by G. K. DeRosa
I quickly dipped my head as he pulled back, ignoring the flare of anxiety at his words, along with the thrill of his soft lips against mine.
He spun around and before I blinked, he vamp-sped around Jekyll and got to the fanger at his left. With a quick twist, he snapped the male’s neck.
Jekyll let out a roar and sprung.
As the three males battled it out, my fingers twitched at my side. It would be so easy to grab the stake from my thigh and drive it into Jekyll’s back. He’d never see it coming. Not one of the vampires spared the little bloodwhore a glance as I twiddled my fingers on the bed.
This was ridiculous.
If I killed the other two fangers, what did it matter if my cover was blown? There’d be no one left to tell the tale. I watched as Jekyll landed a fist to Ransom’s gut, and that presence unfurled from deep within my core again. I squirmed as something moved inside me. What the eff?
The fight escalated around me, the two vampires double-teaming Ransom, but somehow, he held his own. I’d always heard how powerful Carmen Rosa’s direct progeny were, but I’d never seen one in action, and now I had a front row view. Chairs and tables were smashed, and dark blurs of destruction whizzed around the room. Snarls and shrieks rang out as Ransom dodged, ducked and spun free of Jekyll’s grasp. His moves weren’t only lightning fast, they were graceful, like a choreographed dance.
But he was cocky, too.
The second vampire got his arm around Ransom’s neck and Jekyll lunged at him with the pointy end of a broken chair leg. I scooted to the edge of the mattress as time slowed. My fingers reached for the stake, freeing it from the holster at my thigh. I jumped up, but somehow Ransom managed to block Jekyll’s blow.
I released a breath and slumped back down on the bed.
Only the other fanger had picked up the makeshift stake after Ransom had wrenched it free from Jekyll’s hold. He buried it into Ransom’s side.
A gasp escaped my clenched lips as he went down.
“Say goodbye to your precious bloodwhore,” Jekyll snarled as he snatched the broken chair leg from his vamp friend. “I hope she was worth it.”
My eyes chased to Ransom’s, and a jagged pain lanced through my chest. “Get out,” he mouthed before flashing me his trademark grin.
And something broke inside me.
Literally.
Bones began to snap, and I dropped to the ground. Tendons lengthened, and fire ripped through my insides. That presence I’d felt in my gut flared, like a dam about to burst. I let out a howl as my face elongated and red fur sprang up across my arms. Holy shift! My wolf.
The vampire holding Ransom eyed me from over his shoulder as I ripped through my clothes and my lupine form emerged. His eyes bugged out as he pointed, drawing Jekyll’s attention.
It was all the distraction Ransom needed. Clutching his wound with one hand, he sprang up and elbowed the fanger in the face. The crunch of bones breaking echoed across the cavernous room.
Jekyll hurtled the makeshift weapon at Ransom, and it whizzed through the air with a deadly whine. My wolf let out a high-pitched howl as everything seemed to move in slow motion again. I watched with my wolfy heart jammed up my throat as Ransom caught the stake with one hand, inches from his heart.
I let out a ragged breath and lunged at Jekyll’s back. My claws dug into his shoulders, and I let instinct take over. He struggled and squirmed beneath me, trying to buck me off, but I only dug my claws deeper into his skin. He let out a screech and slammed me against the wall. Mother fanger! All the air squeezed from my lungs. Baring my teeth, I chomped down on the soft spot between his neck and shoulder.
Warm, thick blood burst in my mouth, and I resisted the urge to gag. Jekyll shrieked and sank down to the floor, clutching his shoulder. Relaxing my jaws, I leapt off him and moved beside the bed. My fangs had torn his shirt, and black veins spiderwebbed across the exposed flesh.
Jekyll’s huge body convulsed, his face contorting into a sick grimace as he stretched out across the floor. His eyes rolled back as the tremors subsided, and then he went still.
Images of that night streaked through my mind. The vampire. The bite. The black veins. It was all happening again.
The weight of a heavy glare bored into the side of my furry face, returning me to the present. I finally cocked my head toward Ransom and the other vampire. Both were staring at the corpse at my feet.
