Cross the Line: A Gabriella Cross Paranormal Romance Book 2 by M.J. Lovestone

to matters of the heart.” Valentine let out a sigh. “There are few who do. It is the price I must pay for my power.”
    Gabby wondered exactly what that power entailed. She wasn’t even sure if Valentine was human. Lore told that succubae were demons who had sex with men in their sleep to harvest their sperm, but Gabby had learned that lore and myth were often a compilation of half-truths, and sometimes completely off the mark.
    “You are curious about my kind?” said Valentine.
    “I am. You’re the first succubae I’ve ever met. It must be strange for you, how your power doesn’t work on me, I mean.”
    Valentine’s smile grew wide and beautiful. She bit the corner of her lower lip and stared deeply into Gabby’s eyes. “There are few who can resist my charms. It is refreshing when I meet one who can.”
    “You probably see me as a challenge,” said Gabby.
    “Your intrigue goes much farther than that, Gabriella. You hold such power, the power to nullify magic. It is exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.”
    “What happened the other night in the club? I don’t usually…”
    “You needn’t apologize to me. It was wonderful. You have so much passion inside of you, but you are afraid to let it out.”
    Gabby blushed and refilled their glasses. She didn’t know why she had mentioned the club, but she found herself less embarrassed than she had previously felt. Valentine had a calming quality that Gabby found refreshing. There was no judgement in her eyes, only adoration. She looked at Gabby as though she were irresistible.
    If Gabby didn’t know better, she would have thought that indeed Valentine had a power over her.
    Valentine put down her drink and slowly moved around the island to stand before her. She reached up to Gabby’s face, delicately moving a curly red lock to the side, and caressed her cheek.
    “You have so much passion, so much pain. You feel so alone, yet you are afraid to let anyone in.”
    Gabby stared into Valentine’s mystical blue eyes, which seemed to hold as much mystery and depth as the endless waters of the ocean. Valentine leaned in slowly, her blood-red lips only inches from Gabby’s.
    Her cell phone went off, and Gabby jumped. Valentine sighed and returned to her glass of whiskey.
    “Hello, hello,” said Gabby, realizing that she was breathing heavily.
    “Gabby, its Michael.”
    “How’s my father?” Gabby asked nervously. She thought that she had heard something in Michael’s voice, perhaps reluctance.
    “Nicholas is stable, though there have been some complications.”
    “What do you mean, complications?”
    “Gabby, the bullet that hit him, it wasn’t a normal round.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “It was poisonous,” said Michael. “It is nothing that any of my people have ever seen. We’ve removed the bullet, but the poison has left him in a coma.”
    Gabby fought back her emotions. “Will it kill him?” she asked, bracing herself with a hand to the counter.
    “I don’t know; it has left him in a kind of suspended animation. His condition is getting neither better nor worse.”
    “Can I do anything to help? Is there any magic to the poison?”
    “Unfortunately, no. Don’t worry, I’ve got some of the best in the field working on a cure.”
    “What am I supposed to do?” Gabby asked, feeling helpless.
    “There is nothing you can do right now.”
    “Jesus Christ,” said Gabby, pacing the kitchen. “I really screwed up this time.”
    Michael didn’t argue. “I promise I’ll find a way to save him,” he said.
    “Thank you, Michael. You’ve done so much for me, and I just keep on screwing up. Three of your men died because of me.”
    “My pack knows what they signed up for. We are all ready to make the ultimate sacrifice.”
    “That doesn’t change the fact that it was all my—”
    “You’ve got to stop this vendetta you’ve got against yourself. If I had been in your shoes I would have done the same