Dark Mate (MATE series)

by Kristen, Natalie

  CHAPTER NINE

  Eva held on to her weapon and kept her smile frozen on her face. Her breath caught unexpectedly as she stared steadily at the man she was going to kill. Kill? She might not be able to kill him outright, but she could hurt him. Hurt him enough to slow him down. She had chosen the largest and sharpest piece from the pile of broken china, and swept the rest of the wreckage under the bed.

  She waited for him to come close enough.

  She wouldn't hesitate. She would stab the shard right into his heart.

  Hopefully, the pain and shock would distract him and give her just enough time to bolt past him.

  It was the only way, her only chance to escape.

  Eva trembled at the memory of his lips and tongue on her body, his touch and his kisses igniting an inferno through her entire body. How was that possible? How could she have lost all control, and surrendered her pleasure to him?

  That devious vampire must have done something to her, twisted her mind to his perverted will.

  A part of her acknowledged that he had not forced himself on her. He had not forced her to do anything she didn't want. She had wanted it, wanted him.

  Eva began to shake as she stared into the depths of his whiskey colored eyes. No. She wouldn't allow him to affect her like this. She shouldn't be feeling anything for him.

  The conflict and shame swirling through her mind distilled into pure, primal anger. Her grip tightened around the shard and with a wordless cry, she lashed out at him.

  Gabriel's eyes widened as she flew towards him, slashing wildly with the jagged shard of porcelain.

  “Eva,” he whispered, a look of betrayal crossing his features.

  He caught her wrist as she aimed the point at his chest. Screaming, she tried to struggle free but he refused to let her go.

  “Eva, I...I can never hurt you,” he said, gazing deeply into her eyes.

  “Liar!” she shrieked in rage.

  “Listen to me...”

  “No! You are a liar! All you do is lie! Lie and kill and hurt...” She twisted free of his grasp and fell back. Pushing herself off the bed, she swiped at her nose and began to stalk slowly towards him.

  His eyes followed her, and he pivoted to face her, but he didn't try to move towards her.

  She lunged at him, and scored a deep cut down his arm. Gabriel didn't even flinch. He just stared at her, blinking slowly as blood oozed from his wound.

  “Why didn't you move?” she spat. “Do you think that by not fighting back, I'll just drop everything and back away? Give me back my things and let me go, Gabriel. Now!”

  “I'm not letting you go, Eva,” he said quietly but firmly.

  She smirked. “I thought you'd say that.” She stood without moving a muscle just a few feet from him, her eyes narrowing.

  Without warning, she lurched forward and thrust the deadly shard straight into his shoulder.

  Gabriel caught her as she tried to wrench the shard out to strike again. She twisted furiously, trying to grab that shard out of his body. Gabriel cursed viciously. Blood was pouring from his shoulder, but he refused to let go of her.

  “Eva, stop. Stop this!”

  “No! No!” she screamed. “I will kill you!”

  Something seemed to have snapped in her. She thrashed and jerked violently in his arms, trying to get her fingers around the shard embedded in his shoulder while kicking and clawing at him. At this moment, she was more animal than human, hissing, scratching, biting without thinking. She just wanted to draw blood, and bring him down.

  “Eva!”

  She felt his powerful hands close around her waist. No, no! She would not let him snap her spine.

  “No!”

  She twisted round, flailing and struggling vehemently. She screamed and she felt his fingers release her body suddenly.

  Eva jerked forward violently, unstoppably, smashing into his shoulder.

  Everything went red and dark, like a crimson curtain had fallen over her eyes. She blinked up at Gabriel's wide eyes and saw his horror. His mouth was open, but she couldn't hear his scream.

  Something was wrong.

  Very wrong.

  All at once, she was aware of her own gurgling, bleeding throat.

  She tried to speak, and immediately tasted her own blood in her mouth.

  As her vision began to waver, she gathered all her remaining strength and closed her fist around that piece of bone white porcelain still embedded in Gabriel's shoulder.

