Hunger Awakened

by Dee Carney

  This conversation had gone from zero to beyond eerie in no time flat. What were they talking about? She got the fucking part, but feeding? And killing? Hello! What did they mean?

  “Move,” she muttered to her paralyzed feet, willing them to take her in the direction of a back door or any other overlooked entrance. To her dismay, they failed to listen, and never had she wished for a baseball bat more than now. Damn it, why had she come this way first?

  Cicero peered beyond Sebastian to lock gazes with Alice again. “That’s up to you. Do we have a deal?”

  Chapter Six

  As tempting an offer as it was, Bast mirthlessly chuckled. “Of course we don’t have a deal.” He stepped closer to his second lieutenant. “Get the fuck out of my house and don’t come back unless invited. Tell the Council whatever the fuck you want. Afterward, go fuck yourself.”

  He could feel the stirrings of unease moving the contents of his stomach around, but Bast ignored the sensation. Of all the people he feared discovering he’d come down with an illness, Cicero Nadeem, a true Hassassin of ancient days, topped the list. He’d be the loudest and most adamant about Bast’s immediate removal from the Council guard.

  They hated each other as fierce rivals, but there was probably no one better suited for serving beneath him than Cicero. Even Gray didn’t have all of the skills Cicero had honed over the years. In the heat of battle, Bast trusted him as much as any of his other men to guard his back against lycans and any other threat to the Council. Right now though, they weren’t in battle.

  Cicero snapped his gaze to meet Bast’s. There was fury firmly tucked in it, but the expression on his face hadn’t changed one iota. “Your warrant, hybride.”

  Hybride. Bastard. Mongrel. Impure.

  He’d been called all of those names and worse. This early in the morning, with Alice staring on, he wouldn’t let the slur get to him. Instead he tilted his chin toward the front door. “Gray knows my mind. I expect that you will follow him without hesitation. For the time being, see yourself out, Lieutenant.”

  Cicero stared past Bast one final time, a dangerous look slanted in Alice’s direction before he turned on his heels. The sound of retreating footsteps and then a door closing drifted to him seconds later. Bast stayed in position, not allowing himself to move either. Not yet.

  His hands shook with barely contained anger. But the longer he worked on reining in his roiling emotions, the more confusion took over. Which infuriated him the most: Cicero’s intrusion or Alice’s decision to ignore his warning?

  Or was he simply worried about the interest she had invoked in his lieutenant?

  “Sebastian?” A one-word question spoken by such a small voice.

  He forced himself to take breaths like humans did. One slow, deep inhale followed by an equally lazy exhale. And then another. It took almost a full minute to apply any sort of calm to himself. At last he said, “That was only one reason why you shouldn’t be here. I was an idiot for thinking this might be a good idea.” It physically pained him to reach a final decision. “In the morning, gather your things and leave, Alice. This is no place for you. For now, go rest.”

  “But...”

  “I owe you a debt of gratitude and I swear on my life I’ll repay you. Good night, Alice.”

  Bast didn’t wait for another protest, choosing instead to head for his gym. His stomach churned with every step he took away from her, but his decision had been made. She didn’t try to stop him, and the disappointment over her willingness to leave in the morning became a living thing within his veins.

  He stabbed the security console with the appropriate digits, barely seeing the numbers for the red haze covering his vision.

  This was stupid. Just because he wanted to fuck this woman was no reason to be so distraught over her exit in the morning. He’d bedded how many dozens in his lifetime, always with the ability to walk away the next morning without a second glance.

  Barefooted, he crossed the cushioned mats covering the floor and headed to the custom-built home gym squatting like a watchman in the corner. Sitting down on the padded seat, reaching for the overhead bars gave him something else to focus on.

  His muscles screamed in protest as he moved, pulleys making it possible to simultaneously lift over three hundred pounds of metal. The resounding clang that resulted each time he slowly released the weight rattled his teeth, but he kept going. Kept working. Head lowered, seeing nothing but the expanse of gray on the floor, Bast pushed his body to follow his commands. He needed the control. Lived for the discipline of this moment.

  No matter how his body strained though, the slow heat building in his belly made its presence known.

  “Do you want to tell me why you’re so angry?”

  His head snapped up. First to Alice and then to the closed door. “How did you get in here?” he barked.

  She stood well out of his reach. Smart woman. “For someone as security-conscious as you are, you’re not very good about covering your tracks. You didn’t even hear me behind you when you punched in the code. I simply had to watch. Don’t you think you should tell me what just happened out there? Who was that guy, and what did he mean?”

  The burn began to spread into his chest. He ignored her questions. “The second you leave this room, I’ll be changing the code. Don’t bother to keep it memorized.” Damn, he was pissed. If any of his men had made such a rookie mistake, he’d have him reassigned off his team so fast there’d be skid marks.

