Free Embrace the Night by Caris Roane Page A

spent time with her then, as did many of the realm-folk, who saw her as orphaned, even though her father was a loving, involved parent.
    The fact that she’d ended up with realm abilities seemed natural, since Kellcasse, by way of its people, had been such a huge part of her life all these years.
    But how could they possibly make a life together? And maybe more importantly for the immediate future: How was he supposed to keep other mastyr vampires away from her?

Chapter Four
    When Hannah bid Vojalie and Davido goodnight and watched them vanish, she put a hand to her forehead. She turned to Jude. “It’s one thing to watch you fly, but they just disappeared.”
    “I know,” he said, nodding. “That couple has a helluva lot of power.”
    “I’m so glad they came.”
    “It’s a sound idea to have security for you. I should have thought of it myself, but I was too caught up in the situation to see clearly.” He then told her that one of his lieutenants, Paul, and another powerful Guardsman, would serve as her bodyguards, whether here in her home or at the bar, or wherever she needed them to be. They had orders to contact Jude at the first sign of the approach of another mastyr vampire, or any other trouble.
    Hannah felt tremendously relieved. She might even be able to relax a little. “Thanks for taking care of this.”
    He frowned. “I only wish I could stay with you, but I need to be out with my Vampire Guard. We still have unanswered questions about the recent massacre in the north, and I’ll be heading out there later tonight to see for myself. Not to mention the two wraith-pairs that actually crossed the Sound earlier at dawn. I need to figure out what’s going on, and the only way I can do that is in Kellcasse.”
    “You have to go, Jude. It’s for the best on every front. I’m sure of that.”
    He drew close and took both her hands in his. “We’ll figure this out for you, Hannah. I want you to be at ease and comfortable despite the changes you’re going through.”
    “Vojalie gave me some hope. She said I’d always be a blood rose, and we could find ways to keep me safe from encroaching mastyr vampires.”
    “Absolutely. Like I said, we’ll keep exploring options and create a security detail that will work for you.” Jude’s frown deepened. He’d never appeared so upset before.
    “What’s wrong?” Hannah felt his unease.
    He shook his head. “I feel like somehow this is my fault. I mean, I’d been dogging your heels, anyway, making every excuse I could to be at the Gold Rush. And now you’re a blood rose.”
    “You can’t blame yourself. I felt the same way. Whatever this is, fundamentally we both felt the same way.”
    Even as Hannah said the words, she felt very strange, like she was in the supply closet all over again and Jude was there watching her. She took a deep breath, trying to settle the butterflies down, but once more her knees felt really weak.
    For her — and this was the hardest part of all — she felt so much for Jude, longing to be with him, craving him.
    He still held her hands, but he moved closer. “I just wanted to be near you.” He then smiled. “And I’ll never forget that moment, which now seems absurd. I mean, you had a bottle of ammonia in one hand and ugly yellow cleaning gloves in the other. It wasn’t exactly a romantic place or time. I thought what harm could there be?”
    At that, Hannah chuckled softly. “No, not romantic at all. Then everything changed.”
    “Hannah, I’m so sorry. If I could undo that moment, I would. I’d meant absolutely nothing by it.”
    “I know. I believe you.”
    When movement hit the corner of her eye, she yelped as two vampires landed on her porch. Jude even moved to position himself in front of her protectively. He relaxed immediately afterward, of course, when he saw who they were, then headed to the door.
    She recognized them both as well. Paul was one of Jude’s lieutenants and the other was one of his team