He made a sound in his throat that might have been a laugh. “Historically, they follow money and blood. Since they have been running out of both lately, they’ve been siding with the Valarian, who will supply it to them. With a price.”
“And that price is?”
“Helping to enslave humans, and never, ever let the Gregorie clan gain the Sanguivita.”
I pointed a thumb at myself, and tried to control the trembles. “That’s me.” My voice shook slightly.
He caught it, because his eyes dipped to my hand. “That’s you.”
I clasped my hands together to cover my visible nerves. “And if they get me, what will they do to me?”
A muscle in Athan’s jaw twitched. “They could kill you immediately, but most likely they will take you to the Valarian stronghold and keep you there to test your blood.”
“That sounds bad.”
“It will not be pleasant, no.” He sounded so matter-of-fact.
“So now that you have me, what will you do with me?”
“We will go to the Gregorie home located past the Mission Woods.”
That was miles and miles outside the city, in what was considered protected land. “Who lives there?”
“The immediate ruling family. And our guard and soldiers. It’s our home base where we train our soldiers, who live in barracks on the compound. That’s where you’ll meet Idris. You’ll be protected and well taken care of.” His voice was firm, like he wanted me to understand this was the best alternative I had.
“And if I refused?”
He was quiet for a moment. “There’s nowhere for you to go. The Valarian and Quellen know you exist, and as long as you are alive and not bitten by a Gregorie, they will seek to kill you.”
Fucking great. “So what’s the plan? Why can’t we just…drive to wherever we have to go?”
He tugged on his ear before clasping his hands over his ripped stomach. The man had abs on top of abs. Damn vampires. “A car is an easy target. I don’t trust it. We’re better off on foot underground until we reach the end of the city and get into the Mission Woods. More ways to hide and harder to detect us.”
“So the Quellen and Valarian can’t get us down here?”
He shook his head. “Underground in Mission is Gregorie territory. Our home base is the undeveloped area outside the city. Valarians have safe houses above ground here.”
I gulped my coffee now, and set down the mug, my stomach unsettled. I had gone from being completely self-sufficient to relying on this man to keep me alive. “Look, I have to admit, I’m trying to adjust to this news, but it’s hard.”
Athan stood up slowly, and I peered up at him as his frame towered over me. He had to be at least six-six or six-seven. His jaw worked, before he spoke slowly. “This is new for me, too.”
“Are you around humans much?”
He shrugged. “To feed, but other than that, no.” He jerked a thumb at the closed bedroom door. “Zeb loves human women.”
Loves them? “Like, loves to eat them?”
Athan’s eyes bulged. “Tendra, we don’t eat humans.”
“Drink! Drink from them.”
“Oh, he likes that, too, but mostly he likes to fuck them.”
Athan looked away, and I studied his profile. His straight nose and full lips. What would he look like when he was aroused? When he was…fucking? Maybe it was my delirium because I found myself asking, “Do you?”
He turned to me. “Do I what?”
“Do you like to fuck human women?”
He didn’t speak for a solid thirty seconds, and those dark eyes bored into me. His chest heaved, his breath leaving in a gust, as his fingers tightened and then relaxed at his sides. My blood was heating up on the inside, the warmth pooling in my belly. I gripped the sheets tightly because despite everything, my body was drifting toward him, like I was a ship on the tide and he was the shore. When Athan spoke again, his voice was somewhat garbled. “Sometimes.”
With that one word, he left the room in two strides and shut the door behind him. I slumped forward, breathing hard. A headache bloomed in the center of my forehead, and I rubbed it. What the fuck was that? Why was I so drawn to Athan? I was going to have to ask him about that. All I knew was that I had to get control of myself. My sole focus had to be getting out of this city alive.
I slipped my fingers into Brex’s fur as he purred. I wasn’t sure what to think about being given to Idris. My mother had instilled in me a pride in my body, in my femininity, in everything that made me a woman. To be reduced to the blood I was carrying in my veins was dehumanizing and went against everything I valued about myself.
But how could I sit by and allow the Valarians to change the entire future of the human race when I could have done something about it?
