Predatory

by Alexandra Ivy

  The only one who had anything to say on the drive was the cat, and she kept up a constant stream of yowling complaints. Finally, Ethan pulled over a few blocks from June’s apartment.

  “I’ll let you out here. No one followed us, but I still don’t want to take the chance that someone might see you going into June’s building.”

  Dan didn’t comment as he handed the cat over to Cassie, got out, and slammed the door. Ethan watched him walk into a store that was still open. Then he pulled away from the curb. And just when he was wondering if Cassie would ever talk again, the floodgates broke.

  “We need to call the police. You can’t leave those poor people alone like that in their houses.”

  “I’ll take care of it when we stop.”

  “Where’re you taking me?” She didn’t do a great job of covering the quaver in her voice.

  “Somewhere safe for now.”

  “When are you going to explain what the hell is going on?”

  “Later.”

  “Wow, way to ease my fears with your detailed explanations.”

  “Look, it’s been a long night. Let’s save all the questions until we can relax and get something to eat.” The word “eat” drove his hunger into a frothing frenzy. It didn’t help that he could hear her heartbeat, sense the blood coursing through her veins, and knew that all he had to do was stop the car and . . . No. He stomped the hunger into submission.

  He concentrated instead on the slight shifts he could feel in his facial muscles, the tingling in his fingertips, and the tightening of Len’s borrowed shirt across his shoulders. Not enough change for her to notice yet. But soon, very soon, she’d see.

  There was a long simmering pause.

  “Why did you bring the cat?”

  “To eat. You wouldn’t volunteer, so . . .” He shrugged.

  She gasped and tightened her grip on the cat. The cat rewarded her with an annoyed hiss.

  If the last few days hadn’t sucked so badly, he would’ve laughed. Or maybe not. The idea that she might actually believe he ate small animals bothered him. Not comforting. Nothing she said or did should be able to touch him.

  “Relax. I don’t eat cats.” He knew he sounded angry. But it seemed that everything about her made him mad. Those big brown eyes and all that blond hair don’t make you mad. Neither does the rest of her body. Okay, so maybe it was all about sex deprivation. He could live with that explanation.

  She nodded and some of the tension left her. “How old is your brother?”

  “Twenty-seven.”

  She frowned. “Then that means you can’t be ancient.” The fact that he wasn’t seemed to bother her.

  “I’m thirty-two, but I was turned when I was twenty-eight. So I’ll pretty much look that age forever.”

  “But I saw you kill Len without touching him. Doesn’t a vampire have to be old and powerful to do that?”

  He made an impatient sound. “Power doesn’t come with age. Wisdom does. And a smart vampire will live a long happy life.” He thought about that. “Or unlife. If that’s not a word, it should be.”

  Her questions stopped for a short time while he bought cat food and litter box stuff. Once back in the car, he hoped she’d run out of things to ask.

  “Why did you save me?”

  There it was. The one question he’d hoped she’d keep for later. “I don’t know.” An honest answer.

  She didn’t look satisfied. Too bad. Relieved, he pulled in beside Zareb’s warehouse.

  Cassie seemed to finally realize they’d stopped. She looked around. “Where are we?”

  “A warehouse. That’s the Delaware.” He pointed to where she could just see the river flowing dark and cold past the back of the building. “This isn’t a residential part of Philly. Once the warehouses shut down for the night, the area pretty much empties of traffic and people. We’ll be safe.”

  They climbed out of the car. It was so quiet their footsteps rang loud in the darkness. Even the cat had shut up. Nothing moved. She tugged her jacket more tightly around her. The night must’ve turned cold. He felt nothing. For a moment, he considered pulling her against him, but offering warmth or comfort would only lead to other temptations. He led her toward a door hidden in the shadows.

  He pressed a small button next to the door and waited. She shivered beside him, and with a frustrated curse he gave in and wrapped his arm around her. When she moved closer, he wasn’t sure if it was an attempt to get warm or a lesser-of-two-evils thing. Even a human had to pick up on the scary vibes surrounding this place.

