“That sounds amazing,” she breathed.
“It was. You could take some beautiful pictures there.”
“I could.”
She turned her bottle in her hands as she tried to think of something more to say. She couldn’t bring herself to ask the question on the tip of her tongue—did you meet any women along the way?
But of course, he had. It would have been impossible not to encounter women, and with his looks and vampire ability to attract them, they would have flocked like flies to him. Had he met someone who mattered? She didn’t think so, he would have brought them back if he had, but maybe the other person or vamp had decided they didn’t want him.
Always a glutton for punishment, she found herself asking, “Did you meet any interesting people?”
“Lots of them. There are so many different and fascinating cultures, and most welcomed me and were eager to show me their ways.”
“That’s awesome,” she said as she finished her beer.
He still hadn’t given her the answer she wanted, but she couldn’t bring herself to push it any further. When she set her bottle on the edge of the bar, Kyle set a new one in front of her. She dragged it toward her but didn’t take another sip.
Glancing around, she made sure no one was close enough to hear them before whispering. “Did you meet any other vampires?”
“Some. Most of the ones I encountered were like me and didn’t want to be bothered. I did run into some trouble with three Savages in Greece a couple of months ago. They were trying to kill a woman when I came across them. They were not happy when I interfered.”
Aida sucked in a breath. “You could have been killed.”
Julian leaned so close his chest brushed her arm. “I’m a purebred; that gave me an advantage.”
“That makes you stronger, but it doesn’t make you invincible, and how did you know they weren’t purebreds too?”
“Considering there aren’t many of us in the world, I figured the odds were in my favor they were turned vamps. But it didn’t matter; I couldn’t let them kill her.” He had to restrain himself from killing humans, but as long as he could control that part of himself, he wouldn’t allow others to kill them either.
“I understand, but three on one isn’t the best of odds.”
“I’m still here, and she’s still alive.”
Aida’s hand shook when she sipped her beer. She worried about him every day he was gone, and hearing this story made all those fears race to the forefront. Those vamps could have killed him and dragged his body away to dump it somewhere. She never would have known what happened to him. She couldn’t imagine going through the rest of her life never knowing what became of him.
She swallowed the lump in her throat to speak. “And what happened to the vampires?”
“I killed two, but the third ran away.”
“When you leave again—”
“I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me to,” he interrupted.
Aida couldn’t look at him anymore; she felt too raw and exposed. Coming here in the hopes of seeing him had been a bad idea. She should have gone home and slept. “Well, if you do leave again, make sure you stay safe.”
Julian studied her profile as she stared at her beer. He almost rested his hand on her shoulder, but the rigid set of her shoulders said she wouldn’t welcome it.
“Always,” he told her.
She gave a small nod as she turned the beer in her hands.
“How did the rest of your night go?” Julian asked when she didn’t speak again.
“Really well. More than half of Owen’s paintings sold. There’s another showing tomorrow night; I think we might end up selling them all.”
“Your boss must be happy.”
Aida wasn’t sure Nicolette was ever happy, but money sure did make her smile. “If you come by the gallery again, she’ll be more than happy to sell you another painting.”
“I’m sure she would, but my bank account couldn’t handle it.”
Aida chuckled as she stopped turning her beer.
“Do you have to be at work early again tomorrow?” he asked.
“No, I get to sleep in tomorrow.”
Julian left his mug and clinked it against her bottle. “To sleeping in.”
“It’s a beautiful thing.”
Aida leaned against the wall again and closed her eyes as Cassidy started a new song. Most of the conversations ceased when the hunting words of “Hallelujah” filled the air. There weren’t many who could pull off the song, but not only did Cassidy make it magical, she also brought tears to the eyes of some of those listening, including Aida.
Julian rested his hand on hers, and without thinking, Aida turned it over to clasp his fingers. Touching him helped to ease some of her unexpected sorrow. She opened her eyes to discover him staring at her with a look of longing so raw, she couldn’t help but lean closer to him.
CHAPTER 20
She was about to kiss him when she came back to her senses and jerked away. “Sorry.”
Julian buried his disappointment. “Never apologize for trying to kiss me, Aida. I’ll welcome your kiss at any time.”
He’d only been back in her life for two days, and she was already seeking comfort in him. Her gaze drifted past him, and she felt the inexplicable urge to flee. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
Before he could reply, she released his hand, jumped up from her seat, grabbed her purse, and hurried toward the hallway where the bathrooms were located. She dodged a couple of people on her way and stepped around the wall separating the hall from the bar. Once she was out of sight and away from the noise, she inhaled a deep breath as her shoulders sagged forward. She was ready to go home.
She pushed open the door to the women’s room and stepped inside the soft pink room with pictures of flowers on the walls. As far as public restrooms went, it was one of the cleaner ones she’d ever used. There were two stalls, and she used the one closest to the door before emerging to wash her hands.
She lifted her eyes to stare at her reflection in the mirror. The shadows under her eyes had darkened, and the frantic look in her eyes reminded her of a mouse before a prowling cat. She splashed water on her face and patted it dry with a paper towel before tossing it in the trash can.
