by Lucinda Dark
I grabbed her arm and dragged her several feet away—away from the bar and the dancefloor. "Why don't we go somewhere else instead?" I offered. She could enjoy her night of clubbing at another club or bar. Somewhere hopefully quieter with fewer creepers.
Looking over my shoulder warily, she nodded. "Good idea."
Thank fuck for that. I turned her around and marched her towards the front entrance. Unfortunately, however, a moment later some sort of commotion made getting through the crowd damn near impossible. "Shit," I cursed under my breath, turning her away. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a side exit. It'd probably set off some sort of alarm, but that was no longer my problem. As soon as we were outside, we'd head back to the street and hail a taxi. "This way!" I yelled, catching her hand and pulling her along behind me.
"Barbie—" She was cut off as she stumbled and nearly went down in her teetering high heels. Only by gripping my shirt sleeve with her free hand was she saved from face planting onto the club floor. Good thing too, I thought with a grimace. It was obvious many drinks had been spilled in this side hallway. The soles of my shoes stuck to the floor, making my movement slower than it should've been. Hers as well.
As soon as we were out the door, the raging noise of the club was cut off and I breathed a sigh of relief, slumping against the hard brick wall of the building. I could still feel the vibrations of the music on the other side, but it was at a far more manageable level now. Leveraging myself up and away from the wall, I turned towards Olivia.
"Ready to go?" Her eyes were wide as she stared up and over my shoulder as the door behind us slammed open. I pivoted, following her gaze. The two men from the bar stumbled through the side entrance. I shot both of them an irritated glower before turning back to Olivia. We were not waiting around.
"Where do you think you're going?" one of them called out.
"Don't turn around, don't look at them," I warned Olivia when she would have paused.
"But, Barbie..."
I shook my head, yanking her along even harder. We needed to get somewhere more populated. Now. Two shadowed figures appeared at the mouth of the alleyway and I stopped. Olivia slammed into my back, her fingers locking onto my arm when she realized why I'd stopped. "Oh my God," she hissed, her voice low with anxiety. "You brought your phone, right? I left mine back at the hotel."
"Back pocket," I said. I didn't think calling for help would do any good, but maybe it would make these fuckers back off. She reached into my back jeans pocket, fumbling as the phone case slipped from her grip. She cried out as she went down on her knees, trying to catch it. I stiffened as the rusty scent of her blood reached my nostrils. I'd fed just before getting into her car. Earlier that day. I was going to be fine. I had more blood in my bag back at the hotel, I reminded myself. I still held my breath anyway.
"Barbie!" she hissed, her voice panicked enough to make me take my eyes from the approaching newcomers to look at her. She held up my phone with its new cracked screen. "It's n-not turning on."
A laugh echoed from both sides of the alley as the men began to cackle. I reached down and jerked her up from the ground, turning and placing her at my back as the four men converged on us. I backed up until she was between me and the brick wall of the building. My vampire surged to the surface at the same moment that Satrina’s powers flooded my system.
My phone was left discarded and useless on the concrete. I could hear Olivia’s racing heart and rapid breathing, feel it on the back of my neck as she put one hand on my spine. She was shaking, whereas I was stone fucking still.
“You were right,” one of the newcomers called out. “They are some pretty fine merchandise.” They edged closer. “Now just come quietly, ladies, and we won’t have to hurt you.”
“W-what do you want with us?” Olivia piped up bravely. I put my hand back, pushing her into the wall.
“Nothing much,” one of the men said. “Why don’t you come with us and find out?”
“No thanks, I think we’ll pass,” I said with a scowl. “Let us through or you’re really gonna regret it.”
They laughed again, the four of them. They were really fucking stupid if they thought trying to nab girls outside of a club was any way to go about getting girlfriends. If I was being honest, though, they were likely traffickers. Big cities were full of this kind of shit and clubs were prime hunting grounds. It’s too bad they’d decided to hunt a hunter. If they were smart, they’d back off and let us go, but I highly doubted their intelligence.
