Page 12 of Luna

“I’m not sure you know who you’re dealing with.” I pace back to the desk and lean on it, taking my handkerchief from my pocket and using it to polish the blade so it glints in the firelight.

“You’re a vampire,” Steven says. “I can see that very clearly. But you have a job to hold down and you’re not above the law. You’re not allowed to kill humans. None of you are.”

I examine him closely. He is not an ugly specimen. He has a square jaw and a nose that suits his face. But his hair is pale, and his soul is weak.

I can smell the weakness from here.

I could smell it through the window.

Only weakness makes a man treat a woman the way he treated Luna.

“That’s where you’re wrong, I’m afraid.” I set the sword down and pour myself a glass of blood from the decanter by the window.

I allow it to stain my lips red, and enjoy the first flicker of fear on his face as he watches me lick them clean.

I pick up the blade again, my body coiling, and twitching, and shuddering as the blood takes its hold and the darkness that lives just beneath the surface of my humanity breaks free.

Steven notices the change. He is a rabbit, a deer, a small pathetic creature being stalked by something bigger and stronger.

And he knows it.

“Sadly for you, Steven, I think you’ll find I am above the law.”

He opens his mouth to speak but no noise comes out.

“I have ruled this city for longer than you can even begin to imagine.” I wave my hands at our surroundings. “You think I’ve walked this planet for five hundred years and all I’ve achieved is to become a professor at a university museum?” I lick my fangs.

Steven swallows hard.

I stop in front of him. I lean down so I’m inches away from his pale, pathetic face. Then I whisper in his ear, “I control every supernatural creature in this city. I could make you disappear in a heartbeat, and make sure no one ever misses you or wonders where you’ve gone.”

“I can turn you into smoke and dust. A figment of the imagination. A distant memory. And I will. But first…” I grip the back of his head and jerk him closer so he’s staring up at me.

He whimpers.

I smile. “First, you have an apology to make.”

Chapter 4

Lucien

She is trembling. I can feel her body quivering against mine as I carry her through the dark Cambridge streets.

“The box,” she says, looking back over her shoulder.

“I’ll retrieve it for you later.”

She struggles and I drop her down into my arms instead of carrying her over my shoulder.

She looks up at me. In the darkness, her eyes shine like oil on water. I want to take her glasses off, tuck her hair behind her ear, hold her still…

I have never been this close to her, and I feel like my entire body is on fire. My muscles burn for her.

As her shirt rides up, exposing the soft flesh on her belly, and my thumb brushes against it, I almost lose my breath entirely.

In all the time I’ve watched her, I’ve never felt this.

“Where are you taking me?” she asks. Her arms are looped around my neck. She seems both afraid and intrigued, and I’m almost certain I can smell her arousal.