“It will probably wake her up, but it won’t sustain her. She needs a real meal.”
Gabe turned away from his brother and Addison and walked back over to where Brooklyn was lying on the floor. He bent down and started to pick her up.
“What are you doing?”
Gabe flung the weakened Brooklyn over his shoulder and started to walk toward the bedroom door. He answered over his shoulder, “I’m going to tie her up in the kitchen. We will have to deal with her when we get back. In the meantime, I don’t want her following us.”
Luke felt like he should say something here, but he kept quiet. He felt like maybe it was his duty to speak up for Brooklyn, but all he had to do was look down on his barely-alive love to halt all words he had for Brooklyn.
Gabe left the room, still carrying the other Revenant. Luke listened for a moment and heard noises in the kitchen. He turned his attention back to Addison. Even in this state, she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He had to save her, or he would die trying.
Luke reached his hand into his shirt and collected a small amount of his own blood that was smeared on his chest. He didn’t even bother to look at it as he brought his hand to Addison’s lips. He gently slid one red finger into her mouth and lightly rubbed her tongue.
Much faster than he had expected, he saw movement in her. Her eyes were still closed, but they started to move back and forth with the lids fluttering a few times. Luke collected a little more of his blood from his shoulder wound and repeated with his finger in her mouth.
This time, Addison actually closed her lips around his finger and sucked softly while rolling her tongue over it. After a few seconds, Luke pulled his finger free and watched Addison finally open her eyes fully. He watched them start to clear a little as she blinked up at him.
Luke leaned down and kissed her lips very softly. When he sat back, he could see that she was starting to get some memories back. Addison’s face went from loving recognition to fear. She tried to sit, but was too weak. Her eyes flashed around the room.
“Addison, Addison. Calm down.” Luke grabbed both sides of her face with his hands. “You are safe, but hurt. We need to get you food.”
Luke felt her body tense and then relax some. “Brooklyn,” she whispered.
“I know, sweet. She is taken care of. We need to work on you now.”
“But she—”
“Save your strength. I know what happened. I’m sorry, love.”
Addison closed her eyes and started to weep. Her small breaths sounded shallow. Luke knew that Gabe was right. His blood was not enough to rid her of the poison. He doubted she had much time. Luke wouldn’t be able to get to his friend for “stolen” blood. Addison needed a meal that was close.
He bent down to kiss her again and felt her slipping already. Her time was fading fast. Luke quickly picked her up in his arms and headed toward the door. Just as he reached the front of the house, Gabe came up behind him.
“Everything taken care of?”
Gabe nodded back at his twin. “Yep.”
Luke turned and started out of the house, still carrying Addison who was now in and out of consciousness. “She doesn’t have much time.”
“I know,” Gabe said while following him out of the house.
“What the hell are we going to do?”
Gabe walked around to the driver side of Luke’s Mercedes and climbed in. “Get in. We’re going to subdue the first human we see.”
Luke walked over to the passenger side as Gabe leaned over to fling the door open for him. “We can’t do that.”
“Do you want to fucking save her or not? We won’t kill them, I promise.”
Luke looked down at his brother. His stare looked sincere, but Luke knew his brother well. Honesty wasn’t his strongest suit. Plus, even if he meant what he said about not killing someone, what about Addison? Luke was well aware that his brother wanted her badly. Was that the only reason he was helping him now?
“Listen, you are going to have to trust me if you want her to live. You can’t do this alone.”
Luke had no argument for that statement. Finally, he slid into the car with Addison on his lap. She seemed to be just sleeping peacefully now. She didn’t seem like she was in pain, but she did seem weak.
Luke slammed his door shut just as Gabe threw the car in gear and then tore down the driveway.
Chapter Forty-Nine
They drove out of the secluded forest area where Luke’s house stood. After a few minutes, they hit the highway. Luckily for them, it didn’t take long to find their victims. Two people, a man and a woman, were jogging down the gravel shoulder.
“Bad day for a jog.” Gabe smirked.
He drove the car past the runners and then pulled off onto the shoulder a few feet in front of them, blocking their path. Luke watched them in his side rearview mirror. They slowed their running, but didn’t stop. As they neared the back of the car, they started to veer to the right. They would have to run down into the grass to get around the car. The ditch wasn’t too deep here, but it was a little steep.
Gabe exited the vehicle and walked around the front of the car. As the runners reached the side of the car, Luke watched them both abruptly stop jogging and grab their heads. Both humans then went to their knees in the grass. Luke cringed at their sounds of pain.
“Take her into the woods, just far enough so we can hide behind some tree cover. Then come back and help me with these two blood sacks.”
Luke hated Gabe’s tone and his heartless words, but he had to ignore all that now, for her. Luke opened his car door and exited, carrying Addison. He carefully stepped around the couple who were still kneeling in the grass, moaning at the moment.
Luke took large, quick steps through the grass and headed into the trees. He made it past a couple large ones and found a nice clearing with a few low bushes. He rushed Addison over and laid her down behind the shrubbery. He took a second to stroke her hair back off her face. She looked like an angel, he thought. He gifted her with a soft kiss on the forehead before standing.
“Hang on, baby.”
