Vampire's Thirst (The Awakening Series) by Cynthia Garner Page A

sure she’d like to rest a bit, maybe freshen up.” She glanced at the fey woman. “Would you like something to eat? I’m sorry I didn’t think to ask you that before.”
    Why could she apologize to this stranger without blinking but not the vampire who’d been part of her personal protection detail for the last month? God, something was royally screwed up with her.
    “I’m not hungry, but I would like to rest, thank you.”
    Leon hesitated outside the door to Duncan’s office.
    “Oh, come on, Leon. I sleep in the same bed with Duncan without any guards standing by. He’ll be fine with you letting me go into his office by myself.”
    The big vampire folded his arms over his chest and broadened his stance. “So, go inside his office, and then I’ll escort Brigid to her room.”
    Kimber pursed her lips. “Don’t trust me either, eh?” Jerk. None of them seemed to want to believe her when she said what happened with Atticus had been an accident. She was glad now that she hadn’t apologized. “Fine.” She threw up her hands and gave a brief knock. At Duncan’s bid to enter, she opened the door and waggled her fingers at Leon. “Off you go now.” Without waiting to see his response, she pulled the door closed behind her and walked toward where Duncan sat behind his desk.
    He looked up. There was a hint of reserve in his eyes, something she’d never thought she’d see with him. For all his talk about knowing she’d never hurt him, he sure wasn’t putting his money where his mouth was. “How’d things go with the other necromancers?” he asked. His deep voice never failed to ignite her engines, but the same glimmer of constraint in the low tones dashed ice over the fire.
    Really, could she blame him for his hesitancy? With the way her mood swung toward aggression, who was to say she might not go off and try to siphon off his energy? She’d never wanted this strong man, this alpha vampire, to feel fear around her, and that he might broke her heart.
    With that in mind, her response was muted. “Fine. We want to practice on some zombies. I thought maybe we could—”
    “No way in hell!” He shoved his chair back and stood. One palm slammed down on the desktop. His features hardened with resolve. “It was one thing to let you go out to get tampons, which you needed. I’m not about to risk my people so you and your little friends can go play with zombies. Hell, what is it with you humans wanting to go waltzing around like there’s no danger out there? Or, worse, expecting me to put my people in jeopardy to protect you while you play?”
    She realized right away that he was being an ass because he was still shaken over what she’d done to Atticus, though that didn’t make her feel any better about his attitude. She also realized he must have received more complaints from the humans in “the hole,” as they’d taken to calling the basement level. But fury over his condescending attitude blasted away any sympathy she felt or any guilt she held in lying to him about those damned tampons. “We’re not in second grade,” she gritted out. “I’m not talking about going outside and playing a game of tag. Or taking a walk in the park,” she added to let him know what this was really about.
    She really wanted to yell at him, maybe even bop him a good one right on his schnoz, but that wouldn’t make him more agreeable. She put her hands on her hips and fought to keep from tapping her foot in agitation. “I’m talking about setting up a practice area, something that won’t put the compound at risk. We could set up an arena of sorts in one of the buildings that’s unused on this block. Build a fenced-in corridor to get us from here to there safely, and we could handle the rest.”
    “And just how would you get your zombies to this arena?” Duncan sat back down with a frown. At least he seemed to be listening to her instead of reacting to her words. “If it still comes down to vampires going out