“Well, now that I’ve made you uncomfortable I suppose this is a good point to end our evening,” Harrison said, smiling dryly. Stepping out from behind the bar, he crossed over to where I stood, and taking my hand, he raised it to his lips and brushed a light kiss across it. “Thank you for a lovely evening, Catherine.”
A faint blush stained my cheeks as I struggled to come up with a reply. It was most tempting to ask if I could go home now, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t go over well. Flustered, I stared up at him. He had stunning green eyes, the same shade of emerald green that my robes had been in my dream. Lex’s warning leapt into my thoughts, as though he stood behind me, speaking the words aloud. I backed away, but the vampire tightened his grip on my hand and pulled me tight against him.
The magic washed over me in a wave of smoke and lust, and I recognized it as the same seductive spell Simon had placed over me. My heart did a startled flip, and though my brain warned me to back the hell away, my body seemed to be happy right where it was. With one hand firm against my back, Harrison placed his free hand under my chin and turned my gaze up to his. The color had somehow drained from his eyes, making them a pale, watery green. The smoky smell intensified, and what little part of me that hadn’t been inundated by Harrison’s magic cringed in anticipation of being bitten.
And then he kissed me.
The sheer shock of it allowed me to shove more of his influence away, just enough to let me struggle in his arms. I felt a small but sharp nick of pain on my lower lip, and dimly recognized the faint taste of blood in my mouth. Aside from the bloodshed, Harrison was quite a talented kisser-I’m sure he had a lot of practice with the never-ending parade of models and Hollywood starlets the man dated. Yet aside from the spell I felt nothing, none of the fire and emotion I felt with Lex. This was empty, hollow. Fake.
I managed to turn my head away and break the kiss, but the vampire took that as an opportunity to plunge his fangs into my exposed throat. I shuddered and my legs went weak at the knees as another wave of power rushed through me. I didn’t think it possible, but the sensation was even stronger than Simon’s bite had been. The realization frightened me. I’d let Simon bleed me into unconsciousness, would I let Harrison bleed me to death?
Harrison moaned against me, like a diner appreciating exquisite cuisine, and I gathered my resolve to fight. His effect on me was magic, nothing more, and having experienced it before I was pretty sure I could fight it off if I concentrated hard enough. Focusing on the memory of Lex’s voice telling me not to let the vampire bite me, I gathered a wave of energy and shoved Harrison away with my shields. The energy fizzled and faded after a moment, as I was too scattered to concentrate enough to keep them up, but they’d helped. Harrison stared at me, almost slack-jawed with amazement, and I took the opportunity to haul back and slap him hard.
“I. Am not. For dinner,” I informed him, my voice weak and breathy. Staggering away, I backed toward the bedroom. It made no sense to try and head for the hallway-I’d only run right into the security guards and I doubt they’d be sympathetic to my plight.
“How did you do that?”
“Magic,” I said snidely.
“You severed the spell, that’s not possible.” The vampire glided toward me, the expression on his face reminiscent of a scientist studying a specimen under a microscope. I turned to bolt into the relative safety of the bedroom, but he moved with frightening, unnatural speed and caught my arm, hauling me back against him.
“It is too possible, you’re just used to easy women.” Wriggling and squirming, I tried to fight my way out of his iron grip. The stench of vampire magic rose around me so strong that my eyes watered, and it triggered a sneezing fit. Either it’s difficult to bite a girl who’s sneezing like someone with cat allergies standing in an animal shelter, or Harrison was just too shocked by the reaction to respond, because my neck remained fang free long enough for me to manage to put up my shields and shove him away again.
Like a terrified bunny I bounded through the doorway to the bedroom and cut to my left, through the closet and into the bathroom. Slamming the door behind me, I locked it and turned to my reflection to see how bad the damage was. My throat hadn’t been ravaged or anything, but there were definitely two bleeding holes in the side of my neck that would make a horror film director proud. With some arterial spray I’d qualify for a Tarantino movie.
“Catherine!” Harrison called from the other side of the door. The knob jiggled but refused to open. Thank goodness the man demanded quality construction in his buildings. I wiped my right hand over the wounds and placed my open palm flat against the door, drawing a sloppy protective pentacle.
“Open only for light and life, seal thyself from death and blight,” I breathed a quick impromptu spell. The smeared symbol glowed brilliant white for an instant, burning its image into the wood. An indignant, inhuman howl sounded from the other side of the door, and I drew myself up in satisfaction.
“I am not on the menu,” I yelled at the very top of my lungs. “Now get the fuck out!” Deciding to make my point clearer, I grabbed the nearest bottle of bath oils and hurled it at the door (after I’d backed away far enough to avoid the glass that exploded everywhere on impact). “Out, out, OUT!” I screeched, throwing another bottle with each word. The room filled with a horrid mix of floral scents, but I was really more concerned with the scent of dying embers that seeped in under the bottom of the door. It rattled on its hinges but stayed shut, and a long string of curses followed. I responded to said string of curses with one of my own, a parade of colorful metaphors commenting on Harrison’s parentage, breeding, manners and various suggestions of just what he could go do with himself.
Sitting as far as I could from the door, I snatched up a washcloth and held it to the side of my neck to staunch the bleeding, and then curled up and hugged my knees to my chest. I supposed it was a petty female thing to hide in the bathroom and throw things, but if being a petty female kept me from being on the dinner menu then I was all for it. Course I had no idea what I’d do when someone managed to open the door. I’d deal with that problem when it occurred.
Chapter Seventeen
The spell proved powerful enough that it kept out maintenance men as well as vampires, which made me wonder what sort of people Harrison hired to maintain his building. It didn’t help their cause that the hinges were on my side of the door. As far as I could tell, no one with an impure heart was getting through the door thanks to my improvised spell, and a magical locksmith with a pure soul is something you just don’t find advertised in the yellow pages.
I’d made a good choice by picking the bathroom to barricade myself in. I had water, a toilet, plenty of fluffy towels, and my toothbrush. My fat ass could use a day or two of starvation, so I was all set. After arranging a nest of towels into a makeshift bed, I fell asleep on the floor. Insistent knocking woke me from a deep and dreamless sleep, and I mumbled several unkind suggestions in the direction of the noise. Blearily I glanced at my watch and noted that I’d been left in peace for several hours, a pleasant surprise.
“Cat, honey? You okay?” a familiar voice drawled from the other side of the door.
“Lex?” I squeaked.
“Yeah it’s me. You gonna let me in?”
I fought back the urge to leap to my feet and throw the door open. Was this a trick? A sneaky ploy by one of Harrison ’s minions to get me to open the door? Wouldn’t surprise me. I approached the door and sniffed it-the air was still so thick with vampire magic it triggered a sneezing fit. “How do I know it’s really you?”