“Perhaps I can make it up to you.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
His eyes crinkled at the sides so I could tell he was smiling. “I did buy you a nightclub.”
“Right. Well, I’ll hold off writing my thank-you note for now, if that’s okay. At the moment, I really want to sink my fangs into your throat, Gideon. And I have a feeling you’re okay with that as well.” I looked at the car. “So let’s get going.”
“I appreciate your enthusiasm. But I can’t take any chances, I’m afraid. Pardon my taking a few precautions.”
“Precautions?” I repeated, but then I felt a painful sting. I looked down at my chest and pulled out the small garlic dart.
The stars flickered out as unconsciousness reached for me.
S arah, wake up!”
A familiar voice.
I slowly, grudgingly, opened my eyes. Coming back from a garlic-dart knock-out was never exactly a pleasant experience. It was like waking up with a hangover—headache from hell and general wooziness included at no extra charge.
I blinked a few times until a pretty face came into focus. Short blond hair. A cute red blouse I knew she’d recently purchased from Banana Republic.
“Amy.” I pushed myself into a sitting position.
“Holy cow!” She grinned at me. “I thought you’d never wake up.”
I blinked a few more times. “Where the hell are we?”
“Don’t know.”
I looked around. It was somewhere dark. There were a few candles lit, but otherwise there was no light. It smelled musty and old in there—other than the whiff I got of Amy’s strawberry-scented perfume.
I looked at her, searching for some sign she’d been abused. “Are you okay?”
“Other than being a bit claustrophobic, I’m just fine and dandy. How’s Barry?”
“Worried.”
She waved a hand. “He doesn’t have to be. Gideon is really nice, isn’t he? Very polite.”
Her grin widened. “And I think he might have a little weensy crush on somebody I know.”
She poked my shoulder. “And by that, I mean you! It’s like Romeo and Juliet. Only with more blood.”
I blinked at her. “Have you been dropping acid in here?”
“No.”
“Drinking buckets of moonshine?”
“Nope.”
I remembered what she’d told me on the phone that morning. “Gideon drugged you to keep you calm.”
“Oh, totally.” Her smile was lopsided. “I normally don’t like needles, but these ones are a-
okay. It’s all good, Sarah. No problem whatsoever. Life is fine and breezy and everything’s gonna be all right.”
A sedative. Terrific. I’d seen Amy freak out before. The last time had been when she’d found out that her best friend was a vampire. She’d run away from me screaming. But at the moment, she wasn’t in freak-out mode at all. She looked like she was on vacation.
Somewhere relaxing.
“Gideon’s really handsome,” she said. “With or without the scars.”
“Gideon is evil.”
She smiled. “He got those scars fighting a demon, Sarah. A demon. That’s total alpha romance hero right there—not a bad guy. Can you judge a book by its cover? I don’t know. What is evil, anyhow? Are we born that way or is it the choices we make? It’s so groovy just having the time to think about these things and turn them over and over in my head.” She sighed wistfully. “Maybe nobody’s really evil and nobody’s really good. We’re just sisters and brothers of the earth, whether we’re vampires or humans or hunters. We need to hug each other. Make love, not war.”
I blinked at her. “I think you’re definitely dropping acid.”
Her grin held, but her gaze moved down to my neck. “You’re not wearing your gold chain. Naughty, naughty!”
“Gideon broke it.”
“Really?” Her thin eyebrows went up in woozy wariness. “So are you going to bite me?”
“Wasn’t planning on it.” I looked at her throat. Well, now that she mentioned it… I bet her blood would be very sweet and tasty…
No, not going to happen. I was still in control and I had to stay that way if I was going to get out of here. Wherever here was.
I shakily got up from the floor and walked over to the faint outline of a door but there was no handle. I scanned the interior of the small room we were in. The walls were made of stone—smooth and cold to the touch. There was something chiseled into the wall. Names and dates.
“I’m thinking this might be a crypt,” Amy said. “In a cemetery somewhere. Isn’t that totally cool?”
My stomach sank. “Yeah, real cool. What time is it?”
She glanced at her wrist. “Ten to twelve.”
Ten minutes.
I’m super excited! my nightwalker said. Aren’t you? So close to our moment of destiny.
Tick-tock.
My cheery inner darkness inched forward. I didn’t want her to take over at the moment, especially not with such a helpless victim nearby.
I slammed my fist against the door. “Gideon! Where are you?”