Deathless Love by Renee Rose

bad feeling played out, Dom and Roxanna would go toe to toe-- and only one vampire would walk away.
     
     

Chapter Four
     
    “No Return,” Dom answered the phone, feeling a blast of emotion run through his entire body. There was a hesitation, then he heard Kate's voice and he immediately understood why his emotions had gone haywire. He felt fear and trauma from her and it made every cell in his body come alert.
    “Hi Dom. Is Fox there yet? He's not answering his cell.” Something was very wrong. She was upset in a frizzed-out sort of way. Pure adrenaline was pumping through his body now.
    “What happened? Are you alright?” he asked sharply.
    “Um,” she squeaked a little, as if she were trying not to cry, “there was a car accident.”
    “Where are you?” he barked.
    “Is Fox—”
    “ Where? ”
    “Speedway and Euclid.”
    He hung up the phone and walked into the kitchen to dematerialize where no one could see him. He thought of the intersection and couldn't think of much seclusion. Fuck it—if anyone saw him, they would just have to think they missed him standing there before. He materialized right behind where she stood next to her crumpled car. The car that had rear-ended her was still jackknifed in the middle of the intersection with a cop car and an emergency rescue vehicle in front of and behind it. She still had her phone pressed to her hear. “Dom? Is Fox around?”
    “Kate.”
    She whirled around, jumping.
    “Are you all right? Come here, bambina ,” he said, drawing her to him and wrapping her up in his arms, stroking her hair as she pressed her face into his chest. She was trembling and he could feel his shirt dampening with her tears. She seemed unharmed.
    He cupped the nape of her neck and held it, thinking about whiplash and its delayed onset. “Are you hurt?”
    “No,” came her muffled reply.
    “Good,” he said softly, kissing the top of her head. “What happened?”
    “The light turned red and I stopped, but the guy behind me didn't.” She looked at her wrecked car mournfully.
    He texted Fox and Stella to get one of them to pick them up. “Have you called for a tow yet?”
    When she shook her head, he placed the call.
    The EMTs came over to ask her some questions to make sure she was okay and then the cop, who had apparently already taken her statement, informed her that the asshole who hit her was uninsured. At that news, she sagged visibly. He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “It will be all right,” he said when the cop walked away.
    “How will it be all right?” she asked, the sound of despair giving her voice a tinny pitch. “My car is totaled and I don't have insurance to cover it. I have no way to get to school or to my jobs. And my keyboard was in the trunk!” At that, she started crying again. “I'm fucked.”
    He put his arms around her again, soothing her as best her could. “Keyboards are not that expensive to replace and you can use my car during the day. I need someone who can run errands for me in the daytime, anyway. Would you be my gopher girl?”
    “I don't need your charity,” she said with a sniffle.
    “It's not charity. I really do need the help. Alex was doing some of it, but he lost his license, so he can't drive anymore.”
    She tipped her head up and looked at him seriously. “Really?” she said uncertainly.
    He nodded. “I really need the help. It'd be a favor to me.”
    “Thanks.” She looked like she knew he was blowing smoke up her ass, but was happy to have a solution to her problem.
    “You up for performing tonight? Fox has a keyboard you can use, right?”
    She nodded. “Yep. I can perform. I'll text Fox.”
     
     
     
    Of course it had to have been Dom who answered the phone at No Return. She'd been doing a decent job of avoiding him, other than the night she had played at No Return—not that she'd stopped thinking about him. But when he showed up like her personal hero at the scene of the accident, she wanted