And she wondered if she was flattering herself to think he was as curious about her as she was him, especially as questions about her views on monogamy had nothing to do with strategy as far as she could see.
Neither could commenting on what he’d noticed about Daniel’s responses to her.
Her stomach knotted as she reached for the bottle. She scraped her thumbnail over the label, peeling the paper away. ‘Sorry. That didn’t come out like I meant it to.’
She looked back at him, but he only met her gaze fleetingly this time.
She continued to scrape at the label as he reclined in his seat, his attention back on Zee’s table. His eyes were narrowed, focused. Like a predator monitoring its prey, it was unwavering.
‘I’d hate to be on the end of that look,’ she declared.
His gaze snapped to hers.
‘I bet you’re quite the hunter, Jask Tao.’
But he didn’t answer as he looked back across the room again.
‘Do you kill swiftly or slowly?’ she persisted.
This time he frowned. This time she’d captured his attention fully. ‘What kind of question is that?’
‘Just curious. Kane Malloy is renowned for the long game. Caleb Dehain for his swift ruthlessness. I want to know what the other great Blackthorn leader is renowned for. Do you really tear?’
‘I protect my pack. Whatever it takes.’
Like he’d protected her. Kept her alive.
‘Something could have happened to me back in that tunnel, Jask,’ she said as she remained focused on her busy thumbnail. She glanced back at him guardedly from under her eyelashes. ‘What would you have done then?’
‘Nothing was going to happen to you.’
‘I know what those cons can be like, rogue vampires…’
He smirked.
‘What?’
‘It’s not the tunnel, Phia. Well, there are access points but they’re well and truly sealed from our side. I just wanted you to stay on your guard. Keep the tension going. Though I was worried I might have pushed too far from the second thoughts you were having sat on the edge of that pool.’
She frowned, thinking back to the terror she had felt moving through that dark passage. ‘You were watching me the entire time?’
‘Of course I was watching. Me and Corbin had placed bets on whether you would do it. I knew you would. A little bit of water between you and freedom? The way I scared you before you left?’
‘You didn’t scare me.’
‘So why else didn’t you see through your plan of killing me before you left?’
She met the taunt in his azure eyes, her heart having skipped a beat not only that he’d known of her intention, but that he referred to it so nonchalantly. She looked back at the label she’d been massacring. ‘It’s a good thing I didn’t, with how useful you’re now proving to be.’
Leaving the bottle alone, she picked the label from beneath her thumbnail as she plotted a change of direction.
‘So is it always about your pack?’ she asked. ‘Don’t you ever do anything just for you?’
‘What happened between us in the containment room was hardly for my pack’s benefit, Phia.’
As his gaze lingered, she reluctantly looked into her glass to break the intensity. ‘So what was it for?’ she asked, glancing back up at him a few moments later.
‘The reason matters to you?’
It did – more than she’d admit to. But the fact he’d asked her so directly made her flounder. ‘If I hadn’t been useful to you, would you have killed me down in those ruins?’
He knocked back a mouthful before lowering the glass swiftly back to the table, his eyes narrowing again as he followed movement somewhere across the room.
Sophia followed his gaze to the bar. She knew from the description Jask had given that she was staring at Zee.
But there was someone with him. Another male.
They both stepped past the bar, pushed aside a heavy curtain and disappeared beyond.
Her heart skipped a beat. ‘Where’s he going? Should we follow?’
‘There are only toilets down there.’
‘But they’re on their own.’
‘I said him on his own.’
She sat up straight, poised and ready. ‘Come on, Jask, we can take two of them.’
‘And kill the other? If he recognises me, that’s what I’m going to have to do.’
‘So?’
His eyes narrowed with disapproval. ‘You don’t just go around randomly killing, Phia. Death has consequence, even in Blackthorn.’
‘Then let me handle this one. Alone.’
‘No,’ he said, looking back towards the curtain.
‘Why not?’
He looked back at her. ‘Where do I start?’
‘They’re vampires and I’m a serryn. This is what I do, remember?’
‘And I know of him,’ Jask said. ‘You’re not going in alone.’
Her stomach clenched, something behind his eyes telling her his reason was far more than fear of her messing up. ‘I can handle this, okay? That way you might not even need to be involved. I’ll get the information we need. We’re a team, remember? You handled Travis; I’ll handle Zee.’
And she needed to prove she could do it – not just to herself, but to him. The look in his eyes when he’d quizzed her about her serrynity back in Travis’s room was a worry. If he worked out she hadn’t even made a kill as a serryn other than those in the ruins, he’d send her back to the compound. Her hunt would be over. This was her chance, once and for all, to throw him right off the trail.
Besides, she needed to know what she was capable of – to stretch her fledgling wings. And though she hated to admit it, there was something reassuring about the security net of having Jask as backup should it go wrong.
‘And what if he recognises you?’ Jask asked. ‘What if he was one of the ones who helped Marid get you?’
‘Then he’s going to be even more curious, right?’
‘No,’ Jask said. ‘It’s too risky.’
Her heart beat a little faster, her question as self-seeking as it was tactical. ‘Are you worried about me, Jask?’