“Grab the blonde.” The order came through and I inhaled sharply. Well, stupid is as stupid does, I suppose. As soon as one of them got within grabbing distance, I snatched his arm, tucked it under mine out of the way just before slamming the heel of my palm up into his nose. Cartilage crunched under the movement and blood spilled down my hand.
The ache in my gums intensified. “Damn cunt!” The pained curse was muffled by the man’s hand as he cupped it over his now broken nose.
Torin could influence people, and for a moment I contemplated how well I could do it to these men. The likelihood was low, though. Torin had trouble doing more than two people at a time and I hadn’t even really been trained to do that yet. I clenched my teeth, trying to focus on my rage rather than my building hunger as the two new strangers approached—albeit a bit slower this time.
One of them withdrew a knife. “Come on, honey, you don’t wanna get hurt, do you?”
I scoffed. “You couldn’t hurt me if you tried,” I growled.
Two of them converged at the same time. I kicked out, slamming the sole of my boot at one of the men’s knees. He collapsed with a gasp and a cry. Spinning, I shoved Olivia out of the way—towards the mouth of the alley as I punched the second man in the face before he could swipe out at me with his knife. The stun would only last for a second. I had to get her out before I could actually fight the way I wanted to.
“Go!” I yelled.
“What?” Olivia’s voice trembled and cracked, sounding horrified and scared. “I-I can’t leave you.”
“Don’t worry about me!” I yelled. “Just fucking go!”
The man with the knife regained his composure and jerked out, arcing it down towards my chest. I dove to one side, sliding around his back. Someone slammed into my side—the fourth man with his bloody nose. My arm hit the brick wall.
“Bitch,” he hissed, spittle flying into my face.
“Takes one to know one,” I snapped, digging my nails into his sides until my talons emerged and sank through his shirt and into his flesh. He screamed and ripped himself away, more blood flowing from his skin, scenting the air.
My vision grew hazy with red. I swallowed, feeling the thirst rise forth. My blood pumped in my veins. Anger drove me forward as I slammed my knuckles into a man’s cheek. The muscle weakened and the bone beneath shattered upon impact.
I grabbed another man by the lapels of his jacket and slammed my skull into his before kicking him away. My heart raced, pounding against my ribcage, wanting to burst out of it. I panted, growling. Two bodies littered the pavement. One circled me with wary caution. He cursed under his breath. I could smell the fear on him—the taint of acrid terror. My eyes were burning, likely as red as the glowing end of a cigarette butt.
“Still think it’s a good idea to—”
“Barbie!” Olivia’s panicked cry reached my ears, and I whirled around only to come up short. Two men laid flat out on the concrete. Olivia’s blue eyes widened at my expression. The man behind her—that same fucking idiot who’d come at me twice already—stood at her back, that stupid fucking pocket knife in his grip, pressed to her throat. I didn’t know who to be pissed at more—the fucking idiot or Olivia for not running.
“W-what the fuck are you?” the man stuttered as he backed towards the alleyway entrance, stumbling along, dragging Olivia with him. She hiccupped, tears glittering in her eyes as he clenched a dirty, blood covered fist in her hair, pulling at the pins she’d painstakingly applied earlier
that evening after we’d had dinner and gotten ready for a night out.
I made a decision right then and there. Nights out were so fucking overrated.
“I’m going to be your worst fucking nightmare in a minute if you don’t let her go,” I warned, taking a step in their direction.
He paused, pressing the knife closer to her throat, drawing a thin line of blood. I froze. “I-if y-you want this bitch to live,” he started, “then—” I didn’t give him a chance to finish. No fucking way was I going to let a little pissant sex trafficker threaten me. Threaten Olivia. I looked into her eyes and hoped—prayed to a God that’d fucking ignored me for most of my life—that this would all end up okay. Torin would erase it all from her mind. I just had to do what needed to be done and then I’d get her to him and she wouldn’t even know this had happened. I’d ask him to take every bad memory from this night and bury them deep down so even in her subconscious, she wouldn’t remember the things I was about to do.
