Talon gave the scene one more look before grabbing Val and racing from the room outside.
“Go, boy. You know what to do,” Talon’s father said as the flock flew past Talon to confront their enemy.
She and Talon ran, seeking safety while the bad man killed and kept killing. Everything in his path, he’d said. And he kept good on his promise.
Running, flying, moving from place to place. Days turned into weeks, into months and then years. They continued to hide while Vladimir ravaged the country, destroying anyone they’d ever met.
Until it was just Val and Talon, alone, scared, and heartsick. With nothing but each other for comfort.
And even that faded, as time took its toll on the poor souls destined to always be alone…
Val shot up in bed,tears tracking down her cheeks.
“Man, that is some messed up dreaming.” A stranger sat on the edge of her bed, shaking his head at her. He was dressed in what looked like a cream-colored toga that bared his muscular upper torso, his golden eyes shining.
Val stared, agog. “I’m…What?Who the hell are you?”
“Who the hell am I?” He scoffed. “Seriously, Valentine Darkmore. Who the hell areyou?”
CHAPTER
NINE
Val stuttered,“I-I— What is goingon?” Her heart raced, the dream lingering at the back of her mind, as it always did. The details changed. Sometimes her father was covered in blood. At other times, he turned into a demon and ate her mother.
Occasionally, Ava tried to kill Talon, or Talon’s father would fight Vladimir while Val stayed back to watch. Then Vladimir would rip his feathers out one by one.
But in all her nightmares, the truth remained.
Vladimir had killed her parents and still wanted to kill her. All for some stupid jewel she’d never been able to find.
“That is one shitty memory, my dear.” The handsome guy in a toga, sitting on her bed, remained.
She blinked. “You’re real?”
“I’m fabulously real.” He winked at her. Something about him shimmered. Not magic, but an aura of power.
“I’m dreaming.” She refused to believe Grizz or Aisha, even on a powered-down standby, had let anyone get to her.
“You might be.” Toga Guy smiled, his teeth bright and even, fortunately. No vampires for?—
“Seriously? I don’t have time for this.” The vampire who’d been after her in the bazaar appeared.
Khent of the Night Bloode.
Val stared at him in shock. “What… I don’t… Vampire?”
He blinked at her then gave a slow smile. “Ah. I see. Forget what I said. I approve.”
Toga Guy snorted. “I take it you two know each other.”
They answered at the same time. “He’s a stalker.” “She’s my prey.”
Val glared at the sexy vamp. “Look, bloodsucker. This is my dream. Butt out.”
“I was invited.” He shrugged. “And though ‘My Lord,’ ‘Grand Superior Being,’ or ‘Master’ would be appropriate address from a human, I will allow you to call me by name.”
“Asshole.”
