She didn’t even see the next one. A few minutes after she killed the furbug, Monroe ran off into an overgrown yard. A bit of growling and rustling, then he came back looking satisfied with a dark fluid dripping from his claws. “Easy.”
Claire actually felt a pang of jealousy. She’d gotten used to coming out here night after night, but Monroe looked comfortable. Like he belonged out here. He does. He’s one of them. He reinforced her thought by walking along beside her on all fours. She kept imagining him turning and biting her leg, dragging her down and eating her. Monroe brushed up against her and she jumped. “Stop it.” She turned and trained her gun on him.
“What?” He sat back like a dog, and she didn’t want to know what he’d done to his legs to make them move that way.
“Don’t touch me.”
“You started it.”
“No, I didn’t.”
He tilted his head. “You touched me first. In the cell.”
“That was days ago.”
“You started it.”
She sighed and lowered her gun. “I don’t care. Stop touching me. You’re freaking me out.”
He lowered his head and she heard the snapping and popping that meant he was shifting his body. He pulled his legs under him so he was now on his knees. The noises continued for a few more seconds, and then he stood, looking as human as he had when they’d left the city. “Can I touch you now?”
“No.” She tightened her hand on her gun. “I don’t care what you look like. It doesn’t change what you are.” She didn’t want him too close, and yet she trusted him to keep her safe. She could focus her attention on him because if there were any nasties around, he would alert her.
“But you touched me in the cell.” He shifted his feet but didn’t move any closer.
“That was different.”
“How?”
“I had to prove I could.”
“Prove that you weren’t afraid.” He clenched and unclenched his hand.
“Something like that.”
He took a few steps toward her and she lifted her gun.
“Let me touch you. Please.” Victor lifted his hand. “I won’t hurt you.”
She backed away. “Why?”
He narrowed his eyes. “I could rush you, take the gun away, have you pinned on the ground in a second.”
“Are you threatening me?” Why did she think coming out here with him was a good idea? Now he was going to do what hundreds of nights facing nasties hadn’t done—leave her dead on the street.
“No. I could, but I won’t because I can control myself. Just a little. Just enough.” He stepped toward her. “Need to touch you.”
Claire took two more steps back and bumped into the rusted remains of a car. Monroe kept coming, full of coiled energy, but his steps were measured. Her heart beat faster and louder and her arms trembled a little. She didn’t want to shoot him, but she couldn’t bring herself to lower the gun. He got close enough to wrap a hand around the muzzle, and he pushed it aside as he stopped just inches from her. Keeping one hand on the gun, he used the other to push her goggles up on her head. Claire blinked at the darkness. She could barely make out his face in the moonlight, but his left eye glowed faintly blue. Wondering what he was going to do, she tried to plan ways to buy herself a few seconds. Twisting out of the way and running. Kneeing him in the balls and running. Anything she did would probably cost her the gun since he still had a grip on the muzzle, but she had two handguns. How many bullets would it take to keep him down?
Monroe laid his right hand against her cheek, a caress as gentle as a lover’s. Her breath came faster.
“Claire,” he whispered. Her stomach flipped over. He yanked at the gun and she couldn’t keep her grip. It came out of her hands and the strap fell off her shoulder as he threw it to the ground. Now her whole body trembled. Monroe’s nostrils flared as he took in a deep breath. “You’re scared.”
“You have me pinned against a car and you just threw away my gun. Of course I’m fucking scared.” But it was more than fear that made her heart pound and her knees weak. What the hell was wrong with her?
He wrapped his left hand around her waist and took another breath. “Not just scared.” A noise that wasn’t quite a growl rumbled in his chest. “Want to fuck you.” He leaned even closer and heat radiated off his body.
“Oh, God.” He’s one of them, you idiot, she told her rebellious body.
He was close enough to kiss her. “Tell me no. Tell me to get away.”
“What the fuck? Is that some kind of kink? I’m not playing any fucking games.” Her pulse throbbed in her ears.
“No game. Tell me no, or tell me yes.” He pressed up against her, and that woke her up.
“No,” she choked out. She met his gaze. “Get the fuck away from me, you fucking freak.”
Monroe took three big steps away from her. She expected anger, a threat, for him to rush at her. A slow smile spread across his face and his teeth were just visible in the darkness. “I stopped,” he said. “I can stop.”
With a shaking hand, Claire pulled down her night-vision goggles. Then she stepped away from the car and bent down to pick up her gun, never taking her eyes off him. It took her two tries to get the strap back over her shoulder. He didn’t move. She took deep breaths to calm down.
Monroe kept smiling. “Come on, let’s go kill something.”
He stayed several feet away from her for the rest of night, and he didn’t shift or go on all fours until he was going after a nasty. They killed six more before he felt the first stirrings of dawn. Almost time for the monster to fade again, and he’d be able to think more clearly about everything that had happened. He was still thrilled he’d been able to stop himself. As much as he’d wanted Claire, he’d still been able to think, so maybe the monster was getting weaker, or he was getting stronger.
