Amelia Atwater-Rhodes - Demon in My View

They stopped in surprise as Jessica entered and began walking fearlessly toward them.

Fala recovered her wits first and slammed Aubrey back into the bar. The sickening crack of a broken bone reached Jessica's ears even above the music of Las Noches, but she knew he would heal almost instantly.

However, Fala used Aubrey's moment of pain to whisper a threat into his ear. Jessica could only hear the end of it as she approached. Either deal with it now, or I will.

Fala left the club without giving Jessica a second glance.

Aubrey stretched, already recovered from Fala's attack. As he turned toward Jessica, she saw him check for the knife at his waist, then shake his head, seeming neither surprised nor concerned to find it gone.

"You're an idiot, you know that? " Aubrey said as Jessica approached. "We both are."

"How do you figure that?" Jessica asked. She ignored the fight that she had just witnessed; she knew she was probably the reason behind it.

Parched from the walk in the sunlight, she considered trying to find something to drink in Las Noches's bar, but worried that she might knock herself out if she chose the wrong thing. While there was nothing in the bar that could kill a vampire, there was plenty that could damage a human.

"You know most of my kind is trying to kill you—particularly the one who just left—and still you come into New Mayhem at sunset," Aubrey answered dryly.

Jessica had to laugh at that. "My mother was killed yesterday beside a church in broad daylight. If any of your kind was really trying to kill me, it wouldn't matter where I was."

She decided that she could probably identify water if she saw it, so she rounded the bar to search.

"Are you trying to poison yourself?" Aubrey inquired, watching her.

"Oh, bite me," she taunted automatically, before the irony of the remark registered.

But Aubrey took her at her word. In a graceful movement, he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her toward him.

"A tempting offer." He gently brushed the hollow of her throat with the thumb of his free hand as he spoke.

"You wouldn't."

He leaned down and she felt his lips at her neck. It would never occur to you to be afraid, would it? he silently asked.

If you wanted to kill me, you would have done so long ago. She projected the thought and knew that he could hear it.

Are you so sure?

No, she answered. But if you bite me I'm going to bite back, and do you really want this crowd to see a human do that? She was well aware that they had an attentive audience by now.

Is that what you want?

Jessica didn't quite understand Aubrey's question, but he must have sensed her confusion, because he added, I did something similar to Ather, and we both know how that turned out. Aubrey had been changed shortly after a fight with Ather. He had slit her throat when she had tried to feed on him. Even Fala has suggested that I change you.

You're right, you are an idiot, she commented in response. And yes, that is what I want, which means you can't do it.

Jessica was referring to the fact that Aubrey's line retained its power because every one of them fought. That struggle, as the blood was drained out, was what gave them their strength.

Yes, Jessica was more than willing to become one of their kind. Her hatred of Dominique had finally convinced her. But her readiness meant that she wouldn't fight, and her strength as a vampire would suffer. She would certainly be weaker than Fala. In essence, if Aubrey changed her now, it would be the same as his allowing Fala to kill her.

Aubrey knew all this as well, of course, so he released her and she stepped back casually, smoothing her shirt as if the confrontation had been normal. He reached past her, into the bar, and pulled out a bottle of water. She accepted it calmly and took a drink.

WHAT WAS HE TO DO about the human called Jessica? Aubrey had had that thought before, and the answer was no more forthcoming than it had ever been.

Jessica had no idea how close she'd just come to having every drop of blood drained from her body. The feel of her pulse beneath his lips had almost broken even his self-control.

He needed to hunt, but he hesitated to leave her alone. Fala's threat was still fresh in his mind.

The decision was made for him as he heard a faint cry coming from just outside the building. It was a distressed voice he knew well: the voice of Kaei. That girl could get herself into more scrapes in an hour than most humans could accumulate in a year.

Nodding a silent goodbye to Jessica, he quickly made his way to Kaei's side. She could be a nuisance and worse to those who treated her badly, and had caused more than her fair share of trouble, but she was unwaveringly loyal to those she considered her friends. Fala would probably not attack Jessica in a crowd, and even if she did, Jessica was intelligent enough to fend her off for a minute or two until he returned. Kaei did not have a talent for getting herself out of trouble.

Almost the instant he appeared, he found himself on the defensive. A strike meant for Kaei hit him hard, mostly because he was unprepared. The mental blow had the distinct aura of a witch to it, so he quickly turned his attention to the attacker.

He swore aloud as he recognized Dominique Vida. She had probably followed Jessica here and run into Kaei on the way. Kaei had had more than her share of arguments with witches.

Dominique fell back slightly into a stance of readiness, recognizing that she suddenly had a new, far more powerful foe.

Dominique was one of two vampire hunters who had ever won a fight against anyone in Aubrey's line. The other one he had dealt with accordingly. As for Dominique, no one had managed to get inside her guard sufficiently to plant a knife.

For a moment he was grateful Fala had taken his knife from him during their fight earlier. Dominique could have used it against him; her ancestors' magic had forged it.

Then Jessica returned to his thoughts. As much as he'd like to draw out this confrontation with such a worthy foe, he didn't have time to dally here with Dominique.

Instead, he did the only thing he could to get her out of the place.

He changed shape into the one he favored—a black wolf—and lunged, taking Dominique to the ground. She didn't expect him to be so reckless, which was the only reason her knife swiped across his stomach instead of plunging into his heart.

He clenched his teeth against the pain as the silver blade sliced his skin open. The wound was shallow, but the magic in the knife made it burn. He would likely have a scar.

Before the witch could recover, he used his mind to bring them both far away from New Mayhem. Then he rolled off her and sprinted, gaining as much distance as he could. Once he was far enough away that she could no longer latch on to his power and follow him, he disappeared, returning to Las Noches with a prayer that Jessica would still be there.

Jessica cut through the woods on her way back to Caryn and Hasana's house. A small river ran behind New Mayhem; it went through Red Rock Forest and eventually tapered off into Aqua Pond, which was close to the witches' home. She followed that river instead of taking the less direct route along the roads. As she had said to Aubrey, if anything wished to kill her, it would do so just as easily in the woods as on the road or anywhere else. She was too tired to take the long way.

At one point she paused to admire the full moon as it bounced and flickered on the river's surface. In the midst of that peaceful moment, someone grabbed her by the throat from behind.