by E. M. Moore
An ice cold finger touched my neck and I swung back around to face him. He smiled almost cruelly. “Then why is it that you’re here? If you’re not their toy, I mean.”
“Don’t touch me,” I warned. Was I allowed to touch vampires? I seemed to remember hearing it was frowned upon unless provoked. Surely if it was in self-defense it wouldn’t matter. I took a step toward the other side of the fire.
He followed. “I hear they’re at The Council meeting.”
I kept going. “Liv,” I shouted, because it was the first name I could think of.
His cold hand snapped out and wrapped around mine. His fingers were like a vise on my wrist. Just then, there was a rustle in the leaves. The vampire looked in that direction. I turned quickly, hoping it could be help, but it wasn’t. Zeke stood there. “What’s up, Ryan?” he asked.
The vampire nodded his head toward him and then me. “I thought you said she was down for the whole blood letting thing. She seems a little squeamish.”
Fear shot through me.
Zeke smirked. “Trust me, she’s—”
“If you touch me,” I started. Then, I picked up my foot and slammed my heel down on his toes. I wrenched my arm free and then ran. “Evan! Shannon!”
Hands wrapped around my waist and yanked backward. I fell to the ground, my shoulder blade landing on a jagged rock.
“Dude,” the vampire Ryan said. “She’s not into this.”
Blinking, I looked up to see that it was Zeke over me, trying to still my arms and legs as I flailed around, trying to get up and escape.
“She’s a vamp whore. She’ll like it.”
I kicked up, catching Zeke in the chin. I scrambled to my feet and backed away. Ryan was on his phone as if nothing was happening and Zeke looked as if he could murder me. He stalked toward me, but Ryan held back on his arm. “I’m telling you, man. Do not mess with the Ravanas.” The guy looked at me. “I didn’t know.”
“Oh, just shut up,” Zeke said. He spat on the ground. “Just get out of here then.”
The vamp looked at me and then shook his head, disappearing into the forest.
“You asshole,” I screamed, staring right into Zeke’s cocky face. “I don’t know what your problem is with me, but you better get over it. I’m not a vamp whore. I don’t care that you don’t like to lose. In fact, you better get used to it because I’m going to kick your ass come course finals.”
Zeke’s eyes narrowed. He came forward, but I didn’t shy away. Not this time. I met him glare for glare, step for step. “Don’t push me, whore.”
I placed my foot behind his leg and did just that. I heaved my whole body into him, knowing it would take a lot to get him down. His eyes rounded and his arms flailed, trying to catch his balance. He didn’t. He sprawled into the brush just like I had. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
I spun on my heel and turned. I wanted to be long gone before Zeke got to his feet. A loud growl rose up behind me and I turned just in time to see a black mass barrel into him.
Holy—.
Zeke went flying. The black mass landed on top of him. “If you ever touch her—”
The mass, which I could clearly see now was a person rearing back to punch someone trembled with anger. A sense of calm swept over me. “Stop!” I called out.
The figure turned. Stephan.
Chapter Fourteen
Tears threatened my eyes at the same time relief poured through me. “Don’t,” I said, shaking my head. “He’s not worth it.”
He took what I said to heart. Stephan got off him, then pulled Zeke to his feet by his collar. Then, with a quick shove, he sent Zeke sprawling backward again. “Leave. Her. Alone.” There was an extra forceful growl punctuating his words.
He had me convinced. I’d never seen such a pure display of alpha male before. Damn. These vampires were fierce. The way he was able to push Zeke with little effort and the big guy went flying. It was something else.
Stephan turned and came over to me, taking my face in his hands. They trembled against my skin. Not out of fear, or chill, but in pure rage. I’d only been that angry once in my life and I could remember it vividly. “Did he hurt you?”
I shook my head. “I’m fine. How are you—?” I peeked behind him, making sure Zeke wasn’t as stupid as I thought he was and try to attack from behind.
