Page 59 of Let Sleeping Vampires Lie

“I feel very hot, actually,” I replied. “In all the wrong ways.”

She tried to smirk. “You overdid it.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.”

Raven turned her gaze to Con. “Take her to her suite. Get her settled. She will be pissed if she drops in the hallway.”

“I don’t drop,” I said.

“You will,” Raven replied. “And he’ll pretend not to be terrified, but he’ll be terrible at it.”

Con snorted. “With pleasure,” he said, answering Raven’s request.

The words were simple. The look he gave me was not.

I opened my mouth to argue, then the floor pitched very gently under my feet. Just once. Enough to make my stomach flip.

Maybe walking alone wasn’t the best idea.

“Fine,” I said. “Escort service accepted.”

Raven’s eyes softened. “Try not to die before the auction. It would ruin the aesthetic.”

“Sleep,” I told her.

She squeezed my hand once in farewell and then turned back to Rene, eyes closing as she rested her forehead against his shoulder.

Con’s hand settled lightly on my back as we left the room. Not pushing. Just there.

The hallway felt longer this time. Each step I took, the warmth inside me climbed another degree. My skin felt tight, like my body was trying to contain energy it couldn’t quite handle. Heat prickled along my spine, then down my arms, like someone running a line of fire beneath the surface.

“You’re radiating,” Con said quietly.

“I thought vampires were supposed to be cold,” I replied.

“You’re not cold.”

My suite’s door appeared ahead at last, a blessedly familiar shape. I reached for the handle, but my fingers didn’t quite cooperate. They felt clumsy, thick. Con’s hand came around mine, steady and sure, turning the knob and easing the door open.

We stepped inside.

The room dimmed automatically, soft lighting illuminating the bed, the dresser, the worn chair in the corner where I’d spent far too many nights cleaning weapons instead of sleeping.

My vision swam again. I blinked hard, trying to clear it.

“I’m fine,” I started.

Then the room tilted.

The floor lurched up toward me in a slow, dreamlike pitch.

Strong arms caught me before I hit it.

Con swore under his breath, the word edged with a fear he probably thought I wouldn’t hear.

“Cass.”

“I’ve had worse,” I managed.