There was nothing so gratifying as biting into a human and drinking from an open artery, the subtle saltiness of flesh mingled with the sweet taste of blood, the way a human’s back would arch against my hands as I held them close and satiated my desires, but I didn’t fancy the consequences I’d face if I fed directly on a human again, so stored blood it was. It would curb the craving that had already grown for her, so helpless and vulnerable, in my home. Her heart had been weak, but it was bouncing back nicely with the help of my blood. The sound of a strong heart, the gentle whoosh of crimson liquid flowing through veins… Sweet addiction calling my name, and I was so close to answering that I could almost taste her on my tongue.
Maybe I shouldn’t have brought her here.
Gulping down the blood before I even had the chance to warm it, I licked at the corners of my lips, not wanting to waste a drop. Some things never changed. No matter the vessel, I had to get it all.
“Don’t let me eat her, boy,” I said to Cyrus as I rubbed my thumb and index finger together and waited for a spark to appear that never did.
That’s troubling…
Cyrus flopped himself down with a snort on a fluffy bright purple blanket that had been bunched up in the corner. It had been given to me by a witch named Theodona who wanted me to fuck her in the hopes that I’d impregnate her. Our offspring would unite witches and vampires and take over Velum Mortis by storm, or so she claimed. I believed her to claims to be crazy, but either way, gifting a blanket sure was an odd way to go about wooing someone, especially since it hadn’t worked. She’d claimed we’d make sweet love under it, its power spurring us along, aiding the conception. When I laughed in her face, she tried to retrieve it, probably hoping to use it to seduce some other poor fool who might not be so skeptical of her, but Cyrus had claimed the blanket immediately, nearly biting the witch’s hand off when she tried to snatch it away from him. Witch’s weren’t scared of many things, but the sight of an angry hellhound could make Hades himself cower, and Cyrus was larger than most when he presented himself at his full size.
Unfortunately, despite declining her advances, I now owed Theodona for saving the queen’s life. The price I had to pay? A night in her bed, of course. A night I wasn’t looking forward to, but my queen’s life had been on the line and I agreed in order to save her. That had been five years ago, but the witch hadn’t come knocking yet. Truth be told, I hadn’t been true in agreeing to her stipulation, but I figured I would cross that bridge when I came to it.
Using my full speed, it only took a short while to put the door back on the hinges. I glanced at Cyrus, who had shrunk down to a size that was more fitting of being inside, as he stood and scratched at the blanket, fluffing it up, before he flopped himself down on it again.
A soft whimper came from Sydney’s fragile throat, pulling my attention with it. Her fingers twitched as her eyes fluttered beneath their lids. Her recovery was coming along much faster than expected. Either her injuries weren’t that severe or she was much stronger than she looked.
Leaning against the wall, I slid to the floor and propped my arm on my bent knee. She’d likely be fearful upon waking and hovering over her at my full height was not the way to go. She’d be afraid of me regardless now that she had seen me with the men who had been determined to deliver her to the Mathis pack.
As I watched in anticipation, her eyes opened and her gaze immediately landed on mine. Eyes the color of liquid amber sent my heart racing and the urge to protect her into overdrive.
How could I ever tell her everything that was going on without sending her into shock? Would she understand? Would she lash out? All these questions ran through my mind in those quick few seconds before she spoke, but the bigger question was why did I even care in the first place?
5
Sydney
Air rushed into my lungs as my eyes shot open. A sea of gray surrounded me, the silence deafening. Where I was, or even who I was, remained a mystery.
My body trembled, though whether it was from the chill in the air or nerves, I couldn’t say. Slowly easing myself up, I glanced around the room, eventually settling back on the man veiled in shadows.
One leather-clad leg stretched out in front of him, the other bent with an arm draped over it. Thick black hair sat atop his head, a beard adorning his face. His eyes bore deep into me, studying my every move. The subtle lick of his lower lip and the way he watched me, as if I were his prey, only caused me to tremble more.
