by Janie Marie
There was no telling who had vocalized their dislike for David’s open claim, but she knew she wasn’t completely welcome. While some simply looked curious, the majority of the crowd wasn’t happy to see her. They were staring at her like she was the unwelcome new kid in school, but maybe that was okay. There was no point trying to fit in when you were meant to stand out. And if she was David’s Other, she was going to stand out.
Of all the women there, her eyes were quickly drawn to a violent green pair. It was funny how she could love one pair of green eyes beyond explanation but utterly loathe another.
Standing straighter, Jane met Melody’s glare and smiled. Surprisingly, though, Melody smiled back. Only, as Jane looked closer, she realized Melody was staring at David. Not her.
Jane glanced up, fully expecting to see anger on David’s face, but she stopped breathing when she saw the opposite. He was smiling. At Melody!
She whipped her head back to the woman David swore she didn’t have to worry about anymore and felt her heart crack. David was already walking toward her, still smiling.
“David,” Jane whispered, her eyes pricking as he caressed Melody’s cheek and leaned down, kissing her right on the lips.
An intense pressure squeezed her hand, and she looked down only to see a pair of hands coming around her stomach. She tried to shove them away, but she was frozen, and then she was forced to look back at the scene that destroyed her heart. David was there, his strong arms around Melody, his hand in her golden hair, tugging it as he gave her the kiss Jane dreamed of receiving from him.
“No.” The strangled word left Jane’s lips as fingers dug into her skin. The foreign hands grabbed her breasts as more pushed her legs apart. Jane opened her mouth to scream for help, but no noise left her. All she could do was stare ahead while several pairs of hands groped her body and tore off her clothes.
She felt her hot tears as she continued to try to scream. David’s smile was cruel as he leaned down and bit Melody’s neck.
Jane tried to shake her head—tried to ask what was happening. But she could only stand still as the crowd began to laugh. Some cheered that David finally picked Melody while others laughed at Jane.
Please, she cried in her head.
“Did you really think he would want a pathetic girl like you?” a smooth male voice whispered. Like snakes, more whispers slithered around her body, her heart, squeezing, cutting off life.
“He lied to you,” voices said in unison.
Her mouth opened and closed in a silent scream as her broken heart bled. Her knights were laughing with the mob of monsters. She mentally begged for it to end, to stop seeing and hearing their laughter, but it only intensified. No matter how hard she tried to move, to cover her naked body that was being pointed and howled at with amusement and disgust, she couldn’t. She could only let the torture continue while she cursed herself for ever believing David loved her. For ever believing anyone loved or cared for her.
David finally pulled his mouth from Melody’s neck, his perfect lips lined in ruby blood that he licked, closing his eyes as he savored the taste. He opened his eyes, staring at Jane as he grinned. “She tastes so much sweeter than you. Clean.”
More tears made it difficult to see, but she could still make out him laughing before he turned back to kiss Melody.
“Well, that’s not nice,” a somewhat recognizable male voice said.
As a blood-curdling scream left Jane’s lips, the crowd screamed too before everything went black.
My eyes are closed.
Jane stopped screaming but everyone else continued. Opening her eyes, she instantly saw Apollo across the room, holding a man by the hair as he used his bare hand to rip the man’s throat out.
Blood sprayed everywhere, covering screeching women and men as the knights all jumped in to aid Apollo. Jane screamed again, not knowing what was going on when she felt a pair of hands pulling her.
“BABY!” David yelled, turning her away from the slaughter.
“Get away!” She shoved him, not understanding his confused and pained expression.
“Baby, calm down.” He overpowered her attempts to get away from him and pulled her body to his. “Shh . . . I’ve got you. It’s me, Jane. It’s over.”
Finally accepting that he was at least holding her for the moment, Jane clutched him, hugging him as she sobbed against his chest. He turned them away, but she couldn’t contain herself. She had no idea what had just happened, and the yelling from the knights and screams from the crowd didn’t help her understand any better.
David caressed her hair while she continued to cry. His pounding heart under her ear made it so much harder to calm down. “You’re okay.”
“David,” she said, not really sure why she was saying his name, except for the fact that she still wasn’t a hundred percent sure he was there.
“I’m here. It wasn’t real.” He cradled her head to his chest. “Stay with me, Jane.”
She squeezed him tight, whimpering from relief when he returned her embrace. The crowd was quieting under Arthur’s orders, and she tried her best to take relaxing breaths.
“Pathetic,” someone said.
“That’s enough!” Arthur hollered. “The next person to speak will regret the day they sought shelter in my home.”
Jane shoved David away at the sound of someone scoffing.
David came up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder as he slid the other down her arm for her hand. She didn’t react to him holding her hand. No, her attention was too focused on the amused grins from a small group of women around Melody. That was when she also noticed Hades and the beautiful brunette standing next to him. Artemis.
“This isn’t over, you little whore,” a female voice suddenly hissed in her mind. “We’ve had David before. We’ll have him again.”
“Baby,” David murmured, tightening his hold on her hand.
