"Are you all right?" Someone else appeared out of the shadows, grabbing her from behind and covering her mouth when she tried to scream. She didn’t recognize his voice and continued to struggle in his arms. "Hey, settle down will ya? I’m a good guy. I ain’t gonna hurt ya."
Addison’s terrified eyes turned to the man who had rescued her as he walked over to them after dumping the vampire’s body at the closed gate that led up the drive she had come down.
"Hey." The man holding her bent down as he examined the blood that stained her shirt, a great concern in his voice, "You’re hurt."
It was too dark to see her rescuer’s face, a black stocking cap covered his hair and was pulled down over his forehead. He was dressed in black, the keys in his cargo pants jiggling as he moved. Addison tried to stay standing, but now that she was more secure, she felt light headed and dropped to her knees.
"I…" She reached a shaky hand down to her side, her fingers lightly touching the large hole in her shirt, her hands getting covered in her own blood as she sobbed. "A-a…"
"You all right?" Addison immediately recognized his voice.
"Zak!"
"Jess?" He lightly touched her face, a loving tone in his words as his eyes met hers. "How the hell did you get messed up in all this?" He looked down at her clothes, and even though it was dark, he could see her wound. "What happened?"
"A-a-knife…" Addison struggled to speak through her sobbing, pulling up her shirt and showing him the gash filled with a vast amount of blood.
"Let’s get you to a hospital." Zak helped her to her feet, the two hunters maneuvering her to a nearby car.
Chapter Eight
My Love For You is...
Entering the estate, Darien saw one of the servants walk down a nearby hallway. She was carrying a tray of liquor and linens, and in her other hand, a large bucket filled with ice. Finding that a little odd, he followed her to the sitting room.
Darien was in a foul mood, having had no luck in his search for this mysterious hospital that had the technology to turn vampires into humans. Christian was still in a terrible mood and knowing that he had to call him with the bad news made his stomach turn.
As he trailed the girl, she moved over to a nearby table and set the tray and ice down before swiftly leaving without a word. Darien’s gaze then fell on a sorry-looking bunch of vampires.
They were sitting around in various parts of the room, most of them still with healing black eyes. Josh was tied to a chair, his face painted with dried blood from cuts that had since been healed. He was screaming at one of the vampires in his own language, the other screaming back in Sarvonese. They weren’t getting anywhere, but neither would back down. Josh was still raging, the chair hopping up and down as he yelled.
"Hey!" Darien glared at them, the sound of his voice making everyone in the room grow silent. He spoke in Sarvonese, "What the hell is going on here?" He stared into their guilty faces as they tried to avoid his eyes.
"Josh went psycho on us!" The vampire that had been arguing with Josh spoke first. "He almost lost all our—"
Chiming in, Josh tried to speak over him. "They tried to kill Addison!"
"Addison?" Darien’s eyes narrowed on Josh, his hand going up in the air to silence the other vampires. They immediately obeyed, the room growing silent. "You saw Addison?"
"Yeah. If it wasn’t for me, these idiots would’ve killed her." Josh nodded, "Untie me, and I’ll tell you more about it."
Darien did just that. "Where is she?"
"I don’t know." Josh rubbed his wrists when they were released, raising his hand and pointing angrily to the other vampires. "But they picked her up during the hunt and were going to bring her back as a donor. She’s hurt, Darien!" Josh stood. "We have to find her! She could be lying dead somewhere and—"
Darien motioned for Josh to sit back down, "Hey now, Mr. Hero. How do you even know it was her?"
"Look at that," Josh gestured. "It’s her wedding ring."
Darien held out his hand, motioning for the vampire to give him the ring, "Let me see that." He studied it, reading the inscription inside. He looked up at Josh, a great urgency now in his own eyes, "This is Addison’s."
"I know." Josh’s breath quickened as he spoke with over-dramatic hand movements and pointed toward the door. "We have to find her. We have to."
"Here." One of the vampires walked over to Darien, handing him Addison’s bag. "She was wearing this when we picked her up."