  His lips were moving, but she couldn't hear his words. The only sound she heard was her own wheezing breath. Her last breath.

  She was dying. But still, she would kill him.

  With a smile, she twisted the shard viciously, before sinking into that deep, dark sea of red.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Gabriel heard her gurgled cry, and felt hot, wet blood spurting into his face.

  It wasn't his blood.

  “Eva, no!”

  He grabbed her just as she began to slump. There was a horrible, deep gash across her throat, and her arterial blood was pumping out of her body in forceful spurts.

  Gabriel pressed his hand to her gaping wound but her blood kept pulsing out between his fingers. “No, no, no...Eva, what have you done?”

  He glared down at the bloody shard sticking out of his shoulder, and stared at Eva's slit throat.

  She had fallen on that shard and cut her own throat.

  Her eyes stared up at Gabriel and she gave him a wide smile, baring her bloodstained teeth at him.

  With one last wheezing breath, her hand fell away and her eyes closed.

  Gabriel yelled her name over and over again, but she no longer heard him. Her blood was all over his hands, pooling and spreading beneath her.

  “No! Why, Eva...what have you done? What...have I done?”

  Why the hell had he served her sandwiches on a china plate? He should have used a paper plate.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  There was no time, no time for recriminations or regrets. It was impossible to stop the relentless flow of blood. She was fading away before his very eyes, and he was powerless to stop it.

  He was watching her die. He was going to lose her.

  Again.

  Gabriel let out a terrible roar of anguish. No! He was not powerless this time. He would not let her die.

  He wrenched the cursed shard out of his shoulder and flung it away with a curse. Damn him! Why did he give her a porcelain plate? He should have been more careful.

  His mistake, her life. It was always like this.

  Not this time.

  Gabriel put his hands against her throat, feeling her warm, thick blood pump out of her body with each weakening beat of her heart. His fangs lengthened at the scent and sight of her deep red blood, but he resisted the overwhelming urge to take her blood and turn her.

  If he turned her, she would destroy herself. He'd read the fierce, unyielding resolve in her eyes. She wasn't kidding. She would rather face the terrible, excruciating agony of the sun's rays and be incinerated to ashes than to live as a vampire. She would do it. And he would have to watch her die.

  Again.

  No, he couldn't take her blood. But she could take his.

  He closed his eyes for a heartbeat. This had to work. But blood healing would only work if...

  He growled and raised his wrist to his mouth. With his fangs, he cut his veins wide open and clenched his fist to quicken the blood flow. He pressed his bleeding wrist to her throat and watched his blood mingle with hers.

  As soon as his blood met hers, Eva's body convulsed violently and arched off the floor. Gabriel caught her securely with his other arm, and pressed her shaking body against him.

  Her head lolled to the side and he saw the blood spill down her neck and drip onto the floor. She was losing too much blood.

  Holding her down, he tore deeper into his cut wrist with his fangs, opening his wound wider for her. He bit so deeply into his wrist he almost severed his own hand,
but he didn't care. All he cared about was—her. He had to get more blood to her. Stop her bleeding, and let enough of his blood seep into her body.

  His carpet was stained red, and for a surreal moment, he had the feeling that he was once again kneeling on the dungeon floor, feeling the sticky blood coat his hands and knees.

  Gabriel took a sharp breath and forced his mind back to the present. He was not in a dungeon. He was in his bedroom, cradling a human woman in his arms. A woman who was...

  No, not his.

  She wasn't his.

  So why was he fighting to save her? He would gladly give her all his blood, if that meant she would live. He would give up his life for her.

  To exist for so long, only to die for a human...

  Gabriel sucked a ragged breath into his lungs. For the past two hundred years, he had merely existed, existed not lived. He had searched tirelessly for Vonetta, because he had felt that it was his duty, his responsibility. He owed her.

  He hadn't protected her. Because of him, she had been taken in the most horrendous, brutal way, turned and sold by the Master.

  What he felt towards Vonetta was...guilt.