“Who?” she asked, glaring at Artemis before looking back at Melody. She may not like the idea of Artemis being there, but she didn’t think this voice was coming from her. It had to be one of the women whose eyes twinkled with malicious glee.
“Are you hearing something?” he whispered.
Jane didn’t respond to him. She shifted her gaze between each leering smile, not sure which one it was, but she snapped when she saw Artemis’ green eyes on David.
Artemis was so much prettier than her. She didn’t look like Melody or the group of women showing off every asset they had to gain David’s attention. Jane saw exactly what David did, and she couldn’t take it.
She felt more words trying to penetrate her mind and realized this was very much like her experience with Mania. Well, if she could fight that demon, she could fight a couple of vampires.
With her free hand balled tight into a fist, she concentrated on shoving the whispers away from her.
“Jane?” David said, squeezing her hand.
“Leave me be,” she said, not recognizing the coldness of her own voice.
David listened, only squeezing her hand once more as she used all her strength to push away the taunting laughter dancing around her.
Then she made eye contact with a pair of onyx eyes. Gotcha.
Jane let go of David’s hand and stepped forward, never taking her narrowed eyes off the brunette near Melody. It wasn’t anyone she recognized, but she knew this was the person responsible for the second voice in her head.
Once again, Jane felt the sensation of foreign thoughts trying to push their way in, only this time, she didn’t cry. She smirked.
The woman fell to the floor, screaming as she clutched her head. “YOU FUCKING BITCH!”
Jane smiled, walking toward the confused group of women who were frantically darting their eyes between her and the Damned immortal on the floor.
David reached out for her, but she held her hand up to stop him.
“What are you doing, baby?” he asked but didn’t grab her.
“Saying hello,” she said, lifting he
r eyes to Melody’s.
“Someone stop her!” a person from the crowd shouted.
There were yells from the knights and movement all around her, but Jane knew what had happened now. She could see it so clearly as she continued to stare into those swirling emerald eyes.
“It’s not working, is it?” she asked Melody at the same moment she released a very concentrated pulse of energy. Honestly, Jane didn’t know how she was doing it, but as a low boom shook the room, everyone who had been rushing around froze where they were.
Just like she had done when she was attacked by the demons, and when she prevented David and Death from killing each other, she held them all, forcing them still.
“Jane,” David called, and she instinctively dropped her hold on him.
“I know what I’m doing,” she told him, not turning even though she felt him slowly coming back to her side.
All eyes were on her, but no one talked. They didn’t move or blink. They were her puppets to do with as she pleased.
When she was standing right in front of the black-eyed woman on the floor, she stared down at her agonized expression without an ounce of sympathy.
“Baby, stop,” David said, but she ignored him.
Without any outward sign, she forced them all to their knees. The ground trembled from the sheer force she’d used on them. Yet, she controlled her power and allowed her knights, along with Hades and Artemis, to remain standing.
“Jane,” Gawain said quietly.
She shook her head, not pulling her eyes away from the vampire at her feet for several seconds. Then, again, without moving a muscle, she forced them on all fours.
The crowd yelled out in shock and fear, but Jane knew her face was void of emotion. Had she not felt the dried tears on her face as she tilted her head, she would look as if nothing had happened to her just minutes ago.
They tortured me, she thought. Tricked and humiliated me.
Jane looked back at her attacker, the one Apollo had not slaughtered with his bare hands, and forced the woman onto her belly.
She screamed, cursing Jane, but Jane didn’t flinch at the insults. No, she watched, quietly, as blood spilled from the vampire woman’s mouth as she begged for her to stop.
“Enough, Jane,” David said, stepping right behind her.
She nodded but didn’t let any of them up. Instead, she lifted her emotionless gaze to Melody’s petrified stare. “This is your last warning.” She kept her eyes on Melody for five more seconds before shifting her attention to Artemis. That goes for you, too, she mentally added, knowing the message was received loud and clear when the virgin goddess’ eyes widened.
The woman’s screams intensified, and Jane finally looked back at her writhing victim. She watched the blood inch closer to her feet, then blinked, letting go of everyone.
The cry of relief from the crowd was instant. No one talked as they rose to their feet. The only continued noise came from the woman on the ground—the woman she tortured with only her mind.
David put a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. They didn’t take their eyes off each other while the others scattered about loudly, trying to flee Arthur’s wrath as he shouted orders.
Finally, he touched her cheek, and that was when her pain crushed her. She whimpered as he pulled her to him.
She hardly knew what she felt, but she knew she wasn’t at all proud of what she’d just done. There was no entity controlling her that time; it was all her. She was defending herself, but she purposely tortured another being. In her peripheral vision, she could see someone helping the vampire off the ground while others dragged the remaining pieces of her first attacker out of the room.
The scent of his dead blood hit her nose, and she felt completely disgusted with herself. Yes, the man had inflicted horror and despair onto her, but was it really worth Apollo killing him for it? She felt sick to her stomach and her heart was crying, not sure what to weep for more: herself or what she’d done.
David wrapped her in his arms. “Oh, baby.” He lowered his face, kissing her temple and putting her arms around his neck. Jane hugged him and allowed him to lift her up.