"Thanks." Darien glared at him and ripped it out of his hands. He opened it, taking the Balthazar book and handing it to Josh, Darien shuffled through the rest of the contents. He smiled when he found her wallet, but was quickly disappointed. There was some money and a few cards, but no ID. "Damn." He picked up the library card. "Jessica Hershey. Who the hell is that?"
Josh shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea."
"Hmm.." Sighing, Darien looked though the rest of her wallet, finding a card with the name Dr. Anderson from a hospital in Hanton. "Let’s give this guy a call tomorrow. Maybe he can tell us something."
"Do you think they made her human?" Josh opened the book, pulling out the piece of paper Addison had stuck in there. He laughed when he read it. "Wow."
"What?" Darien ripped it out of his hand, seeing what Addison had written on the back and not what Josh had read. "Oh. This is a quote from Balthazar."
"Not that." Josh motioned for him to turn the paper over. "Read the other side."
Darien flipped it, a small chuckle escaping his lips as he read. "It sounds better in Aerolin."
"Who wrote it? It’s not Addison’s handwriting." Josh reclaimed the scrap paper and studied the side written in Aerolin. "What’s this mean?"
"My love for you is like the heavens, immeasurable and eternal." Darien let out a tired sigh. "The Master used to say that to her all the time. He’d love to see this." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and took a picture. "Let’s send it to him and see if he bites."
The flash on his camera forced Josh to close his eyes, as he tried to block out the bright light. Darien looked down at the image. There were small little hearts drawn around the passage, the ones Addison used to draw on everything. Trying to shake the thought, Darien typed a message to Christian along with the picture.
Recognize this handwriting?
Darien took a seat on the couch next to Josh, his eyes inspecting Addison’s ring for a few seconds until he got a reply.
My love’s.
Darien laughed.
She’s in Jenson.
Christian’s response was swift.
Then so shall I be.
* * * *
"All fixed." Zak cut off a piece of very thin thread attached to a small needle that he had been using to stitch Addison’s wound. He looked up at her, igniting a giant smile on her face. He tapped the leg of her bloodstained jeans. "Just one more needle prick, and we’ll be done."
"Thanks, Dr. Monroe." Addison was sitting on a hospital bed in the emergency room, her shirt lying next to her. She looked down at the stitches, her hands stained red as well. The only clean spot was where Zak had cleaned her wound. "Can you make it painless?"
"No." Zak laughed, but it was a short little burst. "A big girl like you should be fine." He playfully poked her stomach, "Someone’s been eating too many candy bars lately."
Making a sour face, Addison looked down at her stomach, a distant look in her eyes as she rubbed it gently. "Are you saying I’m fat?"
"No." Zak didn’t look up as he spoke, "You’re perfect."
The nurse cleaned up the supplies he had used, quickly discarding them in their proper places. She shot Addison a knowing look when she saw her watching Zak. Lots of women were in love with the handsome doctor.
"All right." Zak caught the dirty look Addison gave the nurse as he walked back over to her, a small needle in his hand. He narrowed his eyes on Addison, who sent him a giant grin that playfully showed her guilt. "This is just for precautionary measures." H
e cleaned her skin with a small piece of wet gauze before giving her the shot. "Done." He smiled at her before pulling away and tossing the needle.
Addison looked down at her arm where he had stuck her, a small frown creeping onto her face. She knew what the shot was for. It was the same one he gave her every week—the antidote that kept the gift Christian had given her dormant.
She had lost a lot of blood tonight and was told at the hospital that any severe damage to her body, especially when there was a change in her blood, could bring out her vampire qualities again. Without the antidote, she could turn again. Shuddering at the thought, Addison lightly touched her lips, wondering if she had avoided such a fate tonight.
Addison watched the nurse exit the room, leaving her alone with Zak. He was writing something down in her folder, his back turned to her. Rubbing her bare arms, Addison’s voice was soft, "Zak?"
"Yeah?" He turned around and smiled at her, closing her folder.
Acting shy, Addison’s lip was slightly pouted as she motioned for him to come over to her with her index finger.
