It was Declan who’d kidnapped me, kicking and screaming, from my normal life two weeks ago. It may as well have been two years by how different I felt and looked. It was the Nightshade formula I’d been injected with that had changed my hair and eyes to black. It was the Nightshade that meant any vampire who drank my blood would die a horrible, fiery death.
Declan stopped a dozen feet away and glanced over his shoulder at me. “Are you coming?”
When I moved closer to him he turned his face away so the scarred side would stay in shadows, away from the light shining down on us from the streetlamp. The undamaged side of his face showed the man he could have been in a different life—a handsome, if a bit rough around the edges twenty-eight-year-old. Same age as me. Very different lives.
I wanted to touch him, but I restrained myself. “Don’t hide from me.”
“I’m not hiding.”
“You asked me how I was feeling, so now I’ll do the same. How are you feeling right now?”
His jaw tensed. “I’m fine.”
“The new serum is—”
“Holding strong. Much better than before.”
Better. It wasn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe the experimental drug he’d been pumped full of more than a week ago.
His now-deceased adoptive father, Carson Reyes, had been very concerned about Declan’s dhampyr nature. So much so that he’d developed a special serum that had to be injected every three hours since Declan was a child. This serum was meant to curb any vampiric tendencies he might have—violence, bloodlust, erratic behavior of any kind. The serum also restrained his emotions so much that he appeared to have none. This made him the perfect weapon who could follow orders to the letter and not give his father or anyone else any problems. He’d been an effective killing machine who felt nothing apart from getting the job done.
Shortly after he’d met me he’d been forced to stop taking his serum regularly when it was stolen. I’d been worried that the violence and need for blood might overwhelm him, but it hadn’t. Instead I’d met a different Declan, one who felt emotions strongly and wanted more from life than merely being a blunt instrument sent out to kill monsters.
Carson was still convinced he was right, that dhampyrs like Declan were dangerous and unpredictable. He’d been developing another serum—one that was meant to be permanent. He’d forcibly injected Declan with it hoping it would save his son from giving in to any bloodlust. Ever. But that also meant that his emotions—including love, compassion, and sexual desire—would be permanently dampened.
I needed answers. “I’m going to check the bar one last time.”
Declan shook his head. “Not a good idea.”
I felt the resolve flow through me. It helped me to ignore the stinging pain from the vampire’s bite. “Five minutes, I swear. Wait for me here.”
“Jill, no—”
Before he could stop me, I turned and quickly re-entered the dark and musty interior of Ravenous. Keeping a close eye on my surroundings, wary of anyone who looked suspicious—and admittedly, a lot of people did—I made a beeline to the bar where I’d been sitting earlier. The newspaper I’d been flipping through still lay closed on the scarred wooden bar top. On the top of page twenty-two I’d seen a small black-and-white picture of me and a heartfelt plea from Cathy, my older sister, asking anyone who knew my whereabouts to please contact the police immediately.
I forced myself to look away from the newspaper and toward the bartender.
“Have you seen a guy in here tonight?” My words came out in a rush. “Early twenties, about five-ten, sort of thin. Light brown hair. Looks a bit like a frat boy?”
He eyed me as he ran a wet rag along the countertop. “Not a lot of frat boys come in here.”
“No shit.” I hissed out a sigh of frustration.
“But, yeah, I think I’ve seen the guy you’re looking for.”
My breath caught in my chest. “Really? Where?”
His gaze moved over my shoulder. “Right behind you.”
I spun around to see Noah standing ten feet away after coming out of the restroom on the right side of the club.
A wide smile spread across his boyish features, and he closed the distance between us in a few steps. “Jill, I wasn’t sure if you were here or not.”
I hadn’t realized until this very moment how incredibly worried I’d been that he was hurt ... or worse. The last time I’d seen him he’d been recovering from a bullet wound.
“Where the hell were you? You said you’d be here over a half hour ago.”
His smile widened. “Good to see you, too.”
