She had no clue what he was, but she knew killing was a big part of it. Resigned to limit casualties to herself, she closed her eyes and pictured her living room with its tattered furniture, out-of-date wood paneling, and worn-out carpeting. Nikolai resumed his chant. A rustling behind her broke her concentration. She opened her eyes to see a nurse opening the curtain on the hallway wall of the exam room.
His hands tightened around her throat. “Little parasite, if you piss me off, you will suffer a death so slow and horrible, you will beg for your life to end.”
She couldn’t breathe. “Please,” she managed to croak. “Worried about nurse seeing us.” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the nurse cleaning up the room in order to get it ready for the next patient as if Elena and the death angel weren’t in the room, and as if he weren’t choking the life out of her.
Nikolai loosened his grip, and she gasped for air. He balanced the tips of his fingers on either side of her neck again. “We are under the human Veil. She cannot see or hear us. Now, concentrate on your home and us in it.” He repositioned his hands to the side of her neck. “And don’t fuck with me.”
Don’t fuck with him… The sad thing was that instead of serving as a threat, his words caused a warm flush to roll straight through her body. Though his word choice was not what she would have used, that was exactly what her body wanted to do. It had to be the result of near-death trauma. Elena closed her eyes and envisioned the tattered, velour sofa in her living room. As she created this mental picture, Nikolai ran his fingers over the sensitive skin of her neck and started chanting again. His incredible smell filled her nose, and as she pictured the sofa, she imagined herself lying over him while he used those long fingers to do something other than murder her. She was certain she was going insane, because even though she knew this guy was going to kill her, she wanted him.
There was a whooshing sound and a flash of heat. With a hard slam to her senses, Elena found herself exactly as she had envisioned: on her sofa, astride Nikolai, wearing only her hospital gown. Heat seeped through his jeans, warming the bare skin of her thighs.
He groaned, eyes closed.
She adjusted slightly, centering the hard ridge of him just…there…
He hissed air through his teeth and froze. His golden eyes flew open, and then narrowed. “What kind of magic is this?” he growled. “You have picked the wrong man to provoke.”
He shoved her off of him onto the floor as he sat up. She landed on all fours and scrambled backward until the silver cord pulled taut. She sat back on her heels and tucked the gown closed behind her. Pulling deep, she calmed herself with her father’s words. Do not ever let your enemy know the extent of your fear or what it is you desire the most. Expanding her lungs with a deep breath, she forced her body to still and waited for his next move.
His hateful glare was terrifying. “What is it you want, parasite? Do you think you can bargain for your life with your body? Think again. I’m not that weak.” He jerked the cord. “I could snap this and kill you right now, but unlike your pathetic species, I don’t kill humans, and I don’t fuck my enemies.” He turned sideways as if looking at her were painful.
Elena took a deep breath and willed her heart to stop racing. What in the world had just happened? He seemed to think she had intentionally provoked him—that she wanted to hurt him, somehow. He considered her his enemy, yet she didn’t even know who he was. Hell, she didn’t even know what he was. He kept talking about species and weird things she knew nothing about as if she were a part of some alternate dimension. Nothing made sense anymore. The only thing she knew for certain was that making him angry wouldn’t keep her alive. And right now, Elena Arcos wanted to live.
Perhaps a more docile demeanor would work better. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, shifting to her knees on the wood floor. She pulled the back of the hospital gown together and tucked it under her backside. “I don’t know how these things work, and didn’t know you were going to replicate my vision. I can’t even imagine why I thought of us like that. Really, I’m sorry.”
Nikolai paced the length of the room, trying to wrap his head around her words. Vampires didn’t offer excuses, and they never apologized. Never. Yet, this woman had just given a plausible explanation and an eloquent apology.
She was an utter enigma. He had never wanted a woman like he wanted this one, which was why he had reacted so violently when he found her on top of him. As he invoked the spell to move them, he was imagining her in that exact position. Perhaps she had lied about her powers and could read minds after all. Or maybe it was just that she felt the pull, too.
Wanting her was in complete opposition to his nature and purpose. Killing her would be the final act in avenging his father’s death. It had to be done, and he had to be the one to do it.
As soon as he could carry out justice, he would begin fulfilling his father’s last request. He would be free to find the Uniter and stop the war that was brewing.