  Alice moved to the closest wall, her attention darting back and forth between him and the display of weapons. “You provide security for important people, and that man Cicero reports to you.” He watched her take in the collection of guns, swords and knives. Most of them were older than Alice. Some he’d fashioned out of steel himself. “You kill people. I get that. My brother lives in a hard world too.”

  He rested his hands on his thighs, barely able to control the urge to curl his fingers into the cotton. The heat moved faster now. “You don’t seem bothered by it. You continue to surprise me.”

  “My brother’s friends once broke every finger on his left hand when he couldn’t repay them right away after he’d stolen some drugs. Those were his friends. So far you haven’t been a jerk or done anything inappropriate to me. In fact, you’re kind of nice at times. I can’t let a hitman or mercenary or whatever make any nevermind to me, so long as you don’t come after me or mine.”

  “I don’t deal in illegal activity, I told you.”

  “But you do something that’s heinous enough for me to be considered a liability. Worth killing. Doesn’t sound quite legal.”

  He shrugged halfheartedly. “Where I’m from, it’s perfectly legal. Required, in fact.”

  “I won’t ask you where you’re from then. What did Cicero mean when he talked about feeding from me though?”

  Bast had to admire her courage. The way she’d switched topics so smoothly. She didn’t raise her voice. Any inflection indicating her concern or arising hysteria remained absent. Neither convinced the truth from him. Bringing together the worlds of human and vampire wasn’t his responsibility.

  “Go get some sleep. It’s been a long night.”

  “Stop avoiding me.” She stepped closer, eyes narrowing. “You’re perspiring.”

  “I’ve been working out.” He’d hardly begun. And just like illness, sweating belonged in the world of humans. Still, beads of sweat began to form along his hairline. The first drip of cool
moisture trickled behind his left ear.

  “Why do you have to be so stubborn? Why won’t you accept you need my help?”

  Bast stood. “I don’t need your help,” he said through clenched teeth.

  In fact, he thought he was burning alive. Heat weaved in and out of his body, twining through him until he swore he saw smoke rising from his flesh. Something crawled along his back in waves, like fingertips pushing from the inside. Like something struggling to get out.

  The speed with which his illness swept through him seemed to increase every time he faced an attack. The first time, it had taken close to thirty minutes before he’d felt its full weight. Now? By God, it had been less than thirty minutes.

  The next time...

  He swayed, and Alice rushed forward. Her hand touched his skin. The instant it did, she cried out. “Your fever’s back.” She reached for his face, wincing as her fingers skimmed his cheek. “I think it’s worse. Sebastian, please, we have to get you to a hospital.”

  “No hospitals.” Four syllables had never made his mouth ache as much as those did.

  “Come on, then.” Alice grunted as she tried to heft his bulk. “The shower.”

  Sebastian took a step. Wavered. Staggered back. “Leave,” he urged, his voice barely above a whisper.

  “Yeah. In just a minute.”

  Alice didn’t understand. He needed her to go.

  Not because he feared what his world might do to her if they found her with him, instead fearing what he himself might do if they stayed together just another minute more.

  Along with the heat—the burning, all-encompassing flare—came a ravenous hunger. If Alice didn’t leave him now, he didn’t know how he’d be able to handle it. His want lived inside his body, screaming for attention and demanding to be appeased.

  His mouth watered from the remembrance of her taste. Not just her lips, but the dark, sweet slide of her blood against his tongue. Incisors lengthened, pulsing from the memory of puncturing her soft skin. Licking his lips didn’t help. The gnawing in his belly expanded, announcing with deep rumbles the depth of his growing hunger. Bast had to taste her now.

  Had to.

  * * *

  The man was built like a freight train. Sebastian dropped, and Alice thanked God he’d managed to fall onto the padded seat. If he’d hit the floor, it would have been next to impossible to get him up again on her own. “It’s like you eat rocks for breakfast,” she muttered.

  Somehow he found the strength to rise again. Her spine almost telescoped in the process of assisting him, but at least he was standing. Now they only had to tackle crossing almost the entire expanse of his house to the bathroom.

  “Wh-what?”

  Alice stilled, something about the slight spaciness to his answer setting her nerves on edge. She was reminded too much of her brother Richard during one of his high sprees, when she wasn’t sure if she’d wake up to find most of her belongings sold to one of his friends, or discover one of the same friends groping her while she’d slept.

  His body heat clung to her, causing her own body to perspire as well. How hot could a person go before permanent damage was inflicted? She needed a thermometer and a few minutes with Google. She needed help.

  “Sebastian, I have to go call someone. Even that Cice—”

  Oh shit.

  His teeth.

  His teeth were long. Like a dog’s.

  Like a vampire’s.

  She’d just meant to look into his eyes, to check to see if maybe his pupils were dilated too. If there was still sweat coming off his forehead, that should be a good sign. When she’d glanced up, the angle gave her a perfect view between his parted lips.

  Who hadn’t been required to read Dracula in high school or hadn’t heard of the Twilight series? Even if someone had been home-schooled, the teenage pop phenomenon couldn’t be ignored.

