by Lexi Blake
I supposed that made sense. I pulled the keycard out of my pocket, but Marini took it from my hand. He swiped the lock himself and ushered me inside. I shivered as the door closed behind us and we were alone.
“Marcus, on the other hand, could have had you at any time.” Marini walked around the office, his eyes taking in everything.
“What do you mean?”
Marini’s well-manicured hand ran along the spines of the books on the shelf. This was where I often found Dev sitting in his comfy chair reading. I hated that Marini was getting such a private view of him. “Marcus is probably the most powerful persuasive on the planet. Had he been less of a gentleman, he could have fucked you senseless and you would have been happy to do it. Your husband’s blood would be no protection against Marcus. I’ve often wondered why he did not simply take you when it’s so obvious he wants you.”
I stood by the desk, putting it between us. “Maybe he’s afraid of what Daniel would do to him when he found out, and he would find out.” I needed Marini to really think about that. On some level, he feared Daniel.
“Perhaps that’s the case.” He didn’t sound like he believed it. The look on his face softened slightly, and he smiled a little. I think he was trying to be charming. “He would change his mind if he could see you now.”
“I doubt it.”
“Oh, no, mon ange. Don’t discount how sweet you look like that,” he said quietly. “You look soft and ready for bed. It’s a revelation to see you like this. No one dressed you for the occasion. It’s what you’re comfortable being. You look younger without the makeup. You look vulnerable.”
“Your companion is young.” I wanted to get him off the subject of me looking like prey.
He shook his head. “I should never have bought her. I should have waited. She was too young. She’ll never be a true companion. A true companion used to be a partner. She was a lover and fighter, someone a vampire could be proud to say he owned. When the companion’s blood is strong, a vampire will do anything to please her, to make her happy. We used to trust our companions with everything, taking them with us even into battle in some cases. Then they became so rare we simply protected them at all costs, including the sense of contentment that came with the bond.”
He seemed sad as he said it, and I wondered if he’d felt that bond before. If he had, it had been so long ago it couldn’t mean much. Unlike Marcus, Marini continually kept a companion. When one died, he merely found another, not wanting to go through the withdrawal a vampire felt when he no longer had companion blood in his system. A vampire with a companion had an advantage over the other vampires, but it came at a cost. The vampire was completely addicted to companion blood. One taste was all it took to make the vampire crave it.
“You shine so brightly,” Marini whispered. “You should be able to see yourself.” He shook his head as though to bring himself out of his haze. “Go on then, Zoey. I’ve waited long enough. It’s time for you to finish the job. You’ll note I didn’t ask if you were successful. I have complete faith in your abilities. Give me the Blood Stone.”
I didn’t want his praise. I wanted the man gone, and the only way I was going to accomplish that was to give the bastard what he demanded. He’d sealed off all my exit routes and I was left with no choice. I moved to the wall safe and pushed aside the painting that covered it. I likely wasn’t showing him anything he hadn’t already seen for himself. Marini had used Chad to spy on Dev, Daniel, and myself one night and I’d been told he’d poked around in Dev’s office before they made their way to the penthouse. I dialed the code for the safe and it popped open. I felt Marini step in right behind me, crowding me with his big body as he got a good look at what was in the safe. Luckily, Dev had moved anything even vaguely incriminating to a more secure location. Still, I heard Marini’s surprise at the large stash of cash and gleaming guns in the safe.
“Just how wealthy is your new husband?” Marini muttered the question, running his finger along a thick stack of hundred dollar bills. There were several piles of gold coins he had used as currency when we were in Faery as well.
“He does all right.” I reached into the back. I wasn’t about to give Marini a detailed accounting of Dev’s numerous business holdings. His human father had left him a multinational company that produced god knew what. I only knew that it produced cash and Dev took it and turned it into even more cash.
