Eternal Prey (37 page)
Authors: Nina Bangs
Utah and Lia joined him. Utah looked at the sky too. He could see plenty of stars now that the volcano had settled down. No more steam. He lowered his gaze to the city lights spread out below them. People could return home now.
Utah coughed. “Look, I want to thank—”
“Don’t thank me. Don’t
ever
thank me.”
Utah sensed bitterness behind those words and wondered.
“What is Rap now?” Lia leaned into Utah.
“He’s more than he ever was. He took Adam’s nature, so he’s vampire. But his soul is still raptor.” Fin never dropped his gaze from the sky.
Lia looked thoughtful. “I spoke with you during my journey to Utah’s soul. You never told me who you were.”
“I never did, did I?” Fin looked away from the sky long enough to smile at her. “Go celebrate your marriage and Rap’s return, and forget about unanswered questions for the night.”
“Sounds like a good idea.” Utah took Lia’s hand and headed away from Fin and all his mysteries.
Hand in hand, they walked silently for a while before pausing in a small meadow. The flowers were already dying without Seven’s heat.
He had to make things clear to her. “I’ll be tough to live with. I’ll always have to fight my beast. Sometimes I’ll need him, but other times he’ll just be a pain in the ass.”
She laughed. “You don’t think living with a newbie vampire will be a treat, do you? I’ll have a steep learning curve.”
Lia turned and walked into his arms. He lowered his head and traced her bottom lip with his tongue. She tasted of night, sex, and love.
“I’d make love to you right here, but it’s too cold.” She slid her fingers into his hair and pulled his face closer. “Not that we wouldn’t set the woods ablaze once we started.”
He wrapped his arms around her and slipped his hands beneath her top. Her skin felt cool and smooth. He kissed the sensitive skin behind her ear and whispered, “I think we should skip the party, hmm?”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
Her soft laughter stirred his hunger. He grabbed her hand and hurried her to the car.
She settled into the seat and remained quiet while he drove. Probably frozen in terror. He was breaking sound barriers tonight.
Finally, she spoke. “You know, I think I’ve figured things out.”
“Uh-huh.” One mile to Fin’s.
“It’s all about perspective.”
“Sure.” A half mile to Fin’s.
“Most people think 2012 is an ending. Generates lots of negative energy.”
“Right.” He roared into the parking garage, pulled into a space, and hit the brakes.
Lia put her hand on the dash to stop her forward momentum. “But I don’t think of it that way.”
He leaped from the car, ran around to the passenger side, ripped open the door, and scooped her up in his arms.
Laughing, she flung her arms around his neck and held on as he suffered through the hour-long elevator ride up to Fin’s floor; rushed past an astonished Ty, who opened the condo door; and finally set Lia down on her bed.
She stared up at him. “A hundred years from now, I’ll look back at 2012 as—”
He dropped onto the bed beside her and gathered her to him.
“The beginning.”
U
tah and Lia would still be wandering aimlessly through Portland’s Shanghai Tunnels without the guidance of several people. Mega thanks go out to Cindy U’Ren for all her help in making Portland come alive for me. She was the next best thing to being there. And I have no words for how much I appreciate Gerry Bartlett’s input. She has critiqued every one of my Gods of the Night books and not once said, “You have to be kidding.”
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously
and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American
Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the
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permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Copyright © 2010 by Nina
Bangs
ISBN
978-0-06-203626-1
EPub Edition © January 2011 ISBN:
9780062036261
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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