Dare to Bleed (Emily Sullivan Series)

by Whitten, Mary

  “You’ve been through a lot. I’ve got some things to do so I’ll leave you be. Try the bath. I’ll be back later to check on you.”

  “Hey, can I ask you a question?” I asked.

  “Ok, but I’m not sure I’m going to answer.”

  I knew I would like this guy. He tried to seem like a jerk but he was a softy at heart, I could tell.

  “Can you at least tell me if you can read minds?” I asked.

  He laughed and walked out, never answering my question.

  It only took me ten minutes to figure out the knobs on the high tech bath tub. There was a button that automatically added bubble bath to the water. Wow. I decided I never would need a man again in my life. What I really needed was that tub in my apartment. I stripped and stepped in. This tub was so big there were actual steps on the side to get in. It could hold at least six people easily. It reminded me of a huge hot tub that was built into the ground. I could easily swim around in there. I was beginning to relax, soaking up the heat, surrounded by bubbles, when the door came flying open. Ezra stormed in and slammed the door.

  Chapter Eleven

  “What the hell, Ezra? I thought you needed a damn invitation or something.” I scooped up as many bubbles as I could fit in my arms, clutching them close.

  “What… I’m going to ignore that comment. I heard you were sharing this room with Axle,” he yelled. His hands were in fists by his side. He looked silly if you asked me. Like a child throwing a fit for some candy. His remark caught me off guard and my mouth was wide open.

  “Well, actually—” I started but he interrupted me. Good thing too because I really didn’t know how to explain the situation.

  “You really aren’t unlucky, you just keep looking for death. Why would you even consider Axle, of all people? He is dangerous.”

  “Um, wow I don’t even know,” I started again.

  “Come on, I can understand why you would be mad at me but are you trying to make me jealous or something?”

  “Ok, enough, Ezra. Take a chill pill for one minute and let me answer,” I yelled back and noticed I was starting to lose bubbles. I sank down into the water to keep covered.

  “First off, we are not dating so I’m allowed to share whatever I want with whomever I want. And second, why do you think Axle is so dangerous?” I asked curiously. If he thought that this guy was more dangerous than a vampire I had to hear this.

  “He didn’t tell you?” He squatted beside the tub, which made me tingle at the thought that I was naked in the same room as Ezra. Mad was a sexy look for Ezra. Hell, every look was a sexy look for Ezra.

  “Ezra, please just come out with it already.”

  “Axle is a werewolf,” he stated, studying each of my bubbles. I didn’t need to be a vampire to know what was on his mind. All these hot men around me and I couldn’t think of anyone except Ezra. He won.

  “Well, that doesn’t sound that dangerous. I mean a vampire sounds scarier than a werewolf. I wasn’t trying to make you jealous, I just really like this tub,” I said perhaps slightly flirting. I put my finger to my mouth and gave him a look over. I couldn’t stay mad at that man. His essence made my body shiver. He gave me a hard stare before he climbed in the tub, fully clothed, and waded over to me. Water was flowing out of the sides. I was disappointed for a second that he was destroying my room. Gripping my wet hair in his massive hands, he pulled my face to his, panting as he placed his forehead on mine.

  “Emily, you drive me mad.” His breath sent a wave of electricity down my spine and I licked my lips.

  “Ezra, you just jumped in my bath tub with your clothes on,” I reminded him. Not that I minded.

  He pulled my head to the left and gently ran his teeth down my neck, it was just painful enough to be sexy. My eyes rolled into the back of my head and I moaned out loud. He pushed himself against me underwater and I could immediately tell he was ready for action.

  “Would you prefer I had taken my clothes off?” he whispered into my ear.

  “Oh god, no,” I moaned. He pushed himself against me again and moaned in response. I was going to explode if he kept going.

