by Ava Benton
“Where is he?”
“You promised!”
“I promised nothing.” My mouth lingered near his throat, and my tongue darted out to slide along his skin.
His pulse raced.
It would be so easy to drink my fill. His heart would pump the blood straight into my mouth, down my throat. I wouldn’t even have to try to drink.
“You’ll tell me where he is, and you’ll tell me now.”
“He… he lives beneath the club…” he managed to whimper.
“And why does he want her?” It was worth asking, even if I was fairly sure I knew the answer.
“Desiree. Desiree is dead. He loved her.”
“And she wanted the girl. Is that it? He thinks the girl had something to do with Desiree dying. That’s why he wants her now, because she was going after the girl and ended up dead.”
“Not just that. She’s special. Not pure human. He wants to know what she is before he…”
I snapped his neck before he could go on.
I knew what Bradley wanted to do.
A half-human, half-witch would be a wonderful new consort since he’d lost his mate. Either that, or he’d kill her just to set an example. My job was the same regardless: keeping him away from her.
What to do with the body hanging limply over my arm?
I looked around and decided on a dumpster.
He folded up easily and nestled in among overflowing bags of garbage.
She was waiting for me inside the store. Her face lit up when she saw me through the window, and I had to admit surprise that she had followed my instructions.
She hurried out of the store with her bag of groceries in one arm. “What happened?”
“Hurry. Once we’re upstairs, I’ll tell you about it.” My eyes swept the street as we rushed to her building with me nearly carrying her just to get there faster.
He could be anywhere.
If he knew where to send his minion, he could easily send another. Or come on his own.
11
Janna
I had to lean against the sink for support when my knees went weak. “You killed him and stuffed him in a fucking dumpster?” Just when I thought he couldn’t horrify me any worse than he already had.
He blinked. “What did you expect me to do?”
“I don’t know what I expected, but I never thought you would do that! Why would you? He didn’t do anything to hurt me!”
“He would have.”
“You don’t know that!” I came close to throwing a pint of ice cream at his head, but my temper wasn’t that far gone. Yet.
“No. You’re the one who doesn’t know.” He was on me in the blink of an eye, pinning me to the sink with one hand on either side of me. His eyes started going red—he was losing control.
My heart seized in terror.
“That creature wasn’t human anymore. He was a minion. The vampires feed on creatures like that and give them just a little of their blood—only enough to keep them in their thrall and control their actions, even their thoughts. He was nothing more than an animal or a puppet. He couldn’t think for himself anymore. He would’ve gone straight back to Bradley and reported that you’re home tonight and being guarded by a vampire. What do you think would’ve happened then?” He leaned closer until his body was flush with mine.
And damned if my body didn’t betray me. Goosebumps rose on my arms. I turned my face away, staring at his arm instead of looking up into his darkening eyes. I didn’t want to see them turn blood-red, and I didn’t want him to see what he was doing to me.
“They would’ve come for me,” I whispered.
“Damn right, they would have. And then what? I can more than hold my own, but you can’t. I’m not going to invite a boatload of vampires up to your apartment just so I can prove myself.”
“All right, all right. I just don’t see why you have to go right to murder all the time. Doesn’t it matter to you?” I sneaked a look at his face.
He had gone back to normal once that first burst of anger fizzled—but he hadn’t let me go.
I was still pinned between the sink and his unforgiving body. And his face was still dangerously close to mine.
Why didn’t he back away to give me room?
“Doesn’t what matter?”
“Life. Doesn’t it matter that he was alive and now he’s not? And you stuffed him into a dumpster? And Jesus Christ, what happens to the shop owner when a body is found in his dumpster? What if he has to close down the store while they investigate? He could lose money on that. All because you had to kill that pathetic thing.”
“What would you have me do?” he whispered.
He was even scarier when he whispered like that. His face filled my world, blocking out everything else except his scent and the feeling of him all around me.
I struggled to keep my thoughts together. It wouldn’t be right for him to see how he undid me.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
“You don’t have to know, do you? You can stand there in judgment of me, talking about the sanctity of life and how I had no right to kill a living thing. Even though that living thing would’ve seen you killed if it meant currying favor with his master. That’s all he cared about. Do you think he would’ve told his master not to kill you, that your life was precious?”
“I… don’t know…” I couldn’t breathe when he was so close.
“Do you think he would’ve begged for your life? No. He would’ve watched whatever Bradley had in store for you, and he would’ve told his master he did a good thing, the right thing, the only thing.”
“Don’t,” I whispered.
“He would’ve watched while that monster sucked you dry. Or, worse, turned you into a minion. You would spend the rest of eternity as a mindless thing, doing what you’re told, begging for even a sip of blood to get you through the day. An addict, desperate, sweating and pleading. And he would’ve let it happen to you.”
“I can’t. Please.” I placed my hands on his chest. “Please. Stop. No more.”
