by Jasmine Walt
Breathe.
I will not kill.
I will not kill.
I clear my throat and force my face into the most neutral position I can manage. “Because if I did that, it’d only kill you faster.” Angel and demon Pike go back and forth in my brain.
Her mocha skin flushes slightly, unaware of the war inside my mind. She raises her thin, arched eyebrows. I stand, tightening every muscle in my body as I study her reaction. As she lifts herself up on her tiptoes, then back onto the balls of her feet, I try to keep her desires out.
Which is…
Impossible.
Just when I’m thinking one of us needs to go before things go bad for her, she shrugs.
“Well, I know what I signed up for.”
When she releases the guitar case, she actually smiles. My mouth falls dumbly.
“Come again?”
She nods, lowering the case onto a pile of clothes and stuff I once again, just noticed.
“Yeah, my roommate was tapped for this. She was a sympathizer so…” She runs a finger across her neck and makes a croaking noise. “But when I heard about you, I made a show of stealing her bread.” A smug smile paints her lips. “And the only thing worse here than sympathizing is rule breaking.”
She sounds proud, a fact that interests me.
Not that this is new to me. I’m used to people, especially females, seeking me out. Most of the time they don’t even know they’re doing it. Maybe her being so intentional is what intrigues me.
“So…” I stroll back to the seat at the desk and spin around to face her. “You want this?”
Shuffling across the carpet, she takes her former place on the bed. Her head tilts against her shoulder and a thoughtful look graces her face. “If what I’ve heard about you is true, then yes.”
I stop myself from rolling my eyes. Like I said, I get this a lot. The ones that come looking. Apparently, bitches love sirens.
That’s always been part of the problem.
I clear my throat. “Depends. What have you heard?”
“You know… beautiful women, draped on rocks luring sailors to their doom.”
I shake my head. “That would be water nymphs. Nasty bitches. They eat people.”
She laughs, and again, the sound digs into me, adding fuel to the inferno. I take deep breaths and grapple for control. My fingernails dig into my palms.
“That’s what I heard as a young girl.”
“And recently?” I say, teeth clenched.
She shrugs. “That the beauty of the song is worth it. And that you are all… irresistible. That the males can…” She places a hand next to her mouth and leans in like she has a juicy secret. “Give women everything they desire.”
Yup, that’s pretty much the standard, romanticized truth.
I force my gaze away from her face. “How old are you, Tahlia?”
“Twenty-two,” she says.
Another wave of her energy smacks me in the face. I force in a shuttering breath and close my eyes. My head swims. Soon, the pain will rip me away again. Soon I will be a brutal monster.
My body jerks forward.
Not soon, now.
Tahlia gasps. I double over and bite down a grunt. I can feel her hovering over me as my body wrenches from painful bolts.
The agony rips my mind, wraps silence around my nose, my mouth. Steals the air.
“How long has it been?” Her voice comes at me like there are miles between us.
I try to swallow and wind up croaking. I gasp for air, but it sticks to the edge of my lips, closing off my throat and caving in my lungs.
I can’t answer.
I can’t control it much longer My gaze lifts toward her, my movements wooden, my fingers buried on either side of my face.
No time to bang my head up against my inner moral compass. I smile. There is a monster pulling the strings. It draws her in.
Her eyes go blank, and I taste her.
She’s had a great loss. Maybe a parent. Maybe a sibling. I peer around the hole it carved in her. Black and tinged deep blue from the swelling power. I chew the part of herself she gave up to deal with loss between my teeth. My chair crashes down as I lift myself up to stand before her.
Her eyes are locked onto my face.
Her energy floods me with pins and needles. I burn to fix her. And she’ll let me. She’s nothing locked in my gaze. A source. A pleasure. I’ll rip her out and send her over.
A face flashes across my gaze and my breath hitches.
There are no features, just a feeling. It snaps an inch of me back in to quell the monster.