Luke turned and ran back toward the car. When he got closer, he saw that Gabe must have taken a little extra joy from paining the pair. The man and woman were presently further into the ditch, on their backs. Their moans were much louder and their expressions were more severe.
“Gabe! Stop!” Luke ran up to the edge of the grass.
His twin turned to him and shrugged with a mock-innocent smile. He then obviously stopped the pain wave, because both humans stopped moaning but were still rolling back and forth in the ditch.
“All right. You calm the man and bring him back. I’ve got the girl.” Gabe winked at Luke.
Luke let out an annoyed breath but wasted no more time on his brother or his asshole ways. He wanted this over with, for his sake and for Addison’s. He moved to stand over the man and sent him a calming, pacifying wave of energy. The male jogger stilled in the grass with his face down. After a brief second, the man rolled onto his back and stared up at Luke.
The man’s face was now quite relaxed and his eyes had glassed over. Luke looked up to see Gabe had a similar hold on the female. He then turned back to his victim and held out his hand.
“Come on, man. Come with me.”
The jogger looked a little confused, but he did as he was instructed. He took Luke’s hand and let him help him to his feet. Luke continued the happy, tranquil mental energy between himself and the man while placing a hand on his back. Luke started to slowly direct his prey back to where he had left Addison.
Luke turned back to see Gabe was walking now with the female runner. He just shook his head and turned back to face forward when he saw Gabe’s hand was lightly patting the girl on the ass as they walked.
After what seemed like a lifetime of walking, the group finally made it to Addison’s hiding place. Luke instructed his victim to lie down next to the bushes. At first, he felt a little resistance from the man. H
e was starting to come to and realize that this situation was strange. Luke shot him with a more intense wave. It was starting to take its toll on Luke, though. Finally, the man lay down on the dead leaves.
“Do you want me to just pain them again? It’s much easier.” Gabe and his female had just joined the party.
“No, I’m fine. Let’s get this done.”
Luke bent down next to Addison. She didn’t seem to be breathing at all. He laid his head on her chest and listened. After several agonizing seconds, he heard a very faint beat from her heart. It was now or never.
“Okay, let’s go!” Luke turned and yelled at his brother, who was just laying down the girl.
Gabe just stared at him for a moment. Luke saw that his expression was completely serious now, no more playful predator. “All right, but we do this my way. No bitching about the humans’ feelings.”
“Fine, fine. Hurry!” Luke sat down on the ground and lifted Addison into his lap.
Gabe made his way over to the half-asleep man. He wasted no time. The Revenant leaned in and sunk his fangs into the man’s neck. The prey instantly came alive. He screamed out and started to push Gabe away. He was no match for the stronger vampire.
Gabe continued to feed for a second longer and then climbed off the man. Luke watched his brother crawl closer and he saw that his mouth was full. Luke’s attention was then ripped to the man, who was now holding his neck and starting to sit up. Luke did his best to calm the man, but it was harder now that the man was in pain.
Gabe finally reached them and he went straight to Addison. He leaned in and kissed her. The sight was like a blow to Luke’s gut. He had to physically restrain himself from shoving his brother back and away from her. As he focused on their lips touching, he started to lose focus on the man. The bleeding victim started to crawl toward them.
Gabe then looked up at Luke. His lips were smeared with blood. Gabe didn’t even look back at the man, but he must have shot him a pain wave because the man went down and stayed down. Gabe went back for round two and Luke looked down at Addison.
Her lips were also smeared with dark red blood, but Luke also noticed that her color was coming back. Her cheeks looked rosy, and just then, she took a deep breath. It was working, he thought. He looked up to see Gabe feasting. It seemed to Luke that now he was just drinking for himself.
“Gabe, we said no killing.”
His twin didn’t react. He continued to drink from the man for another few seconds, then pulled off. Luke saw that he again had a mouthful. He repeated the feeding kiss, but this time, Luke felt his added motions. Instead of just letting her drink from his mouth, Gabe shoved his tongue into hers. Gabe then started moving his lips over Addison’s, tasting her.
Luke was going to put a stop to it, but then he felt Addison completely come back. Her body tensed and he felt her pulse quicken. Then, with a heavy heart, Luke watched her returning Gabe’s kiss. He knew that she was totally unaware of what was happening, but that didn’t make it sting any less.
“Enough!” Luke shoved his brother’s shoulder.
At first, he resisted, but then finally Gabe pulled back from Addison. The wicked, crooked smile he wore made Luke’s blood boil. He had to be thankful that his brother had helped him, but that didn’t lessen the rage and hate that was starting to build up inside Luke.
“What about the man?”
Gabe sat back on his heels and looked back at the man, who was laying still. “He’s weak, but alive. If nothing else happens, he’ll be fine in a few hours.”
“What are we going to do?”
Gabe turned back to his twin with a look that said he thought his brother was an idiot. “We are going to leave him and his chick here when we’re finished. If they’re lucky, they will recover and be on their way. If they aren’t lucky, an animal will come along to eat them. Either way, we are almost done with them.”
Gabe’s callous words wound through Luke. Could they really just leave two bleeding humans here and hope they survived?
