“Your father is another story.”
I leaned over and pulled at the chains with my teeth. They snapped under the weight of my bite. Phil’s arms fell downward.
“How did you do that?” Katie walked up to me, astounded.
I swiveled around and backhanded her, knocking her on the floor. Her snarling assistant, newly freed, charged us. My foot made contact with her chest, pushing her across the room. She shook her head and charged again.
I pulled Phil from the chair, and darted for the door. Nicholas followed closely behind.
“Don’t do this, Julia. Please.”
Knowing the elevator doors needed time to open, there was no other way to escape than the sea cave. The only thing was, I didn’t have any clothes to hide my skin from the sun. And if the tide was up, Phil would drown. Either way, I had to take the chance.
“Do you trust me?” I asked Phil.
He moaned against my shoulder. “Always, Parker.”
I darted left, away from the elevators just as Nicholas slid his body in front of us. “Julia?” he called after me, confused.
I slid around the corner, almost falling, and darted down the white halls to the cages. The vampires stood and stuck to the bars like magnets. Hands pulled and tore at our clothing. I dashed past, arriving at the back wall.
Feeling around, I tried everywhere I could think of for a secret latch or panel.
“Damnit!” I mumbled.
The hoard we’d abandoned began to moan and wail, announcing our route of escape.
“Is this when I trust you?” Phil asked.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, hoping to find the secret latch soon. “I’m looking for how to open this.”
“This?” Phil pulled what looked like a rip cord from the floor. The door popped open with a swish.
In utter thankfulness, I pressed my lips to his, only it wasn’t a quick kiss I’d hoped to give him.
His kiss deepened, his tongue running over mine, narrowly missing my canines. Butterflies aerial bombed my stomach, something Nicholas’ kisses had never done before. Phil’s arms entwined around me, pulling and tugging me closer. His fingers tangled in my hair.
“Julia?” Nicholas called out. His footsteps ended in the room with the cages. “What the hell?”
He was here, right around the corner. If he didn’t already hear my thoughts, he’d catch me kissing his enemy, and he’d catch me enjoying it. Even with that threat, I didn’t want it to stop. I wanted this. I wanted him.
“Don’t we have to go?” Phil asked with a coy smile.
I nodded slowly.
He grabbed me and pulled us through the doorway. I pressed it shut behind us, clutching at my chest where my heart should be pounding. Did I just do what I thought I did?
“Whatever you do, don’t breathe a word,” I said softly in the dark.
But Phil didn’t want to speak. His hands were on me, touching me, feeling me, holding me. Heat burned between us, and fire, all of it taking my breath away.
“I’m sorry,” I said against his lips.
“I’m not.”
On the other side of the wall, I heard shouts and threats, but I couldn’t focus on them. Maybe Nicholas knew about the lab rat vamps or Rachel and Cain, maybe he didn’t. For the first time I felt alive, and every sensation, every touch, every scent, and every way Phil moved against me sent electricity above and beyond what I’d ever felt before, making my heart sing.
Then sadness hit. Yes, we were free, but whatever happened next, someone was going to get hurt, most likely me.
Blood Wars - Volume Four
CHAPTER ONE
After the people in the room behind the stone wall quieted, I opened my eyes. Phil, void of energy, had collapsed from exhaustion and rested on my shoulder. Staring into the dark water lapping at the stone stairs of the cave, I assumed the sun had finally set. Alora and company had to suspect how we’d snuck in and out of the basement. Were they waiting for us outside? The salt water dripping from my clothes should have been a huge hint I hadn’t used the elevator.
My stomach rumbled. Somehow, the activity curbed my hunger for blood the entire day. I quietly celebrated until the water brushed against my shoes. We needed to get out of here before the room filled entirely.
“Phil?” I shook him softly.
He woke up with a snort. “Whoa. Where are we?”
“It’s okay.” I tried my best not to alarm him, but at this point, the burbling water had moved to my ankles. “We need to go.”
“Go where?”
“Underwater.”
“What?” He shivered and straightened. “Heck no.”
