“I’m not into her, as you say. I have a job to do, and that job is to keep her safe and alive. Josh is a threat.”
“Whatever. I don’t see it. Sorry.”
“Fine. I need to talk to the other one then…Lana. Do you know where she is?”
“No. I haven’t talked to her for a couple of days. She’s been busy getting ready to go on vacation with her parents. They might have left already.”
*
Remy stalked through the tree surrounding the little white house. He peered through the darkness, and caught sight of several newspapers littering the porch and mail crowding the mailbox. Damn. Lana isn’t here. How am I going to make Sabine see what I see without her friends’ help? I could talk to her parents, but it would probably go about as well as it had with Delia. Shay has always been terrified of me, so that’s out. I could influence someone to talk to her, but God help me if she ever found out.
What if I am wrong? What if he is not a threat at all? She has a pull over me that I cannot explain. I crave her, though I’ve not tasted her blood. Have I allowed my feelings for her to cloud my judgment?
*
Sabine held her breath as she entered her bedroom after a successful date with Josh. She glanced around the room, fully expecting to see Remy sitting there with a smug look on his face. She relaxed her body once she knew she was alone. A week had passed since the incident with Remy, and she hadn’t seen him at all. Part of her wanted him to be there, the part that craved him, but she knew it was for the best that he wasn’t. As she went to sit on the edge of her bed, she noticed a note propped against the pillow on her bed. Her breath caught in her throat. He had been there, just like she originally expected. She carefully unfolded the paper and began to read.
Sabine,
I have decided I will not stand in your way. If you want to see Josh, I won’t stop you or interfere. Bastian has allowed me to stop looking after you. I’ve been tasked with patrolling the edges of town for intruders instead. Apparently, Bastian trusts Josh as well. Maybe I’ve been wrong all along, but please be careful and cautious as I won’t be there to intervene should any trouble arise.
Remy
Her chin hung low. Her eyes widened. I can’t believe he’s leaving me completely alone.
*
Three weeks later…
“What’s wrong, Babe?” Josh busied himself by sweeping the kitchen floor.
“I miss Lana. I didn’t get to see her before she left with her parents last month. They went on some big vacation in Europe.” She couldn’t help the pang of jealousy she felt when she thought of how much she longed to travel to Europe.
“At least you have Delia.”
“Yeah, but they are completely different. I almost feel like I’m missing 1/3 of myself, if that makes sense.”
“It does. You girls have been friends for a long time. Have you at least talked to her?”
“She called a couple times and texts me when she gets the chance. I keep trying to get her to Skype with me, but we haven’t been able to be around a computer at the same time.”
“When is she supposed to be home?”
“I think in a couple more weeks. I don’t know for sure.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, has Remy been around at all?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him if he has been. You don’t sense him, do you?”
“No, but it’s hard to pinpoint just one vampire in this town. I haven’t felt any close to us for a while.
“I’m thinking about asking Bastian if we can continue seeing each other after you go to live there. It’s pretty obvious—I think, anyway—that Remy has no desire to be paired with you. Maybe he will let me trade places with him.”
“That’d be awesome! Maybe Remy would get to go back to London. I know he misses it.”
“I’m sure he does.” Josh looked away from her.
“I don’t want you to give up anything for me.” She touched his forearm.
He looked at her once more and took her hand. “I would do it for you. I think I love you, Sabine.”
She beamed. “I don’t know what to say! It’s so fast. I do care about you…I mean, I think I love you, too!” She threw her arms around him. “I’m sorry that came out so weird. I’m such a dork.”
“It’s okay. Let’s celebrate! Let me cook you dinner tonight, and maybe later we can…” His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her close.
“I’d like that.” They hadn’t risked doing anything more physical than kissing for fear that Remy would interrupt.
“Can you wear those heels with the red soles? I love you in those.”
The memory of how she got those shoes came flooding back to her. She wanted to tell him no, but she had no desire to disappoint him either. “I can.” She stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the tip of his nose.
