A Wicked Hunger (Creatures of Darkness 1)

by Fay, Kiersten

  “She could be the ringleader.”

  “No.”

  “Don’t you think it’s funny that not only is she the only suspect to survive, she’s turned out to be a witch? She was probably on her way to the hotel that day to take Winston out personally.”

  Mace shook his head.

  “And lo and behold, she’s bonded you to her. Can’t you see how she’s playing you? For the love of god, she’s turned you against your own maker.”

  “No, that was all your doing,” Mace accused, watching Cora from the corner of his eye. She’d dragged herself to the corner of the room, shaking and struggling to hold back her sobs. He ached to go to her. To take her from this place, this life that insisted on torturing her.

  “Listen to him, Mace.” Knox appeared from within the kitchen.

  “Stay out of this,” Mace snapped. “You know nothing about it.”

  “I have a say in this, and I say she’s guilty.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Mace growled, his gun still on Trent.

  “She’s bonded me, too.”

  The room went silent. Even Cora’s muffled cries were subdued for a moment.

  “What?”

  “You deaf? I said I’ve been blood bonded to her,” Knox hissed through clenched teeth.

  Vicious jealousy raged through Mason’s brain. “Impossible.”

  Trent turned and took a threatening step toward Cora. “Tell the truth, witch!”

  She let out a frightened cry and hid her head behind shaking arms, her knees tucked into her chest.

  “Get the fuck away from her!” Mace sounded off a warning shot that missed Trent’s skull by mere inches.

  Trent rose to his full height. “It would be within my right to kill you for that.”

  Cora’s eyes turned stark, almost void, as if she were escaping to a refuge inside her mind. Seconds later, Mace sensed her closing up as a mental door shut him out.

  “Fuck!” Mace cursed. “Do you have any idea the damage you’ve done? I’d been making so much progress with her!”

  “I need to get you away from her. She’s warped you brain,” Trent insisted.

  Mace raised his gun again. “I should shoot you where you stand.”

  “She’s bonded you in order to control you. It’s what her kind does. I knew it the moment you accused me of trying to kill her.”

  “The man you sent did try to kill her!”

  “I sent a woman, Mace, not a man.”

  “Bullshit. Cora was shot in the chest. Nearly died. She didn’t pretend that.”

  “That’s true,” Knox confirmed. “There was a man here who claimed to have been sent by you. She would have died if I hadn’t healed her with my blood the second after she was shot.”

  Trent traded speculative glances between Mace and Knox. “The woman I sent hasn’t checked in yet.”

  Silence reigned again as they all took that in.

  “Million to one she’s dead,” Mace said, easing up on the trigger.

  Trent turned to Knox “How did you come to be bonded?”

  “I had a taste of her last night, just before she knocked me in the bollocks.”

  Mace growled. “No wonder why she was out-of-her-mind frightened of you.”

  Knox shrugged, uncaring. “It was miniscule. A measly couple of drops. Hardly enough to broker a bond, or so I assumed,” he grumbled the last, then continued. “This morning, the witch nearly dies. Didn’t realize she was a witch till I caught her reading that book. Still, I wasn’t thinking, I guess. I gave her my blood to save her ’cause Mace was practically obsessing over the girl. Figured I’d do him a bloody favor.” He sliced a glare at Mace. “Found out I was bonded ‘bout an hour ago, when I tried to feed. Tasted like shit. Started feeling the bitch’s emotions soon after.”

  Trent cursed. “Don’t you see, Mace? She’s too close to her goal. She’s too close to turning.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ve sired my share of vampires. I know how it’s done. She’s nearly figured it out!”

  Though there was no change in Cora’s outward appearance—physically, she remained the embodiment of a statue—her pulse spiked rapidly.

  “She’s not involved,” Mace said. “I can’t prove it to you. So you’ll just have to trust me on this.”

  Trent shifted his gaze to Cora, debating. “And if I don’t?”

  “I’ll kill for her. Even you.”

  “That only proves my point.”