She left the bathroom and was walking down the hall when a man emerged from the men’s room. There was nothing unusual about him, but a trickle of apprehension ran down her spine. Before her kidnapping, she never would have considered the possibility he might attack her, but now she looked at everyone like they were the enemy, until they proved otherwise.
She pushed open the latch on her purse and dipped her hand inside. He probably assumed she was looking for some lip gloss or something, but her fingers curled around her pepper spray as she sidestepped to avoid walking into him. The fact he remained standing there set off alarm bells in her head, and she slowed her step.
He was three feet away from her, but she never saw him move before a hand enveloped her throat and he lifted her off the ground. His fingers tightening around her throat choked off the startled scream she started to issue.
Clawing at his fingers, she shredded the skin from them. They dug deeper into her throat, cutting off her air supply and her strangled cries. The strength he exhibited made her blood run cold. She was small, but no normal man could lift her and handle her the way this one was.
Vampire! She didn’t have to see his fangs or reddened eyes to know it was true. He was a vampire and a monster.
Instead of dragging her into the men’s room, he hauled her down the hallway and into the employee’s room. He stalked toward the metal back door leading into the alley between the buildings. Despite the fact she couldn’t breathe and her blood pounded in her temples until she thought they might explode, she thrashed more.
If he got her outside, he would kill her.
She pulled the pepper spray from her purse as she gripped the door handle. Turning her wrist, she aimed it at his face,
ducked her head, and closed her eyes as she unleashed a torrent of spray. At least she didn’t have to worry about holding her breath, his death grip on her throat took care of that.
She wasn’t sure she hit him until he released a strangled howl. His hand fell away from the knob, and slapping sounds filled the air as she imagined him beating at his face and eyes. His fingers tightened on her throat, and warm blood trickled down the side of her neck as his fingers pierced her flesh.
She was afraid he would crush her windpipe, but she couldn’t stop fighting. Keeping her head turned away and her eyes closed, she slammed her elbow into his ribs. He grunted and jerked her forward as she swung her leg to the side and caught the back of his knee with her calf.
It wasn’t the most graceful of defensive moves, but it caused his knee to buckle, and her feet finally hit the ground again. She drove one of her feet into the front of his other knee, causing it to bend back as the vamp howled again. Throwing herself backward, Aida managed to tear herself free of his hold.
She kept her eyes closed as she staggered back, tripped over something, and sprawled across the floor. The breath burst out of her, and her tailbone felt as if someone had taken a hammer to it, but she didn’t dare stop moving.
On her hands and knees, Aida scampered in the direction of the door, or at least she assumed the door was in that direction. Fire burned her lungs, and white light burst behind her closed lids as her oxygen-deprived body begged for air. If she could make it to the hall, she might not breathe in the pepper spray, and the longer she held out, the more it would disperse on the air.
Convinced she was heading for the door, she wasn’t expecting to crash into something. Without intending for it to happen, her eyes flew open, and she involuntarily sucked in a breath. Her lungs and eyes burned, tears spilled down her face as snot poured from her nose, but she refused to give in to the pain trying to encompass her.
Rubbing at her eyes, she realized she’d crawled into the table Cassidy and some of the others used to fix their makeup and clean themselves up during their shifts. When she chanced a glance over her shoulder, she spotted the man five feet away and scrubbing at his eyes. Her heart sank; she thought she’d made it a lot further away from him.
She was about to leap to her feet and flee the room when he lowered his hands to expose his tearstained face. The wrath in his bloodshot eyes made her throat go dry. When he charged at her, she knew she didn’t have enough time to get away from him.
Releasing her purse, she grasped the table, lifted it, and flipped it over as he lunged at her. The table nearly smashed into her face when he threw his weight on top of it. Her arms screamed in protest as his hands swung for her.
She wasn’t ready to die. There was still so much she wanted to experience; she still had so many unfinished things to do. Yet, as the vamp’s red eyes filled her vision, she sensed her life coming to an end.
CHAPTER 21
Julian tapped his fingers on the bar while he waited for Aida to return. A growing sense of unease filled him as one of the women standing at the bar edged closer to him. “I haven’t seen you in here before,” she said.
Judging by the gleam in her eyes, Julian suspected, if she had seen him before, she might have tried to devour him. He glanced at the hall where Aida disappeared but still didn’t see her.
“I’m new to the city,” he said.
“I could show you around,” the woman offered as her fingers crept closer to his.
Julian moved his hand off the bar and thrust his thumb at Kyle. “My brother is handling that.”
The woman’s mouth parted as she glanced from him to Kyle and back again. “Kyle is your brother?”
For some reason, this piqued her interest more as her eyes shone with lust. When he glanced at his brother, he found Kyle grinning at him as he popped the top on a beer bottle before setting it on the bar. Julian scowled back at him.
“I’m his older brother,” Julian said.
“How… wonderful.”
“I’m here with someone,” he said bluntly.
The woman’s eyes darted to Aida’s empty seat before returning to him. “That doesn’t mean you have to leave with her.”
Julian’s skin crawled at the idea of touching anyone other than Aida. “I’m not interested.”