His body trembled, and she realized for the first time how incredibly angry and worried he was.
“I’m sorry, my love,” he whispered into her neck. “I never imagined them attacking you that way.”
It hurt to know he was so upset. For some reason, it shifted all her worry off herself and onto him. No one should ever be this upset over her.
“I’m okay,” she said, kissing his neck. He tensed, and she gave him another kiss. “I’m okay.”
He leaned his head back, wiping away her remaining tears. “Let me take you back to your room, Jane. I can find out what’s going on later.”
She shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Let’s just go get this over with.”
David frowned as his thumb brushed her lip. “You don’t have to put yourself through any more tonight.”
A sad smile formed on her mouth. “The world doesn’t end just for me.” She sighed, leaning her face against his hand. “Anyway, I would like to see Hades. I want to know if he has news on Death.”
The quietness made her glance away from him for the first time, and she realized they were all alone in the hall. David was studying her face, and she wondered if her words had hurt him. She had not meant to mention Death when he was trying to take care of her.
So, she covered his hand with hers and nuzzled his palm. “I’m fine. See? If you’re with me, I’m fine.”
“Sweetheart, you’re not fine.”
Jane slowly opened her eyes. “David. I have you. I’ll be okay.”
That must have affected him as he nodded and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. “Yes, baby. You have me.” He pulled her close, cradling the back of her head as she rested her cheek on his shoulder. “Are you certain, though?” he asked. “I do not mind returning to our quarters.”
His way of speaking made her smile. “Yeah. Let’s just get it over with. I’m tired.”
David kissed the side of her head, and she sighed because she wished she could stop seeing him kissing and feeding on Melody, but the images were burned in her mind.
“You just fed. I think you will be okay, but let me know if you want to be excused to feed.”
“Okay,” she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking as she continued to see him laughing at her as he told her Melody tasted sweeter. Clean.
She felt herself being lowered to the ground, and she desperately tried to push the images away, hating that something that didn’t even happen could torment her so.
David let her go enough that she could stand by herself and smoothed her hair away from her face before placing both hands on her cheeks. “I see you hurting,” he said, lowering his face. He kissed her nose once before touching it with his. “I failed you again.”
His words and helpless tone winded her.
“No, David.” She pushed herself closer and kissed his cheek. “I’m okay. You didn’t know what was happening.” She kissed him again on the same spot. “I wanted to be your brave Jane.” Her lips burned, but she left them on him when she felt him smile.
“You were definitely my brave Jane.” He lowered his face but stopped when Arthur’s voice called out.
“David.”
They both turned, stepping away from one another as Arthur gave David a hard look.
“She’s fine,” David said, taking her hand. “I wanted to make sure she was comfortable coming to the meeting.”
Arthur didn’t look pleased, but he gestured for them to come forward and stepped aside, revealing a massive set of doors.
They entered quickly, and she was awed by the sight of the huge round table the knights were already seated around. Her amazement of seeing Arthur’s Round Table vanished when she took in the apprehensive looks from the knights she wasn’t as close to.
She lowered her eyes to the floor and let David lead her.
“Jane, are
you all right?” Gawain asked.
She really didn’t know, but she nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
David squeezed her hand and pulled her to an empty seat beside the one Arthur had taken. There was another one on Arthur’s other side, but David did not lead her there. Instead, he let go of her hand, pulled the chair out, and sat.
Jane stared at him for a second, and as she went to walk around him to go sit in the other chair, he grabbed her hand and tugged her onto his lap.
That wasn’t at all what she expected, and she scanned the knights’ faces, her eyes widening as David laid one hand on her thigh and left his other on the armrest at her back.
She bit her lip and felt her cheeks heat as he smirked.
“Hades,” Arthur said with a light laugh. “I believe David is offering you Jane’s seat.”
Jane jerked her head around and found a very amused Hades watching her as he walked to the empty seat.
“Apollo,” Arthur said, “fetch two chairs for you and your sister.”
Jane had not realized Apollo had been in the room. Now, as he rushed back with two seats, she noticed dried blood on his hands.
He made eye contact with her, his dark eyes swallowing her until he winked. “That was a very impressive display of power, young one.”
Honestly, he looked younger than her, but she felt like a child as his gaze slid over her. She gave him a nervous smile and leaned against David’s chest, smiling more when David squeezed her thigh.
“Thank you,” she said, feeling more at ease under Apollo’s dark gaze. “I appreciate you defending me.”
Apollo grinned at her. “My pleasure, beautiful.”
David pulled her to him more. “Can we get started?”
Jane went to look at David, but she turned to Hades when he chuckled.
“Sir David, he is not attempting to court her,” Hades said.
She blushed when David grunted something and flipped Apollo the middle finger. Her mouth fell open, not expecting that from him as he possessively placed his hand back on her leg.
“David, he intervened when Jane was being attacked,” Arthur said, a smile playing on his lips. “Relax.”
Her vampire huffed and pulled her a tiny bit closer as he nodded to Apollo. “Your assistance is appreciated.” He bared his fangs, though. “But stop looking at her like you have been. You and I are not that close of friends.”