When Sarah Solomon took refuge in an old cottage in the woods, she knew it would only be a matter of time before the monsters came a' calling.
Cursed with a power she neither wants, nor knows how to harness, Sarah has become a target, but who is he...
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I whirled around. The edge of the basin dug into the base of my spine.
'Sébastien...' I stammered. 'H-how...'
I glanced at the door. Maz would be back any second. Wouldn't she?
Sébastien smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. 'Paris is my city, remember, chérie? I can go where I like, whenever I like.' Reaching out, he snagged a lock of my hair and wound it slowly around his forefinger, brushing over it with the pad of his thumb. 'I was upset to know you had left without saying goodbye. In France, we thank our hosts before departing. It is only polite, no?'
I gripped the basins either side of me, as if they'd crumble under my touch and allow me some distance between myself and the vampire. But there was to be no distance. No escape. Sébastien cocked his head sharply, his gaze darting to my injured hand. Blood smeared the white porcelain.
'Oh, but chérie, you are hurt.' He grabbed my hand, ignoring my resistance as I tried to pull it out of his grasp, and opened my palm, studying the wound with feigned concern. 'Mon Dieu. This looks painful. How ever did you do this?'
With his eyes locked with mine, he raised my hand to his face, inhaling, before pressing his open mouth against my palm. I could feel the heavy heat of his breath, and then the wet, warmth of his tongue as he gently, slowly, slicked it over the open cut.
The tremor of my terrified gasp cut through the silence in the bathroom, punctuated only by the drip-drip-drip of a leaking tap.
I attempted to push him off with my other hand, but he deftly caught it and pressed it back down on the basin, covering it with his own. He made a shushing sound and sucked on his lower lip as if my blood still lingered there, uttering a soft, satisfied groan.
'Your blood is sweet, chérie. You would be most in demand at my club. Most in demand indeed. I would have a list of clientele as long as the Seine, queuing up to taste you.' His eyes swept over my face, drinking in my fear. 'Although, I confess, it would be difficult to give you up. I am something of a jealous creature. I think I would want to be the only one to enjoy you.'
'Sébastien, please...'
His eyes lit up; his lips parted. 'Ah, chérie, to hear you say that word! If only things were different. I would hear you say that word to me every night for an eternity, but alors, we cannot change events, no? Such a pity.'
'I can explain. I never meant to...'
'To kill Celeste?' He made a clucking sound with his tongue, dismissing my words. 'I think maybe, in that moment, you did, Sarah. You did mean to. It was the only way, no? Kill or be killed. That is the way of our two kinds. An unavoidable certainty.'
'She attacked me,' I said, firmer this time, even if my whole body continued to betray me by trembling. 'I had no choice. I did nothing, Sébastien. She saw me in the street and cornered me. What else was I meant to do? Give her my throat to rip out?'
