Dark Secrets

by Madeline Pryce

  Eli tightened his jaw before taking another swig. I was surprised there was anything left in there.

  “You think it’ll last between them?” Eli asked.

  “I don’t think he’ll let her go, if that’s what you’re asking. He asked her to move in with him—men don’t do that shit casually. Tonight they were going to talk to Roy about it.”

  My brother’s eyes darkened. “Them moving in together, that’d be a mistake.”

  I pushed open my car door and the night air swept inside. I didn’t feel the cold, not like I used to before that succubus bitch had gotten a hold of me two months ago.

  “You had your chance, little brother, and you fucked it away with about two dozen blondes and a couple of brunettes. Your choice. You had her wrapped around your finger.”

  Eli opened his own door and exited. He looked at me over the car’s roof. “She deserves someone normal, a life away from this crap. Isn’t that the one thing she wanted? Normalcy?”

  “That’s the one thing Ella wanted for her.” I slammed the door closed, rocking the GTO. “You wanna know why she chose Dante?”

  “Aside from the fact he’s a walking Adonis?”

  I stared at him for a beat, wondered if he’d really said that aloud. “That’s super gay, bro.”

  Eli shrugged.

  “She picked him because he doesn’t treat her like glass. He’s the first person who actually gave enough of a fuck to listen to what she wanted and gave her what she needed. It pisses Ella off he had the balls to do it and not her.”

  My boots crunched over the gravel, each step farther away from Ella a labor. I pulled open the heavy wood door. A thick haze of smoke greeted me. I strode inside, threading my way through tables until I got to the spot I’d deemed mine last week.

  I glared at the two cowboys occupying Eli’s and my seats. The wide, tan brims of their hats shadowed their faces. Each one had an overly done-up woman hanging on their every word.

  “Move,” I growled.

  “Fuck off,” one of them said and went back to their conversation as if I hadn’t spoken.

  The skin at the back of my neck prickled and I fought the initial urge to grab him by the back of the neck and slam his face against the scuffed table. I grabbed the knife I’d tucked into my boot, in no mood to fuck around. I was tired, pissed and I hadn’t gotten laid in over two weeks.

  This was my bar, my spot and I wasn’t going to stand there and fuck around with two wannabes whose belt buckles were bigger than their dicks. I slammed the blade into the middle of the table. The resounding thwack drew attention.

  I pressed a hand to the table and leaned down until I was nose to nose with the interloper. The move knocked his Stetson to the floor.

  “I don’t think you heard me. Move the fuck somewhere else, this is my table.”

  The man scraped his chair back and when he rose, I did too. I stepped in close, the tips of my boots touching his shit-kickers, and stared into his eyes. I might not have been a giant like Eli or Dante, but I was taller than most. More than height, I had the strength to back up my words. The predator inside me rose, filling me with a visceral need for violence.

  Not getting laid was really screwing with my temper.

  Whatever the cowboy saw was enough for him to know I wasn’t bullshitting. Apparently he wasn’t in the mood to nurse a shiner and a few bruised ribs. He backed up a step and cast his gaze to the side. His girl cuddled into his side and wrapped her arms around his middle. She looked up at me with big, frightened eyes, as if I were the fucking boogieman.

  The man gathered her close as his buddy and his girl got up too. “You’re a real asshole, you know that?”

  I let a slow grin lift the corners of my mouth. “Sure do, now get lost.”

  The second they grabbed their drinks and left, I sat. I pushed out a newly vacated chair for Eli. My brother shook his head, took his seat and stared at me.

  I pulled the blade from the table and re-tucked it into my boot. “What?”

  “We could have gotten another table.”

  “No, we couldn’t have. This is the best one. I can see the front of the room—you can see the back. Have you forgotten it’s a dangerous world out there?”

  A redhead carrying two longnecks sauntered over to our table and did everything she could to catch my gaze on her way. Lust gleamed in her eyes and I shook my head in a clear dismissal. Not interested. Without missing a beat, she redirected and stopped at Eli’s side. She set both drinks on the table before walking her fingers, nails painted in something I dubbed cotton-candy-pink polish, up his arm. Perfume eclipsed the scent of tobacco. I wasn’t sure which was worse.