*
“I don’t know what you are cooking, but it smells divine. I can’t wait to eat.”
“I’m glad you brought your appetite.” He bent down to hug her and kissed her quickly on the lips before getting back to the food.
“How do you even know how to cook if you don’t really eat food?”
“I used to be a chef when I was human. It just kind of stuck with me.” He shut off the heat under the food. “Can you do me a favor? Could you go downstairs and pick out a bottle of wine while I get things finished up and put on the table?”
“You criminal, you. It’s illegal to serve alcohol to someone under 21, you know?”
He cocked an eyebrow and moved his head back and forth scanning the room. “I don’t see any cops here, do you?”
“Nope. Be right back.”
She opened the door to the basement and felt around in the dark for a light. She easily found it just inside the door and flipped it on. She descended the stairs to an open room with finished walls and floors. “Do you have a man cave down here?”
“Yeah, something like that,” he replied.
The wine rack sat in front of her at the bottom of the steps. There were so many bottles to choose from. “Why do you have so much wine?”
“I cook with it occasionally when I have guests. I like having a good variety.” As she pulled out bottles one by one before placing them back on the rack, something moved to her right. She looked instinctively, expecting to see a mouse or maybe Josh had a cat he hadn’t told her about.
The glass bottle of wine dropped to the floor and shattered. There, sitting at a table gagged and bound, was Lana. Sabine ran over to her, and dropped to her knees beside her. She raced to untie her. Lana shook her head violently. Tears gushed from her eyes and she whimpered.
Cold hands yanked Sabine up and threw her into a chair beside Lana. Within seconds her legs and back were bound to the chair. Her arms were free, though she couldn’t untie herself with him so close. He stalked around them menacingly as he sat plates and silverware in front of them.
“I thought you might like a dinner guest. You’ve been whining incessantly over missing this one. I’ve been keeping her as a surprise. It’s just too bad you didn’t figure it out before now, or you could’ve been reunited much sooner.”
Sabine opened her mouth to speak, only to have Josh’s hands around her throat. “You’re not allowed to speak or question me. I thought I’d be nice and give you a farewell dinner before I kill you. This was never about you, Sabine.” He took his hands from her throat and returned to the kitchen.
Sabine yanked at the ropes around her body trying to free herself before he returned. Minutes later, he came back with a tray of food. He placed cuts of parmesan chicken along with carrots and mushroom risotto artfully on the plates in front of the girls. “Bon appetite.”
“I’m not eating that, you psycho!”
“Oh, but you will, or I will cram it down your throat.” He moved quickly to her and grabbed a piece of chicken, dangling it in front of her mouth. “Now open wide.” Her mouth reluctantly opened as he placed the chicken on her tongue. S
he chewed and swallowed.
“Good?”
She nodded. Lana sobbed beside her. He sat down at the head of the table and watched as they shoveled the food into their faces, though it took a great effort for Lana. She could barely move from the abuse she’d suffered for weeks. Once they were finished, he cleaned the plates up and left them alone for nearly a half an hour while Sabine tried to free herself.
Sabine looked at Lana and mouthed, “I’m sorry.” Lana was so weak she could barely register anything that was going on.
Josh came back to the basement and smiled at the girls. He walked over to Sabine and yanked the ropes from her. Grabbing her around the waist, he threw her across the room and against the wall.
Her vision went black temporarily. Warmth spread across her head. She immediately felt through her hair, only to pull back a blood covered mess on her hand. He was on her in an instant, sucking the blood from her wound. She scratched and punched him, which only made his grip on her tighter. She managed to squeak out one word. “Why?”
“Jackson.” He turned his attention to her neck and sunk his teeth deep into her neck. Searing hot pain ripped through her flesh. A blood curdling scream erupted from her. It was the worst pain she ever experienced, and all she could think of was Remy and how he had been right all along. She wished she’d listened to him and that he never stopped watching over her. Josh disengaged his teeth from her throat. “He was my sire, and Remy took him from me. You were the only way I could hurt him.”
