Embrace the Night

Page 166



Even in the blackness, Sara could see the hatred blazing in the other woman's eyes, the hideous otherworldly glow that Sara recognized as a lust for blood.

"No!" Sara forced the word from a throat gone suddenly dry.

"Just a taste," Nina said, and with the swiftness of a striking snake, she buried her fangs in Sara's neck, one hand clamped over her shoulder to hold her in place.

"No!" Sara screamed as she tried to twist out of Nina's grasp, certain she could hear the blood being drawn from her veins. The mere idea sickened her, as did the touch of the woman's fingers in her hair and on her shoulder. Cold, icy fingers that felt like death.

"No, no…" Sara moaned, feeling her legs grow weak. A red mist swirled before her eyes.

There was no pleasure from Nina's possession as there had been in Gabriel's, only pain and revulsion, a sense of being denied by a creature that was the embodiment of evil.

With a soft sigh of contentment, Nina released her hold on Sara.
Left to her own, Sara fell to her knees.

"He'll be here soon," the vampire remarked, delicately wiping the blood from her mouth with a black silk handkerchief. "Tell him this is just the beginning."

There was a soft sound, like wings in the night, and Sara knew that the other woman had gone. Weeping softly, she curled up on the floor, praying for Gabriel to come and end the nightmare.
Sara?

She sat up, her heart thudding with hope, as his voice pierced her mind. I'm in here! I'm coming, cara.

Be careful! There's some sort of… of creature in here with me.
Rest easy, Sara, you'll soon be safely home again.

No sooner had the words of assurance sounded in her mind than there was a horrible crash as the door burst open. Sara saw Gabriel silhouetted in the faint light that streamed through the portal, and behind him, she saw Maurice.

The creature had seen them, too. With a roar that sounded more bestial than human, it hurled itself at Gabriel, its teeth bared in a feral snarl, the knife slashing through the air.

Sara screamed as the blade struck Gabriel, slicing through his shirt into the flesh beneath. There was no change in the creature's expression as he brought the knife down again, opening a jagged gash in Gabriel's left arm.

Gabriel made no effort to avoid the blade, just plowed forward until his hands locked in a death grip around the creature's neck. He gave a sharp twist and the creature went limp in his hands, its neck