“Yes, I can see that. No wonder Daniel is willing to share. Vampires as young as Daniel usually struggle for money, but he’s found a way around that. It seems the prince has more wealth at his disposal than I could have imagined. And all that wealth would come to you, his wife, should anything happen to him,” Marini said, finally backing off me as I turned and handed him the small velvet bag that contained the Blood Stone.
Marini quickly had it opened and was holding the red stone up to the light to inspect it carefully. His dark eyes were possessive as he stared at it. I closed and locked the safe while he was distracted with the stone.
“It’s been a very long time since I held this stone. I suppose there is only one way to make completely certain.”
The vampire held his left palm open and shoved the pointed tip of the stone into it with a violent force. He grunted as he pierced his own skin with the stone and shoved it in even further. I watched as the stone pulsed slightly and seemed to lose just the slightest bit of its luster.
When I looked up at Marini, his eyes were completely black. He dragged a long breath in and steadied himself. It was like he’d taken a nice hit off a particularly good bong. He smiled as he let his head fall back.
“I had forgotten,” he said more to himself than to me.
“What is it?” I hoped he would tell me the truth since he seemed a little out of it.
“Just a taste of what your husband feels every day,” Marini said enigmatically.
He growled and there was no way to miss what it had done to his fangs. They peeked out from behind his lips. I took a step back. His hand shot out to stop me, and I finally realized just how much danger I was in.
“Yes.” Marini licked his lips. “I can hear your heart beating. You’re terrified. It’ll make your blood even sweeter.”
I managed to twist my arm out of Marini’s hand. “You forget yourself, Mr. Marini. I belong to Daniel.”
I could see plainly that the stone had done something to him. I thought maybe it was bringing out the beast that seemed to reside in every vampire. I could handle Daniel’s beast because Daniel loved me. Marini didn’t love me. Appealing to vampire laws was the only shot I had.
“Do you know who Daniel belongs to, sweet little Zoey?” His voice was slightly slurred and his accent heavier than before.
I shook my head but took a guess. “Marcus. Marcus is his patron.”
“No, companion,” Marini said, his face hard. “The Nex Apparatus is mine. He made his oath to me. He’s my creature.”
I knew that ritual well but hated the thought of Daniel being forced to go through it with Marini. Still, I knew what it meant and what had been promised. “If you’re truly Daniel’s master, then you owe him as much as he owes you. You’re supposed to protect him and everything that belongs to him. I belong to Daniel.”
He snarled my direction. “Don’t seek to tutor me on my duties. You know nothing. I’m the oldest vampire in the world. You’re the brightest companion I’ve ever seen. Why should a seven-year fledgling have you? It rankles, Zoey. Do you know what I was doing seven years after I turned? I was serving my master. I was his creature to do with as he wished. I was his to beat, to ignore, to fuck as he wished. That’s where your Mr. Donovan should be, but no, I have to tread carefully. I have to elevate him and treat him with respect. I’m supposed to respect his claims. You should belong to me. Daniel should have given you to me in hopes I would not crush him. He’s my vassal and he owes me.”
“You’re not his king, Marini,” I spat and very quickly realized my mistake.
Louis Marini g
ot very still. “Does Daniel believe he can take the crown? Does he seek to take what’s mine?”
“What are you talking about?” I had used the exact right word to piss the man off. I had to play as ignorant as possible. My heart thudded in my chest so loudly I wouldn’t be surprised if they could hear it thundering downstairs. I wanted out so badly. “You said he was your vassal.”
But Marini was already pulling that little box out of his coat. He held it up for me. It was the tiny box that haunted my nightmares. “I’m his god, Zoey. I have the power to kill him in an instant and then perhaps I can simply take what should always have been mine.”
“Please,” I said breathlessly, praying he wouldn’t press down. I knew we were in range. Daniel was completely helpless, and I was the only one with any hope of protecting him. “Please, don’t.”
“And what do I get for forgetting I can solve my problems with the single push of a button, companion?”
“I gave you the stone,” I insisted. “I did the job. I’ll do the next one. You promised that you would deal with me fairly.”