My fangs slid down and I hissed. I tensed, putting on a burst of speed and in the blink of an eye, I was at his back. I ripped him away from Olivia, carefully, slicing my talons into the wrist that held the knife so that he dropped it before any more damage came to her. His cry was cut short as I plunged my fangs down into his throat. I drank deeply at first, sucking down his blood in large gulps. My vampire writhed in pleasure in my mind, bathing in the new wash of blood that came through.
A moment later, however, I stopped. Dropping the man and shoving him away until he slumped against the wall—unconscious—I turned and threw everything I’d just ingested back up.
Fuck! My vampire’s pleasure turned to pain. I wretched and wretched until my abdomen hurt. Until everything fucking hurt. God, it was bad. Long lines of sharp daggers cutting through my intestines. I’d forgotten how bad it’d been before—had thought that perhaps it was just that I couldn’t drink bagged blood. I’d had Torin’s and Mav’s blood. But this blood—even fresh from the vein—was enough to make me want to harvest my own organs and set them aflame. Anything to get this horrid agony out of my stomach.
I moaned, putting two hands out, palms down against the wall as I opened my mouth and let the reddened saliva dribble out onto the ground. Sweat beaded on my brow and slid down my temple. So much for getting used to blood, I thought sardonically. Why the fuck was this happening to me?
Though I didn’t expect an answer, one came anyway. It could be because of your demonic side, Satrina said. Hybrids are rare creatures and not much is known about them. You still eat because Torin turned you and he’s already a natural hybrid—half human, half vampire. You, at the moment, are part human, part vampire, and part demon. Your demonic abilities could be hindering your ability to drink human blood as it doesn’t go with a demon’s source of sustenance. At least, not mine.
It took me a moment, but eventually, I was able to ask another question. What do I need? I panted as the pain slowly abated and I reached up to wipe the back of my hand against my lips.
Probably Torin’s blood… she paused, but it was clear to me that she wasn’t finished talking. Actually, she continued a moment later, confirming my assumption, perhaps Maverick’s as well. It seems that their blood is the only blood you can consume without… She didn’t need to finish. I got the gist. I slowly straightened and turned towards Olivia. She stood, her eyes zeroed in on the men. All of them out cold.
“You…” she started. We really didn’t have time for this. It took me two seconds to get to her side. Another second to sweep her up into my arms as if she were a princess and I, a prince. Her hands went naturally around my neck as she looked up at me in shock. “Those men…” I shook my head. I really needed to get her to Torin. “Your eyes—”
I closed them and took a breath and then another and another until I felt my red eyes clearing, the burn receding. My fangs rose back into my gums. I didn’t let her stumble through anymore half phrased statements or questions, I darted from the mouth of the alley—leaving the men behind. Whatever they remembered when they woke up, I was sure would mess them up for the rest of their lives. I hoped, though, that they’d learned a very important lesson tonight.
And if not, I’d be happy to return and re-administer it. This time, without Olivia as an audience.
Chapter 24
Torin
“Shit.” The curse slipped out, a strange taste on my tongue. But I didn’t have time to dwell on the oddity of it. The main estate was lit up like a Christmas tree, the front windows aglow with a golden hue. I drove straight up to the front door, around the fountain and cut the engine before getting out.
I stormed up the front steps, reaching the door before the man on the inside had the chance to open it for me. I pushed through, ignoring the servant as he bowed and slammed it behind me before taking a hard turn towards the living room. I needn’t have searched far. She wasn’t hiding.
Lounging on the couch with a glass of blood glittering through the crystal wine glass she held in one hand sat Katalin. Her long auburn hair—shimmering in rich tones of red, blonde, and brown—was curled over both of her shoulders as she slowly turned and met my gaze. “I was wondering when you’d show your face,” she said. There was no bite, no bitterness in her tone. No. That was all reserved for me.
I descended the two steps it took to enter the room and growled her way. “You told him,” I accused. There was only one way Arrius had known about Barbie and that was because of this woman right here.
“You were warned,” she replied as if that was explanation enough. As if that would make me understand why she did what she had.
