by Leia Stone
“Hello,” a female purred behind me and I spun, pulling my Glock back up and pointing it right at the girl.
Upon seeing who it was, I calmed. A little.
Isabella Drake was even prettier in person than the pictures they showed us at the society.
She looked at the gun in my hand and then at Bennett. Her long black hair hung in inky, glossed curls to her waist. She wore a black leather miniskirt and hot pink lace top with a black bra. “I like her.” Isabella grinned, flashing her white sharp teeth in my direction.
Luka strode past Bennet and into the hallway, reaching out and pushing my gun hand down. “Don’t worry. I’m eighty-nine percent positive she won’t hurt us.”
I lowered the gun and holstered it as Luka walked around in front of me.
“Can we take this inside, ladies?” He looked down the hallway to make sure none of the neighbors were watching.
“After you,” I told Isabella.
I wasn’t giving this girl my back. I didn’t care if she was Luka’s roommate and cousin. She was a vampire and I trusted none of them.
She grinned. “Smart girl.” Then she gracefully swished her hips as she strolled into the apartment, trailing a finger along Bennett’s chest as she passed.
I heard interspecies reproduction was actually possible, but only with the fey. They had super sperm or eggs or something that defied all natural physics and produced a child with any of the races. There was a name for the supernatural mutts, but I couldn’t remember it.
I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, keeping my back to the wall so that I could keep my eye on all three of them.
“She’s cagey and it’s kinda hot,” Bennet observed. “Is it true all hunter society girls are virgins?”
My cheeks burned with embarrassment, but before I could tell him to shut his mouth, Luka stepped in front of me. “Bro, she’s off limits. Why don’t you and Izzy go and watch a movie.”
Bennett held his hands up defensively. “Apologies.”
Isabella saluted her cousin. “Come get us when you’re done. We’re meeting Sage and Walsh at that rager later.”
Rager? Like a party? I froze. “What rager?”
Isabella curled her upper lip at me and said nothing. Apparently her fondness for me had worn off.
I rolled my eyes, pulling out my phone and rattling off the address to the tip off we’d gotten about the giant vampire party we were going to raid tonight. All three of their eyes widened. “Yeah, that’s the one,” she said.
I sighed, my internal moral compass starting to spin in circles. “Don’t go there.”
Luka stepped closer to me, bringing the smell of his yummy cologne with him. “Why?”
Peering up at him, I regretted it instantly. He was so gorgeous it actually befuddled my thoughts. “Don’t go there,” I repeated, pleading with my eyes. I couldn’t tell him any more without completely choosing a side.
He nodded once. “We’ll go to Bang.”
With that, Izzy and Bennett disappeared into the apartment and I stood there awkwardly. Did I just tip them off that we were raiding their party? What if he called and told all his undead friends not to go anymore? Why was I so stupid?
“Don’t tell anyone…” I didn’t know what to say.
“Tell anyone what?” he growled. “You haven’t even told me anything. You don’t trust me or my friends. That’s clear.”
I liked flirty Luka better than asshole Luka, but that’s why asshole Luka was probably better for me. I shouldn’t like him at all.
I blew air through my teeth and ran my fingers through my hair. “I’m tired of this, Luka. I don’t want to do this anymore.”
“Me neither,” he shot back, but I could hear the tone in his voice; he was hurt by my admission.
Why couldn’t I have bonded with a guy who had a pulse?
Now I felt like an asshole. He’d called a freaking helicopter to save my life, and his friends were really nice to me, and I was just being a bitch.
“Look…” I rubbed my arms, trying to find the words. “This is really overwhelming for me. I’ve … lived my whole life dedicated to…” My voice cracked. I felt too vulnerable to even be speaking this out loud.
“Killing my kind?”
I swallowed hard. “Yes. Killing your kind. The ones who rape and murder and drink from humans like soda fountains,” I shot back.