He held her gaze for a moment. ‘I’m worried about you messing this up.’
Her heart slumped. She folded her arms on the table and leaned forward. ‘I’ll say it again – this is what I do. I’m made to do this and I’m damn good at it. If you’re not going to use the resource you have right in front of you to get this done, then it’s you who’s taking your eye off the ball. Unless that little speech you gave me back at Travis’s place applies to everyone but you.’
Jask stared her down, but she stared right back.
‘He’s going to be back any minute, Jask. This might be our only window.’
He contemplatively looked back at the curtain.
‘No one’s going to take any notice of me slipping out there,’ she insisted. ‘His defences are going to be lower seeing me than seeing you. You know it makes sense. Make the smart choice, Jask.’
The seconds ticked past, Sophia moments away from putting forward another plea when he looked back at her.
‘If I don’t see the second one come out in under five minutes, I’m coming in there,’ he said. ‘I’ve giving you another ten minutes with Zee and that’s it. And you do not leave the building, do you understand me? I can only pick up your scent from limited distances in places like this.’
Her heart pounded. He was conceding. He was actually conceding. Only she wasn’t entirely sure now that she’d wanted him to.
But it was too late for second thoughts.
She reached for her glass and knocked back the remains. She slipped out of the booth and stood, her gaze lingering on Jask’s for a second longer.
‘Be careful,’ he said.
She never would have thought two words would have made such an impact.
She nodded. ‘Always.’
* * *
Jask could hear her hea
rt pounding as she crossed the room towards the curtain, but he couldn’t tell if it was with adrenaline or fear. Maybe both.
As she slipped behind the curtain, he stared down into his glass.
It didn’t feel right – sending her in there alone. But he needed to curb the macho protectiveness. It was insulting to her and unnecessary for him. She’d been right – it did make more sense her going in alone. Just because he chose not to see the serryn traits didn’t mean they weren’t there. Just because he saw her vulnerabilities didn’t mean he couldn’t see her strengths.
And if she did know what she was doing, he’d finally have the evidence he needed that she was ready for her task.
But the thought of her being alone with Zee… the thought of the vampire touching her. The thought of him sinking his teeth into her. The thought of him hurting her. The thought of him taking it one step too far before Phia could gain control.
He knocked back another mouthful.
He’d wanted to say more before she’d left, but he was as comfortable with her seeing his weaknesses as she was with him seeing hers. He wasn’t even sure she’d understand. She only ever searched for differences between them – the differences she was conditioned to see, rather than the similarities that were becoming increasingly apparent. Because more and more, he was sensing that neither of them wanted to start feeling about each other the way they were.
A feeling he couldn’t afford – not just for the sake of his pack but because he couldn’t have his heart torn open again. And that’s what would happen if he allowed his feelings for a serryn to develop. Because the way the disdain for him in her eyes had serrated too deep too many times now, told him he already felt more than he should.
As the curtain moved, his heart skipped a beat. He’d almost wished he’d have an excuse to go in there. Instead, the vampire who had accompanied Zee made his way back across to rejoin his companions.
Now Phia was alone with Zee. Alone in that dark, dingy corridor.
Seducing him.
He slammed his empty glass down a little harder than he’d intended.
He smelt her before he caught her in the corner of his eye.
She was barefooted, her denim shorts barely clipping the tops of her shapely thighs. Her white sleeveless shirt was buttoned low, revealing her absence of bra beneath.
He looked up into her young eyes as she raked him slowly, her lips curling into a smile behind her heavily made-up face, her contrived curls cascading over her shoulders.
She leaned forward, rested her hands on the booth table and cocked her curvy hip to the side in preparation to slide in opposite him.
Jask rested his head back against the wall. ‘Don’t even waste your time,’ he said, his gaze tearing through her.
She didn’t wait a second longer, slipping away as silently as she had appeared.
* * *
Sophia pushed aside the musty navy curtain. The few steps down were as narrow as the corridor they led to. The unadorned brick walls as unwelcoming as the concrete floor and exposed light bulbs dangling twenty feet above.
The music suddenly seemed distant, the heavy curtain muffling everything in what now felt like another world beyond. And it was cold down there, the tiny hairs on her arms standing on end. But she knew that was about more than just the chill. Her palms were clammy, her pulse racing, a light-headedness taking over.
As she reached the bottom step, she thought of turning around and heading straight back into Jask’s arms.
Into the arms of the lycan who let her go down there in the first place? Who agreed to her putting herself in that situation?
To her detriment, she had insisted too much, put forward too strong a case. All in an attempt to seem strong, to gain control, to deceive him into thinking she was useful. To impress him.
And running back to him now would not only be humiliating, it would raise his suspicion.
She could do it. That’s what she had to tell herself as she stood frozen at the base of the steps. She was made for this. And it was about time she had some practice. If she was going after Caleb Dehain and Kane Malloy, if she was going to face whatever vampire had taken down The Alliance, she had to learn fast.
And she sure as hell didn’t need a lycan holding her hand to do it.
