Free Immortal Danger by Cynthia Eden

before you act.” When she went in the house, he wouldn’t be able to protect her.
    And since when did she need protecting? He shook his head, but couldn’t shake the feeling that he needed to watch over her.
    Bullshit. Utter bullshit.
    Maya didn’t need anyone’s protection.
    So why did he want to shield her?
    â€œGo in,” he finally snarled, fighting to control the rage coursing through his veins. He’d never be able to cross that red line, but if he sensed any trouble, if he so much as heard Maya cry out—
    He’d tear the house down.
    Then no damn magic line would keep him out.
    The beast within him began to roar.

Chapter 4
    M arie Dusean could have been anywhere from fifty to a hundred. Her face was lined, but eerily beautiful in the flickering candlelight.
    She stood when Maya approached, holding out her hands. “Child, it’s been too long.” The sound of her native Haiti flowed richly in her voice.
    Maya took her hands, felt the delicate bones, the fragile skin.
    â€œYou’ve fed well.” Marie’s eyes swept over her. “And you still look so young.”
    Maya stared back into Marie’s faint, crystal blue eyes. Eyes that were completely covered by cataracts, and had been, for as long as Maya had known the priestess.
    She forced a laugh. “Gonna keep looking that way, Marie. We both know things aren’t gonna be changing for me.”
    Unlike Josette, Marie didn’t hate all vampires. Or, at least, she didn’t hate Maya.
    Back when she’d been human, Marie had even tried to warn Maya about the fate that waited for her.
    That first night, when she’d brought Josette back home and found Marie waiting with her pale eyes and knowing voice, the lady had whispered, “Beware of the night, child. He’ll wait for you, hiding a monster, behind the face of man. He’ll take you. Change you. Destroy what you’ve been.”
    She hadn’t listened to Marie’s words. Hell, she’d thought the lady was crazy. She remembered mumbling something and trying to get the hell away from Marie as fast as she could.
    It was only later— too late —that her words had made sense.
    Marie Dusean was a very special woman. Maya didn’t doubt her powers even for a minute. Marie knew things—things no human should know.
    Very slowly, Marie lowered into a faded red velvet chair. Her eyes never left Maya’s face. “You’ve come about the child.”
    She nodded.
    Marie’s hands flattened on the round table before her. “Dreamed of her. Child of light, taken by the dark.”
    Tension tightened her body as Maya leaned forward. “Her uncle thinks she’s being used as a gift for Nassor.”
    Marie hissed at the name, and her fingers curled into gnarled fists. “Rises soon.”
    â€œYeah, I thought he might.” Dammit . “So the vampires who took her, where are they? Have they already gone back to his—”
    The mambo’s hand shot across the table, grabbed Maya’s. “You will have to choose, child. Life or death.”
    Well, shit. Wasn’t she already dead? Well, undead? Her heart had stopped during that fateful attack. She’d seen the faintest glimpse of another world—then she’d been yanked back to hell. “I already chose once.” She wasn’t particularly in the mood to do so again.
    â€œThe desert. Seek the vampires there.” Her nails dug into Maya’s wrist. “Hiding where the rocks have bled.”
    Where the rocks have bled. Excitement pumped through her.
    â€œThey keep the girl, waiting.” Marie’s voice lowered to a whisper. “Not much time before the Born Master rises.”
    Then the shit would hit the fan.
    A hard sigh shook Marie’s chest and her hand slipped away as her body sagged against the chair.
    Maya knew their talk was at an end. The Mambo’s strength wasn’t what it used to be.