Into the Storm (Vampires of Velum Mortis Book 2)

by Stephanie Summers

  We headed outside where Cyrus grew to his full-size as I glanced at her, watching the awe spread over her face. Hoisting her up, I placed her on his back and took my place behind her. Her body stiffened as I pulled her close against me.

  “Hold on to me or him,” I said smoothly into her ear. “He’ll move quickly and I don’t want you falling off.”

  Her slender hands gripped my thighs as I leaned forward and took fistfuls of his fur into my hands, her body nestling perfectly between my arms, her back leaning into my torso.

  Pulling my attention away from her and the indescribable way her body felt against mine, I commanded him.

  “New York.”

  7

  Sydney

  Why in the fuck does being pressed against this mountain of a man, or vampire, I guess, feel so goddamn good?

  I would’ve throat punched myself if I could. How could my body betray me this way? He was dangerous and wanted to hand me over to some vampire king I didn’t know for purposes I’d probably never understand. But there pressed up against him as I inhaled every last bit of his scent, the memories I’d lost came flooding back.

  Yeah, in normal circumstances, like back at Club Dead when he was just another customer, he was an attractive man, but he wasn’t really a man, was he? No. He was a fucking vampire, and Lucien had cautioned me when he gave me a job to never trust a vampire, except him, of course. And though I didn’t know hellhounds were a real thing, there was no way the beast I was riding wasn’t one. He had grown as tall as a horse, though much stockier and much smellier. It wasn’t a nasty funk per say, but definitely not all that pleasant either. We once lived next to a sweet old grandma type of woman who had a beagle that had a specific sort of scent to him and that’s what this beast smelled like. Like a hound dog, only dialed up to eleven.

  But back to the vampire beast behind me. Not only was he a monster, but he’d kidnapped me. And yet there I was, my body ready to ignite just because his cock pressed against my ass and my body melded perfectly to muscles as firm as anything I’d ever felt before.

  I’d never truly been attracted to a man before him, and frankly, the thought of a cock anywhere near me generally repulsed me. It was a surprise, to say the least, for my body to react so strongly now after he’d shown me his true colors.

  I wanted to ask what exactly he had planned for me, or at the very least, when we would be arriving at our destination, but the hellhound traveled so fast that I couldn’t find my breath.

  My heart raced as I watched the world rush by me in a dark fog. With one giant leap, we passed into black nothingness. Heat enveloped me, and I gripped the vampire’s thighs as tight as I could and pressed my back to him.

  The world sizzled and zinged around us, a light off in the distance coming into focus. It grew brighter and more vibrant by the second until it was so bright that I had to close my eyes. A loud pop echoed in my ears and somehow the air felt normal. Nothing like the smell of dirt and old decay that we had just left.

  The loud thumping beat of music pounded from somewhere above us as my stomach churned slightly and my head spun.

  “What was that?” I asked, closing my eyes, but I was met with silence.

  Upon regaining my composure a few moments later, I opened my eyes to find myself in a dimly-lit tunnel. Off to the left, a set of stairs led to God only knew where, but as long as there was food, I didn’t really care. How I was able to think about food in a time of such distress was beyond me, but then I had always had the urge to turn to food for comfort, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that’s where my mind had wandered.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “A place called Nearly Dead and Dancing.”

  “Oh, yeah. That sounds like a place I want to be,” I said, stifling a fit of laughter. I’d thought ‘Club Dead’ was an over-the-top name for a vampire nightclub, but ‘Nearly Dead and Dancing’ nearly had me rolling on the floor laughing.

  “We’re not staying here,” he said and scratched the hellhound behind the ear. “Go on. I’ll whistle if I need you.”

  And maybe it was my imagination, but just then, I swear that beast nodded at him before he took off down the tunnel and disappeared into thin air.

  Standing with my arms crossed, I waited to see what the next move was. I couldn’t take off running into wherever the hell the tunnel led to, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t plan to be ready to run as soon as I got the chance. Would he slip up enough for me to run? And could I really get away from him if I did run? I doubted I could get very far in a foot race against him. But maybe, just maybe, I could get to a highly visible place with lots of humans where it’d be too hard for him to grab me without making a huge scene. I could find a police station or a cop to help me.

  “You can take that cloak off. Leave it here,” he said, motioning to the area beside the foot of the steps. “I don’t think anyone will bother it here.”

  “I have a question.”

  “Yes, you have many,” he said sharply.

  “Are we in New York City?”

  “Yes.”

  “How is that possible? I mean, I live a good six or seven hours from there. How did we get here so fast?” I asked, my heart beating rapidly as my mind was bombarded with so many what-ifs and possibilities.

  “Calm yourself before every vampire within earshot comes running at the sound of your heart beating out of your chest,” he interrupted. “I didn’t drive us anywhere. Cyrus took us to my home after you flung yourself from a moving vehicle, and now here we are.”

  “But how?”

  “Cyrus ushered us to the City of the Dead in the underworld, otherwise known as Velum Mortis,” he said, irritation coursing through his words.

