“Let’s go,” he said putting his second burger down on the tray in front of him. He’d inhaled his first one nearly as fast as I had mine.
“Seriously?”
He nodded, though a look of irritation passed over his face.
“I’m not going then. I don’t want you looking at me or listening.”
“Fine… Go, but don’t do anything stupid. Please?”
“Where would I even go? It’s not like I know anyone who could take me in. I don’t have any money and we’re hundreds of miles away from home.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “You’ve got five minutes.”
“Yes, sir,” I said rather sarcastically and turned to find the restroom. The dining room was small, and the tables were jammed into the space with bodies on every chair making it less than maneuverable. Sucking in my stomach and hoping my butt didn’t hit someone’s food, I squeezed through and finally found what I was looking for. Yeah, it’d been a bathroom I was supposed to be searching for, but to my delight, what I was really looking for—an emergency exit—was situated at the end of the hall.
I took a deep breath, moved swiftly toward it, and hoped like hell an alarm wouldn’t sound the second I pushed it open.
8
Stellan
She thinks I’m an idiot.
The exact date of my birth had been long forgotten, but I knew it wasn’t yesterday. Apparently, she thought it was. Oh, I’d let her think she really had a chance of getting away. I’d give her the five minutes I’d allowed her to have before I went after her. The poor thing had lived a shit-life as far as I could tell, so why not let her have one last moment of hope? A little pessimistic for her future, I know, but I doubted Liam had anything good in store for her. I guess it wasn’t really Liam who had concerned me, though, because he generally wasn’t cruel. It was the pack of werewolves that did. The same pack of werewolves who were rumored to be in open war with the Mathis pack. A pack of werewolves hadn’t entered Velum Mortis in centuries, and the first time they show up, they immediately seek out the king. And he obliged them, desperate to make peace with their kind, pack by pack.
Liam’s need for peace between the species was understandable, but still, I worried that it was nothing more than a pipe dream. Wolves could be volatile creatures and they’d never been keen on vampires. It all seemed an impossible task, but then I never thought vampires and slayers would have ever come to any sort of peaceful arrangement and that had been put in place five years ago, so stranger things had definitely happened.
I almost felt bad delivering her to them, but it wasn’t my place to rock the boat. I would do what my king commanded of me.
I enjoyed the last bit of my burger and crumpled the paper before tossing it onto the tray with the rest of our trash.
“Let me get that for you,” a soft voice said.
Manicured fingers decorated with blood-red nails grasped the tray as I looked up into hooded brown eyes. Her smile was lop-sided, but cute. I doubted cute was what she was going for though.
“Thanks,” I said, standing.
“You’re not rushing off just yet are you?” she asked. “My name’s Tami. What’s yours?”
Under normal circumstances I might have entertained the conversation, but those five minutes were just about up, and I needed to get going before Sydney got far enough away that I couldn’t track her.
“Stellan, and yes, I have to go,” I said rather abruptly and turned my back to her. Despite the fact that I was technically a monster, I still didn’t really like to see dejection on the face of an attractive woman.
I walked through the front door, inhaled deeply to catch Sydney’s scent, and headed the same direction she had fled in.
9
Sydney
My feet beat the pavement as hard as they could, to the point that my toes hurt so bad I thought they might snap off in my shoes. Every breath I took was a hard-fought battle, and my lungs felt as if they had become shriveled and unable to process oxygen. Still, I pressed on. Unless I absolutely had to stop to use my inhaler, I would keep going. A desert took up residence in my throat as my tongue began to feel like sandpaper, but I wouldn’t stop. This was my one chance at freedom, and I couldn’t stop if I wanted to.
That is until what felt like a pair of claws grabbed at me, lifting me into the air. I watched the ground get further and further away as my stomach flipped from the weightlessness. A scream tried to break free from my throat, but fear paralyzed me. The anticipation of falling had my going light like I might pass out, though it was short-lived. Moments later, my feet landed safely on top of a building that had to be at least fifty stories high.
Though I didn’t turn to look at him, I knew it had to be Stellan who’d grabbed me. Who else could it be? I wouldn’t have been on anyone else’s radar here. In Edgington City? Maybe. But in New York City, I was just another face in the cloud. I shouldn’t have been surprised that he’d found me so fast, but at least I knew I’d tried to save myself.
“Why has Stellan taken an interest in you,” a slightly gravelly voice asked.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I realized it wasn’t Stellan who had grabbed me. What the hell had I gotten myself into now?
“I… I don’t know,” I said.
“Yes-s-s,” he hissed into my ear. “You do.”
His hands gripped my upper arms, turning me to face him. His skin was more brilliant outside under the night sky than it had been under the faint lighting in the club. Still blue, but there was a shininess to it that hadn’t been on full display under the lowlights of the club, almost like crystal sparkling in the moonlight.
“What are you going to do to me?”
“That depends-s-s on what you tell me.”
“Look, I don’t know why he’s taking me to his king. All I know is some people called a Mathison pack wanted me, and he stopped them under the king’s order. That’s all I know.”
“Mathis-s-s pack, you mean?” The way he hissed when he made an ‘s’ sound reminded me of a snake, and as terrifying as I had found snakes, this creature had them beat by a million.
