Chapter 9: Intruder

I walked up the stairs to my apartment, every step a struggle. I was exhausted and now I felt like I had been beaten within an inch of my life. Which, when I thought about it, I kind of had. Every muscle in my body hurt and my left arm throbbed with every step. All I could think about was the frozen pizza in my freezer and the bottle of wine sitting on my counter. It was all that was getting me through this disaster of a day.

Luckily, I had managed to catch a shower at the agency, not wanting to scare my neighbors by showing up covered in blood. I had bandaged my arm, which would take at least a few days to heal. I may have some vampire blood running through my veins, but never enough to heal as fast as they do.

I unlocked my front door and walked inside, sighing in relief as I shut the door behind me. I had a loft in one of the apartment buildings downtown and I loved it more than anything in my life. It was the first place that was truly mine. I bought it when I was twenty and finally got out of Bobby's house. It became my sanctuary. I hated tall buildings, but man did I love my loft. Did that make me a hypocrite? Yes. Did I care? No.

It was perfect for me, with its wooden floors and exposed brick walls. There were large bay windows off the living room, giving me a perfect view of downtown New Haven. The living room led into the small kitchen and dinette and right behind the dinette was a spiral staircase leading up to my bedroom and bathroom.

I crossed the living room, bypassing the comfortable-looking couch to preheat the oven when I stopped cold. I felt a jolt of electricity rush down my spine. Not again, I thought. I slowly turned around the room, looking for any sign of a vampire, but saw nothing.

There was no way for one to have gotten in. No, not because of the myth that they had to be invited. That was made up by people hoping to reassure themselves that they were safe. If they were that safe, I would be out of a job. But getting into my apartment was nearly impossible. Every inch of it was locked down; even the windows, which they couldn't even access if they tried.

Still, the feeling was there, which could only mean one thing: a vampire had managed to slip into my loft. A cold fury threatened to consume me. This was my safe place; a place where I never had to worry about anyone judging me for my bloodline or glaring at me every time I was in their general vicinity. This was the place where I didn't even have to think about vampires until I got the dreaded call in the middle of the night.

The fact that one of them might have slipped in made me feel sick to my stomach. And which one could it have been? My blood ran cold at the thought of Richard showing up again for round two. Then I decided that it was just what the doctor ordered. My arm may still hurt, but I wouldn't turn down putting that creep in his place.

I grabbed a stake from my hiding place under the couch and slowly made my way through the living room and into the kitchen, even stopping to check the pantry. Nothing. And yet, the electricity kept zinging up and down my spine, like my own personal little vampire tracker. If this kept up, it could end up being plain handy.

I checked the dinette and the bathroom. Still nothing. Finally, I slowly crept to the stairs and slowly ascended, trying to keep as quiet as possible. My heart was beating so loud, I could hear it in my own ears though, so chances are the vamp knew very well where I was heading. Not very conducent for sneaking up on him, but short of making my heart stop beating completely, I didn't see what choice I had.

I cleared the landing and looked around the small space. There hadn't been much room up here aside from a queen size bed and dresser. Unless the vampire managed to fit himself into a dresser drawer, there was nowhere for him to hide. And yet, my vamp senses were going haywire.

This made no sense. Maybe I was just losing it. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility; it was bound to happen at some point with all the dead bodies I had to look at on the daily. I shrugged and headed back down the stairs. I had wasted enough time on this foolishness.

I had the oven preheating and was pouring my glass of wine when the feeling of electricity went from a dull buzz to a shock up and down my back. I gasped in surprise, just as I heard someone step into the kitchen.

"Hello, darling," a familiar deep baritone said.

I sighed as I felt a jolt of excitement at the sound of that voice. Wrong reaction, I chastised myself. I grabbed my stake off the counter and threw it for all I was worth, never happier that I was right-handed than I was at that moment. The throw would have been next to impossible with my left arm.

I watched with satisfaction as the stake bounced off the brick wall mere inches away from his face. Ezra looked at me, eyes wide in astonishment.

"Now, really, little mouse. Was that necessary?"

I rolled my eyes. "What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, taking a deep drink of my wine. I had the feeling that I was going to need it. "And how did you get into my loft?"

"You left the door unlocked," he said simply, leaning against the wall as if we were friends having a chat and not mortal enemies on opposite sides.

I sighed, mentally smacking myself in the head. Some secret agent I was. Can't even manage to lock my own damn door.

"That still doesn't answer the question of what you're doing here."

"I told you we'd speak again," he said simply, looking at me with a crooked smile. His bright blue eyes danced in amusement. This seemed to be a common expression for him when he was dealing with me. Just what was so funny? Definitely something to consider in the future.

"So speak. You broke in here tonight. It must be something important."

"You're not being very nice to me, as a guest in your home," he said, not looking the least bit offended. I rolled my eyes and took another gulp of the wine.

"I told you before, I'm not a nice person."

His smile widened as he looked me up and down slowly as if savoring it.

"I don't know about that. I think you can be very, very nice." His voice was smooth as silk and I shivered at the words, remembering the feeling of him pressed up against me. He noticed the shiver and his smile turned predatory. I slammed the rest of my wine as he slowly advanced on me, like a hunter spotting his prey.

"Now, Emily," he said, his voice low. "What were you just thinking about?"

"Nothing," I gasped out, backing away from him and jumping slightly when I hit the wall.

He slid his arms around my head, caging me in, and my heart begin to pound in my chest. I stared at him as his gaze kept flickering between my eyes and my lips. I felt my breath catch in my throat at the thought. Was I actually going to let him kiss me? He was a vampire, for god's sake! This was a terrible, terrible idea. And yet… there was something about him that I couldn't seem to resist. Especially when he was near me.

His hands slid from around my face as he leaned in closer. This was it, I thought. No turning back now. I tilted my head back to give him better access when the pain in my arm flared suddenly. I hissed in response before I could stop myself.

Ezra leaned back, studying me closely before sliding the sleeve of my t-shirt up to reveal the bandage. His expression turned thunderous at the sight of it.

"What the hell happened to your arm?" he seethed, gritting his teeth in anger.

Uh-oh.