  He stared down at the unconscious woman in his arms. Why couldn't he just let her die? She was just a tiny, insignificant human.

  Was he trying to redeem himself?

  Save Eva, when he couldn't save Vonetta?

  He knew she wasn't Vonetta. They were so different. And he had never felt so possessive and protective towards Vonetta. But he must have felt some affection towards Vonetta. After all, he had been about to marry Vonetta, so he must have loved her to some extent. It was his duty to love her. Their marriage had been arranged by their families.

  Gabriel lowered his lips to Eva's forehead and rocked her gently, as he pressed his bleeding wrist to her throat. He had no idea how long he held her and bled for her. It never occurred to him to walk away and leave her. He would remain kneeling and bleeding at her side forever if that would keep her alive.

  He closed his eyes, remembering the taste of her blood on his lips. In that instant, he had known.

  His blood and body had awakened instantly, instinctively to her. But his stubborn mind and cold, callous heart had tried to deny the truth. He was still denying it.

  He would save her. But he would use her. He would make sure she repaid her blood debt.

  He opened his eyes to see his blood flowing straight towards her wound, as if his blood knew exactly where to go. As his blood seeped into her veins, the gash in her neck began to knit together, her flesh healing at vampiric speed.

  He finally allowed himself to blow out a shaky breath.

  His blood had healed her.

  Blood healing would only work if there was a blood bond. Yet, he would deny the bond. Deny himself.

  “Eva, wake up. Live! You will live, Eva,” he snarled fiercely against her cold forehead. “You. Must. Live.”

  When her wound had fully closed, he scooped her off the floor and laid her out on the bed. Exhausted, Gabriel slumped into a chair at her bedside.

  Other than a faint line on her neck, Eva looked none the worse for wear. His blood had dripped from his wrist steadily into her wound, speeding the healing of her body. Her blood had recognized his, and had mixed perfectly with his. Every cell in her body seemed to come alive when his blood entered her body. The color had returned to her face, and she had choked and spluttered before starting to breathe evenly.

  He stared at the ugly scar on his pale wrist and made a strained sound. It was supposed to be a laugh, but there was nothing funny about this whole situation.

  He glared at her sleeping form.

  Blood never lies.

  He wished it did.

  Gabriel closed his eyes, trying to block out the image of Eva's blood-soaked body. He had held her for so long, whispering to her, smoothing back her hair as she shivered and groaned in his arms. For the first time in a long, long time, he had felt something akin to terror as she teetered on the brink of death.

  Gabriel snapped his eyes open with a snarl. He was Gabriel King. He feared nothing.

  You fear losing her.

  No!

  This human woman was dispensable, just a tool to be used and discarded. Now that he had saved her life, he would use her.

  Use her to find Vonetta.

  He owed Vonetta, and Eva owed him.

  He was so close to finding Vonetta. Eva could complete the job for him. She was a cop. She knew her way around. She would find Vonetta for him. And now that she had his blood in her body, he would be able to control her—to a degree, though he suspected that that would not be easy.

  She would try to resist him. She might even try to kill him again. Gabriel winced and rubbed his shoulder.

  The little human had tried to stake him, with a porcelain shard.

  Gabriel smiled dreamily as he ran his fingers over the small scar. She had made her first mark on his body. His body throbbed at the thought of her nails digging into his back as he sank into her, her nails and her teeth scoring marks all over his body, marking him as hers...

  With a gasp, he shook his head hard and shoved himself to his feet. The chair crashed to the floor as he strode to the door.

  He wrenched the door open and turned to glance at the bed over his shoulder.

  She was sleeping so soundly. He could hear her soft, even breathing, and hear her strong, rhythmic heartbeat.

  Eva wasn't turned. He hadn't drained her blood. He hadn't plunged his fangs into her neck and sucked her dry. But she had his blood in her now. She had a Master vampire's blood in her, but she wasn't a vampire like him. She could walk in the sun.

  Perfect.

  She would be perfect for the task.