She pushed her fingers back through her hair and rubbed her hand across her mouth before smoothing down her dress. She took steady breaths.
But jumped as the door opened.
Someone else exited first, laughing, but Zee was right with him.
Her heart skipped a beat as their eyes met. His were blue too – but unlike the vibrancy of Jask’s, Zee’s eyes were cold, cruel, dead.
As both males sized her up, she felt the walls close in on her, any self-assurance she’d manage to build up now instantly plummeting.
‘The toilets are down here, right?’ she asked as nonchalantly as she could.
Zee gave her a swift once over. ‘That’s right.’
Clearly neither intended to move despite the female toilets being further along the corridor behind them. Whoever designed it that way was either thoughtless or knew exactly what they were doing.
‘Thanks,’ she said. And instead of waiting for them to part, she stepped between them, her back to the other vampire, her eyes meeting Zee’s as she rubbed her body past him.
His eyes widened slightly in curiosity, his smile telling her he liked her blatancy.
As soon as she made it through, she wanted to duck into the toilet. Instead, she did what she needed to. She glanced over her shoulder, making eye contact with Zee again. And she smiled, bit tauntingly into her bottom lip as she raked him slowly and purposely with her gaze.
If that hadn’t told him she was interested, nothing would.
She pushed open the toilet door and let out a deep and shaky breath as it slammed behind her.
She hadn’t needed to go before, but now she sure did.
She slipped into one of the cubicles. Did what she had to. Over the top of the flush, she heard the door squeak open. And slam again.
Her heart pounded uncomfortably, her breaths uncontrolled. He’d sense it. But that wasn’t such a bad thing. Come across too calm and it would raise his suspicions.
Male footsteps – steady, purposeful, taunting – strolled past her cubicle. Then fell silent.
She knew his type. Anyone who followed a female into toilets had only one thing on their mind. She had the feeling it was going to get physical quickly. If he reached for her inner thigh, the game was going to be over before it began.
She lifted her dress and slid out the syringes before removing her garter, placing them on the back of the toilet. She reached for the door, looked at the plaster on her arm, and looked back over her shoulder.
There was caution and then there was being unprepared. She grabbed one of the syringes, ripped the plasters off her arm and used them to attach one of the syringes to the underside arch of her shoe.
She took a steadying breath. A face-off with a vampire had never really bothered her when she’d felt she had nothing to lose, but now her queasiness was not only about needing to survive but, more so, of wanting to.
She pulled open the door and sure enough he was there – leaning back against the vanity unit, his arms folded.
He was good looking enough – if you could see past the dead eyes – and he clearly knew it.
‘I didn’t realise this was an open house,’ she said, concealing her trembling hands under the flow of water before reaching for a squirt of cheap-smelling soap. She rinsed and stepped past him for a paper towel.
‘It’s open house for anyone who looks like you.’
She feigned a smile, despite her stomach curdling. ‘Is that a compliment?’ she asked, discarding the paper towel into the bin.
‘It’s a fact,’ he said, moving to face her directly, standing between her and the way out. ‘And that’s quite a body I felt under that dress as you squeezed past.’
If he did r
ecognise her, he was giving nothing away.
‘A gentleman would have moved out of the way.’
‘We both know no gentlemen hang out here. Which makes me wonder what kind of lady you are?’
‘Who says I’m any kind of lady at all?’
She was used to the banter. The banter she could handle. Even if, for the first time, she didn’t have other members of The Alliance to back her up if it went wrong.
This time her backup was Jask. Jask, whom she firmly believed would appear in under ten minutes if it went wrong.
But she wouldn’t let that happen. Wouldn’t prove him right.
Zee grinned – a perfect, toothy grin that flashed his extra set of incisors. She’d had plenty of near misses with bites, and others that had managed to penetrate when things had gone too far – but never long enough to feed before The Alliance intervened.
Zee backed her against the cold, tiled wall. ‘Then let’s not waste any time,’ he said, looping his finger over the side of her halter-neck dress. He eased it aside to reveal the upper curve of her breast.
As he lowered his mouth to taste her before sliding his lips up her neck she involuntarily stiffened, repulsion flooding through her.
He sensed it but he lifted her anyway, parting her thighs around his, spinning her to plonk her on the vanity unit between two sinks. He grabbed her behind, sliding her forward tight against his groin, his mouth inches from hers again.
‘Are you not a feeder?’ he asked.
‘Not yet.’
He smiled.
Her skin crawled.
‘Looking for a sire?’ he asked.
A crippling sense of revulsion snaked through her. And as he slid his hands up her parted thighs, she decided he’d touched her quite enough. ‘I want to see Marid.’
His eyes flared, his thumbs pressed deep. ‘Is that right?’
‘You can take me to him, can’t you?’
‘And who told you that?’
‘He has my friend. That’s why I’m here. I want you to take me to him.’
He smiled again, but this one was as theatrical as it came.
He took a step back, looked at the floor as he rubbed his hand beneath his nose, giving a sniff as he did so, before looking back at her. ‘Are you trying to play me?’
Blood Torn (Blackthorn Book 3) Page 30