No new calls or texts had come in.
Hmm. So what had awakened her? She was usually a pretty sound sleeper and had assumed her phone had chimed.
Perhaps Aidan had shifted and inadvertently nudged her awake?
Could be. She hadn’t slept with anyone in quite a long time, so she wasn’t used to having a big warm body in bed with her.
Glancing up, she froze.
Faces peered at her through the bay window.
Sneering, blood-splattered faces that housed long, sharp fangs and glowing eyes.
Oh, crap. Vampires. A lot of them.
They smiled in unison.
Spinning around, Dana raced for the stairwell. “Aidan!” she screamed.
Glass shattered behind her. Wood splintered. The front door burst inward and flew past her, one corner slamming into the back of her head.
Stumbling, she managed to remain on her feet as pain erupted behind her eyes. “Aidan!” she cried again, still moving forward, terror engulfing her.
A heavy weight slammed into her back, taking her down to the floor.
She threw her hands out to break her fall and ended up bruising her elbows and hitting her chin.
Her cell phone flew out of her hand and skidded into the stairwell.
The vampire who had tackled her wrapped a fist in her hair and jerked her head back.
Crying out, Dana struggled to throw him off, but he was strong. And heavy. And twice her weight.
His fangs pierced her neck.
Pain streaked through her as though someone had just stabbed her with two sharp knitting needles.
A second vampire yanked her left arm hard enough to pull it out of its socket and sank his fangs into her wrist.
Again she cried out, tears filling her eyes.
A third vampire did the same with her right.
They were so strong! Her struggles were nothing to them!
“Aidan!” she screeched.
Aidan appeared out of thin air just outside the door to the stairwell, his hair rumpled from sleep, his amber eyes as bright as candles. Anger darkened his features. The cords of his neck stood out as he roared his fury and leapt forward, swinging two swords.
The vampire at her neck lunged backward, tearing flesh and sending new agony through her. Those at her wrists did the same.
Movement blurred around her. Feet stumbled over her, kicking her in the ribs. Bodies fell. Men screamed. Weapons hit the floor with a clatter and skidded beneath boots and sneakers.
So terrified she couldn’t make a sound, Dana brought a hand up to the gaping wound in her neck. Blood gushed from both it and her wrists, making her hands and the floor around her slick and warm.
A knife fell to the floor, inches away.
As lethargy pulled at her, Dana grabbed it with her free hand and rolled onto her back.
Cold seeped in. Breathing grew difficult as bodies and glowing eyes shifted and flowed above and around her in a blur of motion.
Dizziness assailed her.
Then Aidan crouched over her, fear in his glowing amber eyes. Moving her hand aside, he covered the wound in her neck with his hand. “It’s okay,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion as he grabbed her wrist with his other hand. “You’re going to be okay.”
Both of his hands heated. Both also trembled.
Too late, she thought. It was too late. She had lost too much blood.
“Dana,” he said, blinking back tears, “I can save you.”
She shook her head, unable to speak. No, he couldn’t.
“I can,” he insisted, his beautiful face full of torment. “I can save you. If you’ll just let me…”
His voice faded as unconsciousness beckoned.
Dimly, she became aware of a form rising up behind him. A vampire whose face twisted in a malevolent smile as he raised a machete in both hands.
Her eyes widened. She tried to speak and produced only a choking sound instead.
Aidan!
The vampire swung his blade in an arc that would cleave Aidan’s head from his body.
No!
Dana jerked awake, breath hitching with a sob, her heart pounding in her breast.
Adrenaline swam through her veins. Her breath came in short gasps. Tears burned the backs of her eyes as she frantically searched her darkened bedroom.
Shifting onto her back, she looked at Aidan.
His head still shared her pillow. His eyes were closed, his face peaceful in slumber.
Easing his heavy arm off her, she slid out of bed and turned in a circle, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.
All was dark. All was quiet.
No glowing eyes peered at her.
Trying to calm her racing heartbeat, she skimmed a hand across the surface of her bedside table but didn’t find her cell phone. Yanking open the top drawer, she grabbed her iPod and turned it on. Tapping the flashlight symbol, she held the iPod out in front of her, directing bright white light all around the room.
Empty.
No vampires lurked in the shadows, flashing fangs, waiting to pounce.
Her fingers shaking, she touched her neck but found no gaping wound. Only smooth, unmarred skin.
She shone the light down on her pajamas.
No blood soaked her tank top. The flesh of her wrists wasn’t torn open.
Had it really been a dream?
She remained motionless for several seconds, trying to calm her jagged breathing.
Lowering the iPod, she glanced at the screen. Seven percent battery life.
She checked the time: 3:57.
Oh, crap. It hadn’t been a dream. It had been a vision.
Chapter Ten
Scrambling back onto the bed, she knelt beside Aidan and shook him. “Aidan.”
He slumbered on.
Hadn’t he said something about sleeping deeply after he’d been wounded?
She shook him harder, damned near shoving him off the bed. “Aidan!”
Eyes flying open, he jackknifed into an upright position and raised a sword. “What?”
Dana gaped at him. When had he hidden a sword in the bed?
He looked at her and blinked in confusion. “Dana? What is it?”
She shook her head, tears rising as fear pummeled her. “I just had a vision. Vampires attacked. A lot of them. They ripped my throat out and—”
Eyes flashing amber, he dropped the sword and drew her into a tight hug. “It’s okay. It’s okay. Where will they attack?”
“Here.”
Swearing, he released her, threw back the covers, and rose. “When?”
“Two minutes. Maybe three.” Backing off the bed, she watched him yank on his weapons-filled coat. “In the vision, I went downstairs to get my cell phone and they burst through the windows, knocked down the door, and attacked me. They bit me on the neck, and my wrists, and I couldn’t get to you, so I yelled and—”
“That isn’t going to happen,” he declared grimly. “I’m going to teleport you to Ethan and Heather’s house. They’ll keep you safe while I come back and fight the vampires.”
“They’re immortal?”
“Yes.”