Bitten At Daybreak

by Deanna Chase

  A shiver ran through me, reminding me of the pleasure I’d felt while he’d been feeding from me, and I swear my entire body swayed toward him completely against my will.

  “Yes, you definitely do remember,” he whispered and pressed his cool lips against my neck.

  Tears of pure frustration stung the backs of my eyes, and I tried to force myself to move away from him, to take a step back so that I could get my bearings again. Instead, I tilted my head, giving him even more access.

  He let out a soft chuckle. “That’s right. You want my lips on you, don’t you? Just like the whore you used to be, you’ll do anything for just a moment of pure bliss, the kind of bliss only my fangs can provide.”

  Just like the whore you used to be…

  His words shook me to the core. Dax had said something similar. That Clio had owned me until Allcot had purchased me, and now he was calling me a whore. Is that how I’d known Willow? Had I worked for Clio at the brothel? The idea made bile rise in the back of my throat.

  “Come on, Phoebe,” Allcot said. “Want to try for that baby right here on Clio’s old desk?” His hands moved to my hips, pulling me closer so that I was molded against his rock-hard body.

  I glared up at him, hating every inch of him. He might have purchased the other Phoebe and married her, but Dax was right. He still thought of her—and now me—as property. I pressed both hands to his chest and shoved him back. Or at least I tried to. He was so solid he barely moved. But it was enough for me to slip out of his grip and step away from him. “I think baby making is off the table.”

  He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I thought you wanted kids?”

  “With you?” I spat out before I could stop myself. “Not after the way you threw me across the room last night and not since you’ve unilaterally decided to force the girls into new contracts. I thought we were freeing them from this place. If I’d known you were just going to take over for Clio, I never would’ve agreed to this.”

  Confusion flashed over his stony features, but then it was replaced with amusement. “You thought they were going to go on to marry their princes? That they’d all end up living in a plantation home where their husbands give them everything they could possibly want? And then be ungrateful, just like you?”

  “Ungrateful?” I huffed, horrified by his worldview. Had he just implied that the only thing these women might want out of life was a husband to take care of them? “Perhaps if I wasn’t married to an abuser, things would be different.”

  He let out a sigh and strode over to the desk, taking a seat in the leather chair. “Let’s get a few things straight, wife of mine.”

  “Fine. Let’s.” I wasn’t backing down. I’d never been afraid of the Allcot in my world. I sure as hell wasn’t going to be afraid of this one.

  “First of all, I’m not forcing anyone to sign the new contract. That’s entirely up to them. They are free to stay, with better working conditions, I might add, or pack up their things and go. And secondly, if you don’t want to be married to me, you’re free to go as well. But you won’t see your brother or your nephew, and you won’t take anything with you. The door is open. All you have to do is walk through it.”

  The desire to storm out of the room was strong. There was nothing I’d have liked better than to get out from under Allcot’s thumb. But I didn’t have that luxury. I couldn’t leave his plantation home. That’s where the tear in the universe was. And Seth was there. Not to mention I liked Pandora. I needed to stick close so that I was ready to go when Seth brought my doppelgänger back. Besides, I didn’t want to make any big decisions for her. If Allcot was making me this offer, there was no reason to believe he wouldn’t make her the same one. That was her choice, not mine.

  “I’ll stay,” I said, holding that gaze, refusing to back down. “But intimacy is off the table for the time being.”

  His lips curved into a knowing smile. “Sure, love. Whatever you say.”

  He’d agreed, but by the way he was gazing at the bite marks on my neck, it was obvious he thought he knew exactly how this was going to play out. Well, he could think anything he wanted. There was no way in hell I’d be sleeping with Eadric Allcot.

  “Did you offer the women any money to get back on their feet?” I asked.

  He blinked at me, and I had the feeling he’d been taken off guard by my question. “Why exactly would I do that?”

