Free Captured Sun by Shari Richardson Page B

skin. I put all my heart and yearning for him into the image and whispered, "Please show me where you are."
    When my cell phone rang twenty minutes later, I was no closer to knowing where Mathias and Serina were than I had been when I lay down. I was infinitely more frustrated, though. Obviously, forcing a premonition wasn't going to work.
    "Xavier? Did you find them?"
    "Yeah, the boys tracked them to the airport. There was a flight to London which left about an hour ago. The ticket clerk remembered seeing Serina."
    My heart leaped into my throat. "What about Mathias?"
    "The clerk was a guy, Maire. I don't think he cared about Mathias. But the boys did find a cleaning lady who saw, and I quote, the most beautiful boy she'd ever seen walking through the concourse to the international gate."
    Relief flooded me and left me weak. Serina hadn't killed Mathias and left him somewhere. She'd taken him home. Now I just had to figure out where home was. "OK, I guess I'm going to England then," I said. "Take Kerry home and keep my family safe. Please, Xavier, I'm begging you."
    "You know I will, Maire, but you gotta be careful. Kerry'll be destroyed if you don't come back."
    I swallowed the tears that were threatening. Crying wasn't going to help and it would only upset Xavier and Kerry to know I wasn't sure I would be successful in coming home. "I will do everything in my power to come back, Xavier. Just keep my family safe."
    "Bring him back so I can kick his ass for you, okay, Maire?" Xavier joked. "Maybe next time he'll listen when you tell him something's a bad idea."
    "Will you listen to Kerry?"
    "Nah, but I wouldn't mind taking a swing at your vamp."
    "We'll see what happens when I get home," I said, smiling just a little.
    I hung up and turned to Alfred. "You call the airline. I'm going to pack bags so we don't get flagged as terrorists. Get us to London and we'll worry about the rest when we get there."
    Alfred looked as though he were going to protest being ordered about by a human, but thought better of it. We were on our way to the airport as the sun broke free of the horizon.

Chapter 6
    "Do you like it, my pet?" Serina purred, tracing a long fingernail along the edge of the silver chain that lay against Mathias' neck. The flesh under the chain smoked lightly and Mathias grimaced.
    "No? Well, I suppose I can live with that." Serina's cruel laugh echoed against the stone walls of the round tower in which they stood. Moonlight, pale and insubstantial, filtered through the arrow slits high on the walls. Mathias' pale skin glowed in the darkened room.
    "What would you have me do this night?" he asked. His voice was a pale shadow of the rough silk sound I loved so much. In fewer than twelve hours, Serina had broken something deep in Mathias' soul. The deep purple bruises beneath his eyes spoke to at least one type of torture to which he'd been subjected.
    "I want to watch you feed, lover," Serina said. She snapped her fingers and a door in the curved wall of the tower opened. A tall, olive-skinned vampire dragged a screaming girl into the room. He held the girl's arm grimly, neither smiling nor looking directly at Serina and Mathias. His gaze was blank. The girl screamed ceaselessly.
    "No," Mathias whispered. He swallowed convulsively. His eyes burned with thirst and his tongue slipped between his lips, wetting them. "You know I do not...I will not..."
    "You will whither, lover," Serina said, caressing Mathias' face. "I will not allow that. I am not finished with you yet."
    She motioned for the olive-skinned vampire to bring the girl closer. The girl resisted, planting her feet and pulling against the vampire, but she was no match for his strength or Serina's determination. The vampire stopped in front of Serina and pinned the screaming girl's arms behind her.
    Mathias watched the girl pull and twist in the other vampire's arms. His throat worked as he swallowed again and again. His expression was a terrible combination of desire