My mom’s note proved what Athan was saying. So I had to trust the big vampire and once we reached wherever we were going, I’d continue to fight to be more than my blood. I straightened my spine. That was it. It was my blood. I held the power. If they wanted it, then I’d demand proper treatment.
With a newfound sense of confidence, I climbed out of bed and opened the door. Beyond the living room, Athan and Zeb looked up from where they sat at the kitchen table. Athan’s gaze was heavy on my skin, and Zeb made a whistling sound through his teeth as he took in my bare legs. “Well, ain’t Idris lucky?”
I propped a hand on my hip. “This Idris is lucky because he gets to guzzle my blood. That’s it.”
Zeb slapped his hand on the table and laughed. “Sure, right. That’s all.”
“What’s so funny?”
The man kept laughing before shaking his head and standing up. “You explain, A.”
Athan was quiet for a long time, and I stepped closer. “Athan?”
“Being Sanguivita is more than just giving blood,” he said slowly.
I hesitated. “I need to sleep with him, too?”
Zeb stayed silent, watching us closely.
Athan nodded once. “Yes.”
My jaw dropped. “What the hell—”
“Hey, first of all,” Zeb broke in, “Idris is a good-looking man. He looks like A, so you know he’s fine. Second of all, when he drinks from you, you’re going to be horny as fuck and begging for his dick, I can tell you that.”
I glared at him. “There will be no dick-begging.”
“Uh-huh,” Zeb said. “You tell yourself that.” He sauntered toward me, and the side of his mouth kicked up into a smirk. “You don’t know what it feels like to look into a vampire’s eyes when he’s hungry, to see their eyes go red. You don’t know what that sting does to you when he slices into your veins.” He was close now, leaning over me as he ran a tongue over his upper lip. “As soon as he starts drinking and your body gives up that sweet, red life, you’ll be on fire. You’ll be moaning and panting, begging for him to take you, to fix that pulsing ache between your legs. You’ll be spreading ’em—”
A hand wrapped around Zeb’s throat and his voice cut off when his body was ripped back and slammed onto the kitchen table.
I scrambled out of the way, my back hitting the couch while one pissed-off, hulking Athan bared his fangs in Zeb’s face where he held him down. “This is the Sanguivita, and if I ever hear you talking to her like that again, friends or no, I will mark you. Do you understand me?”
His back heaved with every breath, and the muscles of his biceps bulged. Zeb didn’t struggle, though, he only stared up into Athan’s face. He swallowed beneath the hand squeezing his throat. “I’m sorry, Athan. I forgot myself.”
Athan waited a beat before removing his hand, and Zeb didn’t bother hiding the redness and nail marks in his pale skin. He turned to me, and I braced myself for resentment, or anger, but instead, Zeb’s face was flushed with embarrassment. “Sorry, Sanguivita. I got carried away.”
I didn’t care about Zeb’s words. His ribbing had been nothing compared to what I dealt with on a nightly basis at work. “Yeah, yeah.” I waved a hand at
him. “It’s fine.” Instead, I turned my scorn to Athan. “Was this something you forgot to tell me or conveniently omitted? I thought it was just my blood, now you’re telling me I got to put out?”
Zeb’s eyes bulged, and he covered his mouth. I didn’t miss the way his shoulders shook and eyes crinkled, like he was trying to cover his laugh.
Athan continued that thousand-yard stare. “At the time I didn’t think it was important.”
I marched up to him. “You didn’t think it was important? This is my body. My vagina. It’s kind of important to me what goes in it.”
This time, Zeb lost it, as laughter bubbled up his throat and escaped behind his hand. He doubled over, and Athan growled. “What’s so fucking funny?”
Zeb pointed at me, his eyes wet. “Her! Man, they should have given you some human women training before this shit.”
“What do I need training for—?”
“Can we get back to me, please?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You can trade human stories or whatever anytime. I’d like some more information on what exactly I’m going to do when we reach our destination.”
Athan focused back on me, and his nostrils flared once before his face returned to its impassive default. “Our saliva contains an aphrodisiac. When we drink, we want to fuck, and so will you.”
