The Better to Eat You With: The Red Journals

by Cara Villar

  Felix gave me a wary, squinty-eyed look. “I don’t want outside people getting involved.”“

  “I’m involved,” I snapped, annoyed at the tingle of hurt drumming itself up in my chest. What, didn’t he think I was capable? Dammit, he will not take this away from me! “Just because these peoples aren’t your people doesn’t mean they can’t be trusted. They are my people, and I’ve know them decades.” I yanked up my iPad, pulling up my communications. “I may not have made them, but that doesn’t mean our work ethic is any less substantial then yours, vamp boy.” My tone at the end was positively icy, and I shoved my iPad at him so he could read my latest info.

  “Red,”

  “Just shut up,” I snapped, staring him dead in the face, refusing to turn away from the regret in his voice as he took the iPad. “You want a list of my credentials? Proof that I know what I’m doing? Jeez, Felix. If you don’t want to work with someone, just say it. I’ll go off and do my thing, and feed my information through Osiris.”

  “Red, I’m sorry.”

  “I have to make a call.” I turned away, pulling my blackberry from my pocket. God, I need a shower. I felt gritty all over and my clothes are rumpled. I didn’t smell, but my muscles ached from tension. I needed to either sweat my ass off somewhere with a good workout, or soak in a tub of holy-shit-that’s-seriously-hot water.

  Felix’s hand wrapping around my arm froze me, stilling my fingers as I scrolled through my address book. His hands were cool. They’d been fiery hot the day before. Did he need to feed? Probably. His chest brushed my back, and the urge to press back into him was near overwhelming. The memory of drinking from him on the plane ran through my head at warp speed, making me shiver as heat pooled low.

  Jeepers, is that all it takes? Maybe I should switch that hot bath to a cold shower.

  His hand curved over my hip, slipping up my cotton hoody to brush icy fingers against my warmed skin. Adrenaline spiked as I gasped, and Felix buried his face in the hollow of my shoulder, inhaling deeply against my skin. I couldn’t move. I knew I should, because I could practically taste his hunger in the air, mixing with the scent of my heated blood and sharp arousal. But instinct told me that if I ran, I’d go from companion to prey in less time than it took for Felix to soak my panties.

  Bad analogy, Red. Piss off.

  “I’m sorry, Red,” Felix murmured his voice as smooth and deep as aged bourbon. “I need to feed.” His breath caressed my throat, and the distinct scrape of fang grazed my skin. My breath left me in a whoosh as his hand slid lower, skimming beneath the waistband of my slacks. “And you smell so goddamned good, pet.”

  Oh fuck. What if he bites me?

  Tingles raced over my skin, raising goose flesh as he released my arm and banded his around my torso. “Felix?” My hand flew down to grip his forearm as his hand cupped me over my panties, making my nervous enquiry a gasping exclamation. His fingers pressed into me, and parts of me rippled to life with enough force to make me breathless. “Stop.”

  Dammit, that wasn’t supposed to be a moan!

  “I need to feed,” he murmured again, his fangs scraping again, making me whimper.

  My mind was screaming at me to get the fuck out of there, the terror of him biting me scattering thoughts as quick as they came, making my mind a blank. My body, however, was screaming for something altogether different, and probably the far more dangerous route. The acknowledgement that Felix had gone from a sexy-but-safe partner to a dangerously hungry Vampire in the space of moments, hit home where nothing else could.

  Even if my body was limp with need in his arms.

  “Felix,” I said softly, voice shaking. “I’m going to go make a call, and you are going to go call room service and feed.” I squeezed my eyes shut as both his canines raked just below my earlobe. “Okay?”

  My heart pounded so loudly in my ears through the silence, that when he answered, I almost didn’t hear him. “Okay,” he murmured, but he didn’t release me.

  “Okay.” I licked my parched lips, throat stinging from panting. “You have to let me go.” I pressed, tugging his arm from my pants.

  “To make a call,” he said, his arms falling away.

  I didn’t move. “While you call room service to feed.” I affirmed without turning.

  “Yes.” I heard him say distantly, as if he were moving away.

  “Okay.” I gripped my phone and moved slowly towards the door. My hand shook as I reached for the handle. I trembled as I opened it and stepped out.