Claire hadn’t spoken to him except in monosyllabic answers and grunts. It didn’t bother him much. He was too happy he hadn’t hurt her, and too pleased with being outside the walls, under the open sky. They were heading back to the newly finished third wall now. This area was sadly empty of nasties. The scents were faint and most of them were old. All night he’d been fighting the urge to run through the streets, killing as many nasties as he could, following every trail. But he couldn’t leave Claire alone. Somehow the monster had stopped thinking of her as food and thought of her as something to mate instead.
The sky in the east kept getting brighter. Just like nightfall, he felt it in every part of him. Dawn called to him to find a safe place to rest. It was so much stronger out here. He looked at the houses they passed with longing, thinking of closed doors and cool basements. Safety and sleep, hiding far from the sun. The lab is home, he told the thing inside him. We can sleep there. He wanted to run, to beat the sun, but he couldn’t leave Claire behind. He looked over at her, walking with several feet of distance between them. He considered picking her up and carrying her, but that wouldn’t go over well.
The edge of the sun peeked over the horizon. He couldn’t see it with all the buildings and trees in the way, but he knew the exact moment. His body started to shake. He kept walking, but it slowed him down. The sun rose higher and now it hurt. He couldn’t stay on his feet. “Claire.” He fell to his knees.
She took a few steps toward him and stopped, her expression wary. “Are you hurt?”
“Sunrise. Hurts. Too weak.” All his energy was being pulled away and his whole body ached like he had the flu, only twice as bad. He groaned and curled in on himself.
She took another step toward him, her gun not trained on him but pointing in his direction. “You could have warned me. We could’ve gotten back to the lab faster.”
“Didn’t feel like this before.” Would he feel like this all day? God, he hoped not. Claire would have to drag him back or leave him. Sweat broke out along his body and he squeezed his eyes tight against a wave of pain. He’d felt worse, but combined with the weakness it made him helpless.
“What should I do?”
“Don’t know.” The street was rough and hard under his side. He wanted a bed. He wanted a warm bath.
The sun climbed higher, and the pain started to fade. The tension in his body slowly eased and he let out a sigh. He opened his eyes to find Claire three feet away, just out of arm’s reach. “It’s going away.” He mopped his wet forehead with his sleeve. “I’m still weak, give me a few minutes.” He took a deep sniff to make sure they were still alone. Nothing but old scents, and this time he was grateful for it. After a minute, he pushed himself up onto his knees. He was still shaky, but his strength was coming back.
She took a step away from him. “Are you okay?”
“I think I will be.” Slowly, he got to his feet. Dizziness flickered through his head and he stood still until it passed. Behind the crumbling houses and sprawling trees, half the sun glowed above the horizon. He felt much better, although he was still a little shaky. “That never happened before. I get weaker at sunrise and the monster dozes off, but it was never like that.”
“Can you walk?”
Victor took a deep breath. “Yeah.” His first few steps were tentative, but it got easier as it went along. His head cleared and the events of last night came into sharp focus. “Oh, shit.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry about last night.”
She shot him a look. “I don’t know if I can do this anymore.”
He didn’t at all like how that made him feel. “Of course you can.”
Claire stopped. “You pinned me against a car and told me you wanted to fuck me.”
“I said I was sorry.”
She stared at him. Now that the sky was light, she had her goggles flipped up on her head and he saw all the anger and pain in her eyes. Smelled it on her. “How the fuck can I trust you to watch my back when I have to worry about that?”
“You’re the one who wanted to get out here so fast. You kept pushing me.”
“And that makes it okay?” Anger dominated her now.
“No.” He flexed his hands, fighting the urge to bring out his claws. “None of this is okay, but we’re not stopping now.”
“I might be a little reckless, but I’m not suicidal. Someone else can deal with you.”
“You can’t give up.”
“Give me one good reason why not.”
He saw it in the set of her body. He could almost smell it. She wanted a reason. If she didn’t, she could have called into base hours ago and told them the exercise was a failure. Sure she’d kept a few feet of distance between them all night, but she’d stayed out there hunting with him when she could have been safe back behind the walls.
He could play with her some more, bring up her admission that she wanted to be important. It just…didn’t seem right. So he gave her the best reason—for him, at least. “I stopped.”
“What?”
“You said no, and I stopped. You told me to get away from you, and I did. I stayed away from you all night. I have some control, but not much. I reach a point of no return and then I can’t stop this thing inside me. I killed two people because that boundary was crossed. Last night you told me no and I stopped. You brought me back from the edge, Claire.”
Her heart rate changed, her breathing. Claire’s expression faded from angry to wary and her scent carried just the faintest hint of desire. Very interesting. Her reaction last night hadn’t been a fluke.
“I—” She stopped and put a hand to her earpiece. “This is Scarlotti. I read you. We’re coming in now. Sorry, sir, we lost track of time.” She met his gaze. “The exercise was a success. Yes, sir. Out.”
Silently, they both turned and walked toward the outer wall.
“I’m asking for an AV tonight,” Victor said. “We need to get out farther so we can do some real damage.”
She kept walking and he didn’t think she’d say anything. Then, “That sounds good. My feet hurt.”
Victor chuckled and ached to touch her. Would she ever let him touch her again? Why is that suddenly the most important question in my life?