  “Missed you boys around here. Just ain’t the same without y’all causing trouble.” She grinned from ear to ear. “Although Daddy’s gonna be mad you scared off his new customers.”

  Eli wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. He smiled up at her and the waitress melted. I rolled my eyes and looked over the crowd, scaring off anyone who dared look in my direction. My senses pulsed, scanned out until I was sure nothing supernatural—except me and Eli—lurked in the shadows.

  “It’s Gabbi, right?” Eli asked. His voice lowered, taking on a I’ll-have-you-on-your-back-in-ten-minutes drawl. “With an ‘I’, right?”

  The woman beamed at my brother’s dimples and put her finger to one of them.

  A blush colored her cheeks and brought out the red in her hair. “I didn’t think you’d remember.”

  Eli scoffed, feigning hurt. “Of course I remembered. You’ve been our waitress the last few times. You’ll have to excuse my brother. He’s had a rough night. Got into a fight with his girl.”

  “Oh no!” She turned and gave me a sympathetic smile. “Is there anything I can get for you?”

  Silence?

  “Bourbon. Leave the bottle.”

  When she got up to leave, Eli grabbed the belt loop on her skintight blue jeans and pulled her back to him. He leaned in and whispered something into her ear that had the woman nestling in closer. I picked up the beer she’d delivered, the bottle wet with condensation, and chugged, hoping the noise of my swallowing would drown out her giggles.

  I closed my eyes and tried to think about anything except Ella. I shouldn’t have left. Unease cranked up my agitation and I fought not to reach for my phone and call her. Maybe something was wrong…

  “I’ll be back in a minute,” Eli said and stood from the table. Gabbi with an “I” stepped in to his side and blinked up at him with wide eyes full of promise.

  In a minute my ass. He was going to go fuck her in the bathroom.

  What a douche.

  “Whatever,” I said and took another drink.

  When my phone rang ten minutes later, I was half tempted to ignore it. I fished it from my pocket and glanced at the screen. Dante. Another lecture, no doubt.

  “What?” I said and took another sip.

  “Where the fuck are you?” Over the shifter’s deep, booming voice, feminine sobs carried over the line.

  I sat up straight and my heartbeat kicked up about fifty beats per second. My skin tightened with the extra rush of blood. “What happened?”

  “It’s Roy. He had a heart attack. He’s on the way to the hospital, get your ass there.”

  Oh shit. I pushed from the table, the chair scraping and falling back. I glanced around the crowded bar, the cowboys from earlier glaring at me the entire time. Eli wasn’t anywhere in sight. Just fucking wonderful.

  “Is he okay?” I asked.

  “Hell no, he isn’t okay. Ella rode with him in the ambulance, meet us at County General. Whatever happened between you and Ella—put it aside. You wanna know who was here holding her hand while you were off pouting?”

  Fucking fuck. I strode across the bar, phone clutched to my ear, peanut shells crunching under my boots.

  “Julian, that’s who. He moved right in with that comforting shit and Ella ate it up.”

  Rage unfurled and my nos
trils flared. I was going to kill that bastard if it was the last thing I did. “Fucker.”

  Dante’s voice was sharp and cutting. “I told you not to keep that shit a secret about your mom. Go get your girl. I’ve never seen her like that, ever. Didn’t know it was possible to actually see someone’s heart break.”

  I hung up the phone and pushed through the milling crowd in the narrow hall where the bathrooms were located. I slapped a palm to the door, shoving it open. Eli had the redhead pushed up against the wall, his hand down her pants. Becoming a werewolf sure had made my brother classy.

  I shook my head and averted my gaze, in no mood to see my brother’s dick if he’d gotten it out yet. “Eli, we gotta go.”

  “I’m busy.”

  Gabbi looked over my brother’s shoulder and met my gaze. She licked her kiss-swollen lips and blinked hooded, I’m-seconds-away-from-climaxing eyes at me.

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. I didn’t have time for this crap.

  “Roy’s in the hospital. If you wanna stay here and give this lovely lady an STD, fine. Go for it. But I’m leaving.”