  “It’s not her!”

  Trent locked eyes with Mace, the debate still waging war behind his eyes. Finally, he said, “I won’t kill her, for now, but she has some explaining to do.”

  “You’ll leave her be. Any questions can go through me.” Mace realized too late that he’d overstepped, practically issuing orders to his sire.

  Trent’s body seemed to grow in mass, his fangs descending to their full length. “I don’t think so!” His eyes flashed with the authority of a master. “Drop the weapon, Mason.”

  With all his fortitude, Mace fought the compulsion, even knowing he would lose this battle. After only a few short moments, he lowered his arms.

  Yet he held Trent’s gaze. “Leave her be for now, please. You’ve no idea what she been through in such a short amount of time. I sense she’s ready to break.”

  Trent’s fierce expression wavered.

  “She is ready to break,” Knox agreed, but for the wrong reason. “I can feel it. Now’s the time to get answers.”

  Mace crossed to place himself between Cora and the two other vampires, saying with his expression what he needn’t say with words; he would fight to the death to protect her in this moment.

  Trent stood back, observing, while Knox advanced aggressively. “I’ll not be some witch’s play thing!” he growled. “Get out of my way.”

  Mason’s muscles tensed for battle, his fangs prominent. He displayed them with a forced smile. “Come and get her, if you can.”

  “Stand down, both of you,” Trent ordered, taking a seat on the couch.

  He now seemed as relaxed as though they were gearing up to discuss the weather. He always had a way with corralling his emotions—or concealing them, Mace wasn’t sure.

  “She’s not going anywhere.” Trent stretched out his arm along the back of the sofa. “We have time to get to the bottom of this.”

  Disdain raged over Knox’s features, but he turned away with a ripe curse, placing himself against the farthest wall in the room.

  Mace let out a slow breath, facing Cora. She still hugged her legs to her chest, her eyes seeing nothing. He knelt before her and cooed her name softly.

  She didn’t respond.

  The yellow-green bruise forming around her neck had aggression slicing through him once more. She flinched, and he worked to tamp it down. “Cora? Look at me.”

  She didn’t. Her gaze remained on nothing in particular, her body trembling. He pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting her head up. When she met his gaze, tears filled her eyes, spilling over.

  “Let me die,” she whispered, her voice like gravel. It probably pained to push that small phrase out. “Just let me die.”

  He glared at Trent, then Knox. Both would have heard her plea, but their expressions remained hard.

  “I won’t let you give up now,” he said. “Not after all this.”

  Her already low tone became the slightest whisper. “I can’t handle this. It’s too much.” She gasped on a sob, and her tears flowed without restraint.

  He leaned in close so that the others couldn’t hear him. “I can’t let you go, Coraline. You’re the only thing that matters to me now. I need you.”

  She focused on him, her tone too loud for his liking. “It’s the bond. It’s all because of the bond. You wouldn’t feel that way otherwise. I don’t want to be someone who controls the thoughts or feelings of others. I don’t want you to care for me because you have to.”

  “I don’t. You
don’t control anything about me.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  Mace hesitated. “I’ve wanted you for months,” he confessed. “Since the moment I saw you. I thought you’d begun to realize that.”

  She blinked up at him, her eyes beginning to clear. Then her gaze darted to Trent and back.

  “He won’t hurt you now. He just wants to talk.”

  Cora shook her head and rubbed her neck uncomfortably. She swallowed with difficulty.

  Mace turned to Knox. “Could you get her some water?”

  Knox sneered and then smiled cruelly. “Fetch it for her yourself. We’ll watch her.”

  Cora trembled harder.

  Mace sighed impatiently. “Trent?”

  Trent remained quiet for a few beats, then looked at Knox and nodded.

  Knox hissed and shoved away from the wall, heading for the kitchen. Moments later, the sound of shattering glass reverberated from the other room.

  Trent called to him, “Try not to destroy everything while you’re at it.”

  An inaudible string of grumbles bounced back at them.