“Who are you?” I asked, a familiarity tickling my mind. I had seen this man before, but where?
“Stellan,” he replied, his eyes never moving from me.
His voice was rugged and manly, the kind of voice that makes your heart skip a beat, though the arrhythmia could’ve been because I didn’t know who the hell I was or what he wanted with me.
“Where am I?”
“My home.”
“Who am I?”
His chest raised and fell with a deep sigh as he finally looked away.
His gaze finding me again, he asked, “You truly don’t know the answer to that question?”
“No,” I said. “What have you done to me?”
“I saved your life after you tried to end it.”
Suicide? Would I have done that? Rubbing my temples, a flash of something ran through my mind. It was more like a feeling than anything. Panic churned in my stomach. The feeling of hopelessness skating through my head.
“You kidnapped me,” I said. My eyes met his as I whispered to myself, “Redwood.”
“Well,” he responded. “Sort of.”
“Sort of? Take me home now, and I won’t tell anyone,” I said between jagged breaths as the heaviness in my chest began to subside, though I doubted I’d be safe there. “I’ll go back to you’re my life, you go back to yours, and no one ever has to know any of this went down.”
Dragging his hand through his dark hair, he swallowed hard and stood. For such a big man, he moved with graceful agility.
Kneeling in front of me, his eyebrows drew together. His mouth straightened into a hard line before softening slightly. “You can’t go home.”
“What—”
“Quiet,” he interrupted. “You need to rest.”
Leaning close to me, the pupils of his eyes widened, drawing me into him. Calmness settled over me, my body trembling less by the second. I wanted to kick and punch and scream and do everything in my power to get away, but I simply couldn’t. My body relaxed, warmth spreading over it like I’d found myself shoulder-deep in a warm, bubbly bath.
“Sleep now, and I’ll explain everything.”
No, I thought to myself. I don’t want to sleep. But I couldn’t keep myself from it, and before I knew it, everything faded away except the haunting vision of his face.
6
Stellan
As I knelt in front of her, I had studied the curves of her face and body and the way her hands still trembled despite coercing her to stay calm. The hunter in me had stirred, ready to go in for the kill at a moment’s notice, but a spark of something unfamiliar buzzed deep inside when I looked at her, keeping the killer at bay.
I truly did worry she might go into shock if I told her the truth, that a pack of werewolves had taken advantage of the debts her mother owed to a casino outside of Edgington City, and for those debts to be paid, she’d been kidnapped by human trafficking scum and was to be turned over to the alpha of the Mathis pack. Why he wanted her was a question I couldn’t answer, but one she would surely ask. I could only guess based on what Billy Boy had said that they wanted her for breeding purposes.
To alleviate her of the coming despair, I would send her into a state of sleep where I could keep her calm, explain everything, and be sure she understood before releasing her back into reality. Again, I briefly wondered why I cared so much about her emotional well-being. She’d been kind to me. We’d even had a few interesting, albeit short, conversations over the last few weeks, but nothing earth-shattering. Yet, I
was worried about her like I’d known her for years.
I had caught her gaze and commanded her to sleep. Entering her mind would be easy enough, but I would have to touch her to do that since her eyes were closed now and I was a bit rusty. Sitting down beside her on the smooth leather couch, I gathered her into my arms. Her scent was like fresh honey crisp apples, but with a hint of bitterness tainting it. Warmth covered my flesh like a cascade of hot water pouring over my body when I touched her.
Trying hard to ignore the physical effect she had on me, I closed my eyes and searched her mind for a place that brought her peace. It was the least I could do knowing that she probably wouldn’t take what I had to tell her well.
That’s odd.
I entered the deepest recesses of her mind, but there was nothing that would provide any comfort. No childhood memory of a grandmother’s kitchen filled with the scent of baked goods, no family vacation spot, no teenaged bedroom filled with posters of rock stars or the latest celebrity crush… Nothing. There was nowhere in her mind where she felt loved. Her entire life was clouded in misery, darkness, and loneliness.
