by M. K. Dawn
Evie rubbed her forehead with the heels of her hands. “I’m aware.”
“Still,” Nikko took her hand and brought her to the bed beside him, “you went after only Samantha. Do you know why?”
“She’s a bloodsucking monster—an enemy of our kind.”
Ethan threw up his hands. “You’re not making any sense, Evie.”
“I…” she stuttered, “I’m starving. Can we eat?”
Nikko looked at his watch. “It is early, but breakfast should be available. We will get the others and head up.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Ethan didn’t like the look in Evie’s eyes when Nikko made the suggestion.
“She cannot harm them in her human form,” Nikko stood and made his way to the door. “Nor will she be able to transform so quickly as a new wolf.”
Ethan’s eyes fell on his sister. “Is that all right with you?”
“Come.” Nikko didn’t give her a chance to answer before exiting the room and banging on the door across the hall.
Darrien answered with a sly grin. “Can I help you?”
“We are heading to the mess hall for breakfast.” Nikko peered over his shoulder. “Join us?”
“Honey,” Darrien yelled into the room, “they have invited us to breakfast. What do you think?”
Samantha pushed past him. “Stop trying to be funny.” She paused in front of Evie. “You look good—so much better than before. How are you feeling?”
Evie scrunched her nose and got right in Samantha face. “Get away from me.”
Ethan had never heard so much disgust in his sister’s voice. “Evie, what’s the matter with you?”
“It’s fine.” Samantha waved him off. “I get it. It’s just the way the world works. Our races hate each other.”
“It’s not fine.” Ethan shoved Evie back. “You will not speak to her that way, and that’s an order.”
Evie threw back her shoulders and sauntered over to Darrien’s side. “Thank you for helping me get through the worst of my transition.” She stretched up on her tiptoes and planted a small kiss on his cheek.
“Huh…” Nikko said under his breath.
Ethan was at a loss. A few minutes ago, Evie all but confessed her hatred for vampires and now she was thanking and kissing one?
Darrien’s face dropped as he leaned away from her an inch. “Um, you’re welcome.”
Evie’s smile widened. “Maybe later, I can repay your kindness.”
“Um…” A deep blush spread across Darrien’s cheeks as Evie sauntered down the hall.
“I will go.” Nikko jogged up behind her. “Mess hall is up a level and down the hall to the left. Follow the signs.”
Darrien whirled around. “Who the fuck was that and what did she do with Evie?”
Ethan thought the same thing. “After the transformation, confidence increases. Though I think the bigger question is, why does she hate Samantha so much but is flirting with you?”
A grin tugged at Darrien’s lips. “You think she was flirting with me?”
“Darrien,” Ethan warned, “this is not the time or place.”
Samantha wiped the tears from her cheeks. “It’s just me she hates, isn’t it? Why?”
“I don’t know.” Ethan reached for her hand but pulled back before their fingers could touch. “Maybe because you're the heir of a Council member? Or the original vampires? What are they called?”
“Primordials,” Darrien said. “Could be, but you don’t feel that way for Samantha. Right, Ethan?”
Samantha looked up at him from under her eyelashes and he knew the answer.
“No. Not even in the slightest. It’s Evie. Something’s wrong.” He didn’t know what, but if they didn’t find a way to fix it, their entire mission would be in jeopardy.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Darrien slid into the chair next to Evie and stared down at his food. As appetizing as the eggs, bacon, and toast smelled, it didn’t have the nutrients his body craved. “So, Nikko, am I to assume since we did not board with luggage, you weren’t able to find Samantha and I any blood?”
“Keep your voice down,” Samantha snapped.
“Why?” Darrien made a dramatic show with his hands. “There’s no one else here.”
Evie snickered. “Little vampire afraid of the big, scary humans?”
She had been poking at Samantha since they arrived at the dining room. “I love a good girl fight as much as the next man but maybe you should tone it down a notch.”