He was silent, looking down, and I realized he was looking at my hands.
I lowered them slowly, feeling guilty for touching him.
He was like stone, but warmer, though not as warm as me.
Did his heart beat? It had to, or else how was he alive? There was so much I didn’t know.
He cleared his throat and put a little more space between us. “You have to understand the stakes. You need to for your own safety. This is no game—I would think you knew that after seeing what you did in that alley, behind the club. I don’t kill because it’s enjoyable. I kill because I have to.”
“Don’t pretend it’s not even a little enjoyable for you,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “I saw you when you killed her. You were exhilarated.”
“Exhilaration is not enjoyment.”
“You’re lying. I thought you said you would always be honest with me.” I held eye contact until he chuckled.
“All right. I admit it. There’s something thrilling about the hunt. The fight. Winning. Because it’s a fight for more than glory. It’s life-or-death stakes. If I win, it means I keep my life.”
“I thought your life was so depressing and bleak. Why would you fight to save it?”
His mouth opened, then snapped shut. “Do you always ask so many questions?”
“When I have a question, I ask it.”
“What else do you want to know?”
“Nothing right now.”
“And that’s a lie,” he announced. “There’s a lot you want to know. You want to know all about me. Don’t you?”
“There’s nothing we need to discuss right now.” I needed to breathe, to think. He was too much. How could I go from hating him after he hurt my feelings to wishing he would kiss me?
He nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off me. “I could use a shower after touching that… thing,” he decided.
I shuddered when he called him a thing. Tricked i
nto thinking he’d be strong, powerful, if Bradley took him under his protection. More cowardly and pathetic than ever.
Dead in a dumpster.
“I’ll move the body later,” Vale announced, as if he was reading my mind. “Once the streets are empty, later tonight. As long as you promise to stay here with the door locked behind you. I’ll take it down to the river or someplace a little more public, so the store owner’s business isn’t disrupted.”
“Thank you.” I didn’t know what else to say.
It seemed stupid to thank him for something that was only the right thing to do in the first place. But he seemed to expect some response, and that was better than nothing.
I could breathe more easily when he was on the other side of the bathroom door.
His presence was just too damn much for me to handle. I was actually excited after that little bit of contact. Just touching him, feeling him close to me, feeling his breath on me. I splashed cold water on my face in the hopes of cooling down.
When I turned off the tap, I caught the sound of whimpering from the street.
A faint whimper, sad. Heartbroken. And young.
A child.
One of the kids who lived on the block?
I went to the window and leaned out, looking down to the sidewalk.
She was sitting against the wall opposite me with one of her knees pulled up close to her chest.
It was bleeding.
Her bicycle sat on its side next to her, wheels still turning. Her tears dripped onto the ground, and the sound of her crying broke my heart.
She sounded so pitiful.
“Are you gonna be all right?” I called down to her.
She looked around, surprised, then looked up at me. Tears streaked her chubby, little girl cheeks. There was a scrape on her chin, too. Poor thing.
“My mommy’s at work all night,” she whimpered. “My knee hurts. I need a Band-Aid.”
“I have some,” I offered. “Do you want some help?”
“Please.” Her chin quivered, and fresh tears sparkled in her eyes.
I rummaged through one of the cabinets above the sink and pulled down a box of bandages and a bottle of peroxide.
Vale wouldn’t even be out of the shower by the time I got back—and he could kiss my ass if he had a problem with me helping a little girl that fell off her bike.
I hurried downstairs and out to the narrow passage between my building and the next one over.
The bike was still there, but the girl wasn’t.
“Hello?” I called out, looking up and down the street. How did she get away that fast?
“Hello.”
Not a little girl’s voice.
A man’s.
Deep, gravelly, knowing. Satisfied.
I turned. There he was, standing in front of me, blocking me from the street.
I recognized him from the club.
He was dancing with her.
Warmth trickled down the inside of my thigh, and I realized I was pissing myself.
Because he was going to kill me. It was all over.
“A soft heart,” he murmured, shaking his head. “Always the downfall of you women. Even some men, but mostly women. So easy to take you in with a crying child or a wounded animal. I’m sure your friend warned you against going out on your own, didn’t he?”
My friend.
He would be out of the shower soon.
He had to be.
And he’d come down when he saw me gone.
I only had to stall for a minute. “Why are you here? What do you want from me?”
“I didn’t even care for you, not really.” He was tall, so tall, and he towered over me.
Dressed in black, tight clothing that looked like something he’d wear to the club. He moved with unbelievable grace as he slid through the darkness, coming closer with every unhurried step. There was something sexy about him, a sensuality that seeped from him. His red-rimmed silver eyes flashed.
“She wanted you. My Desiree. Thought you would make a nice addition to our… family. And she felt what I feel about you now. That blood of yours. Powerful. So tempting. You’re not only human, are you?”
