Vampire Eden (12 page)

Then...Aoleon. Her lovely hair frozen in place and her lush lips pulled back into a surprised scowl. Her delicate white hands were splayed out wide, as if in the last moment before they froze her she made a desperate gesture of supplication. Even her gown remained in a flowing position, bringing to mind a vision of her floating up toward the suite at the Paradise Bayou Hotel and Casino before she and the vampires had burst through the window. Patrick stared up at her through the glass.

"Patrick," I called. He remained still in front of the glass, his eyes fixated on her face. As his fingers rested on the capsule, it seemed as if he were trying to touch her hands. "Patrick?" He remained staring at her, unhearing and unseeing of everything in the world except her face.

My heart sank into my stomach. I knew that look in his eyes now. A gaze that I had basked in and felt the light of life emanating from, that in a perfect world would never be cast upon another. A facade that promised life from a place of death. My mouth curled into a grimace as my head shook in denial. The whispering voices in the air began, their bearers invisible as they whispered to me. Finally, a complete sentence. One I had no choice but to understand. "Eden, do you see? That is the look of love."

"They lie," I said to the voices. No response.

Patrick's head whirled in my direction. Slowly, he removed his hands from the surface of Aoleon's glass casing. He took me into his arms and buried his face in my hair. "I'm so glad you're all right."

I blinked back tears as I bared my teeth, holding his head in the crook between my neck and shoulders. "Do you?"

"Do I what?"

Do you love us both?
I wanted to say. Instead, I placed my lips upon his neck to maintain my silence. I could feel the warmth of his blood flowing and pulsing under his skin, and my mouth filled with saliva. My body ached with desire even as my mind reeled in a torrent of rage. He was my lover, my inadvertent murderer, my savior, and my soul mate. I could drain the life out of his body, for who would stop me? Not the CIA for a vampire killer was far more valuable. What was one zombie when Vegas was filled with so many others?

The animal growing inside wanted to tear him apart for loving another even as he loved me. "Eden," he murmured into my hair. "There's something else you need to know."

To Be Continued

Read the next book in the "Vampire Eden" series

Coming July 2013

Also by Liz Newman

The New Orleans Way (Secret Cravings Publishing)

Eternity Skye (Secret Cravings Publishing)

The Last Day King (Lycaon Press)

The Movie Star's Wife (Breathless Press)

The Ashes of Windsor (Devine Destinies, the mainstream imprint of eXstasy Books)

The Best Kept Secret In Normandy  (Tigerlily Books)

About The Author

Liz Newman holds an MA in Clinical Psychology, and a BA in Mass Communications with a concentration in Broadcast Journalism. Liz Newman worked as an intern at KTVU Broadcasting Station in Oakland, California.  Liz has also worked as a crisis counselor, a community health counselor, and a staff psychologist at a local elementary school.  Liz also contributes anonymously to several texts published to assist children and teens struggling with social and domestic issues.
 

Several articles by Liz Newman have been featured in magazines and journals such as 
San Francisco Socialite, Spirit Song, Highlights,
and 
The Sacramento News and Review, Chic Mom Magazine, Under A Harvest Moon
, and
Our USA Magazine
.  

Several novels and novellas by Liz Newman have been contracted for publication by Breathless Press, Secret Cravings Publishing, Lycaon Press, and Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXstasy Books.  Her first novel, An Affinity for Shadows, made the Top 10 for Best Print/Electronic Romance Novel of 2011 in the Preditors and Editors Readers Poll.

Website: www.lizrnewman.net

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