  After what seemed forever, the door creaked slowly open. No light came from inside. No one stood in the opening. If anything, the blackness seemed deeper, more silent than the night. Ethan felt Cassie cringe away from the open door.

  “You’re safe.” Maybe.

  He pulled her inside. The door closed behind them.

  “Come.” The voice was a deep rumble. Disembodied. Terrifying.

  Even knowing who spoke, Ethan couldn’t control an instinctive shudder. He led Cassie further into the darkness.

  Suddenly, a candle flickered on, quickly followed by more and more until the room was ablaze with their glimmering lights. With a quiet whoosh, flames leaped in the fireplace.

  A figure glided from the shadows. Tall and muscular, he moved with that strange flowing motion only very old vampires achieved, those who no longer remembered they’d once been human.

  Ethan knew by Cassie’s frightened gasp when she finally got a good look at their host. And if Ethan hadn’t been determined not to make an ass of himself, he would’ve gasped too.

  “Hello, Ethan.” The vampire shifted his gaze to Cassie. “You come bearing gifts. A beautiful woman and . . .”

  Screeching and hissing, the cat leaped from Cassie’s arms.

  “A bad-tempered cat.” He smiled. “We’ll dine well tonight.”

  Ethan grabbed her hand before she could make a dash back to the door.

  “Cassie, meet Zareb.” He took a deep breath he no longer needed. “My maker.”

  Chapter Four

  Cassie didn’t think there was room inside her for more fear. She was wrong. Zareb had an overwhelming presence. His movements were too fast, too smooth, too predatory. He’d pulled his long black hair back and fastened it with a leather thong that had a silver medallion on it. His sharp cheekbones and exotic darkness drew attention to his eyes. He had terrifying eyes. They were slightly tilted and glowed yellow. Glowed. Yellow. No white showed, and he had vertical slits for pupils. Cat eyes.

  The yellow glow should have been the scariest part of him. It wasn’t. There was something else. . . .

  He captured her with his eerie stare, and suddenly she couldn’t understand why she had ever thought his eyes were strange. His gaze drew her, filled her with a yearning that was almost pain. It reached down, down to a place never touched before.

  She couldn’t blink, couldn’t look away, couldn’t control the erratic beating of her heart, and couldn’t seem to breathe. Cassie gasped for air even as she sank into the alien beauty of those eyes. And if her heartbeat felt as though it was stalling, threatening to stop altogether, she couldn’t muster the energy to worry about it while the yearning grew and grew.

  Cassie jerked as Ethan commanded, “Stop it.” She didn’t think he was talking to her.

  Startled, she closed her eyes. She concentrated on breathing and felt her heartbeat kick back into a normal rhythm. What had just happened? You couldn’t breathe, your heart was stopping. She’d almost died.

  When she opened her eyes, Zareb had turned his attention to Ethan.

  “And here I thought you’d brought her as a gift to atone for abandoning your loving father.”

  Ethan simply stared at him from the shadows.

  Zareb smiled. “I suppose the loving father reference was a bit overdone. But you do owe me some recompense for my anger, and yes, there were a few moments—very few, I’ll admit—of heartfelt sorrow.”

 
; Ethan made a dismissive sound. “I brought you a pet that will suit your ‘loving’ personality.”

  The cat poked her head from beneath the couch and hissed her general discontent with everyone in the room.

  Zareb’s smile widened. “So you have.”

  Cassie’s whole body thrummed with her need to run to the door, rip it open, and race screaming into the night. Her instinct had it right, but her mind insisted she listen to reason.

  Even if she could escape, even if she could go home, even if she could be safe there . . . Okay, so none of those “even ifs” were viable options. And it wasn’t just about her anymore. If she tried to run to family, to friends, she’d put them in danger too. The police? They’d question her and then release her. Back to square one.

  Besides, wherever she went, her nightmares would follow. She still saw Felicity’s body and those other people when she closed her eyes. If Cassie didn’t do something to help stop the ones who had murdered her friend, she might never sleep again.

