His Dark Embrace by Amanda Ashley

to the top of the stairs, then hesitated. She wasn’t supposed to go down there, but a rumble of thunder sent her scurrying down the stairs in search of her grandfather. Light shone under the door of Granda’s lab. Curious, she had pressed her ear to the door, and heard Kaiden’s voice.
    “Dammit, old man, that hurts like hell!”
    “Do you want to give up?” Granda’s voice.
    “Of course not! But do you have to use silver? You know it burns like acid.”
    “It’s the only thing that will hold you.”
    “I gave you my word!”
    “That you did,” Granda said. “But better safe than sorry where you’re concerned.”
    Sky recoiled as an angry growl rattled the door. Was there a wild animal in there?
    Taking a tight rein on her courage, her nightmare forgotten, she pressed her ear to the door again.
    “Relax,” Granda said. “I’m just taking a little blood.”
    A harsh bark of laughter and then Kaiden said, “I could use a little of that myself.”
    “If this works, you won’t have to worry about that anymore.”
    Sky didn’t remember making any noise, but suddenly Kaiden said, “We’ve got company.”
    A moment later, the door opened and Granda stood there, blocking her view of the lab. “What are you doing here?” he asked sharply. “You should be in bed.”
    “I had a nightmare.” She moved to the left as a groan that sounded as if it had been ripped from Kaiden Thorne’s throat reached her ears.
    Granda moved with her, blocking her view. “Go back to bed, Skylynn.”
    Sky had stood her ground, her curiosity growing with every passing second. Why were Granda and Mr. Thorne working so late? Why was Mr. Thorne groaning? Was he in pain? Why wouldn’t Granda let her look inside the lab?
    “What are you and Mr. Thorne doing down here?” she asked.
    But Granda had never answered her question.
    Thinking of it now, she realized Granda must have been experimenting with the formula, but what on earth did blood and silver have to do with it? Surely they weren’t ingredients in Kaiden’s tonic. And what had Granda been doing to Kaiden that had caused him so much distress? He could have been drawing some blood, she supposed, but from the pain in Kaiden’s voice, that seemed unlikely.
    Rising, Sky strolled to the other end of the front porch, then sat on the rail. What had really been going on in the lab that night? If she marched across the street and asked Kaiden, would he tell her?
    Did she really want to know?
    Moving back to the swing, she found herself watching Kaiden’s house again. Nothing seemed to be stirring over there. Maybe he wasn’t even home.
    Eventually, hunger drove her inside. She fixed a big breakfast, thinking how much more pleasant it was when shared with Kaiden.
    After breakfast, she called her boss and told him she had decided to stay in California. He grumbled about it, complained that she was leaving him shorthanded, but in the end, he wished her well and even offered to pack up the things in her office and send them to her.
    “Thank you, Mr. Laskey, but would you please just send them to my apartment? I’ll be coming back to Chicago to get the rest of my clothes and things.” When he agreed, she murmured, “Thank you so much,” and disconnected the call.
    There was no hurry to return to Chicago. Her rent was paid until the end of the year. She just hoped her landlord would consider giving her a refund.

     
    Thorne came awake as the sun slid below the horizon. He remained in bed, staring up at the ceiling for several minutes. Sleeping through the day was the final sign that the effects of Paddy’s miraculous potion had completely worn off. Even more damning was the voracious thirst that had awakened with him, a hunger the likes of which he hadn’t known since the night he had first risen as a new vampire. It coursed through his veins like hot lead, searing nerves and cells. His jaw ached as his fangs ran out. Dammit! He had known it was only a matter of time before he