From the upcoming third novel in the Bellocaro Saga... Fa...
Thatcher was meeting with Eleanor, Blair was mediating their chat. Alton,Wes and Chase Blue were hunting for Brighton. And me? I was stuck at home,wondering how this all was going to work itself out and where would my place beonce the dust had settled.
“Man, I hate waiting, especially when the stakes were so high,” I mumbledto myself lifting the lid to the trashcan in the backyard. Releasing theknotted drawstring, I dropped the full plastic bag inside. After cleaning upthe house, I’d turned my attention to removing the old food from therefrigerator. It made sense to throw out the food that Mom liked, especially ifI didn’t. It wasn’t like she’d want it when she returned home.
I sucked in a breath, appreciating the fresh scent of the warm afternoon,and exhaled. Now, I had nothing left to do with my day. Bummer.
Why did Mom have to be so pigheaded about Thatcher? Why couldn’t she justforgive me and get over it? It occurred to me at that moment that I wasn’t avery high-minded sort of girl that perhaps I’d thought myself to be. There weretimes, like right now, when I could be quite mean-spirited and selfish.
My bout of self-reflection was interrupted by the sound of movement inthe trees at the edge of the yard. Iturned to study them. The branches didn’t seem to be moving. Had Altonreturned? Had he found Brighton? It didn’t make sense that he wouldhesitate to enter the yard.
I moved forward toward the line of trees. “Alton? You there?” I called.
There was no response.
Was it Thatcher? I thought with a tentative burst of joy thatricocheted inside me. Had he slipped away to see me despite Mom’s demand thathe not? My footsteps quickened.
Suddenly I was aware of a presence behind me. Someone had stepped outfrom the trees to my left and gotten between me and the house. I whirled aroundexpecting to see the beautiful face of the vampire that I loved. But theafternoon sun was sinking low in the sky, and I couldn’t see the face of theman who stood there but I knew it wasn’t Thatcher.
The black silhouette of a man wasn’t as tall or thin as my vampireboyfriend. I caught movement at the corner of my eye, the branches of anarborvitae tree swayed back into place, revealing the exact spot where the manmust have been hiding.
“Who are you?” I demanded. “What are you doing in my yard?” The finehairs on the back of my neck were standing on end, and that burst of inner joywas replaced with a rapidly accelerating heartbeat. I tried not to show myfear.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle ya Miss,” the man drawled in asouthern accent, glancing around the yard. “I’m looking for my son’s dog. He’sactually just a puppy really.” The faceless man shook his head in dismay,taking a step toward the deck at the back of the house. “The boy left the back gateopen, and the dog got out. My son’s beside himself.”
I inhaled through my nose again and exhaled, urging my fluctuating pulseto settle down. My heartbeat was loud enough that I could hear it in my ears.
The man seemed harmless enough. He turned his back on me, clearly lookingaround the house as if the missing puppy might be holed up under the deck.
I rather doubted that. I certainly would have heard a dog scratchingaround under there and said so. “I haven’t seen him.”
The black form swung his head back in my direction. “Didn’t mean tointrude… perhaps somebody else in the house might have spotted him?” he askedwith a hopeful note in his voice.
“No, it’s just me,” I explained. “And I’ve been here all day. He’s nothere.” I realized my mistake as soon as I’d spoken, I shouldn’t have confirmedthat I was alone. Alarm bells were ringing loudly in my head. I looked aroundfor an escape. Behind the trees was a tall fence, which I doubted I could climbover before the stranger caught up to me, even if I managed to get to it.
The stranger began moving toward me, I blinked, trying to get a betterlook at him. My eyes were watering against the brightness of the sun.
He drew closer and I could make out details about his appearance. He wastaller than me but definitely not that tall, maybe 5-foot-10, if I had to guessand chunky around the middle. Dark hair fell across his narrow forehead,reaching down to hazel eyes which peered out over a broad nose. And there was apungent aroma about him; dried sweat mingled with something else that Icouldn’t quite place.
I tried not to wrinkle my nose.
His full lips pulled in momentarily and then relaxed.
He was close enough now that I noticed the tell-tell bite mark on theside of his neck where a pair of fangs had pierced the skin. But the bead ofsweat trailing down the side of his face suggested that he was still human. Avampire had fed on the man, not enough to kill or turn him. I found that factslightly reassuring. The odds against me successfully evading a vampire alonewere slim, but a human man, even one who had me cornered in the backyard,seemed considerably higher.
“Stop right there!” I commanded, putting on a bold expression. “Youbetter not come any closer.”
It worked, he stopped moving. His mouth opened briefly in uncertainty, asthe hazel eyes glanced around the immediate area, confirming that we wereindeed alone. Did he expect someone to suddenly materialize in the yard? I pondered in irritation.
The man was so close, he could have reached out one of his long arms andgrabbed mine. One side of his mouth twisted down, seeing no rescuers imminent,his attention returned to me.
“Don’t think you can order me around,” he drawled with more swagger. Gonewas any trace of his earlier attempt to appear courteous. “You’ll be comingwith me and make no fuss about it.”
