by Jackie May
He matches my grin, and my smile becomes sincere. If he weren’t an ancient magical creature that likes to eat the occasional human, I could almost like him.
“Aren’t you missing a few companions?” he asks.
I feign a look of surprise and glance to either side of me. “Well, I suppose I am. How ’bout that?” When he frowns, I wink at him. “It’s like I told you. I’m all about self-preservation.”
His confusion turns to comprehension, and a look of pride washes over his face. “You hurry yourself home, then, Trouble. And be careful. These streets get rough at night.”
I give him one last smile and a salute, then spin on my heel and hurry away from the club. My gift has settled, but I’m not out of the woods yet. I’m still a woman alone on the streets of Detroit after dark. If I can just get to the nearest bus stop without running into a gang or any stray underworlders, I should be okay.
A soft, low voice suddenly speaks from right behind me. “Going somewhere, Nora?”
I jump at the noise. My feet freeze, and I cringe. I knew Parker wouldn’t fall victim to the succubus, but I was hoping he wouldn’t find me before I disappeared. He’s on to me. He knows I did what I did intentionally. But exactly how much of the truth has he put together? What does he suspect about me?
Steeling my gaze, I glance over my shoulder. “I’m going home. The club scene isn’t really my thing.”
His eyes narrow. “You want to tell me what all that was about, then?”
“Not especially. Have a good night, Parker. It was nice meeting you, but you’d better get back in there before Xavier gets in trouble or something.”
I start walking again. Parker won’t let me go, but maybe he’ll let me get as far as the bus stop. If I can stall him until a bus comes, I’ll be safe. There’s not much he can do to me with an audience.
“Nora.” He grabs my hand, whirling me around to face him.
I could pull out of his grip—he’s not holding me tightly—but I stand still and let his thoughts and intentions hit me. I need to know what I’m up against.
He stares at me for a long time, unsure what to say. He’s confused. His thoughts are on a beautiful Middle-Eastern woman. She’s missing, and for some reason he’s wondering if I’m involved.
“Nora, what you did to your friend back there—”
“Xavier is not my friend,” I snap, anger and fatigue bubbling up inside me. My premonition has finally left me, and my system is crashing like I’m coming down from an adrenaline rush. “I don’t know if you noticed, but he basically abducted me back there. All I did was bring him to a place where I knew he’d find someone shinier and more in the mood to play his sick games. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve had a long day, and I just want to go home and crawl into bed. Alone.”
Parker’s still gripping my hand, not ready to let me leave. He’s frustrated. He doesn’t understand how I know about his world—if I even do. He thinks I do, but he’s not positive. He intends to get answers, but he’s not sure how to go about it.
It’s hard not to get lost in his eyes. They’re beautiful—piercingly blue and hooded by mile-long thick, dark lashes. The rest of him is just as gorgeous.
His pupils dilate, and his grip tightens the tiniest bit. He senses my attraction to him, and it’s driving him mad. Watching me stand up to Terrance—who I assume is the troll—and ditch my psycho neighbor is the most amazing thing he’s ever seen a human do. If I weren’t a suspect in his case, he would take me somewhere right now and have his way with me until the sun comes up.
But there’s another desire growing in him as well. Thirst. I smell mouthwatering. He’s trying to convince himself that I’m not involved with Nadine’s disappearance and to let me go. I’m too tempting. With his current state of excitement, he’s afraid he might lose control. He doesn’t want to hurt me.
When I realize what he is, I tear myself out of his grip, unable to stop the horrified gasp that escapes me. He’s the worst of all monsters. I loathe his kind above any other. They’re ruthless, bloodsucking, twisted killers. Parker is one of the same soulless abominations that killed my mother.
Vampires can smell fear—this I do know for a fact—but I can’t help the terror that surges through me. It’s suffocating. Paralyzing. My entire body trembles as I back away from him. I need more distance between us—not that it would matter, if he decides to attack. He can move inhumanly fast. I’ll never escape him.
A deep crease forms in Parker’s brow. “Nora? What’s wrong?”
