* * *
Bailey sat on the edge of the bed, her hands clasped in her lap, trying to process everything that had happened that night.
She had been attacked by a vampire.
Another vampire had been injured saving her. Was he Tessa’s boyfriend? Her husband? She grimaced at the thought of anyone marrying a vampire, even one that was totally hot.
Did he live here?
Every instinct she possessed told her she should wait until Tessa went to bed and then run away just as fast as she could. And yet, where would she go? She couldn’t go back to the foster home. If Mr. Fischer touched her one more time, she was afraid she might kill him.
She didn’t want to live on the streets, begging for handouts. Or worse, sell her body for food and a place to stay. She had no real friends. The Fischers had insisted she come straight home from school to do her chores. Chores, she thought glumly. She did everything her foster mother should have done except sleep with her foster father. And she would rather starve to death in the gutter than let him put his fat, dirty hands on her again.
Maybe the best thing to do for now was stay here. She was clean and warm. No one would molest her here. No one knew what she was. The bed was soft. Her stomach was full for the first time in days.
Suddenly overcome with weariness, she crawled under the covers and closed her eyes.
* * *
Tessa wandered aimlessly through her apartment, too keyed up to sleep. Where had Andrei gone? Would he come back tonight? Where was Katerina? Who was Bailey?
Padding quietly down the hallway, Tessa peered into the guest bedroom. The girl had left the bedside lamp burning. Asleep, she looked even younger and more vulnerable than she had first appeared. Tessa started to turn the light off, then thought better of it. Maybe the girl was afraid of the dark.
Well, who could blame her? She’d had quite a fright tonight. And who knew what she had endured with her foster parents? Not all of them were kind to the kids they took in, she thought, recalling the ugly bruise on Bailey’s arm. Tessa shook her head. She had heard far too many stories about foster kids being abused, locked in cellars or closets for days at a time, molested, beaten. Killed.
Tessa knew she should call the authorities. Just because Bailey had run away didn’t mean her foster parents mistreated her. Teenagers were often rebellious. But Tessa couldn’t forget the fear and mistrust she had seen shadowing the girl’s eyes.
With a sigh, Tessa closed the door and tiptoed down the hall to her own room. Pets weren’t allowed in her complex, she thought as she slipped into her nightgown. But, for now, she was harboring a lost lamb.
Chapter Seventeen
Head lifted, nostrils flared, Andrei paused on the sidewalk in his pursuit of prey. At first, he detected nothing out of the ordinary. And then he bit back a curse. “Katerina. What the hell are you doing here?”
“Wondering why you’re still alive.”
“Come to finish the job, have you?”
Head tilted to one side, she studied him through eyes as sharp and keen as a two-edged sword. “You should be dead.” She took a step closer.
He flinched when she ran her fingertips along the side of his neck.
Katerina inhaled sharply. “That woman, the one you were with the other night. I can smell her blood on you. Tell me, husband. What is she to you?”
“One of many. None of whom I’m willing to share.”
“She saved you, didn’t she?”
“A mere mortal?” He snorted. “How could she?”
“You tell me.”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
Eyes narrowed ominously, Katerina studied him a moment.
Andrei could feel her power crawling over him. It was not a pleasant feeling, but different from other times he remembered.
“I rented a house,” she said at length. “I expect you to move in with me tonight.”
“After what you did?” Andrei tapped the bite mark on his neck. Unlike other wounds, this one had left an ugly scar. “Hell, no.”
“Maybe I’m not making myself clear,” she said, biting off each word. “Either you do as I say, willingly, or you will find yourself in need of some new private stock.”
If it had been any other vampire, Andrei would have dismissed the threat out of hand. But Katerina was incredibly old and powerful, able to walk in the daylight. She couldn’t enter Tessa’s house uninvited, but neither could Tessa remain behind her locked door day and night until Katerina had either made good on her threat or decided to go back home.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll play your game for three months, and then I want you out of my town and out of my life.”
She lifted one shoulder in what he hoped was a gesture of acceptance.