“Fine.” Evie shifted in her seat and focused on her food.
“Thank you.” As rude as she was acting towards Samantha, it was almost the opposite display towards him. She was most definitely flirting with Darrien, and as much as he appreciated the attention, it kind of grated on his nerves. And turned him on, which was also annoying. Small, confined quarters didn’t allow much privacy to relieve that sort of tension. “Anyway, where were we?”
“Blood.” Nikko took a bite of bacon. “And to answer your question, no. I found none.”
Samantha dropped her fork and pushed away her plate. “Well, this isn’t going to cut it.”
“Poor baby.” Evie cooed. “Too bad you can’t suck the life out of your friends.”
“Okay,” Darrien threw his napkin on the table, “that’s enough from you for one day. Time to go back to the room.”
Ethan, who Darrien could tell had been holding his tongue, stood. “I’ll take her.”
Darrien rubbed at his mouth. “I’m not hungry—at least not for anything solid. Finish your breakfast. I’ll go back with her. Come on.” He grabbed Evie under the arm and lifted her to her feet.
To his surprise, she didn’t resist. “Anything to get away from this—”
“Don’t.” Darrien pressed a hard finger to her lips. “If you don’t have anything nice to say…” He guided her out into the hall. “What the hell has gotten into you?”
Evie batted her eyes and ran her tongue along her lips. “Whatever do you mean?”
His head pounded as his groin grew hard—two conflicting responses, but he couldn’t help it. On one hand, he had no idea who Evie was anymore; on the other, it had been ages since he’d been with a woman.
“Good morning,” the rough voice of Salty greeted them from down the hall.
Darrien plastered on a smile. “Good morning to you, Captain.”
Salty looked Evie over. “Seems like this young lady has found her sea legs.”
“I have.” Evie’s face softened, and she looked like her old self once again. “I wanted to apologize for my poor company last night. I guess I let my nerves get the best of me.”
“No need. Another night perhaps.”
Evie smiled. “Sounds wonderful.”
“I’m off to breakfast,” Salty said. “Please feel free to do some exploring. There isn’t much in the way of sightseeing, but we have a recreational room and a small gym. You are free to use both.”
They said their goodbyes and continued down the hall. Evie brushed her fingers along Darrien’s arm, making every muscle in his body tense.
He kept his distance until they reached their rooms. “Well, here we are.”
Evie leaned against her door and took a deep breath, emphasizing her breasts. “Do you want to come in?”
Darrien took a clumsy step backwards. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Ethan—”
“Ethan what? It’s not like he hasn’t been with a vampire before.”
“He’s my best friend and you’re his sister who’s acting…”
Evie scratched a fingernail along her bottom lip. “Acting like what?”
“Different,” Darrien blurted.
“I am different.” She drifted towards him. “The old me never spoke up about what I wanted.”
Darrien swallowed hard. It had been a long time since a woman turned him into a bumbling idiot, but Evie was doing a damn fine job. “What’s that?”
She ran a hand down his chest. “S
ince the moment I saw you, I couldn’t help the attraction I felt. Everything about you is so sexy.” Her hand stopped at his pants.
All the control Darrien clung to vanished. His lips crashed into hers as he lifted her off the ground and she wrapped her legs around his waist. They were in her room and on the bed in record time, their bodies flush. The passion between them ignited, sending waves of pleasure through Darrien that he hadn’t felt in years. He wanted her, needed her in ways he couldn’t comprehend.
Evie undid Darrien’s pants as he kissed and nipped down her neck, careful not to draw blood. He tensed as she ran a hand under his briefs and wrapped it around his throbbing shaft.
“I want you inside me.”
The sultry, un-Evie-like tone snapped him back to reality. He bolted to the end of the bed, breath uneven and heart racing. “This isn’t right. You’re not yourself.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” She crawled to him and straddled his lap. “I feel like myself more than ever.”
