Page 16 of Salvation
“Guess that means you are not here to help us, then?” Wolfe questioned.
“I see you are standing in the sunlight.” She stretched her glorious wings, then snapped them to her back, where they disappeared. “Which means you have the mark.”
“That’s not what I asked,” Wolfe growled, and Aurora thought him pretty brave to use that tone with the Angel of Death. Perhaps he had a death wish. She wondered what mark they were talking about and why it was a big deal he stood in the sun.
Leaning in, she whispered to the female. “What are they talking about?”
“Vampires have become allergic to the sun. Turn to ash if they are young and burn like hell if they are older. Wolfe is a primordial, but he has not been able to be in the sun for some time. As far as the mark? I can only assume she is referring to the mating mark, but I didn’t know he had one.”
She was quick to put the story together. Luna, the pregnant female, had stated it was Wolfe’s baby. What information she’d learned from Lilith, she could only assume that this Wolfe was the mate to Luna. Made sense since the girl was carrying his child. She scratched at her own burning mark and wondered why the scent of this vampire sent her fangs to throbbing and her sex to scorching. They were fated to other people, so it made no sense to her. Other than maybe it was simply the fact he was like her, and she had not met another vampire since she had been turned.
“Do you think I can get a meeting with him?”
“Just walk right up and introduce yourself. Since there seems to be no threat here to the rest of us, I need to get back to my duties.” She smiled. “Maybe I’ll see you on the donation roster.” Then she slipped away, leaving Aurora on her own.
Moving in closer, she weaved her way around men and women until she was only a few feet from the vampire’s right side. His profile was as impressive as his backside. She was almost afraid to look him straight on because she knew he would be magnificent. Was it silly her heart raced? For a moment she wondered why fate would deem a human her mate instead of a vampire. She was willing to bet the two of them would be so good together.
As if he sensed her staring, he turned and looked straight at her. Aurora blinked several times, thinking she must be hallucinating When his jaw unhinged, she took a step back, ready to flee.
* * *
“Impossible,”he whispered. The entire conversation he had just been having with the Angel of Death forgotten as he took a step toward her.
“Aurora?”
The female turned and ran. Her speed was lightning fast. Definitely not that of a human, so it was a good thing he was just as quick. She ducked around a corner, as if she were trying to lose him, and he didn’t understand why she ran from him. As he took in a deep breath, he realized the scent of fresh rain he had encountered the other day was the same he inhaled now. He hadn’t been crazy. She had been here all along and in that park having sex.
He growled.
His determination to catch her ratcheted up several notches because he had a lot of fucking questions.
She was a blur in front of him and was heading up Olive Street, and he had to wonder where she was going. Why was she here and where had she gone when he’d come back looking for her?
In a matter of minutes, they had run four blocks, and it was in front of the park––the same one he had scented her before––where he finally caught her. Gripping her arm, he jerked her to face him.
“Let go of me,” she hissed.
It was then he noticed her face was stained with tears. “Aurora, what has happened to you?”
“You!” She tried to jerk away, but he was stronger than her. “You happened.”
“I don’t understand. I came looking for you, but you were gone, and I feared the worst had happened.”
She stared at him like he had three heads. “Are you fucking crazy?”
He then noticed she had fangs and something inside him clicked like a light switch and he knew in his gut he was linked to her. It was the same feeling he got when he sired someone. It all made zero sense to him.
“How did you become a vampire, Aurora? Did I do this to you?” There was a period of time after his changing that he didn’t remember.
“Really, Michael? You mean you blocked out how you came home, made love with me, then bit me? How you changed me?” She glared. “Oh right. You fucking left me alone to fend for myself!”
He shook his head and finally released her arm. “I don’t recall that time. I was only partly sane and very much filled with blood lust.” He scraped his fingers through his hair. “Jesus, you must hate me.”
“I walk a fine line most days. If not for Lilith, who knows how I would have fared? As it was, she found me covered in blood next to a dead body. Only God knows how many I killed after you left me.”
He blanched. “Lilith?”
“She’s a demon who has befriended me and taught me how to be a vampire. Something you should have done.” She looked away. “Had I known you were the one in charge, I would never have approached.”