I’m unable to make more than a whisper of a sound. “Stay away from me.”
He jerks with a start as realization sweeps over him. My heart skips a beat or two. He knows I know. I’m so dead. “You know what I am,” he says.
I shake my head frantically. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I take another step back, and he grabs me again, gracing me with his thoughts once more. He’s beyond frustrated now. He knows he should hand me over to Henry, but he wants me for himself, and he’s afraid Henry would claim me. Or destroy me.
That’s enough of that. I yank myself out of his grip.
Parker’s eyes flash red, and in a blink he’s holding me painfully tight against his chest. “Don’t lie to me. You know the secrets of the underworld, don’t you? How?”
I keep up with my lie. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His fangs haven’t descended, but I know they’re there. The hideous creature makes my skin crawl. I don’t want him touching me. I don’t want to be inside his head. I’m so afraid I can’t breathe, and my eyes prick with unwelcome tears.
Parker sees the revulsion in my eyes, hears my unsteady heart, smells my fear. He’s confused by it, and angry, but he’s also hurt. He doesn’t like my instant rejection of him or his kind. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
I don’t believe him. He’s going to kill me.
He keeps me pinned to him. I try to fight him off, even though it’s futile. He’s too strong. I can’t escape. “Let go of me!”
“Nora, calm down. I won’t hurt you.”
“Liar!” I try again in vain to break free. “If you don’t want to hurt me, why won’t you let me go? I didn’t do anything to you. I don’t even know you.”
“But you know other things. You’re involved in things you shouldn’t be, aren’t you? You took Xavier to that club knowing what waited for him there. What were you doing, tying up loose ends?”
“Are you delusional? I was escaping him, not trying to get rid of him.”
“Harsh way to ditch someone. Do you have any idea what that woman was? What she will do to him?”
My fear vanishes. It’s pushed out of my body by my hatred. I glare into Parker’s eyes—eyes that I hate for being so mesmerizing. “Do you have any idea what he intended to do to me? What he’s been trying to do to me for months? I hope that she-demon sucks every last ounce of life from him until there’s nothing left. I hope she tortures him the way he wanted to hurt me—the way I know he’s tormented others. I hope she kills him. Then he won’t be able to hurt me, or anyone else, ever again.”
I feel Parker’s sympathy for me in his thoughts, and his repulsion for Xavier, but I’ve admitted outright my knowledge of the underworld now, and that Xavier has been hurting women. Parker thinks I must know more about Nadine than I’m telling him, even if I don’t know who Nadine is specifically. He thinks I can give him answers that I honestly don’t have.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Xavier is involved in the disappearance of Parker’s friend—the prick dragged me off tonight at knifepoint—but I don’t know anything about it. “I can’t help you. I don’t know what Xavier’s up to. I’m just his neighbor. He forced me to come with you guys tonight. I was probably just the next girl on his list. I don’t know anything about your missing friend.”
Parker’s frustration turns to shock. “How did you—what are you?”
Oops. Shit. I didn’t mean to let that slip.
I’m being careless because I’m scared, and now he knows I’m reading his thoughts.
I tug my arm, but Parker won’t let go. “I’m just a human who accidentally found out about your world. I’ll never tell. I’m not that stupid. I swear I don’t know what Xavier was up to. You’re better off going back to get him.”
“I will, but I can’t just let you go. I need answers.”
“I’m just a victim. I swear.”
A hint of sadness bleeds into me from him, and I hate that his face softens. I don’t want to see or feel his compassion. “I want to believe you, but I have to make sure. I’m sorry.”
When I realize he intends to take me to his master, I finally succumb to panic. “No! Not to the vampires. I can’t go there. You can’t take me there.”
I frantically shake my head. I want to be brave, but I can’t. My fear is too strong. My nightmare is still too vivid. I lose myself to my panic as I’m thrown into the memory of the night I discovered the underworld.
