Once Bitten, Twice Seduced [Revenants 1] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Mackenzie Williams

  “Hey, hey.” Addison heard Brooklyn speak as she reentered the room, but she couldn’t open her eyes. “Don’t start the party without me. Good news, though. I found your weapon.”

  Addison was still writhing around on the floor. All her energy started to leave her body. She could feel the poison was taking even more of a hold on her. There was no chance now of her using her mental powers to call Luke or hurt Brooklyn. She could barely focus on her surroundings.

  She had lost track of time. Addison didn’t know how long she had been balled up on the floor, but some of the severe head pain had faded. It had faded enough that she stopped moving and lay on her side, opening her eyes. Just as she did, her hair was roughly pulled, tilting her head to face up. Addison moaned softly as she looked up at Brooklyn.

  “See? Perfect, right?” The girl held a large butcher knife up.

  Addison watched as she tilted it from side to side, letting the light sparkle on the silver, mirrored sides. “Don’t.” The word barely came out at all.

  “Me, don’t? No. You, don’t.”

  Brooklyn shoved Addison’s head back into the floor. Addison grunted and then soft whimpers came from her lips. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to clear her vision. When she opened them again, Brooklyn was sitting back on her heels, just to the side of her.

  Brooklyn screamed out like a woman possessed. “Don’t! Stop!”

  Then Addison watched in horror as the other girl stabbed herself. One quick stab to her thigh. Her own arm had come down sadistically, holding the knife, meeting her leg. Brooklyn screamed out again, louder. Then she did something that had vomit rising into Addison’s throat. The dark-haired girl twisted the knife that was still in her thigh. Addison watched the red blood soak through Brooklyn’s cut jeans.

  Brooklyn was panting and looked down at Addison with wild eyes. “There...I have to make sure it doesn’t heal too quickly. I want...Luke to see it.”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Luke slammed on the brakes and almost caused the car behind him to rear-end his Mercedes. The driver laid on his horn for several seconds and then eventually slammed on the gas and swerved around Luke’s stopped car. A couple of other cars pulled around Luke as he sat there.

  He ignored the traffic. An intense pain was ripping through his entire body. It started in his brain and tore down both arms before pooling in his gut. He had just enough strength to throw the car in park before his foot came off the brake.

  Luke grabbed his stomach and leaned forward to rest his throbbing head on the steering wheel. He yelled out in pain as one more wave shot through him and then, in an instant, it was gone. Nothing. Luke exhaled roughly and slowly sat back in this seat.

  He looked at himself in the rearview mirror. Luke could see sweat starting to run down the sides of his face, which now looked flushed. He shook his head, trying to get the echo of the pain to disappear.

  “What the fuck was that?”

  Luke rubbed his stomach and then wiped the sweat from his face. Addison. He immediately sent out a feeling wave, trying to sense her. Nothing. Is that worse or better than feeling pain? Luke sent out another wave, but this time he tried to speak to her.

  Nothing again, but this time was stranger. It wasn’t like there was a wall blocking him. It was like there was no path at all, like she didn’t exist. What really had fear spiking inside Luke was that it felt like it never had. There was no path and not even a faint broken one.

  “Fuck!”

  As Luke threw the car in drive, he sent out one more wave, trying to reach or find Addison. Still nothing. He whipped his car around, causing a few cars to slam on their brakes to avoid a collision. Luke floored the gray luxury vehicle and headed back home as fast as he could, not worrying about anything but getting to Addison.

  * * * *

  Addison tried to scoot away from the crazed girl that had just stabbed herself. She didn’t get far. She was too weak to make it any further than a couple of inches. She looked up at Brooklyn, who was still panting. She was still staring down at the knife that she hadn’t removed yet. Addison guessed that she was still making sure it didn’t start to close up too quickly.

  “Now...for the fun...part.” Brooklyn’s speaking was stuttered from the pain and heavy breathing.

  Addison had a sick feeling that she knew actually what the other Revenant was talking about. She was getting ready to kill Addison, to get rid of the competition. Again, Addison tried to crawl away, but her arms gave out on her. All she could do was lay there and watch Brooklyn.

