Page 73 of Midnight Kiss

I inhaled through my nose, and my chest hurt. The curse was getting worse. It was more difficult to breathe now than it had been an hour ago, and while I wasn’t nauseated anymore, I was exhausted.

Keep it together. Mike’s going to figure it out.

He was in the room down the hall with Reginald Tailwag, working through the night. Several times he’d come out on his phone, talking to one of his contacts. Apparently, one of the other vampire hunters would be coming by tomorrow to make sure we were safe. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I wasn’t sure I wanted protection from new people. Not after Alex.

Morgan snored on the armchair, her head lolling.

She’d finally managed to drop off after we’d talked about more mundane things. Like work.

If only I could remember what was in that book.

A gentle tapping came, and I frowned, staring up at the ceiling in the darkness in Mike’s living room.

Morgan grunted in her sleep.

The tapping continued.

I pushed up and flopped down. Finally, I pushed up again and managed to press myself into a sitting position. My head swam, but I scanned the interior of the living room and the kitchen. The window to my right shed moonlight on the space.

And then …

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The noise had come from the window.

I peered at it, and my heart leaped into my throat.

A man wearing a cloak floated in mid-air outside the window. A long, pale finger reached out and tapped repeatedly on the window.

“Mike,” I croaked. “Mike!”

The door opened, and he strode into the hall. “What? What is it?”

“There’s a vampire in the window.”

He reached for his gun where it hung on his makeshift utility belt. He had other items on it. A cross, a stake, and what looked like cloves of garlic. He pointed the gun at the window and moved over to it.

Mike swept the curtains back, but there was no one there. No one was floating outside.

“I swear,” I said. “I swear there was someone there a second ago. A vampire. Maybe I dreamed it.”

“Maybe,” Mike said, then came over and patted my back. “It’s okay, Em. You’re going through it. I get it.”

“I—”

A thump came at the front door, and we both stiffened.

Michael aimed his gun at the door, just in case.

“They can’t get in here, right?” I whispered. “With the vampire magic, and the ward, and all of that?”

“No. They can’t get in here. We just have to ignore it, that’s all. Ignore it and try to sleep.”

“Emily.” The voice came from outside the front door. It was Alex. I’d recognize his voice anywhere, even though I didn’t want to now.

My shoulders sagged, and I released a heavy breath. “It’s just Alex.”

“Emily, we need to talk. I’ve discovered something I think you’ll be interested in.”