  Once she awoke, he would send her out to look for Vonetta.

  She shuddered and cried out suddenly in her sleep. In a heartbeat, Gabriel was at her side, his hands outstretched to wrench her away from her terrors. But he stopped himself abruptly, and curled his fingers into fists.

  He watched her for a long time, thinking a million thoughts which made no sense to him.

  Finally, the subtle change in the air told him that the full moon had risen. Everything changed in the night, in the moonlight. People changed, feelings shifted. Emotions and moods surged and ebbed with the waxing and waning of the moon.

  The darkness was liberating, intoxicating.

  Gabriel turned away from her and strode to the door. Bowing his head, he misted himself far away from her.

  He wanted to forget. Forget everything, forget her. He wanted to forget how strong and real his fear had been.

  If she had died, if he had lost her...

  It had been a long, long while since he had felt so...exposed. In fact, it had been so long since he felt anything at all. Not fear, not passion, and definitely not love.

  For the first time, he felt alive, alive and vulnerable. Strange, intense emotions surged to the fore, emotions he was powerless to control. He wanted Eva, wanted to possess her and protect her.

  Gabriel materialized at the top of the highest skyscraper in New Moon City. The city looked starkly beautiful in the night.

  Beautiful and fragile.

  Just like her.

  No, he couldn't love her.

  He could never love her.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Eva opened her eyes and stared up at the high ceiling. She moved her leg and sighed at the smoothness of the sheets against her bare skin. With a start, she gasped and jerked up.

  This was definitely not her bedroom, and she was most definitely not in her own bed. Where was she?

  Her eyes darted to every corner, taking in the spacious bedroom, the muted wallpaper, and the expensive furnishings.

  For a moment, her mind was a complete blank. She was in someone else's bed. And she was naked, completely and utterly naked.

  What happened? Who did this to her?

  Eva's hand flew to her neck as her mind came fully awake. She was in Gabriel King'
s bedroom.

  She had fought him, and stabbed him. She had fought madly, like a wild animal, but still she was here. She hadn't managed to escape. Her plan had failed.

  Her shaky fingers ran along the length of her neck. She remembered smiling up at Gabriel's horrified face as she twisted the shard in his shoulder. And she remembered the harrowing sensation of drowning in her own blood. Her blood had been everywhere, in her mouth, her throat, her eyes.

  “I should be dead,” she whispered.

  Her hands shook as she patted down her own body. She took a deep breath, just to confirm that she was still breathing. She could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest, and feel the warmth of her body. She was alive. Right?

  Her fingers fluttered to her neck. She had cut her throat, and had been bleeding to death in Gabriel's arms. She'd known she was dying, but she had felt no fear.

  Yet here she was, well and whole. She couldn't feel any wound, any scar tissue. There were no stitches across her neck, and...no fang marks.

  How did that terrible wound in her throat just disappear?

  She should be dead by now. Unless...

  With a sense of dread, Eva opened her mouth and felt her canines. They felt normal. Her teeth felt the same, like human teeth. But that didn't confirm anything. When Gabriel retracted his fangs, he presented a mouthful of straight white teeth.

  Was she still human, or had Gabriel bled her dry and turned her?

  Throwing back the covers, she scrambled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. She stared at her own pale, disheveled reflection. Slowly, she turned in a circle and scrutinized every inch of her body. She looked the same.

  She examined her neck carefully and saw only a faint, fine line. No bite marks.

  Was she a vampire, or was she not?

  One way to find out.

  She bit her finger until she tasted blood. She continued sucking furiously, filling her whole mouth with blood.

  Slowly, she swirled the blood round her mouth, forcing herself to taste the blood.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, she swallowed slowly, waiting for her body to react.

  When she had swallowed every last drop of blood in her mouth, she opened her eyes and stared into the mirror. Her mouth was bloody and she looked frightful, but no fangs protruded from her mouth. Her gray eyes looked tired and sunken, but they weren't red and glowing with blood lust.