Free NocC 002 - The Ancients 01 - Bonnie Vanak - Bitten by the Vampire - Harlequin 2011-10 by Nocturne Page B

tasted like ashes. Would having her enemy’s head on a platter fill her heart? Make her feel the way Lucien did when he took her into his arms and made her forget the world?
    But she could never have his heart. And if revenge was the only thing filling the emptiness, then damn it, she was holding on with both hands.
    Mara bent her head to hide the tears misting her eyes.
    “I have work. I will be in my study. Eat. You should replenish your strength.” Lucien turned and strode off. The spicy fragrance of his cologne and his masculine scent whispered past her.
    She nibbled at the delicious chicken and pasta he’d prepared. Her powers were returning, along with the ever present confusion. Her heart pined to stay with Lucien.
    Her head argued it would never work. Lucien couldn’t love her.
    Having finished her meal, she stopped at the opened door of his paneled study. Lucien sat before a massive mahogany desk overlooking the vista of snow-covered meadows. Fountain pen in hand, he signed documents. His back went rigid as she hovered.
    “Come in, Mara.”
    “I just wanted to tell you I’m going for a short walk. Maybe stop by Petra’s digs and hang with her. Literally, you know, play Batgirl.”
    Please, say something. Open yourself to me and tell me you care. Even just laugh at my dumb joke.
    But he only gave a brusque nod and bent over the papers again.
    Deeply hurt, she started down the hallway. Pain compressed her chest. Lucien only saw her as an assignment. What a good solider he was, fighting evil for the Society, as indifferent as a machine with fangs.
    Biting cold stung her cheeks as she walked outside. Wind fluttered the lapels of her jacket as she clutched them to her throat. Cold, like Lucien. No wonder he lived here.
    Mara walked around the house, towards the garage. Smoke stung her nostrils. Then she saw it.
    Her nightmare had come to life. Black smoke curled upward, licking the air as orange flames danced through the garage window.
    Petra was inside.
    She was going to die.
    Fear immobilized her. She remembered the hot orange flames licking in the furnace as Jones dragged her forward. The terror as heat singed her skin, the screams ripping from her hoarse throat and the knowledge no one would hear and answer.
    She could not move. Could not draw near. Rushing into a burning building was for heroes and firefighters. Not her. And then she felt her skin grow hot and pain slide over her body.
    Lucien materialized before the garage window. “Petra,” he screamed. “Mara!”
    Then he vanished. Mara blinked, stricken. He thought she was inside.
    Moving toward the side of the garage, she saw a dark shadow hover near the building, a can swinging from his hands. Suspicions grew, and sharpened.
    Jones. He’d found her.
    The heat licked her body, the memories licked her soul. Fear fisted in her stomach. He’d come to kill her and instead hurt the wrong person.
    The side door banged open. Lucien rushed out, a coughing Petra in his strong arms. He gently set her down and vanished again. Mara ran to Petra.
    “Lucien’s inside,” the gremlin gasped. “Looking for you!” The action screamed louder than any declarations he could have made. Lucien’s courage fed her strength. She tried touching his mind, screaming his name. Nothing.
    “I have to go after him.” Mara fisted her hands, summoned all her courage.
    Opening the door she ran into the garage, screaming his name.
    The single-room building was filled with perches, much like those in a bird cage. On the far wall, flames took hold, igniting the bed and bookshelves. Mara coughed, wildly trying to see through the thick smoke. She gasped his name once more.
    And then suddenly, he was at her side. Hugging her, holding her. “Mara,” he said, and coughed. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
    But as they turned, fire engulfed the doorway. Through the window, she saw Dennis Jones, laughing as he tossed something onto the building.
    The sharp stench of gasoline