“Maybe. I don’t remember.”
“Interesting. What do those uncivilized dogs-s-s want with you?”
“I don’t know. Didn’t even know werewolves or vampires or whatever the hell you are existed before tonight,” I said, lying my ass off in the hopes that the creature wouldn’t torture me for more information.
“Hm…” he said, studying me as if he was questioning whether I was telling the truth or not. “Well… I can’t just turn you over to him, but I can’t really kill you either. You might be valuable to s-s-someone. Doesn’t mean I can’t take a taste of your flesh though. I am awfully hungry.”
I wiggled, trying to break free from his grasp, but it was to no avail.
“I’ll just take a bit from right here,” he said, lifting my hoodie and shirt.
His clawed finger cut into the flesh on the small of my back, and I whimpered from the pain as I tried to jerk myself away from him. He held me firmly in place despite how much I thrashed about, and with razor-sharp precision, he sliced a strip of flesh away and pushed me to the ground. My palms chafed upon hitting the concrete, but it was barely noticeable in comparison to the missing flesh on my back .
“You won’t miss-s-s it too much.”
He dangled the piece of skin over his lips, his tongue darting out to taste it. The moment he lapped at the piece of flesh, a disgusting tickle slithered up my spine.
Gut-churning waves of nausea washed over me when he put that piece of me into his mouth and began to chew. It was if I could still feel that sliver of skin and the way his tongue caressed it and his teeth ground it into mush. The evilest grin I’d ever seen spread across his face while he chewed.
“My, my, my… Forget to mention that you were an uncivilized dog, too? I thought you didn’t know about such creatures before tonight.”
Grabbing me by the arm, he yanked me up and
pulled me toward a door at the far end of the rooftop. Dragging my feet did nothing to slow him down. He only laughed and yanked harder. Balling my fist, I hit him as hard as I could, but it barely knocked him off track. It didn’t stop me from immediately hitting him again.
I should’ve stayed with Stellan. That was the thought that rolled through my mind as I hit him again as hard as I could, though why he had indicated that I was a dog was troubling as well. How stupid had I been to make things worse for myself, and who would have ever thought a vampire was a safer bet than making a run for it?
There was no use in dwelling on it though. If he were going to find me, he would’ve done it already. Maybe he hadn’t noticed that I’d left. Maybe he was still enjoying his burger, oblivious to the fact that I’d fled.
A blood-curdling scream nearly deafened me as I was suddenly plunked down to the ground. A fury of black and blue wrestled in a whirlwind right in front of my eyes. It was chaotic like a funnel cloud, brightened by streaks of lightning, each blow sounding like a crack of thunder bouncing off the buildings surrounding us. And just as quickly as it began, it was over.
The fiend who’d feasted on my flesh lie motionless on the ground with Stellan, tall and broad, standing over him. His chest heaved, while his head rolled to either side. Loud cracks from his neck accompanied the motion. Stiffening, his head tilted to look over his shoulder at me. His nostrils flared and before I could blink, he knelt in front of me.
“Where did he cut you?”
“My back,” I squeaked. The tears flowed freely now as the pain intensified. “It burns.”
“Let me see,” he commanded.
Pushing my clothing up, his hand settled on my back just above my wound. His fingers were soft and a great comfort, but I swear when he touched me, a zing of electricity spread across me that soothed me to my very soul. The stinging pain from the missing patch of skin on my back cooled and the pain dissipated.
“What did you do?” I whispered.
“Nothing,” he said. “I did nothing.”
“Tell me you felt that, too.”
“I don’t know what I felt, but we need to get you healed and to safety. I’m going to feed you my blood.”
I almost wretched, but managed to say, “No.”
“You’ve had my blood before, after you flung yourself out of that truck. It won’t hurt you.”
“I need to go to a hospital.”
“You’re missing a patch of flesh and bleeding profusely. They can’t just stitch you up or replace that skin so easily. My blood will make you as good as new in just a few minutes.”
“No,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Either drink my blood now so you can be healed or I’m going to tear into you. The smell of your blood is making me very hungry, and you won’t survive it. I promise you that.”
He licked his lips, and when he pulled his tongue back into his mouth, the unmistakable points of fangs gleamed in the moonlight.
“Take me to a hospital. Now,” I said through gritted teeth.
“You’re impossible,” he said.
Bringing his wrist to his mouth, he bit into it. His lips turned crimson red as blood dripped from his flesh.
Determined not to open my mouth, I swallowed hard as he turned me around and lifted my hoodie and shirt again.
“What are you doing?”
“Compromising.”
The sensation of his blood mingling with mine was like nothing I’d ever felt before. It burned hot like fire yet chilled me to the bone at the same time. My nipples went hard as rocks and desire pooled between my thighs, my body nearly writhing in pleasure. How would it have felt had I tasted him if his blood on my skin felt so fucking good? My back tingled as if I could actually feel his blood working its way into my flesh, healing it as it went and erasing the disgustingness the creature who had cut me left behind, but it was barely noticeable in comparison to the pleasure that engulfed my body from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.
“You’re killing me,” I breathed.