He nodded. “There are a lot of bad supernaturals out there, vampires usually being the worst. I won’t deny that, but there are a lot of bad humans out there too.”
Relief settled into my chest that he would admit such a thing and he was right; the list of murdering and raping humans was quite long. Stepping forward, he approached me, looking me dead in the eye. “But vampires are not all the same. We were not created to rape and murder, we were human too once, just like you, until someone changed us.”
The realization of what he’d just said hit me like a brick to the head.
Luka Drake was human once… I … I’d never thought about it like that.
“And not all of us asked for this life. I didn’t,” he added, a darkness passing over his face.
Holy shit.
What if … what if some of the vampires I’d killed were forcibly changed? Against their will? I’d never even conceived of the fact. We’d all been told they wanted power and money and status, so they willingly gave themselves, especially the Drake line.
But what if that wasn’t true…?
“Luka … I never thought of that. I’m…” I felt like crying for some stupid reason.
“You’re really naive,” he stated plainly.
“Hey.” I reached out and punched his arm, only to wince as it nearly broke my fingers. Dude was made of stone.
He grinned a little, and Lord help me he was so beautiful when he smiled.
“I’d rather you be naive than a heartless bitch,” he said bluntly.
“Too far!” This time I reached up my hand to really let him have it, but he caught it midair, yanking me forward as I stumbled toward him, slamming my body flush up against his.
“And a naive, devastatingly sexy woman with red hair is my kryptonite,” he huffed.
All rational thought left my brain then, my faith, my beliefs—they melted along with my resolve. Being this close, having whatever this bond was between us, I could feel him, like really feel him. Physically, emotionally, spiritually. Luka was a kind man with a good heart. He was strong and hard around the edges, but with a soft center. He was … I shuddered, my breath feathering over his face as he inhaled.
He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, my wrist still gently clenched between his fingers. “I dream about tasting you.”
My heart nearly leapt out of my chest in that moment as my stomach dropped. “You taste me every night,” I offered, breathy, trying to regain my composure.
“I don’t mean your blood.” Luka’s lips trailed my earlobe and I pressed closer to him. Reaching up under his shirt with my free hand, I raked my nails down his back.
He moaned in my ear, and in that moment I wanted to strip off every single piece of clothing I had on and give him my virginity. I’d had many hot and heavy moments with Sterling, but I’d always been able to stop things before they got too heated. But with Luka, all of my moral lines stared to blur.
My phone buzzed between us and I jerked backward, ripping my hand from his shirt as he let go of my wrist. My cheeks flushed as I panted, and Luka watched me, unmoving from his place.
With shaking fingers, I pulled out my phone.
Liv: Raid party leaving soon. Where you at?
Me: Be there in ten.
I put my phone in the side pocket of my tiny running shorts. “I gotta get going,” I told Luka, trying to forget the fact that I’d almost just kissed him.
He nodded. Something had thawed between us, we were back to that dangerous place where I felt myself having thoughts I shouldn’t have about a vampire.
He extended his han
d, asking for my wrist, and I shook my head. “It’s getting too obvious. We need to do it somewhere … more discreet.”
A sly grin pulled at the corners of Luka’s lips. “I love how much humans blush. It tells me a lot.”
Kill me now.
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up. Got any ideas?” I pulled up my shirt to expose my stomach. “Here maybe?”
Luka’s grin faded, eyes going half-lidded. “As much as I’d like to bite you there, I need a good vein.”
Right. Veins. Where did I have a good hidden…
My gaze flicked to his to find him looking at my crotch. Stepping forward, he reached out and brushed a light finger over my inner thigh. “The femoral artery is a good one if … you wouldn’t be too uncomfortable with that option.”
I swear the lightest pink tone colored his cheeks. “Now you’re blushing.” I couldn’t help but smile. I felt like I’d caught him.
Luka rolled his eyes. “Oh please. I can be completely professional about this.”
I crossed my arms. “Good. Me too. Clock’s ticking. I gotta go. So let’s do this.”