  “STD?” Suspicion flavored the barmaid’s voice and her lust dimmed.

  “He’s joking.” To me, he said, “What happened?” Eli disengaged from his soon-to-be conquest and zipped his pants.

  Disgust washed through me—this wasn’t my brother. The Eli I knew wasn’t cavalier about sex, had never mistreated a woman in his entire life. It ate at me to see him acting like this. When shit settled, I needed to have a serious conversation with him—more than some slogan on a coffee mug.

  “Heart attack, you asshole. You coming or going?”

  He glanced back at the redhead, cupped the back of her head and swooped down to pull her in for a kiss. “Gotta go, sorry, babe.”

  She nodded with a pout. “Will you call me?”

  I turned and slammed out of the bathroom, pulled out my wallet and threw a few bills on the table as I passed. Eli jogged to catch up and together we made it to my car. I didn’t see the sights, smell the scents, could only focus on the black shadow of my vehicle.

  “Is Roy going to be okay?” he asked as we both got into the car.

  The engine roared to life and I skidded out of the parking lot in a spray of gravel. My palms sweated against the steering wheel where I clutched it. I pressed on the pedal, putting it all the way down as I sped down the highway.

  “I don’t know. Dante called, told me to get my ass to the hospital.”

  The rest of the trip was silent, both of us lost in our thoughts. The closer I got to Ella, the less pressure I felt in my chest. She was close. Fuck, I’d known something was wrong and hadn’t listened.

  I followed the signs to the hospital and pulled into the parking lot in front of the structure, slammed the car into park and ran the rest of the way to the emergency room entrance, Eli at my side. Glass doors slid open to one of my worst nightmares—Ella wrapped in Julian’s arms, the vampire fuck holding my girl close as she sobbed against his chest with loud, gut-wrenching tears.

  My heart ripped in half, a physical pain so consuming I could barely think beyond it. What was worse was I had no one to blame. I’d let my ego and anger get the best of me. I’d walked out on her when she needed me. I’d ignored my instincts and the connection between us—left her vulnerable and open to Julian’s influence.

  Red hazed my vision and the only thing I could taste was blood.

  Chapter Five

  My emotions unraveled—the culmination of nonstop disasters reaching its peak. The hustle and bustle of the emergency room faded. The scents of blood, grief and death ceased to exist. My sister’s sobs, Dante’s low murmuring voice, no longer reached my ears. Everything faded away and I retreated into myself where blame consumed me.

  I was a selfish bitch.

  A horrible girlfriend.

  A murderer.

  Unable to protect my family.

  Roy was going to die and I’d failed him.

  My chest constricted, breathing almost impossible. Tears filled my eyes and spilled over in a hot wash I’d given up on containing. Screw it. My shoulders shook and my knees went weak. Beside me, Dante cradled Hannah close, sheltering and giving her strength. Neither were things I had to offer.

  One more person I’d failed.

  “Don’t cry, min askling. Roy is a fierce hunter, he will pull through this.” Julian’s words were soft, the first ones without any ulterior motive or agenda.

  I looked up and met his blue, blue eyes. He searched my gaze as if he were looking for something. If he sought to unearth my love or admiration, he was in for a lifetime of eternal disappointment. Hell would freeze over before I let him back into my heart. He had to know that, right? Whether he did or didn’t wasn’t an issue at this very moment because he was here and Micah wasn’t.

  He shuffled forward and I gripped my sire’s button-down white silk shirt, needing something concrete to hold on to. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. I didn’t have the strength to protest. I buried my face against his chest. In his embrace, I broke down.

  He held me tighter. “I won’t let you go,” he whispered.

  “Get your fucking hands off her.” Micah’s voice was a deep, rolling vibration of pure rage.

  I stiffened. Julian held me tighter, as if he feared I’d be ripped from his arm. I pushed from his chest and lifted my head, meeting Micah’s burning, furious gaze over my sire’s shoulder.

  At some point before he’d left the house, he’d changed into a pair of jeans and a tight black tee. His leather jacket hung open and I glimpsed the butt of his gun. Eli and Dante closed in around Micah, each man taking an arm and keeping my mate from advancing farther.

