Free A Touch of Midnight: A Midnight Breed Novella (Midnight Breed Vampire Romance) by Adrian Lara Page B

place, hurrying to their trains and buses as exhaust fumes belched in through open doorways and garbled public address announcements squawked virtually unintelligibly from the ceiling speakers overhead.
    No sooner had they come, the commuters were gone again, leaving Savannah and a few straggling others to wait a seemingly indeterminable time for some sign that they might actually make it out of the station tonight. She stood up on a deep yawn, just as the station speakers crackled to life and croaked out something indecipherable about the bus to Louisiana.
    Savannah picked up her suitcase and hoofed it over to one of the counter attendants. “I missed the announcement just now. Did they say how long it will be before the bus to New Orleans begins boarding?”
    “Ten minutes.”
    Finally. Just enough time to find a restroom and then she would be on her way at last. Savannah thanked the attendant, then headed off for the ladies’ room farther up the terminal, luggage in hand. The bulky suitcase made for awkward walking. So awkward, that as she neared the bank of restrooms and payphones, she nearly tripped over the big, booted foot of a homeless person seated in the shadowy alcove just outside the ladies’ room door.
    “Excuse me,” she murmured when she realized she’d bumped him.
    He didn’t seem to care. Or maybe he wasn’t even aware of her at all, passed out or sleeping, she couldn’t tell. The man in the tattered navy hoodie sweatshirt and filthy work pants didn’t even lift his head. Savannah couldn’t see his face. Long, dirty hair hung over his heavy brow and down past his chin.
    Savannah attempted a better hold on her suitcase and skirted around his unmoving bulk to head into the restroom.
     
    ~ ~ ~
     
    Gideon knew Savannah wasn’t home, even before he knocked on her door. No lights on inside. No sound from within. No telltale glow through the walls as he searched for her with the gift of his sight.
    “Shit.”
    Maybe he should have tried the library first, instead of checking for her at home. But even as he considered how quickly he could make it across town to look for her there, he was gripped with a sinking feeling of dread.
    Savannah wouldn’t have left Boston...would she?
    That had been her intent last night, after all. He thought he might have convinced her to stay and let him help her, but what had he given her to hold on to? A heated kiss and a vague promise that he could somehow, miraculously, make everything better?
    Fuck. He was an idiot to think she’d stick around on that flimsy incentive. He couldn’t blame her if she finished packing her bag and took off for Louisiana as soon as he crept out of her bed twelve hours ago.
    He couldn’t have lost her so easily.
    He wouldn’t let her go so easily, damn it. And that claim had less to do with the Order’s objectives or Darkhaven protocol than he cared to admit, even to himself.
    If Savannah left, he was going after her.
    Gideon took hold of the doorknob in death grip. Locked.
    He was strong enough; he could have torn the damn thing off in his fist. But he was also Breed, and that meant he didn’t have to resort to caveman tactics when he had more stealth tools at his command.
    He mentally freed the two deadbolts from their tumblers. The door sprang open, and Gideon slipped inside the apartment. A quick scan of her bedroom told him his worst suspicions were correct.
    Savannah’s suitcase was gone. In the cramped little closet, a bunch of empty hangers.
    “Damn it,” he growled, stalking out to the living room where he’d kissed her just last night, held her in his arms while she slept against him on the sofa. He sent his gaze all over the place, looking for anything--a clue that might lead him to her.
    He zeroed in on a memo pad lying next to the kitchen phone. He flashed across the room, more than walked, to pick up the note. In loopy, vibrant cursive handwriting, someone had jotted down South Station, followed by a number and a