  “Because it’s the right thing to do.” I crossed my arms over my chest again and added, “Do you have any idea what it’s like to be out in the world with literally nothing? Of course you don’t,” I answered for him. “These women, all they know is this place. Their choice is to leave the place they’ve called home for who knows how long and their friends to live out on the streets, or to stay here and sign your new contract. I don’t know what it says, but I guarantee you it’s better than sleeping under a bench and begging for food because they have no means to support themselves. Asking them to make this choice is just as immoral as forcing them to work here.”

  “So what exactly would you have me do?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “Just give them handouts, send them on their way, and then hire other young women who have no other prospects?”

  “How about you keep them on as waitstaff instead of sex workers?”

  His eyebrows shot up. “The place will close down within a week. All the vamps who frequent this place will leave for the brothel up the street, and we’ll have to shut down. Your friends will be on the street anyway.”

  Would they? Did this world really work that way? I just didn’t know enough about it to know what opportunities there were for women. It seemed like women’s rights were closer to the early twentieth century rather than the twenty-first that I lived in.

  Allcot stood up. “This conversation is over. If you want to help your friends find a new life, that’s on you. Do whatever you want. But stay away from that shifter. He owes me, and I plan to collect.”

  “What do you mean, he owes you?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

  “Never mind.” He strode over to the door and yanked it open. But before he left, he glanced over his shoulder and said, “I mean it, Phoebe. If I find out you’re involved with him, I’ll kill him. Remember that before you decide to betray me.”

  8

  “What are you looking for?” Leo asked, peering out the windshield of the Trooper at the large white plantation house gleaming in the summer sun.

  “I’m not sure,” Dax said. “Phoebe’s Charger. Her brother. Any magical shops that either of them would’ve stopped at. Short of those, I guess we can start showing her picture around, see if anyone’s seen her.”

  Leo leaned back in his seat. “This is a wild-goose chase, isn’t it?”

  “Probably. But what else are we going to do? We don’t have any other leads.” Dax pushed his door open and climbed out.

  After speaking to the owner and learning nothing, he climbed back into the vehicle and stopped at three more plantations. No one had talked to a pretty brunette or seen a gunmetal-gray Charger roaming around River Road.

  Frustrated, he turned the Trooper around and started to head back to the city. “This was a stupid idea.”

  “No it wasn’t.” Leo shook his head. “Like you said, we don’t have any other leads. Isn’t this what investigators do when they’re stumped on a case?”

  “I guess,” Dax grumbled, knowing the kid was right. He just felt so fucking helpless.

  “Turn here,” Leo said, pointing to a dirt road.

  Dax slowed and was already turning right when he asked, “Why? The place looks deserted.”

  “Exactly. What if Phoebe’s hiding out there?” Leo asked.

  The dilapidated plantation was in bad shape. Part of the roof was missing, windows were broken, the columns were in serious decay, and the upstairs balcony seemed to be barely holding on. Considering it was hotter than Hades outside and the place clearly had no electricity, the chances of Phoebe hiding out there were next to n
il. And yet Dax couldn’t deny that something was pulling him toward the place, like he needed to be there.

  Leo jumped out first and followed the tire tracks closer to the house. Dax followed, feeling the back of his neck prickle like someone was watching them. He glanced around, finding no one. All that was left of the place was the decaying home and a few trees. Behind the house there appeared to be some old shacks that were being reclaimed by the earth.

  “Dax, look,” Leo said, pointing to the ground.

  The shifter moved forward, frowning. “What am I looking at?”

  “The footsteps. See them close to the tire tracks? They go for about ten feet and then disappear, as if the person just vanished or floated away.”

  Dax crouched down and inspected the prints. They were boot tracks, kind of narrow and on the small side. It was impossible to know if they belonged to a male or female, but he was guessing someone petite, likely a female. “Maybe the person was a shifter and shifted into wolf form.”

  “No wolf tracks,” Leo said. “Vampire that can levitate?”

  “Could be.” Dax stood and followed the tracks back to the car. “There are more that come from here. Different shoes, but it’s clear this second person got into the driver’s seat.”

