Gabriel’s refusal to meet her eyes set alarm bells off in her head. “How does he know what I look like? How did they know where I lived?”“I already told you once, if Marcus knew then they knew.” He let out an unhappy breath. “Besides, Troy has been there.” He closed his eyes and absently massaged his forehead.``He’s seen you.”“What? How could he... He was at my house?” Shedidn’t like where this was going. The thought made her feel sickand violated. She took a steadying breath, and then she rememberedGabriel mentioning Troy last night. Something to do with an“unfortunate incident” where they discovered Gabriel’s involvement.No.“And how do you know?”He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he pressed his fingers silently between his closed eyes. When he did speak, his voice was slow and resigned, “Because, I was there, too.”“What? You were at my house? When? What were you doing there?”“I w

Seconds become minutes, and minutes became hours as they sat in the impenetrable darkness. Suddenly, scraping noise from outside the secret room broke the silence. At first they were low, almost indistinguishable from the buzzing in Natalie’s ears.Then they grew louder and louder, until she couldn’t deny their existence.Natalie’s body tensed and she reached out in the darkness to touch Elvis. “Come here,” she whispered. He obeyed by curling over her lap and covering the baby. Vera moved closertoo, using her body to shield the boy, so that he was completely hidden from view.The scraping grew in volume until it echoed, a steady rhythm that Natalie’s heart pounded in time with; the sound of their demise. She wrapped her arms around Vera and, by contact, the children. Fearfully, she tucked her chin down to hide her face, and squeezed her eyes closed in an effort to shut out the terrible reality of what was coming.The noise stopped.

When she was clean, she opened her eyes and stared at the water around her. It was red with the mess that had been washed from her and looked like a pool of pale blood.“Stand up,” Gabriel said quietly, and she stood.  her steady and pulled the drain plug to let the hateful redwater swirl away, then he rinsed her clean under the showerhead.He wrapped a fluffy white towel around her, thengently scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom. She stared dully at the bedspread as he laid her on it. It was red like blood– red like her nightmares.“Close your eyes,” he murmured softly as he leaned over her and stroked her wet hair. “Rest now.”He started to go but she grabbed his bare arm. Fearhad taken over and destroyed any hope she had of pride. “No, don't leave me alone.”“You’ll be fine,” he assured her. “The sun will come soon.” He looked pale and in desperate need of rest.“Please,” she

Gabriel joined her. “Here,” he said as he handed her one of the motel keys. “Go on in. I have something to attend to but then I’ll be alone.”She opened her mouth to ask him what pressing errand waited for him elsewhere, but thought better of it. She didn’t see anyone in the gloomy shadows, but how did she know that some creature of the night wasn’t camouflaged in the darkness? Ifvampires were real, then what other monsters from the nightmares of humanity were lurking and listening to them?He walked down the sidewalk and she watched him until he turned sharply, and disappeared around the far side of the building. Her curiosity piqued, she thought about following him,but resisted the urge. The memories of the vampire manor were still too fresh in her mind.The key didn’t want to fit into the scarred lock,but finally it surrendered with a groaning click, and she opened the door and was met by the smell of stale cigarette smoke. Shewished she

After the strange silence in the warehouse, the car seemed too loud. Gabriel’s anger was palpable; the air seemed to pulse with it. Natalie didn’t know what to say to make it better.She stuttered a question, “Aiden wouldn’t really…” but couldn't bring herself to finish it. Would Aiden really kill her because his wife had been killed? As if it was all Gabriel’s fault.“No,” Gabriel said with force. “He wouldn't dare.”She nodded but found no more words for fear of enraging him more. She wasn’t afraid that he’d hurt her, or even be mean to her. In truth she wasn’t sure what she was afraid of, but she didn’t want to make him any angrier. They pulled into the motel and, after parking the car, walked around behind the building to their windowless room.Once they were inside, Gabriel shut the door and clicked all of the locks into place. He absently ran his fingers through his long,dark hair before he threw himself on