Sex and the Single Vampire

I looked at the pain in Sebastian's eyes and was filled with shame at my own selfish desire that kept me from Joining with Christian, as I should have. He had said all along that once we were Joined, we would be more powerful together than we were separately, and yet he'd never pushed me to take the last step, never once made me feel pressured into doing it. He seemed happy with me just as I was, and yet I knew that it was my fault that he was trapped in that house, and I was sitting here safe and sound with Sebastian.

"Uh, that would be Allie. But she had a really good reason for decking you."

"No," I swore, my fist tightening around a handful of blanket.

"You didn't have a really good reason?" Roxy asked. She peeked at Raphael out of the corner of her eye. He was trying to stand, and after three tries he at last made it to his feet. "Er… I thought we were ixnay on the ampirevay eedingfay."

"We are. I had a very good reason for striking Raphael. I'm saying no, I will not let Christian suffer because of my stupidity."

"If you punch Christian like you did me, you have a hell of a nerve saying you won't let him suffer," Raphael complained, wiggling his jaw.

"She put a spell on you to make her punch more powerful," Roxy said helpfully. I glared at her. "What? I didn't want Raphael to think he can be bested by just anyone."

"That's reassuring to know. Now, if one of you would care to tell me why it was necessary to knock me out, I'd be grateful."

"I needed to feed," Sebastian said simply. "You saved me."

Raphael's yellow eyes darkened as he stared at Sebastian. "I what?"

"See? I told you he was going to be pissed!"

I held up my hand to stop Raphael. He had a bit of a "wild bull about to charge" look in his eyes. "Raphael, I'll explain it all to you later. Christian is my number one priority now. All right, Sebastian. I want everything, every last thing you can remember. Start at the beginning, when you were captured, and don't leave out a single, solitary—"

The door to the bedroom burst open in a huge blast of wind. I stiffened as the wind swirled around us, bringing with it a familiar scent.

"You fed my blood to a vampire? You knocked me out and fed my blood to him? Without even bothering to ask me how I felt about it?"

"Oh, Allie, child, we have trouble," Esme said as she spun through the door, caught in the spectral wind.

"You stood by and let her knock me out and feed me to the vampire?"

"Well, honestly, Raphael, what was I supposed to do? She's bigger than me, and she knows all sorts of cool spells. And besides, it's not like you need all that blood. Didn't your mother ever teach you to share?"

Honoria clung to Esme, her ghostly gray eyes huge with terror. I looked from her to Esme's pale face and worried eyes.

"It's my blood! I don't think it's asking too much to have a say in how it's dispensed!"

"Trouble?" I asked, the word weak on my lips. I didn't want to know. I just didn't want to know.

"I think I'll have that explanation right now, Allie," Raphael growled, stalking toward me.

I had as much on my plate as I could deal with. One more thing…

"I'm sorry, dear, but it seems the demon is back. The lower part of the house is filled with demon smoke. And I think the basement has been sucked into H-E-double-toothpicks."

… would break me.

Chapter Seventeen

"Oh, sure, the minute Christian needs rescuing, earth-shatteringly important emergencies suddenly pile up on me. First Sebastian, now a demon. What next? The apocalypse?" I grumbled as I stuffed my things into my bag, leaving the holy water on top, where it was handy.

"I'm so very sorry to ruin your evening," Esme apologized.

"So just what does Esme mean when she says the basement is now part of—"

I slapped a hand over Roxy's mouth. "Never, ever say the H-word when there's a demon in the house."

Her eyes were huge as she nodded her understanding. I released her mouth. "I have no idea what's happened down there, but I guess I'll be finding out rather than saving Christian, like I should be doing." I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed out the bedroom door. "Blast that Guardian! Just what the… dickens"—we also don't say the D-word when minions of hell are about—"does she think she's doing?"

"How would I know? I'm just a handy feed bag to hang around the neck of any visiting vampire."

I stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at the man following me. "Look, Raphael, I appreciate your offer of help, but about this you really have to trust me—a situation involving demons is no place for a human."

"You're not human?"

I gave him a wry smile as I limped down the stairs. "According to Roxy, I'm no longer strictly human, no. And even if I were, I'm a Summoner. I practice magic as my business. I won't be likely to fall into any of the demon's traps, as you might."