Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34989 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34989 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Nolan squeezed his eyes shut even tighter and ground his teeth together. He’d be lying to himself if he said Christoph’s words didn’t whisper every hope, dream, and fantasy he’d ever harbored. To have someone to protect him. Someone who made the decisions and took care of things so that everything wasn’t resting on his shoulders.
But all of Christoph’s sweet promises came with a price—whether the vampire admitted to it or not.
“After a time, when you’ve proved your loyalty to me and my clan, I’ll change you into a vampire. You’ll remain at my side forever,” Christoph promised. His tone made it sound like he honestly believed he was bestowing the very best gift on Nolan. There was some small part of him that was honored, and maybe even tempted. But that didn’t compare to the fear beating a kettledrum in his chest.
Or to Winter’s words that were echoing through his head.
No one in their right mind wants to be a vampire.
“Please, Christoph, let me go home. I don’t want to be in your clan. I don’t want to be a vampire.”
“Hush now,” Christoph whispered. “You’re tired.” Christoph pulled him close and cold lips pressed to the center of his forehead. “I’ll take care of everything. You’re home now.”
Chapter 8
Skylar Wallace
Sky sighed as he pulled his tiny blue car up to the sprawling mansion the dead second the sun finished sinking below the horizon.
Of course the Variks owned a mansion.
In particular, the king of vampires lived in a mansion.
Should it be a surprise that a vampire had money, though? If he were immortal and had wandered the earth for hundreds of years, Sky would hope he’d learn how to make some big stacks of cash in that time period.
Sky wouldn’t say he was poor, but there were certainly some leaner months mixed in with the good months. But the idea of living hundreds of years and scraping by was simply exhausting. Having retail therapy cash stashed away for a bad day was always helpful.
He shoved the thought aside as he rushed up the long driveway, past ornamental trees and a perfectly landscaped lawn that was dotted with warm yellow lights. He wished he could appreciate it more. Along with the fact that he was meeting the king of vampires. This was a big moment. A once-in-a-lifetime moment.
But all he could think about was Nolan and curse himself. He’d glanced at the text when it had rolled through during his meeting with Abigail Cartwright, and he’d hesitated. Nolan had said he’d be gone for a couple of minutes, and it was the middle of the day. He would be okay, right? The vampires were all tucked in their coffins, dreaming of bats and biting things. Or whatever vampires dreamed about. Nolan would be safe.
He’d gotten caught up in his meeting with his new client, forgetting all about Nolan.
It wasn’t until he was showing Abigail out his door thirty minutes later that he’d realized he had never heard Nolan return. Had never received a text stating that he was back and working.
His heart leaped into his throat as he spun on his toe and launched himself up the stairs, taking them as quickly as his stupidly short legs would carry him. In his mind, he repeated over and over that Nolan was safe.
The spare bedroom was empty. The bathroom was empty.
Sky zipped through the entire house in record time, but Nolan wasn’t there.
It’s okay. It’s fine. He got caught up in whatever he was looking for at his house. Lost track of time. No big deal.
Sky said those words to himself out loud as he ran out into the downpour and across the street to Nolan’s house. As soon as his knuckles touched the door, it swung open to a dark, silent room. An icy feeling that had nothing to do with his soaked clothes sank into the pit of his stomach.
No one was here.
There was no question in his mind. Nolan wasn’t there.
He still searched every room. The only sign that Nolan might have been there was a notebook laying forgotten in the middle of the floor as if Nolan had dropped it.
As if he’d dropped it when someone forced him to leave the house.
Even now, hours later, that same sick feeling swirled in his veins. He’d failed Nolan. He was supposed to be keeping him safe. The moment he saw the text, he should have stepped away from his meeting and stopped Nolan. At the very least, he should have watched from the window for any signs of intruders as Nolan got whatever he needed for work.
Before he’d even made it to his own house, he was calling Winter. It didn’t matter that the sun was still up, and that there wasn’t a damn thing the vampire could do about the situation until it set. Sky had been prepared to hunt down the vampire and pound on his door, force someone to talk to him.