I stood up, my legs shaking. “You’re insane!” I screamed, not believing her.
“You do realize that we’re twins. If I’m insane,” she smirked. “Then… so are you.”
My stomach began to cramp up violently. I doubled over in pain. “What have you done to me?” I asked, horrified.
She took a step toward me. “I know. It hurts, but it will stop. I just have to bite you a third time. Three’s the charm.”
“Bite me a third time? You stay the hell away from me!” I hollered as pain continued to rage through my abdomen.
“I’m sorry. There’s no turning back now,” she answered solemnly. “I have to finish this. I promise you’ll feel better very soon, though. It just takes time.”
“Talia,” I begged as she grabbed my other arm. “Please, just leave me be.”
Ignoring me, she sank her teeth into my wrist.
A knock on the door brought me back to reality.
Josh.
“Come in,” I said, already smiling.
He opened the door and stuck his head in. “Uh, Steve said you wanted to see me?”
I got off of the bed and stood up. “Yes. Could you come in and close the door?”
He looked confused, but eager to please. “Sure.”
When he was done, I asked him. “Could you take off your shirt?”
He grinned. “What? Are you serious?”
“Oh, yes… I’m very serious.”
He looked around the cabin. “There isn’t a hidden camera in here, is there?”
I laughed. “God, I hope not.”
Josh smiled. “What is this about? I mean, really?”
I walked up to him and stared into his eyes, calming him. “I desire you, Josh. It’s a simple as that.”
“You desire me,” he repeated.
“I certainly do,” I answered as I began unbuttoning his uniform. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“No,” he answered, under my spell.
“That’s good, because believe me, it’s much easier to give in. To accept the things you have no control over. You understand?”
He didn’t reply, but I didn’t really expect him to. He was now under my power and I could do anything to him. Just like Talia had thought she could do to me. She’d been a schemer. A manipulator. A woman without a conscience. Unfortunately, her selfishness ended up costing her more than what she’d bargained for. As I fed on Josh, I thought about my first meeting with Lucian. How he’d saved me.
“Talia?” I whispered, sitting up. I was lying on the floor and covered in my own blood.
“She’s gone,” said a masculine voice.
I whipped my head around and stared at the stranger standing in the shadows of my bedroom. He was tall, with pale skin and light blond hair. When he smiled, it was kind and filled with concern.
“Who are you?” I asked sharply, standing up. “Where’s my sister?”
He raised his hands and took a step toward me. “My name is Lucian. I mean you no harm. I heard your screams and came to help.”
I relaxed slightly. “Oh.”
“Are you okay? There’s a lot of blood on you.”
I looked at my wrists, both had quite a bit of dried blood, actually. But the marks from Talia’s fangs were gone. “Was I dreaming?” I said out loud.
“I don’t think so,” he replied. “In fact, there’s something you should probably see.”
My eyes widened. “What? Is it Talia?”
“I imagine so,” he said, walking to the foot of the bed. He pointed to the floor.
I moved toward him and looked down. I gasped at the dead ghoul staring up at me. “Oh, my God! What is that?”
“I believe it’s the husk of your attacker.”
I looked more closely. Long, dark hair was splayed out around the dead woman’s skeletal face. “It’s my sister,” I answered in a hollow voice, recognizing the dress. Everything else about her looked like something from a nightmare.
“You must have drunk too much of her blood.”
I stared at him in horror. “What? I don’t understand. I don’t drink blood?”
“I think you do. You just don’t remember. She must have made you into a vampire.”
“I’m not a vampire!” I snapped.
“Oh, but you are.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the mirror. “Look at yourself. What do you see?”
I stared at my reflection. My long, black hair was disheveled and my dress was covered in blood, but my features. They were slightly different. In fact, they were better.
He gently touched my cheekbone. “Look how flawless your skin is. And your lips… do you see any difference?”
My skin did indeed look much clearer and my lips seemed fuller.
He touched the muscle in my arm. “Your entire body has changed in one way or another. Every muscle you have is firmer, your legs are leaner, and your breasts…”
I sucked in my breath, half expecting him to touch me there. “What are you talking about?” I said, folding my arms across them.
His eyes glittered in the darkness. “Your breasts have also changed because you are immortal. A vampire. They are now firm, tight, and perfect in every way.”
My cheeks turned pink. “I’m not a vampire,” I insisted.
“I’ll prove it,” he said, raising his finger. He scratched his neck, drawing blood.
My mouth went dry as I stared at the red droplets sliding down his neck.
His eyes began to glow. “You want it, don’t you?”
I began to cry.
I did want it.
I wanted to taste the blood.
Needed to taste the blood.
The desire was so strong that my stomach grew warm.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Don’t cry.”
I closed my eyes and continued to sob. I wasn’t sure what had happened to me, but I had indeed changed. And it was because of Talia, who was now just a mass of bone and dust at the foot of my bed.
He pulled me into his arms and let me cry, rubbing my back, soothing me with soft words. When I was finally calm, he released me.
“Your neck. It’s healed,” I said, staring at it.