“You betrayed me,” I hissed. My fangs punched through my gums, nicking my tongue and filling my mouth with the taste of my own blood. I knew, by the burn of rage in my chest, that my eyes were bleeding into a vampiric state.
“Torin, you should know better than that. What I did was not a betrayal. It was for your own good, but regardless of that, it didn’t work, did it? The girl still lives.” Katalin lifted her glass to her lips, taking a long drink before she stood up and moved in front of me. A dangerous position to be sure. Yet she moved as gracefully as she always had, slow, unhurried. As if she had nothing to fear. As if I wasn’t even a threat.
As soon as she was close enough, I snatched the glass from her grip and threw it. It collided with the wall, the glass fragments raining down in a shower of blood and crystal. Not by the batting of an eyelash did she react. Stone cold. Ice woman. That’s what she was. She was as impenetrable as a statue, likely with the same ability to host emotions.
“You are balanced on a precarious edge, little brother—”
“Don’t call me that,” I snapped. “You’re no sister of mine.”
She didn’t blink. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m not your sister. The only reason people refer to me as such is because of my looks. I don’t look old enough to be your mother—though I raised you as if you were my own child. If this is the culmination of my efforts, perhaps more children like you will not be in my future.”
“What?” My shoulders rose and fell with the force of my breaths. It took every ounce of my restraint to keep from ripping her head from her shoulders. “You expect me to have some sort of appreciation towards you for raising me?”
She tilted her head to the side, her eyes growing darker as red came to the forefront—the only hint that she might not be as calm as she pretended to be. “It would not go amiss,” she said.
"It doesn't work like that," I argued. "I didn't ask to be born, to have my mother sacrifice herself—"
"But she did and that fact cannot be changed," Katalin interrupted me. "And were it not for me, you would never have met that girl or your human friend. I gave you the opportunity to have those experiences. Without me, you would have been raised in the cold English countryside, far from any human interaction at all. You can breathe your fire all you like, but some gratitude is due to me."
“She is my mate!” I roared. I wanted to put my han
ds around her throat and throttle her. Wanted to sink my fangs into her neck and drain her, kill her—though her blood would do nothing, I was on the verge of losing all control.
“And you were a fool for trying to keep her,” she replied. “Did you not think after you killed Eloise that Arrius wouldn’t ask questions? That he wouldn’t notice her absence? Instead of directing your wrath at me, perhaps you should ask yourself why you haven’t heard from him? I covered for you, Torin,” she said. “I have spent the last several weeks keeping him from storming across the ocean, keeping him from finding out that your mate still lives when she should have died.”
“What?” My anger didn’t disappear, but it did lessen as her words reached my ears. She’d protected me? Barbie? Why?
Katalin's expression changed only marginally. Had I not been paying such close attention, I might have missed the light press of her lips as they firmed and the slight lowering of her eyelids as she stepped even closer. One palm landed on my chest and I felt it almost like a shock. When had been the last time she'd willingly touched me—or anyone for that matter? She pushed until my back was pressed to the wall.
My shock and her strength combined left me weak to the movement. Katalin leaned closer, her mouth next to my ear as she spoke. “Arrius is a cruel bastard, Torin,” she said coolly. “He already knew about the girl. You are so quick to accuse me of betraying you, but when I informed him of your involvement with a young human—I did not mention that she was a hunter, I did not mention that she had already been marked for death and that you had failed to kill her after being ordered to do so. He was already aware of her existence. Her death was preordained. She was merely living on borrowed time, and you, foolish child that you are, have only now kept her alive to perish in a much more gruesome fate than before.”
She pulled back until I could look into her eyes. There was no remorse in her gaze, but at the same time, there was no wrath. No rage. There was simply nothing. No emotion save for a marrow of deep sorrow. It was etched into the irises of her eyes. I didn’t know what had finally made me realize what it was because as I stared at her open sadness, I realized it had always been there. Her fingers as they grazed my throat were soft, unhurried. There was no threat to her movements, though I knew Katalin had the experience and strength to kill me if she wanted to. I’d seen her with my father. I knew that she had steel driven into her body. A person did not survive Arrius Priest for centuries without being capable of atrocities.