  At this moment, Ethan offered her a lifeline, even if it was frayed and liable to dump her into the deep without warning.

  She blinked hard. No tears. Not yet. She would do the sobbing and wailing thing in private, if they ever allowed her to be alone again. If she lived long enough. Until then, Cassie would stuff the huge empty place inside her with answers to her questions. She took a deep breath and met Zareb’s gaze. “What did you just do to me?”

  “Women.” Zareb’s sigh was filled with drama and sly amusement. “They can never just accept things. They always want explanations.”

  Thank heaven he didn’t try to meet her gaze.

  “I was merely playing. I rarely allow myself recreation time. You wouldn’t have died.” He cast a quick glance her way. “I’m very careful not to kill unless it’s unavoidable. I’ve killed often over the centuries, and the Second One is too close, too powerful now.”

  What did that even mean? Since he didn’t offer to explain, she launched another question. “Did you make Ethan vampire because he was dying and that was the only way you could save him?”

  He looked surprised in the same way he would if the cat had spoken to him. “No. I was bored that night, and I hadn’t made any children in a long time.” He shrugged powerful shoulders. “It was simply a need to procreate. So I made Ethan vampire.” His full lips twitched in the tiniest of smiles. “He was angry with me for a very long time. In fact, this is the first time he’s visited me of his own free will. I’m ecstatic.”

  Well, Cassie could get rid of any heart-of-gold hopes she had regarding him.

  Zareb looked at Ethan. “I assume there’s some pressing reason for your presence here.”

  “We have a situation.”

  Ethan still stood in the shadows. Cassie frowned. She couldn’t see his features clearly, but she would swear there was something different about him, something changing. She pushed the thought away. Too much had happened today, and her mind was probably a little unreliable right now.

  Zareb glanced at the cat hiding under his couch and at Cassie. “Yes, we do.” He motioned toward the couch. “Since you’ve already interrupted my busy night, you may as well sit down.”

  Cassie walked to the couch and sat on the edge. The cat seemed to think that underneath it was a better place to be. The cat was probably right. Ethan didn’t leave the shadows.

  Zareb stood beside the couch staring at Ethan. “You killed tonight.”

  “How did you know?” The question just popped out of Cassie. And when Zareb turned his yellow gaze on her, she felt her courage shrivel and crawl down her throat. He was just that scary.

  “The Second One is rising.”

  Zareb evidently thought his explanation was sufficient because he turned back to Ethan. “You have about two hours. The woman must eat and you must feed. I was about to make a dinner run when you arrived, and since the woman doesn’t seem to be on the menu, I’ll pick up something for you on the way back.” His eyes narrowed, yellow cat eyes filled with darkness. “Do I need to bring the others with me?”

  “Yes.”

  Cassie’s heartbeat picked up its pace. Ethan’s voice . . . It was different—deeper, smoother, more threatening. And for one mad moment she wanted to ask Zareb to take her with him. Then she thought about his eyes. Maybe not. He moved toward the door.

  “Wait.” Cassie couldn’t do much for the dead, but this one thing she could do. “The police. They need to know about the dead people in those houses.” She didn’t know why that was so important to her. The dead sure didn’t care. But she cared.

  Zareb raised one brow. “Dead people?” He looked at Ethan.

  “The dead are in the houses next to mine. I didn’t kill them. Explanations when you come back.”

  Zareb nodded. “I’ll make an anonymous call.”

  “You know where I live?” Ethan sounded surprised, and not too happy.

  “Of course.” Zareb sounded amused. “I made you. You can never hide from me.” And then he was gone.

  Silence settled over the room, the shadows seemed to thicken, and Cassie’s fear expanded exponentially. She took a deep breath. “You may as well come out where I can see you. Not knowing what’s going on is scaring me more than if you’ve morphed into something gross.”

  Ethan’s cold laughter scraped along her nerves, frightening enough for her to rethink her come-out-of-the-shadows request. Some things were better not seen.

