Claim the Night. Rachel Lee

He’d expected to have to go after her. Instead she had just stood there. Which meant … Well, it might well mean he couldn’t vamp her at all. He didn’t know, and frankly he didn’t want to try. It was a kind of violation he preferred not to inflict on innocent people.

      However … He sighed and sat beside Chloe’s desk, drumming his fingers and looking at Garner. The young man seemed to shrink.

      “I have to get in there by dawn,” he remarked.

      Garner nodded violently, as if by emphasizing his agreement he could salvage something.

      “And then there’s the job I’m not getting done.”

      Garner gulped.

      “And of course the matter of a needlessly terrified woman.”

      Chloe spoke. “Like I said, he’s an idiot!”

      Jude frowned at her. Not that he disagreed, it was just that such statements were pointless. That was one of the things he’d managed to learn in over two hundred years.

      Although occasionally he indulged in them himself.

      “Garner?”

      “Yes, sir?”

      Oh, now he was sir. “You give me a headache. I haven’t had a headache since I died, but you’ve man aged to give me a headache.”

      “Sorry.”

      Chloe glared at Garner. “Fish food,” she said.

      “I thought she knew.”

      Chloe folded her arms. “Blabbing confidential information just because you think someone knows makes you untrustworthy, you dweeb. And you want to work with us? Hah!”

      “I’ll find a way to make it up, I swear.”

      “Too little too late, you dummy.”

      “Enough,” Jude said. “Grinding him under your heel isn’t going to fix this.”

      “I’ll try to talk to her,” Garner said. “I think I can convince her I was making up a story.”

      Chloe sniffed. “Oh, yeah, you’re so persuasive.”

      “Well, she believed me before!”

      “When you were telling her the truth.”

      “Stop it,” Jude said again. “Just stop it. I’ll have to deal with this somehow, but I think a whole lot better when people aren’t arguing.”

      The two of them fell silent at last. He gave an impatient huff of his own and started drumming his fingers again. “How long has she been in there?”

      “Almost half an hour,” Chloe said. “I tried to talk her out.”

      “Okay. Give her a little longer. At some point she’s going to start wearing down and then I’ll go in.”

      “Maybe I should go in with you,” Chloe said.

      “At this point I don’t think she’ll trust you too much, either. You’re such an inventive liar, remember?”

      Chloe scowled at him.

      He sat motionless, waiting for time to pass, ignoring Chloe and Garner who were tossing glares at each other like ping-pong balls.

      Finally, he stood. He had to go in there, and as near as he could determine, there was only one way to handle it.

      After swiping his key card, he punched in his code and listened to the dead bolts snap back. Then he walked into his office.

      He faced a woman holding a sword in both hands. The hysteria had obviously passed to be replaced by determination and desperation. A lot easier to deal with.

      She backed away from him until she could back up no farther. He left the door open, walked to the opposite side of the room and leaned back against the credenza, folding his arms.

      “That’s a good sword,” he remarked. “I wore it on parade, even had to use it a few times at Waterloo.”

      “Stay away from me.” Her voice trembled with intensity. And she still smelled so tempting.

      “I have no intention of getting any closer. I just want to know one thing.”

      “What?”

      “Why you ran in here instead of running out of the building.”

      She froze, biting her lip, then glared at him again. “I was frightened.”

      “Well, I can understand that. The door’s open. Run any time you want. No one will stop you. Just, please, leave my sword behind. It’s one of my few keepsakes.”

      But she stood there, anyway, legs braced, still waving the sword although her arms must be getting weary. “Is it true?” she demanded.

      “Is what true?”

      “That you’re a … a …” She apparently couldn’t bring herself to say the word.

      “I’m a vampire,” he said, keeping his voice calm, even pleasant. “Yes, it’s true.”

      “And you kill people?”

      “I haven’t killed anyone in a very long time who didn’t deserve it. I don’t kill just to feed.”

      A disbelieving sound escaped her.

      He shrugged. “I don’t need much, you know. A blood bank will take more from you than I will.”

      Something in her face was changing. Her mouth opened a little. Was he seeing the dawn of curiosity? He hoped so.

      “Mostly,” he said, “I buy blood. But I never dine without permission.”

      With that her jaw did drop open, and with it the sword lowered. “You’re lying,” she whispered.

      “Why would I lie? I just told you I’m a vampire. And you don’t have anything to fear from me. If you did, I’d have fed on you last night. Because let me tell you, Terri, you smell that good to me.”

      The sword tip touched the floor, but she still looked ready to bolt. More important, he could see questions starting to swirl behind her eyes. Maybe they could get through this. If not, oh, well. No one would believe she’d met a real vampire, and if she grew too insistent, she might even get herself committed. He hoped she didn’t go that route.

      “Why …” Her whisper broke.

      “Why what?”

      She shook her head, still staring at him.

      “You ought to sit,” he suggested gently. “You’ve had a shock. I’ll just stay over here and you can take that chair right by the door.”

      But she still didn’t move. She just kept staring at him, and he could almost see mental furniture being rearranged behind her eyes.

      “You’re a ruthless killer,” she finally said.

      “Only when I have to be.”

      “What’s that supposed to mean? What kind of excuse is that?”

      “Would you kill to save your own life? Isn’t that what you were thinking about doing with that sword? Isn’t that what happened last night with Sam?”

      She gasped, and a spark of something flared in her eyes. “Did you kill him?”

      “Sam? No. I’ll admit I would have liked to, but no. I warned him away. I threatened him. But I didn’t even hit him.”

      A shudder passed through her. Dragging the sword, she eased her way to the chair and sat. He managed to suppress a wince at the way she treated that beautiful piece of steel.

      “I can’t believe this,” she muttered.

      “It would be nice