Authors: Amy Miles
A near constant stream of abuse filters through his lips.
The ripple of leather against bare skin announces his reluctant submission.
Roseline waits, shaking her head at the length of time it takes him to dress.
Then a new sound tinkles in her ear: the tell-tale squeak of bedsprings.
Roseline grins.
“A bit tight?”
Another expletive.
“I’ll manage,” he grunts, wriggling on the bed.
He rises, the leather stretching as he dips to his knees and back up.
“May I look?”
“This is ridiculous,” he grumbles.
Roseline swivels to face him.
His lean form reflects in the full-length mirror on the far wall, affording her a full view.
Despite the scowl firmly stamped on his face, Roseline knows he will turn a few heads.
Perhaps his physical attraction will help balance his blood attraction.
She nods brusquely, smothering any hint of a smile.
“That will do.”
“That’s it?
That’s all I get for putting on this absurd outfit?”
“Yes.”
Tossing him a pair of buckled biker boots, Roseline disappears into the outer room, leaving Nicolae to stew.
Chapter 12
Roseline can feel Nicolae’s intense gaze on her as she stoops beside the settee.
He shifts to the edge of the couch to get a better view of the long metal case she produces.
She runs her hands reverently over the dented metal.
Roseline closes her eyes as the memories of years of training wash over her.
She flips open the case and holds her breath.
“Wow,” Nicolae says over her shoulder, “I’ve never seen swords like these before.”
Roseline nods.
“They were a wedding gift from Lucien.
Vladimir was so touched by his brother’s generosity that he made me train with these swords every day.
I grew to both love and detest them.”
Her fingers trail over the silver hilts, rippling down over the etched markings that run along the blades.
Nicolae frowns and leans close to inspect the swords.
His eyes widen as his head swivels to look up at her.
“You don’t see it, do you?”
Roseline stares back at him.
Nicolae reaches out his hand to grasp the sword, but pauses.
“Do you mind?”
A flicker of unease settles over Roseline’s face.
Nicolae laughs.
“Still having trouble trusting me, huh?”
She nods.
“Yeah.
I guess it’s just instinct.”
Nicolae grins.
“Glad to know I’m keeping you on your toes.”
He reaches out for a sword and lifts it from the velvet lining.
It is surprisingly light in his strong grasp.
He walks to the floor lamp and tilts the blade until the engravings appear to glow.
“I thought so,” he mutters, running his thumb over the jagged mark.
“Can you bring the other sword?”
Confused by his rising pulse, Roseline snatches the second sword from the case and tosses it into his waiting hands.
Nicolae turns the second blade over so that the tips of the blades curve away from each other.
He crows triumphantly.
“Come look at this.”
Roseline halts next to him as her jaw falls open.
“How did you…I never noticed…” she gulps, tracing each half of a jagged cross that lines the blades- a perfect replica of Gabriel’s tattoo.
Her throat constricts at the thought of him.
I am coming for you, Gabriel
, she silently vows.
“What do you think it means?” Nicolae mutters.
“I don’t know.”
With trembling fingers, Roseline hooks the black leather scabbard over her shoulders.
She retrieves the swords from Nicolae and slides them into place, crisscrossing along her spine.
The weight of them feels both familiar and repulsive.
She slips a full-length black leather coat over her shoulders to conceal her weapons.
“Are you ok?” Nicolae asks.
She bites down on her lower lip as she shoves her longing for Gabriel away.
“Yeah, I’m fine.
Are you good to go?”
“Yes.” Nicolae tucks the Brule’s dagger into his boot and rises.
He casts a longing glance back at his nest of cotton in the bedroom.
“Maybe we should hang on to this room for another night.
Just in case we don’t find Fane right away.”
A shadow crosses Roseline’s face as she shifts to look out the window.
“We will find him.”
Of that, she has no doubt.
Fane has always been predictable, and loyal to a fault.
If Roseline so easily discovered the rumor that Davros was hunting for her, Fane heard it too.
There is only one place he will go tonight.
“Besides, I doubt they will be too keen on renting this room to us after this.”
Nicolae’s head whips around.
“After what?”
In a blur of black, Roseline’s foot stamps through the center of the floor-length widow.
Shards of glass rain onto the street below.
“What the heck are you doing?” Nicolae cries, rushing forward.
His peers over the windowsill.
The lighted sidewalk is littered with sparkling fragments of glass.
“Why couldn’t we just use the front door?”
Roseline steps to the ledge, her hair lashing against her cheeks.
“The less people see us, the better.
They will ask too many questions and we don’t have time.”
She holds out her hand, listening to Nicolae’s heart stampede in his chest.
He presses back against the wall, shielding his face from the gusting winds.
“Someone must have heard that crash.
The police will be here any moment.”
“Then I suggest you stop blathering and get over here,” she snaps.
Her fingers flinch with impatience.