“Shh,” he said. “I need to calm down. I’ll get calm, you think of your questions, and then we can talk.” He tipped my chin to force my gaze on him. “He will not hurt you.”
His emerald eyes blazed into mine. I nodded, transfixed by the anger in his usually soft expression. It was a good thing I stopped him from hitting Zeke. His fist would’ve went straight through his skull. I reached up and put my hands over his. “Okay,” I said, smiling for his benefit.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Let’s get out of here. You got everything?”
I checked my sweatshirt pockets. No phone. My keys had somehow tangled in a loose string so they were still there. I looked down at the forest floor. “My phone must’ve fallen out.”
He took his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call it.”
I cringed. “It’s on vibrate, I think.”
He looked at me, his eyes blinking. When I just continued to stare back at him, he said, “Oh, I thought you were joking. Super hearing, remember?”
Right. I needed to get used to things like that. Using his above average hearing abilities, Stephan found my found about the place where my back hit the rock earlier. While he bent over, I looked toward the area I’d seen Zeke last. He wasn’t there. Not that I could blame him. Stephan was intense, and the weird thing was, he was the last of the Ravanas I would’ve thought capable of such a thing. Like Nicolai’s name for him in my phone, he was a healer. He didn’t inflict damage, he took it away.
Stephan entwined his fingers with mine and we walked back up the path. Ryan stood on the outskirts of the circle the trainees had made around the bonfire. He gave Stephan a nod and we walked up to him. “Thank you,” Stephan told him.
Ryan looked from him to me, then down to our entwined hands, and then up again. He nodded again. Though he didn’t say anything, it was evident there was nothing but respect in his gaze.
Stephan pulled me away, but I hung back. “I need to tell who I came with that I’m leaving. I don’t want them to worry.”
Stephan’s eyes traveled around the other trainees. Others had noticed us and were staring, but I didn’t see the girls or Evan. Stephan took a step back and faced Ryan again. “Can you do one more thing for me tonight? Please tell…”
Stephan looked at me, his eyebrows raised, expectant. “I came with Shannon, Liv, and Evan.”
Stephan’s hand tightened around mine when I said Evan’s name. He didn’t so much as flinch as he addressed Ryan again. “Please tell them I am taking Ariana back to The Fort.”
“Will do,” Ryan said. He turned around and sauntered into the crowd with that easy gait that all vampires had. It almost looked as if they were floating over the ground, not actually walking.
This time when Stephan led me away from the bonfire and back up the path to the parking area, I let him. I stayed close, leaning on his arm. Not so much for support, even though my back was killing me, but for comfort. Stephan was here, and I’d missed them so much. He stroked my hair as he walked me past the other cars and to a sleek, silver Audi that was haphazardly parked, blocking the entrance and exit to the makeshift lot. He opened the door and I got in. Like his brother, he pulled the seatbelt around me and made sure it locked into place. His hands lingered by my side, then he crouched down so we were face-to-face. He swallowed. “I hope I didn’t scare you back there. Sometimes it’s hard to control my anger. Especially—” His jaw worked. “Especially…”
He trailed off and I put my hand on his. “It’s okay. I get it.” I could imagine if our situations were reversed and I’d seen him in trouble. All the training at The Fort would’ve kicked in immediately. “Are
you really taking me back to The Fort?” I asked.
His brows furrowed. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I just…,” I said, looking down into my lap. “Last time they said nasty things about us.”
Below my hand, his fingers went rigid as they dug into the leather seats. “Which is the reason you were in this mess tonight.” I tried to shake my head, but he wasn’t having it. “Don’t try to deny it, Ariana. Ryan told me what that trainee brought him there to do.”
“How did you—?”
“I was already on my way back to you.” He sat on the lip where the car door rested when it was closed and looked at me. “I told the rest of them my suspicions about the photo you shared with us. They all agreed I should come back early to check it out even though they all wanted to. The only reason why I got to do it is because of my caring abilities. I was already halfway here when I got the photo you shared with you and your friends. I thought maybe I’d been too hasty. Then not twenty minutes later did I get a text from Ryan saying what was happening.”