His body shuddered as she grinded against him. On the verge of losing all control, Darrien prayed for a distraction—one that would a put an end to this before they took it any further. Whatever was going on with Evie, once they found a way to fix it and she was back to her old self again, he didn’t want her to regret this moment.
The saving grace: a sudden knock at the door. “Evie? It’s Samantha. Can we talk?”
Evie bolted off Darrien and crouched on the floor, a low growl emanating from the back of her throat. In the hundred or so years he had spent with the wolves, Darrien had never seen a reaction quite like this.
“Hey,” Darrien kneeled in front of her, “you need to take a few breaths and calm down.”
“No,” Evie bared her teeth, “she is a vampire—my enemy—and she needs to die.”
Darrien leaned back on his heels. “Die? She’s your friend. Why would you want her to die?”
“She’s a vampire and all vampires must die.”
He grabbed her face and forced her attention to him instead of the door. “I’m a vampire and you were all over me.”
“It’s different with you.” Evie shook her head. “I can’t explain why.”
“Evie?” Samantha called out again as she jiggled the door handle. Thank God Darrien had the good sense to throw the lock.
“One second.” Darrien didn’t want anyone to know he was there, but he feared that if no one answered, Samantha would worry and call for reinforcements.
“Darrien?” Samantha replied. “What are you doing in there?”
So many damn questions. “Just hanging out.”
“Well, I want to talk to Evie. Figure this whole thing out.”
Evie’s body convulsed as her bones snapped and reformed.
“No, no, no, honey,” he said. “The wolf in you needs to stay in you.” If she shifted, she could kill Samantha or him with a claw to the heart.
“I must…” The rest of the sentence was nothing more than an arrangement of growls.
Darrien leaped out of the way, knocking into the dresser as the wolf took over. “Dammit, woman.”
She crouched as the hair on her neck and back raised.
“Down, girl.” Darrien positioned himself between her and the door, his foot brushing against something on the ground. He kept his head high as he peered downward and spotted the remaining tranquilizer.
“Darrien,” Samantha called out. Could it kill her to occasionally let things go? “What’s going on?”
The sound of Samantha’s voice was all it took. Darrien dropped to the floor as Evie sprung forward and as fast as his vampire speed would allow, he stuck the needle deep in Evie’s skin and shot her up with the dose left in the syringe.
She fell to the floor, fighting the sleep that threatened to take over. The battle was one she could never win. A second later, she was out cold and back in her human form.
Darrien scooped her up in his arms and tucked her into bed. With a quick kiss on the forehead, he whispered, “Sorry, honey.”
He unlocked the door and stepped out into the hallway to a very annoyed Samantha. “What the hell happened in there?”
“She transformed into a wolf.”
Samantha crossed her arms. “I got that much. Why?”
Darrien didn’t have the heart to tell her the truth, but how her eyes dropped, his face must have given it away.
“She shifted because of me?”
He adverted his gaze.
“Darrien. Tell me the truth.”
“Yes.” He clicked his tongue. “She heard your voice and lost all control. It was the damnedest thing. Never seen anything like it.”
“How did she act before that? You were with her and she was fine?”
Darrien squeezed his lips together, not sure how to respond.
“Did something happen between you two?”
“No.”
Samantha looked him over. “Really? Then why is your zipper down?”
“Shit.” He whipped around and zipped his pants. In all the commotion he hadn’t had a chance to check them.
“Did you two have sex?” Guess they weren’t being coy about the subject.
He turned back around after a second check to ensure he covered all members of his body. “No. She came on in a very aggressive sort of way.”
Samantha narrowed her eyes. “Evie did?”
“Yes.” Darrien ran a hand along the back of his neck. “I tried to stop her, but I’m a man and it’s been a very long time and…” his eyes met hers, “please don’t tell Ethan.”
“Tell me what?”
Darrien cocked his head at Ethan, who was strolling down the hall. “You heard that?”