I was six years old. I was sleeping when the premonition hit, jolting me awake. The power of it was so strong I couldn’t move. I screamed for my mother, and when she came to me, I begged her to run. I told her danger was coming and that we needed to hide, but she said I’d had a nightmare and told me to go back to sleep. I didn’t know back then to listen to the warnings. I didn’t know, then, that they were never wrong. I didn’t convince my mother. I let her hold me and sing to me while I tried to ignore the dread in my chest.
They came into my room like shadows in the night and ripped me from my mother’s arms. There were three of them. One of them fed from me while the other two went after my mother. My vampire quickly lost interest in me, though, when the others decided not to simply drain my mom. I was thrown to the ground like a broken toy and had to watch, half conscious, as those vampires did unspeakable things to my mother.
My young eyes couldn’t comprehend the true awfulness of their crimes at the time, but the nightmares stayed with me, and I eventually grew to understand the depth of all they’d done. They left her body on my bedroom floor and didn’t spare me another thought before moving on to find their next victim. I still remember their laughter as they shut the door on their way out.
I don’t know when my knees buckled, but Parker is now holding my limp body upright. He’s cooing at me in a gentle voice as he lightly strokes my hair. “Calm down, Nora. Shh. It’ll be okay. Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Please,” I whimper. “If I have to die, be merciful, and do it now. Fast. Don’t take me to your master. I can’t go to the vampires. I know what your kind do to humans. Please, Parker. Not vampires. Anything but vampires.”
I’ve never begged in my life, and I hate that I’m doing it now. I hate Parker for making me do it. But I can’t go through the torture my mother endured. I can’t.
“Nora, look at me.”
I don’t want to. I don’t want to see the monster again. But his voice is so soft, so soothing. Parker’s fingers press my chin up toward his face, and then I feel the back of his hand brush my cheek. “Nora,” he whispers softly. “Open your eyes.”
I know I shouldn’t. I can’t remember why, but I know I’m not supposed to look into his eyes.
“Nora.”
I crack. When I look, his beautiful azure eyes are right there, waiting to greet mine. My head swims, and I remember why I wasn’t supposed to meet his gaze. “You’re compelling me. You son of a…”
I fall unconscious before I can finish my sentence.
Waking up is difficult. It feels like I’m coming out of a drug-induced sleep. My memory is foggy. I don’t know what happened or how I got here—wherever here is. A quick inventory of my body tells me that I’m fine, aside from the slight ache in my head. I can’t be hung over. I don’t drink. Not ever. Nor do I do drugs. Nothing good can come from impaired judgment. The only answer I can think of is that I’ve been roofied. Or…
The fog lifts, and memories of last night crash to the front of my brain. I see it all with crystal clarity up until Parker compelled me. Everything after that is blank. “That bastard.”
He brought me to the vampires.
I bolt upright to find that I’ve been sleeping in a large canopied four-poster bed in a grand suite five times the size of my apartment. The furniture is extravagant, made of dark cherry wood, and very masculine. The carpets, linens, and wall hangings are a mixture of beige and brown tones with deep burgundy accents. To the right of the bedroom area is a retreat with a full living room setup centered around a large stone fireplace. To the left is the entrance to the most beautiful, luxurious bathroom I’ve ever seen. It’s a room fit for royalty. Or a master vampire.
I’ve got to get out of here. I throw back the covers, relieved to see that I’m still wearing my own clothes. My shoes have been taken off, but everything else seems to be in place.
Shooting to my feet, I realize too late that I’m still very affected by Parker’s compulsion. My motor skills haven’t completely returned. I grab one of the bedposts to keep from falling. The moment I grasp the post, I connect with a psychic imprint and am thrust into a vision.
A man leans against this bedpost. For a moment, all I can do is stare as he slowly removes his tie and dress shirt. He appears to be in his late twenties to early thirties and is painstakingly attractive. His dark blond hair is pulled back into a short ponytail, and his dark eyes pop in contrast to his flawless pale skin. I swallow at the sight of his muscled chest and stomach, clearly defined beneath a tight white tank top.
