ISBN: 9780373618514 (#104)
eISBN: 9781426879616
Meical's transformation from vampire to incubus is going to be the death of him, and Caroline's passion is the only thing that can save him.
But even though a little vampire magic can go a long way, Caroline is powerful prey.
How do you overcome the mistrust of an empath running for her life?
One night at a time.
From Incubus
Without warning, he shivered. It was a familiar feeling.
Dawn.
The sensation stole over his spine like pinpricks. Soon every soul he knew would be wrapped in the deep sleep of the vampire. But this time, the day-death would pass him by.
He went to the door of the cabin, opened it and stared at the night sky. There was a bit of light blue toward the east. He slipped out the door and fixed his gaze on it, drank it down. There was pink. Rosy pink. Only hours ago, it would've been enough to kill him. Neshi's experiment hadn't been a complete failure.
Meical bounded into the yard and skidded to a halt in the snow. His heart thudded in his chest, while the pink became orange. Beautiful fiery red came next, but it was the gold he wanted to see, the bright, gold-white light of a new day, full in his face until it blinded him and burned its way into his memory forever. He'd take it with him wherever he was bound. Defiant, he shot into the air. Birds in the trees took flight around him. The wild things ran for cover.
Higher. Higher. It was brighter now. So bright. Too bright. Oh, yes! Nearly there. Nearly sunrise. He let the fragile warmth engulf him, felt it all the way to his soul. His face, his head, his entire body were warm in a way he hadn't felt in two centuries. The ball of fire and life topped the horizon and blasted away all the night, all the darkness, all the pain and isolation. Meical flung back his head and let his exultation fill the world below. "Neshi, you are a GENIUS!"
Closing his eyes, he basked in the golden glow that touched every inch of him. The sun rose higher, while he hung suspended in its light.
Voices echoed up to him from the woods far below. He ignored them. He wanted only the silence and the light, clean and pure and unending.
The voices became clearer, and the smell of human males tainted his serenity. Meical growled and turned his head to look down. It was just a pack of hikers, laughing as they slogged along the trail that passed Caroline's cabin. They were harmless, pleasant enough fellows.
So why did he have the urge to rip their heads off?
The contentment of the moment paled as Meical hung lazily in a sunbeam and eyed their progress closer to Caroline's abode. As they trudged along, their heavy, sweating bodies made crunching noises in the snow with every step they took. Even that bothered him. Surely they weren't foolish enough to come so close to Caroline, to encroach on what his. Never mind that he wasn't going to be around much longer. While he was still breathing, she was his to protect.
With another glance at the sun, Meical dropped out of the sky and landed soundlessly in the woods. Seconds of icy wind in his face and an easy burst of speed brought him to Caroline's porch. He slunk into a pool of shadow the sunlight couldn't reach and dissolved to watch the intruders.