Even as I said it, nerves bunched in my stomach. Good thing I wore tiny shorts or I might have had to disrobe.
Luka cleared his throat, nodding. “Would you like to come back to my room or…”
I flinched. “No, that would be weird.”
“Right. Here, then.” He gestured to the living room.
I opened my legs, popping my right thigh to the side as if opening myself to him, and he dropped onto his knees.
Holy mother of vampires … seeing him on his knees in front of me with my legs open made my head swim with desire.
Ignore it, Aspen! It’s just their natural charm.
He just sat there, on his knees, staring at my bare thigh.
“Luka?”
Shaking himself, he cleared his throat. “Sorry. Got distracted.”
Reaching out, he grasped the back of my thigh with his hands, and then without warning sank his teeth into my inner thigh. A gasp tore from my throat as his warm wet tongue caressed my skin and the aphrodisiac properties of the bite tore through my system.
I’d gotten good at holding back when he fed from me, and he only took what he needed, so it was relatively quick, but this time I couldn’t hold back—I didn’t want to. I tangled my fingers through his hair, pressing him harder into my thigh as he moaned his approval. Waves of pleasure crawled up my body, mixed with heat and desire, threatening to consume me.
What did it feel like for him? I wondered.
My breaths came out in ragged, short gasps as I heard footsteps behind me.
“Oh damn,” Bennett called out, and Luka tore himself from my leg, licking his lips.
“It’s not what you think.” Luka had the sense to look embarrassed while I just closed my eyes, frozen in mortification and wishing I would disappear.
“It’s cool, bro. Do your thing.” I could almost hear the grin in Bennett’s voice. I wanted to die. Footsteps retreated and I stayed there, eyes pinched shut, still hoping to disappear.
When I finally opened them, I noticed Luka was holding his mouth, trying to keep from laughing. When he saw me, he pulled his hand away and burst into uncontrolled snickers.
“It. Was. Not. Funny,” I growled, but I was unable to keep the anger in my face as his chest shook with his laughter. His laugh was so light and free, it made my stomach warm to see him like this.
I grinned, chuckling a little. “Okay, it was a little funny, but I hope I never have to see that guy again.”
Luka grinned, eyes alight with mischief. “He lives here, and he’s one of my best friends. You’ll see him all the time.” He beamed at me, his white fangs tinged pink with my blood.
I swallowed hard at that statement. All the time. Like … we were just going to go on and do this forever. I wanted to get married and have kids one day, not be tied to this … situation … for eternity. That was depressing, so I just pushed it deep down into my worry-about-this-later portion of my brain.
“Well…” I pulled the edges of my shorts down to cover the bite mark on my inner thigh. “I gotta get going.”
Luka’s face was a mask of calm now. It was like he let out little bits of joy before realizing what he was doing and then shoved it all back into his grumpy, sexy, silent vampire package.
“Happy Hunting. Isn’t that what you all say?” His voice was devoid of emotion, and I shouldn’t feel guilty but I did. I was hunting his friends, his family.
“Everyone we hunt has proven crimes against them,” I reminded him.
“Right,” he grumbled. “What was my crime?”
Oh, he wanted to go there? I hadn’t even wanted to think about the reason why I’d been tasked to hunt him that first night at Bang. But if he wanted to go there, then I totally was. “The girl you murdered ten years ago. Took her on a date and bled her dry.”
He tipped his head back and cackled, a full on sarcastic laugh that gave me chills. “Complete and total fabrication,” he deadpanned.
I stilled. “No … it can’t be…” Was he saying Chief Baker was wrong? That Maz was wrong?
Luka pressed me: “Okay, when was it? Where? What was her name? What did she look like? Was there a DNA sample of mine at the scene?”
I stumbled backward, confronted by all of these questions. A dark pit opened inside of me and I feared I would fall in and never make it out.
What was he saying? He never hurt a girl? The story was made up?