That inch doesn’t want this to be on Juliet’s terms. I used to follow certain rules; she’s making me break them.
Fuck her.
“Tahlia,” I mutter, shutting my eyes. “If you don’t leave now, you won’t leave alive.”
Her breath is so labored I hear it go in and out of her in rushed waves. “I don’t care.” Her hands rest on my chest. “Promise me you won’t let them take me back to the main grounds.”
The urgency in her voice doesn’t slay the monster. But it gives me control.
I’ll always be a monster, after all. But she is more than my prey. She is Tahlia, and her eyes plead to me.
I nod my head, screw my mouth up, and whistle.
My song sweeps the air around us. I feel clean. Like I’ve been air lifted off a mountain of shit. My body seems to forget the months of abuse and hunger. The months of isolation. The months of not being able to use my voice.
My lips vibrate with song. With each note they form, my mind buzzes. My muscles sing, and god damn, it feels…so good. No more jolts of pain. No more patches of ragweed clogging my throat. All of it, replaced by fluid energy.
By vitality.
A cool mist massages into my muscles. Filters my blood. Satisfies the curse. My body feels so relaxed I almost stumble into her and take us both to the floor.
I shake out my arms and legs, and somehow manage to stop whistling. Glancing down into her eyes, I know she’s answering the call. I know she’s mine.
The fiery need in her eyes is gone. All that’s left is the gaze of a woman that has everything she’s ever wanted.
She has no more questions; all her answers having been given in the song.
Seeing that, the rush comes. No, the high. It swirls in my brain and makes me giddier than the front row of a Snoop Dogg concert.
I should feel bad that I’m killing her—I should.
All I can do is smile. And she smiles back, then drags her fingers down my forearms. My eyes slide shut. Human touch. Her warm fingers leak the blood from my brain and into my lower organ.
I start panting like a thirsty dog.
“Wow,” she says, running her fingers up and down my chest now. “You look so… different. It’s… incredible.”
The awe in her tone snaps my eyes open. I glance down. The spider web of scars has dissolved into my skin. I can’t heal without using my power, but when I do, it’s almost instant.
Wrapping her arms around my neck, she gazes up at me in interest. “There’s blue in your eyes now.”
I nod, more interested in her than me. “How do you feel?”
Her eyes widen, and lightheartedness rubs against me. “It’s gone, Pike.” She shakes her head. “All the emptiness. You’re… Incredible.”
I start to speak when she presses her body close to mine again.
“More,” she whispers.
Her arms twist around my neck, forcing my face downward.
“Tahlia.” I breathe into her hair.
“More,” she moans, clinging to me.
Taking in another deep breath, I pucker up and whistle for her.
The second rush shoves me out of myself and up into the high. We call it the siren wave. I reach for her and pull her up into my arms so that we can ride the wave together. My song shoots out of me, a thousand tiny strings that attach to her, feeding her the knowledge of what she needs. What
she desires.
A light moan falls from her parted lips.
The longer I fuel her with what she needs; I go from feeling vital, to fu-cking Superman. I’m Superblack. On the verge of becoming power drunk, I let the song drift off and she collapses into my arms.
I hold her easily as she trembles like a woman that just got her nut off.
“Mm,” she mutters, pulling herself straight. “I want to stay with you tonight, Pike.”
I wet my lips. “For sho?”
She just stares up at me for a few seconds, then shrugs. “Is this part of it?”
I shake my head, not understanding.
“Do you have to make love for the call to work?”
I hesitate. No one has ever cared enough to ask that. Too busy being horny. “No.” I shake my head. “The call works on its own. But the way it makes women feel… love making usually follows.”
Her gaze drops to her feet. “I’ve heard it’s worth dying for.”
With a chuckle, I wet my lips again. “Well, I do—“
She cuts off my speech by lowering herself down and taking my towel with her. Before I can react, her lips wrap tightly around me.
Hard to argue with that.
My head falls back.
