Read Online A Tale of Two Vampires by Katie MacAlister - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Katie MacAlister
Ads: Link
all over me. So you can do the rest of us a big ole fat favor and just get over yourself already.”
I might have yelled that last sentence at the crazy lady, but that’s no excuse for the handsome Nikola to suddenly snap into action, clearing the room of everyone in a matter of seconds.
“Leave us!” he bellowed, waving one imperious hand.
To my surprise, everyone did as he ordered. Imogen slid me a long, long look as she left, as well. That surprised me a bit, but I realized I had no claim on her friendship with Gretl.
Still, it would have been nice of her to offer me the use of her cell phone.
“Now you will explain to me what game you are playing,” Nikola demanded.
It was his eyes, I decided, that made a little shiver run down my back. He had the eyes of a white wolf: pale, icy blue, with a black ring around the outer edge of the iris. Set against that black hair, and a face that could have graced any fashion magazine, his eyes packed a wallop that I was steadfastly determined to resist.
I was not in the market for a man, even an older one who probably had worked out all his issues. Especially one who looked like Nikola did—I knew from experience how men who felt they were god’s gift to the world acted, and I wanted nothing to do with another one of that ilk.
“I do not play games, not the sort you’re referring to,” I said with much dignity. “I’m sure you’re busy with your party or cosplay or religious cult or whatever it is you folks are doing, so I’ll just get out of your hair. I’d prefer to call my cousin, but if you don’t have a phone, then I guess I’ll just have to walk to the nearest one.”
“Who told you I was a Dark One?”
“No one told me…wait, you mean Dark One like vampire?” I gawked at him for a minute. Had I gone completely insane? “You think you’re a vampire, too? Like Benedikt?”
“You will tell me what you know of my son!” he said as he stalked slowly toward me. “You will tell me how you have learned about the curse.”
“I will?” He really was a handsome devil, once he stood where the candlelight could play all over his face. He was dressed in a costume, as well— costume! He was wearing a costume! I slumped in relief on the bed, my anxiety level dropping when I realized that everyone must be attending a costume party. That or they were part of a local theater troupe. “What curse would that be?”
The one that has made my life a living hell.
I sat up straight at the voice in my head. Since when did my brain play tricks like that on me? I must have hit my head harder than I thought. Great, now I’d have to go see a doctor to find out why voices were suddenly talking in my brain.
“Do not play coy with me, madame. I neither desire nor seek such an attitude. Was it Rolf? Arnulf? Did they tell you what happened to me?”
“I don’t know an Arnold or a Ralph, so the answer to that is a rock-solid no.” I eyed him as he moved toward me, all sorts of warning bells going off in my head, and not just because the man moved like a panther about to pounce on some unwary prey.
He wasn’t a whole lot taller than me, but he was broad across the chest and shoulders; that much I could see even through the fancy outfit he wore. His hair was black, curly, and worn longish in the back, not—thank god—in a mullet, but still long enough that it was caught up in a little ponytail. He had an interesting face with a long, straight nose, a chin that made me a bit weak in the knees, and those eyes…oh, those eyes. He certainly didn’t look like a man in his sixties, which he must be if Imogen was in her forties. I shook my head at my confused thoughts. There was just something different about Nikola that went beyond the obvious sex appeal.
Warmth flooded me at that acknowledgment, a sexual sort of warmth, one that startled me with its intensity. “Oh, lovely, I probably have some sort of serious brain injury as a result of…of…” I screwed up my
I might have yelled that last sentence at the crazy lady, but that’s no excuse for the handsome Nikola to suddenly snap into action, clearing the room of everyone in a matter of seconds.
“Leave us!” he bellowed, waving one imperious hand.
To my surprise, everyone did as he ordered. Imogen slid me a long, long look as she left, as well. That surprised me a bit, but I realized I had no claim on her friendship with Gretl.
Still, it would have been nice of her to offer me the use of her cell phone.
“Now you will explain to me what game you are playing,” Nikola demanded.
It was his eyes, I decided, that made a little shiver run down my back. He had the eyes of a white wolf: pale, icy blue, with a black ring around the outer edge of the iris. Set against that black hair, and a face that could have graced any fashion magazine, his eyes packed a wallop that I was steadfastly determined to resist.
I was not in the market for a man, even an older one who probably had worked out all his issues. Especially one who looked like Nikola did—I knew from experience how men who felt they were god’s gift to the world acted, and I wanted nothing to do with another one of that ilk.
“I do not play games, not the sort you’re referring to,” I said with much dignity. “I’m sure you’re busy with your party or cosplay or religious cult or whatever it is you folks are doing, so I’ll just get out of your hair. I’d prefer to call my cousin, but if you don’t have a phone, then I guess I’ll just have to walk to the nearest one.”
“Who told you I was a Dark One?”
“No one told me…wait, you mean Dark One like vampire?” I gawked at him for a minute. Had I gone completely insane? “You think you’re a vampire, too? Like Benedikt?”
“You will tell me what you know of my son!” he said as he stalked slowly toward me. “You will tell me how you have learned about the curse.”
“I will?” He really was a handsome devil, once he stood where the candlelight could play all over his face. He was dressed in a costume, as well— costume! He was wearing a costume! I slumped in relief on the bed, my anxiety level dropping when I realized that everyone must be attending a costume party. That or they were part of a local theater troupe. “What curse would that be?”
The one that has made my life a living hell.
I sat up straight at the voice in my head. Since when did my brain play tricks like that on me? I must have hit my head harder than I thought. Great, now I’d have to go see a doctor to find out why voices were suddenly talking in my brain.
“Do not play coy with me, madame. I neither desire nor seek such an attitude. Was it Rolf? Arnulf? Did they tell you what happened to me?”
“I don’t know an Arnold or a Ralph, so the answer to that is a rock-solid no.” I eyed him as he moved toward me, all sorts of warning bells going off in my head, and not just because the man moved like a panther about to pounce on some unwary prey.
He wasn’t a whole lot taller than me, but he was broad across the chest and shoulders; that much I could see even through the fancy outfit he wore. His hair was black, curly, and worn longish in the back, not—thank god—in a mullet, but still long enough that it was caught up in a little ponytail. He had an interesting face with a long, straight nose, a chin that made me a bit weak in the knees, and those eyes…oh, those eyes. He certainly didn’t look like a man in his sixties, which he must be if Imogen was in her forties. I shook my head at my confused thoughts. There was just something different about Nikola that went beyond the obvious sex appeal.
Warmth flooded me at that acknowledgment, a sexual sort of warmth, one that startled me with its intensity. “Oh, lovely, I probably have some sort of serious brain injury as a result of…of…” I screwed up my
Similar Books
