Dates From Hell (31 page)

Authors: Kelley Armstrong

BOOK: Dates From Hell

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M
y life didn’t get any better. Without Chavez in
it—there was nothing worth getting up for.

I’d never liked my job. Now I loathed it. What good was trying to sell books to people who were only promoted for paying far less than what they were worth? What good was any job when the world was about to end?

I drifted, waiting for something to happen, but I wasn’t sure what.

Three months later, I was still waiting. I fell asleep late one night while reading a manuscript. Just another Saturday and I didn’t have anybody.

Because I didn’t want anybody but him.

I dreamed of Chavez all the time, and in my dreams he was with me. His touch gentle, his eyes full of love. Definitely a fantasy, but all I had.

“Kit. Wake up.”

His voice sounded so close. His fingers were so warm as he removed my glasses. I fought against sleep and opened my eyes.

“Hey,
chica.
”

I closed them again, squeezed tight, and tried once more. He was blurry, but he was here.

I struggled upright, and manuscript pages spilled from my lap, cascading onto the floor. I let them go. “Is the world saved?”

Chavez shook his head. He appeared tired, drained, defeated. Not the man who’d left on a quest only three months ago.

“Why did you come?”

He hesitated. “I—I need you.”

“Okay.” I tangled my fingers with his and started for the bedroom. I’d take whatever I could get.

“No!” He snatched his hand away. “That’s not what I meant.”

“What did you mean?”

“I—I’ve seen some terrible things. The world is a mess, Kit.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Through everything, I remembered you. You’re what kept me going.”

I wanted to believe him, but I wanted to be sure, and I wanted him to be, too.

“We had one night, Chavez. Manufactured intimacy in exchange for the death of evil—or at least one little piece of it.”

“We had sex.”

“I know.”

“For me, it was more.”

My eyes widened; my breath caught. I couldn’t speak. He didn’t seem to have that problem.

“I was crazy for you from the first moment I saw you, but I couldn’t touch you. I had to—”

“Protect me.” I smiled, and some of his tension eased. “You did. I’m safe now because of you and I’m grateful.”

“I don’t want you to be grateful,” he growled.

“What do you want me to be?”

He glanced away and muttered, “Mine.”

“Huh?”

He took a deep breath and looked back. “I want you to be mine. I want to have someone, somewhere, who’s waiting for me. I’m sick of being alone and lonely. The only time I felt as if I belonged anywhere was when I was here with you.”

“What are you saying?”

“I love you. I can’t live without you. I hope you feel the same way.”

I hesitated and his shoulders sagged. “I know a girl like you and a guy like me—you probably forgot about me the instant I walked out that door.”

I let a small laugh escape. “You’re kind of unforgettable.”

Hope lit his eyes. I didn’t want that hope to die.

“I love you, too, Zac.”

He smiled at my use of his name. For him, the gift of his name went deeper than the gift of his body.

“My life without you isn’t much of a life. I hate it here when being here means I’m not with you. I want to help you save the world.”

Chavez shook his head so hard his hair flew and his earring caught the lamplight and flashed bright sparks into my eyes. “I won’t let you risk yourself.”

“But you can risk yourself?”

“I hunt demons. That’s what I do. It’s all I’ve ever done.”

“Seems to me that the last demon took both of us to kill. Without me, you’d still be flailing around with your salt and your holy water and your sacramental wine.”

His brow lifted. “Don’t forget the silver bullets.”

“How could I when they worked so well?”

His smile turned shy. “I was thinking—love has always been stronger than anything.”

“I agree.”

“Maybe it wasn’t so much the sex that killed that demon as the love.”

“You could be right.”

“So the more love we make—”

“You don’t need an excuse, Zac.”

“Then…?”

“Together we fight; together we win or we don’t.”

“You can’t fight,” Chavez scoffed.

“I meant in a ‘pen is mightier than the sword’ kind of way.”

“Research,” he said.

I reached under the coffee table and pulled out a stack of papers that I’d written. “Without you here, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands.”

I offered them to him and his eyes wandered slowly over all that I’d learned, then lifted to mine. The excitement was back.

“This is great, Kit.”

“I told you I was good at trivia.”

“This isn’t trivial.” His hands clenched on the papers. “This is world-saving.”

My face heated at the praise and I ducked my head. He inched in close, put a finger to my chin, and lifted.

“It’ll be dangerous,” he said.

“You’ll protect me.”

“I will.”

His words were a promise, one that he kept.

Did the world end?

Not yet.

LORI HANDELAND

LORI HANDELAND
sold her first novel in 1993. Since then her books have spanned the contemporary, historical, and paranormal genres. Her novel,
Blue Moon,
won the RITA® Award from Romance Writers of America for Best Paranormal of 2004. Lori lives in Wisconsin with her husband, two teenage sons, and a yellow lab named Elwood.

Visit her website at
www.lorihandeland.com
.

Books by Each Author

Also by Kim Harrison

A FISTFUL OF CHARMS

EVERY WHICH WAY BUT DEAD

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UNDEAD

DEAD WITCH WALKING

Also by Lynsay Sands

A BITE TO REMEMBER

A QUICK BITE

TALL, DARK & HUNGRY

SINGLE WHITE VAMPIRE

Also by Kelley Armstrong

HAUNTED

INDUSTRIAL MAGIC

DIME STORE MAGIC

STOLEN

BITTEN

Also by Lori Handeland

DARK MOON

HUNTER’S MOON

BLUE MOON

This is a collection of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

UNDEAD IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL. Copyright © 2006 by Kim Harrison
THE CLAIRE SWITCH PROJECT. Copyright © 2006 by Lynsay Sands
CHAOTIC. Copyright © 2006 by Kelley Armstrong
DEAD MAN DATING. Copyright © 2006 by Lori Handeland.
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-085409-6
ISBN-10: 0-06-085409-X

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books™.

ePub edition February 2006 ISBN 9780061741920

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