’s and kissed her knuckles. “Shecan’t get you. I’m here.”
“Will you stay?” Katie asked.
“Of course I will. Just shut your eyes. You don’t have to befrightened when I’m here.”
Chapter Eleven
Victorija had been staring at the computer screen for hours, inbetween feeding from her vampire blood hosts. She had followed the trail ofbirth, death, and marriage certificates back through the years, from DaisyMacDougall’s birth. She had nearly given up many times.
The way she was feeling, on the constant edge of hunger, wasdriving her insane. Victorija just wanted to get up and smash her head againstthe stone castle wall. But she resisted and finally found what she was lookingfor.
It was a parish record from l810, a marriage in Glasgow betweenMarie Anne Brassard and Thomas MacDougall.
“Fuck.” Victorija let her head fall to the desk in frustration.She had a hunch, followed it, and it had been right. The French Brassard familyhad married into the MacDougalls.
She sat up quickly and unlocked a drawer in her desk. Victorijapulled out an old leather diary, monogrammed Angele Brassard.
Victorija brought the diary to her lips and kissed the name on thecover. “My Angel. What do I do now?”
A feeling of panic surged through her body. It wasn’t somethingVictorija was used to feeling, nor the pain of first love and fear and griefand despair that came along with her memories of Angele Brassard.
Victorija had shut down her heart and kept these raw, desperateemotions locked up so tight in a dark corner of her soul. So locked up that shehad almost forgotten they were there, but with this blood hunger and thefeelings that her grandmother had released with her touch, those overwhelmingemotions came bursting out.
How could she cope with these feelings? On top of that, how couldshe be bonded by blood to Angele’s descendent, the young woman who haddestroyed the last part of light in her heart, and ushered in the darkness?
She was suddenly hit with an intense hunger pang, and she criedout.
* * *
Amelia awoke with a gasp and sat up quickly. She could remembervoices in her dreams but not the muffled ones from the stone circle. Clearvoices asking her to go somewhere, but where she wasn’t sure.
When she and Byron had made love last night, it was as if someswitch had been clicked, opening up her mind to the voices.
She looked to the side and saw Byron sleeping soundly. It alwaysmade her happy to see that Byron was sleeping so deeply, so contentedly. Byrontold her she’d never slept through the night when she was on her own. An houror so was all that she could manage.
Amelia was proud and fulfilled that she could be that for Byronand give her the comfort that she deserved. Then she heard it. The voices fromher dreams were ringing in her head.
Go to her. Go to her.
She looked at the bedside clock. It read five thirty a.m. Ameliascrubbed her face. Something had changed since last night. The muffled voiceswere loud, chattering, and clear.
Amelia sat up on the side of the bed. Now that she was fullyawake, the voices were even clearer.
Go to her. Through the trees.
Before she could think about it too deeply, Amelia had pulled onher jeans and a jumper and was writing a note for Byron. Gone for a walk.
When she got outside, the voices got louder. Every step she took,they got louder still. She walked into the cover of the trees.
“You are such an idiot,” Amelia told herself.
This was the kind of situation in a horror film that had youscreaming at a character’s stupidity. Yet here she was. She had been walkingfor about five minutes, the voices getting louder all the time, when she cameout to a clearing.
There in the clearing was a perfect little cottage with smokecoming out of the chimney. Amelia got chills running down her spine. It feltlike she was in some twisted fairy tale, and a wicked witch or a wolf would eather all up. But she had to keep going now—whatever these voices