  “Ezra, you have to stop,” I croaked, feeling as if we didn’t stop we would end up sleeping together. He held my breasts in his hands and massaged them as his lips were still all over my neck, moving up. His lips met mine and I felt so close to losing it. I couldn’t imagine having sex, with Gavin and Axle in this house. And I still wasn’t quite over our argument from earlier. I knew he had beef with Gavin, not me, but still I felt some little possessiveness toward Gavin. Plus, no matter what everyone else thought, I knew there was no way I was a witch. Ezra said I drove him crazy, but he was driving me crazy. I didn’t know if I should kiss him or stake him. I pushed against his chest, disconnecting our lips.

  “Ezra, for real we have to stop,” I said, not sure if I was making the right decision.

  “Why? I don’t understand. I want you. You want me. It seems easy enough.” He pushed against my hands.

  “It’s not easy between us, I have a lot going on right now and like I said earlier, I’m done with you, Gavin, and who ever. At least until this situation with Damon is done. I have a vampire out there trying to kill me.” I was proud that I was standing my ground.

  “Just give me five minutes to change your mind,” he moaned into my ear and I nearly gave up. I was stuck. It’s not like I could get up and walk out. I was naked.

  “I’ll make you a deal. As soon as Damon is gone and I am safe, we can date.” I pushed him back again. This time I grabbed a towel and stepped out, quickly covering myself.

  “That’s my deal, Ezra, take it or leave it.”

  He placed his hands on the floor, still standing in the bath tub, and banged his head on the floor in defeat.

  “Emily, I don’t understand why we can’t be together now.”

  I was getting annoyed and I was still standing in a towel, dripping wet.

  “How many witches have you been with?” I bravely asked.

  “In what sense do you mean?” he replied, clearly not wanting to answer my question.

  “Well, I guess if I have to clarify then maybe I really don’t want to know.” There was a small knock on my door and I walked over in my towel and threw open the door. It was Nelly, holding about twenty bags in her arms. Each was a different color.

  “Oh dear, I hope I’m not interrupting.” She peeked around at Ezra, who was still fully clothed in the bath tub. I grabbed a few bags with one arm still clinging to my towel with the other.

  “Thank you, Nelly, you weren’t interrupting. We were finished.” I glared at Ezra as we deposited the bags on the bed. I was hoping for the first time that Ezra would read my thoughts and hear some of the nasty names I was calling him, get the hint and leave. He apparently did. He stood up, jumped out of the bath and stormed out, dripping water on his way out.

  “Hah, men.” I awkwardly laughed at Nelly, who had one eyebrow raised. “I mean, women aren’t much better but… I mean it’s not like I know much about women. I like men, well, I am a woman so I guess I would know some about women.” I started babbling like an idiot, but thankfully Nelly interrupted.

  “It’s ok, dear, now if you don’t mind I have to start dinner, let me know if there is anything else you need.”

  I leaned in to give her a hug and had second thoughts so I did a weird almost hug.

  She walked out, shaking her head and laughing under her breath. There I was alone, surrounded by bags and a wet mess. I looked around the room, water trailing all over as well as bubbles around the tub where the water had overflowed. The bed was now a mess and just wasn’t as pretty as it had been. Come to think of it, the room just didn’t appeal to me at all anymore. So I did what any kind, decent person would do in the situation. I grabbed up my bags and scrambled to the door directly across the hall.

  It wasn’t as nice as the red room but it sure was cleaner. The theme was yellow and purple, which is ok with me. I’m a LSU fan. I
threw on the first thing I grabbed out of a shopping bad, which happened to be pajama pants and tee shirt set. I searched the bags for a brush and found it in the fourth bag I opened. I brushed my hair as best as I could and walked out.

  It took me a few minutes to find the dining room but following the smells made it much easier. I was trying to figure out how Nelly would have prepared dinner so quickly as I walked into the room. Everyone was sitting around the table, filling their plates, as I sat down. I sat next to Axle

  “I’ve been thinking, I’m not going to be here too long and the red room is a bit dark soooo, you can have it. Sorry I made such a fuss to begin with,” I said with a bright smile as I grabbed a plate,

  Axle was already shoving a roll in his mouth. He took a few bites swallowed and grinned. “Well, thank you, Emily, that’s very nice of you. I knew you would give in sooner or later, although I was planning on finding amusement in changing your mind.”