  “Not here.” Dante’s voice was a rough order against Micah’s ear.

  Micah shook one arm, then the other, struggling to break free of their grip. “Fuck that.”

  Heat and fury bathed me and it took me a few seconds to realize they weren’t my feelings. Micah. I sucked in a breath and tasted the wrath dancing in the air. His emotions overrode my grief, shoving everything to the side until the only thing that remained was a hard pit of loathing.

  I knew of Micah’s hatred toward Julian, but I’d never tasted it, not until that moment.

  Micah curled his upper lip at Julian. “I didn’t stutter, asshole—remove your hands from my woman.”

  Julian sneered and stepped in front of me. Possession radiated through my sire-fledging bond. Between him and Micah, their fury of warring disgust hammered me from all angles and tore me in half.

  “Or you’ll what, mongrel? Someone needed to be here for her. That someone, yet again, wasn’t you.”

  Micah flinched as if he’d been slapped, Julian’s mark hitting its target in more ways than one.

  “Julian,” I hissed, grabbing his arm and holding him back.

  Julian shook his head. “It’s true and we both know it.”

  In the process of staking Lizbeth, she’d managed to gut me. Micah had tried to save me, had given me pint after pint of his blood, but it hadn’t been enough. The only cure was my sire’s blood. Julian, the opportunistic bastard, rubbed that fact in Micah’s face any chance he got.

  Hannah stepped up to Julian’s side and cupped his cheek. She brought his burning gaze to hers. Four skinny security guards made their way from a silver elevator to our group, hands on their two-way radios.

  “Not here, please,” Hannah pleaded. “This isn’t helping Ella. If you care about her, you’ll leave and let them sort this out.”

  Julian looked at me, his electric-blue eyes fierce. Is this what you want? he asked silently.

  Micah growled as if he knew Julian had spoken inside my head, as if he could feel the power it took to converse telepathically.

  I shoved my hands into the front pocket of my hoodie and nodded to Julian. “I’ll be fine, you go on. Thank you for being here and not being a jerk about it. I’ll see you in a couple of days, for the party.”

>   Julian bent as if to press his mouth to mine. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I caught his face, pinching his cheeks together before his lips met mine.

  “No,” I said and shoved him away.

  He inclined his head ever so slightly. His voice threaded through my mind, a soft caressing whisper that had me gritting my teeth in an attempt to push it away.

  One day, Ella, you will see the truth—see what is inside you and you’ll come to me.

  The second he was out of sight, Eli and Dante released Micah. Jaw tense, eyes burning, he crossed the distance between us and stopped a few inches from touching me. The rich scents of liquor, smoke and the cheap perfume rolled off him. He’d been at the bar.

  Regret filled his eyes. “Are you okay?”

  I shook my head. No. I was not okay. Nothing was all right. My head spun, my stomach hurt and I was over the emotional roller coaster I was stuck riding. When Micah went to pull me into his arms, I stepped out of reach and lifted a hand to ward him off.

  “Don’t touch me.”

  The only two men in my life I’d loved had betrayed me. The only difference between Julian and Micah was that my demon mate hadn’t made me watch.

  “Ella,” he said softly, his voice holding too much pain for the one word.

  My voice warbled when I spoke. “Not here, not now.” A new tear fell free and I cursed the estrogen fairies wreaking havoc inside me.

  He brushed the tear away with his thumb and cupped my cheek. I stiffened at the contact. The addictive heat of his touch distracted me from my plan to kick him in the balls. Had his skin always been this hot?

  “I swear to you, I’m sorry, Ella. I didn’t know this would—”

  I shook my head and curled my fingers in to my palm, creating a fist. Eli pressed a hand to Micah’s shoulder, coaxing him away from me. Hannah came to my side, smoothed out my fingers and fit our hands together, giving me just enough strength not to go violent psycho-bitch on his ass.

  I nodded at her, stealing her silent strength. Dante, not that I’d ever tell him, was the best thing that had ever happened to my sister. I held Micah’s sorrow-filled gaze for a long moment before turning away from him.