  Leo took a look and nodded. “You’re right about that. Curious.”

  It was curious, but other than petite footprints, there wasn’t anything to indicate the person who’d been there was Phoebe. Dax sighed and ran a hand down his face in frustration. They were getting nowhere. “Come on. This doesn’t tell us anything.”

  “What about this?” Leo bent down, brushed some dirt back, and retrieved a necklace with a silver locket. He held it up, studying it.

  Dax’s breath caught. It couldn’t be Phoebe’s, could it? She definitely wore one most of the time. It contained a sleeping spell she used when she needed it. He reached out and took it from Leo. After wiping the locket with his shirt, he stared down at the engraved tree of life on the oval pendant and sucked in a hard breath. “It’s hers.”

  “Holy shit,” Leo said. “What are the chances? I mean, I was just standing here and spotted something glinting in the sun.”

  Dax wasn’t listening. He was eyeing the house, wondering if Leo had been onto something. Had she stayed there? It might explain the reason he felt drawn to the old place. Without saying a word, he made his way to the structure. The front door was boarded up, but the third window on the right was completely gone. He stepped through and eyed the interior. It was full of dust and debris. Small animal tracks were visible in the large sitting room. It was clear from the first glance she hadn’t been inside.

  He turned and found Leo on his heels. “She isn’t here.”

  “I know.” He held up the phone Dax had left in the console of the Trooper. “You got a text from Allcot. Phoebe was spotted in town at Howler’s.”

  Dax frowned. “The shifter bar on Basin?”

  Leo nodded.

  What the hell? Dax grabbed his phone, read the message that was still displayed, and cursed. What was she doing? Tracking someone? Why wouldn’t she call? Dax pulled up his contacts and hit her name. The call went straight to voice mail. He shoved Phoebe’s locket into his pocket and said, “Looks like we need to get to Howler’s.”

  Due to afternoon traffic, it took over an hour to get back to the city. By the time Dax parked the Trooper, he was vibrating with impatience. He jumped out of the vehicle and took off without waiting for Leo.

  “Whoa, dude,” Leo said as he caught up to him. “You look like you’re wound so tight you’re ready to snap.”

  “Wouldn’t you be if your girl was MIA?” Dax snapped.

  “I would… if I had a girl.” He hung his head and quickened his pace.

  Shit, Dax thought, hating himself for being so careless. Leo’s girlfriend had died not long ago from a bad batch of drugs that King had been pushing to the shifters around the city. Justice had been served to that bastard, but it hadn’t brought Leo’s girl back.

  “Hey, Leo.” He jogged to catch up with him. “I’m sorry, man. I’m just losing my mind trying to figure out what’s going on.”

  Leo gave Dax a short nod. “I know. Don’t worry about it. You can’t walk on eggshells around me for the rest of your life. I’m just gonna have to figure out how to deal.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t need to be a dick in the meantime.”

  “You aren’t.” Leo gave him a half-hearted smile.

  “I just hope she’s still there, that’s all. It took way too long to get back into town.”

  “At least we know she’s all right. That’s something,” Leo said, reaching for the door of the bar.

  “You got that right. I just hope there’s a damned good explanation.”

  “Bad Moon Rising” blared from the bar’s sound system as Dax stood near the door, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. It was happy hour and the place was starting to fill up, but with one scan of the room, Dax knew Phoebe wasn’t there. It was more of a feeling than the fact that he didn’t see her right away, and it unsettled him. Phoebe was his partner and his girlfriend. He hadn’t even told her he loved her yet. Did he? It wasn’t something he’d admitted to himself yet, much less to anyone else. Yet, without her by his side, he felt like he was missing a piece of himself. And he knew without a doubt that the piece he needed was not in that bar.

  “She’s not here,” Dax told Leo through clenched teeth.

  “Give me a minute,” Leo said and headed over to the bar to talk to the pink-haired shifter tending bar.

