Page 80 of Midnight Kiss
27
EMILY
Iwoke up in darkness so complete that I wasn’t sure whether I’d actually opened my eyes or not. Pain traveled through my limbs, and nausea radiated through my stomach, but it was weirdly muted. My mouth was dry, and my ears rang.
“H-Hello?” I called out. “Hello?”
“You’re awake.” Footsteps approached in the darkness.
Was I wearing a blindfold? I tried to move my arm, but it wouldn’t lift. Restrained.
“Where am I? Who are—?” The memories came rushing back. Michael being attacked, the vampire bursting into flames, and then being picked up and carried out of the apartment by Ezekiel.
My heart fluttered in my chest, and I let out a rough breath. “Let me go. Let me go, right now.”
A low chuckle moved through the space. It sounded empty. Fingertips brushed up my arm, and I tried to flinch away but failed. “Leave me alone. Don’t touch me!”
“You’re in no position to make demands,” the voice said.
The person—vampire, whatever they were—had a strange, raspy quality to their tone, and it sent chills down my spine.
“Please,” I said. “Please, you have to let me go. I—” But what could I say to convince them? I had nothing to offer.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” the vampire replied. “You have more to offer than you know. My name is Karn, and I am going to probe your mind for all its secrets. If you’re wondering why you can’t see anything, it’s because I’ve placed a magical mask over your eyes to prevent you from taking in your surroundings.”
“Why?”
“Because I want your full concentration on my voice. Only my voice. It’s necessary for the procedure.”
“Procedure?”
“I’ve answered enough of your questions.” The touch came again, the soft brush of fingers over my skin. Fingers that felt cold and waxy and dead. Nothing like Alex’s.
I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, the room disappeared around me, and I was back in that hall.
The hall with the vast columns, gorgeous furnishings, and pictures and tapestries that showed vampires feeding on humans. The same hall where the vampire and his wife had been talking about letting other vampires bond. But bond what?
Sweat broke out on the back of my neck, and I stepped around the side of the column, searching for them, my fear building higher and higher.
They would be here soon. They would see me. They would?—
A door opened, and the handsome vampire, his eyes blazing a bright blue, strode through the hall and right past me, ignoring me completely. He was immaculate in a brocaded silk coat and matching pants that were gathered at the knee. The white wig of curls and locks fell past his shoulders, and his face had been powdered to match it.
Jacques walked up to the table and kicked it over, and I let out a squeak.
Still, he didn’t see me. Was I invisible to him?
“Idiots,” he said. “Absolute rat idiots. Did they think they would get away with this? Did they think that I wouldn’t notice what they had done?”
Sofia came darting in, her silk dress whispering over the marble floor, and her breasts heaving against the tight corset of her gown. “Jacques, stop.”
“I will not stop. I will hunt down every last one of them who has broken the rules.”
“Jacques, you have to relax.”
“Relax?” He turned toward her, raising a hand, clutching at the air, a strange look passing over his features. “Relax? How can I relax? Can’t you feel them? Can’t you smell them out there?”
“S-Smell them?” Sofia asked, but she didn’t draw closer to her lover. Instead, she took a single step backward, her heel clicking loudly in the chamber. “What do you mean, my love?”