Running in the Dark by Regan Summers Page A

Veins crumble, cease to deliver blood throughout the body. The remaining veins burst. They bleed out through their skin. You will be able to see if something is wrong.”
    “Do they swell up?”
    “Perhaps. It’s possible the blood pools before finding its escape.”
    “That’s got to be uncomfortable.”
    Soraya stopped and her lips peeled back from her teeth. Then she shuddered, and started walking again. “I do not know. I would not want to know.”
    “Because of the puking?”
    She tilted her head to the side. “What is ‘the puking’?”
    “You know. Vomiting. Throwing up.” I mimicked the action, quietly, since we were walking through someone’s backyard. Soraya started to laugh, then abruptly schooled her expression.
    “If we overindulge, our bodies burn off the excess more quickly, turning it immediately into power. We do not…puke.” We walked on, Soraya facing forward, even though I could feel her attention on me. Livia was swollen as a pregnant cow, and I hadn’t imagined her throwing up. But she hadn’t been spewing extra energy. I’d barely felt any power from her, even when she tried to glamour me.
    “A vampire who glutted himself to the point of overflowing,” Soraya said slowly, “would be…ill. It would not be natural, but it would be something different than this. You will tell me if you have seen such a thing.” Her words slid, a jagged cage of ice squeezing my eyes, and I made a show of staggering under the slight influence.
    “I haven’t,” I said dreamily. “I was just wondering.” It was my turn to face forward and appear oblivious. So Malcolm hadn’t told her I couldn’t be influenced. Good to know he kept something from her.
    Maybe Livia wasn’t a newbie with an overeating problem, but what I’d seen had been in the course of the job. While I wasn’t ruled by a strict client-messenger confidentiality clause, registered couriers don’t talk about what they see on the job unless it breaks human law. Making an ass of oneself on one’s own property is a universal right, and Soraya didn’t think it was related to the cracked-out vampire problem. I didn’t want to turn Livia in for being a little different, even if Soraya thought it was unnatural, but if it was serious, I’d figure out a way to tell Malcolm.
    “Again tomorrow,” Soraya said. “Daybreak at your home. He will not be back until that night. We’ll spend the day working there on close-quarters techniques.”
    “A couple hours after dawn.” I yawned. “I have to have my car worked on. I take it you’ll be following me tomorrow night.” She nodded curtly. “Hey, try not to be so obvious. When you stayed behind to spy on me at Vega’s, they were totally on to you. If I become known for having a vampire shadow, my rep will be in the gutter before it has a chance to take off.”
    She craned her head around, eyes flaming. If I let Mal’s vassal intimidate me now, she would never respect me. I stared levelly back, my pulse pounding in my temples. The orange fire faded slowly from her eyes.
    “I will do my best, mistress.” Her voice sounded strained and her pace picked up. I grinned at her discomfiture, not because I was totally relieved she’d blinked first. Maybe she was like the family that Mal said didn’t walk human streets. A recluse with no idea of what to do with a human.
    “Cool. And, for the love of God, please stop calling me that. It makes me feel like we’re in some really awful BDSM movie.”
    “What is BDSM?”
    Uh … “You’ll have to ask Mal. It’s not my place.”

Chapter Seven
    Sore as I was when I woke, Soraya hadn’t actually broken anything. That was the good news. The bad news was that Tilde had recovered from her attempt to eradicate all the vodka in Chile in a single go and was back on the job.
    “ Chica, that is the last time we take you to a bar.” Jacinta slapped Tilde on the back and laughed her way to her car. “You can run, but you cannot handle