Til Death (Jane #5) Read Online Free Page A

nose and it felt swollen.
Father Bellini lay beside me, unmoving. His back was toward me and
I watched it closely, feeling the seconds crawl by as I prayed any
sign of life. After an eternity, his jacket moved almost
imperceptibly and I heard a shuddering breath.
    I closed my eyes in thanks and turned my
attention toward my captors. All three of them were looking in my
direction, but none of them would meet my eyes. Two were young,
barely turned, and each displayed their own set of nervous ticks.
The farthest from me was a dark-haired boy who couldn't have been
more than eighteen. His left index finger tapped rapidly against
the stock of his weapon until the man beside him growled and jabbed
him in the side.
    The boy closest to me may have been in his
mid-20s, but he couldn't have been a vampire for very long. His
cheeks were flushed as if he had just fed and I could see the stain
of blood on his dark shirt. He was biting the inside of his lip and
his eyes were darting back and forth between Bellini and I.
    The man sitting between them had a
professional feel to him. He had been through this before. He
stared at me, his eyes focused firmly on the bridge of my nose as
the fingers of one hand played along the stakes on his vest. Unlike
the others, the movement wasn't due to fear or apprehension. He was
very secure in his position and knew he had the upper hand. No, he
wasn't afraid. He was hoping I would make a wrong move so he could
whip out one of those stakes and plunge it into my heart. I
determined to disappoint him as best I could and settled my stare
on him, hoping to catch him off his guard the moment he met my
eyes.
    In the back of my mind, I tried to keep track
of how many turns we made, but after the fifteenth, I could no
longer remember which direction each had taken us and gave up. I
was still focused on the fierce man when the cloth at the front of
the van pulled aside and the mastermind in the black suit peered
through. I turned my attention to him, narrowing my eyes until I
could barely see through the rage swimming in my vision.
    The man smiled what would have been an
amicable smile in any other situation. "Oh, good. I was hoping you
were behaving yourself and hadn't just killed my best warrior. I
guess the rumors about you were untrue."
    I kept my lips pressed together and said
nothing, fighting to breath through the hatred that clenched my
chest. My hands were behind me and I dug my nails into the metal.
At the small tearing sounds, the man in the suit raised an eyebrow
and nodded in my direction.
    The only warning I had was when I saw the
stock of my captor's gun inches from my head. I attempted to duck,
but he was so close, I couldn't move in time. The impact sent me
sprawling and I nearly landed atop Father Bellini. The pain shot
through my skull and within moments, my vision was starting to
gray. I closed my eyes and focused on breathing and an image of
Felipe until it dulled to a deep throb.
    "Is she out?"
    I felt a hand on my neck and fought the urge
to bite it.
    "Yes."
    "Good. Keep her that way. The last thing we
need is for Felipe's woman to free herself before he can come for
her."
    The other man laughed. "The knight in shining
armor to the rescue. Too bad his fairy tale won't end with a
happily ever after."
    "Just make sure everything is ready when we
get back to the hold."
    "The sun will keep him away for awhile. We
have time."
    "Just be ready. He is a man who is quick to
anger, and we have his wife and best friend. Do not assume to judge
his actions before he has made them."
    A snort was followed by a long silence, then
the cloth dropped back into place. I could hear the two young
vampires blow out the breaths they had been holding and readjust
their positions. My head was pressed against Bellini's back and I
focused on the sound of his heart beat. It was slow, but steady,
and it became very soothing. I tuned into it, listening to the
thu-thump thu-thump as the van picked up speed. I could only