Page 41 of Midnight Kiss

Except taking the book would break her trust and the relationship I had built with her. And leaving it would slowly make her even more ill.

Emily grabbed the pen on the kitchen counter and walked it over to me. The minute she gave it to me, the protection around her apartment ceased to exist. She sagged for a second then shook her head and smiled at me. “There you go.”

“I don’t have anything to write on,” I said, and stepped into her apartment.

I shut the door behind me and locked it.

“I think I have a notepad in my room. Be right back,” Emily said, and wandered off.

She wasn’t herself, and my gaze strayed to the book on the coffee table. I could take it now and leave, never come back, and condemn her to a slow death. She would feel better for a while, but then her health would rapidly decline. Further research had proved that removing it was the worst of the options. And the most necessary.

While she was in her room, I cast a ward of my own around the apartment, using my much harsher vampire magic. I was the ward item. The only way to get to Emily and the book was now through me.

After I was done, I walked over to the sofa, tapping the pen against my palm and considering the journal. So much strife over this book.

I extended a hand, hovering it over the leatherbound cover.

Footsteps were preceded by Emily, holding her notepad to her chest. “What are you doing?”

She had sensed that I was about to touch the book. “I remember you telling me about this,” I said, gesturing toward the journal. “A diary of a Frenchman.”

“Yes.” Her brown wrinkles. “But why are you … I mean?—”

“Emily?”

“Sorry.” She handed me the notepad. “I don’t know why I’m acting like this. I just don’t feel myself and—” Tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “Nothing about this seems normal. About me being sick or you or?—”

“Come here.” I put down the pen and took Emily into my arms, pressing her to my chest and inhaling her scent. I couldn’t help myself, and that was beyond annoying. Touching her and keeping her safe shouldn’t be my concern when I had the book to worry about, and Sanguine Nox. I had sworn I would do whatever I could to get my revenge on him. That didn’t include falling in love with a mortal.

Emily trembled in my arms, and I wrapped her closer, swept up by the way she felt against me. She was fragile and perfect, and the beast in me wanted to tear into her throat even as I ravaged her body.

I ran my hands down her spine, pressing her comfy sweater to her back.

She groaned and clasped handfuls of my shirt, leaning against me. “I know it’s silly,” she whispered. “But I’m afraid you’ll try to steal my novel from me.”

“Your novel?” I pulled back and searched her face. “Emily, I would never steal your ideas.” Just your possessions. And your heart.

“You wouldn’t,” she said. “Of course, you wouldn’t. It was a silly thing to say. I don’t know why I even said it because I trust you, Alexander. I—” She stepped back, rubbing her arms. “I do trust you. And I want you.”

I gritted my teeth. “Have you had any visitors lately?” I asked.

Her behavior was strange, and it smacked of foul play. I didn’t often deal with mortals, but vampires were a common enemy, and they operated well in the shadows.

“Visitors?” She scratched her forehead. “I’m not sure. I feel like I’ve seen someone new, but I can’t remember.”

I moved toward her and grasped her head, running a quick wash of vampire magic over her. It was the most healing I could do, as I wasn’t particularly proficient at healing. My powers were specifically for destruction.

She shivered, but her cheeks pinked, color returning to her skin. She glanced down at her body and sucked in a breath. “Oh my gosh, I need a shower. You can’t see me like this, this sweater?—”

“You’re beautiful.”

Her eyelashes fluttered. “Alex.”

“I can help you,” I said. “If you want to shower.”

“Help me.”

I had to be out of my mind, but she was sick, and I could tamp down on my base desires if it meant helping her. Perhaps, it was the guilt that drove me, but I took Emily by the hand and led her down the hall and into the tiny bathroom.