  “It makes sense now.” The physical perfection. Cicero’s comments. Bast’s wealth. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to believe it. “You have hidden cameras in here? Or someone’s gonna come jumping out from another room, telling me I’ve been punked, right?”

  “Alice?” There was an unsettling gleam in his eyes, which seemed too keen at the moment.

  “You don’t really expect me to believe this set-up. I’ll admit for a split second you got me. I was convinced that all of this was real. The nice place, the scary badass at the front door. Even your teeth now. You got me good.”

  Sebastian’s stomach made a wet, lurching sound, and he doubled over. She stepped back automatically, ready to keep her feet out of the line of fire. Vomit where he wanted, just keep her out of it, literally.

  And that’s when she remembered the blood outside the club. The puddle that had been beneath a man with no visible wounds. Pooled blood. She was certain of it. He’d been retching then too. Oh God, had he thrown it up?

  She peered at him now, knee to the ground, his face obscured from view. One arm wrapped around his abdomen, the back of his other hand pressed against his mouth.

  A sick vampire. Just her freaking luck.

  Gathering every ounce of her courage, she took a tiny step closer. She had to prove to herself this wasn’t real. It was some sort of not-funny joke that she’d giggle about later, because of course vampires didn’t really exist. They were born out of the imaginations of authors and older brothers hell-bent on scaring the shit out of their younger siblings.

  Heart pounding, breath barely squeezing past her lips, she tilted her head to the side to look at Sebastian’s face again. One more look into his mouth at those teeth. They couldn’t be real.

  Couldn’t be.

  Chapter Seven

  Alice’s face had gone pale, blue eyes widening as she stared at him. Not stared. Studied. She saw something in his face that must have terrified her, for Alice had stopped speaking, all snark and bravado suspiciously absent.

  The last time he’d fed from her had been a stolen moment. One he didn’t want to repeat if he could help it.

  But he didn’t know if he could stop himself.

  Somehow he’d managed to not give in to screaming impulse. Fuck, it hurt to even turn his gaze toward hers. “What?”

  “Your teeth.” She licked dry lips. “That’s what he’d meant, right? This is real and I’m not being punked. And I’m not dreaming.” Her voice dropped into a mutter. “But maybe I am. Passed out or something back at the club. Or maybe something fucked up had been in the doughnut...which I didn’t get to taste. Shit.”

  Bast turned his head to the side and coughed up something thick, which he swallowed back down with a grimace. It would have been amusing to watch her continue to justify what she’d seen, but he was in no mood for it now. Instead he focused on where she’d been touching him. On how soothing her hands felt on his bare skin. Except now, with the wariness in her eyes, she stood too far away to be effective. “Touch me again, Alice.”

  Her eyebrows lifted, eyes narrowing. “Touch you? And what happens after I do that?”

  Maybe some of the illness would calm down. “I won’t hurt you. Not ever.”

  “But I don’t know that... Weren’t you the one trying to convince me to leave not long ago?”

  Because of how much he wanted to get close to her when it shouldn’t have been such an unshakable compulsion. “Please...”

  She took a tiny step back, her body poised to run. He didn’t have to hear her thoughts to know it would take only the slightest pro
vocation to make her flee. “Tell me if you’re a vampire first.”

  “Would hearing an answer from me really satisfy you?”

  “Try me.”

  The consequences for telling her the truth weren’t as terrible as they used to be. Once upon a time, any vampire caught divulging the secrets of the preternatural world would be exterminated, along with the human who’d been told. And anyone the human might have been in contact with. Neither friends nor family would have been spared.

  Now, with the preternatural and the human worlds colliding with such frequency, it was becoming more and more difficult to keep them separated. The Council, in its wisdom, agreed to allow a revealing under extenuating circumstances, and only those of a certain privilege had the means with which to do so. When the Council discovered Bast’s breach—and they would discover it—the fine would cost him an outrageous sum of money. True, he’d amassed an obscene wealth over the years, but that didn’t mean he wanted to part with two and a half million dollars when a lie could spare it.

  “No,” he said. “I’m not what you think.”

  Alice folded her arms across her chest. “Explain the teeth then.”

  “Later.” His stomach rolled again. He couldn’t see himself, but if he could, he imagined his face had managed to turn a shade of green not found in the natural color spectrum.

  Alice’s pale-faced expression touched panic. “Not a chance. Tell me now or I walk. And just so you know how serious I am about that, consider the fact that I don’t have a place to sleep tonight. When I leave here, I’m heading for the closest bridge or safest park. Sometimes cars in a tow truck lot are kept unlocked and if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to snag a few hours of sleep before the lot opens. The pizza? Was the first time I’d had restaurant food not taken from a trash bin first in months. Bottom line is if I leave your place right now, know it’s for a very good reason. There is nothing waiting for me out there. Absolutely nothing.”