She grasped at her bleeding neck. “I’m nothing to him. You have it all wrong. He made me pretend to be with him to convince everyone there that day that I was his companion, but I’m not! You know he’s not even around. Josh, I love you. Why are you doing this to me? I thought you loved me.” She didn’t love him. Maybe she thought she did earlier in the evening, but she didn’t, and would say anything to help her survival now. “Please let Lana go. I’ll do whatever you want if you let her go.”
“Not a chance. I’m going to make you watch me kill her, but first, we’re going to have a little fun since that’s what we had planned for dessert and let her watch. It may have been all for show, but losing you will hurt him. I see it in him, even though he denies it. Bragging that I had you when he didn’t will only be the icing on the cake.” Pushing her skirt up, he forcefully parted her legs and plunged his fangs into the delicate flesh of her inner thigh. She cried out again, and started to lose consciousness.
He stopped abruptly, and stood up, pulling her to her feet and turning her around in the process. His arm wrapped around her throat, and started to squeeze. “I wondered how long it would take you to show up.”
There stood Remy at the bottom of the stairs, his normally green eyes black as coal. His fangs were bared, and an intensely guttural sound vibrated deep inside his chest. “Let her go.”
“No! Stay where you are. I’ll snap her neck like a twig before you can even hope to get to her. I’ll break her just like you did Jackson. I promise you that.”
Remy paced back and forth like a caged animal. “Let her go, and I won’t kill you.”
“I’m not that stupid, Remy. There’s no way you will let me just walk out of here. This is what you deserve. You took Jackson away from me. You’re not going to take killing her away from me, too. It’s a shame I didn’t get to fuck her first, but killing her will have to do.”
If you can hear me, Sabine, I will get you out of this. I swear to you on my life I will not let him harm you or your friend any further. Trust me. I love you. You have to hold on…please, hold on. The words echoed in her head, but she didn’t know if she was truly hearing him or if she was hallucinating. Her eyelids drooped as she fought to stay awake for him.
In a flash, she was pushed to the ground as Remy crashed into Josh. She scrambled to Lana and wrapped her arms around her as they watched the two immortals battle. Though Josh was younger, he had rage on his side and managed to land a blow to Remy that sent him stumbling back for a split second. Remy leapt at Josh and took him easily to the ground. He punched him over and over, so hard that Josh’s skull cracked loudly every time. Remy thrashed him until there was not much left of his head but goo. Remy reached down and snapped Josh’s spine in two with one quick movement. He disposed of Josh in much the same way as he had done Jackson.
He was before the girls, and had Lana untied and on the floor in no time. He knelt beside her and assessed Lana’s condition. Her body was bloodied and bruised, her heart beat was weak, and he feared she didn’t have much time. He bit his wrist and forced her to feed from him, though she didn’t put up much of a fight.
Sabine collapsed to the floor beside Lana and retreated into herself as the realization of what happened sunk in. Remy reached over and grazed her cheek with his free hand. She trembled at his touch.
“Sabine? It’s me. Don’t be afraid. You know I would never hurt you.” Her eyes glazed over as she stared past him, seemingly not hearing a word he said. He bit his other wrist, and offered it to her, though she didn’t seem to notice. “Sabine, you must drink! Let me help you. Don’t slip away from me.” He shook her gently, willing her to come back to him. She put her lips to the wound and lightly sucked the blood from his vein. He pulled his other arm from Lana, who already began to heal, and cradled Sabine.
She looked up at him and smiled sweetly. “Thank you. I should have listened to you. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you hadn’t-”
“Shhh. Don’t speak. I have to get you both out of here, so I can get rid of him and you can heal.”
He carried them to Sabine’s car, and drove them both to Bastian’s. Gretchen helped Lana to a room and willed her to sleep.