With no other option, I simply brought her to a room with warm beige walls and furniture in varying shades of chocolate. I placed her on a plush, oversized chair and took my place in another chair across from her.
“Open your eyes,” I commanded.
Her eyes fluttered open as she leaned forward slightly. Calmly, she studied my face.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her eyes wide with fright. “I feel like I’m fucking stoned.”
“You’re still asleep.”
Her eyes darted around, taking in every detail of the room that she could. Gently leaning on one of the armrests, she asked. “How is that possible? I don’t feel like I’m asleep. I feel high… I can’t be high…”
“You’re not high, but that’s not important right now. What’s important is that I need you to remember who you are and explain to you why you’re here. Do you remember anything at all now?”
“Not really, but I know you’re Redwood.”
“Redwood?”
“Yes. You’re big, like a redwood, and I remember noticing that about you at the bar the first time I saw you. We’ve spoken several times…”
“Anything else?”
“My name is Sydney Bryant.”
“That’s correct. Two men accompanied me to your mother’s home, and we took you.”
Her body tensed as her hands balled into fists. The steady thump in her chest increased frantically by the second. “He was going to do really bad things to me… You were, too, weren’t you?”
“It was never my intention to harm you. I was sent by someone to intercept your abduction, to prevent you from going with those who wanted to steal you away. What I’m about to tell you is going to sound crazy, I know, but you must trust that what I’m saying is the truth. Do you understand?”
She nodded once and continued to study me.
“Those men were hired by a pack of werewolves that dwell fifty miles away from where you live. Your mother frequented a chain of casinos owned by the alpha of that pack. You were the price for making her debts go away. Wade Mathis agreed to write off what she owed in exchange for you. He wanted to mate with you, to make you his bitch, so to speak. From what I’ve learned during the short period of time I spent with those two cretins, she agreed to give you to him on your eighteenth birthday, but she reneged on that promise years ago with the hopes of paying her debt off another way. Wade decided her time was up, and here we are.”
“What do you get out of all this?” she asked much calmer than I’d expected, almost like she hadn’t heard what I’d said to her or wasn’t shocked by what her mother had done.
“Nothing, really.”
“Then why did you stop them? Why bring me to wherever the hell we are?’
“Because my king commanded me to do so.”
“Your king? Oh, are you a werewolf, too?” she asked with a slight chuckle. No wonder she hadn’t really reacted to the news that werewolves wanted her. She didn’t believe me.
“I’m not a werewolf. William is the vampire king who rules over this part of the underworld. You’re in the city of Velum Mortis… You know me, Syd. You know that I’m a vampire.”
“You’re a vampire,” she said. The corner of her mouth turned up as a loud laugh ripped past her lips. “You expect me to believe that? You’re full of shit, and this is all a bad dream.”
“I haven’t lied about anything,” I said with irritation coating my words. The hunter stirred within, ready to strike and prove to her that I wasn’t full of shit. “You work for a fucking vampire at a fucking vampire nightclub.”
She continued to laugh, grabbing at her sides, angering me even more with each guffaw.
“Fine, you want to play it this way,” I said, not bothering to try and control my anger. “Wake up.”
In an instant, we were back in my living room with Cyrus chewing on a bone that came from I don’t know what but was nearly as long as he was. Probably a demon of some sort.
I stood, my shadow bathing her in darkness. Dropping fang, I knelt in front of her and watched as her eyes widened and took in the sight of me.
“You see him,” I said, pointing at Cyrus, who had shrunken down from his full size, but was still much larger than any normal dog. “That’s a hellhound. Have you ever seen a dog that big? No. Didn’t think so. See these,” I said, motioning toward the sharp points of my canine teeth. “These are fangs, and I am a vampire. You’re in my home, and I could drink you dry and toss your rotting corpse to Cyrus to finish you off if I chose to. Luckily for you, the king has ordered me to bring you in alive with your body and blood intact.”