The look of heat in his eyes leaves me breathless. The vision is so intense that it feels as if that needful gaze is directed at me. But it’s not. He’s staring at a woman standing in front of him. “I’m glad you’ve come to join us, Desi.” His voice is low, soft, and alluring. “Are you settling in all right? Have you been welcomed?”
“Of course, Sire.” Her voice trembles slightly, but I don’t think she fears him. She looks nervous, but hopeful. There is longing in her gaze. “Everyone has been wonderful and…” A blush rises in the woman’s cheeks, and she looks at her feet.
The man lifts her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. “And?”
“I’m glad that my presence here pleases you,” she whispers. “It’s an honor to be claimed by you.”
Heat sears from the man’s eyes, making both the woman and me shiver. The man strokes the woman’s arm, and she sucks in a breath, finding a moment of confidence. “Sire…” She opens the top button of her blouse and pulls back her collar, exposing her neck and shoulder. “If you are in need, I am yours.”
The man stiffens, causing my focus to fall to his stomach once again, and to all of the perfectly sculpted muscles there. He brushes his hand along her smooth skin and then buries his fingers in her hair. As he pulls her to him and places a soft kiss to the crook of her neck, he says, “It’s not blood I am in need of right now.”
His mouth falls to her collarbone and dips lower, exploring the skin exposed by her open blouse. She shudders. “I’m yours however you want me, Sire.”
He lifts his gaze, meets hers for a moment, contemplating, and then in a move so fast that he blurs, he rips off her blouse, spins her around, and slams her against the bedpost.
I try to escape the following show, but the stronger the vision, the more impossible it is to pull myself out. I’m forced to stand witness, and I can’t help the physical feelings that stir in me. It’s impossible to deny the appeal of this man—the grace and stamina he displays. There’s no question he will leave his partner in want of nothing.
As the woman reaches her climax, her lover finally allows himself to follow her, and in the exact moment of his release, he leans forward and sinks his teeth into the woman’s neck. Two screams shatter the air—the woman’s cry of ecstasy and my shriek of utter horror.
The scream rips from my lungs and finally pulls me from the vision. Alone in the lavish room once more, I release the bedpost and stumble back. I barely have time
to let my eyes adjust before the bedroom door is thrown open and the man from my vision bursts through it, Parker following closely. “Nora?” Parker asks. “Are you all right? What happened?”
His panic lessens as his eyes sweep the room and find no danger present. My panic, however, increases a hundred times. I’m stuck in a room with two vampires, and I’m certain that one of them is the clan leader.
Parker steps toward me, but the man from my vision thrusts his arm out, blocking Parker’s path. “She seems fine, Parker.” The warmth that was in his voice in the vision is gone. He doesn’t look or sound angry, but his words to Parker feel like a warning. “Close the door.”
I flinch at the soft click the door makes when Parker shuts it, closing me in with them.
The man from my vision smiles at me. “Hello, Nora.” He says my name as if testing out the feel of it on his lips. “That’s a very beautiful name, love, for a very beautiful woman. I am Henry, and I’m very pleased to meet you.”
I give no reply. My heart is pounding so hard in my chest it’s painful. My eyes bounce back and forth between Henry and Parker. Parker is now standing by the door, acting as sentry and keeping me from running—as if I could run from these guys.
When Henry crosses the room to me, I dash away from him, placing myself behind one of the couches in the retreat area. It’s hardly a protective barrier, but I have no other options at the moment. My voice shakes as I say, “Stay away from me.”
Annoyance streaks across Henry’s face, but he stops coming toward me. “Have I hurt you? Touched you? Disrespected you in any way?”
He hadn’t. Not yet. But he would. It’s what his kind does. “How long was I out?”
“A good nineteen to twenty hours,” Parker mumbles.
“A day?” Parker winces at my screech. “I’ve been gone a whole day?” Damn it. I’ll be lucky if I still have a job when I get home. “Where are my shoes? I have to go.”
Henry’s voice stops me from looking around the room. “I’m afraid we can’t let you go yet, Nora.”