I sighed. “Yeah, we kinda do. Um… the tide is rising.”
“Tide?”
Another wave splashed against my leg, heightening my anxiety.
Phil reached out and felt the slimy wall. “Can’t you bust us out?”
“I could but it might cave in and crush you.”
He chuckled. “What? Doubting your powers Wonder Woman?”
I shook my head. “It’s not just that. You know they’ll be looking for us, especially outside. I need to get you out of here as quietly as possible.”
“Then do what you gotta do,” he said abruptly.
I bit my lip and put my ear against the stone wall. “Maybe we should just go back inside. They wouldn’t suspect—”
“I’m not going back in there. Ever.” Fear swirled around us, and my canines started to water. I held my breath, forcing myself not to breathe, not to smell him.
Don’t do that.
He pulled in a labored breath. “Do what?”
Damn thought thrower! I was projecting again.
“Thought thrower? You okay, Parker?”
“It’s nothing,” I said in attempts to calm him. He swallowed hard. “How’s your breath holding skills?”
“Just swim fast, Parker.” He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and kissed my cheek. His warm lips brought a blush to my face, and I didn’t want to leave our bubble of bliss.
“We should talk about what happened…” I lowered my head.
He sighed. “Later.”
I shook my head as the guilt swelled around my heart. I actually didn’t know what I wanted anymore. Why didn’t I stop him? We were so in tune with each other, and it felt right at the time. How could I have been so weak?
“You aren’t weak,” he said softly.
The water splashed again, interrupting me, and the fact Phil might die pulled on my courage to do the right thing.
“Let’s just go.” I stood and shed my shoes and started to undo my pants so nothing would drag me down.
“Now we’re talking.” Phil’s low chuckle sent a thrilling shiver through me.
“Shut-up!” I glared at him while I shook my arms and worked the nervous tension free from my muscles. If I could just hold onto my anger, I wouldn’t succumb to anything—not kissing, not drinking his blood. “Hold your breath.”
We were underwater and out of the cave within moments. The surface, though, felt forever away. I kicked and used my hands to propel us faster. I watched in horror as Phil’s cheeks puffed out with air, his face reddening, his eyes bulging.
Hang on!
We surfaced to the full moon and flew upward. Phil coughed out a mouthful of water.
“You’re okay. We’re okay.” I gently tapped his back.
“Are we okay?” Katie asked.
The hair on my neck stood on end, and I swiveled around in the air with Phil—limp and shivering—in my arms. Hovering higher than us, she shot us her cool smile. In her hands, though, Sam dangled by her neck.
“Don’t bargain with her!” Sam choked out, then groaned as Katie’s tendons in her hand tightened.
Beyond her on the beach a legion of male vampires, apparently lacking the gift of flight, paced at the ready. Nicholas and Alora weren’t in attendance.
“Stop!” I almost dropped Phil forgetting he couldn’t fly.
“Giv
e him to me and this will all be over with,” Katie demanded sweetly.
“Not on your life,” well, maybe I’d kill you. Only if Sam could still live.
“You’re not funny.” Katie produced a stake from her pocket. “Don’t make me use this.”
“Now now, ladies. No need to fight over me. I’ll go willingly—to the highest bidder of course.” Phil’s ill-timed swagger didn’t match the fear puffing in my face.
“Shut-up,” I whispered.
“Trust me,” he mumbled.
“I’m serious. Release him.” Katie spun the stake in her fingers like a baton before settling the point against Sam’s chest.
I froze, staring at both of them in shock. “Vampires don’t kill vampires,” I reminded her.
“She’s my fledgling. I can do whatever I want.”
My mind spun, calculating how to attack Katie and steal the stake at the same time. I could do it, but I’d have to drop Phil first.
“Do it,” Phil said softly.
“Nice thought, but I’ll stake her before you reach me.” Katie eyed me evilly, and pressed the stake to pierce her skin as if in a dare.
Damn it!
Sam yelped out, writhing in pain.
“I mean it.” Katie lifted her chin. “Let Phil go.”
