Alone Read Online Free PDF Page B

She would never admit it, but he’d called her
out. She would have done exactly as he claimed.
    “ I can’t save you,” he said.
“You’re the only one who can do that.” With those words burning in
her ears, he turned and walked away
    “ Wait,” she called out.
“Please, wait.”
    He ignored her and kept walking,
disappearing through the doorway and into the corridor.
    The moment he left the room, the blown
light above her head flickered back to life. The tears welling in
her eyes trickled down her cheeks and plopped onto the back of her
hand.
    Her coffee sat cold and
untouched.
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four

     
    For almost three hundred
years ,
Sebastian Bandores survived alone.
    He sat on the flat roof of the hospital,
tormented by thoughts of the dark-eyed woman. The night sky hung
above, thick cloud blocking the stars. In front of him stood the
hospital’s emergency helipad, and beyond, the lights of the city
shone. On any other night the beauty of the scene before him would
block out all emotion but tonight the sight meant
nothing.
    The vampire stood and walked to the edge
of the roof. A wall divided him from the multi-story drop below. He
peered over the edge, watching the lights from the cars below move
like a procession of tiny fireflies. The height didn’t affect him.
Sebastian had no reason to fear the drop. If he jumped now, just
stepped off the roof, he would be all right. He wouldn’t hit like a
normal person; instead, his body would brace, his legs would take
the impact and he would land, cat-like, and unharmed.
    Nothing could harm him. He was invincible,
immortal.
    At least he’d believed as much until the
dark-haired woman caught his attention; running through the
streets, long hair streaming behind, her eyes so haunted he
imagined some terrible, invisible entity chased her.
    Sebastian had never been involved with a
human before, not since his own human life ended. What was so
different about this one? Was it that the desperate, haunted look
in her eyes was so similar to the one surely present in
his?
    She’d seemed trapped, as if whatever
tragedy she carried would always be a part of her.
    Sebastian understood; the pain he carried
forged what he was today. He would never escape what he had
become.
    He told himself he followed to be sure of
her safety. He told himself she might have children and a loving
husband waiting for her, but Sebastian knew that wasn’t true. What
woman ran so with such desperation through the busy streets of LA
and had a happy home?
    So he followed and saw her hand
shaking as she put the key in the lock. He smelled the fear as she walked into the house. By
then, he couldn’t bring himself to leave, couldn’t bring himself to
walk away.
    So he stayed, waited and
watched.
    When her husband grabbed her by the
neck and threw her to the floor, Sebastian fought to not leap
through the window and rip the man’s throat out. Only his desire
not to interfere with her life held him back.
    But still, he didn’t leave.
    Sebastian wanted to know this woman. He
needed to discover who she was, what drove her.
    He couldn’t understand why she stayed with
the abusive scum, what prevented her from packing her bags and
leaving. Sadness radiated from her. If she was so unhappy, why not
do something about it?
    Sebastian hadn’t been given a choice of
how his own destiny would unfold. The choice had been taken away by
someone who thought it all right to be possessive, to take what
they wanted at any cost, to own another person.
    He wouldn’t do that to her.
    Guilt had weighed heavily upon him as he
watched her change for bed. He’d been unable to tear his eyes away
when she slipped out of her jeans, exposing her long, bare legs.
She stood with her back to the window, her arms raised up and
pulling her sweater over her head. Her long hair caught in the
material before falling in a cascade around her shoulders. Reaching
behind, she unhooked the clasps of her bra, revealing her