by G. K. DeRosa
I smushed down the unwanted sensations and focused on the music blasting from the bar, Fang You. “Original,” I mumbled as I scanned the neon lights.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never been to the greatest bar this side of the Royal lands?”
“No, I don’t hang out with fangers for fun.”
“Maybe that’s why you’re not having any fun, Red.” He weaved his arm through mine and before I could pull away, he whispered in my ear, “Remember, you have to play the part.” The amusement in his tone made me want to throat punch him. Then I reminded myself this was a mission, and if I wanted to take down Ronin, Ransom was my way in. That sneaky bastard had played me like a violin when he pulled the Ronin card.
So instead of pulling away, I leaned closer, despite every nerve in my body going haywire. The odd push and pull that consumed me around Ransom was enough to drive me insane. It was like my body was equally attracted and repelled by his, though I’d never in a million years admit the former.
Ransom sauntered up to the bouncer and flashed him a smile. “Evening, Mace. I’ll take my usual table on the second floor.”
“Of course, Mr. De La Sangue. Long time no see, I’m happy you’ve returned.” He bent at the waist before unfastening the velvet rope and ushering us inside.
Mr. De La Sangue? Seriously? It suddenly occurred to me that this was likely the first time in a while that he’d been able to walk freely through Nocturnis. With the warrant out after his escape, he must’ve been laying low for a while.
We followed a cocktail waitress down a dim corridor that opened into a massive atrium. This was nothing like the bars back in Marlwoods. It looked more like a nightclub on steroids. A huge bar encircled the space, scantily clad human women sitting atop the sleek countertops. Vampires drank directly from their neck, wrist, thighs… everywhere.
In the center of the chamber, human males and females danced atop podiums, their perfect bodies gyrating to the music. Vampires hovered around them, fangs extended and begging for a taste.
“Mother fanger…” I rasped out. My head felt like it was on a swivel as my eyes bounced from corner to corner.
“Before you say anything judgy, Red, all of these humans are here of their own will. They make a pretty penny feeding the clientele.”
“Sure.” I crossed my arms over my chest as we snaked through the hordes of immortal patrons. How desperate could one get to agree to this sort of thing? Then my mind flickered back to Ransom’s blood and the amazing high. Maybe this addiction went both ways.
The booming music simmered a notch as we reached the second floor, and the waitress motioned at a glass table along the outer edge which overlooked the sprawling hall below.
“This okay, Mr. De La Sangue?”
“Just perfect,” he purred, and the girl scampered away.
I eyed the table and frowned. “There’s only one chair.”
Ransom’s arm wrapped around my waist, and he dropped down, tugging me into his lap.
“Hell no!” I hissed as I struggled to break free from his unrelenting hold.
His nose drifted over the shell of my ear, and his warm breath sent a wave of goose bumps prickling down my arm. “Uh, uh, uh, Red. You’re a bloodwhore, remember? Fulfilling my every wish should be your ultimate desire. And right now, I want you in my lap.”
“I hate you,” I gritted out through clenched teeth.
“Careful.” He pointed at his ear. “Vampire hearing, remember?”
I forced my lips to part, but it came out more of a sneer than a smile, which of course sent the incredibly maddening vampire into a fit of laughter. He nuzzled my neck, and my fingers wrapped around the arm rests. “Don’t look now but one of Ronin’s men is at the table across from us. He hasn’t been able to keep his eyes off you since we sat down. I can barely blame him.”
My heartrate spiked. For gods’ stakes, I was completely off my game. Ransom was such a distraction, I couldn’t even focus. I should’ve recognized the male as soon as we walked in. My mind flipped back to the last assembly with River and the images of Ronin’s higher ups.
“That’s Jekyll, right?” I whispered.
He slowly nodded. “Very good, Red. I see you’ve done your homework. He’s one of Ronin’s direct progeny in fact.”
Which meant he was strong. Ronin wasn’t a direct descendent of the queen, but he was only one line down. Plus, he was old AF, which made him powerful AF.