He shook his head. “I’m not feeling very fair tonight. And there is the problem of your lies. You were supposed to call me the minute you returned from Faery. I think you were trying to find a way out of our deal. That’s unacceptable. You will not defy me like that again. Now what is your punishment to be? Should I press the button or can you think of another way to placate me? I think perhaps we should play a little game, you and I.” He slipped the box back into his jacket along with the stone, then he took the jacket off and laid it over Dev’s desk. He rolled up his shirt sleeves. “I think a little exercise is called for. I would run if I were you.”
It was the one time I decided to take the bastard’s advice. I ran for the door. If I could get it open, I could scream. Someone would hear me, even over the loud music. Our security guards were all creatures with impossibly good hearing. I just had to make it to the door and I could jump. I would land on the dance floor and it would hurt, but I would heal. Anything was better than being in this room and submitting to whatever Marini had in mind for me.
I didn’t even get my hand on the door before he caught me. He wound my ponytail around his hand and forced me to my knees. Pain flared along my scalp and tears pierced my eyes. There would be no reason to scream. Dev had soundproofed the room because the club could be so loud. I was alone and at his mercy, and I was pretty damn sure he had none.
He smiled savagely as he sneered down at me. “Are you going to beg?”
“Would it do me any good?” I knew the answer.
“You’re such a smart girl. It’s one of the things I admire about you.” He got to his knees in front of me, his obsidian eyes on my throat. He wasn’t settling for a little taste this time. I felt the force of his will and I fought against it. He tried to pull me in. The last thing I wanted was an ounce of pleasure from him. I used every bit of strength I had to pull back, and he just laughed. He seemed unconcerned with my small struggles. “Have it your way, then. It will taste the same to me.”
He struck, the force of his fangs an agony. I heard myself cry out. He drew heavily and held me so tight against his body, I thought I would stop breathing. How do I describe the pain of a brutal feed? There’s a quality to it I haven’t felt from broken bones or penetrating wounds. No arrow can make you feel like those fangs do. Helpless, hopeless. Like a rabbit in a lion’s mouth. The pain that comes from fangs ripping into your throat doesn’t even compare to the humiliation of having something as private as your blood drained without permission or care.
I tried desperately to take myself somewhere else, to not think about the vampire and what he was doing to me.
My eyes caught on Dev’s desk. So many memories had formed around that desk. It was the first place Dev and I had made love. It was the first place the three of us had sat and talked about our pretend ménage that turned out to be so true. I had so many happy memories of this office, and now I would just remember this one.
I tried to relax and think about the picture Dev kept on his desk. Neil had taken it. We’d gone to a baseball game. It was me and Danny and Dev smiling, our faces pressed together so we could get into the picture. Dev had tried to convince me that hot dogs were good and didn’t have anything to do with cats, but I’d had a bad experience with some troll street vendors and wasn’t willing to risk it. Daniel managed to catch a fly ball using only a little bit of his superpowers. Sarah and Felix had been with us. It had been right before we left for Faery. It seemed like forever ago.
I was shaking by the time Marini released the vein. The flesh of my neck felt raw and open. I didn’t think I was going to need a transfusion, but he’d definitely taken too much. When he released his hold on me, I slumped back, having no strength to remain upright.
“God, I never imagined.” He was on his knees over me, looking down. His face was flushed and he swayed slightly, like he was drunk. “I’ve never had anything like it. Not in all my companions. All these years.” His eyes were filled with a mad desire. “Zoey, do you know what we could do together? Don’t you understand, if you handled me properly, I would be your slave?”
“Just go.” The last thing I wanted to hear were words of devotion. He didn’t care about me. He was under the influence of my blood. I’ve come to accept that Daniel loves me, but even Daniel was so much more affectionate right after a feeding. “You had me, now go.”
His fangs made another appearance. I should have remembered that vampires don’t handle rejection well. “I haven’t even begun yet. You’re forgetting there’s another thing a vampire wants from a companion.”
