Between a Vamp and a Hard Place by Jessica Sims Page A

I’d better go all in.” I pushed past Rand and began to try keys. A moment later, I had the door unlocked and I swung it open, gesturing Rand should lead.
    His hand clasped mine and he tugged me forward. As he did, I noticed his fingers weren’t ice-cold underneath mine. “How come your skin is warm?”
    â€œBorrowed heat,” he said softly, scanning the crowded-looking cemetery. “The guard’s blood will warm me for a short time.”
    â€œOh.” I should have found that disturbing, but instead, I couldn’t help but cling to his hand. There was something comforting about the feel of his warm skin under mine. It made him a little less distant, a little more real.
    â€œCome,” Rand said. “This way.” He led me forward into the night.
    The cemetery wasn’t wired for lighting. Actually, I was surprised the cemetery was still open for business . . . or whatever it was that cemeteries did. Trees and foliage seemed to cover almost every inch of ground, and gravestones were dotted and clustered in claustrophobic fashion. As graveyards went, this one was creepier than most, simply because of the sheer amount of people squeezed into the small space.
    Rand unerringly headed toward the back of the place, tugging on my hand. There was no point in asking where we were going—it was obvious the moment my eyes adjusted to the moonlight. A large marble mausoleum sat at the far end of the property, looming over the tumble of graves. Once we made it there, Rand stopped.
    He looked at me. “I can go no further. You must go on from here.”
    â€œMe?” My voice squeaked. “What?”
    â€œThey are beyond this door,” Rand said. He placed a hand on the iron door of the mausoleum, and immediately I heard the soft sizzle of something burning. He pulled away and showed me his palm, dark and blistered from a burn. “Hallowed ground.”
    I groaned. “You’re kidding, right? Please tell me you’re kidding.”
    â€œI do not lie.” His face was unusually pale, his expression somber. “Please, Lindsey. Do this for me.”
    I think that was the first time I’d ever heard Rand say “please.” It threw me off. I stared at the doorway. Bad enough that I was in a graveyard with a vampire after dark. Now he wanted me to go raid a mausoleum by myself? “Can I ask a stupid question? If you can’t get through that door because it’s hallowed, how can they possibly—”
    â€œI know,” he said, and his voice was rough with emotion. “But I must know for certain. All I can tell you is that with the bond I share with the Dragon’s Claws, I can sense their blood. And I sense the blood of both William and Frederic behind that door. I cannot leave this place until I find out their fate for certain.”
    Oh. I stared at him.
    This wasn’t a “meet up with buddies” mission any longer. This was a search for answers. Rand suspected they were dead, and he needed to know the truth. And I was the only one who could give him that truth. My stomach knotted unhappily, but I nodded and turned to the door. “All right. I’ll check it out.”
    I closed my eyes and put my hand on the door-knob, hoping vainly for a brief moment that it would be locked. Unfortunately, it swung open, and I had no choice but to step inside.
    The interior of the mausoleum was small in comparison to the exterior. The interior was a small room with a bench along one wall, facing an alcove of decorative urns that had name plaques under each one. Oh no. I turned to look at Rand through the open door, hating that this was happening. “Do you still feel them here?”
    â€œTell me what you see.” His pale face was expressionless. “Is it them?”
    I bent and read each plaque, my fingers brushing over the engraved lettering. The two oldest names were the ones I sought. Frederic Arnault, died