“I… I don’t know…” I hated how I sounded. Like the little girl who fell off her bike and didn’t know what to do next. Who needed help, but there was no one around to help her.
He had tricked me so easily.
“You do know. Stop lying. You have witch blood. And I’ve never tasted witch blood before.” His tongue slid over his lips, touching the tips of his fangs.
“I didn’t hurt Desiree,” I whispered, desperate to make him understand. “You don’t have to do this, because I’m not the one who killed her.”
“I’m not doing this for vengeance,” he whispered, smiling nastily. “I’m doing it because I want to. Because I’ve been watching you ever since the first time you visited my little club. Sitting alone, drinking alone, not even dancing. Your heart wasn’t in it. You weren’t there to have fun. You were watching us, isn’t that it? Like zoo animals. Something to amuse you. Well? Did we amuse you?”
“It wasn’t about amusement.”
“I don’t care what it was about. You made yourself visible, and here we are. It’s a shame you won’t be able to learn a lesson from this. Stick to your world and let us go about our business.” He lunged at me then, taking me by surprise, and I only had time to let out a moan of dread.
Vale’s face flashed in front of my eyes before agony wiped every other thought from my head.
12
Vale
The shower hadn’t helped anything. I was just as overheated as ever. And it all centered around her.
What was happening to me? Like something had snapped in my brain, and I wasn’t the same as before. It had been a terribly close call back there, against the sink, bodies touching.
I could still smell her even with the scent of soap all over me, hanging in the air. Nothing could wipe her from my mind. Nothing could erase the feel of her warmth, the way my skin had tingled wherever it touched hers.
I wiped steam from the mirror and looked at myself. My eyes were half-lidded with lust. It was like wanting blood but even worse, because blood kept me alive. There was an excuse for wanting blood. I couldn’t help it. Without it, I’d starve.
What was the excuse for wanting her? None. I could live without her. I would do better to live without her. No matter how much I had hated myself in the past for being so weak when blood was concerned,
I hated myself ten times more for being so weak around her.
The silence got my attention first.
The fact that I couldn’t hear her out there, making noise, being sloppy. Dropping things, letting them lie where they fell.
“Janna?” I called out, sliding into a fresh pair of shorts and jeans.
I would need to have my clothes washed soon, since my supply was limited.
Nothing but silence.
I flung open the door.
The apartment was empty, the front door closed.
“Janna!” I bellowed, running for the window, looking out.
The narrow alley between buildings was empty, along with the sidewalk. And yet the smell of blood hung heavy in the air.
No, no, no.
The word repeated over and over as I ran out into the hall, threw myself headfirst down the stairs, burst out onto the sidewalk and around the corner.
No, no, no.
Not her. No.
It wasn’t possible. What had she done? How had it happened?
“Janna?” I whispered, scanning the dark passage.
All I saw was a pile of rags against the wall. A pile of rags which rose and fell slowly, barely moving at all. Not a pile of rags.
A body.
I collapsed beside her, pulling her into my arms. She was covered in blood and bruises.
Her head lolled against my shoulder.
“Oh, Janna, what did he do to you?”
She was gone, or n
early.
Her breathing was nothing more than a shallow rasp which she struggled for, and a gurgling sound came from her chest whenever she drew in air.
She was all broken up inside.
I couldn’t leave her out here in that filthy little place. I couldn’t let her die. I looked around, watching for him.
He was gone.
He knew better than to linger at the scene of the crime. I had to take a chance to get her back upstairs before it was too late.
If it wasn’t already too late.
“I’m sorry for this,” I muttered as I lifted her.
She was so light. Almost nothing. Her blood painted my skin as I draped her over my shoulder, and she let out a sigh of soul-rending agony that threatened to tear me in two.
Janna.
I had let him do this to her. I held her in place with one arm as I used my other hand and bare feet to climb the brick wall—there were enough cracks and openings in the brick and mortar to give me adequate holds.
I couldn’t risk taking her up the stairs in case one of her neighbors happened to see.
Moments later, I was easing her through the window and lowering her to the floor before climbing in behind her.
In the light, the damage was gruesome.
Almost too much to take in at once. I could barely contain my rage when I saw everything he did to her beautiful body, her face.
The light cotton dress she had worn that day was filthy, shredded by his claws and soaked in drying blood.
He had bruised and gouged her thighs, probably trying to rape her, but her underwear was still intact. Her chest was crushed, nothing but a bruised pulp, and his claws had torn her throat, her face, her arms.
Handfuls of her hair were missing, while the rest was a matted, bloody mess. A piece of her eyeglass frames stuck out of her skull as though he had slammed her face into the wall. Her nose was broken, too.
She coughed, and blood bubbled out of her mouth and onto the floor. She tried to open her eyes.
“Oh, Janna. Darling,” I whispered, taking it all in at once, frantic because I knew she was about to die.