My stomach churned as he lowered himself on top of me. I didn’t have the strength to even push back. My body felt useless, a futile thing.
He used his weight to force my legs apart, and I could feel his lust pressed against me. He was so heavy I couldn’t breathe. He leaned over and licked my neck as he started to shove his hand under my shirt. I felt his fingers pinch at my breast when he suddenly groaned and rolled off me.
“Merde!” Marini cursed and I scrambled away as he held his head. I saw that a hardback book had somehow hit him.
Marini was on his feet, looking for the threat when the paperweight on Dev’s desk flew across the room and hit the vampire squarely on the forehead. I managed to sit up and started to back away. I wasn’t sure exactly what was there, but it seemed pretty damn friendly to me.
“Que s’est-il passé?” Marini screamed as another assault began.
I strained, but I couldn’t see anyone standing back there. A pen from Dev’s desk became a flying weapon, attempting to lodge itself in Marini’s neck. He batted it away.
I made some shit up, my mind working when my body wouldn’t. “Security measures, Marini. You should go. It’s a poltergeist, and it won’t stop until you’re gone.”
Marini snarled, but another book flew his way. He was looking for something to kill but just couldn’t find anything. There was no one else in the room. He loomed over me as he grabbed his jacket. “Don’t think this is over, Zoey. I would advise you to keep our little affair between the two of us. I would hate for Daniel to become…troublesome. I will contact you soon and Zoey…the next time I’ll have you in my territory and on my terms. You should think about what I said before. We do it the easy way or we can do it as hard as you like.”
He turned and stalked out the door.
I tried to get to my feet, but I stumbled and fell back down, my cheek hitting the carpet. I needed to get up. I needed to lock the door, push the desk against it, anything to keep him from coming back. I cried, tears making it hard to see. God, I needed to figure out what the hell had saved me, but then I knew. A warmth enveloped me and I knew who my savior was. I cried at the sweetness of it.
Even without a body, Bris had found a way to defend his goddess. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to earn such devotion from him, but I was so grateful for it.
“Thank you, My Lord,” I whispere
d as that warm air surrounded me like a blanket. It enveloped me and gave me strength. He couldn’t speak, but I thought he was trying to tell me something. He wanted me to get up. He wanted me to get out of here. I was still vulnerable, and Bris had likely used all of his stored energy on his assault. He wouldn’t be able to help me again. There was time to cry later. For now I needed a safe haven.
I struggled to my feet and knew just where to go.
Chapter Four
I knocked on the door to apartment 1021. I glanced behind me every now and then, expecting Marini to show and try to take me away. My heart had settled a bit, but my anxiety was still high. After I’d cleaned myself up a little, I’d snuck into the residential area of the building, praying Marini wouldn’t come looking for me. According to Roman, he’d left, but my hands still shook.
I was startled when the door opened abruptly, and Lee appeared with a gun in his hand and a sheet wrapped around his lean waist.
“What the hell is going on, Zoey?” He took a deep whiff of the air and stalked out into the hallway, looking up and down. “Son of a bitch, where is he?”
“Gone.” I was pleased that I managed to speak with something of a calm tone. “Can I come in? I need to talk to you.”
Lee nodded and stepped back inside. “Sit down. I’ll be back in a minute.”
I got my first look around Lee’s apartment. It was nice, or it would be if anyone gave a damn. Like the other apartments in the upscale building, it had lovely hardwood floors and modern, clean lines. Dev had rehabbed the building when he bought it and it reflected his good taste.
Unfortunately, this particular unit also reflected Lee’s tastes. There was an old, well-used recliner and a couch that had seen better days. The only thing new in the entire living area was a large screen TV Dev had delivered and installed as a bonus for the work Lee had done while we were in Faery. Of all the wolves I’ve known, none of them had Lee’s senses. Even with Daniel’s blood, Zack couldn’t touch Lee’s hypersenses. He’d managed to track me across two sitheins while riding an eddy wind. If he hadn’t, I would have been executed, so the TV was well earned.