He said it so matter-of-fact. “I don’t have a choice?”
He frowned at that. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…if I’m influenced by the drug or whatever in your saliva, how is that my choice?”
Athan flicked his eyes at Zeb. “Leave us.”
“Aw, man, this is just getting good—”
“Leave. Us,” Athan said through clenched teeth.
Zeb rolled his eyes. “Fine. I have to go help Zara fix her sink anyway. I’ll be in her place down the hall if you need me.”
I didn’t take my eyes off Athan as Zeb left, closing the door behind him.
Athan gestured to the couch, and I sat down stiffly, unsure what he needed to tell me that couldn’t be said in front of Zeb.
Athan sat on the table in front of me, so close our knees touched. And when he spoke, his voice was softer. “You’re human, and I have to remember that you don’t know our ways, our customs. I didn’t mean to deceive you.” He glanced up, and for the first time, I swore I saw a little bit of warm humanity in his eyes.
I swallowed. “Thanks for saying that.”
He started to reach for my hand, paused, then grasped it. I didn’t want to think about how affected I was by his touch, the way my skin soaked him in. “I forget how much humans love their free will. Their choices. As vampires, those are luxuries. We have to drink blood to live, hide our existence from humans, and protect our clans. We are often assigned jobs at birth, and that is what we do. No questions asked. Remember what I said about duty?”
I nodded.
He leaned closer. “This is my duty, and unfortunately, this is yours. I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry that you can’t find a man of your choosing to marry and have babies or whatever you wanted to do. I wish I could give that to you, Tendra. But I can’t. All I can tell you is that Idris is a good man. He’ll treat you well. You can say no but from experience…you most likely won’t. That’s one evolutionary advantage we have that enables us to get the blood we need. It’s pleasurable for humans to give it to us. Do you understand?”
Tears pricked my eyes, and I took several shuddery breaths. I ran the words he said through my head again. It wasn’t what he said. It was that he said it. He could have drugged me again until I passed out and dragged me home. Instead, he took the time to explain it all to me. And though my purpose in life now wasn’t ideal, at least I had Athan, who seemed to understand how hard this was.
He was a vampire, and he’d just communicated and empathized with me better than most humans. I placed my other hand on top of his. “Thank you. For taking the time to explain that to me.”
Those dark eyes studied my face. The silence stretched between us, and I started to get uncomfortable. I shifted in my seat and nibbled my lips. His gaze dipped to my mouth, and the smallest rings of red appeared around the outsides of his eyes. Again, my belly warmed, and I squirmed, releasing a shaky breath.
He blinked and jumped to his feet, breaking all connection between us. He walked away, his back to me, hand running through his hair. Finally he turned to me, all traces of Warm Athan gone. He jerked his head toward the bedroom. “Pack up, we need to get moving soon.”
Right. This wasn’t the time to get all moony over Athan’s biceps and dark eyes. This was about staying alive. About keeping my blood inside my body so I could be fed from and fucked.
That was my place. My duty. I couldn’t forget that.
Chapter 5
Athan
I knew what coffee was, but I’d never smelled it before. Tendra insisted she needed some before we left. She begged Zeb until he pulled a dark powder out of his cabinet that he said he kept for his “human friends.” Ten grumbled about “instant crap” but dutifully sat on the couch and sipped the hot liquid with exaggerated happy sighs. She’d pulled her hair into a messy knot on top of her head, and changed into a pair of jeans, a tight T-shirt, and flat sneakers. She’d put on her makeup, too, insisting her sharp-winged eyeliner gave her courage.
I wrinkled my nose at the scent coming from her drink. “Smells bitter.”
“It is.” She peered at me over the rim while Brex purred on her lap.
“Why do you drink that stuff?”
“Why do you drink blood?”
I frowned. “I need it to survive.”
“When you’re tired and feeling weak, does blood make you feel all energized again?”
“Yes.”
She pointed to her mug. “That’s coffee for me.”
I raised my eyebrows, because this wasn’t something I was aware of. “You need coffee to survive?”
She nodded solemnly.
“Really?”
