by Cynthia Eden
Leave the—
Carter surged forward, but the vampires were retreating. A hail of gunfire erupted from them as they rushed to a line of SUVs. The windows were darkly tinted—of course—and the vamps jumped inside. He surged after them, even jumping onto the rear of one of the vehicles, but the driver swerved and his claws slid over the bumper, yanking it loose as Carter fell.
In moments, the vamps were gone, vanishing as if they’d never been there…only the blood and the dead on the ground were proof of the attack.
Carter threw back his head and howled. Antoine had taken Lauren. The bastard had staked her, and her blood had been everywhere. The scent still filled his nose.
I’ll find you, Lauren. I’ll find you. I’ll find him. He’ll be dead before dawn, I swear it. I swear—
“Stand the fuck down.” Griffin was in front of him, stark naked because the guy had just shifted into human form. Isabella was at the alpha’s side.
“You go after them and, you die. You get that, right?” Griffin barked at him. “They used those fucking silver bullets on us. I’ve got half a dozen injured and—”
Carter surged past Griffin, but the guy was alpha for a reason. Griffin grabbed onto Carter and held tight. “You can’t do this alone.”
Carter snarled at him.
“Your friend Riley—he’s back there with five bullets in his chest. Five silver bullets. Bullets that he took when he was fighting for you, so you calm your ass down and you focus.”
Riley? Shit—shit. Carter glanced to the left and the right, and, sure enough, he saw Riley, bleeding, as the guy fought to dig the silver bullets from his chest.
“Antoine wants you to run after him.” Isabella’s soft voice was devoid of emotion. “It’s how he works. He strikes hard at his enemies, trying to knock them off balance, and then he goes for the kill. He staked Lauren before your eyes to weaken you, to drive you past reason so you’d be easier to kill.”
Lauren. The beast wanted to rage. To destroy. And the man wanted to rip apart the vamp who’d dared to hurt her.
“The staking didn’t kill her. It just…immobilized her. That’s a trick that I’ve seen Antoine use before.” Her breath heaved out. “He actually did that shit to me once.”
Now Griffin was the one growling.
“A long time ago. Another life.” Isabella stroked Griffin’s back, obviously trying to soothe him. She cleared her throat, and her eyes were full of sympathy as she continued, “If the stake doesn’t go completely through the heart, then it sort of…paralyzes the vamp. It’s as if the vamp’s body is aware of the threat and acts to protect itself by shutting down. Of course, Antoine figured that out. All those years he spent torturing his enemies and his own kind taught him plenty of tricks like that.”
Every second that passed was a moment that Antoine used to take Lauren farther away.
“If she’s your mate,” Griffin said, still holding tight to Carter, “then you can find her anywhere. Anytime. You can shift back into the form of a man, you can think like a man, not a beast, and you can plan for your attack. We can come up with a strategy that works. One that doesn’t leave this pack decimated.”
Carter tried to breathe, nice and slow, but every single breath just brought him the scent of Lauren’s blood. She’d been staring at him when the light went out of her eyes. He’d thought she died.
And I lost myself. The beast had taken over fully. For the first time in his life, the beast had reigned supreme over the man.
Griffin clamped a hand over his shoulder. “I will fight with you.”
“So will I,” Isabella said, flashing her fangs. “It’s time someone put Antoine down.”
“I…shit, that stings…” Riley dropped a bloody silver bullet onto the ground. “I’ll be there, too.” He grunted. “Bastards couldn’t aim worth a damn. Missed every vital organ.” He smiled and his claws lifted. “I won’t miss.”
Neither would Carter. He’d cut out the bastard’s heart—and then he’d take Antoine’s head. The vamp wouldn’t live to see another night.
***
“Lauren.”
Her eyes flew open. Her chest ached. The pain throbbed through her body and her hands flew up, but there was no wooden stake lodged in her heart. She just touched blood. The wound that hadn’t healed yet. The gaping hole where Antoine shoved a stake into me!