Ransom didn’t miss a beat, taking advantage of the fanger’s distraction and snatched a shard of broken table and rammed it through his back. The bastard barely got a scream out before he shriveled into a pile of sooty ash.
Ransom toed at Jekyll’s body, the dark veins crawling over every inch of it now. He turned his mischievous gaze on me. “Red, have you been holding out on me?”
I huffed out a breath. Circling the dead vampire, the distant memories forced their way to the surface once again. The smell of smoke and singed flesh filled my sensitive nostrils, and darkness edged into the corners of my vision. I was back at High Claw Cliffs. The nine-year-old version of myself inspecting the first vampire I’d ever killed…
* * *
“What are you?” Ronin’s face appeared across my vision. That swirling mark tattooed to his cheek, I’d seen it recently. At Royal Castle. It was the symbol etched into the Royal crest on the chairs in Carmen Rosa’s throne room, the mark of the queen’s inner circle.
I bared my fangs and growled.
“You’re magnificent is what you are.” He dropped to one knee and held out his hand. “Come here, little one. I won’t hurt you.”
Another snarl ripped from my throat. I might’ve been a kid, but I wasn’t stupid.
“Run, Phoenix.” My dad’s faint voice spun me on my heel. His body was stretched out just a few yards away, his hand reaching for me. His voice echoed across my mind. Go, run. Tell no one but Deacon about your wolf. Keep her a secret for as long as you can. You’re special, my girl, just like I always knew. I love you.
His words fell away, leaving me hollow and empty.
The vampire crept closer, and my hackles raised. With another snarl, I spun around and took off into the woods. My new lupine limbs stretched, my muscles burning from the unfamiliar exertion. For a while I felt the vampire at my heels, but the more I ran the faster I got. I weaved through the forest, familiar with the footpaths I’d followed countless times with my parents. When I finally slowed what felt like hours later, nothing but the silence of the forest enveloped me.
I turned back to find Kenna. She was the only one left now.
* * *
“Red?” Ransom’s voice tore me from the past. “Not that I mind this quieter version, but you have some explaining to do.” He ticked his head at Jekyll’s body. “And we have some covering up—” His jaw snapped shut as Mixie appeared in the doorway.
Her eyes bounced from Ransom to me to the corpse and the pile of ash. Her light brows knitted as her gaze skimmed over the dark veins crisscrossing Jekyll’s body. “What in the world?”
Ransom sped across the room and grabbed her, slapping his hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry, Mixie, but you walked into something you never should’ve seen.”
No… I shook my wolfy head as his hands closed around her neck. No! I wanted to scream but only a whine escaped my lupine lips. With a quick twist of powerful fingers, the girl dropped to the floor.
My stomach heaved and liquid fire raced through my veins. The pop-pop of bones and tendons sliding back into place only intensified the nausea clawing its way up my throat. My fur receded, my elongated snout disappearing. A second later, I stood naked and scowling in front of Ransom.
“How could you just kill her?” I screamed, throwing my hands in the air before remembering I was butt naked. I tore the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around myself trying not to think about the dozens of patrons that had used this comforter before me.
“I was protecting you.” His brows furrowed as if he were actually insulted.
“From an
innocent human girl?”
“No one that lives in our world is innocent, Red. It’ll do you well to learn that early on.” He kicked at Jekyll’s body once again. “My guess is that wasn’t the first time you bit a vampire to death?”
I shook my head, hugging the blanket around my middle.
“But it’s not a commonly known fact?”
I shook it again.
“Well, there’s your answer. If Mixie had gotten word back to Ronin of your special werewolf bite, you would’ve been dead before the end of the day.” He grabbed a broken chair leg off the floor and stabbed it into the heart of the vampire with the twisted neck. He did it as easily as if he were skewering a piece of chicken on a fork.
“You could’ve compelled her,” I snapped.
He shrugged. “In case you hadn’t noticed, impulse control isn’t my strong suit. I’m kind of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of guy.”
I hugged my arms around my middle as I stared at the girl’s motionless form. It was my fault she was dead.
