Darkness Rises(53)

 

 

Silence fell. Krysta stared up at Étienne.
Awkward.
He smiled. “Not really.”
“You’re doing it again.”
“You projected that one.”
“I don’t know how that works and am too tired to try to figure it out.” Fatigue clawed at her, leaving her weary enough not to put up any more of a fight if he read her thoughts.
Étienne closed the distance between them. “Let’s try to get some sleep.” Resting a hand on her lower back, he guided her into a hallway. “You can have my sister Lisette’s room. I never know when she’ll drop in, so I always keep it ready for her.”
She nodded, full of ambivalence.
On the one hand, she was relieved that he hadn’t asked her to sleep with him. She may have known him, in a manner of speaking, for a couple of weeks, but she didn’t know him. Not really.
Nor did she fully trust him yet.
On the other hand, it had been nice, falling asleep beside him earlier. And this had been a hell of a day. Or night. Or whatever. Not only had her beliefs concerning the paranormal world and its inhabitants been rocked off of its foundations, she had killed two men. And she had nearly been killed herself by a whole host of others. Men not vampires.
And she had lost everything. From the sounds of things, the little house she and Sean rented had been completely trashed. The contents destroyed along with it. How were they going to bounce back from this? They lived paycheck to paycheck.
And what would happen to her when she went before all those immortals at the big meeting ahead of them? What would they do to her?
Étienne paused before an open door that led down into a basement. “After you.”
“This is so surreal,” she muttered as she tromped down the stairs.
It wasn’t what she expected. She had thought it would be cold and dark and damp. Instead, the basement looked remarkably like the first floor, just without windows.
Again, Étienne placed a hand at her back and guided her to the first door on the right. “You and Lisette are of a similar size, so please feel free to delve into her closet and borrow whatever you will.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Thank you.” When he reached in and turned on the light, she studied the room.
It was pretty. Expensive hotel room pretty. She would have thought anyone two hundred years old would furnish their home with big, bulky antiques. But this room, and the rest of the house, was quite modern. Clean. Almost minimalist, with none of the froufrou stuff that professionally designed rooms featured in magazines all seemed to boast.
“Is it to your liking?” Étienne asked, brow furrowed. He actually seemed worried that it may not appeal to her.
“It’s the nicest place I’ve ever stayed,” she admitted.
He smiled. “I hope you’ll be comfortable. I’ll be across the hall if you should need anything.”
She nodded, suddenly feeling lost. “Thank you.”
Étienne took her hand and drew her into a hug, one she very much needed in that moment. “Don’t lie awake all day, trying to figure everything out. There will be time enough for that tonight.”
Easier said than done, but she’d try.
He drew back. Reaching up, he curled his hand into a loose fist and stroked her face with the backs of his fingers.
“Are you messing with my head, Étienne?” she asked.
“No.”
“You aren’t brainwashing me and tricking me into believing you’re a good guy?”
“I’m not powerful enough to brainwash you. I can search others’ thoughts. I can catch yours every once in awhile. But I can’t alter them. The elders can, but not I.”
“Then why do I feel like I’ve known you for a lot longer than I have?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. But I feel the same way.” Lowering his head, he touched his lips to hers.
Her heartbeat picked up, surely drawing his notice. It really sucked that he knew how much he affected her while she was left in the dark.
He captured one of her hands and pressed it to his chest.
Beneath the rubber and all of that hard muscle, his heart raced as swiftly as her own.
When he raised his head, his brown eyes bore a faint amber glow. “This has all been as much of a surprise to me as it has been to you.”
She nodded, incapable of doing anything else.
“No one has ever tempted me more.”
She swallowed.
“Right across the hall,” he murmured, backing away from her.
“Good night,” she said, surprised she could sound so normal when such upheaval teemed within her. “Or rather day.”
“Sleep well.”
Passing through the darkened doorway across the hall, he flicked on the light and closed the door.