Page 37 of Midnight Kiss
“And if the book was destroyed?” I asked, even though that was out of the question.
“Nope. The minute the book is destroyed, the human goes with it. Poof. Just like that.”
“Try not to be so jovial about it, will you?” I snapped.
“All right, all right, don’t get your panties in a bunch.”
I ignored him, continued my pacing. “So, you can’t remove the book?”
“I mean, you could, but it would still end the same way for a human. And it could make it way worse, removing the book. It’s a pretty gruesome death. Like hemorrhagic fever. They’d bleed out of every orifice, throw up blood, that kind of guess. I guess … Huh.”
“What?” I asked.
“I guess you could turn them.”
No. “That’s out of the question.” No. I will not turn her. After what I had been through, after being made a vampire against my will, I would not do it. Could not.
“The only way to save the human would be to turn them into something that can’t be killed by curses. Vampires. Werewolves. That kind of thing,” Julius said. “I mean, I don’t know what to tell you, Boss. It is what it is.”
“Julius, I need you to research this for me. I’ll pay you for it. Whatever you want,” I said. “Just figure out another way, all right? And don’t let anyone find out what you’re doing or why.”
“That’s how I roll,” Julius said. “Nobody knows what I’m doing or where I am. I’m very mysterious.”
“There’s nothing less mysterious than saying you’re mysterious,” I replied.
“Good luck with the human, Boss.”
“Text me when you have an answer.” And then I hung up, breathing hard. Emily was cursed. The book was actually making her sick. Even taking it away from her would only marginally prolong her life.
I bowed my head and grabbed fistfuls of my hair, a primal roar rising up my throat. I bit it back before it was free. I couldn’t afford to lose control now, but I had never been so torn in all the centuries of my life.
13
EMILY
Usually, I enjoyed Friday nights, but Morgan was working late tonight, and the longer the night drew on, the worse I felt. Not just about my argument with Mike, but physically. It felt as if an iron hand had closed around my stomach, and I was covered in a thin sheen of sweat.
I lay on the sofa, hugging the book to my chest. I’d lost count of the amount of times I’d fallen in and out of sleep, but I’d tried to read it, and it just wasn’t happening tonight. Every time I opened the pages, the words swam, and I’d start … dreaming.
The only option was to keep it closed and rest.
This isn’t normal. This is not normal behavior.
Something was wrong with this book.
That or I was actually losing it.
A bang rattled the living room window, and my eyes flew open. I shifted the book onto the coffee table, resistant to letting go of it, and managed to put it down.
“H-Hello?” I called out.
Had I imagined it? Had the bang been a part of yet another vivid dream?
I sat upright, a fluffy pink blanket gathered in my lap, and peered around the darkened living room. The clock on the kitchen wall ticked ominously loud. It was almost midnight.
Another bang came, a thump against my bedroom window down the hall.
“What on earth?” I forced myself to stand, and the pain in my stomach doubled. I bent over and moved through the apartment toward the door to my room, clutching at myself. Maybe I just needed to go to the bathroom. This was a stomach bug, that was all.