“No, I’m fixing you.”
“Is it always like this?” I asked, barely able to whisper.
My question answered by silence.
He removed his hand from me, taking away everything that had felt good about it being there, though his blood lingered. I sat there stunned by the whole incident. So many questions sprang to my mind, but the words wouldn’t form so I could ask.
“Come on,” he said, standing and offering me his hand. “We need to get out of here before his friends come looking for him.”
“Is he dead?” I asked, placing my hand in his as he pulled me to my feet.
“Hard to say. Probably not,” he said and motioned for me to follow him over to the only door on top of the roof.
He reached out, pulling on the handle, but the door didn’t budge. With one swift yank, the door made an awful clanging sound and opened as if it hadn’t been locked at all.
We hurried down a flight of stairs and out onto the first floor we could access. A few moments later, we found an elevator and were on our way into the bustle of Manhattan night life.
“Where are we going?”
“We’ll stay in the city tonight. Can’t risk going back to the portal tonight,” he said with no more explanation.
“Isn’t there another one close by?” I asked, thinking that as big as New York City was, surely there wasn’t only one portal.
“Yes, but demons travel in packs and tend to get highly offended when one of their own is attacked. They’ll be watching for us anywhere they can. Portals would be the obvious place for them to set up.”
“But it just happened. Surely, they wouldn’t know already, and he’s the one who attacked me. I didn’t a thing to provoke him.”
“True, but that’s assuming he was alone, and I don’t think they’ll care that he was the instigator. We can’t risk it. We’ll stay here tonight and head out tomorrow.”
“The beast can’t ferry us out of here?”
“He could, but I need somewhere secluded to summon him. Can you imagine the chaos if he went running down Fifth Avenue?”
“Good point,” I said and wrapped my arm around his to try and make it easier to keep up with the pace of his long legs.
“You can rest soon. I’m sure you need it after everything that’s happened tonight.”
“Honestly? I’d like to go to sleep and never wake up, but I’d settle for a solid eight hours.” A bit dramatic? Yes, but it’s how I felt.
He looked at me curiously for a moment before turning his attention forward. We didn’t walk much further before he led me into the lobby of a hotel that looked expensive. I’d never been in such a place, but it looked like it came right out of a movie with it’s ornate staircase off to the side and the fountain in the lobby that no doubt housed some sort of exotic little fishes.
I began to wonder just how much money my vampire captor had. Wondered how old he might be. Wondered if I could still somehow make a break from him, though I doubted it, and I didn’t necessarily want to test it again considering what I had run into during the one chance I had to flee.
“You’re in room 1782, sir,” the lady behind the counter said a few minutes after we’d first approached her and requested a room. “Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you need anything. Enjoy your stay.”
“Thank you,” he said dryly.
The elevator ride was surprisingly quick for going all the way to the seventeenth floor, and we were in the room in no time. It was nice, though not as fancy as I had expected judging by the lobby, but it had a bed and a bathroom, and that was good enough for me.
“You could try, you know,” he said.
Dumbfounded as to what he meant, I asked, “Try what?”
“You could try to run again, but it won’t do you any good.”
“I wasn’t going to try again,” I replied.
“You thought about it,” he said, walking over to the window and peering out
. “On the way in.”
“You can hear my thoughts. Great. That would’ve been nice to know,” I said, trying hard not to think about all the times I had lusted after him at work or how sexy he looked from behind.
“Not all the time,” he said and turned toward me. “I have a few things I need to do. Can I trust you to stay here?”
“Well, seeing as how I don’t really like the idea of being flayed alive by whatever the hell kind of demon that was, yeah. I guess you can,” I said, a shiver traveling up my spine at the thought of facing something like that again. “But what if you don’t come back? Those things could be waiting out there for you. They could have followed us.”
“Checkout is at noon,” he said, a brief cocky smile passing over his lips, giving me just a hint of the dry sense of humor he possessed. “I’ll only be gone a few minutes. It’ll be fine,” he said and went into the bathroom.
I couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t close the door. The reflection in the mirror across from the bathroom told me as much. And as hard as I tried not to look, I couldn’t keep myself from it, couldn’t help myself from looking at him nearly every chance I got.
What the fuck was wrong with me? He was a certified vampire and my abductor. So why then did I feel so free with him? Why did I feel like he was where I belonged? And why did his scent drive me wild? Even now it filled the small room in a decadent way.
I watched him take out a small case from his inside coat pocket as he slipped out of it and placed it on the counter, his back facing the mirror. His stature changed in an instant. He was still tall and broad-shouldered, but he seemed to sink in on himself a little. It was a subtle change. One I might not have noticed had I not seen if first-hand, but his scent changed as well, like someone had doused him in water, dulling the way he smelled.
A moment later, he exited the bathroom wearing his coat again and left through the door without saying another word.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t contemplate letting a few minutes pass and bolting, but where would I go? I had no money, no means to get home, and no desire really to even go back there if I could. Edgington City was likely no longer home for me. This Mathis pack that had been after me would no doubt track me down if I went back there. Why make it easy for them?
Into the Storm (Vampires of Velum Mortis Book 2) Page 6
