Cat Devon: The Entity Who Came for Christmas

Yes, Baron Voz had sired him, but unlike most vampires, Voz had kept Ronan indentured to him for almost a century, forcing Ronan to do his bidding and his killing.

But Ronan was done with that now. When he’d left Chicago to head off to war in Europe, he’d promised his sister Adele that he’d come back. He was keeping that promise. Their mother had died in a freak boating accident on Lake Michigan in the summer of 1915. Their father, a physician, had died of a heart attack after Ronan was deployed to Europe. Ronan had received the news when he’d arrived in France. He only had his sister left, and her letters had kept him going for the months before his death.

So here he was, home again. The returning warrior. Yeah, right.

“She won’t leave,” Ronan told Damon.

“Damn right, I won’t,” she said. “The house is mine. I have the paperwork to prove it.” She dug in her purse. “No, wait, it’s here. I could have sworn … Yes, here it is.” She handed over the forms. “These prove I am the owner of this property.”

“Of the house, yes, but not the property,” Damon said after looking over the paperwork.

“What do you mean?” she said.

“That you have apparent ownership of the house, but not the land it sits on or is surrounded by.”

“You mean the small front yard and back yard?” she said.

Damon nodded. “That’s right.”

“How is that possible?” she demanded.

Damon shrugged. “You’ll have to take it up with your attorney.”

“He’s just left on a two-week cruise to Antarctica. I can’t contact him while he’s away.”

“Then you’ll have to wait until he comes back.”

“No way,” she said.

“Why not?” Damon said.

“Because the clock starts ticking today.”

“What clock?” Ronan demanded.

“Never mind. You still haven’t said why you’re here. Where is your proof that you have any right to be here?” she asked Ronan.

Her glare at his still-bare chest let him know that she wanted to add, Where is your shirt? Hmm, maybe he could read her mind and get rid of her that way.

Ronan concentrated on Sierra, taking in everything about her from her shoulder-length auburn hair to her green eyes to her great breasts. She had a cute nose and a stubborn chin. She grabbed her documents from Damon’s hands with slim fingers.

Ronan wondered if she’d be so confrontational if she knew she was facing a pair of vampires.

Reminding himself that he was supposed to be trying to read her mind, he refocused his attention. She was angry. She was tired. She was concentrating on the papers and then looking over his shoulder. What was she looking at?

He turned but saw nothing there. He returned to Sierra. She was wearing black pants, a lime green top that hugged her breasts, and a pair of gold Cladaugh earrings. With her coloring, the auburn hair, pale skin, and green eyes, he figured her heritage was Irish. So was his. But she was a mere human while he was not.

Ronan breathed her in. All his senses were powerfully heightened to vampire strength. Her scent was tantalizing. He could hear her pulse swishing through her body. He focused in on the slight quiver of the carotid artery in her neck.

As an indentured vampire, Ronan had had to kill more humans than he wanted. But that was over. He’d worked hard to develop his vampire self-control. That didn’t mean he wasn’t tempted, not only by her artery but also by her curvy body. His afterlife would be much simpler if she’d just obey his compulsion.

He didn’t sense anything different about her from other women he’d come in contact with over the decades. Mind-reading was a talent he’d developed over time, but even that skill was difficult where she was concerned.

He sensed all kinds of strange thoughts in her head. Deadlines, iceberg images, a woman in a corset. Whoa. Where had that last one come from? Maybe he’d mistaken Sierra’s earlier appreciative looks at his body. Maybe that wasn’t her thing. Maybe women in corsets were her thing.

Not that it mattered. Sierra’s sexual orientation was irrelevant. She had to go and she had to go now. Ronan needed the house to himself. This was his family’s home and therefore it was his if he wanted it according to Vampire law. And he wanted it. Badly. The secret to saving his sister’s soul was somewhere in this house.

Besides, the house was located smack-dab in the middle of Vamptown, a Chicago neighborhood inhabited mostly by vampires. This was no place for a human woman, even if she was one with courage and a surprisingly strong stubborn streak.

“She has to go,” Ronan told Damon.

Nodding, Damon stepped closer to Sierra and looked into her eyes. “You need to leave.”

“No way!” She narrowed her eyes, her increasing anger and frustration very evident. “I don’t think you are being an impartial person in this situation. In fact, I want your badge number so I can report you to your superior.”

Frowning, Damon looked at Ronan. His message was clear. Damon hadn’t had any better luck compelling her than Ronan had. Which on the one hand, made Ronan feel like he wasn’t incapable after all. But on the other hand, it meant they were stuck with her for now.

“You two work it out,” Damon abruptly told them before turning on his heel to walk out.

As Head of Security in Vamptown, Damon was no doubt going to check out every detail about Sierra Brennan. Meanwhile, Ronan had a situation to handle.

“What kind of cop are you?” Sierra shouted after Damon.

“He’s the kind with fangs,” Ronan drawled sarcastically. “Welcome to the neighborhood.”

THE ENTITY WITHIN

SLEEPING WITH THE ENTITY

Available from St. Martin’s Paperbacks

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Cat Devon is a pseudonym for an award-winning author. A former librarian and confessed bookaholic, she has a weakness for wickedly sexy vampires, imported dark chocolate, and decadent cupcakes. She and her family live in the Chicago area.

Visit her website at: www.catdevon.com, find her on Facebook www.facebook.com/catdevonauthor, and follow her on Twitter@catdevonauthor.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

“The Entity Who Came for Christmas” copyright © 2013 by Cathie L. Baumgardner.

Excerpt from Love Your Entity copyright © 2014 by Cathie L. Baumgardner.

All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Cover photographs © Shutterstock.com

eISBN 9781466846494

First eBook Edition: October 2013