  The other girl now turned her attention from the knife to her victim. “I know your secret.” Brooklyn grunted in pain. “That’s...why I had to...use so much poison.”

  “Please,” was the only word Addison could muster.

  Addison tried to inhale deeply, get some cleansing air in her body, but all she could manage were a few small gasps. These stopped completely when she saw Brooklyn grip the knife handle tightly and start to pull it free. She screamed out even louder than before as the metal started to slide out of her flesh.

  Addison felt her stomach lurch forward as she saw the bright red blood coating the silver knife. It was almost a sickly beautiful contrast. Addison felt fear mixed with remorse. Luke. Even this small mental word, spoken to only herself, caused another wave of pain to roll through her head.

  She closed her eyes and tried to yell, but she was too weak for even that. She heard herself groan painfully. Addison opened her eyes, slowly and only halfway. Brooklyn was now holding the knife just inches from her face, staring from it to Addison, over and over.

  “It’s a shame that Luke didn’t just leave you after he found out you were evil. It would have saved me some trouble. And it’s pathetic that you couldn’t even be evil enough to defeat me. You really do totally suck.” Brooklyn laughed out loud.

  “How?”

  “You aren’t the only one that bumps into Gabe every so often.” Brooklyn’s smirk told Addison that this girl had a lot of experience with both brothers. She briefly wondered how much of those experiences were sexual, with either. “So, back to the present. I think I’ll warm up a bit before the big show.”

  Before Addison had time for more fear to overtake her, Brooklyn brought the knife down. The blade sliced through Addison’s upper arm. It wasn’t a stab, just a quick cut, but it was deep. Addison grabbed her arm and screamed. She felt her hand become wet and sticky. No! Another shot of pain radiated through her and all she could do was take the next cut from the knife. Brooklyn sliced her other arm.

  Addison’s second scream was softer. Not because the pain was less, but because she was now completely drained of energy. Her end was soon, there was no doubt in her mind. She barely opened her eyes to see Brooklyn’s smile was fading.

  “All right. I’m getting bored. You aren’t as much fun to torture as I thought. Now, just so you know what is coming, I’ll share. I’m going to watch you bleed out from your neck and then wait patiently for my man to come home. Okay?”

  Addison had no reaction. Her eyes slowly closed as she saw Brooklyn’s eyes flash. The other girl then raised the knife.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Luke pulled up as close to his front door as was possible and slammed on the brakes. He put the car in park but didn’t bother to turn the engine off before he opened the car door and jumped out. As he ran to his house, he tried the connection again. Being closer to her should obviously make the connection easier to feel.

  “Addison?” Luke spoke out mentally.

  Only silence. Once more, it was more than just her not responding. Luke couldn’t feel the path at all. It had disappeared completely. He didn’t know what that meant, but he was sure it wasn’t good. If she was dead, I would surely have felt it. Right?

  “Addison!” Luke shouted as he entered his house.

  He stood in the doorway for a few seconds, listening. Finally, there it was. He heard movement from his bedroom and a female voice. It wasn’t the female voice he was l
ooking for, though. He couldn’t make out her words, but it was definitely Brooklyn. What the hell is she doing here?

  Luke left the front door wide open as he ran in the direction of his bedroom. He wasn’t prepared for what greeted him inside. As he pushed the bedroom door open further, he froze. Luke’s whole body went numb and his brain felt like a skipping record player. It couldn’t comprehend or rationalize what he saw.

  “Brooklyn? What happened?” He took one step into the room, but was still numb.

  His ex looked up at him from her sitting position on the floor. Her eyes were wild when she first stared at him but they soon changed to worry. Then her facial expression punched Luke in the gut. Brooklyn’s eyes stayed sad, but her lips curled into a small grin. She almost looked...proud.

  “Hi, sweetie,” Brooklyn said lightheartedly.