“Now, what wolf pack did you say you were from, Red? Because I’ve never heard of any of the packs being able to do that, not even one of the Lunars.”
I shook out my head, blinking quickly to force Mixie’s image from my mind. “My parents were Silverbacks.”
“You’re sure you’re not from one of the sparkly unicorn varieties?”
“Positive.”
“Hmm... Interesting.” He rubbed at his jaw as he regarded me, those eyes penetrating through my flesh and bones.
“So now what?” I eyed Jekyll’s large form. His skin had turned a pale ashen color beneath the dark veins, but his body hadn’t imploded like normal.
Ransom picked up the stake nestled in the pile of the other vampire’s ashes and drove it into Jekyll’s heart. Nothing happened. “Hmm, well that’s interesting too.” He rubbed at his chin then his eyes drifted over my shoulder to the candles on the nightstand. “Guess we have to burn the fanger.” He smirked.
“Don’t steal my word,” I hissed. “What about her?” My heart clenched at the sight of the poor girl.
“Well, we don’t want that fresh blood to go to waste.” He flashed me a grin, showcasing gleaming fangs. “Plus, a vampire going overboard on a bloodwhore isn’t an unusual occurrence in a place like this. Perfect way to explain away the deaths.”
“You’re disgusting.” I turned away as he sank his teeth into her wrist. But I couldn’t block out the sound. While he finished her off, I forced my mind to focus on the most important thing: my wolf had emerged. After years and years of hopelessness, I’d finally shifted. And she was a badass vampire killing beast!
I couldn’t help the tiny smile that curled my lips.
Chapter
Twenty-One
Ransom
* * *
I stared at the fading ring of crescents around my finger and huffed out a breath. Finally, they were disappearing. It had been over a year and a half since I’d died, and I wondered how long the silly mate mark would last. Surely, Destiny had found a new scratching post by now.
I rolled over on the squeaky couch and sighed again. I couldn’t sleep, which was odd. I usually slept like a baby. Something was weighing on me. The reaction I had upon seeing Red’s wolf. Knowing she was a shifter and actually seeing her in lupine form were two completely different animals. No pun intended.
It had been beautiful and heartbreaking all at once.
I massaged the empty void in my chest where my wolf once resided. I could’ve sworn I’d felt something when she’d emerged, but it was impossible. My wolf died that day in the Darklands. Anything I felt were only shadows of my former self, my other half. He was gone.
There was something else bothering me too. I was having a harder time placing this new emotion. It gnawed at my chest, bothersome, but not overly painful. Regret? Guilt? I was a vampire, I had no use for such things. And yet when I’d killed the human girl, I couldn’t get the look of disappointment on Red’s face out of my mind.
I’d done it to save her! Why should I feel guilty?
Did I? I hadn’t felt more than a twinge of guilt since I’d woken up in this new immortal body. Odd. Did I feel bad for killing that human? Maybe a pinch.
I chewed on my lip and my fangs lengthened, nicking my flesh. Running my tongue over the tiny droplet, I smiled. I was delicious. Not quite as spectacular as Red though… That tiny taste at the club had been nowhere near enough.
My brain began to assemble the enigmatic pieces that was the little sicari. How could she belong to one of the lesser packs? Only Lunar pack wolves were blessed by the goddess with special traits. There had to be more to her story. And her intoxicating scent—could it be connected to her killer bite? A way to lure us in… like a Venus fly trap. Her very existence was monumental. I rubbed at the scruff on my cheek as I considered. Did Carmen Rosa know what power her newest killing machine held? And more importantly, did Red have any control over it? She seemed as surprised as I’d been when Jekyll dropped dead.
Yes, we definitely needed to have a little chat when she awoke. I glanced up at the clock on the wall. Just a few minutes past six. I’d give the little slayer until seven before I woke her. She had a lot of explaining to do.
