Blood Debt by Tanya Huff Read Free Book Online Page A

driven off with a sleeping vampire moments before sunset.
    When she noticed him fumbling with the door latch, she grabbed his arm. “Not so fast,” she murmured, the threat softened but still there. “What’s your name?”
    â€œK-Kyle.”
    He was really quite attractive in an unshaven, outlaw sort of way. Slender but with nice muscles. Pretty blue eyes. Her gaze locked on the pulse in his throat. “How old are you, Kyle?”
    â€œT-twenty-two.”
    Old enough. She let the Hunger rise.
    Kyle saw her smile change. Almost understood it. Her face was very pale. Her teeth, very white.
    â€œActually, I think young Kyle’s decided to give up stealing cars.”
    â€œOh?” Celluci grinned at her profile, just barely visible in the pale green glow from the dashboard lights. “What makes you say that?”
    â€œWell, I think he came to the decision when I pointed out how lucky he’d been.”
    â€œLucky?”
    â€œSure. When he took this van, all he got was me.” Vicki turned to face her companion, allowing the van to speed down the highway momentarily unguided. Her eyes gleamed, and her voice made promises for later. “I merely reminded him that another time, he might drive off with something . . . dangerous.”
    Sunrise the next morning was at 4:56, Pacific Time. At 4:30, Vicki pulled over onto a deserted scenic view and stopped the van. Driving west through the Rockies, she’d gained an hour of night. Since they’d left home, she’d gained three, but this would be the last. They’d crossed into British Columbia during the night and would reach Vancouver before evening. From now on, sunrise and sunset would occur in the same time zone.
    Twisting around in the driver’s seat, she stared into the shadows of her sanctuary. Celluci refused to sleep with the front partition up and she supposed she couldn’t blame him although the song of his blood behind her was a constant distraction. Considering the demands of the road as it passed through two national parks and crossed most of a mountain range, it was fortunate that, having fed deeply from young Kyle, she’d been able to keep most of her attention on her driving.
    Sleep smoothed out the lines and shadows layered onto his face by fifteen years of police work and he looked much younger than his thirty-eight years.
    Thirty-eight.
    He had a scattering of gray hair at his right temple.
    How many years were they going to have? Fifty? Forty? And what was she going to do for the rest of eternity without him? Facing immortality, she found herself mourning his inevitable death while he continued to live. Henry had warned her about falling into that kind of fatalistic despair, but it was a hard warning to remember while listening to a mortal heartbeat pounding out its few remaining years.
    Oh, for God’s sake, Vicki, get a grip
! Leaning forward, she grabbed Celluci’s shoulder and shook him hard.
    â€œWha . . .!”
    â€œSunrise in twenty minutes, Mike. I’ll leave you alone to put your face on.” Getting out of the van, she walked over to the railing and stared up at the Rockies. Rising in majestic silhouettes against the gray, predawn sky, they looked so definitively like mountains they almost looked fake.
    Now this is immortality
, Vicki acknowledged.
Next to these hunks of rock, I’m just going to live a little longer than average.
She heard Mike walk around from the other side of the van and said, “I left a message on Henry’s machine when I stopped for gas. He knows we’ll get to his place today.”
    â€œYeah? Will he still be there?”
    Eyes narrowed, she pivoted on one heel. “Why wouldn’t he be?”
    â€œOh, I don’t know. Perhaps
he’s
willing to recognize his limitations.” Three nights on the road, had left Celluci tired and stiff and not all the glories of a spring dawn in the midst of some of