  “What is it with your kind and things named after the dead? City of the Dead, Nearly Dead and Dancing, Club Dead…”

  “I didn’t name them.” His tone was haughty, and his fists clenched at his sides, like I was a gnat buzzing around that he was about to swat. “I take it since you remember the name of your place of employment that your memories are returning.”

  I nodded.

  “The City of the Dead, aka Velum Mortis, belongs to vampires. Nearly Dead and Dancing is run by them, just like Lucien has Club Dead, though you’ll find much more than vampires upstairs.”

  “Worse, you mean?”

  “More questions,” he sighed.

  “Yes, excuse the fuck out of me for wanting to be prepared before I walk into a den of who fucking knows what,” I said, crossing my arms.

  “I thought you were hungry.”

  “I am,” I said with a slight sigh as I let my arms go limp at my side.

  “Then why are we conversing in this filthy tunnel where there is no food instead of going to find you something to eat? Unless, of course, you’d like me to fetch you a fat rat to snack on instead. I do believe I saw one scurrying about a few seconds ago.”

  “I’m not trying to be a pain in your ass, you know? You’re the one who abducted me, in case you’ve forgotten.”

  “I didn’t forget,” he said and waved his hand for me to follow him up the stairs.

  The thumping grew louder and more intense the further up the steps we went. A heavy wooden door greeted us at the top. He opened it with ease and took my hand as we passed through.

  “I so don’t want to hold your hand,” I said, though my body was busy betraying me again. My hand felt right in his, like his hand had been crafted perfectly to cradle mine. Still, the urge to pull away was strong. Any contact with a man I’d ever had didn’t lead to anything good, and this didn’t seem like it would be any different.

  Surprisingly, he responded. I’d said it more to myself than anything, especially with the music blaring like it was. “If you want to get out of here alive, you’d better not let go,” he said, barely raising his voice, but it came through loud and clear. “This is nothing like Lucien’s establishment. These creatures won’t hesitate to kill you.”

  Maybe I d
idn’t want to get out of there alive. Not knowing what awaited me or where I could go if I did manage to get away left me wishing for death to lay his lips upon me. But maybe the vampire was death. My mind ran away with the thought of Stellan kissing me, though I was quick to banish the thought.

  As we made our way through the club, bodies writhed perfectly in tune with the beat of the music around us. The crowd was thick, but it seemed to part easily faced with my giant traveling companion. Off toward the back, a woman straddled a man in a corner booth that was situated on a section that was raised slightly above the rest of the place. When she lifted her head from his neck, blood dripped down her chin, her tongue darting out to catch the last bit. Another creature, who had horns and skin a deep bluish hue, brought his clawed hand to his chin as he stared at me like I might be his next meal. Shuddering, I squeezed Stellan’s hand and followed closely behind him. Club Dead looked like Disney World compared to this place.

  It wasn’t hard to avoid eye contact with anyone else after that as we moved through the crowd and out onto the sidewalk.

  “What do you want to eat?” he asked.

  “I don’t really care at this point. Whatever is close, but I don’t have any money on me, so I’m not sure it even matters,” I said with a little more woe-is-me in my voice than I’d meant. “Dumpster diving, it is, I guess.”

  “I know you don’t have money. You said as much when you pointed that knife at the others earlier.”

  “How do you know that? You weren’t inside with them.”

  “No, but I was right outside the window. I saw and heard the whole thing.”

  Looking down at the unzipped hoodie, form-fitting black T-shirt with Club Dead’s logo on it, and the jeans I wore that now had big, blood-stained tears and gashes down the sides, I said, “Fast food will be fine. I’m not really dressed for anything better than that.”

  “There’s a burger place on the corner. We’ll go there,” he said and took my arm.

  I had no choice but to follow him. It didn’t escape my mind that he was my captor, but my stomach ached so badly that I would’ve done just about anything to get some food. Visions of what I had previously gone through to get food at times tore through my mind, causing my stomach to twist into knots. You name it, I had done it. I really had gone dumpster-diving more times than I cared to admit, and I distinctly remember stealing food from convenience stores as a child. My mother had said they wouldn’t throw me in jail if I were caught. It made me sick now to think of the things she’d made me do. Why had I ever agreed to see her again? How stupid could I have been? It was a mistake I would never make again, provided I ever had the free will to make mistakes again.

  I shoved the living nightmares away and focused on what I would do next. Food first, then an escape plan.

  “Why New York?”

  “Because it’s far enough away from Edgington City and crowded enough to blend in easily.”

  I glanced at the vampire as he answered me. Couldn’t really keep myself from it. The glow from the city lights enhanced his features. His dark hair was slicked back, longer on top and shorter on the sides. He wore a neatly-trimmed beard, and I couldn’t recall another time where I thought a man with a beard was so damn sexy. Forcing myself to look away from him and to stop thinking about him the way I was, I focused on my feet as we walked. Before he’d abducted me, it made sense to be so attracted to him, but now? Now I felt like an idiot for still feeling those urges toward him. His body was like a magnet, mine like iron, and I couldn’t keep myself from feeling the pull no matter how much I loathed myself for it.