"What?" He strolled over, a slight suspicion in his eyes.
She quickly wrapped her arms around his waist, holding onto him as she spoke, "Thank you for saving me."
"You’re welcome." Zak wrapped his arms loosely around her for a few seconds before moving back. "Now put on that hospital gown, and I’ll take you home."
After finishing a few things, Zak guided her to the car he had borrowed from one of his hunters. Addison insisted on staying the night with him, and after what she had been through, he agreed.
She took a shower when she got there and washed off all the blood, having borrowed one of Zak’s shirts and a pair of his shorts. Then, she walked out into the hallway and stopped in front of Zak’s room. "Zak?" Holding onto the door, she peeked her nose in the small crack, her eyes falling upon him as he watched television in his bed.
"What?"
"Can I come in?"
"Sure." Addison jumped into bed, sitting next to him. "You look better." All the forming bruises on her body were visible now that she was clean.
"Are you still mad at me?"
"No, why would I be?" Zak focused on the screen, trying not to notice Addison’s bare legs touching his.
"You know what I mean."
"I’ve completely forgotten about the whole thing." His eyes narrowed as he pretended to be very interested in the sports highlights flashing before his eyes.
"No, you haven’t." Sitting up on her knees, her face hovered close to his. "I can tell you’re still mad."
"I’m not."
"You are one of my best friends, Zak. I love being around you, and we always have fun."
"We do." His voice was soft.
"And…" Addison looked down at her hands. "I’m really sorry for hurting your feelings. It’s not supposed to be this way, you know. You’re supposed to be my knight, like in the storybooks."
"Your knight, eh?" Zak chuckled, shutting off the television and giving her his full attention.
"Yeah." She laughed too, but her sadness stopped it short and infected her face with a frown. She sat back down on the bed and rested her head on his shoulder. "You saved me from the evil vampire king, and now we’re supposed to live happily ever after."
"That’s how it should work."
"But it doesn’t." She could feel Zak’s skin under her cheek, her eyes gazing off into the distance. Her voice was low as she spoke, "I should be happy, but all I want to do is cry. I miss…" Pausing, she looped her arm around Zak’s, clinging to him tighter. "All my friends. Why can’t this be easy? Why can’t there be a magic potion that makes me forget?"
He pulled her closer. "Forgetting would be so easy. It’s the remembering part that hurts the most." Tears crept into her voice and made it quiver, "My heart is breaking, and it hurts so much. So much that I want to dig my nails into my chest and rip it to shreds. I’m a failure. I’m weak." Zak rubbed her arm, his fingers venturing into the bottom of her shirt sleeve.
"When I was with Christian, there was only him—there wasn’t an Addison. I’m supposed to be free now, but I feel so trapped. Why do I still let Christian own my every breath? My every thought?" Her watery eyes looked up at him, his expression hard as his eyes met hers. "I know he’s bad for me. He’s so bad for me, and he’s done terrible things to me, but I still love him. Now, he’s sending his vampires out to hunt me. They almost killed me tonight."
"He’s molded you to be that way." Zak pushed her head back down on his shoulder. "It’s not your fault."
"Yes, it is." Addison sniffled, her voice taking on a more stable tone. "You were right. I can’t stand up for myself. I acted like a child and let Christian use me. I need to move on." She looked down at her stomach as she rubbed it gently, "I have to."
"Here." Zak let go of her and grabbed his keys, which were lying on the bedside table. He unclipped Kelly’s bracelet that hung among them. "See this?"
Addison’s face filled with a gentle smile. "Umm hmm."
"Wear this…" He picked up her hand and wrapped the bracelet around her wrist. "And let it remind you of who you want to save." Snapping the clasp shut, Zak leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Save Addison."
"Thanks." She leaned her head on his shoulder again, her fingers going to the bracelet and fidgeting with the charms. "This will help."
"Good." Zak sighed as he laid his head against hers.