The little bit of color in her cheeks drained as she cowered from me. I’d gone too far. I’d let rage take control of me. Old habits die hard…
But she clearly didn’t believe me, so how else could I prove to her that I was telling the truth than to show her? Fuck. Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered at all. Maybe I should’ve taken her straight to Liam and suffered the consequences of her being slightly damaged.
“You just don’t remember because you hit your head… I won’t hurt you, but don’t laugh at me again.”
She swallowed hard and sat up straight, her eyes danced around the room, like she wanted to look at Cyrus but couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“He won’t hurt you either. You have questions?”
“Just one…”
“Go on then.”
“Do you have anything to eat? I’m so hungry,” she said with a whimper and touched her stomach as she shook her head. “Of all the things I could be right now, leave it to me to be starving…”
“I have nothing you could eat at the moment.” The lone can of Spaghetti-o’s I’d kept in the cupboard because human food could occasionally curb my cravings had been consumed five years ago by Queen Cordelia before she had become a vampire, and I hadn’t bothered to replace it yet. Generally, when I wanted to consume food, I waited until I had to go to the human side of the veil to check up on Lucien. “We can go get you something, but we need to steer clear of Edgington City after what just went down.” I watched as she continued to glance at Cyrus. “You can look at him, you know? I promise, he won’t hurt you. You won’t hurt her, right?” I asked, turning my attention to Cyrus. He answered with a perked-up ear and a sigh before he went back to chewing on his bone. “As long as you don’t try to take that bone from him, you’ll be fine… I’m going to need you to listen to me, okay? Your life may depend on it. Do you trust me?”
“You fucking kidnapped me and are planning on turning me over to some vampire king who will do Christ only knows what with me, and I’m supposed to trust you? No fucking way.”
“Do you want to eat or not?”
“Yes. I’m starving.”
“Then you’re going to have to trust me,” I said and moved to the closet.
Opening it up, I grabbed a cloak out
of it and tossed it to her.
“Put that on. Make sure it covers your hair and neck. We don’t want anyone seeing you or smelling you while we travel through the city. You’ll be more exposed now than you were when we came the back way. The portal we’ll need to use is near the center of the city, but when we get to the other side, you’ll also have to stay close. Where we’re going isn’t exactly safe for you.”
She did as she was told, surprisingly with no hesitation, but then hunger can be a powerful thing. I should know.
“I don’t know what any of that means,” she said, and I didn’t offer any further explanation. “But I won’t cause a scene if that’s what you’re worried about.” I only hoped her memory would return so I wouldn’t have to keep explaining things to her that she should’ve already known.
Before we left, I grabbed one of the concoctions that suppressed my abilities and injected myself with it. If the antidote gave me a temporary high, this was definitely a downer. The power drained from my body like water from a pool with a big gaping hole in its side. The storm that raged on within me calmed, and I wondered again why I hadn’t been able to control it as easily as I always had before, but there were more pressing matters at hand, and I shoved the wondering and worrying aside.
“Cyrus,” I said, the commanding tone returning to my voice. I had to use it or else he’d merrily keep gnawing on that bone, oblivious to his surroundings, and even I didn’t want to face the consequences of trying to take it away from him.
Turning to her, I took her hand. Cyrus stood and moved to just in front of us. Her hand trembled in mine, and I gave it a little squeeze. Why? I didn’t know. Comforting anyone, especially a wolf, was generally the last thing on my mind, but there was something about her that made me feel the tiniest bit protective. Maybe it’d been the way Billy Boy, or whatever the hell his name was, had touched her, but it had started long before she’d ever came face-to-face with him. I could tell myself it was due to his actions, but I’d have been lying to myself.
Into the Storm (Vampires of Velum Mortis Book 2) Page 4
