“Is he forcing you against your will?”
He shook his head. “He offered me immortality.”
Immortality? Gabriel’s heart skipped a beat. Luther was planning to create a new vampire?
“You don’t know Luther. What makes you think he’ll keep his promise to you once you’ve done for him what he wants?” Gabriel shook his head.
“He’ll keep his word. I know he will.” Gabriel was surprised at Paul’s firm belief. There was no reason, unless …
“Why are you so sure?”
“He did it for the others.”
Gabriel’s breath hitched. This couldn’t be happening. Ever since Luther had turned against them they’d wondered what he would do, but creating new vampires to build his own army? Was that his plan? Had he gone completely crazy?
“The whole story. Talk fast or—” he turned to point to Zane, “—I’ll let him continue.”
Twenty-three
Nina jerked and was awake instantly. It was dark. Only a small nightlight from the open bathroom door illuminated the bedroom. The mattress moved, the person next to her thrashing violently—Amaury. His screams had woken her.
Nina reached for the nightstand to find a switch for the lamp, knocking a book off of it in the process. The small lamp spread a soft glow over the room.
Her gaze turned back to Amaury who continued thrashing, having already tossed the blanket off his body. Sweat beaded his naked body. He mumbled in French, a language she didn’t speak, his head whipping from side to side.
It was evident he was in the middle of a violent nightmare. She hadn’t even known vampires could dream, let alone have nightmares. Nina placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to wake him.
A loud snarl ripped from his throat, making her jolt back instantly. She saw his fangs protrude from his mouth.
“Amaury, wake up!”
He didn’t seem to hear her, but continued to twist. It appeared to get worse by the minute. She had to wake him up no matter what. She was fully aware of her own naked body, and for a moment it made her feel vulnerable.
Nina swung herself over him, straddling him and in the same moment held down his arms. But even in his sleep he was strong.
“Amaury, you need to wake up. Please.”
She pressed her full weight down on him, when a growl filled the room. His eyes flew open, glaring red at her. Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to pull back from him. But in a split second he’d flipped her and pinned her underneath him, flashing his sharp fangs at her, snarling like a beast. She’d never seen anybody more frightening in her life.
“AMAURY,” she screamed, his face only inches from her. “It’s me, Nina. Please, stop!”
As quickly as he’d attacked her, he let go and pulled back, dropping back onto his knees. She pulled her legs up and scrambled backwards to brace herself against the headboard.
Amaury looked stunned and confused, breathing hard. “What happened?”
When she stared at his face again, his eyes had gone back to their brilliant blue, and his fangs had receded. “You had a nightmare.”
He averted his eyes. “Oh, God, I’m sorry. I should have never made you stay.” He looked back at her. “Did I hurt you?”
His eyes ran over her body, seemingly looking for any signs of injury.
“No. It’s fine.” Only her heart was still beating violently.
He shook his head. “No, it’s not. I put you in danger. I could have maimed you or worse. I’ll go and sleep on the couch. Lock the door behind me.”
Amaury lifted himself up, but she took hold of his arm, making him stop in mid-movement. His gaze first fell to her hand then rose to her face.
“Stay,” she said.
There was a sad look in his eyes. “Nina, I don’t want to endanger you. If I’d known this would happen, I would have asked you to lock yourself in here in the first place.”
Nina pulled herself closer to him. “It wasn’t your fault. Please, come back to bed. I feel cold without you.”
She ran her other hand up his chest. She felt a strange sense of protectiveness toward him. Protectiveness toward a vampire? “Hold me and tell me about your nightmare. I know a lot about nightmares. You shouldn’t be alone right now.” Her own nightmares had always frightened her, and being alone after she’d woken up in the middle of the night had frightened her even more. Why would it be any different for a vampire?
Amaury’s reluctance to come back to bed was evident, but nevertheless he let himself be pulled back. She molded her body against his warm skin.