The Last True Vampire(51)
“Why is it so hard to believe?” Ronan kept his nose buried in the pages, his attention focused on the ancient text.
“Because there is no such thing.” The hope that had dared to soar in Michael’s chest fell from the sky with broken wings. “It is a romantic story passed down through the ages. Something to give foolish lovers hope.” He thought back to the memory of the vampire who’d killed his human lover. Surely he’d been convinced the woman was a Vessel as well.
“No. You’re wrong.”
Gods, Ronan infuriated Michael with the way he refused to raise his eyes from the yellowed vellum pages. His fingertip skimmed the lines as he read, his lips moving without sound. “And how is it, Ronan, that you have seemed to have found something that no vampire has ever encountered?”
“I didn’t find her, Mikhail. You did.”#p#分页标题#e#
Michael let out a long sigh. “If you’re trying to anger me, it’s working.”
Ronan ignored Michael’s tightly spoken words. “I haven’t had long to read. An hour or so. It’ll take days for me to get through it all. But from what I can tell, a Vessel carries a certain … spark. A strength of mind and spirit. An inner light or aura of power that calls to a vampire. Sort of like supernatural catnip.”
Michael raised a brow and fixed Ronan with a stern stare. “Are you saying that Claire calls to you?” Ronan was enough of a vampire to feel an instinctual pull if what he said about her was correct. Would Michael soon be fighting a horde of males for possession of Claire? He’d kill anyone—including Ronan—who sought to take her from him.
Ronan looked up from the codex. “You might want to do something about your persistent growling. It’s off-putting.”
The feral rumble died in Michael’s chest, though his annoyance failed to dissipate. “Why is it you refuse to answer my questions, Ronan? I ask you from where you acquired the codex, you deflect. I ask what you discussed with Claire, you deflect.” Michael’s teeth clamped down tight and he ground out, “I ask if you feel drawn to her, and you deflect. I’m tired of you dodging my questions.”
“Yeah? Well, I’m tired of you acting like an uncivilized fool with the sort of base urges a caveman would cringe at. Claire and I exchanged polite conversation while you slept. Nothing more than that. Do I feel drawn to her? No. Do I sense the power of her life force? Of course I do. We all do. But I also sense an otherness in her that is … unsettling. As for the codex,” Ronan said on a sigh. “I acquired it from Siobhan. At what price is none of your gods-damned business. Now, can we please get back on track?”
Siobhan. Gods, that female was a thorn in Michael’s side. She thought herself a queen and ruled her coven with an iron fist, not to mention a supremacy and disdain for the vampire race. She reviled the idea of being turned. Of sacrificing her soul, despite the prospect of a tether. That Ronan chose to consort with her was yet another annoyance that Michael had no choice but to suffer. Who the male bedded was none of Michael’s business. But if Ronan had breathed a word of Claire’s existence to the cagey female he wouldn’t hesitate to demand that Ronan end their affair. Siobhan was wild. Dangerous. A variable he didn’t have time to address.
Dry heat licked at his throat and Michael continued to pace, focusing his energy on placing one foot in front of the other. Anything to keep his mind from his damnable thirst. No matter how he’d gotten the codex, Ronan was offering Michael a glimmer of hope, dim though it might be. But even a glimmer was a dangerous thing after centuries of darkness. “Tell me everything you know so far,” he said. “We’ll start from there.”
CHAPTER
14
Claire woke feeling downright hungover. She’d slept like the dead, sort of funny considering her current circumstances. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the dark gray twilight, and her surroundings slowly came sharper into focus, the shadowy outlines of the bedroom more defined. She lay in a virtual island of a bed, the large California king dwarfed by the sheer size of the bedroom. The heavy metal window coverings had retracted and a light evening breeze stirred the curtains as the sound of birds settling down for the night filled the air.
She stretched her arms high above her head, wondering at the stiffness she felt. The priest had roughed her up pretty good last night, but she felt as though she hadn’t flexed her muscles in at least a month. The fog that settled in her brain seemed reluctant to lift, and remnants of dreams clung like cobwebs in her memory: Mikhail coming to her again and again and instructing her to sleep in that deliciously deep voice of his. And in her dream Claire had fallen into his arms, helpless to deny the command. Weird. Especially since she couldn’t remember ever going to bed. The last thing she remembered, she was about to blow out of this place, hand on the damned doorknob before Mikhail had put the kibosh on that plan. They’d been standing in the foyer and then … nothing. Everything after that moment was a total blank.#p#分页标题#e#