Crave

by Laura J. Burns; Melinda Metz

  Shay’s entire body felt numb even before she turned around.

  She moved slowly, almost afraid to see the door right behind her. Across from the painting. Right where the door was in her vision of Gabriel.

  Shay’s heart slammed against her ribs, but she hardly noticed it. Strength, weakness … she wasn’t even sure what she felt. Mostly it was just fear.

  Her hand reached for the door handle, and she watched it as if she wasn’t even controlling it. It was locked, of course. But there wasn’t a keypad. There was a reader for a security card. And on Martin’s key chain hadn’t there been …

  Shay pulled the key chain out of her pocket. A small plastic card—about the size of the ones for the grocery-store bonus programs—hung from it. She swiped the card, and the lock clicked. Shay grabbed the knob with shaking fingers and pulled the door open.

  The darkness inside was deeper than in the hall. There were no windows to let in any light. But Shay could see the table. It was a regular exam table, but there was something wrong with it.

  Chains.

  Her brain couldn’t process that. Chains stretching from the exam table down to metal loops in the floor. Why would Martin need chains on the table?

  Bile rose in Shay’s throat, and suddenly she noticed just how hard and fast her heart was beating. The hair on her arms stood up as she fumbled for the light switch and turned it on.

  The overhead lights sputtered to life, throwing a cold white glow over the room.

  Over the table.

  And over the man who lay there, chained in place.

  Shay didn’t want to look. She didn’t want to know. But really, she already did know. With halting steps, she moved closer, close enough to see him.

  Thick, dark, curly hair. Skin a tawny bronze. Eyes as dark as his hair, sort of a chestnut color … staring right back at her.

  “Gabriel,” Shay whispered.

  PART

  TWO

  REALITY

  CHAPTER

  SEVEN

  THE SMELL WAS NEW. Not the scent of the human man or the woman who’d been there the day Gabriel was captured. He jerked his head toward the door. Too fast. The motion sent a wave of dizziness through him. He was getting weaker every day. The man brought him blood, but not enough to compensate for all the blood he drained from Gabriel’s body.

  Gabriel blinked, and the figure at the door became clearer. A human girl. Young. An expression of horror on her face. What else would a human feel at the sight of him?

  In the quiet room, he could hear the beat of her heart, as fast as a rabbit’s. He expected her to turn and bolt; instead she took a few steps toward him, hesitated, then moved right up to the edge of exam table he was chained to. She stared down at him, her blue eyes wide. “Gabriel.”

  Gabriel’s brain felt as weak as his body. She shouldn’t know his name, should she? No, it was impossible. He hadn’t told it to his captors—not even in the initial e-mails that had lured him to them. So this human shouldn’t know it either.

  “What are you doing here?” With shaking fingers, the human girl touched the chain wrapped around his chest. “Why … why are you chained?”

  It felt as if there was compassion in the question, in her tone, but that was impossible. It had to be some sort of ploy. Was her scent part of it? He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with it. It was as if the smell of her had been engineered to invite him. It was almost maddening, almost painful in its perfection.

  She shook her head. “I feel like I fell down the rabbit hole. You’re real?”

  Gabriel felt light-headed from her nearness, the overpowering scent of her. It acted like a drug on his weakened senses. Something in the smell was so familiar. …

  “You’re real and in Martin’s office.” Her tone of voice had changed. She bit her lip, thinking. Gabriel stared at her mouth, fascinated by its youth, the blush of blood lending it a perfect pink color. “Why? Is he treating you? Are you sick?”

  Martin. That must be his captor’s name, the human man.

  “I saw you here. You were paralyzed, you couldn’t move. …” Her gaze focused on the thick chains for a moment. Then she looked right at him, horror in her eyes. “You were afraid.”

  Gabriel couldn’t understand her words. How had she seen him? Was there a camera somewhere in this room, recording this torture? Did this Martin have people watching his experiments?

