Kyros had snarled outside the door, but now his voice held that dream-like quality—just like last night.
“You’re testing the blood compulsion,” he said softly.
Oh crap, he could feel that? My terror over his sudden presence here subsided somewhat—though the burning flood sweeping through me didn’t leave room for terror if I were honest. An ironic mercy.
“Don’t do that again. I don’t like it.” The vampire took another step forward. “It woke me.”
“Kyros, no. Don’t come any closer.” I scrambled back into the far corner of the huge bed, as far from him as possible.
His nostrils flared, and his eerie voice drifted to me. “There are two things you should never do in my presence, Miss Tetley.”
I moaned as he took another menacing step forward.
“Never give me a direct order.” His lip curled, and he bent forward like a lion about to pounce. “And never, never incite my predator by running or turning your back.”
Kyros tensed, and I used the last scrap of my reason to edge into the corner and hug my knees to my chest. My legs quivered from need, but a sob left my throat. The blood compulsion had done something to me. I didn’t want this, but I was about to forget all of that.
My gaze trawled over the bed to his body—to the V that disappeared into his low-riding sweat pants. Sweat broke out on my forehead as I resisted the urge to wrap myself around him.
Loungewear never looked so good. His usual suit had forewarned me he was muscular and toned. The reality was better. So much better.
My greedy fingers itched to run up the ridges of his abdominals, starting at the area where a small patch of hair disappeared into the waistband of his pants. Each of his arm muscles was defined, the veins just visible. By the same token, he wasn’t wrestling-man muscular. His neck wasn’t thickened. His arms didn’t have to hover away from his body to accommodate massive lats. The monster was strong and powerful but possessed an inherent grace that was more terrifying than anything else.
One moment Kyros stood by the corner of the bed, and the next he was crouching on the bed, his feet either side of mine.
My mouth rounded at the display of speed.
And that was it.
Fire consumed me.
We reached for each other at the same time. He pulled me forward as I rose to my knees. Our bodies made delicious contact and I let my head drop back from the sheer bliss of it. This was like nothing else.
Nothing else.
I gripped his shoulders as he gathered my half-dried hair and forced my head back. I arched in response to the kisses he was pressing up my neck. He growled when he reached the spot he’d bitten last night.
I licked my lips as his mouth moved along the tops of my breasts. Oh, fuck. My shaking mounted, and he purred as I gasped his name.
“Kiss me. Now,” I breathed, trying to pull his head up.
His purr morphed into a ripping snarl. Meadow-green eyes snapped to mine, blazing. A promise of death in every contour of his beautiful face, he trailed his nose up over my jaw to my temple, inhaling deeply.
“What did I just tell you, little human?” he asked in his dream-like voice.
My hands slid down his hard torso and a surge of warmth low in my stomach eradicated the terror that was trying to work its way to me.
I fluttered my lashes at him. “I wasn’t listening. You’ll have to tell me again.”
His eyes blazed anew. “Naughty girl.”
Kyros fitted his mouth over mine in a kiss that demanded more than I’d ever given. Before I could process the feel and taste of him, he was gone.
I blinked at the thin air where he’d been, the fire within me draining away and leaving me cold.
My gaze flew to the doorway.
Two vampires held Kyros against the far wall. His furious snapping filled the room, and some of my terror returned.
His fangs had descended. When did that happen?
I fell back onto my butt, huddling in the corner, hands around my knees again. It happened again. I’d lost my mind when he got too close. This time he’d kissed me. Trailed his lips over my body.
I lifted both hands, squeezing my head in a bid to erase the last few minutes of my life. The lingering lust was fucking with my head. Why did he feel and taste so damn good?
“What’s wrong with me?” I whispered.
Kyros’s ripping growls were lessening.
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” one of the massive vampires holding him back answered. “The three-day thrall after blood compulsion has this effect. Sometimes.”
He turned to the woman who’d guarded me prior to Kyros’s arrival. “Next time inform us immediately.”
She fell to her knees under the power of his wrath, which was thankfully aimed away from me. “Yes, sir.”
Next time. That was the only part I was interested in.
I had no idea who he or the other vampire were. But the one with the shaved head had given me an answer, so I braved another question.
“Will I be safe from him?” My voice trembled. “What’s to stop him coming back again before the three days are up?”
The other vampire, the one with long jet-black hair cracked a grin. “You want to be safe from him?”
I’d never hated anyone more in my life. I abhorred Kyros. “Yes.” Thankfully I was too shell-shocked to spit the word.
The vampire shot the other bodyguard an amused look. “Turns out the avoidance isn’t one-sided.”
Kyros had kept his gaze on the ground since the other two vampires ripped him away. Now, he lifted his eyes to where I cowered in the corner. A shadow flickered over his face, and I shuddered at the sight.
“Gerome, Lionel, I need the two of you to get out of her room or I’ll attack you,” Kyros said, his voice edged with the promise of violence.
The one with a shaved head hesitated. “Are you sure, brother?”
“Leave, Lionel,” he roared.
I screamed at the sound. I couldn’t help it. Panic seized in my throat. My hands still gripped my head, and I squeezed my eyes shut. “Everyone get the fuck out!”
