Sierra had had enough of being bossed around by supernaturals for one night. Her mother had raised her not to use a certain four-letter word. So instead, Sierra gave Ruby the finger. “F you!”
“I’m guessing you are speaking to Ruby the ghost,” Ronan said.
“Yes.”
“How’s that working out?” he asked.
“Not very well at the moment,” Sierra admitted
“The two of you can fight it out later,” Ronan said. “I don’t have time to waste.”
“Like I do?” Sierra retorted. “There’s a pizza out there with my name on it.” She sensed his movement. “Wait. Where are you going?”
“I’m going to see where this tunnel goes,” Ronan said.
“You can come back another time to do that. Another time when you have a flashlight.” Like the one she’d brought to the cemetery and dropped on her father’s grave.
“I can see just fine in the dark,” he said.
“He’s a vampire, remember?” Ruby told Sierra. “But he shouldn’t go exploring.”
“Ruby doesn’t want you exploring,” Sierra told Ronan.
“You and the ghost can stay here then,” he said.
“No way!” Sierra latched onto his arm.
“Afraid of the dark?” he drawled.
She had been temporarily when it had gradually occurred to her after her father’s death that he might come to her. Seeing him at the cemetery tonight had shaken her to her core. So had seeing Voz. So while normally Sierra wasn’t afraid of things that go bump in the night, this night was a little different.
When she didn’t answer his question, Ronan put his arm around her and tucked her close against him. “You’re safe with me,” he said.
Was she safe? Really? He was a vampire. How safe was that? She had a vampire bond with him so every time he kissed her she wanted to have sex with him. Not just want as in I want to lose a few pounds but as in I want to, need to, have to. No way by any stretch of the imagination could that be safe.
No, it was more like spontaneous combustion. That’s what it was.
Sierra should run in the opposite direction but she was locked in a secret tunnel with him in the dark. And she had that bond thing going on, meaning she was stuck on him like white on rice. She slid her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest for a moment. She could hear his heartbeat. Slow and deliberate.
“I thought vampires didn’t have a heart,” she said.
“Who says I do?” Ronan countered.
She loved the way his voice rumbled through her. “I can hear your heart beating.”
“We have organs. If you mean a heart that pumps blood, then yes, I have a heart.”
“But you don’t think you have a heart as in feelings?”
“No.” His voice was curt.
She shifted so she could see his face. It was pitch-dark but her eyes had adjusted a bit. Ruby was illuminated so Sierra had been able to see her. But Ronan was a mystery.
“If you have no feelings then why did you agree to save your sister?” she said.
“I owe her that much.”
“Loyalty is a feeling.”
“I knew her before I was turned.”
“So you’re saying that since you were turned, you haven’t had any feelings?”
“No.” Now his voice was curt and cold.
Ronan was determined to ignore the way she cuddled against him. Why did she have to ask so many damn questions? Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut? Hell, why did she have to show up in the first place?
Because she was his key to communicating with the ghosts.
Shit! What if she was the key that Voz was talking about? What if the key was a person not a thing? His reaction was profound, twisting his gut and sending all his protective instincts into overdrive. Yes, Sierra asked questions and she got under his skin. But as much as he tried to deny it, she was his and he would die for her. The realization hit him like the proverbial ton of bricks. He would never allow her to die for him or to suffer because of him. She was already too much at risk as it was.
If Sierra was the key, no way was he turning her over to Voz. Never. No matter what the consequences might be.
He struggled to get his thoughts in order. His sire’s proclamation at the cemetery tonight had thrown Ronan. He knew some things about vampire bonds, but did not know that because of the bond Sierra would have to go with him if he was returned to being an indentured vampire.
She’d told Voz that the Master Vampire had set Ronan up to fail. Which made it sound like she didn’t have much faith in him solving this mystery.
He tried to be logical. If Sierra was the key, then why hadn’t Voz just taken her at the cemetery? Yes, Ronan would have fought viciously to the death to protect her, but Voz was the one entity in the world that was stronger than Ronan. Voz knew that as surely as Ronan did.