  Too late. He moved so quickly that she didn’t even have time to gasp, to run into the bathroom and hope the door had a lock. He was simply there beside her on the couch.

  Cassie stared at him and swallowed hard. Don’t scream. Prey screamed. Prey ran. Prey died.

  He leaned close and smiled. “It will get worse before it gets better.”

  She couldn’t look away, a bird caught by a raptor’s stare. He looked bigger, harder. He’d split Len’s shirt, exposing a broad expanse of muscled chest and abs. Cassie was tempted to continue staring at his chest, because the rest of him was . . .

  “Look at me.”

  The voice in her head was warm and rough and an absolute compulsion. Slowly, reluctantly, she lifted her gaze to his face.

  Cassie now knew the true meaning of terrifying beauty. His hair had become a silken fall so black that it shone with blue highlights. And his face . . . What was happening to his face? His eyes seemed larger, and they now had the same tilt as Zareb’s eyes. They were green with no white showing and vertical slits for pupils. Cat eyes.

  She pushed words past lips that felt frozen. “Will they be yellow like Zareb’s?”

  He nodded. “Blue and yellow make green. In two hours they’ll be pure yellow.”

  His voice was darkness, leading to places she feared but would explore if he beckoned. No. She wouldn’t explore anywhere with him. His eyes probably had the same power that Zareb’s had. Even as she pummeled herself for her momentary weakness, she reached out to run her fingers lightly along his jaw and watched it clench.

  “Is this the Second One you’ve been talking about?” If so, he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Words couldn’t describe him, so she didn’t try. Cassie only knew his beauty hurt, a deep hungry hurt that made her yearn. . . .

  Cassie yanked her hand away from his face. She knew her eyes were wide. “You’re doing the same thing that Zareb was doing.”

  He didn’t look away. “Not yet. Even Zareb wasn’t showing you the full power of the Second One.”

  “Explain.” She was tired of not knowing, not understanding. Cassie had been lost since the moment she’d walked into Eternal Rest Funeral Home.

  Ethan finally moved. He stood and then paced over to the fireplace. “The ones who wrote the vampire legends were wrong.” He stood with his back to the flames. “It was never about bloodlust. We can feed whenever we want. We’re no more ruled by our hunger than you are.” He turned his back to the fire and stared at her. “It was always about the kill.”

  “Zar
eb said he knew you’d killed because the Second One was rising. Who or what is the Second One?” Fascinated, she watched his face changing in small increments even as they talked—lower lip growing fuller, lashes lengthening, each change making him more breathtaking. Then she looked away. Beauty that hurt to look at couldn’t be good.

  “The First One is our humanity. Even as vampire it’s dominant unless we kill. The act of killing wakens the Second One.”

  “You make it sound as though the Second One is a separate entity.” Trying to keep from staring at him became harder with every passing moment.

  “It is. The Second One is an elemental consciousness passed on in the blood my maker used to create me. It lies dormant until it senses a kill. It doesn’t care about conscience or human emotions. Its primal drive is to destroy.”

  “After what I saw today, I don’t think you need any help in the killing department.” Fear coated Cassie’s thoughts, making it tough for her to concentrate. He’s turning into this thing. I’m alone with him, alone with him, alone with—She shook her head to clear it.

  “What I did today is my particular vampire talent, not attached to the Second One. I have control of when and how I use it.”

  “Meaning you don’t have control of the Second One.” She stared down at her hands. Blood. Her hands were covered with dried blood. So were the rest of her clothes, even her shoes. How had she not noticed before this? His voice dragged her back.

  “I can’t stop the change. It’s not that it makes me lose control, it’s . . .” For the first time he seemed lost for words.

  “Yes?” No matter what he said, it wouldn’t matter, because Cassie had reached her limit for shocking disclosures. Her mind was beginning to shut down, refusing to react emotionally, trying to protect itself. A little too late.

  “Scientists are finding out more things about the brain every day.”