Tempted by Rebecca Zanetti Read Free Book Online Page B

curiosity.
    “Both. Vampires have a main eye color and tributary colors that emerge when we’re emotional or stressed.”
    “Weird.”
    The door opened, and Conn loped to the dining room table, twirled a chair around and sat. “So. Let’s talk.” Dark green, almost metallic, eyes flashed.
    “You’re a vampire, too.” Sarah shoved back into the sofa, crossing her legs. Dignity—she needed class and dignity—then she’d stake them. That legend had to be correct. A wooden stake through the heart would kill them. Probably.
    “Yes. As is Jase, and our brother, Dage, who is also our king.” Conn nodded.
    “The king you’re trying to save.” She glanced at the table of weapons. No stake there. “I need a stake.”
    Conn shrugged. “Stakes don’t kill us.”
    Well, that figured. She sighed. “Where is Jase?”
    “Going through your records in the adjacent penthouse.” Max leaned forward. “Tell us about the night you saw the Kurjan, Sarah.”
    Chills swept down her back. She clasped her shaking hands together in her lap. While she didn’t want to discuss it, there was no reason to hide anything, especially since Jase was currently reading Dr. Robard’s reports. “Fine. I went to my brother’s office one night to ask him about the latest financial report from the Mercury lab. The head office is kept separate from the labs, and Andrew works there in downtown Seattle.”
    Sarah’s grandfather had raised her and Andrew when their mother had abandoned them. He left the majority of stock in the pharmaceutical research company to her, but Andrew ran the business as the CFO. She had always wanted to teach, and her grandfather had strongly encouraged her to follow her dreams. “The company will always be here, Bella,” he had said, his strong voice reassuring and safe.
    Memories flooded into Sarah, and she caressed the threaded embroidery on the couch, allowing the seamstress’s joy to comfort her. “I should’ve had Andrew removed years ago. But I felt sorry for him. He’d already been through hell when Grandpa took us in.” Max had been through hell as a kid, too. Yet he’d turned a bad childhood around, becoming a protector. Maybe she should’ve cut ties with Andrew years ago.
    She sighed. “The reports showed an outlandish amount of funding being allocated to research, and that didn’t make any sense. There were no protocols, no blind studies, nothing.” Her voice shook, and she coughed the nervousness out.
    Max reached over and placed a calloused hand over hers.
    For a brief moment, she allowed the warm strength to reassure her. “Well, that night I got to the top floor and heard noises from the smaller conference room. Figuring Andrew was inside, I headed that way.” She’d do almost anything to take that moment back. Just turn around and leave.
    “What did you see?” Max asked quietly.
    “Well, I turned a corner and ran smack into Lila Smythe, who was one of our marketing analysts.” A pretty redhead, the thirty-year-old had been with the company for nearly five years. The terror in her eyes as she grabbed Sarah would forever haunt her. “Lila was trying to get to the elevator very quietly. She shoved me and whispered we had to run.” So much fear had been in her terse voice Sarah hadn’t even questioned the woman. They’d run back to the elevator and pressed the DOWN button.
    Sarah took a deep breath. “Male voices rose, arguing, and one was yelling something about a virus and how the vampires had found a way to stop the catalyst. That he needed the new data. None of it made any sense to me. Andrew stormed out of the conference room followed by ...” Her voice trailed off as she hesitated. God. She knew what to call him now. “A Kurjan.”
    Max flipped her hand around, tangling their fingers. “What happened next, Sarah?”
    “We pounded on the elevator door.” They’d pounded so hard. “The door finally opened. Fast. He moved so fast.” In less than a second the Kurjan