  What would anyone seeing us together—me in barely more than rags and Stellan looking like a snack in leather pants, a black button-down shirt that clung to his torso in the sexiest of ways and a coat that only accentuated how huge he was—think of the two us? I know what I’d think. What the hell is he doing with a scallywag like her? Petty? Sure, but I was well aware of what I looked like. Because I had been socking away money in case I found myself in a tight spot again, I’d not spent much on myself in the way of clothes, makeup, or beauty treatments for quite some time.

  We walked nearly half a block through a constant stream of people headed toward Nearly Dead and Dancing. Were they actually people or were they vampires? The stench of the city was strong enough that I couldn’t detect the telltale scent of vampire… And if they weren’t humans or vampires, were they something altogether different? Why did I feel so light walking next to him and why wasn’t my asthma acting up? These were just a few of the questions that plagued my mind during our short journey. That is until the smell of flame-broiled goodness hit my nose, drowning out all the other smells and all the thoughts in my mind with the exception of what I was going to order.

  It wasn’t hard to notice the stares he got as we stood in line in the crowded restaurant. And it also wasn’t hard to realize why. He towered over me by nearly a foot, and I wasn’t exactly short. Standing at five-eight, I guessed he was around six-five or six-six. He was tall, dark, and handsome, but also dangerous, though none of the faces in the crowd checking him out probably knew he was a vampire.

  “What do you want?” he asked without looking at me.

  “I’ll probably get a number one with no pickles,” I said. “And something with caffeine… Coke, I guess.”

  I contemplated ordering something extra for as hungry as I was, but decided it was best not to press it. I didn’t want to end up bloated and miserable on top of everything else going on.

  We finally stepped up to the counter, and just as I was about to open my mouth to order, he beat me to it.

  “Number one with no pickles and two bacon double cheeseburgers with everything and a large Coke.”

  “Would you like an order of fries with the bacon double cheeseburgers?” the cashier asked.

  “No.”

  “Okay, that brings your total to twenty-four dollars even.”

  “Keep the change,” he said and handed her a twenty and a ten.

  “We’re going to sit at that table right there,” he said, pointing to a table in the corner that just so happened to not be vacant. “Please bring our food to us.”

  “Sure thing,” she said with a smile.

  “Come on,” he said.

  I followed him to the table where two guys sat. The two of them wore T-shirts with the sleeves cut off, jeans, and backwards baseball caps. They were the type of guys I generally avoided. I’d been told to smile one too many times by these types of douchebags when I was doing nothing but minding my own business. I never understood it. Why would I want to go around smiling like a lunatic just for the sake of making some guy happy? I mean, it’s not like there was much in my life worth smiling over, but who cares right? Plaster a smile on my face anyway to please men I’d never met before in my life.

  “You’re done,” Stellan said, peering down at the one on the right before shifting his gaze to the one on the left.

  “Oh, really,” douchebag on the left said. “I don’t think I am. Not like you can really do anything about it anyway.”

  Douche bag on the right must have had some common sense because he said, “We don’t want any problems, Stellan. We were just finishing up.”

  They left, though not without douchebag on the left glaring at Stellan, and we took our places at the table.

  “You know them?” Lowering my voice to a whisper, I asked, “Are they vampires?”

  “Yes to both, and before you ask, no, I’m not going to tell you how I know them. It’s none of your business.”

  “Fine… You know, Lucien never eats. Not food, not blood, nothing…”

  He rolled his eyes, and said, “I highly doubt that.”

  “You never order anything when you come in either.”

  “Your point?”

  “Why are you ordering something now? I’m assuming you didn’t order those bacon cheeseburgers for me. Do you actually like human food. Lucien says he can’t stand the thought of it.”
>
  “It helps with blending in, and Lucien is an asshole who believes he’s above every other creature that has ever existed. He would never stoop so low as to enjoy anything other than blood. And though I don’t get everything I need to survive from food like you lot do, I do enjoy the taste of some of it.”

  “You really don’t like him, do you?”

  “No, I don’t,” he said and glanced out the window toward the bustling street.

  “He’s never been an asshole to me, for the record. If it weren’t for him offering me protection when I went to work for him, I wouldn’t have escaped the things that were making my life a living hell.”

  Maybe I should have asked him to accompany me tonight. If I had, maybe I wouldn’t be here now, but then, those men probably would have just bided their time until they found me alone and maybe Stellan wouldn’t have been there to stop them later on…

  “You’re attractive.”

  I looked at him, drawing my brows together, wanting to feel flattered, but wondering why he’d say such a thing at that precise moment.

  “Because you’re attractive, he knew he could use you to make his business a success. He may not be treating you terribly, but trust me, he doesn’t give a single solitary shit about you either.”

  Silence fell over the two of us as we waited for our food. I took in my surroundings, calculating the odds of getting away from Stellan. Not great, but not impossible either. I’d like to say that I ate my burger at a leisurely pace once it was delivered to me, but forget that. I inhaled that sucker. My stomach ached in a satisfying way, probably from eating too fast or from the grease hitting my vacant stomach. It occurred to me then that I could use that ache to my advantage.

  “I need to go to the bathroom,” I said, deciding that as good as the fries looked, I’d have to let them go in order to save myself. I could eat fries almost anytime, but a chance to run might not have presented itself again.