In a beat, I was standing in the middle of the bed. I picked up the closest pillow and launched it at the trio. “Get out. All of you.”
Kyros caught the pillow, his expression impassive. It didn’t stop me launching another pillow missile which landed at his feet.
“Not a bad view,” Jet Black said, folding his arms as he watched me.
… Reminding me I was in my underwear. My hand dropped to my sides as I glanced around for my discarded towel.
He continued. “If you’re not going to try your luck, brother, mind if I have a go?”
Plaster exploded.
I dropped to the bed, covering my head. The explosion of plaster didn’t stop, and after a few ragged breaths, I peeked over my arms to find the source.
Kyros had attacked Jet Black. He’d tackled his brother through the front wall, leaving hardly any of it behind.
No.
Absolutely not.
Fighting vampires was where I drew the fucking line. The males moved in a blur, smashing through the walls and doors that I knew one misplaced blow would end my life.
I wanted to live.
I would live through this.
Hopping off the bed, I wobbled on weak legs to the bathroom to wait out their fight. Closing the door, I caught sight of my stricken expression in the mirror. Sighing and ignoring the shouting and snarling outside, I crossed to the shower.
Might as well start my sanity routine all over again.
13
I belted out “Hands to Myself” alongside Selena Gomez.
Kyros’s tantrum had destroyed two of the four walls of my first room. When I left the bathroom a couple of hours after his impromptu visit, the three males were gone and the female guard calmly escorted me to new quarters. The short march down the hallway had confirmed that this level of the tower was a hotel of sorts or filled with small apartments. This roo
m was the mirror image of my last one.
After all the excitement and about three showers, I’d slept most of the last twenty-four hours. Then, I twiddled my thumbs for a time in an attempt to be a good prisoner.
I wasn’t used to sitting still.
A few hours earlier, boredom drove me to turn on the TV. Unfortunately for my neighbours—if I had any—I’d found a top hits music channel with subtitles. I did pretty well resisting the urge to sing along until Queen came on.
If those fang fuckers were going to leave me in here for another day and a half, it would be spent in the spiritually healing activity known as karaoke.
I glanced at the alarm clock as my buddy Selena finished up and the channel introduced the theme of the next half an hour.
11:00 p.m.
Phew, time flew when I had Avril Lavigne, Muse, and Destiny’s Child for company.
The piano intro for “Let it Go” came on, and I squealed, lifting my shampoo mic to my mouth.
I had a secret crush on Frozen.
I sang at the top of my lungs through the first verse and entered the chorus with gusto.
The hairs on the nape of my neck rose and I choked back the next line.
I wasn’t alone.
Suspecting Kyros, I whirled.
Angelica stood in the doorway. Her mouth was pursed, and her arms folded as she leaned against the framing.
I narrowed my eyes as her lips twitched.
Her voice strained. “I think that ‘I’m a Survivor’ was your best cover.”
She was laughing at me. Which was okay. I only sang to cheer myself up. I wasn’t one of those cool kids that practiced all week to wow crowds on a Friday night.
Even though her eyes were as bright as the others, and I’d always been scared of her, my brain didn’t connect Angelica as a vampire for some reason, so it was easier to relax in her presence.
“Given recent events, I had reason to put my heart and soul into that one,” I said drily. I chucked the shampoo microphone on the bed.
Her face dropped.
Oh? Was bringing up the reason for my imprisonment impolite? How crass of me to keep hanging onto it like it only happened thirty-something hours ago.
She lowered her arms. “Your guard just called and begged to be relieved of her post.”
I snickered. Bet she called during “Brave” by Sara Bareilles. I couldn’t sing that high, so I just picked any old note that felt right. “How many heard me singing?”
“Every vampire in the tower.”
What? I knew these people were fast. I had wondered if their other senses were heightened, too, with the way Kyros sniffed my neck. “Good hearing much?”
Her eyes flickered in confusion. “Oh, do we have good hearing? Yes. Excellent hearing. Though the old and powerful amongst us are able to tune out disagreeable sounds with more ease than the younger members of the clan.”
She’d just labelled my karaoke as a disagreeable sound. I was onto her.
“I guess vampires don’t like loud noises at all then.” The words slipped from my mouth. My jaw dropped. “I just said vampire!”
“You’re in the presence of a Vissimo.”
“Huh?”
“That’s our name. Vissimo.”
“Right. Vissimo.”
I could say that too!
Hold on. I frowned. “Kyros compelled me so I couldn’t talk to his enemies though. Can I talk freely around any vampire?”
“Beyond general terms, probably not. However, silencing you completely would make things difficult while you’re living alongside us.” Her gaze landed on me. “You’ll likely find it impossible to repeat sensitive or specific information to those below a certain rank. Or outside of a certain location. I’m unsure what exact restrictions Kyros put in place, but those are the common variations.”
Whatever they were, it sounded like there might be wriggle room. Good to know.
I tucked the information away for later. “How many of you are there?”
“In this tower? Two thousand.”
Shitty fucker! Two thousand? That catapulted my escape attempts from hard to impossible. I’d definitely have to leave Bluff City to avoid that many. There was only one place I could evade them, really, and that was the estate I’d left. With that said, I’d only return there to grab my grandmother and skip town.