  Sweetie?! Luke couldn’t speak as he looked at what lay before him at the foot of his bed. Two girls, both covered in blood. One moving, one not. Brooklyn’s left leg was bleeding through her jeans. The wound seemed to be deep, Luke guessed, because the amount of blood had soaked most of her pant leg.

  A knife lay on the floor, in between the two girls. Addison was lying on her back, completely motionless. Both of her arms were sliced open and bleeding. Her throat had a medium-sized puncture wound that looked fresher than the rest. It almost looked like a mistake or something that had been interrupted.

  “What the fuck did you do?” Some of the numbness was starting to wear off.

  Luke took a few more steps into the room. When he reached the girls, he knelt down next to Addison. He was stuck in a horror show and was still unsure if it was real. He was unsure of what to do next.

  “Hon, I came here to just talk and she attacked me. I had to kill her before she killed me. You should have seen her. She was a crazed lunatic. Fueled by jealousy, I’m sure. She’s evil you know.”

  Luke’s stare left Addison and shot up to Brooklyn who still had that stupid grin. “What?”

  “Yes, she tried to kill me, but I’ll be okay. Aren’t you proud of me? I won the fight.”

  Luke thought he had to be dreaming now, or at least hallucinating. Brooklyn thought he would be happy about what had happened here? Even if he believed they had fought, there was no way he believed that Addison had been the aggressor. And even if he was wrong about that, she could have easily pained Brooklyn into submission and escaped before all the bloodshed.

  Luke bent down further and started to pick Addison up off the floor. Her body was completely limp, but one very hopeful sign instantly hit him. She took a very small and soft gasp of air when he lifted her back off the bloody carpet. She’s still alive, Luke reassured himself.

  He stood with her and then laid her on his bed. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do to help her. He couldn’t just roll into an ER and say, “Hi, my vampire girlfriend is hurt. No, she can’t have normal meds or food.”

  Unless the wounds were enough to completely drain her quickly of blood, she should be strong enough to start healing. The wound on her throat was the deepest, but it wasn’t long. The ones on her arms seemed old enough that they should be healing already. They weren’t.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Luke saw Brooklyn starting to stand. She winched and inhaled sharply when she put some weight on her wounded leg. Luke turned fully toward Brooklyn. Even though it was deep, her stab wound must be starting to heal like normal, because the blood was starting to dry. She took a few steps closer to him and he could see that her limp was already starting to fade some.

  He looked back down at Addison, bloodied and barely alive. “What happened, beautiful? Why didn’t you fight back? Why aren’t you healing or talking to me?” Then the answer hit him like a ton of bricks crashing against his skull. His suspicion was confirmed when something caught his eye. A mug.

  “Poison,” Luke whispered.

  He didn’t look up as he felt Brooklyn stand next to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. Her touch felt like death and destruction. Luke could almost feel her bad intentions flowing from her into him like a black stream of hate.

  “You poisoned her.” He spoke louder but still didn’t take his eyes off Addison. He saw her take another weak breath.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  “No, Luke. I told you what happened. I was defending—”

  Luke spun on her so fast that she had to take an unsteady step back. Her eyes widened with confusion and her malevolent grin vanished.

  “You fucking poisoned her! What did you think, that you could kill her and I’d want you back?” Luke’s anger was building by the second, certainly anger at Brooklyn, but also anger at himself for not sensing the danger.

  “Okay, well, maybe I had to bring extra precautions because of her evil powers.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Luke took a step toward her and she stumbled back.

  Brooklyn’s back bumped into the wall and she stood there, staring at Luke. Her expression was pure surprise now. She did totally believe I would take her back after Addison was dead.

  “I know she’s evil. I had to make sure she couldn’t just pain me away when I came to talk to you.” She reached a hand up to touch Luke, but he slapped it away.

  “That’s bullshit! You came here to destroy her, get rid of her. Well, guess what?” Luke stepped forward and spoke into Brooklyn’s face. “You did it all for nothing. I don’t want you. I don’t love you.”

