Wanted: A Blood Courtesans Novel by Michelle Fox, Kristen Strassel Page B

swallowed my scream when he smoothed my matted hair away from my face. “As long as we live, it’s something we know we can never have, unless we meet the final death. It’s the one thing that gives me comfort when I lose a friend.”
    Something flashed in his eyes that cut way deeper than losing Sabrina. “Is that what happened to Alexandra?”
    “I wish I could say so.” Emotion frayed the edge of each word. “Then her death would’ve have come quickly. She was captured by the Nazis before the Second World War. I did everything I could to rescue her, but all I had to track her with was her thoughts. We also shared that bond. They denied her blood and performed experiments on her. She went mad as I searched for her, then her information became too unreliable. Eventually, it stopped coming.”
    He bowed his head, like he did when he said goodbye to Sabrina. I put my hand over his heart, wishing I could feel it beat. “I’m so sorry.”
    Nash nodded. I couldn’t see his eyes, his hair cast them in dark shadows. “Being in there with Sabrina, hoping there was some way to save her when I knew we didn’t have a chance, and praying by some miracle I could make it better, I realized how my mistakes could destroy the coven. I could’ve lost you to Oscar, after you put all your trust in me. If he could turn you against me, what about the rest of the coven? He’s been waiting for an opportunity to come back to the council and take my place. After losing Alexandra, I stopped caring what happened to me. But I have to protect those who put their faith in me. Especially you. I had no business bringing you to the forest tonight. It was too much of a risk.”
    Pain had replaced his anger when he met my gaze. “I wish I could make it better for you.” I shook my head, my own pain overflowing. “It makes me think of my little sister, who can’t possibly understand why I haven’t come home, when my face is all over TV and the police are looking for me. She’s mourning a loss that hasn’t happened. I wish I could tell her that I’m okay. I bet Alexandra would’ve done the same thing for you if she could have, just to make your suffering go away. It must’ve brought back all those feelings, seeing Sierra tonight. Knowing that she’s got to go through that alone. You won’t ever have to go through that again.”
    Everyone in the coven looked to Nash for guidance without regard for how much he’d lost. All of their losses resonated with him because he was the one they expected to make it better. Nash needed someone to lean on, too.
    Nash crashed against my lips in a kiss. He needed every single thing I had to give him, and I was thankful for the chance to help someone heal instead of breaking them all over again. We were opposites—a man of God and a child of the devil, an immortal and a girl whose days on earth were numbered—that came together in darkness to complete one another.
    Where that path led us, I had no idea.
    I gasped for air when the kiss was over. Nash traced his finger along my bottom lip, slipping it into my open mouth. I was too stunned to react.
    “It reminded me of what drew me to you in the first place,” he said softly. “Your power. The raw, untamed energy that flows from you. It’s unfair for me to punish you for the very reason I kept you here. And even more so when you have no idea how to defend yourself from a vampire attack.”
    “Half the time I’m not sure if what I see in my head is really happening until someone else sees it, too.” Something else I’d never told anyone. I would’ve been committed for sure. But now wasn’t the time for secrets. If I’d only asked Sabrina if she saw the police flashlights, heard their barking dogs…
    “You cared for Sabrina. Desiree was exasperated when you amended my contract to include people who helped you that first night. I angered her even more when I signed it without countering your offer, or offering you less money. I knew I’d made