Sensual Danger (Venice Vampyr #4)

“As I said, no man has ever risen to the top by sharing all his secrets with his competitors. But enough of that. Explain the machine! You said it would be glowing if a human touched it. I don’t see it glowing now, and you’re touching it.”


“I simply have to establish the connection from the vial to the rod by way of a tube.” She felt for the tube underneath the fabric and shoved it into an opening. Then she touched the rod with one hand, and the center of the machine instantly started glowing orange. “See?”

The man shrunk back a step, then curiosity made him move closer again.

She removed her hand and slipped it underneath the machine again, and the glow dissipated. Underneath the cloth her next action remained hidden from his eyes.

“Would you like to try it out too?” she asked, keeping her voice indifferent, so as not to make him any more suspicious than he already was.

***

From his hiding place across the bridge, underneath a sheltering archway, Nico watched his wife demonstrate the machine to the hooded man. His heart broke into a thousand pieces at having her deception confirmed. She was there to sell her apparatus to the Guardians, thus giving them a valuable tool to help them eradicate him and his fellow vampires.

Still, he waited, unable to do what he had to do: kill her and the man with whom she was striking the despicable trade. Why hadn’t she simply staked him in his sleep? It would have been a kinder death than letting him suffer like this. Suffer, because the woman he loved was betraying him to his enemies. Was that what he was waiting for, to hear her tell the stranger where he could find a vampire on whom to test the machine?

His throat constricted, allowing no more air into his lungs. For an instant, he closed his eyes, wishing for this nightmare to end, but when he opened his eyes again, he was still standing at the same spot.

Yet one thing had changed: the machine suddenly glowed blue, the same way it had glowed when he’d touched it that night. Only, the person who touched the apparatus now, was the Guardian!

Panic surged through him. He couldn’t see the face of the man. Was it possible that one of his fellow vampires had tricked Oriana into believing she was meeting with a Guardian? And once he knew the machine worked, would he then kill her?

Oh God no!

“I’m not a vampire!” he heard the man shout furiously. “It doesn’t work! The machine is a useless piece of garbage! How dare you waste my time?” He raised his hand to strike.

Too many emotions collided in Nico, rendering him unable to make a decision. His body made it for him: no matter what she’d done, how she’d betrayed him, he couldn’t allow Oriana to get hurt.

Nico charged from his shelter and barreled over the bridge, feeling the late afternoon sun’s rays on his back. Even though he was covered head-to-toe by the heavy hooded cloak, he could feel the heat instantly as it tried to penetrate the cloth and reach his skin.

In the seconds it took him to cross the bridge, one thing became instantly clear: the man wasn’t a vampire—now that Nico was close enough, he could not only smell the man’s human blood, but also see that he wasn’t surrounded by the telltale aura that identified a vampire to other vampires.

In the distance, a question emerged: why then had the machine glowed blue instead of orange? He had no time to find an answer, because at that moment, the man’s fist struck down on Oriana, knocking her toward the narrow stone stairs that lead down to the canal next to the bridge. She stumbled backwards, crying out.

“Nooooo!!!!” he roared, drawing the Guardian’s attention on himself.

But he couldn’t deal with the man right now. Oriana was falling backwards, her feet getting caught in her petticoats and her hands flailing. She’d dropped her machine to the ground the moment she’d been struck. Nico jumped toward her, reaching his hand out from under the protection of his cloak.

Muted sunlight hit his skin. He ignored the burning sensation, his eyes focused on his wife as her back crashed against the metal handrail. Her hand gripped it, but the metal made a cracking sound. Without a conscious thought, he lunged for her, reaching for her with both hands. He’d neglected to wear gloves, and now the skin on the back of his hands was blistering. He ignored the pain and got hold of one of her arms just as the handrail gave way, and she fell.

Oriana’s scream was a mere croak. Nico felt her full weight, now only supported by his hand clasping tightly around her forearm. From the corner of his eye he saw the Guardian approach. Nico whipped his head toward him and saw the blade he now wielded.

“I’ll teach you to cheat me!” he ground out and lunged toward them.