  Luke stood there for a second and watched the truth and hurt settle into her. He knew those words were harsh, but she had attacked the love of his life. Brooklyn needed to know the cruel truth. Luke turned away from her and walked back to his bed and his damaged beauty. What the hell do I do now?

  Luke bent forward and leaned over Addison. A small ray of light came then. He saw that her neck had stopped bleeding, but the wounds still weren’t healing or closing. He lifted one of her hands to his mouth and kissed it gently. “I’m sorry, beautiful. I’m going to fix this, somehow.”

  Luke heard an untamed and wild screech come from behind him. Before he could turn to find out what was happening, Luke felt a sharp, intense pain ripping into his shoulder. He let go of Addison’s hand and grabbed his back where the pain was coming from.

  He turned slowly to find Brooklyn lunging at him again. She held the knife high above her head and brought it down. This time, it stabbed into his chest. Luke yelled out and tried to grab Brooklyn. His now-bloodied hand slipped on her arm as she yanked the blade from his flesh.

  “You WILL be with me!”

  Luke started to come off the bed toward the crazed girl, but had to stop himself. He saw she wasn’t really going after him. Brooklyn was hurting him so he’d move. Her real target was again Addison.

  Brooklyn lifted the knife and started to bring it down. It would have landed right smack-dab in the middle of Addison’s gut if Luke hadn’t grabbed her arm. Brooklyn screamed and swung her arms, causing Luke to fly off her and stumble back a step. She’s stronger than normal. She must have fed before coming, really fed.

  Luke stood up and readied himself for more pain. He would need to fight her, subdue her. Brooklyn was too far into her rage now. She wouldn’t stop until someone in this room was dead. Luke just had to make sure it wasn’t Addison.

  He steadied himself and stood up straight in front of Brooklyn, between her and the bed. She lifted the knife and he lifted his arms, ready to take the stab. Just before the knife bit into his chest again, Brooklyn froze. Her whole body went rigid and her eyes cleared.

  An instant later, the knife was falling from her fingers and thudding onto the floor. Brooklyn cried out in pain and grabbed her stomach. A second later, she fell to her knees and screamed out again.

  Luke saw movement at the bedroom door and whipped his head around. Gabe was standing there in complete concentration. He was staring down at Brooklyn, walking closer to her. Luke turned back to watch his ex-girlfriend rolling from side to side on the floor. A few more deep moans came fro
m her before her body slowed a little.

  “Gabe. How did you know—”

  His twin walked further into the room and stood next to him. They were both staring down, watching Brooklyn. Her energy looked zapped, almost entirely gone.

  “I felt the pain hit you.”

  Luke turned to stare at his brother, confused. “Just now? How could you have gotten here so quickly?”

  “No, not now.” Gabe turned to look at his brother. “It was severe and all mental. You weren’t here.”

  Luke just blinked and looked from his brother back down to the almost-quiet girl on the floor. When Addison had been poisoned and tried to call out to him, he had felt her intense pain. In return, Gabe had felt it. That both comforted Luke and made him uneasy at the same time.

  “She’s been poisoned.” Luke turned away from Brooklyn and pointed down at Addison.

  “It’s starting to make sense, now.” Gabe turned and focused on Addison, also. He stood still for a minute, staring. Luke could see he held extra emotions for this girl. “She needs to feed to regain strength and to dissipate the poison.”

  “I don’t have anything here but animal blood. I was on my way to see my friend about getting human blood, but obviously, I never made it.”

  Luke heard Brooklyn, behind them, regain some of her strength. He turned to see her up on her hands and knees, starting to crawl toward his legs. Her expression was starting to look wild again. Just before her hand grabbed Luke’s leg, Gabe shot another pain wave at her.

  In a flash, Brooklyn fell back and grabbed her head. She screamed repeatedly while rolling onto her back. Gabe turned back to Luke.

  “That won’t work. She needs real food. Addison needs to be a Feeder right now.”

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  “Can’t I just give her some of my blood? Surely, that will give her strength.” Luke sat down on the bed next to Addison. He briefly looked down at his own wound and saw that it was already healed.