I forced my eyes closed, pushing back the swirling thoughts, but now a new image plagued my mind. Ronin with his hands around that magnificent auburn wolf. If he found out what she was—if anyone did… I shoved the notion aside. What did it matter to me? I should just let Ronin have her then I’d be relieved of my sicari babysitter and free to make my escape. I could disappear in the human world. With all the drama Carmen Rosa was dealing with, she wouldn’t spare one of her elite teams to track me down.
Yes, that was exactly what I should do. Next time we ran into Ronin or his goons, I’d just turn her over to him. He’d leave me alone, and I’d be long gone before the queen could track me.
A muffled groan turned my attention to the crack in the door to the bedroom. I slowly rose and crept closer. Peering inside, that annoying feeling in my gut tripled at the sight of her. Red was stretched out across the bed, her deep auburn locks fanned across the pillow like a crimson halo.
A faint growl echoed from deep within my ribcage. No, it couldn’t be. Ties weaved around my unfeeling heart and tugged tight until I could barely drag in a breath. Another growl, this one louder.
I knew that sound. It was as familiar as my reflection in the mirror. My wolf.
I crept closer to the bed, silently padding across the rug. The binds around my heart tightened the closer I got. My breaths came in ragged pants, and I was certain I’d wake her. But I couldn’t stop my feet from moving to her.
With her eyes closed and the fire from those emerald eyes muted, she looked almost angelic. The pouty set of her lips, the high cheekbones, and that glorious, brilliant hair. It was like stepping into sunlight after months in the dark.
My jaw clenched as her intoxicating scent wafted to my nostrils. I’d never wanted someone so badly, never ached for anyone like this. Another growl rumbled low in my belly.
I heard it this time, there was no denying it. The ghost of my dead wolf. It had to be—there was no other explanation. My hand reached for Phoenix’s cheek before I could stop it.
Mate. Mate. Mate.
The powerful chant reverberated across my skull, maddening in its relentlessness, and my lungs ground to a halt. Sucking in a breath, I let out a rueful chuckle. Of course. Of course, I’d find my fated mate after my wolf was dead.
Red’s eyes snapped open, and I froze. “What are you doing?” she hissed.
I focused on her eyes, allowing the crimson to flood my irises. The power pooled in my dark gaze, and I had her. Trapped. Her eyes glazed over, and a lazy smile curled her pink lips. I should’ve simply compelled her back to sleep, but the words spilled from my mouth without my control. “You’re my fated mate,” I blurted. “Crazy, right? Because I’m dead, and I’m fairly certain my wolf is too. And yet, his
ghost or spirit or whatever recognized you. I felt something from the moment I first saw you on the Isle of Mordis. My heart sputtered back to life the second I laid eyes on you.” I snapped my mouth shut. Thanatos, what is wrong with me?
“Your mate?” she muttered.
“Fate’s a real bitch, right?”
Her brows knitted as she regarded me. “But you were already mated.” Her eyes dipped to my hand.
Observant little thing. “It wasn’t real, only a mating of convenience if you will.”
“Oh.” She sucked in her lower lip. “So what does this mean?” Something unreadable flashed across those breathtaking eyes.
“Nothing. Because you need to forget everything I just said.”
“But I don’t want to—”
I pressed my finger to her lips, and hot tears burned at the back of my eyes as power pulsed through my pupils. “Forget.”
“No.” Her head whipped back and forth.
“Forget.”
The deep emerald of her eyes grew hazier, and a foggy curtain drifted across her irises. I had to be sure. Not like last time when she’d managed to block my compulsion. Nothing good could ever come from her knowing we were fated mates.
Maybe in another lifetime, Red.
I held her gaze for a few minutes longer just to be certain. “Now, go back to sleep. When you wake, you will feel rested and happy. Maybe you’ll even hate me a little less.” I shook my head, grinning. “Nah, I kinda like our fiery banter. Everything will go back to normal, and you won’t remember any of this conversation.”
She nodded, a glossy sheen to her eyes.
“Goodnight, Red.” I brushed my lips against her forehead, my nostrils flaring at that heady scent. Was it the unraveling mate bond that made her perfume even more alluring?
I shook my head out, shoving back the pointless thoughts. It didn’t matter. Pushing myself off the mattress, I forced my feet to march out the room.