“What do you mean ‘almost done’? We can go now. Addison is recovering.”
Luke looked down at her. She was not entirely awake, but almost. She looked like herself again. He could feel their connection returning. It was weak and cloudy, but at least he could now sense it. That had a warm sensation flowing through his whole body. He was getting his girl back.
“No, she’s getting there, but not done. Addison needs to feed on her own before we can leave. My few gulps won’t be enough. She needs to take the girl, unless you don’t mind me killing the man.”
“How do you know?”
Gabe turned around and sat next to the female runner. “Trust me. I’ve been around, brother. While you and your women were playing house, some of us were out in the paranormal world.”
Luke sat still and stared blankly at his brother. Addison is going to have to feed.
Chapter Fifty
Addison felt like she was falling. Her whole body jerked and her eyes flew open. At first, she had no clue where she was or what was happening. She saw trees and Luke’s face. There was an instant flashback to when they had first met. This memory had her whole body jerking again.
“What’s going on?” She heard her voice, but it sounded weak and not totally her own.
Addison then realized that her mouth tasted funny. She lifted her hand, which felt heavy, to her face. She used the back of her hand to wipe her lips. When she pulled it back to look at it, a spike of fear ran through her. Her hand was smeared in blood. Who’s blood is that?
She stared up at Luke, who was staring at her with concern, but also pity. What was happening? She closed her eyes for a moment and searched her recent memory. She saw Brooklyn with a knife. Addison then saw blood on her arms and chest while an echo of pain ran through her body. Then her last memory surfaced, Luke lifting her off his bed.
When she opened her eyes again, Luke was starting to push her off his lap so she could sit up. Addison could then see the full scene before her. Gabe was leaning over an unconscious woman. Even more horrible was that next to them was an unconscious man, but he was bloodied. He had been bitten.
Addison instantly looked back down at the blood on her hand and unthinkingly touched her lips again. She spun her head around to face Luke with a look of horror.
“Did I...?”
Luke brought up his hand and tucked a strand of her long, dark hair behind her ear. He gave her a weak smile. “No, love. You didn’t bite him, but you did drink of him.”
Luke then nodded his head toward Gabe. Addison turned her stare to the other brother. Gabe looked up from the girl and smiled at Addison. His smile was much bigger and more confident than his twin’s. And something else was different. His teeth were stained with blood. Addison gasps and slowly turned her head back to Luke. His smile was gone completely now.
“Luke, why?”
“Sweet, the poison was killing you. You needed real human blood in your system to rid yourself of it. There was no other way. Trust me.”
Addison started to push herself back and away from everyone. She wanted away from the sight of blood. She crawled a few feet away and then started to stand. Her legs were wobbly, but she made it a few steps before she stumbled and fell to the ground. She attempted again to crawl away but she had little strength and was starting to feel dizzy. Addison finally lay on her side and buried her head in her arms, starting to cry.
She felt Luke lie down beside her and start to rub her back. “Beautiful, it’ll be all right. You need to feed one more time and then you will be good. Then we can leave this place and get you home to rest.”
Addison wiped her eyes and then lifted her head. “What about the man and woman? They have to die so I can live?”
“No, sweet. Gabe says they will be weak, but will recover. We are only taking what we need and no more. No one will die here today.”
Addison used her arms and pushed herself up to a seated position. She looked over to see that Gabe was pretending to
ignore them, but every once in a while, he would stare at them. He moved his eyes, but not his head, to watch them. Is he just here to help?
“Gabe.” Her tone was full of doubt and a bit of hatred.
“Yes, I know.” Luke stood and held his hand out to Addison. “This isn’t a great choice, but it is our only choice.”
Addison just sat there, eyeing Luke’s hand. She needed a second to run this through her head. So the poison obviously still had some hold on her. Gabe and Luke are telling me that feeding is the only way to get better. Luke I trust, Gabe, not so much. Even if I can do this, what will happen to me afterwards? What will happen to the people?
Then she heard an extremely weak voice trying to enter her mind. “Please, Addison. I can’t lose you.”
The fact that Luke’s voice was so weak hit her hard. She barely had a connection to him and she could tell that even this small bit was fading. Her pending breath caught in her throat as the loss filled her. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. She didn’t like it, but she was going to feed.
Addison reached up and grabbed Luke’s helping hand. When she got to her feet, her knees buckled and Luke quickly wrapped an arm around her to help steady her. He then guided her toward the waiting Gabe and woman. When they reached them, Addison slowly sat down next to Gabe.
She stared into his eyes. Slowly, the cockiness left them and was replaced with something very close to love. Addison didn’t know if that was reassuring her or making things worse. Gabe tilted his head to the side and lifted a hand to her face. At first, Addison pulled back, but then stopped herself. Gabe halted his hand for a second and then continued.
He gently cupped her face and rubbed his thumb over a drying tear on her cheek. Addison didn’t look away from his stare. She wanted him to know that she appreciated his help, even if the motives were unclear.
“Okay, love. The first round of blood will be running its course. You need to quickly get more or all this will have been for nothing.”
Once Bitten, Twice Seduced [Revenants 1] (Siren Publishing Allure) Page 17