“So that’s what he was doing?”
His usually smooth forehead wrinkled with confusion. “Ryan? Yes, he texted me that the trainee convinced him you were into blood letting, but when he could tell you weren’t, he let me know right away.”
“I understand now. When Ze—the other trainee had me down, I saw Ryan on his phone and I didn’t understand what he could possibly be doing.”
Stephan’s eyes glazed over and he stood, fists at his sides. His hands clenched and reclenched. “He was just on his phone while you were being attacked?”
Stephan stepped away from the car and I went to follow him, but the seatbelt held me back. Stupid thing! “Stephan!” I called out. He was already five paces back across the parking lot. Damn. They were so fast. “Please come back,” I urged. “I haven’t seen you in almost a week. I want to get out of here. Please.”
My whining voice was on, but if it would stop Stephan from getting into a second fight today, I was okay with that.
It worked. He stilled and then strode back to me. His finger traced a line from my ear to my chin. “You’re right. I need to get out of here before I do something stupid.”
I leaned away as Stephan closed the door. He was opening his door and sitting within a second after. I barely had time to blink. “Are we going back to The Fort?” I asked again. I didn’t really want to. Not right away anyway. The events of the night were starting to sink in and I trembled a little. There was a lot I still didn’t understand about this world, and I was afraid I’d never fit in.
“I have a place we can go,” he said. He pulled out onto the road. It was dark and eerie outside, and every time I looked outside the car, I thought I saw Ryan’s yellow eyes coming to prove how much of a vamp whore I was. I shivered and Stephan put his hand on mine. “It won’t take long.”
He was right. Within a few minutes, we were pulling up to a black metal gate much like the one at The Fort and Stephan was punching in a code. I didn’t say anything as he drove up the circular driveway and up to an enormous brick house. “What is this place?”
He unclicked his seatbelt and leaned over me to look up at the place. “This is where my parents stay when we’re at school.”
“It’s your house?” I asked. “Then why aren’t you guys staying here now?”
Stephan shrugged. “Our parents weren’t exactly on board with what we were doing so they made a compromise. We had to stay at The Fort house while we watched over your training.” He reached up and picked a dry leaf out of my hair. “We’ll be safe here.”
I nodded, my throat dry as Stephan got out of the car and came around my side to get me out. We walked up the stone walkway and to the large door. Stephan unlocked it with one of the keys from his keychain and ushered me inside. The interior of the brick house took ‘open floor plan’ to a whole other level. “This is…huge,” I said.
Stephan offered a reserved smile. He wasn’t in the mood to be happy yet. “This is nothing compared to our big house.”
My eyes widened as I looked at him, trying to gauge his seriousness. He was, in fact, very serious. The big house must be a mansion…or a castle. Maybe it had a moat like the movies on TV. Wasn’t that a vampire thing?
He pulled me in and set me down on the couch. “The guys and I wanted to stay here, but it wouldn’t fly. We come here every so often. Speaking of—” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and grimaced down at the screen. “They’ve been blowing up my phone asking if you’re okay. You should call them.”
“Me?” I squeaked.
“They’re not going to take it from me,” Stephan said. “They’re going to want to talk to you anyway. Might as well get it over with.”
“What am I going to tell them?”
“The truth.”
My heart slammed inside my chest. The truth? If I did that, all the Ravanas would be here as fast as they could. What about Ryan? And Zeke? Not that I should care what happened to him, but I knew his actions were based out of fear. I’d rather prove him right than wrong. I wanted to kick his ass at the final course run. “I don’t know…”
Stephan sat next to me on the couch. “You have to tell them something. We have to tell them something. I wouldn’t be surprised if they already didn’t jump in a car and are on their way here. My dad will blow a gasket, but it wouldn’t matter. That’s how much we care for you, Ariana. They deserve the truth.”