Each minute they delay only diminishes her chances of finding Fane alive.
Nicolae edges toward the window, his fingers walk across the textured wallpaper.
“So what’s the plan?”
“I hold you.
We jump.” Roseline reaches for his hand.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of heights.”
“No,” Nicolae gulps, “I’m just not a fan of falling.”
“Some fierce hunter you are,” she smirks.
Ignoring his protest, she swings him up into her arms and leaps from the window.
Nicolae cries out as his stomach plummets.
Roseline cups his mouth, shielding any further screams.
His eyes, wide with fright, latch onto hers.
The instant her boots hit solid ground, Nicolae tears free from her grasp.
“Never do that again.”
He sinks to his knees, hands braced against the glass-strewn concrete path.
Roseline ignores his grumbling.
She searches the street for any evidence that they were noticed.
A young couple rounds the corner and hesitates when they see Nicolae hunched over in a pool of glass.
Roseline offers them a warm smile and they skirt along the building and hurry past.
“Get up.
You are making a scene.”
She yanks Nicolae to his feet.
He snatches his arm back and bends at the waist to dust off his pant legs.
“Well, maybe next time you shouldn’t give me a freaking heart attack.”
“You’re alive.
You should be thanking me.”
She hugs to the side of the building, blending with the shadow.
Nicolae follows closely on her heel, mumbling over his mistreatment.
“You’re mental, you know that?”
“Shh,” she hisses as she ducks low to enter the car park.
Nicolae pauses next to her and cranes his neck to find his vehicle.
The Hummer is parked two rows back and seven cars down, right next to the security guard station.
“Great parking job,” Roseline mutters, shoving Nicolae’s head down as the guard glances out of his glass cage.
His eyes shift to the clock overhead.
He sighs heavily and removes his ear buds, tucking his iPod into the desk drawer.
Reaching for his flashlight, the young man rises from his seat and exits the shack.
“So what do we do now?” Nicolae whispers, poking his head out around the concrete bollard.
The guard stoops to shine his light under the first car.
Roseline dangles his car keys in front of his eyes.
“I plan to drive.”
Before he can protest, Roseline saunters out into the open, tucking her hands against her hips to accentuate her bared chest.
The patrolman turns at the sound of her boots on the pavement.
The light swivels up to blind her.
“This lot is private property, miss,” he calls in a thick London accent.
His eyebrows rise as he notices Roseline’s outfit. “Hotel guests only.”
An innocent smile curls her lips.
She reaches into her back pocket and produces the room key for him to see.
She easily adopts an English accent, throwing in a bit of cockney for effect.
“Me mate and I were just gonna pop out for a bit.
See the sights and all.
London at midnight…brilliant.”
He frowns, glancing between them and the room key.
“A bit late to be out on a school night, don’t you think?”
Roseline smiles at the patronizing tone in his voice.
He cannot be a day over twenty himself.
“You know how it is. Mum and Dad are driving me mental.
I just had to get out for a bit, is all.”
Roseline twirls one of the curls that fall along her cheek.
She stares up at him from beneath batting lashes, sauntering forward.
She breathes out when she is less than a foot away.
Her scent rides on the breeze, flooding his senses.
He blinks slowly, a vacant gloss settling over his eyes.
“You can make an exception, just this once, right?” she purrs.
The guard’s indecision battles with his desire.
He unconsciously leans in to her.
A slight sheen breaks out across his brow.
Nicolae rolls his eyes.
“Is that how I looked?” he whispers in her ear.
Roseline stamps down on his foot before snatching the key card the guard holds aloft.
A dopy grin flits across his face as her fingers linger on his wrist.
His pulse thumps madly under her touch.
“Thanks,” she winks.
Turning her back on the guard, Roseline loops her arm through Nicolae’s and steers him toward the Hummer.
He glances back over his shoulder.
“The guard is still staring.”
Roseline’s lips twitch as she nods.
“In answer to your question…yes, you looked exactly like that.”
Nicolae scowls as she climbs the driver’s seat. The engine has barely turned over before Roseline guns the accelerator.
Tires squeal as she whips out of the parking space and swerves around the stunned guard.
“It would have just been easier to knock the guy out,” Nicolae grumbles, slumping in his seat.
Roseline glances at the clock.
12:32 am. He is right, it would have been faster.
“I don’t like to hurt humans, remember?”
She glances over at him, grinning.
“Well, some humans, anyway.”
“Ha. Ha.”
The brakes hiss as the car slides up to the ticket machine.
Roseline inserts the guard’s access card, tapping the steering wheel as she waits for the gate to clear the front of the car.
Street lamp light flashes through the windshield as the Hummer slithers through London’s center, vacant of its usual manic traffic.
Here and there, people cluster outside of pubs.
Two police cars whizz past, probably on their way to inspect a disturbance at the Hotel Savoy.