  The girl turned away, frantically glancing around the room at the IV supplies—the pole, the bags, the tubing. Suddenly she grabbed Gabriel’s hand, chained down at his side. Her fingers, cool and slim, lingered over the shunt that the man had put there. Easier to harvest his blood that way.

  “No …” her voice trailed off, her blue eyes clouding with worry and confusion.

  God, he wanted her. He was so weak, and the smell of her blood was so strong. Gabriel took another breath of her, and smelled a new odor mixed with hers.

  The man. Martin.

  He was close, very near the building. Had he brought this girl, then? What kind of game were they playing with him? Gabriel studied her face—pointed chin; eyes a light, pale blue; lips as soft-looking as rose petals—trying to figure out what was happening. He saw pain, anger, and fear in her expression, but no guile.

  Gabriel heard the front door open, sliding over what sounded like shards of glass. The girl heard it too and gave a start. The scent of her fear intensified. She’d been frightened of him, but now she was terrified. Was she afraid of his captor? If she was …

  “Help me.” His voice came out ragged from disuse. “Please,” he begged, although it went against everything in him to seek help from a human.

  The girl fumbled with the ring of keys in her hand. She found the smallest key and tried it in the lock that held the chains tight around him. It worked. Gabriel struggled to shove the chains away. He was so weak. The man was so close.

  The girl grabbed one of the loose ends of the chain and began to unwrap it. When his arms and hands were free, Gabriel was able to slide himself up on the table, releasing his legs from the chain. He climbed to his feet. The floor rolled beneath him, and his knees buckled. For a moment, Gabriel thought he’d fall or pass out and all chance of escape would be lost, but the girl took his arm and steadied him.

  He had to get out before Martin reached him. Gabriel wasn’t strong enough to battle even a human right now. He staggered to the door and wrenched it open. Martin was at the end of the hall. He held a knife in his hand.

  There was no window in the room where he’d been held captive. There was no door at the other end of the hall. The windows along the top of the hallway were too small to fit through.

  No way out.

  Martin moved closer, wary, but ready to use the knife.

  “Martin, what are you doing?” the girl cried. Gabriel hadn’t realized that she was following him. She was at his side, her hand an inch away from his arm as if she thought he might fall.

  “Shay, step away from him,” Martin said in that cool, detached voice of his. “You don’t know what he is.”

  So his captor wanted to protect the girl? That meant that he cared about her, that she meant something to him. That he wouldn’t hurt her.

  Gabriel grabbed the girl by the arm and yanked her in front of him. “I’ll kill her if you don’t drop the knife and let me walk out of here.” Martin stopped where he was, but he didn’t drop the knife. “I’m weak—you saw to that. But I have enough strength left to snap her neck,” Gabriel growled.

  A shudder rippled through the girl’s body, and the smell of her fear intensified. Gabriel tried to ignore it, pulling her tighter against him.

  “Martin, do what he wants,” she cried. “Please.”

  The man advanced another step, raising the knife. Gabriel gasped, or maybe it was the girl. It was hard to tell where he ended and she began, with her this close to him and her smell in his head. He was so weak. …

  “Martin, stop,” the girl whimpered.

  But
he wasn’t going to stop. Gabriel could tell by the cold look in the man’s eyes. Martin didn’t care if the girl got hurt. He was focused on Gabriel.

  “Martin!” It was the woman, shrieking as she burst through the shattered front door. “Oh my God. Drop the knife. Do what he says!”

  “I told you to wait in the car,” the man barked.

  “I heard Shay,” the woman answered, her eyes wild. Her fear was so sharp that the scent of it overpowered everything else. Martin might not care about the girl, but this woman did.

  Gabriel tightened his grip, digging his fingernails into the flesh of the girl’s arm until she cried out. It’s necessary, he told himself.

  “Martin!” the woman cried again.

  With a snarl, the man dropped the knife.