  I just gave him my sweetest smile as I thought about the mess he would return to. I looked over to see Nelly giving me a questionable look.

  “Wow, Nelly, you made dinner fast,” I said, filling my plate. It was a feast. Turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, chicken, three different kinds of vegetables, and four pies filled the table. She really had out done herself. It looked like Thanksgiving.

  “Actually, Gavin prepared the dinner tonight,” she said, laughing.

  “Whoa, Gavin. I didn’t know you could cook,” I said. He was sitting quietly next to Nelly. Axle started laughing loudly.

  “Honey, when you have magic, you don’t have to know how to do anything.” He looked pleased with himself. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to insult Gavin but his comment just made me wish I had made more of a mess on the way out of the red room.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, piling my plate. I didn’t care what they thought of me, I was starving.

  “He means I didn’t really cook it,” Gavin replied, glaring at Axle.

  I was still confused. “Ok, I don’t get it. What am I missing?”

  “You really are such a blonde, sweetheart. Gavin is a wizard, he made this food out of thin air. He didn’t really cook it, he did a spell or some hocus pocus crap,” Axle said between bites. Gavin was looking down at his plate.

  “You used magic? Can you teach me how to do that?” I asked, ignoring Axle.

  “Well, actually I would need to ask Robert first,” Gavin said.

  “Why would you have to ask him? He has nothing to do with me. Plus, it would prove whether or not I can do magic,” I interrupted.

  He thought for a moment in silence before he answered. “Well, I guess I could teach you a few little things, I don’t see any harm.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, I jumped up in glee ran over and gave him a big hug. As my luck has it, Ezra decided to join us at that exact moment and he didn’t look too happy about it. I just told him to stay out of my business in my head.

  I got back to my room and was so exhausted. I plopped down on the big bed, wishing the purple comforter was red. I closed my eyes and thought long and hard about exactly what I had given up in the red room. The dark blood colored comforter, that amazing bath tub, even those stupid red and black candles. The room had bewitched me, I felt so silly for giving it so much thought. I heard my phone buzzing in my purse on the nightstand. I opened my eyes and went to reach for it and stopped midway in shock. I was back in the red room. Every detail was exactly the same, down to the red and black candles.

  Chapter Twelve

  My heart stopped beating for a minute, and I was scared to move. I jumped out of bed and shuffled across to my door, not taking my eyes away from the room. I ran across the hall and threw open the door, walking into a second red room. I really could not figure out what happened. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, or maybe I ate something that caused me to hallucinate. I walked around, not even noticing Axle standing in the middle of the room wearing nothing but a towel. Ok, I lied, I noticed him. Even a blind person wouldn’t be able to ignore the artwork of the Gods on this man. His perfectly sculpted eight pack of abs screamed ‘touch me.’ I had never in my life seen so many muscles on a person. Of course there were those men in the body building competitions who looked like they fell asleep in a tanning bed and then swam in some baby oil. But they scared me. There was nothing scary about Axle’s body. Suddenly I realized I had burst in the man’s room and stood there staring at his half naked body.

  “Change your mind, sweetheart?” he asked with a perfect sly smile on his face.

  Eh, totally killed my libido with that remark. I turned around and walked out. Let him think I’m crazy. What’s one more person? I walked back into my room, almost afraid to go in. A sigh escaped my chest as I found the purple and yellow room had returned. Maybe I really needed some sleep.

  I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling until I heard a buzzing and remembered my phone. I ran over and pulled it out of my purse. Damn, ten missed calls from my mother, one missed call from Harold (Gag) and one text earlier from Kimmy asking me if I ‘had hit that.’ I was guessing she was talking about Ezra since the last time I saw her I was with him. I hit a button and held my breath as I called my mother back, scared to death of what I would do if she didn’t answer. Thoughts of her dead body lying on the floor crept into my thoughts. The call went to her voicemail

  ‘‘Hello? Oh crap, this is my recordin’, um, hi, this is Betty. I’m not around right now. I’m probably doing something important. Leave me a message and if I can figure this mail thing out I’ll call you back…” Silence… “Emily, what button do I press?” BEEP. Gotta love the woman.

