The Vampire's Release, A Paranormal Romance (Undead in Brown County #4) by S.J. Wright

and went to Vincent, determined to make him see that there was far more going on than he might have thought.  He didn’t flinch at my approach, but remained stony and thoroughly reserved.
    I looked at his perfectly manicured fingernails and expensive suit and hated him for his aloofness.  I hated him for the calm way he seemed to approach each problem.  I wondered what he might look like if he were truly rattled.
    “Elizabeth Grant and David Truman were two of the vampires in the caves at the farm.  Twenty-four hours ago, they woke up.  I gave them both some of my blood.   Right now, they could very well be giving their blood to the other vampires who were asleep on the property.”
    He closed his eyes briefly and then opened them.  “But they are contained.” There was no fear in his voice—only caution.
    I nodded.  “They may be.  Or Sarah’s sister may be releasing them right now.   The last time I saw her, she was a prisoner of my seer, my ex-lover and the first vampire to ever set foot on the property.”
    Vincent’s cool exterior revealed a little crack.  His lips became incredibly pale against the ivory of his ancient face a nd his mouth opened slightly in disbelief and shock.  
    “ William has returned,” I said.  “You may want to put Isaiah away for all he’s done.  You may want to have me destroyed as well.  But let me make something very plain to you.  The Council has a much more dangerous problem right now.  William is ten times the monster that Isaiah is.  You know that from personal experience.”
    “It can’t be true…” he protested weakly.
    “It is true.  He’s back from whatever hole he’s been hiding in for fifty years.  So unless you want a full-blown war on your han ds, I suggest you get a team out there that can lock things down.”
    “Is he still working for the Europeans?”
    I shook my head.  “Vincent, you have an international network of spies at your disposal.  You should already know the answer to that question.”
    He turned away and pulled out a cell phone.  I went back to the window and looked outside . 
    The snow was falling faster, creating a white wall of swirling flakes on the other side of the window, thirty stories above the street.   I pressed my fingertips to the glass and thought about Sarah.  The possibility of seeing her only one more time sent splinters of agony through my chest.  She was my beacon.  It was Sarah who guided me past moments when I might have reverted to the monster I had once been.  It was Sarah who had revealed to me the true gift that humans could still give to those of us doomed to walk the earth for the rest of eternity.   It was the simple gift of trust.  And that gift from her meant everything to me.  Everything.
    “Where is Sarah?” I asked him again.
    “Teddy’s townhouse,” he said quietly, holding one hand over the receiver of his cell phone.  When he turned away , he was already embroiled in another serious conversation with one of his lieutenants.
    I touched the window again, studied the frame of the window and then stepped back.
    Turning shortly, I nod ded my head at Vincent and then, with every ounce of black energy contained inside me, I slammed through the glass window.  The force of it was deafening , but there was no pain.   I was airborne for just a moment or two before I began falling at an incredible rate of speed.  
    The wind rushing past me almost seemed to be whispering her name.

 
    CHAPTER 17 – Sarah
     
    It was a dream.  It was a horrible, stupid dream.  But I woke up crying.
    Michael had been falling.  He had been falling from a very tall building, plummeting towards what could only be certain death.  The folds of his dark wool coat fluttered behind him in the wind, and they looked like broken wings beating uselessly . 
    Tears were still rolling down my cheeks.  The smooth sheet that had been covering me was bunched up in my fists.  My hands were shaking as if I were