Ransom trailed his nose down my neck, and I sucked in a breath as more goose bumps exploded across my flesh. I shifted uncomfortably in his lap.
“Careful, Red. Though I can’t have children of my own, I love to practice.”
“Ugh,” I hissed.
He snagged my chin between his thumb and index finger and forced my eyes to his. Those dark pools sucked me in, and my breaths became uneven. He inched closer so that our noses almost touched, our lips a heartbeat away. “Listen,” he whispered so softly I had to watch his lips to make out the words. “I’m going to bite you now because Jekyll is walking this way.”
“So?” I squeaked. The last thing I needed right now was to lose myself in vampire venom. I’d only been bitten a handful of times over the years, but somehow, I knew Ransom’s bite would be ten times bett—worse than the others.
“He needs to know you’re mine,” he growled.
Vampires and their macho chauvinistic ways. They were no better than the wolves. For two supernatural species that hated each other so much, they were surprisingly similar.
“Fine,” I grated out, “but make it quick.”
“Oh, Red, I love it when you talk dirty.” He released my chin, and his head dipped. My heart felt like a battering ram against my ribcage. One more mad flutter and my bones would crack. I was certain of it.
His breath flitted over the flesh along my collarbone. “Any preferences where?” His words came out huskier than normal.
I was about to say my ass, but I thought better of it. “Just do it,” I muttered as Jekyll’s dark gaze locked on mine.
I quickly averted my eyes and dug my fingers through Ransom’s midnight hair, the bluish hue alive beneath the lights.
His incisors scraped the sensitive skin on my neck, and my body tensed, every muscle going taut. “Relax, I promise it won’t hurt.” He dragged his tongue over my flesh, and a different kind of tension rushed to the tips of my toes. Then a slight tug, and a faint slurp. I glanced down at the back of his head from the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t see his face. I hadn’t felt a thing.
Then it hit me.
My head swam, the bar blurring across my vision in a sea of bright lights and writhing bodies. Fire coursed through my veins, energy spiking every nerve ending. It was like when I’d had his blood, only a thousand times more acute, more primal, more raw. Just more.
I drew in a ragged breath as he released me, his eyes meeting mine. Then my gaze fell to the deep crimson drop of my blood on his lip. I had the most overwhelming urge to capture that lip.
Instead, I chomped down on my tongue until I tasted my own blood. Son of a fanger! The venomous haze lifted, and I focused on the approaching footsteps behind my back.
“She looks tasty that one.” The male’s voice raised the hairs on my arms, and something stirred deep within my core.
Ransom released me from his dark gaze and shifted me so I sat on one leg facing Jekyll. “She is.” His tongue darted out, licking the lingering droplet from his lip.
“Care to share?”
His hold around my waist tightened. “She’s mine,” he growled.
An unexpected rush of desire unfurled low in my core at his words. Gritting my teeth, I tamped down on the venom-induced lusty swirl.
Jekyll pressed his arms against his chest, highlighting thick biceps and forearms covered in winding tattoos. He cocked his head and a stream of fluorescent light lit up his neck along with a familiar tattoo. It was an exact match to Ronin’s—I’d never forget the black swirls and crosses inked across his
cheek.
“Ransom, right?” he finally gritted out.
“Depends who’s asking.” His bottomless irises twinkled as he glanced up at the big vampire.
“The name’s Jekyll, but perhaps you know my associate, the king, Ronin.”
An unexpected growl vibrated in the depths of my gut. Wolfy?
“Nope, doesn’t sound familiar.” A devious grin pulled at his lips, and I forced my eyes away from his mouth.
The male scowled, and his fangs lengthened. “It would do you well to learn the name. You young vampires are all so cocky. You think you can walk into a place like this and insult your elders?”
Ransom scooted out from under me and plopped me down on the chair. Rising to his tiptoes, he got in the beefy vampire’s face. “Last I heard, vampire law still held no matter how old you or your Ronin friend are.” He spun around and cupped my cheek, running his thumb across my skin and down my neck to the tiny pin pricks before turning back to Jekyll. “And she is mine.”
