Page 16 (1/1)

Beneath the larasped my hands He was one of the few people who could do so without irl Only opened dat hed "I know dis is a lot for you to take into your heart, but you got to do it You got to do everything dey says to do"

"What about hiius, who stood a few feet behind us "What am I supposed to do?" I’d already decided to sleep in ius chuckled--at least I thought he did I shot him a look overus any attention

"You do what dat boy says to do, Riley Poe He will do you right And his brodders atch out for Nyxinnia"

"What aain, the deathly silence of the night stunned ic, and de Gullah, dey gonna fix hilanced toward the darkened skies, then back at it inside and stay And you be nice to dat Dupré boy I would not let hi bad He won’t"

Emotions washed over ed hiainst the collar of his shirt as I inhaled the odd, sweet mixture of Downy and hoodoo herbs "Is it real? Is ht a sob that stuck inthroat I didn’t cry often, but when I did, it was torrential--and no one ever knew it happened, because I did it in private I felt a big one co hands patted ht after all, so dat doesn’t happen You’ll see"

I pulled back and breathed "What about you and Estelle?"

Preacher chuckled "Dat old crazy wos a lot worse dan vaht?" He turned it soet dat"

"Don’t worry--I won’t" I stood there beneath ht and watched Preacher h the door, and close it behind hi there, duffel slung over one shoulder, his dark hair carelessly falling over his eyes as he watched me from the shadows It thrilled me and freaked me out at the same time "Come on in," I invited, then turned, stuck the key in the lock, and opened the door The ht switch, he was at ht with sick worry over my brother, my skin heated at his closeness I was iave hi look and moved to the steps He followed, closed the door, and locked it And it was at thatass into the foyer fro his head off, fur at his scruff standing on end

"Whoa, Chaz, stop it!" I said sharply, and he ca froius It reminded me of his reaction to Seth over the past week "He doesn’t likestrangers," I said, although I’d meant vampires I wasn’t ready to hear the word come out of h I was starting to believe in the at the floor

Eligius turned sideways in the narrow foyer and squeezed by aze trained on et used toGently, he eased his duffel to the floor and squatted before Chaz, speaking softly in French Within seconds, Chaz’s fur settled, his backside wagged, and he whined as one paw lifted and rested on Eligius’ knee At once I was irabbed Chaz’s leash froo for a walk" Chaz hurried to me and licked my knee "That’s better, you traitor," I said, and scrubbed the space between his fuzzy ears I glanced at Eligius, as still squatted down "Be right back"

He instantly rose and was at the door beside o"

"Whatever," I ht I kept a wary eye on Eligius while Chaz inspected the grass, and finally, I caved "So what’d you say to hiboat blasted its horn, souely hear ed and aze "I promised not to kill you"

"Wow, thanks" I had a hard ti past the lump in my throat, but I didn’t let hi Preacher’s anti-kill-ood idea," he said, and the wordshis leash on the wall, and locked the door As I talked to Nyx onto her about Seth exactly as Preacher had advised, I watched Eligius move around inwas He walked straight to Seth’s room without pause, tossed his duffel on the floor, and stood there, staring atso hin He looked toonormal, in his plain white tee and faded jeans, not what you’d think a vampire looked like at all No black cape, no coffin His complexion was flawless, all except for a small mole on his jaw, just below his left ear Freshly shaved, even, although he had the slightest hint of stubble Did vaht I al in what I knew he really was I didn’t know hi Adam and had only Preacher’s assurance that it’d be okay to have a creature of the afterlight freely wandering my apart ache for my brother sank deep intothe streets with so I’d ever roaine his young face distorting like Gilles’; I could not Withoutan innocent hu all of the person’s blood out pushed to the front of ht All I could see was his sweet, expressive green eyes divulging every e my throat and eyes, and I hurried into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and grabbed a bottle of Guinness I had a third of it dohen I turned Eligius was standing no less than a foot away, regarding me closely I didn’t jump--I forced myself not to With a knuckle, I wiped my mouth, and his eyes followed my movement with intense curiosity

"What if I didn’t have Preacher’s herbs?" I asked, his closeness heating ius’ eyes dropped to the pulse at lowed "You’d be dead before you could lift that bottle to your lips"

Part 5

TEMPTATIONS

Until the day break and the shadows flee away

--Anonyed by painfully slowly, and I foundover ius could kill me; part of me sincerely believed he did want to That skepticis invaded, especially by a guy so freaking hot and lethal at the saot close to h the storefront I alas attracted to the bad boy, but this was ridiculous I supposed he possessed some sort of mind control; it was the only reason I could think of to explain why he ain--that pissedout of control, especially when it caain

My apartment is fairly spacious for a historic-district riverfront structure, but when crammed inside with a vampire, I felt like it was a dollhouse He sat sprawled on the sofa, looking like any other ordinary dude with a reh various channels that included all for, CSI Yet he watched me--my every move--and was blatant about it I’d already had a beer and leftover lowith nervous energy I wanted to go for a run but kneithout evenit that if I’d wanted to do that, I wouldn’t do it without a chaperone So instead of a run through the historic district, I opted to work out extra hard with the bag I felt like hitting so so hard at it that o to sleep and lose the horrible irabbed the empty carton of lo mein off the counter, dropped it into the trash, and headed to nored hi stare Kicking my boots off, I yankedboth into the wicker basket in the corner, along with my socks A shudder shocked ius was behindin liainst the door-frauy manner, arms crossed over his chest, head cocked, his eyes fastened directly on me, and no shame in evidence I wore a black lace bra and black boy-short panties It wasn’t like I was naked, not that I’d care about that, either I turned back around

"I was strip-searched three times by my thirteenth birthday, so don’t think for a second you’re inti at hia pants that dropped below my hips, and a white ribbed tank that barely covered ets you off" I spread s in a wide stretch and dropped my head down to peer at hirabbed s, ar on lanced at him "I’m no part of a contract Savvy?" In the back ofa freaking vah, I just couldn’t help it Eligius provoked me, and it pissed me off that he was inBenjaony, selected "I Will Not Bow," and cranked up the volume