Free Embrace the Darkness (Darkness Series) by Lilly Gayle

suffice. And Trazadone at bedtime to help her sleep—despite the nightmares.
    Her thoughts raced as panic ebbed and flowed, leaving her jumpy and unable to focus. She dropped onto the sofa, frantically searching her purse like a junky in desperate need of a fix.
    Gerard stood in the doorway, leaning negligently against the frame. Amber ignored him.
    Where the hell are my pills?
    Taking deep, controlled breaths, she snagged the bottle, opened it, and poured a pill into her palm before popping it into her mouth. Then she swallowed with nothing more than spit.
    “You think it’s a good idea to take that after drinking beer?” he asked, coming closer.
    “Probably not.” Most likely, she’d have one hell of a headache in the morning. But the valium would calm her nerves and help her cope with this new version of reality—a reality she wasn’t ready to face. “Okay, who or what was lurking outside my door?”
    “I don’t know, but he didn’t smell mortal.”
    “Smell?” Was the man a vampire or a blood hound? She had a damn fine sense of smell herself, but Gerard didn’t smell like a vampire—not that she knew what vampires smelled like. Musty and old, she supposed, but he smelled good. Real good. But it was the smell of masculine skin and cologne. Not some moldy vampire scent.
    A chill washed over her, sending gooseflesh dancing along her skin. She shook it off, determined to face her fears. She had combat experience. She wasn’t going to fall apart. Not this time. If a vampire had been lurking outside her door, she’d find a way to deal with it.
    She pressed two fingers to the side of her pounding skull and prayed. Lord, don’t let me be going crazy.
    Gerard sighed, sounding more tired than annoyed, as he dropped down beside her on the sofa. He shifted his hips and angled his legs toward hers. Their knees bumped. So did her heart. He was too damn close and way too sexy for her own good.
    “It was definitely a vampire,” he said, “but I didn’t recognize his imprint.”
    “Color me stumped, but I have no clue what you’re talking about.” Yep, that’s me. The crazy, hysterical female cop.
    “Both vampires and mortals leave behind psychic imprints of themselves that linger long after they’re gone. It’s like a scent, but different. And mortals leave fainter imprints than vampires.” He sniffed once and then frowned. “You, however, have a strong imprint for a mortal.”
    “Maybe it’s my perfume.” Except, she wasn’t wearing any. She’d just gotten home from work, and she didn’t wear perfume to work. She cleared her throat, avoiding eye contact. “So, are there a lot of vampires in the world?”
    “Probably more than you’d think. But most keep a low profile.”
    “Yeah, so low your friend Sonia doesn’t even have a last name.”
    A flush crept up his neck to stain his cheeks. “She’s not my friend. But if you check your electronic records again tomorrow, you’ll find both a last name and an address for her on file.”
    Anger stirred the ashes of a simmering resentment. She fisted her hands in her lap and glared. “I have paper copies that show nothing on her. Copies obtained through long hours of old-fashioned police work. ”
    His flush deepened. “Your records are inaccurate.”
    “What records? We found nothing.”
    Gerard shrugged, unable to maintain eye contact. “Well there’s something there now. If you look again, you’ll find a Sonia Dalca in Bat Cave, North Carolina.”
    The fury burned brighter. Amber embraced it. Anger was safer than fear—or attraction. Anger could keep her alive. Fear could get her killed.
    She didn’t want to think about the other.
    “We expended hours of man power in a fruitless search for Sonia because Dr. Harper and Vincent Maxwell refused to provide anything useful. Captain Stratford even searched local and FBI data bases without success. So, you better not be lying because I’ll go to that address, and I will question her.” Not that