“Drop me!” Phil pawed powerlessly at my hands. “Just do it.”
I ignored him and kept my eyes locked on Katie. She wouldn’t kill her, would she?
“Time is ticking.”
“You tortured Phil to find Sam, and now that you have her, what more do you want?” I asked in hopes to stall for more time.
Katie’s eyes twinkled. “We need Sam to talk and she needs motivation.”
“Talk about what?”
Her lip curled up at the corner. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
I glared at her, done with her excuses. “As your Queen, I demand to know!”
Sneering, Katie eyed me up and down. “I don’t take orders from you.”
“Bite me,” Phil whispered. He put his neck close to my lips. “Now!”
“What? No.” I held him away from me, annoyed he was interrupting.
Sam wiggled, struggling against Katie’s grip, reminding me of how dire this was.
“I wouldn’t do that—” Katie warned.
Phil’s head kept bobbing into my view, blocking Katie. “It’s the only way out of this.”
Sam shrieked and Phil stopped struggling. We watched together as her dark eyes widened at the flaming hole around the protruding stake in her chest. Then the flames licked outward, consuming her slowly. Katie dropped her and she fell downward.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered before her ashy body hit the waves, exploding like breadcrumbs on the sea.
My hand instinctively snatched her teeth flying out at me like shooting stars.
“NOOO!” Phil yelled.
He struggled to get free, struggled to get to her. I barely held onto his twisting body, shocked and horrified. “What did you do?”
Katie shrugged. “It’s not like I didn’t warn you. But then again, you had it coming.”
My mouth gapped open. “Had it coming?”
“Eye for an eye.” She smiled briefly, then lunged for Phil.
I darted backward and turned, flying hard, the fear propelling me. Whatever Katie wanted him for had nothing to do with Sam. I needed to hide him for good, once and for all.
CHAPTER TWO
“Keep watch!” I yelled into the wind.
Phil rode on my back and held onto my shoulders, yelling obscenities into my ear.
I full-heartily felt the same way, but I couldn’t speak or even listen. I kept replaying the image of my best friend dying over and over again, terrified I’d sent her to hell. The burnt smell lingered on my clothes and skin, making me gag. Yet Katie, cackling somewhere in the distance, acting unfazed by her murderous actions, followed closely behind in our game of cat and mouse. I darted through the redwoods to try to cloak ourselves under the bows.
Phil’s lips rested on my ear as he put his wrist he’d slit close to my mouth. “Shit, Julia, just do it already. I’m not good to you like this.”
I tugged my head away from his mouthwatering scent, when it hit me. Why was I running? Katie destroyed the only thing that kept her safe, and now I could end her life without consequences.
I abruptly stopped and Phil tumbled off my back, cursing all the way to the ground. “Thanks a lot for the warning!”
In my peripheral vision, I spotted a cabin. “Get to that house. Now!”
“Hell no! This is my fight.” He looked around and snatched a stick off the ground.
“Just do it.” I gritted my teeth and pointed. “I can’t keep worrying about you.”
“Then change me!”
He continued to argue, but I didn’t need him to comply. I could lead Katie away from him, easy as that. Palming a tree branch, I charged her. We collided midair with a thunderous crack and tumbled into a meadow. Nails ripped into flesh. Skin, clothing, and hair went flying along with cuss words.
“You’re so dead!” I shrieked.
“You wish!”
Tumbling through the brush, we blindly swung at each other.
I landed my foot in her stomach. “You’ve been nothing but a pain-in-my-ass since reincarnation!”
“Oh have I?” She sneered and clocked me across the jaw. “Forgot you sent me to hell, did ya? You deserved it!” She screeched and lunged at me, nails ready to rip up my face.
I moved and clotheslined her neck, then squeezed, locking her neck in place. “Give up?”
Katie’s eyes bulged as she clawed at my arm. “Never!”
“Then say hi to Satan for me!” I pressed harder, hoping to snap her head clean off.