I hugged him tightly. “I thought you were dead.”
“I’m not. But, ouch. Be careful. I’m still recuperating.”
“Sorry.” I released him and he placed a hand over his chest wound hidden under his dark blue shirt.
“Don’t worry about it. But if this was a normal world I’d likely still be in a hospital bed slurping up Jell-O cubes.” His amiable expression faded and he touched my face. “Christ, you look like hell.”
I’d have taken it as an insult if he didn’t look so concerned. “I feel better than I look, believe it or not.”
“You’re paler than last time I saw you. Maybe it’s just the new hair color. I mean, don’t get me wrong. You’re still hot. You’re a hot chick who looks like she hasn’t slept in about a decade.”
“I’ll go heavier on the under-eye concealer the next time I enter polite society.”
“Are you in any pain?”
Having poison in my veins came with a whole set of issues, a couple of which were excruciating pain and nausea. I’d been given another drug, a fusing potion, meant to bind the Nightshade with my blood on a cellular level. Since then, things had been better.
“Other than feeling headachy and weary, kind of like a constant low-level hangover, I haven’t experienced any severe pain since taking the fuser.”
“Not yet, you mean.”
I cringed. “Thanks for the reminder.”
“I got more fuser for you so you can take it regularly. I know it doesn’t exactly go down easily, does it?”
“It sure doesn’t.”
The fuser ramped up the pain I felt about a hundredfold before it started to work. As the saying went, it was always darkest just before the dawn.
“A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down,” he said.
“Thank you, Mary Poppins. If I didn’t have to inject it, I’d be happy to swallow a bucket of sugar with it.” I reached for his sleeve to draw him closer when some other rough-looking bar patrons moved past us. “Is that what you wanted to see me about tonight? The fusing potion? I thought you might have some other answers.”
His expression tensed. “Not yet, I’m afraid.”
I felt a stab of disappointment at his answer. “Oh.”
“Where’s Declan?”
“Waiting vigilantly outside. Armed to the teeth.”
“That’s surprisingly reassuring to know.” He glanced at my neck as I twisted a lock of hair around my finger. “Making new friends?”
I touched the fresh fang marks. Luckily for a newly designated pin cushion like myself, a vampire’s bite healed in a matter of a few days leaving no scars behind. It was small comfort since they stung like a bitch. “You kept me waiting too long. I met a couple guys who liked the way I smelled.”
He grimaced. “Sorry. I take it they’re gone now?”
“Permanently.” I glanced around. “Now that you’re here, I do want to talk to you about Declan’s new serum.”
Noah looked nervously over his shoulder. “Yeah, sure. But ... listen, Jill, there actually is another reason why I needed to see you tonight. And it’s not because I enjoy the dulcet tones of Black Sabbath and the smell of sweaty leather.”
“What is it?”
Noah shot another look over his shoulder. “Jesus, Jill, when he contacted me yesterday it scared the shit out of me. It was the last damn thing I expec
ted. He wants to see you, but he didn’t want me to mention that until you got here.”
My heart sped up. “Who?”
Noah met my gaze and held it. “Matthias.”
There was a long moment of stunned silence before I gathered my thoughts together enough to answer him. “He—he’s alive?”
Noah nodded.
Fresh panic raced through me. “And he’s here? Right now?”
“In the flesh.”
I had the sudden urge to turn and run, to escape this bar as fast as my feet could carry me. But my legs felt like lead.
Matthias was alive. It couldn’t be possible. It shouldn’t be possible.
I turned as if in slow motion to see the vampire king in question step out of the shadows to my left, his pale gray gaze trained on me. My mouth fell open in shock. I couldn’t help but be stunned to see him again—alive and well and standing right in front of me.
After all, I’d been the one who’d killed him.
Berkley Sensation titles by Michelle Rowen
THE DEMON IN ME
SOMETHING WICKED
NIGHTSHADE
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Teaser chapter
Nightshade Page 29