“Okay so I don’t exactly need it.” She waffled her hand. “But trust me that you don’t want to be around me when I haven’t had my coffee.”
“Ah, well, you might want to start weaning yourself. Coffee isn’t exactly readily available to vampires.”
She glared. “Will you just let me enjoy this in peace before we’re on the run?”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “We leave in a half hour.”
She squinted at me, and damn if it wasn’t cute. “Fine.”
“Fine.”
She turned away from me with a dismissed huff. Which, again, was kind of cute. I would have stayed sitting there while she ignored me just to be annoying, but I had a call to make.
I retreated to Zeb’s room and tapped my phone on my palm. I wasn’t quite feeling like myself. Tendra was throwing me off and if we were going to get to the Gregorie household alive, then I needed to get my shit together. With a heavy sigh, I scrolled through my contacts and hit Call. The phone rang once before he answered. “Brother.”
“Idris,” I said. “I have her.”
There was a pause. “Any problems?”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m calling. We’re both fine. We’re at Zeb’s, but the Valarians have hired some Quellen.”
Idris, ever the soldier, immediately went into tactical mode. “How many?”
“I’m not sure. They found us in the apartment where I’d been staying, and we got away, but Tendra said they saw us.”
“Tendra?”
My brother was fucking clueless sometimes. He had a whole dossier on Tendra. Did he read it? “Tendra, you dumbass. Your future wife? Sanguivita?”
“Oh.”
I gritted my teeth, irritation flaring. “She’s fine, by the way. Nice of you to ask.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
I didn’t know. I didn’t know at all. I blew out a breath and rubbed my forehead. “Nothing.”
“Are you worried about making it home?”
Was I worrie
d about making it home or was I worried because Tendra had managed to get under my skin in less than twenty-four hours? I ran my fingers over my lips. “No, I’m not worried. I can handle it. It’ll just take longer.”
“You can always put her out and carry her if she gives you trouble.”
I stifled the growl in my throat, not wanting Idris to get the impression that I was growing fond of her. “It’ll be fine. We’ll travel underground until we get outside the city. This might be good for her anyway. She’ll get to see how the Gregorie live, how we interact with humans. So she understands how important this is.”
Idris was quiet for a moment. “Yes, I guess that’s a good thing.”
I didn’t give him the chance to say anything else that would anger me. He hadn’t met her, and he was as clueless about humans as I was. If the roles were reversed, I’d have the same attitude as he did.
He would change once he met Tendra. He had to. It was impossible not to be fond of her, not to admire the way she faced everything head-on. I cleared my throat. “I’ll be in touch. Keep your ear to the ground and let me know if you hear anything about the Valarians.”
He was all soldier now. “Of course. You’ll be the first to know. Stay safe. Protect Tendra at all costs and get her to me safely.”
Right, I was delivering her to my brother. That was my mission. Focus, Athan. I swallowed. “I will, brother.”
“You, too,” he said quieter. “You come home safe, too.”
I closed my eyes, the rare affection in his tone squeezing my heart. “Of course.”
The phone call disconnected and I stood like that for a long time, hearing my brother’s voice ringing in my ear. We’d been brought up very differently, as we’d been told at birth we had separate but very important futures. We were born to our vampire king and his human queen, so we lived as dhampirs until adulthood, when we were turned by our father. While Idris and I had never been very close, we’d shared an undeniable connection, a bond that had never been broken.
I intended to keep it that way, by bringing him a healthy Tendra Parrish.
Why did that make my gut twist?
I ignored the feeling and went to join Zeb in a small room at the back of his apartment. He sat on a chair, sharpening a knife, and nodded at me as I walked in. Zeb had also been born a dhampir and turned at adulthood like I was. It wasn’t uncommon for vampires to mate with humans—and it was often up to the child whether they would live as human or be turned. His human mother was a distant friend of my mother’s, and so we’d both been educated at the Gregorie home by tutors. Zeb had received much of the same training as I did, which was why we were so close. While Idris was off preparing to be king, I was sweating in the arena with Zeb while we faced off against each other with knives, our trainer nearby. I didn’t want to be cocky, but I usually won.
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