  Dax paced the floor, holding on to the back of his neck with one hand. Now what? He asked himself. He needed to calm the fuck down, that’s what. He needed to be doing exactly what Leo was doing, which was interviewing the bartender and the customers to see if they’d seen or talked to her. An ache formed in his gut, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out why. He’d gone from worrying something had to happened to her to suspecting her of a heinous crime.

  He wanted to scream, Why, Phoebe?

  Why hadn’t she called? Why was she letting herself be seen in a shifter bar if she didn’t want to be found? She had to know he’d hear about it. Maybe she was waiting outside right at that moment just so she could connect? He spun and walked out, scanning the area. Nothing.

  The door opened and Leo strode out.

  Dax turned to him expectantly. “Did they know anything?”

  He shrugged one shoulder. “Not really. She was here for about twenty minutes, managed to get another shifter to buy her two drinks, and then left with him.”

  Cold jealousy seeped into his gut. “Another shifter? Who?”

  “She said he’s some dude from Uptown. She only knows him as Knox. Said he’s a clean-cut guy who’s runs some sort of nonprofit in the city.”

  “Nonprofit, huh?” That sounded an awful lot like someone who would run in the Mastersons’ circles. “All right. Let’s go. We have some research to do.”

  Leo gave him a questioning glance but didn’t say a word as he fell in step beside his mentor. “Are we headed home?”

  Dax shook his head. “Back to the office.”

  Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in the office Dax shared with Phoebe, scanning shifter files.

  “What am I looking for?” Leo asked.

  “A member of the Masterson pack who goes by Knox. First name, last name, nickname,” Dax took a sip of coffee and turned a page of the research he’d printed out. He wanted to know if there were any skeletons in the Masterson pack. There was likely a very good reason Phoebe was lying low. He just needed to find it. He flipped the page again and sat up straighter, suddenly very interested in his reading material.

  “Find something?” Leo asked.

  “Yes. Look at this.” He slid a single sheet over to Leo. “What do you see?”

  Leo pushed his files away and studied the paper. He frowned, but then his mouth dropped open into a shocked O before he said, “Holy shit. Are they those Ma
stersons?”

  “Looks like it.” Dax grabbed the paper, quickly made a copy, and said, “Let’s go. We have a vampire to interview.”

  9

  Allcot and I hadn’t spoken for three days. In fact, he’d recruited Seth to deal with some problem in Baton Rouge that no one, not even Pandora, seemed to know the details about. The fact that Allcot wasn’t around was welcome news. I couldn’t say the same for Seth. When I’d found out they’d left with no ETA on their expected return, I was furious.

  Pandora had said the last-minute trip was probably unavoidable. Seth didn’t like to leave her unless he absolutely had to. I could see that about him. He always was the loyal type. That was one of the many reasons it’d been so hard when he’d just disappeared all those years ago. I’d spent a very long time thinking he was dead because I couldn’t imagine him just taking off. But now I knew, and here I was in this fucked-up new reality, struggling to just maintain my own autonomy.

  After coercing one of Allcot’s vampires into giving me a ride into town, I strode into the Red Door and glanced around. The place was still in shambles after the fight that had gone down three days before, but the women were working hard on cleaning it up. There wasn’t much time before the reopening on Friday night. It was just like Allcot to leave town and make his employees clean up his mess.

  A couple of the women were busy filling trash bags with debris while another was clearing the bar of broken bottles and spilled booze. I planned to help, but first I wanted to check on Willow. I loved that fae more than anyone else in my world, and I couldn’t help but feel protective of her in this one. I found her sitting on a large oak tree limb just outside the open window. When she saw me, she scrambled back inside, her eyes alight with joy.

  “Hey,” I said, smiling at her.

  She rewarded me with a genuine smile and jumped up to give me a big hug. “Phoebe. I was wondering when I’d see you again.”

  I pulled away from her and inspected her wrists. The bandages were gone and the skin was starting to heal. “Looks like you’re on the mend. How are the ankles?”