"I know I can do it." Addison paused, her stare getting lost in the blank screen as she felt Zak’s chest slowly rise and fall. "I can’t ever go back. I’m going to think more positively. I’ll enjoy being the Addison I was before my sister introduced me to vampires. The Addison that wants to be with you."
A few tears began to fall down her cheeks. They were warm at first, but as they trailed down his chest, they grew cold and made him shiver. "I deserved what I got tonight. It cleared my head, made me see what I couldn’t when I was the sheltered queen of the Master. I want to stay with you…and never take another life to survive."
"The Addison that wants to be with me?" Zak held her tighter. He looked down at her, and when he saw her regard, he sent her a small smile. "Show me."
Pushing gently on her shoulders, he guided her into a laying position. Her eyes were sad, and he knew she didn’t want him. He knew in his heart she would always love Christian.
Testing the waters to see how far she would let him go, Zak slowly swung his leg over her and hovered there. Their bodies inches from each other, Zak supported his weight on his knees. He could see her lips trembling as he bent closer.
"The first step…" His lips hovered over hers as his green eyes played cat and mouse with hers. "To forgetting…" He planted a single kiss on her lips, his strong arms placed near the sides of her head, "Is distraction."
Tears danced in Addison’s eyes, her voice full of a virgin’s fear. "What’s the second step?"
"We’re not there yet." A devilish grin appeared on Zak’s face.
Addison’s brow wrinkled slightly, and she desperately wanted to push him away, but didn’t. "When are we going to get there?"
"Hold your horses, sweetheart," Zak laughed. "Like I tell my patients…" Slowly, he released some of his weight onto her hips and chest as he laid on top of her. "This will only hurt for a second."
Instead of a single kiss, he gave her a few passionate ones, sucking away her breath. Pulling away a little, he sent her a cocky smile. "But first…" He could see her reluctance, the pain reflecting in her eyes, but he ignored it. He wanted her and had to prove to her he could love her better than Christian could.
His hands reached into the tight space between their bodies, his rough fingers scaling her stomach and pulling up her shirt. As she felt the kiss of his fingertips creep into the bare space beneath her breasts, Addison began to breathe heavily. She was scared, her lip trembling as she reached her hands up to push him off but, he wouldn’t budge.
There was a shaky panic in
her grip, one that could easily bring her to sobbing tears. She didn't want him to touch her. She didn't want to be intimate with him, all she wanted was Christian.
"Sush." Zak snickered as he pushed her shirt up to her armpits, revealing her bra and exposing the small cherries printed on the white fabric. "It’s okay to be scared of needles. A lot of people are. But don’t be alarmed when you see the size of mine."
"Zak! Stop it."
"I’m serious." There was a grin on his handsome face, his voice maintaining a playful tone as he held her down. "Now stop distracting your doctor." He gave her a single kiss on the lips then looked back up at her. "You could die if I miss."
"Get off me." She narrowed her eyes on him, fury reflected in her normally gentle eyes. "It's not funny!"
Zak laughed. He had her arms pinned at her sides, not letting her move. "Okay, so as I was saying," he leaned close to her chest, "First, you have to clean the injection site." Sticking his tongue out, he pulled down on the small piece of fabric between her breasts, licking the space under it.
"Zak!" Addison's anger was growing hotter, her voice rose as she tried to wiggle away.
He didn’t look up at her as his hand reached behind her back and undid her bra to reveal her bare breasts. Capturing his tongue between his teeth, a devilish chuckle escaped his lips as he stared.
"Zak!" She glared at him, her breath deep and quick as she tried her best to budge him. There was a shrill desperate tone in her voice as she tried to push him away. "Stop, stop, stop!"
"Hey!" Zak grabbed her wrists and placed them next to her head, holding them down and not letting her struggle. "Settle down and stop being a baby."
"Is that how you talk to your patients?"
"No. Just you." He rested his chin between her breasts, a devilish smile on his face. "It’s only a little saliva, it’s not going to hurt you. Now I'll…" Zak lifted his head and looked down at her, biting his lip as he lost his train of thought.
Seed of the Master (Christian’s Kisses Book 2) Page 9