Chapter Four
Tighten, relax. Tighten, relax. Claire kept squeezing the steering wheel as she scanned the road ahead of them. The nervous—or maybe excited—energy that came off Monroe wasn’t helping things either. Riding in an AV with him might have been a bad idea. She should have told him to ride in the back. Where nasties belong, a voice whispered. She swerved around a car, evidence they were moving into wild territory. The day shift spent much of their time clearing the streets, dragging cars and trucks back to the city to salvage for parts and metal. The area near the wall was almost cleared, but the farther out you went the more cars cluttered the streets. Although some areas far out past the line were eerily empty, as if all the cars had vanished.
Tighten, relax. Tighten, relax. She took a long, slow breath. She tried to stay focused on the road, to think about cars, or the nasties lurking out there, or wonder what her former companions were doing now. Anything to keep her mind off Monroe. They hadn’t been this close since last night, and they’d never been in such a tight space together. Should have put him in the back.
This was not the best time to bring this up, but it was eating at her. “When you said you wanted to fuck me, was it you or was it the…whatever’s inside you?”
He turned that eerie mismatched gaze on her. “Both.”
Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel, and this time they didn’t relax again. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
“If you want the truth—blunt, honest truth—ask me at night.”
“What does that mean? That you lie during the day?”
“No. I think during the day, which means I might be smart enough not to answer.”
So it was harder for him to hide at night. She could use this to her advantage. “Why did you really volunteer for the project?” He might have told her the truth that first day, but then again he might not have.
He turned to look out the window. “They took my sister and they turned her. Infected her.”
Claire’s heart sped up. “Who?”
“Them.” He nodded at the darkness all around them. “The nasties.”
“So you what? Thought the vaccine might be able to reverse it? Is that why you volunteered?”
“Thought I could save people. Now I’m this.” He pounded a fist against the dashboard and it left a dent.
“Whoa, calm down!” If he freaked out in the truck… Should have put him in the back.
“Sorry,” he grumbled. He was twitching and he crossed his arms like he was trying to hold it in.
Claire had more questions, but she didn’t want to risk upsetting him. At least not until they were out in the open. The mention of his sister made her think of her own family. Her mom, dad, sister and brother—all gone. She’d survived in her dorm room, huddled in a closet. When she went to look for her family days later, the house was empty. Her family had either been eaten or turned…and it would give her some peace if she knew they’d been eaten.
Ahead of them, a wreck blocked the street. An SUV and a pickup truck had smashed into each other that long horrific night the nasties had appeared. She slowed and bumped up onto the curb to get around them. There was just enough space between the trees on the boulevard for her to pass. “I think we’ll have to pull over and get out soon. This is far out enough.”
Monroe grunted. “Good.”
They went on for a few more blocks in silence. “My turn,” he said.
She tensed. “For what?”
“To ask you a question.” He looked over at her. “How much do you want to fuck me?”
She swerved. “What. The. Fuck.” She could slam on the brakes, jump out of the truck before he knew what she was doing, run off into the night. No. Get in the back of the AV and lock herself in and hope it held until daylight.
“I can smell you. Scent doesn’t lie.” He didn’t make any move toward her, only watched her.
&nb
sp; Stupid body, betraying her. Giving away things she didn’t even want to think about. It was wrong. So, so wrong. It must be some kind of bad-boy thing blown out of proportion. She’d always liked the bad-boy types, but she’d been too smart to go after them. She was way too smart to even consider something with Monroe, reason number one being she didn’t know if he might kill her.
“Well? Answer.” He tilted his head.
She pressed her lips together and stared out the windshield. It wasn’t just the bad-boy thing. It was the way he’d looked at her last night when he touched her cheek, the longing and the…well, the humanity she’d seen in him. It was the fear he’d shown that first night when she backed him against the wall and touched him. How many of the things he said to her were just him putting up walls?
A dark shape dashed in front of the headlights and turned to snarl at them. Holy shit, it was huge. Claire slammed on the brakes as a deep growl filled the truck. The AV smashed into the nasty and she was thrown forward. The seatbelt held her back, digging sharply into her body, but her head still clipped the steering wheel. No airbags in this thing. The crunch of metal and glass filled her ears, and a screaming roar that must have come from the thing they’d run into. Claire lifted her aching head.
The nasty loomed in front of the mess that used to be the AV’s hood. Its eyes shone bluish white in the cracked headlights and it stared straight at her. The passenger door opened and Monroe jumped out, growling a challenge. The nasty instantly turned its head and tensed, then Monroe was on it. Claire fumbled with her seatbelt, wondering if it was smarter to stay in the truck. Well, yes, it was smarter, but it was cowardly. She got the belt off and had to shove at the door a few times to get it open. The AV rocked as Monroe slammed into it. All the snarling and growling made it sound like a pack of wolves was fighting instead of just the two of them. Claire staggered out of the AV and put a hand against it to steady herself as she backed away from the fight. Hitting the steering wheel had hurt more than she thought. Her head pounded and she felt dizzy.
Taming the Darkness: Love & Monsters, Book 2 Page 3