I took a deep, steadying breath. He was right. I just hoped I could convince them not to do anything. I’d done it with Stephan, hadn’t I? I could do it again. “Will you stay with me while I do it?”
His hands weaved through my hair and came to rest at the back of my neck. “I’m not leaving you.”
I nodded, the intensity of his words not lost on me. They would probably all be beating themselves up about leaving me, making it their fault that something happened while they were gone. “Okay.” I slipped my phone out of my sweatshirt pocket and called Christian. He answered immediately. “Are you okay?”
I swallowed. “Are the others there? Can you put me on speaker please?”
Stephan moved behind me on the couch, straddling me. I moved up a little to accommodate him. From behind, he unzipped my sweatshirt and worked it off my shoulders and down and then pulled it off my arms one-by-one.
“You’re on speaker,” Christian said. “We’re all here. Well, except Stephan. He’s with you, right?”
“He’s right here.” I pulled the phone away from my ear and pressed the screen above the word speaker. “He can hear you.”
“I’m here,” Stephan said gruffly. He pulled his slim, soft fingers through my hair and started a pile beside us on the couch with leaves and twigs. I mentally cringed. I probably looked awful when he first saw me. Not how I wanted their homecoming to be.
“Tell us what happened,” Nic demanded.
Stephan pulled me back to him, his lips just barely grazing my ear. “I told you,” he whispered.
“Are you okay?” Connor asked.
“I am,” I said. Three audible sighs of relief came through the phone’s speaker.
“What were the red marks on your neck?” Nic asked, his voice stern.
Stephan pulled me tighter. Maybe in response to my trembling, maybe because he wanted to whisper in my ear again. “He can’t believe he didn’t notice them himself. They all can’t.” Louder, he said, “I haven’t gotten that out of her yet, though, I can tell you right now…” Stephan pulled my hair aside. His next words came out through clenched teeth. “They look like finger marks.” I tried to wrestle away from Stephan, but his grip was like a vice. “Shh,” he whispered again. “They need to know.”
All at once, Nic, Connor, and Christian started to talk in varying degrees of hostility. Finally, Christian told them all to shut up. “Finger marks?” he questioned. “Someone tried to…choke you?”
I nodded, not able to form the words. Stephan tensed behind me. “She just nodded.”
&
nbsp; “I’ll kill them,” Nic seethed.
“Get in line,” Connor said.
Christian was abnormally quiet.
“Hate to break it to you, but there’s something more,” Stephan said. He rubbed his hands up and down my bare arms, his chin resting atop my shoulder. His lips grazed my neck, making every last bad memory of that area of my body float away. They were all silent, waiting for Stephan to speak. Even me, I was rigid, waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Our buddy Ryan Pavone called me on my way here. It seems he got a call from another trainee for a sure BL. He wanted me to know right away after Ariana made it clear she wasn’t into it that it wasn’t his fault.”
My mind struggled to keep up with what Stephan said. It took an abnormal amount of time to realize that BL stood for blood letting.
“He didn’t,” Nic growled.
“Calm down,” Connor said.
“The hell I will.”
“He didn’t,” I said immediately. “I stomped on his foot and pushed him away. He got the message after that.”
“That’s my girl,” Connor said.
“Believe it or not, that’s not the real problem,” Stephan said. “The problem is Ariana’s being targeted by another trainee. They were fighting when I got there and if she hadn’t told me to stop, I probably would’ve taken his head off.”
So my instincts were correct. The dark vamp side of Stephan had definitely come out. I eased back into him, trying to calm him again. Just talking about it made him tense. It was almost as if I could feel the anger coursing through him. I rubbed his knee that was next to mine and snuggled back into his chest. It seemed to work. He relaxed into my touch and for the first time in almost a week, I felt whole again. Well, almost whole. It helped that the other three parts of me were on the phone.
“We did this to her,” Christian said, finally speaking.
“I knew he would say that,” I whispered to Stephan.
He nodded into my hair. “You’re very perceptive.”