Rises The Night (The Gardella Vampire Hunters 2)

ed as Max tried to whirl and spin away from the vampire who leaped at him…saw him falter, then pull to his feet.

He looked at her again, his face a mask of anger and determination.

She had to leave.

But she couldn’t make her feet move.

Despite what he’d done…she couldn’t leave him. He was a Venator. She couldn’t leave him to die.

She couldn’t make that sacrifice…another sacrifice.

She needed him.

With Aunt Eustacia gone, she needed Max. Someone she could trust.

Victoria jerked from Sebastian’s grip, staggering a step forward at the sudden release, then losing her balance and tumbling to the stage floor. On her knees for a brief moment, she noticed something glinting under the curtain. Reaching to retrieve it, she pulled it from under the heavy velvet and realized what she was holding.

It was a shard from Akvan’s Obelisk. Its diameter was no more than the width of two fingers, and its length less than that of her forearm: the size of a stake. She smelled the evil, felt it sizzle when she picked it up and kept it as she backed out from under the table. Energy zinged along her arm.

She used the curtain to pull to her feet, and looked back over the stage. Max was still there, but he was weakening, and distracted by looking at her to make sure she was leaving.

She had to go.

She had to put aside her own feelings and sacrifice.

“Victoria!” Sebastian was grabbing at the wrist of the hand that held the shard, and this time, with one last glance back at Max, she let him drag her off.

“What are you doing with that?” he said over his shoulder as they dashed off.

“I’ll take it to Wayren,” Victoria replied, pulling her hand away from his grip.

They ran through the theater, now without the vampires behind them. The sounds of violence still raged and echoed in the half-burned building.

Sebastian stopped at the door that led outside. “I must go back.”

“What? What’s going on?”

“It’s Regalado. He’s fighting to win the leadership of the vampires. I cannot leave my grandfather to face him alone. You’re safe. The sun has risen, and you must go.”

Before she could protest further, he pushed her up against the wall, his fingers clamping her shoulders through the thin fabric of her tunic. His mouth descended to hers, hungry and warm, apology and desire and farewell all mixed in with sensual lips and a strong, slick tongue.

She kissed him back for a moment, her breath rushing between them; then she tugged her mouth away. “But you don’t kill vampires.”

“I know. But even I have some honor.” He kissed her again, fitting his mouth back to hers, then closed his eyes and tipped his forehead to hers. Drew in a deep breath. “Be safe. Now go.”

He shoved her out the door, slamming it closed behind her.

The sky was pink and orange, just the way she’d hoped it would have been hours before. She blinked in the bright light and turned to look back.

She wanted to go in. God, she wanted to go back in there.

But she’d done the right thing.

For all she knew…Max was dead by now.

And she hoped Sebastian would not soon follow.

Yet, she could not leave. She couldn’t just walk away, find a hack, and go back to the villa.