He grinned and I noticed his fangs. “We heal very quickly.”
I opened my mouth and touched my teeth. Feeling the points on my own fangs, I looked at them in the mirror.
“They’re beautiful,” he said, smiling at me in the mirror. “Almost as beautiful as you.”
“You’re very kind,” I said, wiping the tears from my cheeks.
“Someone needs to be kind to you,” he answered, turning toward my sister’s body. “She certainly wasn’t and probably got what she deserved.”
“I still don’t understand what happened to her.”
He let out a ragged sigh. “She turned you into a vampire, but in doing so, she took far too much of your blood. She basically left you dangerously anemic.”
“I still don’t understand why she’s like that, though,” I whispered, staring down at Talia. “She’s barely a pile of dust.”
“She took too much of your blood, which left you deliriously hungry. What she should have done was feed you some of her blood during the process, but obviously she didn’t. Because of that, you became so depleted, that you began to die.”
“But I’m not dead.”
“No, you’re not. That’s because your natural instincts kicked in. You went into survival mode. You woke up from a comatose state and fed off of your sister. Unfortunately, you took too much.”
I stared at him in horror. “Are you saying that I killed her?”
He nodded. “But, it was an accident.”
“Oh, my God.” I began sobbing again as I knelt down next to her. “I killed my sister. Talia… I’m so sorry.”
He knelt down next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. Hush now…”
“It’s not,” I moaned. “Nothing is ever going to be okay.”
He pu
lled me to my feet. “Yes, it is, and there is little time. We have to dispose of her body. Otherwise, you’re going to be charged with murder.”
“Let me mourn for my sister,” I protested, suddenly angry at this stranger.
“You’re going to have centuries to mourn for her. But, right now, we need to keep you safe.”
“Why do you care about what happens to me?” I asked, staring up into his pale blue eyes. “We’re strangers.”
“I care about you because we are of a kindred spirit.” He smiled and I could see a hint of sadness there. “I can tell.”
“You mean because we’re both vampires?”
“That and we’ve both been hurt. Deceived. Our hearts ripped apart.”
“You know about Slade and Talia?”
He nodded. “I saw them together. More than once.”
“You were spying on them, too? Why?”
“I was actually spying on Talia,” he answered. “She killed my father.”
I sucked in my breath. “What do you mean?” I asked, although I already knew in my heart. His father was obviously one of her husbands. One of them who’d died.
“I can’t prove it, but I believe that she poisoned him.”
I put my hand on my chest. “Were you going to kill her?”
He sighed. “To be honest, I don’t know. I’m not generally a killer, but I certainly wanted to destroy her after I learned of his death. It wasn’t fair. He shouldn’t have died.”
“Why do you think she poisoned your father?”
“The maid told me. She believes that Talia somehow poisoned his tea. Little by little and for several weeks. Until it finally caught up with him.”
I put my hand to my mouth. “Oh, my God, I’m so sorry for your loss. And your poor father. If he died that way… it must have been so painful.”
Lucian looked down and nodded. “So, you see, I have also seen what Slade and Talia have done to you. Their lies and deception. A woman like you deserves so much more.”
I looked down at my hands. “I’d like to think so.”
He lifted my chin and stared into my eyes. “Vanessa, now that your sister is gone, there is going to be an investigation. You could go to jail, or worse, you could be burned at the stake. Like a witch.”
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “I haven’t done anything. Not on purpose.”
“Not on purpose. Exactly. But, you’ll be put away for her death. And Slade, well, he’ll want to take you away from everything. Save you.”
“I don’t want anything to do with him,” I said firmly.
“You’re right. You don’t.”
“What can I do?”
“Leave it to me. I’m going to help you.”
I stared at him in surprise. “You are?”
He nodded and pulled me into his arms. “Yes, I’m going to do what nobody did for me,” he said, smoothing down my hair. “Give you a second chance at life.”
I closed my eyes and sighed, trusting this stranger, for some reason. Both of us had been hurt by Talia and there was no way I’d let Slade near me again. My gut told me to trust Lucian, even though I barely knew him.
Afterwards, Lucian disposed of Talia’s corpse by dropping it into the sea. When he returned, he sat me down and helped me come up with a plan.
“I don’t understand,” I said, when he told me what I needed to do. “Why should I take my sister’s identity?”
“Because she’s rich and it makes more sense, Vanessa. If you keep living your life the way that it is, you’re never going to get rid of Slade. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“It also seems to make more sense that a woman might kill herself after learning about her sister’s affair with the man she loved. You, as Talia, can put the blame on Slade.”
“But… I love my job teaching,” I said, imagining the faces of some of my students. They mean so much to me. All of them. Not only would I be abandoning them, but they would believe that I’d committed suicide. I didn’t want them to believe I was that weak. It just tore my heart up to think of the pain I’d cause some of them.
He stared at me in disbelief. “You can’t possibly believe that you could teach again? Especially little children. You can’t live a normal life with mortals, Vanessa.”
“But… I love those kids.”