“Wolf hearing.” Ethan pointed to his ears. “What is it you don’t want Samantha telling me?”
“Um…”
Samantha placed a hand on Darrien’s shoulder. “It’s fine. He’ll understand. Darrien had to give Evie the remaining tranquilizer. She transformed back into a wolf when she heard my voice.”
“Yeah,” Darrien added, “and was hell-bent on killing Samantha.”
“Killing her?” Ethan’s hands tightened into a fist. “Are you serious?”
Darrien nodded. “Yes. She kept saying Samantha needed to die. If I didn’t knock her out, she would have attacked.”
Ethan scraped a hand through his hair. “So, we keep them apart. Samantha, don’t speak to Evie; don’t look at her—no contact until we figure this out.”
Samantha’s eyes flickered to the ceiling. “Okay. I guess we don’t have a choice.”
“We’ll figure this out.” Ethan grabbed Samantha’s hand. “I promise.”
Darrien returned to his room and dropped to the bed, not bothering to undress. Every muscle in his body ached from lack of sleep and the strength it took to fight Evie’s advances.
He would need to get as much rest as possible to survive the next week. Without blood to keep himself functioning at a hundred percent, he’d lack the willpower to fend off Evie if she came at him like that again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Samantha propped her feet on the chair across from her and stared out at the choppy ocean. The water had calmed significantly since the storm hit five days ago—a day before they were scheduled to dock in Brazil.
Nearly two weeks stuck on these waters had brought her to the brink of insanity. The constant yearning for blood occupied her every thought. Everything hurt, every light was too bright, every noise too loud. She would scream if there were any energy left in her body.
“Why did Salty want to meet with us?” Darrien paced the room, his agitation clear from his disheveled hair and twitchy movements.
Nikko stepped in front of his friend and placed his hands on his shoulders. “He did not say, but by the sound of boots down the hall we will know in a moment. You need to try to relax.”
Darrien’s face hardened. “Relax? Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
“Come on, man.” Ethan hovered next t
o the door. “Salty can’t see you like this.”
“What the hell is he going to do,” Darrien shoved Nikko aside, “throw me off the fucking boat? I could swim faster to Brazil.”
“Bad news.” Salty strolled into the room, dark rings under his eyes. “The storm damaged the dock in Brazil. They’re working on it, but it’ll be a few more days.”
Samantha flung her feet off the chair, her throat burning with need. “A few more days? Two? Three? Five?”
“Sorry, miss. I can’t give you an exact number. When they call me to let me know it’s safe to dock, we’ll do just that. But not to worry, we have plenty of provisions. These kinds of things happen.” Salty turned for the door. “I’ve got a few pressing matters to attend to right now but join me for dinner. Invite Evie. She seems to be missing a lot.”
He left without another word, unaware how dangerous the invitation truly was.
“Not a chance in hell Samantha and I are going to dinner tonight unless you want Salty on the menu.”
“Darrien,” Ethan closed the door to the rec-room they had made their own, “keep your voice down.”
“I no longer care what anyone on this God-forsaken boat thinks.” Darrien threw himself in a chair. “Maybe if they knew what we really were, it would light a fire under their asses to get us to shore.”
Nikko stared down at Darrien. “I do not believe they are keeping us out here on purpose. Mother Nature has a mind of her own.”
“We’ll Mother Nature’s a bitch,” he spat.
Ethan turned to Samantha. “We know how Darrien’s taking all of this. How about you?”
She didn’t want to add any more stress to this already stressful situation, but they needed to hear the truth. “I’m not sure how much longer I—we—can go without blood. Even passing by a human has become unbearable. We are on the verge of bloodlust and if we get to that point…”
Darrien slid a finger across his neck and made a cutting nose. “It’ll be bye-bye, humans.”
“This isn’t a joke.” Ethan glared.
“I’m not kidding.” Darrien ran his tongue along his teeth. “To fall victim to bloodlust is a horrendous thing for both the vampire and their prey.”