  As I turned to close the door, my gaze fell on Felix. He was standing by the couch, by the phone, and he was watching me. His eyes we like suns, glowing and sparking a fierce, hungry gold, near swallowing half of his face, and his canines were bigger than I’d ever seen them, glistening with pleasure-inducing fluids.

  Holy shit, I thought as I shut the door. He was going to bite me.

  I didn’t know if I liked that or not.

  My legs kept walking when I got to my hotel room door. Didn’t even stop. Just completely bypassed it. I had to walk. Just had to keep going. Just had to get out, get some air, see the sky—however little of it there might be to see in a city like Chicago. So I kept walking. I didn’t want to stop, or sit, or stand. I didn’t want to have to think about what could have happened back there with Felix. I didn’t want to think about how his teeth would feel sinking into my skin, or how tight he would hold me while he drank, or worst of all, how much I might just enjoy it.

  I squeezed my eyes shut as I stepped into the elevator, my back to the corner, and felt the sudden lift in my stomach as it started downward. I could still feel the cool press of his fingers, the weight of his icy palms, and the brush of his chilling breath on my neck.

  What I really needed to do was bake. Nothing keeps the mind occupied like rolling pastry, stuffing cookie pillows or measuring flour into a mix. But I couldn’t bake. My dream kitchen was way back home in Summerville.

  God, I just want to go home.

  My eyes flew open as the elevator stilled, and I was out the doors before they’d completely opened, phone to my ear—Jade’s phone ringing on the other end. It kicked into voicemail as I moved through the quiet foyer, and I left a message for her to call me back. It was unusual for Jade to actually answer anyway, so I wasn’t concerned. The woman left her phone in her office more often than not those days, because she was forever losing them or having them lifted when she was out in the club.

  She shouldn’t wear such tight pants. Doesn’t leave much to the imagination when it’s all but a second skin! She might stop losing phones that way.

  I was just typing Jade a message as extra back-up to my voicemail when something impacted my shoulder. Hard. “Hey!” I squawked, fumbling to keep my phone from hitting the floor. If I dent Jade, and she finds out, she’ll whine like crap. “Watch it, mate.”

  “I’m not your ‘mate’, wolf-killer,” came the smoky-smooth reply, and I glanced up from my Blackberry to see Des scowling disdainfully at me.

  I inwardly sighed, loud and long. I could see more he-she jokes in my future, maybe even some hermaphrodite ones. Which was a shame, really, because Des didn’t look like a dude. Her cheekbones were high and her chin kind of pointed, but with her large hazel eyes and blonde-streaked bangs down instead of in her customary ponytail, her heart-shaped face was really quite attractive. Her body was lean and athletic, but she had all the right bits without looking butch. It kind of made me think of that chick out of Blade Trinity. Give the girl a pair of earphones and a bow and arrow, and you’d have Jessica Biel at her peak.

  I all but rolled my eyes, however. “Still going with the ‘wolf-killer’ angle, eh?” I clicked my tongue. “That’s just lack of imagination, y’know?”

  “No point elaborating on a fact.” She replied. Just staring at the hard lines of her face and the hate in her hazel eyes, I knew there would no convincing this female with words. I’d have to prove it. But not right then. At the moment, I needed to get out of there
.

  “Whatever you say,” I murmured, and went to go around her.

  She shoved me my shoulder, pushing me back to where I was. “I want you to stay away from Vince.”

  “Seriously?” I whined, and rubbed my brow as I glanced around to take in how many people were around. “I would love to. Now is that all?”

  “This isn’t a joke,” she snarled, shoving my shoulder again, forcing me back another step. “You are a wolf-killer, and I won’t have you anywhere near my Alpha. No matter how enamored he thinks he is.” She sneered, and my brows shot up.

  Was she implying what I think she’s implying?

  “Excuse me?”

  “You think he wouldn’t have killed you right off?” she snarled, moving forward, and in my surprise, pushing me back. “The moment he heard a known killer was in his territory? He wouldn’t have suffered you to live if he were in his right mind!” She shoved me in both shoulders this time, the jab of her fingers painful as I caught the back of my knees on a couch dropped onto my rump, gaping up at her. And I wasn’t the only one. The other people on the couches hastily moved away from the hostile air, and those by the reception desk were watching.