“I’m asking you to reconsider,” he went on. His nostrils flared as he eyed the mark on my neck. “I’ve never smelled anything quite like her.”
Ransom’s finger jabbed into the man’s barrel chest. “Which is exactly why I’m not sharing.”
Jekyll’s tongue darted out and ran over his thinned lips. “Not a smart move, Ransom. You’ll find Ronin is not a man to make an enemy of.”
“Well, if he wants to make friends, by all means send him over.”
My heart leapt up my throat, and my flesh prickled. I glanced at the table from which Jekyll had appeared but only a group of females sat huddled in the VIP area. He had to be nearby. My hand moved down to my thigh, my fingers a few inches away from the stake, and my gaze landed on the auburn fur sprouting up my forearm.
Mother shifter! Was I actually shifting?
Jekyll grunted, diverting my attention. “Maybe another night. I assure you he won’t be pleased by your lack of hospitality.” His hungry gaze raked over me.
“What can I say? I’m an only child, and I don’t like to share.” Ransom reached for my hand and tugged me up to stand beside him. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll be taking my date for the evening to a private chamber. There are other things I’d like to do with her without you fang-screwing her from across the room.”
He let out a muffled growl as Ransom barreled his way past, tugging me along behind him. My vampire escort weaved his way through the VIP area to a metal door at the back corner.
A scantily clad female shot him a smile as we approached. “So nice to see you again, Mr. De La Sangue.” Her gaze landed on me, and disappointment twisted her heart-shaped face. “I see you’ve already brought your entertainment for the evening.”
“That I have, Mixie. And believe me, she’s a barrel of laughs, don’t let that sour pucker fool you.”
I suppressed the urge to growl at him and forced my lips into a smile, casting a quick glance at my arm. The splotch of auburn fur was gone. Was I losing my mind—had I imagined it?
“Perhaps you’d like to add a third to the party? A tasty human girl, perhaps?”
I skewered Ransom with a narrowed glare.
“No, she’s all the female I can handle for tonight.” He leaned in and brushed his lips over her cheek and the young human girl beamed, her skin flaming red.
She opened the door and led us through a candlelit hallway. Faint groans and sighs filtered down the dim passageway. “I have your favorite room available,” she said as she stopped at the last door on the right.
“Perfect, Mixie. Thank you.”
Ransom ushered me inside the large chamber, and my eyes widened as I took in the space. A lavish canopied bed with gleaming mahogany bedposts sat in the center, the glow from the dozens of candles encircling the room giving warmth to the large area. It was nothing like what I’d expected from a hidden skeevy sex room in a bar.
“So your favorite room, huh?” I arched a brow at Ransom as he settled down on the bed.
He shrugged. “Mixie exaggerates. I haven’t been here all that many times.”
“I bet,” I muttered, wrapping my arms across my chest. “So now what? Why did you bring me in here?”
“Why to ravish you of course.” He shot me a wink, revealing that ridiculously attractive dimple.
I shook my head, throwing him a good eyeroll. “I thought the whole point was to make Ronin come to you. How is he going to find you in here?”
“Come on, Red, give me some credit. I told Jekyll exactly where we were going, didn’t I?” He crossed his leg over his knee and sank deeper into the mattress. “This way when he approaches us, we’ll have a little privacy.”
“Fine,” I gritted out. “I just hope your stupid plan works.” I tugged at the hem of my leather skirt, hoping it would magically grow a few inches.
“Relax, sit. Your fidgeting isn’t going to make him come any faster.” He eyed my cleavage as I struggled with the skirt. “Actually, it might if you keep wiggling like that.”
I shot him the middle finger and marched to the farthest corner of the room. Gods, I was never going to survive this. I just hoped we got this over with as quickly as possible. Once Ransom had infiltrated the Children of the Night, my vamp babysitting duty would come to an end. Then I could focus on my wolf. The problem was the only time I felt her was when I was with said vampire. I lifted my gaze to his. What was it about him that dragged my wolf up from the darkest depths?
