“And if not?”
“Then you will return to being an indentured vampire.”
“For another hundred years?”
Voz had laughed. “No, for all eternity.”
“How do I know you will keep your end of the bargain?”
Voz put his hand on the family coat of arms carved into the stone wall of his castle, the crest right above Ronan’s head. “I swear it on my family’s honor.”
Voz might be devious and evil at times, but he did value his family’s honor. He’d been turned during the Crusades and valued loyalty. He didn’t care whether it was given willingly or not.
“Remember, I let you end your indenture early because of good behavior,” Voz had said.
“Big deal. You freed me three years early.”
“It is a big deal,” Voz said. “Do you accept my offer?”
Ronan had no choice but to agree. Their conversation had taken place a few weeks ago, yet the emotions still roiled deeply within his gut. Hatred, betrayal, guilt.
At that time he’d been so sure of his ability to save his sister’s soul. Now desperation was setting in. Which was precisely what Voz wanted.
He supposed he should be grateful that Voz hadn’t tortured him about Adele’s soul earlier in his indenture. But Ronan suspected that was because Voz wanted Ronan to remain loyal. Had Ronan known the truth, he would have been harder to control.
As it was, Ronan had to fight the rage that threatened to unbalance him.
Returning to the present, Ronan stared at the hardwood floor. Could the key be hidden beneath one of the floorboards?
He knocked on the floor, using his vamp superhearing to try and detect any differences that would indicate a storage space. If the key was only a few inches long then this was a useless test. Perhaps he should get a metal detector.
“Stop that pounding,” Sierra shouted from downstairs. “Do not make me come up there!”
Since he’d just ripped up several floorboards, he didn’t want her returning, so he left things as they were and went down to confront her. He could hear her banging around in the kitchen.
This arrangement was not going to work as long as Sierra kept hassling him. He had enough issues to deal with at the moment. He didn’t need some paranormal author who apparently wrote hot sex scenes getting in his way.
Voz was right. Ronan couldn’t afford to allow Sierra to distract him. He needed to try and compel her again.
As Ronan entered the kitchen from the hallway entrance, three dinner plates came flying through the air. They were headed straight for his head.
Chapter Seven
Ronan instantly caught all three plates. His hands moved faster than a mortal could see.
Sierra stared at him in amazement. “How did you do that?”
“I’m good with my hands.”
“You moved so fast. It’s like the plates were in the air one second and in your hands the next. Are you a juggler or something?”
“Or something. The question is, why were you throwing plates at me?”
“I wasn’t. They um … slipped out of my hand when I was getting them out of the cabinet,” she said.
Another lie. She really did not have a poker face. “Really?” Ronan said. “They slipped out of your hand?”
“I didn’t throw them at you if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Okay, now she was telling the truth.
Sierra knew she was no good at lying. At least she wasn’t good at it with Ronan.
Maybe in the beginning she’d been better at lying by omission, as in not telling him she saw ghosts, but the more time she spent with him, the harder it was becoming to keep her secrets. She needed to turn the spotlight off herself and back onto him. “You never talk about your life before you came here. Why is that?”
“I’m not real talkative.”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
“You don’t talk about your life before you came here.”
“You already know I’m a writer,” she said.
“I guessed that,” he reminded her. “You didn’t volunteer the information.”
“Because I’d just met you.”
“And I wasn’t wearing any clothing. Is that why you don’t trust me?”
“I didn’t say I don’t trust you. If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t allow you to stay in the same house with me,” she said.
“You lock your bedroom door at night.”
“Apparently I didn’t do that last night.”
“Do you frequently have nightmares?” he said.
“Sometimes. How about you?”
Darkness seemed to descend upon his face. He didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. She could feel the emotions vibrating from him.