Survive the Dawn by Kate Sweeney Read Free Book Online

overlooking the channel. The woods ended and Alex stood in a clearing. She gazed out at the sea and took a deep breath, filling her lungs with sea air. She smiled when she heard the sea birds calling, feeling relaxed and calm.
    She walked farther toward the cliff’s edge and heard the surf crashing below. For some reason, the hair on the back of her neck bristled, making her shiver uncontrollably.
    It was then she heard it, the low rustling in the woods. She whirled around and caught a glimpse of something, someone.
    “Shit!” She knew the only way back to the house was through the wooded path. Again, she saw something to the right.
    “Alex.”
    She whirled around again to see Sebastian standing at the cliff’s edge, her long leather coat billowing in the sea breeze.
    “Damn it, Sebastian. Don’t do that,” she said. “I think I saw something in the woods.”
    Sebastian stood next to her. “I know. I felt it…”
    Alex shot her a curious look. “Felt it? Felt what?” She was not at all sure she wanted to know.
    Sebastian glanced around the woods. “Something…”
    “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes?” Alex asked and walked over to Sebastian.
    “Let’s go before Macbeth shows up and you scare the hell out of yourself.”
    Alex wrapped her arm around Sebastian’s waist. “Don’t tell me you knew Shakespeare,” she warned.
    Sebastian raised an eyebrow but said nothing as they walked up the narrow path.
    They made their way back from the wooded path and heard nothing more as they walked up the gravel drive. “This is beautiful, Sebastian,” Alex said with a pensive sigh as she gazed at the twilight sky.
    “I remember buying this place. Gaylen thought it was perfect. It was secluded with no one to bother me, really. I made my trips to London and worked with Henry Windham.”
    Alex saw the contemplative gaze. “You were all alone.”
    Sebastian looked down into the concerned green eyes. “I had Leigh.”
    “So you were all alone,” Alex repeated dryly.
    “Leigh had her moments, well decades. I am a vampire, after all.”
    “You’re not alone anymore,” Alex said, pulling her sweater around her. “It’s chilly.”
    “Come inside,” Sebastian said in a seductive voice and opened her long leather coat. Alex easily slipped in and wrapped her arms around Sebastian’s muscular waist. She laid her head against her chest.
    Sebastian wrapped the coat around her. “Better?”
    “Perfect.”
    They stood there in the twilight, not saying much, just listening to the night birds calling in the distance.
    “I could stay here forever,” Alex whispered.
    “As could I, but I must see Gaylen tonight.”
    “Shall we have William bring the Rolls around?” Alex asked in a haughty tone and looked up into the smiling hazel eyes.
    Sebastian held her in a strong embrace. “I have a much better idea,” she whispered. “Close your eyes.”
    Alex closed them, and suddenly, she felt a pulling sensation in her stomach so strong, she nearly cried out. This was followed by a tremendous buzzing in her ears; she felt light-headed and at the same time, weightless as if she were floating. She tried to call out, but her breath caught in her throat, so she held on tight to Sebastian.
    Just as quickly as that, it stopped. She convulsively sucked in air and opened her eyes. Sebastian was looking at her with an odd smile on her face.
    “Enjoy the ride?” Sebastian asked and stepped back.
    Alex teetered for a moment as her legs shook. She rubbed her forehead and looked at her surroundings. “W-where are we?” she asked in a shaky voice.
    They were standing on a large stone porch, but it wasn’t Sebastian’s house. Alex looked in all directions, her gaze settling on the grinning vampire. “Okay, wiseass, where are we?”
    Sebastian reached over and rang the ornate doorbell. In a moment, the heavy door opened and a young, very handsome man answered.
    “Hello, Nigel,” Sebastian said.
    Nigel