  “Are you saying you think I bewitched him?” I laughed in disbelief. I couldn’t believe it. Seriously. Could not. Believe it! Des glared down at me from her lofty height, her gaze narrowed down her nose, but she didn’t answer. “Do you have any idea how antique that sounds? What, are you stuck in the middle-ages or something? A male couldn’t possibly find a red-head enticing simply for the fact that she’s all woman and not partially male? No-o-o she’s a witch!” I shot to my feet, blood pressure rising as I shoved my phone back into my pocket.

  “Not a witch.” Des’s smile was pure malice. “A Vampire. No better than a blood whore. All you have to do is flutter those sparkling eyes, and he’s all but a slave,” she hissed, and I felt my temper spike from smoldering spite to fiery bitch in an instant.

  “Well, if I did mesmerize him, it wasn’t hard. Not if all Were-females look like you!”

  Her right hand shot out of nowhere. Pain exploded in my cheek, and my head snapped around to absorb the blow.

  “Bitch!” she jeered, as I tongued the bloody flesh inside my cheek.

  I glared at her. “Truth hurt? Or is it that you’re the more effeminate of the males in your pack?”

  Boom! Her left hook caught me on the other cheek, and I actually stumbled. I laughed. This was too ridiculous to not be funny.

  “Dude, you punch like a girl,” I said, rubbing my cheek, glancing at the few people watching us with surprised murmurs of concern.

  “That’s because I am a girl, bitch.” Her face was twisted in a leer that did not improve her looks a bit. If anything, she looked like a caricature of masculine femininity.

  Now there’s a poster child if ever I saw one.

  “Really?” I asked, eyes wide in surprise as a deep, angry red rode up her throat, cheeks and forehead. “Wow. Jeepers. How embarrassing. I thought you were a dude.” I snickered. “My bad.”

  Des launched herself at me with a howl of rage, and for the second time that week, I felt like I’d been hit by a two-ton truck. We sprawled onto the marble foyer floor, kicking, punching and screeching at each other like banshees. My right hand was numb from the jarring impact of marble on my elbow when we’d landed, but it didn’t stop me from popping her a good one in the nose to get her off me.

  As I scrambled for my feet, her leg shot out, catching my ankle and taking me down. Only it didn’t go as planned, as all I did was land on her, elbow-dropping her gut and having the satisfaction of hearing her breath whoosh from her. While she fought for breath, I hopped to my knees, bitch-slapped her onto her back, and then elbow dropped her again.

  Her punch to my cheek sent me flying. Jeezus, what she got? Boulders for fists? While I was trying to shake off the stars, she crawled to her feet, stomped over to me, and drew her leg back. The first kick to my ribs was agony. The second basically made it impossible to breathe. By the third, I was bloody livid.

  I grabbed Des’s foot as she swung it, absorbing the blow, and twisting away from her, taking the foot with me, forcing her to kneel on me or break an ankle. She yelped in surprise, but I kept rolling until I was on my back again, and she was sprawled over me, clawing at my arms to let her go. I bucked as the scent of my blood filled the air, kicking up my legs and hooking the back of my knee around her throat, locking my ankle on my other leg. I yanked her back, keeping hold of her leg, making her spine bow.

  Her claws raked me, and I locked one arm around her leg so I could pummel her side with my free fist, screaming, “Attack me, you bitch? I’ll fucking beat your face into your arse!”

  While she screamed back, “Bring it, you cross-breed whore!”

  Suddenly I was being jerked off the floor by my scruff, but I didn’t get a chance to see who had grabbed me before Des darted up, spun and lunged. Automatically, I rammed my hand forward, the heel of my palm intended for the middle of her face.

  Only it never got there.

  Vince appeared from nowhere and took the hit to his larynx—dropping like a stone and gasping for breath. Des and I gaped down at him. He must have been the one who grabbed me off the floor. This was his fault. I won’t take the blame for this. I won’t. Dammit, this was his fault!

  Des’s gaze swung up to me, and pure hatred burned in her gaze. I barely had time to exclaim, “Shit!” before she lunged for me, lifting me off my feet with the force of a battering ram and slamming my spine down onto the marble floor. Something cracked, and I screamed in fury even as the wound re-knit.