  “Kick it away,” Gabriel ordered. The man obeyed, sending the knife skittering down the hall. “Now face the wall, and plant your hands on it.” The man obeyed again, shooting a look of fury over his shoulder.

  “You too!” Gabriel told the woman. She instantly turned and placed her hands on the wall, tears running down her cheeks. “Good. Stay right there. Right there,” he repeated as he started down the hall.

  He pulled the girl along with him for security. She didn’t struggle. She let him walk her past the man and woman without a word of protest.

  “Shay …” the woman cried.

  Gabriel jerked his hostage out through the shattered glass door. When the cold night air hit him, he was overwhelmed by its freshness and by the hundreds of scents that hit him. His prison had been climate-controlled and antiseptic. But he didn’t have time to savor even one breath. “Which car is yours?” he demanded.

  “Range Rover,” the girl answered.

  Gabriel plucked the keys from her fingers. He clicked the button to release the doors as he rushed her over to the vehicle. The girl opened the door before he did. He half-helped, half-pushed her inside, then climbed over her and into the driver’s seat. It took him two tries to get the key in the ignition. So much time spent nearly motionless on that table had destroyed his coordination. When the engine purred to life, Gabriel sped across the parking lot. He paused for a second at the entrance, then pulled out into the deserted street. The ride was so smooth, it was almost like flying. He was free!

  “We did it!” the girl exclaimed, her voice full of joy and triumph. It was as if her emotions matched his own, but that was impossible. “Thank God my mom walked in right then. I didn’t think Martin was going to back down. And he’s big. I always forget how big my stepfather is, because he’s usually such an all-about-the-brain guy.” She sucked in a deep breath. “Sorry. Talking too much. I’m just so relieved.”

  So the woman was her mother, the man her stepfather. But this girl hadn’t been aware that Gabriel was being held prisoner. Her shock when she saw him had been real—even though he still didn’t understand how she knew his name.

  Gabriel heard more traffic to the west, and he instinctively took the turn that would lead them toward it. He wanted cover and speed. The highway was his best option.

  “Just stay quiet and do what I say,” he ordered the girl. Shay, that’s what they had called her. But he didn’t need to know her name. She was a piece of his escape plan, nothing more. “If you do, you won’t get hurt.”

  “I won’t get hurt?” she repeated incredulously.

  “I’m not like you people—I don’t hurt simply because I can,” Gabriel spat. “I’ll let you go when I don’t need you anymore. Unharmed, if you follow my orders.”

  “I’m the one who helped you escape. I unchained you and stopped you from landing on your ass when you couldn’t even stand up. And you’re threatening me?” the girl cried.

  Gabriel ignored her. True, she had released him, but Gabriel hadn’t had the chance to figure out what was going on with her. And it didn’t matter. She was a human. He couldn’t trust her.

  The sound of the passenger window sliding down snapped him out of his thoughts. Before he could make his weakened body react, she’d leaned out the window and begun yelling for help. They were moving too fast for anyone to hear her, but if somebody caught a glimpse of her face, they would know she was in trouble. Gabriel couldn’t let that happen. He grabbed her arm and jerked her back inside, then used the driver’s controls to roll up her window.

  “What did I tell you?” he demanded.

  “Screw you. I just saved your life back there,” the girl snapped, eyes bright with fury. “And now you expect me to be scared of you?”

  He couldn’t have this. He needed to subdue her. Now.

  Gabriel moved his hand from her arm up to her throat and pressed down, not too hard, but enough to guarantee he had her attention. “If you knew what I am, you’d be scared—”

  “You’re a vampire,” she choked out, cutting him off. “And you’re a jerk.”

  Gabriel pressed harder on her throat, mostly out of shock, but it shut her up. She knew his name, she knew what he was … and she wasn’t terrified. Even the man, Martin, had been afraid of him until he was in chains.

  Who was this girl? How could she know so much about him, but not have been involved with his captivity?