“You’ve been very bad.”
Her gaze flew to the left. Antoine stood there—he stood…Where in the hell am I?
Her head turned from the left to the right as she shoved herself into a sitting position. There were bright lights all around her. She was on a wooden floor, elevated. Lights were shining on her from a high angle and illuminating her from below. Beyond the glare of those lights, she could see chairs and tables. Rows of empty seats.
“Recognize the place yet?” Antoine asked her in his smooth, deep voice. “It’s where we first met. Or rather, where I first saw you, dancing up on stage.”
She staggered to her feet. I’m on the stage now.
“You were beautiful on stage.” He stood beyond the lights that shone near the bottom of the stage. “I could have watched you for hours. I looked at you, and I wanted you, and I knew I’d have you. After all, I always get everything that I want.”
Her breath heaved in and out. Her chest kept throbbing because the muscles and skin were slowly mending. “You don’t have me. You never will.”
He bounded toward her and leapt onto the stage. He grabbed her arms and jerked her toward him. “I don’t have you because you haven’t fucking killed yet!” He shook her, making her head whip back and forth. “We’re running out of time! You should have killed by now! You should have drained your prey completely, and the change would be permanent. If you’d done that, you’d always be mine. Always.”
Her tattered heart struggled to beat. “S-stop.”
He just shook her again. Harder. “After you rose, fucking rose as one of the undead, I let you stay on your own that first week because I thought the thirst would force you to attack. I thought you’d grab the nearest human and drain the fool dry. But you didn’t.”
“I-I drank…” And the thirst had been consuming. It had seemed to tear her apart.
“But you didn’t kill! Then you vanished and I ran out of fucking time!” He shoved her back. His voice echoed around them in the cavernous theater. “How the hell did you stop yourself from killing?”
It hadn’t been a matter of stopping herself, not that first time. She would have loved to say that she’d been strong enough to fight the thirst, but that would have been a lie. Some college kids had stumbled into the alley where she’d been drinking. They’d shouted at her, and her prey had broken lose, jerking away from her.
She’d been terrified, and she’d run.
That had been the first time she’d fed. The second time, she’d broken into a hospital and stolen blood. The third time, she’d bitten a guy at a club. He’d been big and muscled and she’d been afraid then, too, so afraid that she’d only taken a few bites and then—
Fear. Fear was her answer. Fear had taught her control.
“You have to kill, Lauren. If you don’t kill within a month of your transformation, then you go back to being nothing.”
She took a step away from him. She’d lost her shoes. Lauren had no idea where they were, and the old wood was a familiar touch against her bare feet. She’d practiced on this stage for countless hours before shows. Preparing. Working so hard for her dreams. Then the crowd had come in. The lights had gleamed for show time… “It should be a show night,” she whispered as her chest kept throbbing. “Why…why is it empty?”
“I bought this place. For you.” His hands fisted at his sides. “You see, Lauren, if you give me the chance, I can give you everything. Money doesn’t matter to me. I bought this place for you—the theater, the casino, the hotel—everything. I bought it all, and then I shut it down. I swore I’d only open it when you were back, and you could headline for me
.” He smiled at her, and the sight chilled her blood. “I’ll make you a star. My immortal star. You’ll never age. Never lose your strength or beauty. You’ll light up the stage, and after you dance each night, we’ll feed on the fools who fill our casino. We’ll rule this town.”
No… “The werewolves are in Vegas.” Her body shuddered. She was so weak. She’d lost too much blood. Because he staked me. “They won’t…they won’t let vamps stay here.”
“Then I guess I’ll just have to kill them all.” He didn’t even sound a little concerned. “Easy enough. That pesky silver weakness works against them. And silver bullets are the only bullets I use. You should see what those bullets can do to a werewolf’s body. They burn the beast from the inside, out.”
She didn’t want to see. She wanted to get away. She wanted—
“Did you fuck him?”
Lauren’s head snapped up.