  “Mom, it’s Emily. This is the first time I’ve ever heard your voicemail, and I’m a little worried. Call me back. Love you,” I said to the voicemail, sure she would probably never know how to check it. She would probably call me over the next day because the unopened envelope would drive her nuts. I swallowed a lump that was building up in my throat. I ran my hands over my face and through my hair. What if Damon went after my mother to get back at me, and he had been trying to call all day to negotiate his terms of release? What if it was too late and he already sucked her dry? Tears filled my eyes as I thought of every bad thing Damon would do to her. I jumped as my phone stated vibrating. Mom. Boy, this was the happiest I have ever been to talk to my mother.

  “Mom, where the hell have you been? I’ve been so worried. Why didn’t you answer?”

  “Calm down, Emily, I was in the bathroom. Can’t a woman have a moment to herself ever now and again?” she replied.

  “So what’s wrong then?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Mom, I had ten missed calls from you today.”

  “Oh yeah, you remember Brandon McDaniel’s? You went to homecoming with him in eighth grade. You had the biggest crush on him.”

  “Yeah, what about him?” I did remember him. He tried to take my virginity then dumped me. I still didn’t understand what this had to do with my mother’s emergency.

  “Well, he just got married. Can you believe that? He was such a little brat. I’m still trying to find out who the sucker is that said yes to that miserable loser. I really thought he was a gay.”

  I felt my jaw drop. It was shocking that Brandon was getting married, I was holding on hope for us to hook up again at our class reunion. But I was furious with her for scaring me like she did.

  “Mom… I thought you were dead,” I said softly, hoping to get the point across to her.

  “Why would you think that?” she huffed.

  “There is still a killer out there, Mom!” I yelled.

  “Oh, I know, but I’m protected. I bought some garlic, crosses and I even got some holy water,” she replied like it didn’t even worry her one bit. She really did believe that this guy was a vampire. Kudos to her for solving the mystery, even though no one would know she was right except me, everyone else would think she was crazy like usual.

  “Where did you get holy water from?�
�� I asked, afraid of her answer.

  “Church, of course. They don’t sell this crap at the drug store, Emily.”

  Honestly, I didn’t even want to know if she asked or just stole the water. I couldn’t decide which was worse. I got off the phone with her soon after. I told her that I had an emergency at work and had to go out of town. It sounded a bit silly, working for 911 to have an emergency at work, but she took the bait.

  I decided I needed some rest, I’d had a rough day. I fell asleep quickly and had a dreamless night. I woke up to my phone buzzing. I almost fell over as I reached for it on the night stand.

  “This had better be good,” I answered.

  “Hello, Emily.” A male’s voice greeted me, causing a shock wave through my body. I dropped the phone and tried to breathe. Pull it together, Em, you don’t even know who is on the phone. Maybe Harold hit puberty and is calling to check on you. I slowly picked up my phone.

  “Who is this?” I whispered into the receiver, feeling very proud of myself for having a voice at all.

  “I think you already know who this is.”

  “Harold?” I prayed.

  “What? No, would you like to guess again?” He sounded like he was getting annoyed with me, that didn’t take long.

  “Brandon?” I squeaked. Hopefully he changed his mind about his new wife.

  “Are you kidding me? It’s Damon.” You would think we were long lost friends having a conversation.

  “What do you want? I don’t understand why you are chasing me around like a crazy stalker. And what’s up with the freaky hood? Do you think it makes you look cool, because it doesn’t, it’s kind of scary.” I was rambling again. Don’t judge me, you don’t know what you would say to some psycho when he calls and wakes you up till it happens.

  “Emily, please shut up,” he interrupted.