  Mace looked down at Cora. “I’m going to move you to the couch,” He informed her.

  She gave a miniscule shake of her head, but he lifted her in his arms anyway. She stiffened, but made no other protest. After settling her on the couch, in the spot farthest away from Trent, he placed himself between the two.

  “So, what has she got to say?” Trent started.

  Cora just shook her head.

  Knox returned and slammed a glass down on the coffee table in front of them. Then he straightened and glowered at Cora. She kept still. Her eyes were intently focused, again at nothing in particular, but a crack in her walls allowed her fear to seep into Mace.

  “She’s frightened enough as it is,” Mace barked at Knox.

  Knox cracked his knuckles. “A little terror works wonders on tight lips.”

  Mace shot him a warning look. “She doesn’t need you terrorizing her right now.”

  “Don’t give a shit what she needs.”

  Mace bolted to his feet, getting in Knox’s face.

  Knox smiled. “You want to dance again, sweetheart?”

  “Both of you stow it,” Trent said, growing impatient.

  Mace waited till Knox backed up to his place against the wall before reclaiming his seat. Cora hadn’t moved a muscle. She’d mentally returned to that place he couldn’t reach.

  Chapter 23

  It wasn’t so much Cora’s worst nightmare as it was the most terrible reality possible come to fruition: a curse fulfilled, for that’s what she seemed to be.

  Cursed.

  Cursed to suffer till her dying breath.

  And death was preferable to being held captive by Trent and Knox. They despised her. She could feel it in spades flowing from Knox. A confirmation that she had indeed established a dark bond with him.

  With the onset of such familiar yet overwhelming fright, her body shut down, her muscles nearly unresponsive. It was the first survival technique that had been beaten into her.

  They wanted to talk?

  No. They wanted her to admit something that was untrue. That she’d purposely bonded Mace, and now Knox. Who in their right mind would engage in such reckless behavior?

  As Mace worked to explain their situation, Trent continued to demand she speak for herself while Knox trained a hate filled gaze on her, his fangs prominent as though he’d love nothing more than to rip her throat out.

  But even if her esophagus wasn’t scalded from Trent’s greeting, she couldn’t make her vocal cords work in her favor. They were trained for this. To be silent and just accept the pain. To cry and whimper only when she was once more alone. The only response her body gave at all was the falling of tears. That always pleased Edgar, made him watch her with fascination instead of malicious intent.

  She wasn’t sure how long it took—time had become meaningless—but eventually they realized she’d become frozen in the recesses of her mind. It was home for her there. Her last peaceful refuge. Even Mace had stopped getting through when she snuggled in and tuned out.

  He’d continued answering Trent’s questions as best he could, but after a while, all she heard was a mixture of deep timbres.

  “I can’t learn the truth if she refuses to speak,” Trent said irritably.

  “I’ve told you the truth,” Mace insisted. “She knows nothing of the black-market blood or Brayden’s disappearance besides what I’ve relayed to her. She not involved.”

  “You really expect me to believe she’s innocent in all this?” Trent asked, incredulous. At least he had calmed down considerably.

  “Have you forgotten she’s bonded me?” Knox chimed in, disgruntled.

  “It’s your own fault,” Mace shot back at him, anger seething in the layers of his accusation. “You wouldn’t be bonded now if you hadn’t forced your fangs on her.”

  “The witch was practically begging for it, batting those pretty eyes at me.”

  Mace clenched his fists. “Right, and she thanked you with a knee to the groin. I guess it’s like you always say, you do like it rough.”

  “So will she when I’m done with her.”

  “You touch her and I’ll slice you open, slowly. Starting with that tiny prick of yours.”

  “You’d better bring a big knife because there ain’t nothin’ tiny about it, mate.”

  Trent pinched the bridge of his nose. “Enough already. Unless one of you is actually going to kill the other, then shut the fuck up.” He leaned back in his chair. “So, as it appears, both the bondings were accidental. That I’ll grant, for now. But she’s still a witch, and I find it hard to believe she didn’t know.”