“Because the wolf’s stench is all over you.” Antoine’s head cocked. His eyes were ice cold. “My mate doesn’t fuck a wolf.”
“I’m not yours.” She needed a weapon.
You have a weapon—your damn fangs! Use them!
“No.” He rolled back his shoulders. “Not yet, you aren’t. Because you haven’t killed.” He rushed toward her. Grabbed her once more. “But I’ll change that for you.”
She shoved against his chest, wanting him away from her, but he’d yanked up his right hand. Too late, she saw the weapon in his hand. A wooden stake. He shoved it into her chest. No! Not again! No! Lauren tried to scream, but only a moan emerged from her lips.
“Don’t worry, love. The stake’s not in deep enough to destroy your heart. It’s just in far enough for you to bleed and bleed…and to be helpless. You are helpless, aren’t you, love? You want to fight, but you can’t.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “I know how to work a vamp’s body perfectly. I told you that before. Ah…the things I can do with a stake. It’s not just about killing. Killing is often too easy. I know how to bring on weakness. I know how to give strength. I know every secret that a vampire can possess. And right now, I need you weak.”
He lowered her onto the stage. She could only stare up at him as she felt her own blood soaking her chest. The strange paralysis had overtaken her once more. Just like when she’d been outside of the werewolf mansion.
“You won’t heal as quickly this time.” Antoine smiled at her. “Too much blood loss is a dangerous thing for a vamp, even one who hasn’t transformed completely. When I pull out the stake, you’ll bleed and bleed. To survive, you’ll have to feed.”
She wanted to claw at him. To bite and tear and hurt him. But she couldn’t do anything. She was a prisoner in her own body. Totally weak. Totally vulnerable.
“He’s coming for you.”
He…Carter? Hope surged inside of her.
“Carter Sinclair thinks you’re his. I saw that tonight.”
He said we were mates. Carter said—
Antoine stroked back a lock of her hair. “You shouldn’t trust him. I hired him, after all.”
She wanted to shake her head and deny his words, but Lauren could only lay there, bleeding. I hate this!
“He’s addicted to vamp blood. Did he tell you that?” Antoine pulled out the stake. He put it to his mouth and licked away some of her blood. Like he was licking a popsicle. “Fucking delicious.”
As he’d predicted, blood pumped heavily from her body, but she could move now—and her fangs came out. She grabbed for him, but he caught her wrists and held her easily. Before he’d grabbed her, Antoine had dropped the stake, and it rolled across the stage.
“Not strong enough,” he whispered as his hold tightened on her. He was grinding her bones together with his grip. “That’s why you’ll have to drink. I’m going to watch you bleed out, my love, until you’re right at the brink of death. And that’s when you’ll feed. Carter will rush to you, and you’ll bite him. You’ll drink and drink, and you will kill the bastard.”
No, she wouldn’t. She’d never do that.
“Did he tell you that werewolves get addicted to our blood? If they take blood from a vamp who isn’t mated to them, then a craving forms inside of the beast. A dark, insatiable craving for vampire blood. Vamp blood gives them power—it’s the best drug in the world to a wolf. And Carter was addicted. He left his pack because he didn’t want them to see what he’d become.”
She tried to shake her head.
“I promised him that I’d give him unlimited vamp blood, if he brought you back to me.” Antoine stroked her cheek. “There is no greater tracker than a wolf, so I used him. But I ordered the bastard never to taste you. I knew that because you’d been able to transform into a vamp, you might just be a possible wolf mate, too.”
What?
“But it was a risk I had to take.” His eyes glinted under the bright lights. “The wolves don’t know that part yet. They fear mating with humans because they believe their beasts would rip apart any human lover. But what they don’t get—those humans who are their mates? They can become vampires. They’re the ones who have the genetics that will allow survival after the bite. I’ve seen that same shit before.”
Her blood kept pumping out.
“A human I turned two hundred years ago slipped away and mated with a wolf.” His fangs were long and fierce. Anger hummed in his words. “Of course, I fucking killed them both.”
