Ironic Sacrifice Read Online Free Page B

the floor.
    But Razvan was not so easily placated. His fingers grasped her chin and tilted her head to look up at him.
    “You were trying to escape.” His voice sounded amused, but frightening all the same.
    She nodded. There was no point in denying the obvious.
    “But I thought we had a bargain, Jayden.” His tone was now patient and gentle, like a parent with a recalcitrant child.
    “But you didn’t kill me.” A triumphant smile touched her lips and she met his eyes in challenge. “You’re the one who didn’t hold your end of the bargain first. So I guess the deal is off.”
    Surprised laughter echoed through the hallway. “That is indeed a good argument, but I’m afraid you’re wrong.”
    “How so?” she asked with a small frown. Her bravado was replaced by confusion.
    Again he laughed. “You should dress and eat first. Then I will explain.”
    She frowned. “I don’t have any clothes.”
    He held out a shopping bag, previously unnoticed. “You do now.”
    The vampire took her arm with his free hand as he steered her back into the room. “Come, let us see if one of these gowns does you justice.”
    As he opened the shopping bags and began pulling out impossibly expensive clothing, he said jovially, “By the way, that police officer who harassed you the other day… he made a delightful breakfast. His daughter will be safe now.”
    Jayden’s heart thudded in her skull. How had he known about the cop who’d stopped her yesterday? And about the terrible things he’d done?
    As inhuman as it may be, she couldn’t help but be relieved that the vampire had stopped him from harming anyone ever again.
    “Thanks,” she murmured.
    Razvan grinned and pulled two gowns from one of the shopping bags. “What do you think? The black or the green?”
    ***
    Jayden kept her eyes downcast as she nibbled on her dinner. Not only was it hard to eat in front of someone who wasn’t doing so, but with all that had happened between them, especially the things he’d done to her body, she was terrified to look at him. Razvan didn’t make things any easier. She’d hoped for immediate explanations but he refused to speak to her until she ate.
    “You are much too thin,” he’d stated with a baleful glare.
    The food was sumptuous, but she could barely choke it down. Her stomach felt like a cement mixer. Finally, with a curious stare at Razvan, the waitress took the plate away.
    “I have never been on the boardwalk, have you?” the vampire asked.
    She shook her head, eyes fixed to the lapels of his coat.
    “Well, let’s go.”
    He took her hand and led her outside. She shivered in the night air and buttoned her new fur coat…or faux fur anyway. She didn’t know whether he was being cheap or cared about animal rights. The man—vampire—whatever was the most puzzling being she’d ever met. Her heart pounded in anticipation of what he was going to do with her.
    “My youngling and good friend is Lord of this city,” Razvan commented. “Beautiful isn’t it?”
    She looked up and around. Everything was bathed in moonlight, from the smooth planks of the boardwalk, to the gentle lapping waters of the lake.
    “Yes.” Her voice sounded harsh and alien in the still night.
    He lapsed back into silence as he led her further down the path. She wondered if he’d brought her here, to a thin strip of wood surrounded by inky water, to further discourage her from escaping. A couple embraced on a bench nearby. A whisper of a vision struck her when she passed them. Quickly, she averted her eyes and willed her focus on the rippling water.
    “You saw something,” he stated, nodding towards the couple.
    It unnerved her that he could read her mind.
    “The man is married to another woman,” she replied.
    His brows rose. “You did not touch him to see that.”
    She rolled her eyes. “He’s reveling in his affair so much that I’m surprised the whole world doesn’t know.”
    He laughed. She trembled.
    “The point is, Jayden,