But the more I knew, the better equipped I’d be to protect my loved ones.
Angie was very verbose this evening considering my position as Kyros’s prisoner. I wondered how much information I could squeeze out of her.
“Do all Vissimo live in towers?” I asked.
She cracked a grin. “No. But we all live with members of the royal family. In this clan, all sub-clans do live in towers, excluding those who live in the core clan with the king and queen.”
So Kyros ruled a sub-clan connected to the core clan ruled by his mother and father. Like a club with satellite branches. “Are all sub-clans ultimately ruled by the king and queen?”
“Correct. The work of each sub-clan supports the cause of the overall clan.”
I puzzled over that one, putting it aside for now. There were far more pertinent questions to ask.
She stepped inside the room, and my brows lifted at my lack of reaction to her. My heart wasn’t thumping in her presence at all. Kyros had scared the fear of less powerful Vissimo out of me, apparently. Or maybe it was the three-day thrall. Maybe that screwed with my usual reactions and thoughts somehow.
“I’m sorry, Basi,” Angelica said, dropping her gaze. “I never wanted any of this to happen to you.”
“Then why did you let it?” I asked her, voice hard.
Whoa, some part of me held a grudge against Angelica. I clamped onto it. “You hired me. Why?”
If she’d shredded my application like Rhys’s, I wouldn’t be in this mess.
Her bright blues widened before she collected herself. “A mistake, I grant you. Not because of anything to do with you though. In recent years, we’ve caught some unwanted attention from humans for never hiring them. I got the sense you were on your own and thought we could trial the addition of a human to the team to quash rumours.”
How odd to hear myself referred to as a human. I mean, that’s what I was. But she said it in the same tone I used for farm dogs.
“This has fucked up my life,” I told her, sadness flooding through me. I could never go back to the ignorance I’d known.
I turned from her to switch off the TV.
Her head drooped. “I know. Nothing can undo what you have been through. But I wanted you to know I am very sorry that’s the case.”
Exhaling, I closed my eyes.
I’d never been good at forgetting, and I found it hard to forgive until that happened. I’d always carry scars from what happened a day and a half ago. But she didn’t need to know that. “I hear you.”
Facing her, I caught her small smile.
“Then I can reveal my secondary purpose in coming,” Angelica said, clasping her hands behind her back. “I thought you might like to see around the place.”
See around the place? I didn’t want to leave my burrow… yet knowing more about the layout would help me bust this joint.
“Sure,” I said, smoothing my black pencil skirt and crappy white blouse.
Angelica followed the movement of my hands.
She grimaced. “I didn’t think about procuring you clothing. Things in the tower have been rather hectic with—”
“—Kyros having tantrums?” I enquired. Actually, I’d been thinking about how both sets of my underwear were drying in the bathroom. I had a bra on though, no one would ever know I was going commando on the bottom half.
Her mouth rounded. “Miss Tetley, he can hear you.”
What? Even a little conversation like this?
Had I farted recently?
I shrugged a shoulder. “He shouldn’t listen to conversations if he can’t handle what he hears.”
I was full of
puff, but bravado was the only thing carrying me since someone drank my blood.
Angelica seemed to grasp I was full of shit. “Regardless. I would usually have had someone collect your belongings by now.”
My belongings were Clint’s belongings by this point. He’d probably sold them already. “Don’t bother. I’ll make do.”
“It’s no trouble to have someone visit the address you provided.”
Tommy’s address. “No,” I snapped.
She frowned.
Shoot, I did not want her to go to Tommy’s house. I ran a hand through my hair. “Crappy couple of days.”
Her brow cleared. “Understandable. But I’ll drop off some of my old things later for you to pick a few outfits from.”
She made it sound like I was never leaving. Perhaps I wasn’t. “That would be great. Thanks.”
“How about we get you out of this room?” Her nose wrinkled as she peered at the carnage behind me.
I walked out after her, drawing the door shut, and noted the number on the door. 615. Sixty-first floor? Just my luck. Could I beat an elevator to the bottom? The lift only beat Kyros to the entrance alcove from Level 44 by a few seconds, but if I’d run from the elevator, I could have made it to the street. From Level 61, I could apply the same logic. With a minute head start, I’d beat him to the bottom. If I timed my escape for the middle of the day—when Kyros had professed that he’d been sleeping—there’d be a ton of workers around on their lunch break.
It was something to go on at least.
Time to find out as much as I could about Vissimo. “So, how do you know Kyros?” I asked.
She flashed me an inquisitive look, then faced forward. “I’m his aunt.”
What the hell?
I’d assumed older age equated to more power. I really needed to leave everything I thought I knew about vampires at the door. “How does that work?”
A smile warmed her voice. “The usual way, I imagine. Kyros’s mother is my sister. Also, one of my men is the king’s nephew.”
There was so much weird in that sentence. I trailed after her, digesting, and then followed the path of lesser evil. “You have multiple, uh, men?”
“Normal for vampires. Both men and women have harems. We have low fertility rates.”
Blood Trial: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 1) Page 14