She shrieked and reached behind me, tugging at my clothing. Somehow, she yanked my body up and over her head, then smashed me to the ground. A stick appeared in her hand, and she plunged it into my belly. Pain rolled through me as blood spurted from my shirt.
“You think you can beat me that easily? That you’re better than me?” She twisted the stick as she spoke.
I coughed, unable to speak. Paralyzed by weakness, my feeble hands gripped the stake to yank it out, when she shoved another into my left thigh. An ear shattering keening came from my throat.
“Enjoy that, do you?” she asked with a sickening smile.
“I’m still going to kill you,” I gasped through my teeth.
“Are you sure?” She shoved another stake in my other thigh. “How?”
Liquid spilt from my eyes, rolling over my cheeks and onto the ground. Stars flashed across my vision. I looked up just in time to see her arm arcing again, this time aimed at my torso. I bit back a shriek.
“It’s Julia this!” Stab. “Julia that!” Stab. “We’re vampires because of me! I should be the one who’s revered. And after your little sexcapade audiobook, I’ll have exactly what I want.”
Anger coursed through me. “What are you talking about? Sex with who?”
“Phil, I assume.” She motioned to my naked legs. “Nice of you to at least put your panties back on. But really, I should say thanks. It worked like a charm. Nick was so easy to console.”
“Shut-up!” I gritted my teeth, fumbling to pull out the stake in my stomach.
“Good thing Sam’s gone. What a back-stabbing bitch of a best friend you turned out to be.”
Fueled with anger, I yanked out the stake from my stomach and turned it to face her. “I learned from the best.”
Katie jumped out of the way and held up her hands in mock horror. “Oh, and what? You’re going to kick my ass now?” Then she shrieked and her chest bowed outward.
Pawing at her back, she swiveled around. A stake protruded from her shoulder blade.
“No, but I will.” Phil stood at the tree line, arm cocked back with another branch in hand. “Next time I won’t miss.”
I leaned over and jammed the stake into her calf. She roared and reared he
r leg back to kick me, when I rolled out of her reach and stood.
Within seconds she had Phil in her grasp. She eyed me evilly.
“Check mate.”
She winked before rearing her head back, teeth at the ready. I knew what she’d do. She’d change him in order to protect herself. Without another thought, I pulled the stake from my thigh and chucked it. Sailing through the air, it sliced into her neck like a hot poker in butter. Blood spurt from the opposite side. A gurgled scream broke from her mouth.
Free, Phil stumbled away from her and reared back his arm to punch her. Vampire goons materialized and surrounded him, restraining his fist.
“Stop!” Alora commanded.
Katie pulled out the stick and coughed, screaming obscenities.
“What is going on here?” Alora eyed the scene like we were merely her naughty children.
Paranoid Katie was right about Nicholas hearing, I scanned the group fearfully, knowing my attire would only solidify his worst fears. Luckily I didn’t find him. Had he really overheard the kiss and mistaken it for sex?
“Hands off Dumb and Dumber,” Phil barked.
My thoughts returned to Phil’s safety, and I internally cursed myself that I didn’t make him a vampire when I had the chance.
“If you two would have just cooperated, it wouldn’t have been so messy.” Alora’s face twisted as she eyed the holes in my shirt and gashes in my thighs.
“Messy?” I yelled. “Katie murdered my best friend. She broke the vampire creed.”
Alora turned to her, angered. “What’s this?”
Katie’s shoulders stiffened. She held her neck and whimpered. “It was an accident. How was I to know she’d push herself into the stake?”
Alora’s face tightened. “She shouldn’t have been staked to begin with.”
Two goons grabbed Katie’s wrists. “What’s this? Let go of me!”
“Silence!” Alora yelled.
They stopped and cowered, lowering their eyes.
“Bring Sam back, then,” I said. “That’s the right thing to do.”
Peace filtered over Alora’s features as she smoothed her hands over her jeweled skirt. She eyed Phil lovingly. “That’s right. I did that once for you, didn’t I?” She stopped for a long thoughtful minute. “I’ll bring Sam back on one condition.”
Blood Wars: Book 4 (The Talisman Series) Page 24