Free Dark Awakening by Kendra Leigh Castle Page B

his trade on someone,
anyone
, else.
    She sucked in a breath at the shock of Tynan’s thumb, his skin cool against her warmth, as he rubbed slowly across the tattoo.
    “It’s not a tattoo,” he murmured. “And Damien knew what it meant.”
    He seemed to be speaking more to himself than to her, but still his words reignited one of her deepest fears: that the glittering green symbol inked into her skin meant more trouble in her life, when she’d done everything she could to insulate herself from it.
    “That’s not—” she began, but stopped short before the word
possible
. If tonight was really happening, if Tynan was what he professed to be, then nothing was impossible.
    Lily gritted her teeth and turned her head away from the searching gray eyes that lifted to look into her own. “Whoever you are—
whatever
you are—you need to call off the other creeps and get out of my life. I’m nothing. I’m nobody. And I repeat,
I can’t help you
. I’m not going anywhere.”
    “The one creep, as you so accurately describe him, won’t be bothering us again. The other will return before long.” He shook his head. “There’s no deterring a Shade.”
    The word sent an icy chill down Lily’s back. “Shade?”
    “
Shade
is an old word for ‘ghost’ or ‘spirit,’ and the ones coming after you are just as difficult to spot when they don’t want to be seen. Shades are the most elite group of criminals in the vampire world. The most talented ones are filthy rich, and they’re all a bit taken with themselves. Damien certainly is. The highbloods, our nobles, use them for all sorts of dirty work.” He paused. “Like this.”
    The thought made her feel ill. Someone had gone to that much trouble… over
her
? “Well, since you’re chasing me around, I doubt you’re much better,” she said flatly.
    Tynan breathed out an exasperated hiss of air. “Do you really want to be here when Damien gets back?”
    “What are my choices? Get eaten now or eaten later?” Lily asked, feeling as miserable and helpless as she ever had in her life. “Maybe sooner is better.”
    She heard him sigh, a hollow, unhappy sound that almost made her look at him. Almost. But Lily knew that if she did, she’d just get sucked in again, unable to think, unable to resist him. She could feel him studying her, those odd eyes searching her face for clues about her thoughts. She could actually
feel
him, lurking at the periphery of her mind, trying to get in.
    All of the vampire pop culture garbage she’d everingested—movies and books, some bloody and all a hell of a lot more romantic than her own bleak reality—came flooding back to Lily as she lay there. She wondered which bits of it were true, what she might be able to use to get out of this mess. She suddenly wished she had some garlic. Or some holy water.
    Or a nice, sharp stake.
    “Killing me wouldn’t do any good, even if you could manage it, which you can’t,” Tynan said.
    She glared at him. “Even if you can read my mind,” she bit out, “don’t.”
    Tynan’s smile was grim. “It would be easier if I could. I’ve tried that already, though, and no dice. Your thoughts are locked up tight. Your expressions, however, are another story.”
    Silently, Lily cursed herself for having such a readable face, though she did take some consolation in the fact that he hadn’t been poking into her thoughts, even though he’d tried.
    “Why don’t you think I could manage it?” Lily asked. “You saw what I can do. You don’t know me at all. Maybe I like killing.”
    His faint, mocking smirk let her know that her statement sounded as ridiculous to him as it did to her.
    “You’re also a terrible liar. Anyway, even if you managed to get rid of me, which you can’t, they’d just send another after you. Though with me gone, the Shades would get you first anyway. They’ll be wanting their money. And shaking them off once is only going to make it uglier for you the next time.” He