He carried Sabine to his bed and tucked her in. He gently kissed her on the forehead, and turned to leave so he could take care of Josh’s remains.
“Remy? Hurry back to me.” Her eyes were heavy, and she longed for the sweet release of sleep.
He nodded and left.
He sped back to the house where Josh’s body lie, and searched the house looking for clues that Josh had any other plans, but found nothing. He opened a drawer with utility bills inside. He flipped through them and noticed not one was in Josh’s name. He opened a closet and found framed photographs stacked in piles. The house belonged to someone else. He had to get the mess cleaned up and out of there before the owners of the home returned, provided Josh hadn’t disposed of them altogether.
It took him little more than an hour to dispose of Josh’s body and clean up all the blood. He returned to Willow Creek Manor at once, in search of Bastian. He threw open the doors to Bastian’s room and found a feeble old woman sleeping on the bed. Bastian watched over her. His head jerked toward Remy with rage in his eyes, and motioned for him to leave. Bastian followed close behind.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“That arsehole violated not only Sabine, but her friend as well. He was Jackson’s progeny and was after me all along. This attack is on your head, Bastian. I told you he couldn’t be trusted.” Remy trembled, trying to keep his anger at bay. He clenched his jaw in anticipation of Bastian’s response.
“It is not my fault. I had no control over him.” Bastian waved a hand in Remy’s direction.
“Maybe not, but you could have sent him away when I told you to. She is a broken mess in my bed right now, and I have to pick up the pieces.”
“Then go to her. Take her now. Fix her. It seems to me that you made your bed when you chose to kill Jackson, now you must lie in it. You might as well have some fun while you do.”
Chapter 15
She awoke in a bed that she would come to know, but, at the moment, was still foreign to her. The plush blankets comforted her, but she longed for comfort from Remy. Where is he, and why hasn’t he come back yet? Why did he bring me here instead of taking me home if he’s going to go back to pretending I don’t exist?
The muscles in her legs stretched, and it felt so good. She sat up, and wondered where Lana was and what
she thought of being brought here of all places. She flipped the covers back and looked down. Her thighs were covered in dark, dried blood – her blood. Her fingers felt the skin of her inner thigh and found nothing but dried blood – no wounds or bite marks at all.
She looked around the room and saw a full length mirror on the wall. She stood and walked closer to it, hesitating just before coming into view. She took a deep breath and stepped in front of the glass. A dark, bloodied mess moved into focus. She gasped as she viewed her image. Dark clumps of dried blood matted in her hair. Her clothes were stained and bloodied, as well as her neck, hands, and thighs. She sobbed at the sight of herself. She looked like a nightmare come to life. I can’t see Lana or go home like this. I have to get cleaned up first.
Tears flowed like waterfalls down her cheeks. I don’t even have any clean clothes to put on even if I do manage to clean myself up. Where the hell is Remy? I need him. Oh. Had she really just admitted that to herself?
The door squeaked open, and she turned. There he stood, just as bloodied and dirty as her. His boots were muddy. His shirt was covered in blood splatters and brain matter. Blood dried in his dark hair and on his hands. His eyes became intense as he licked at his bottom lip. He looked at her with hunger in his eyes, like he wanted to take her right there and then, blood, mud, brains, and all. She wanted nothing more than to run to him and have him wrap his arms around her, but she stepped back away from him when she saw the look in his eyes. They were the brightest shade of green she’d ever seen on him. He glanced away as he laid something on the chest of drawers and looked back to her. His eyes softened as he moved to stand just in front of her.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t back sooner. I had to see Bastian about what happened and things took longer than expected.”
“Where’s Lana?”
“She’s down the hall sleeping. Gretchen has been looking after her.” He moved closer to her, closing the gap between them. “I’m sorry, Sabine. I should’ve been there sooner.”
“No, Remy. Don’t. You saved my life and Lana’s. Don’t apologize.”
Craving: The Willow Creek Vampires Series Page 13