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I strode down the hallway to the dimly lit study. The metronome clicked rhythmically atop the piano. I wanted to rip the ticker from its perch and hurl it across the room.
Otto sat on the loveseat, wearing a pair of over-ear headphones. Sensing a disturbance in his sanctuary, he removed the headphones. “Heidi, is that you?”
I had no desire to speak. I crossed the room, planted myself on the piano bench, and began to play.
There was no conscious decision involved. The emotions simply spilled straight from my heart to my nimble fingers. The sound of Rachmaninov’s ‘Piano Concerto No. 2’ embraced me like a long-lost child, which arguably I was.
And now I’d been found.
Memories crashed around me as I immersed myself in the music. My grandmother’s piano lessons. Pops and I sparring in the woods. Mythology. History. Tracking. And hiding, always hiding.
They knew.
They had always known.
I only made it through the first movement. Shaking, my hands withdrew from the keys. I’d just laid bare my soul. I felt exposed and vulnerable. Another listener might not recognize the enormity of this moment, but Otto would.
“Astounding,” the vampire said quietly. “A solo piano arrangement like this… A true masterpiece. Thank you for sharing your tremendous gift with me, Lorelei.”
My face grew hot, and I fled the study without a word. I nearly collided with Heidi, who was returning to the study with a folded wool blanket.
I kept running.
Heart pounding, I exited the house and sprinted to the woods where I’d left my motorcycle. Fire burned in the pit of my stomach. If I crossed paths with a scout or a druid en route, they would deeply regret the encounter. I turned the motorcycle northwest and sped toward the only place I wanted to be right now.
I was strung as tight as a bow by the time I arrived at the Devil’s Playground. One quick glimpse in the motorcycle’s mirror revealed a wild-haired woman with even wilder eyes. I barely recognized myself.
I blew past Larry at the door without exchanging our usual pleasantries and strode through the entrance. Josie stood at the bar, stroking the chimera, and speaking to her in a soothing tone. When the vampire spotted me, she snatched her hand away, as though embarrassed to be caught during a vulnerable moment.
Same, girl.
“Where is he?” I asked. My voice sounded raw.
Josie seemed to sense my state of mind because there was no snarky reply. No refusal to answer. She simply angled her head toward the private door that led to his underground bachelor pad.
A wall stood between us. No more barriers.
I practically tore the door of its hinges in my desperation to reach him.
I’d never needed anyone before, or if I had, I refused to acknowledge it.
Until now.
Desire didn’t simply pulse through me; it crashed over me like a tidal wave, threatening to pull me under.
Thank the gods my buoy was near.
Blood surged through my veins like a river during a storm. By the time I arrived at the interior door, it stood open, and I was met with Kane’s glistening chest. Despite his buckled trousers, his damp hair suggested he was fresh out of the shower. A memory surfaced of our close encounter on my dining room floor, when we believed we were under the influence of a lustful goat.
“Josephine rang…” He noticed my disheveled appearance. “Lorelei, what is it?”
I reached for him.
My hands made contact first, quickly followed by my lips. Strong arms lifted me. The wall supported my back as he pinned my body against it.
“Dare I ask what brought this on?”
“Later. I promise.” I gazed at him from beneath a curtain of lashes. “Would you still rather have me lying down?”