The woman’s eyes twinkled with amusement as she leaned away from him. His rejection hadn’t fazed her at all. “Perhaps another night.”
It took everything he had not to bare his fangs at her and watch her run screaming from the bar, but he forgot about her as he turned his attention back to the hallway. He couldn’t ignore the uneasiness in his stomach anymore. Pushing away from the bar, Julian’s heart beat faster as he started toward the hall and the urge to run gripped him.
Then he realized his rising terror wasn’t from him; it was coming from Aida.
• • •
No! No! NO! Aida screamed in her head as she fumbled for her purse and slipped her hand inside. She pulled the butterfly knife out and, after years of practicing to release it while incapacitated in some way such as being blindfolded or with one arm tied behind her back, sometimes both, she flipped it open with ease.
She’d much prefer a stake, but they didn’t exactly fit into her purse, and they didn’t fold up into a neat little package that made it safe to carry around. Besides, her chances of being able to stake a vamp in the heart were slim to none, and she didn’t know if she had the physical strength to pierce someone’s breastplate, but she could get a blade through them.
The vamp threw the table aside, but instead of trying to roll away from the crazed monster, she rolled toward him and plunged the blade into his foot. The vamp howled, and she ducked back when a massive hand swung at her head. Keeping her hand on the knife, she twisted it into his bones.
Grabbing her by the back of her shirt, the vampire plucked her off the ground. The adrenaline flooding her system made her hands quiver. Drawing on all her years of self-defense classes, she refused to give in to the panic clawing at her chest like a hamster at his cage. If she panicked, she’d be as good as dead.
She didn’t scream. This far away from the bar and with the music playing, no one would hear her, and she refused to give this thing the satisfaction of hearing her screams. Swinging her hand back, she backhanded the creature across the face.
She’d never seen a vampire look so furious with his blazing red eyes and extended fangs that sliced into his bottom lip. When he jerked her up and down, the quick, sharp movements sent a lightning bolt of pain from her neck to her spine.
The vamp dropped her down again as a bloodcurdling sound filled the air. At first, Aida believed it was coming from the vamp, but when he stopped using her like a yo-yo, she saw the confusion on his twisted face.
She lifted her head to find Julian standing in the doorway. She realized she’d been wrong; now she’d never seen a vampire look so furious. She barely recognized Julian as his eyes blazed red, he bared his fangs, and his shoulders hunched like a bull about to tear apart everything in its way.
Julian raced forward in a blur Aida barely registered before he struck the vamp’s face. His head shot to the side and blood flew from his mouth as Julian battered him again and again.
Before the vamp regained control, Julian captured the hand holding Aida’s shirt and crushed the bones in it. The vamp squeaked, and its fingers involuntarily relinquished their hold on her. Releasing the hand, Julian caught her before she hit the floor.
Aida stumbled back when Julian righted her and set her abruptly on her feet. She didn’t have a chance to get her bearings before Julian hit the vamp so hard, he knocked the man off his feet and flung him ten feet across the room.
When the vamp hit the door, the metal dented, and he slid down to sit on the ground. Aida imagined little cartoon birdies flying around the vamp’s head as his head bobbed back and forth. With every muscle in his body tensed like a panther about to strike, Julian stalked toward his victim.
She�
�d never seen him look so enraged, and she knew he wouldn’t stop until he gave in to the one thing he craved most… killing. He seized the vamp by the throat as Kyle and Cassidy arrived in the door of the hallway. Their eyes widened as they assessed the situation.
Throwing the back door open, Julian dragged the vamp into the alley and bashed it off the brick wall across the way. The bones crunching in its skull made a sickening sound when he thumped its head against the brick and unleashed the savagery bottled up inside him.
His fangs throbbed in his mouth, and red clouded his vision as he repeatedly drove his fist into the vamp’s face. This thing had dared to touch Aida, and that was a decision it would regret for the short amount of time it had left.
Blood flew from his hands as he repeatedly battered the vamp. His incessant need to kill eased, and he relished the brutality while he beat the vampire to death.
The second Julian opened the door, an alarm started to blare, but Aida ignored it as she shoved the door back open and ran into the alley after him. She skidded to a halt when she spotted Julian pummeling the vampire. His hands blurred as blood flew from them.
“Julian!” she cried as she ran toward him. “Julian, no!”
He couldn’t do this here. The alarm would draw people, and if anyone saw him like this, it would expose vampires and put his life, as well as countless others, in danger. “Julian, please stop,” she pleaded.
Aida’s please penetrated the haze of bloodlust consuming him, and his punches slowed in their assault.
“People will see you,” she said.
He hadn’t expected her voice to be so close. When he turned his head, he discovered her standing beside him. Her golden eyes shone with terror, and her lower lip quivered as she brought her hand to her mouth.
When he looked back at the battered remnants of the vamp, shame flooded him. He never should have lost control like this in front of her; she never should have seen how much of a monster he was. She’d dealt with the absolute worst of his kind on the island, and now she was seeing the worst side of him.
Forsaken (Vampire Awakenings, Book 10) Page 12