Chapter
Twenty
Phoenix
* * *
“Why do you hate vampires so much?”
Ransom’s question startled me. It had been a long time since I’d told anyone my story, and there was no way I was starting now, in the middle of an op, with a vampire I loathed. “Because you all suck.” I shot him an overly exaggerated wink.
“Ah, you can be funny. Who knew, Red?”
“How’d you become a vampire?” I countered.
His expression shuttered, the easy smile vanished, the teasing gleam in his eyes sucked into a vacuum of black.
I almost took the question back when the silence lingered to uncomfortable levels.
“I died,” he finally muttered.
“So it wasn’t your choice to be brought back?”
He shook his head. “Not quite.”
“That’s why I hate vampires. Being immortal makes you think you’re better, superior to the rest of us. You make choices about taking and giving life with as little regard as I choose the flavor of my latte.”
“Like everything in life, Red, it’s not that easy.”
I leaned against the wall and grunted. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
In the space of a heartbeat, Ransom was in my face, his minty fresh breath ghosting over my lips. “And you sicari are all the same.” He jabbed his finger into my chest, just below the cross that dangled from my necklace. A faint growl reverberated in my throat at his touch. “You think because you’ve been trained your whole life to kill vampires that we’re all the same. You categorize us all in a big lump of evil bloodsuckers, right? Because it helps you sleep at night. Never mind that some of us had lives before this…” His words trailed away, and he spun around before I could open my mouth. “Someone’s coming,” he hissed.
I pulled my skirt further down, hoping it concealed the pointy end of my stake and moved toward the bed.
Ransom tugged my hand, and I sat beside him, begrudgingly, as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. My eyes dipped to his fingers entwined with mine and landed on a loop of crescents around his ring finger. They were faded, but still visible. I barely suppressed a gasp. Not only was Ransom a wolf, but he’d also been mated. Which meant he couldn’t be—
“Time to kick up those acting skills a notch, Red,” he whispered in my ear, jerking me from my musings.
I covered up the unease roiling through my gut with a snarl and draped my legs over his. Leaning closer, I hissed, “Better?”
“Much.”
/>
The door whipped open, and Jekyll’s imposing frame blocked the entry. Two more vamps stood behind him, but even over his broad shoulders I could already tell neither was Ronin. Dammit.
“I told Mixie I wasn’t interested in a threesome,” Ransom barked.
“Just as well. I’ll simply take that tasty little bloodwhore off your hands then.”
Ransom picked me up off his lap and dropped me onto the mattress. A little too roughly.
Then he glared at the male. “Doesn’t a claiming mean anything to you?”
“No,” he barked. “Those are the old ways, and the Children of the Night are the future of Nocturnis. Everyone deserves a chance at blood, fresh from the source. With fewer willing participants, that means we share, serviles and Royals alike.”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of that.” Ransom’s fangs lengthened, and he swept his tongue across the pointy ends.
“Perhaps it’s time you open your eyes to the merits of a new vampire society.”
Ransom tsked. “You know, I’m kind of happy with the way things are. I’m technically a vampire prince. You do know my sire is Queen Carmen Rosa, correct?”
I threw the cocky vampire a sidelong glance. What was he doing? He was supposed to be trying to get into their circle, not insult them.
“I can smell the queen on you.” Jekyll’s nostrils flared, then he ticked his head at me. “But her intoxicating scent is all I care about right now.”
Ransom rose and sauntered toward the massive vampire enforcer. “You’re starting to get on my nerves, Jerkyll. All I wanted was a quiet evening with my lady here, and now you’ve interrupted us twice.”
Ignoring Ransom’s jibe at his name, the male stepped into the room and the other two fangers trailed behind. “I’m giving you one last chance to give me the girl and not only earn my favor, but also Ronin’s.”
“Or what?” Ransom flashed him a row of gleaming teeth.
“Or you won’t leave this room alive.”
“I like my odds.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “Just give me a second with the girl if you don’t mind.” He whirled back to the bed and pressed his lips against mine, mumbling, “Don’t blow your cover unless you have to.”