Luka shook his head, face softening. “You better go.”
I nodded, turning around and headed for the door. When I put my hand on the knob, something came back to me. A memory.
“Luka, why did the Shadow Bloods want you?”
The Shadow Bloods were sent to kill Luka the same night I was. Coincidence?
“I’m not sure you’re ready for that answer, Aspen.” His voice came from directly behind me and it sent chills up my spine.
I think he was right. I think he could feel the walls I’d built around myself slowly crumbling and he didn’t want to shatter them. With a nod, I opened the door and left. Dreading having to come back tomorrow. Dreading facing a truth I suspected would ruin everything I’d built my life upon.
Chapter Eleven
Vasquez, Sterling, Liv, and a dozen of our best hunters all crouched behind the barn, pulling weapons left and right. I had my newly sharpened katana in one hand and a stake in the other. We were all wearing our watches and waiting for the kill order to come in from Maz, who was at society headquarters. Music bled through the thin walls of the barn as the smell of blood filtered through the air.
Feeding party. Vampires’ idea of a kegger. We were in Green Bluffs, a farming town just outside of Spokane, where you could kill someone and no one would hear their screams.
“I love raids,” Julia, a junior hunter with a pretty impressive kill record, whispered as she gripped her stake.
Liv grinned, double fisting her stakes. “I’m feeling quite stabby.”
Something felt wrong about this and I couldn’t put my finger on why. I loved killing vampires, it was literally all I had wanted to do since I was born … but after Luka told me they’d all started out human … now I just felt muddled about it all.
I mean, if I was attacked and turned into a vampire, would I drink blood to survive? Probably, yeah … as long as it didn’t hurt anyone and they were willing. Would that make me a demon? A monster?
Oh, God, help me. I felt sick that I was even questioning my reality like this, everything I thought I knew. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, when our watches buzzed with a text.
Okay, hunters, you are approved to exterminate all vampires and werewolves present. Happy Hunting - Maz.
I frowned.
Wait, werewolves?
Since when did we hunt werewolves? That wasn’t in the House of Rose’s rulebook. The Thorns, Ashes, and Skulls sure, but we stuck strictly to bloodsucking vampire demons.
“Werewolves?” I whispered.
Liv shrugged. “Must be some baddies here. Come on.”
We’d never been approved to kill the wolves, they weren’t in the Hunter Scriptures, and it felt wrong. A dark feeling came over me, one that made me rethink everything.
Liv had already run off to the side of the barn, but I stayed where I was.
If God made you, he made me too.
Luka’s words pinged around my head until a sob formed in my throat.
No. Stop it. I’d seen a bloodsucker drain young women before. I was seventeen and I’d pulled him away right before he’d raped her. Most vampires were bad.
Focus, Aspen. Trust Maz. Trust the society.
I took off in another direction hoping to catch the ones who ran for the fields. I trusted Maz, I trusted God, this was my purpose, what I was made for.
And I’ll bet there were over a dozen scared human feeders in there to prove my point. Women usually, being coerced, paid, or compulsed to give their blood to some old creepy-ass vampire. It was wrong.
“I heard Luka is poised to take over the monarchy,” a female voice trilled, and I froze.
“Well, he’s hiding out pretty good for the month of mourning, that’s for sure,” a male countered.
Luka take over the monarchy? Month of mourning? Only the hunters thought Luka was dead, clearly these people didn’t believe that lie.
“I’m surprised he’s still alive with every royal putting out a hit on his head,” a third voice joined, and my stomach dropped.
Other royals were putting out hits on Luka? Well, I guess that made sense with what the Shadow Bloods said and his own aunt Morgana ordering the hit on him, but … why? Because he was staging a coup? Was Luka Drake trying to become king of Vampire City?
A scream rose up into the night and I knew it was showtime.
“Hunters!” someone yelled, and then the barn doors flew open and the party erupted into complete chaos.