“Then let them go. So you can’t hurt them,” he said. “Think about it.”
Tears sprang to my eyes. I knew what he meant. Look at what I’d done to my sister. To kill a child would destroy me. “You’re right,” I choked, crying again. “I’m too dangerous.”
“But you have a good heart. Look, it’s Slade’s and Talia’s fault,” he said. “Remember that. It will give you the courage to do what you have to do.”
And what I did was step into Talia’s shoes and made sure Slade stayed out of my life for good.
LIFTOFF WAS MUCH easier to handle than the last time. However, once we were in the sky, my nerves began to go haywire again.
“Hey,” whispered Slade, moving next to me. “Relax.”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
He nodded toward my foot, which was crossed over my other leg and wagging very quickly.
I smiled and straightened out my legs. “Must be the caffeine,” I said, picking up the can of soda Melody had found for me. Leave it to her to give me something for my migraines when I needed something to stop me from puking.
“You don’t look it.”
“I’ll be all right,” I said as Josh walked by.
“How’s everything?” he asked without stopping.
“Great,” we said in unison.
Slade chuckled. “I think both of us have seen better days.”
The plane was hit with a small gust of wind, causing more turbulence, and I squealed.
Slade grabbed my hand. “It’s okay.”
“Sorry,” I said as the plane hit another gust of wind. I squeezed his hand. “Crap, I hate flying.”
“Look at me,” he said, staring into my eyes again. “It’s okay. You just need to relax. I’m not going to let anything hurt you.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
“If the plane hits any more turbulence, you’re going to ignore it. You’re going to be completely relaxed.”
“I will be completely relaxed,” I repeated, feeling calmer already. Deep down, I knew what he was doing, but I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted to make it through the next few hours without freaking out or hyperventilating.
He patted my hand. “You’re going to do just fine.”
“Thanks, Slade,” I said, studying his face. Here he looked like he was ready to faint himself and he was worried about me.
His eyes moved to my neck and his mouth opened up. He let out a ragged breath. “You’re welcome. I need to leave you again,” he said, standing up.
“Okay.”
He staggered back to his seat and fell into it. When it looked like he was sleeping, I searched the plane until I found a blanket in one of the storage compartments, and covered him up. Then I went back to my own seat and stared out the window, admiring the beauty of the pale blue sky.
“I DON’T CARE, he needs to feed or he’s going to die,” whispered Talia.
“He’s going to be pissed,” said Bradan.
She let out an exasperated groan. “Just give it to him. He doesn’t even need to know it was from me, okay?”
I opened my eyes, barely able to focus on the two faces next to me. “What’s going on?” I asked hoarsely.
“Talia is worried about you.”
I grunted. “Right.”
“Okay, Chelsey is the one who’s concerned and she’s demanding that we do something to help you,” said Bradan.
I blinked. “I’m fine.”
“Oh, for Heaven’s sake, you are not fine. In fact, you have been passed out for the last four hours and nobody could revive you,” snapped Talia. “Not even your little Chelsey.”
�
�I’m fine,” I repeated, although I could sense what my body needed only inches from my face. Its seductive scent drawing me like bees to nectar.
Blood.
“Drink this, Slade,” she ordered, holding a cup of it to my lips. “Don’t be so damn stubborn.”
My immortal hunger won out and I opened my lips. As she tipped the glass back, our eyes met and she looked away. I closed my eyes and allowed Talia to give me the entire glass, which was enough to quell the painful cramps that had been ravaging my intestines for the last few hours.
Finally, relief.
“That should do it,” she said, standing up. She smirked. “Don’t ever say I didn’t do anything nice for you, Slade.”
I let out a ragged sigh. “Thanks, Talia.”
“I should record you saying that.”
“I doubt I’ll have the chance to say it again,” I said.
Bradan stood up. “I’ll let Chelsey know you’re doing okay. That girl was really freaking out about you.”
“She’s his fiancée. Why wouldn’t she?” asked Talia.
Bradan’s eyes widened. He looked at me.
“Go and tell her I’m fine,” I said to him.
He nodded and left me alone with Talia.
“So, will this be your first wedding?” she asked, smoothing down her skirt.
“Yes.”
“Well, hopefully you won’t mess it up.”
I grunted. “Don’t even think about giving me advice. I doubt you’ve ever loved anyone in your life, Talia.”
Her smile was bitter. “You have no idea.”
“Hey,” said Chelsey, coming up behind me. “You’re awake.”
I turned to her and smiled.
She pointed to her lip and grimaced. “Uh, you’ve got a little something on your mouth.”
“It’s just blood,” said Talia, walking away from us. “Get used to it. Among… other things.”
I rolled my eyes. She may have just saved me a few more hours of pain, but she was still a bitch.
“Wow, I can’t believe how much better you look,” said Chelsey, staring at me.
I ran a hand through my hair. “I know. I shouldn’t have ever tried doing this trip without feeding. It was irresponsible of me.”
“I won’t hold it against you,” she said.
Slade (Venom Series) Book Two Page 15