  She began to squirm, trying to free herself from the pressure of his arm. Gabriel swerved the car over to the side of the road, skidding to an abrupt stop on the dark shoulder. He threw it into PARK and turned toward the girl, releasing his true eye teeth, allowing them to extend beyond the human ones that kept them hidden.

  Fangs. That’s what humans called them. Fangs, like the teeth of animals. Carnivores. Man-eaters.

  She wasn’t moving anymore. She sat still, her body trembling as she stared at his teeth. Finally, she was afraid. He could smell it. Good.

  “I’m a bloodsucker, a fiend, a demon,” he said, throwing out some of the words he’d heard that dreadful night in the family’s sleeping cave, so long ago. The words the humans used as they unleashed a greater hell than he was capable of. “I will not hesitate to kill you if you don’t obey me.”

  She didn’t respond. She just turned her eyes away from him.

  “Understood?” He increased the pressure on her throat just a fraction.

  She nodded.

  Gabriel waited a few seconds, then returned his hand to the wheel, releasing her. He pulled back out onto the road, and the girl stared silently into the darkness. Her fear sharpened the intoxicating, familiar scent of her blood. It filled the car, filled him, driving him mad. All he wanted was to feed from her, drink, and drink, and drink until he was finally satisfied.

  It would be the same with any human, Gabriel told himself. She smells so enticing because I’ve been starved. He promised himself that he would have her blood once it was safe to stop. He needed his strength and power, and this girl would give back what had been stolen from him.

  But first he had to get away, as far as possible from the people who had held him captive. He stepped on the gas, speeding up as the highway ramp appeared in the headlights. West. South. Whatever road would take him in the direction of Ernst and the rest of his family.

  Gabriel reached for the shunt in his hand, digging it out of his vein. Blood spilled from the wound, but he didn’t care. It would heal as soon as he regained his strength. As soon as he fed.

  His hunger for the girl mounted as they drove. Two hours later, when the road began rippling in front of his eyes, he was forced to admit that he was too weak to continue. He’ d wanted to drive until sunrise forced him to stop. He wanted as many miles as possible between him and that room with the chains. But he had to stop. He had to rest. Most of all, he had to feed.

  He glanced over at the human girl. She still held herself turned away from him, as close to her side of the car as she could get. Every muscle in her body was tight, as if she was poised to attack. Or to fight for her life. The thought came unbidden to Gabriel’s mind. He shoved it away. He’d feared for his own life every day of his imprisonment. Why shouldn’t she suffer the same?

  Gabriel t
ook the next exit that had a sign for a motel. It was just the kind of place he’d hoped for. Run-down. Not many guests. Clerk watching TV in the office. He parked at the back of the lot, against a chain-link fence in the darkness from a blown bulb in a streetlight.

  “We’re going in now,” he told the girl. “Quietly.” She didn’t answer. She didn’t even turn to him. “Did you hear me?” he asked, his voice sharp with menace.

  The girl faced him and met his gaze with a directness that startled him. Then she laughed. “You don’t get it. It doesn’t matter what you do to me,” she announced. “Everybody dies.”

  Didn’t matter? What was that supposed to mean?

  “No, not everyone,” he said, although eternal life wasn’t a guarantee even for him. “And death can come with or without suffering.” She paled a bit, and it made the angles of her face even more striking. “Now shall we go?”

  “Whatever you want. That’s the deal, right?” she said.

  In reply, he got out of the Range Rover and strode around to her door. She scrambled out before he opened it, but she didn’t attempt to run. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him as he walked her over to the door farthest from the motel office. He listened for a moment. The room was empty.

  Gabriel forced the lock, the action taking much more strength than he’d anticipated. He realized that although he’d been holding the girl close so she wouldn’t try to escape, she was also helping to prop him up.

  He managed to pull her into the room and shut the door behind them. But now he had to feed. He didn’t know how long he’d be able to retain consciousness. He took the girl by the shoulders and moved her in front of him, then brushed her long, thick hair away from her neck, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He hadn’t wanted anyone this badly since the very first time.