My breath hitches in my chest and my mouth drops open. It’s been a minute since I’ve had a bj, so it doesn’t take long to feel that tingle. I let out a chuckle and reach down to pull her to her feet. Breathing hard, I run my fingers back through her hair.
“What’s wrong?” She frowns. “You don’t like it?”
“Oh, I like it.” Instead of finishing my though, I undo her buttons. I get harder with each inch of skin revealed. By the time her coveralls hit the floor I’m almost foaming at the mouth.
She bites her lip and brings her hand to the back of her neck. “You like?”
I nod. “Hells yeah.” I start to walk, forcing her back against the bed. Then, I lay her down and run my hands across every inch of her skin. She squirms and rolls over so that she’s on top.
“You’re driving me nuts.” She huffs, pressing her palms down across my chest.
With a smile, I wrap my arms around her, flipping her over. She lets out a squeal as I place her onto her back and gaze down.
“Quiet, girl. They gonna think I’m hurting you in here.” I gather her wrists together at the top of her head and lean down to run my tongue over her hard nipples. I take a nibble and she whimpers.
“They’d be right.” Her voice is husky.
I rise up and stare at her. “Oh, I’m not hurting you yet.”
Tahlia gulps and a chill rushes down my back. It’s energy from her.
“You scare me a little.”
This makes me smile. Lowering my lips to her ear, I enjoy her go rigid against me. “I should.” I brush my lips against her ear. Then her neck. She shakes and whimpers beneath me.
“Sing again,” she says, snaking her legs around me.
I do.
The next few hours pass in a blur of sensation. For all the shit I talk, I don’t hurt Tahlia. She brought me back from months of hell. I owe her more.
I slide in and out of her with the tenderness of a lifelong lover. We rock together, moaning and sweating until her back arches with orgasm.
And Tahlia has a lovely fucking orgasm. So lovely, in fact, that I make her show me over and over again.
Then, I start killing her.
4
I struggle awake. Somewhere in the distance, a dull moan interlaced with a gargling noise meets my ears. A low booming rings out. The sounds warp in my head like I’m listening through a hangover.
As my senses crisp, the banging gets annoying as hell. The throaty gargling inches closer. I force my eyes open and blink the room into focus. When I try to sit up I meet resistance and my head falls back down to the pillow.
That’s when I feel pressure and realize Tahlia is wrapped around me like a boa constrictor. The booming at the door makes my head pound.
“Pike!” Juliet’s voice calls through the door.
With a grunt, I force myself up and reach up to pry Tahlia’s hands from around my neck. I try to undo this naked pretzel we’re locked in, but she’s sealed to me like Elmer’s glue. The gargling is coming from her.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Alright!” I yell at Juliet’s knock. “Give me a sec!”
Gathering all my strength, I manage to straighten up and remove Tahlia’s limbs from around me. I cup her face and gaze down into eyes coated in a frothy layer of white.
My heart punches the inside of my ribcage. I slept too long. She’s been dying in my arms all night. I shake my head to get rid of the guilt, wet my lips and prepare to whistle.
Too bring her back.
The door rushes open. My eyes dart over to Juliet, who is casting her evil shadow into the room. She’s flanked by two buzz cuts that stand back while she saunters toward the bed.
My eyes narrow to slits. I’m used to chains standing between us. Now that I’m not locked up, the urge to choke her out… to pay her back for months of torture, puts a sneer on my face.
She answers my threatening expression with a light smile.
Guess it needs some work.
She flips her hair and holds up a syringe full of clear liquid. “Good morning, Pike.” She nods at Tahlia, who is still gurgling in my arms. “You done with her?”
My jaw tightens. I suck a hot breath in through my nostrils. “Come again?”
She starts toward me, removing the plastic cap from the needle. A little of whatever is inside spills down the plastic.
“I asked if you were finished.” She comes to a standstill at the side of the bed. Her cool, blue eyes gaze down at me.
