Amelia Atwater-Rhodes - Demon in My View

He tilted Shannon's head back to expose the artery, which was covered by nothing more than a thin layer of skin. His canines, which looked normal enough most of the time, extended to razor-sharp points. These fangs pierced the skin of her throat quickly and precisely, and within moments he was lost in the sensation of the rich human blood that ran over his tongue and quenched his thirst.

CARYN HAD SENSED Aubrey's presence even before she saw Shannon leave the party with a dazed look on her face. She had felt the pressure of his mind on Shannon's.

Caryn had no idea what she would do once she encountered Aubrey, but she felt compelled to follow Shannon anyway. A group of boys had bunched together at the door, and Caryn was delayed for a few minutes as she tried to slip through the throng. Once she was finally outside, it took her only a short moment to find the vampire and his prey. She could easily sense Aubrey's aura, which was like a shadow flickering just outside the normal spectrum of vision. She could feel his power slither across her skin.

This ability was her line's gift—or curse, as some would say. Though her family, the Smoke line, had always been healers, most witches were vampire hunters. Caryn had a witch's blood, which was sweeter and stronger than a human's, and a witch's knowledge, which made her dangerous to the vampires. But she did not have the ability to fight. She had always known herself to be easy prey, and had tried out of self-protection to avoid their kind, unless doing so meant risking an innocent person's life.

Throughout her childhood, Caryn had been taught to respect life, and to protect it whatever the cost. She knew Aubrey too well to look the other way while he cast his lure.

"Aubrey!" she called as soon as she had found him.

The vampire was standing several yards into the woods, holding Shannon, who was motionless. Aubrey had an arm around her waist to keep her from falling, and his other hand cradled the back of her neck. His lips were at her throat. Shannon was pale but still breathing.

"Aubrey!" Caiyn shouted again when he didn't respond.

Aubrey glanced up and glared at her as he continued to feed. What do you want? he growled.

Caryn jumped at the intrusion into her mind but somehow managed to find her voice. "Let her go, Aubrey."

"Is that a threat?" Scorn laced his voice as he dropped Shannon. He mockingly licked a trace of blood from his lips.

Caryn hurried to Shannon's side. She was unconscious but would live.

"How many people have you murdered like this?" Caryn demanded, her voice wavering.

"I don't think you really want to know" Aubrey answered coolly.

"Don't you have any conscience at all? "

"Not that I know of," he said with nonchalance. "Now, much as I love your company, I really do prefer to dine alone."

He was enjoying this, Caryn realized. He could easily have avoided the argument by disappearing and finding prey elsewhere, but instead he was playing with her.

"You'll kill her," Caryn protested.

"So?"…Aubrey…responded,…sounding amused, as he took a step toward her. Caryn flinched but did not move away from Shannon. If he was determined to kill tonight, she had no hope of preventing it, but her conscience would not allow her to leave. "Are you planning to stop me?" he mocked. "If you were one of your cousins, I might at least pretend to be worried…though probably not. As it is, I know you'd never fight me even if you had the strength."

He was speaking the truth. No one in her line had harmed another creature since Evelyn Smoke, the first of the Smoke line, had stopped hunting vampires.

"Please, Aubrey," Caryn entreated, beginning to despair.

"Caryn, go away. You're beginning to bore me."

"Let her go," Caryn persisted, though her tone was hardly commanding. She was sickened by his game, and worse, she worried what would happen when he reached the end of his patience.

"That would accomplish very little," Aubrey pointed out. "I would just have to draw someone else from the house. Would you like to say that this girl's life is more important than, oh, her boyfriend's? Or—"

"You're having a great time, aren't you?" Caryn finally shouted, standing and stalking toward him as her anger gave her courage.

Waiting for her to continue, Aubrey lounged casually against an oak tree. Had she been from any other line—Vida, or Arun, or even Light—she would have killed him then. But the last of the Light line had died nearly three hundred years earlier, and the Vidas and Aruns had other vampires to deal with that night. So Caryn Smoke did the only thing that her training would allow her to do in this situation.

She took a deep, calming breath and stretched out her left arm with the palm up, exposing the pale tracery of veins at her wrist.

"Here," she said softly, her fear almost hidden. "My blood is stronger than human blood." Her voice quaked for a moment, but she forced herself to continue. "You wouldn't need to kill me."

Aubrey's gaze flickered to the pulse point on her wrist, but that was the only sign that he cared for the offer at all. "And what is to stop me from draining you dry?"

"Your word that you won't."

She saw the amusement in his gaze. Had the situation been reversed, she would have understood the humor. Taking his word for her safety was like a vampire's accepting the word of any other witch. Most witches lied and broke promises almost by habit when it came to Aubrey's kind. Vampires weren't considered people, so even the proud Vida line had no hesitation about deceiving them. In general, only the Smoke line considered honesty important when dealing with Aubrey's kind.

A vampire's word was said to be broken as easily as a wineglass, and Caryn had no doubt that Aubrey's was just as fragile. In reality, the only thing that might keep her alive was Aubrey's awareness that killing a Smoke witch brought down instant retaliation from all the vampire hunters in the other lines.

Caryn's heartbeat quickened with fright, but she used all the discipline she'd been taught to keep her resolution from wavering.

Aubrey took the wrist she offered and used it to draw her toward him. He put a hand on her forehead and gently tilted her head back. Her heart rate tripled in an instant, but she balled her hands into fists to keep from trying to pull away.

Don't worry, she heard him say in her mind. It won't hurt.

She felt a sharp stinging when his teeth pierced her skin, but it faded almost immediately. The combined anesthesia of vampiric saliva and his whispering voice in her head dulled the pain completely. Caryn's legs gave out under the pressure of Aubrey's mind, and she felt him put an arm around her back to hold her up.

You taste good, he said absently.

I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or a threat, she mused. Her fear had disappeared, and her thoughts were becoming incoherent as she lost blood and his mind tightened its grip on her own.

Caryn tried to focus. She had been taught so much discipline…why couldn't she think?

She had been prepared for pain, but there was none. She felt extremely relaxed, as if she was floating…She was dreaming…wasn't she? Did it matter?

She imagined herself resting on a beach in the warm sun, or maybe meditating atop a mountain beneath the full moon. She was relaxed, peaceful, calm, happy to forget…

Forget what?

Caryn tried to focus, but it was nearly impossible. Aubrey's mind pulled at hers, numbing and soothing it. With intense effort, she drew herself out of her trance. There was far too much danger to forget what was happening.

His mind still held hers, and it was increasingly difficult not to let herself fall back into the seductive void. But if she gave in, would she ever surface again? He would probably kill her.