  Mace proceeded to explain what they’d learned from Saraphine’s spell. “Before we left, Saraphine promised to start work on an unbinding spell.”

  “You dimwitted git!” Knox’s accent had grown thick. “She’s practically helpless right now, and you want to reverse that?”

  “You’re a real shit, Knox,” Mace spat.

  “Gold plated and smellin’ like roses. Why is she acting so pathetic, anyway?”

  “She’s been mistreated by our kind repeatedly. One that I know of was particularly cruel.” Mace glanced at Cora, hating that it was him explaining this rather than her. “It sounded like she and her parents had been claimed by a clan against their will or something when she was young.”

  Trent cocked his head. “For what purpose?”

  “I’m not sure. When her parents died, she fell prey to another vamp, most likely during the end of the last uprising. A soldier. Psychotic, from what she’s revealed. I doubt I’ve heard the full story. She was only ten at the time.”

  Trent cursed. Knox appeared bored, his expression blank.

  Mace continued, “I realize some witches use our kind through the blood bond, but she’s not like that. In fact, when she found out about the bond, she was most interested to know how long it would last.

  “Probably because she has to figure out when she’ll need to reinforce the bond,” Knox accused.

  Mace raised his voice for Knox, though he spoke to Trent. “She can hardly wait for the bond to fade.”

  “What did you tell her?” Trent asked.

  “I thought she was human at the time. I said it would fade swiftly. She was relieved. I could feel it.” He lowered his voice. “She’ll be devastated when she finds out…”

  “Finds out what?” Knox demanded.

  Mace glanced at Cora. She stared at nothing as if she’d completely checked out. “How fast a blood bond with a witch fades is determined by the strength of the witch.

  “At least, that’s the theory,” Trent added. “There could be other factors involved.”

  Knox scrutinized her. “She looks pretty weak to me. With luck, I’ll be free of her by the end of the week.”

  “We can only hope,” Mace hissed under his breath. “Just keep your blood away from her from now on.”
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  “Well, would you say that’s accurate?” Trent interrupted before another argument could erupt. “As far as witches go, is she weak?”

  Mace shook his head. “With her magic bound, who can say? But she’s endured more than most could even imagine. If her character is anything to go by, there’s nothing weak about her.”

  “Are you kidding?” Knox scoffed. “Look at her!”

  He did, wanting to tuck her into his side, but he feared she’d flinch away from him. Instead, he replied, “Like I said. She’s been through a lot in the last couple of days.”

  Trent waved a negligent hand at her. “How long is she going to be like this?”

  “It took me a while just to get her to feel comfortable around me, and I hadn’t even threatened her like the two of you have. Not to mention all I’d had to do to prove myself worthy of her trust. You’ll both need to check your aggression around her. Try to be gentle—”

  Knox interrupted. “Or what? Your wee witch will crack like glass?”

  “Knox,” Trent chided.

  Knox threw his hands in the air. “What is this, a therapy session? Sounds like you’ve both gone soft.”

  Trent displayed no reaction to Knox’s jibe.

  Mace struggled to remain just as calm. “I wish you would have left when I asked you to.”

  “That makes two of us.” Knox crossed his arms. “But the little bitch has made that impossible now.”

  “Call her that again, and I’ll shove my gun so far up your ass you’ll taste copper before you die!”

  “Promise you’ll buy me dinner first.”

  Trent pushed out of the chair. “Now I remember why I separated you two.” To Mace, he ordered, “Take the girl upstairs and get her some rest.”

  All too ready to get her out of here, Mace stood and pulled her into his arms, then headed for their room.

  “And Mace?”

  He paused at the bottom of the staircase.

  “Watch her closely. I’m not sure I fully believe all this, and if she tries to escape, I really will kill her.”

  Chapter 24

  Knox’s narrowed gaze followed the chit in Mason’s arms. Before they disappeared to the second floor, Mason mirrored his hostile glare.