Nothing moves behind them. As if she knows she’s being talked about, Tahlia starts to moan like a gutted seal. “More.” She digs her nails into my sides. “More.”
Her body goes into convulsions, vibrating the bed. I tighten my hold around her, trying to get it to stop.
Above me, Juliet sighs. “Move her hair.” She leans over and I reach up and grab her wrist. We stare at each other over Tahlia’s convulsing form. She hits me with that super polite smile that sets my teeth on edge.
“I need you to take your hand off me.” Her smile stretches. “Can you do that for me?”
Something about that look makes me feel like I’m in chains again. There isn’t anything menacing in it. Which is what screws with me. There is nothing in it.
Despite the fact that she freaks me out, I match her smile and tighten my grip.
“Sure thing, Jules. After you tell me what’s in the syringe.”
After a few seconds of sizing me up, she nods. “Lethal dose of morphine. Now, will you move her hair? I need access to her neck.”
Tahlia’s convulsing worsens and I drop Juliet’s wrist.
“I can bring her back,” I say, not addressing anyone in particular.
Juliet sniffs. “Pike, this is more humane. And you’re clearly finished. You look so much livelier.”
I snap my gaze up to her face. My lips press together in a hard line. Without saying anything, I sweep Tahlia’s hair away from her neck, then hold her body as still as I can. Juliet leans back over, injects her, and then waves her hand at her two lackeys.
They march over and reach for Tahlia, who is now stone still. The two buzz cuts step to either side of the bed and reach down for her.
I glare at the one on my left still. His features crumple into a fear mask and I smile.
“Tell your boy to turn around so I can wrap her up. This is a female, man.”
He hesitates, eyes darting across the bed. Then, he shrugs and they both turn around. I wrap Tahlia up in a blanket, slide her eyes closed and clear my throat. The lackeys turn, lift her from the bed and march her out.
I stare ahead while Juliet clears her throat and shuffles over to the dresser next to the door. She removes a set of blue coveralls, then turns toward me.
“Where ar
e they taking her?” I ask.
She sighs. “Away.”
My gaze shifts over to her and I stare.
She does another frickin’ hair flip and smiles. “She’ll rest comfortably, then she’ll be cremated.”
My jaw tenses. I’d like to cuss her ass out. Shame her, but I’d just be trying to feel better. Truth is, her way is more dignified than my way. How she can serve up one of her own like a chicken dinner is none of my business.
“I need you to get ready for the Presenting.”
I blink. “Yeah, what is that exactly?”
She places the pile of clothing on the bed. “A formal ceremony to introduce the team to the rest of the compound. Colonel Jax wishes to boost morale.” Her arms fold across her small chest.
I laugh. “So, you’re going to tell everyone what’s what. Just say what you mean.” Pressing my hands down on the mattress, I lift myself up. “Is that really necessary?”
“Yes, but first you need to clean up and put on clothes.” Her gaze flitters up and down before resting on my face. “You’ll take lunch with your team.”
My hand goes to my face and I scratch my eyebrow with my pinky nail. “Yeah, I want to see Sadie.”
“You’ll see her at the Presenting.” She nods at the pile of stuff in front of the bed. “Take a bit to go through the things I brought here when I… recovered you. You have an hour before you need to be downstairs.”
I scoff at her choice of words. What she really means is kidnapped. “Where the fuck is my bird?”
She turns and heads to the door. “I’ll have Kenya bring him by the end of the day.” She pauses and turns her head to speak over her shoulder. “That is, if you can manage not to kill her.”
With that she leaves, closing the door behind her. I growl, an excess of cutting retorts piled on my tongue. I manage to swallow them down to the pit of my stomach, then I can at least shit out insults at her.
Kneeling beside the bed, I start to dig through a large black duffel. I pull out a few doo rags, pairs of boxer briefs, and random mementos I kept on me while in hiding. I feel rich yanking out a ball of hair ties. I tie my hair away from my neck before pawing around some more.