  Grabbing fistfuls of her hair, I repeatedly smacked Des’s face into the floor, marring the pale marble with bright splatters of blood. I yelled at her with each punctuated smack, “If you broke my fucking phone, bitch, I’ma break your man-face ‘til its unrecog-fucking-nizable!”

  “Red!” Coffee, anise and ice wrapped around me, thick and enticing as big, white-hot hands yanked me off the floor. I dragged Des a good five feet before Vince managed to get my fingers out of her hair. I smiled evilly at the chunks of chestnut strands in my palms.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Vince snapped at Des, roughly tilting her head up to him so he could look at her mangled face.

  My smile grew, and I knew it didn’t look pretty because I could taste the blood on my gums. She didn’t answer him though. Just gritted her teeth until her jaw bulged—also not a pretty sight with all that blood.

  “Red?” Felix spun me to face him, and I stared belligerently up at him. “What happened?” He asked, his thumb lightly brushing over a swollen cheekbone.

  “Just a difference of opinion,” I replied softly, the heat emanating off him enough to make me want to snuggle right into him.

  “She should be dead, Vince,” Des snarled, and I almost laughed from how nasal she sounded.

  “Enough, Des,” the Alpha replied, forcing her to hold the ridge of her broken nose.

  “She’s an abomination. She needs to die!”

  Fuck it. I laughed.

  “Enough!” Vincent bellowed, the word echoing through the silent foyer. His face was fierce, uncompromising, and utterly unforgiving. Des’s gaze dropped to the floor, even if her chin didn’t, elevated for that broken nose. Power lashed my senses, scented with sunshine and sea salt, burning across every wolf instinct in me. For a moment, all I wanted to do was drop to my knees and meekly rub against his leg. I grimaced.

  Never going to happen.

  Suddenly, the thumping beat of Nelly Fertado’s ”Maneater” rang through the air, and I snickered as I dug my phone from my pocket, pleased to see it was undamaged. Jade was calling me back.

  I looked up at Des, and scowled. “You’re so-o-o lucky.”

  “You won’t be when I get my claws—“

  “Hold please.” I held up a finger, already turning away and answering the phone. “Jade!” I beamed, wandering away from the sounds of Des snapping and snarli
ng behind me.

  “Hey, chic! What’s up? You getting a cold?” Jade’s voice was lightly accented and husky rich. A purr from the panther-Shifter she was.

  “Ha! No. But thanks for calling back.” I took a breath. “I have a favor to ask.”

  A moment's silence. “Oh really?” She rolled the R, elongating it. “After the debt you still have to pay? Tut tut, Red.”

  I grinned. “That’s pleasure. This is work.”

  “You’re hunting? Where to?”

  “Closer than you think.”

  Another beat of silence, then a sucked in breath. “Chicago? Aw shit, chic! Why haven’t you dropped by yet?”

  I laughed. “That’s exactly what I was planning to do.”

  “I’ll put your name on the list.” She continued, instantly.

  “Plus one,” I amended.

  “Dry-hump guy?”

  “Um…” My face flamed as I glanced at Felix and saw a dimple showing.

  “I’m going with you.” Vince’s deep gravelly voice shivered all the way down my spine, causing Felix to give the Alpha a sharp look.

  “Oooohhhh, who is the sexy voice?” Jade piped with a sexy laugh, and Vincent preened with a winning smile at me. Damn wolf hearing.

  I rolled my eyes. “Make it plus two, and you’ll find out.”

  “Deal.”

  “Excellent.”

  “Are they up to par?” Jade asked, and I looked at the Vampire and the wolf.

  Felix was frowning at me as I took in his dark grey tee and torn-at-the-knee jeans, and Vincent looked puzzled as my gaze swept his black muscle shirt and leather pants.

  Shit…

  “Uh…I’ll have them ready by tomorrow night.”

  Jade laughed again, all husky and rich. “You can come as you always do.”

  “That’s because I always look fabulous.” I grinned.

  “Hell yeah, you do!”

  What are best friends for?

  “Tell Fletch I got something for him to play with.” The suggestion in the tone of the comment had Felix’s brows dipping even lower. About time he started working for it. I’ve been far too easy up until now.