Stakes & Stilettos - Michelle Rowen [12]
I blinked. “Well, I am currently looking for a new job. How much does this helping you thing pay?”
“Every moment you exist, Sarah, you are helping me.”
“With what?”
“I can’t tell you yet.” He shook his head. “What do you want more than anything else in the world? Right now, right at this very moment?”
I thought about it, hard. I looked down at my chest, at the bandage that was there to cover the stake wound. “I want to be normal.”
“You can’t be normal anymore. You’re a vampire.”
“I know that. But I can be as normal as possible. I want my friends to be safe. I want to be happy.”
“With Thierry.”
“Yes.”
“That can never happen.”
I frowned at him. “Tell me who you are. I’m not really in the mood for riddles or games. It’s been a rough night.”
“This isn’t a game.” He attempted to put his arms around me in an odd, stifling hug, but he was pulled back before he touched me. Thierry stood behind him.
“Sarah,” Thierry said. “Is he trying to make you do something you don’t want to do? You can tell me.”
I opened my mouth but found I couldn’t reply to him.
Thierry took a step closer to me, but the Red Devil grabbed him, turned him around, and then sank a wooden stake into his chest. I let out a horrified scream.
Thierry met my gaze. “Why did you help him, Sarah?”
I shook my head. “I… I didn’t mean to. I love you, Thierry!”
He whispered something that I couldn’t hear and then he disintegrated before my eyes.
“No!” I cried.
My dreams about Thierry—prophetic or not—always seemed to end with him getting staked. But it hadn’t happened in real life. It wouldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let it.
It was just a dream.
I would be normal. I would be happy.
I would.
“Ow,” was my first word upon waking up. There was a cool cloth pressed to my forehead. George blinked down at me.
“Morning, sunshine,” he said to me, and then, “She’s awake.”
“Good.” Thierry was back in the room, his eyes now returned to their normal silvery shade of gray. His arms were crossed and he frowned deeply. “How are you feeling, Sarah?”
“Like I should be checking my spleen for splinters.”
“Can you sit up?”
“I don’t know.”
His right hand was on my shoulder, the other on my back, and he supported me as I slowly brought myself up to a sitting position. It hurt, but not as much as I would have thought it would. He sat beside me so I could lean against him.
“Yes, sitting I can apparently manage,” I said.
Thierry reached over to undo the top buttons on his spare black shirt, which I now wore, and he peeled the bandage away from my chest. My bra and camisole were ruined and had been thrown into the garbage.
“You’re already starting to heal.” His warm fingers stroked softly over my bare left breast.
I sucked in a quick breath. My chest ached from my wound, but it didn’t stop the rest of my body from tightening with desire at his touch. “Good to know.”
He didn’t remove his hand. We stared into each other’s eyes.
George cleared his throat. “Uh… should I leave the two of you alone?”
“In a moment.” Thierry moved his hand away so he could replace the bandage. “Sarah, I went outside to see if I could find Heather and her boyfriend.”
“Did you find them?”
“Yes.” He stood up from the sofa. “A man, who I am assuming is the boyfriend, was left dead in the park next to the remains of what I’m sure is Heather. They were both killed. However, I did retrieve your coat.”
My eyes widened. “Was it… did you—?”
He shook his head. “No, I didn’t kill them, although I definitely wanted to.”
I frowned. “It must have been the Red Devil.”
“Pardon me?”
I took a breath. “Right after I was staked a man appeared. He wore a scarf over his face so I couldn’t see what he looked like. He called himself the Red Devil and he carried me back here and then I guess he left. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be dead. He saved me.”
“You were outside the door when the bouncer found you. Someone knocked. I assumed it was you just before you lost consciousness.”
I