Bastard.
“I started to realize—right then—how twisted nature was. Vamps and werewolves were supposed to be together. Nature wanted us to be that way. I learned of other vamp and werewolf pairings. I saw what happened with them. The beasts were supposed to watch us during the day, and with their blood, the vamps could eventually even walk in the day.”
Carter had said, he’d said—
“Wolves can’t mate with normal humans. Their hungers are too fierce. The wolves would rip the humans apart.”
Lauren felt as if she’d been ripped apart. So much blood. And so much weakness.
Antoine stared at her a moment. He sighed. “Humans and werewolves can’t mate. The humans have to change first. They have to become vamps. Then they pair. Or, at least, that’s what the twisted bitch of nature wants.”
Her body was so cold.
“I know how nature works now, but I don’t fucking like it, and I’ll be damned if I lose another to a wolf. Savage, dirty beasts. We are so much better than they are. The top of the food chain. I made you, and I’m keeping you.”
Ice encased her tattered heart. “Carter…mate. M-mating…b-bite…b-bond…”
“You actually think you’re bonded? Bullshit.” Antoine’s finger slid over her lips. Pressed to one of her fangs. “He never loved you. If he said he did, those words were a lie. He was working for me. I hired him to hunt you down. Carter just wanted your blood, and now…you’ll take his blood. Every single drop. You’ll drain him because your bloodlust will be too desperate to contain. You’ll take his blood, and you’ll kill him.”
No!
“Then you’ll truly be mine. You’ll live forever as a vampire. That’s the way it works. You take a life within the first month of your undead existence, and you stay immortal.”
She’d never wanted immortality. She’d—
“I’ll have you on this stage, being the star every single night. I will give you the world.”
She didn’t want the world. She wanted—
“He’s coming.” Antoine’s head jerked to the left. He laughed. “And he brought others. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of them. All you have to do, Lauren, is feed. Drink. Do what a vamp does best. You get the blood you need. You destroy the wolf who was just using you all along.”
He stood, staring down at her.
She was in a pool of her blood.
“Your blood is going to madden him,” Antoine murmured. “The beast will lose control. He’ll be so easy for you to kill.”
“Don’t…want…kill…C-Carter…”
“Doesn’t really matter wha
t you want. Your wound isn’t closing this time. You’ve lost far too much blood. When he gets to you, you’ll be past the point of rational thought. You’ll only know hunger. Blood is king. You’ll take his blood. Take and take, until there is nothing left.” He turned away from her and leapt off the stage. “Don’t worry, love,” Antoine called back to her. “He was only using you for that precious blood of yours. He never cared. With wolves, it’s just about biology. Mating. It’s not about the heart.”
Her heart was barely beating. She tried to crawl after Antoine. Her nails dug into the wood of the stage as she fought to go after him. Her legs weren’t moving. She was slipping in her blood.
“It’s just physical. Biological. And I don’t care what the stories say about one mate needing another to survive…when he’s dead, you’ll be mine. I’ll make sure that you live a very, very long life.”
She hated him.
“You were a gift to me.” His voice drifted back to her. “I won’t lose you.”
You never had me.
“It’s hard to change a human. I’ve gotten in the habit of always giving my prey a few drops of my blood—the way I did you—just to see what happens. Death happened. Over and over. Death…until you. And here’s a secret…”
She didn’t want his secrets. She didn’t want him.
“I wanted you to change the most. And you did. Because you were always meant to be mine.”
Chapter Twelve
Vampire Rules To Live (Or Die) By…
Rule Five: Guard your heart closely. Without your heart, without your head…
You may as well be dust.
The casino was quiet. The first floor was dark and still, like a tomb. Carter rushed past the slot machines and the tables, following the scent that had his beast snarling. Lauren’s scent. Lauren’s blood.
“Where is everyone?” Isabella demanded. “If Antoine is here with Lauren, then I expected a full force of vamps ready to pounce when we burst through the doors.”