Embrace the Night

Page 164



Have you ever thought of being dinner?

Nausea roiled through Maurice as the memory of Gabriel's voice asking that question echoed in the back of his mind.

"You're going to kill me?" There was no fear in Maurice's voice now, only a distant feeling of calm, a sense of facing the inevitable.

"No, but I need your blood, Delacroix. I haven't fed in several days, and I don't have time to prowl the streets looking for someone else."

"Will I become…" Maurice swallowed hard, the thought of becoming a vampire more frightening than the specter of death.

"No."

Maurice flinched as Gabriel's hands fastened on his shoulders, anchoring him in place. The vampire's eyes seemed to burn a path to his soul. Fear unlike anything he had ever known rose up within him. And then he felt it, the sharp prick of fangs at his throat, the sensation of blood being drawn from his veins. The sound of Gabriel swallowing. Revulsion rose within him, and he knew he was going to be sick.

He slid to the floor when Gabriel released him, his body feeling curiously light, empty. He doubled over, retching violently, only vaguely aware of Gabriel moving about the room.

Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, Maurice glanced up. Gabriel stood near the door, putting on his cloak. The heavy black material swirled around him, making him seem even more sinister.

"Pray I find her before it's too late, Delacroix," Gabriel said flatly. "There will be no place for you to hide if she's dead."

Using the bed for support, Maurice gained his feet. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. His skin looked gray and waxy. A cold chill slithered down his spine when he saw that Gabriel cast no image in the glass.

So, he thought inanely, the stories were true. Vampires cast no shadow, no reflection. He ran a hand through his hair, took a deep, calming breath. "I'm going with you."

Gabriel snorted disdainfully. "You can hardly stand." "I'm going."

The man had courage, Gabriel thought with grudging admiration, and it wrung an apology from him, the first of its kind he had ever made.

"Forgive me," he said, his voice rough. "I wouldn't have taken from you if it wasn't necessary."
"We're wasting time," Maurice said.

A faint smile tugged at Gabriel's lips as he headed for the kitchen door. In another time and place, he and Maurice might have been friends.