by Laura Hysell
“And here I was thinking you were different than Sarah.”
Henri turned toward me sharply, and the look in his blue eyes was decidedly unfriendly. “I suggest you watch your words, and your tone,” he warned.
I faced him, placing my hands on my hips and curling my lips into a smile. “Fuck you,” I responded in a sickeningly sweet tone of voice. My stomach took the opportunity to growl loudly, ruining my defiant gesture. Henri’s mouth quirked into a small smile, and my stomach growled again.
“Hungry?” he asked as he flashed his fangs at me.
I rolled my eyes and walked toward the door, stopping beside him. “Starving, actually,” I responded. “Would you care to tell me how many days I spent unconscious in the car?”
“You weren’t unconscious, you were sleeping.”
“Semantics,” I retorted dryly. “Are you going to answer?”
He shrugged and looked at me directly before answering. “Four days,” he said simply.
“Four days?” I shook my head and walked out of the bedroom, but I could feel Henri close behind me like a tall, dark shadow. “Four fucking days. I could have starved to death.”
“Your heart was beating just fine.”
“My heart was beating fine? Oh, good to know you paid attention to that. I still needed food and water.”
He shook his head. “Vampire blood can sustain a human for a long time.”
“My bladder almost burst!”
“Almost doesn’t count.”
I stopped in the living room and looked around. We’d toured the entire apartment, and I had yet to find a kitchen. Not a human style kitchen, that is. “You’re a fucking asshole! You didn’t have to leave me asleep for four fucking days with no food, water, or a way to relieve myself.”
“I have upset you.”
I rolled my eyes and turned to face Henri. He looked gorgeous and I hated him for it. “You snacked on me while I slept! You claim you’re so different from Petrivian, or Sarah, or all these other vampires, but you’re not. Why me? Why are you keeping me alive still? Why did you take me with you?”
“You do not wish to die yet, Isabella, and I like humans,” he responded as he closed the distance between us. He stalked toward me as though I were his prey. I felt the shift in his demeanor and knew exactly where his mind was going. “I like you particularly more than most humans.”
“Don’t,” I ordered, backing up before he could pull me into his arms.
“You like me pleasing you,” he stated, and I felt the push on my mind.
“Stay out of my head, damn it, and give me some food!” I yelled at him.
Henri smiled widely and all I wanted to do was smack him across the face. My fingers itched and I pulled my arm back slightly, preparing to do just that when he spoke again. “Well, I suppose I’d better feed you. You’re not very nice when you’re hungry.”
“No, I’m not,” I snapped, letting my arm drop back to my side.
Henri stared at me for a moment, his face close to mine. “Neither am I,” Henri whispered softly, and a shiver ran down my spine at the menace behind his words. Despite myself, I kept forgetting he was a monster.
The knife pulsed gently against my thigh, and I took the hint. I was treading on thin ice, and Henri was likely the only vampire who cared whether I stayed breathing. “Please, Henri, food would be good right now,” I said sweetly, putting a smile on my lips. “There is a kitchen for humans in this place, isn’t there?” If there weren’t, that would explain how his human concubines had died. They had starved to death. That didn’t sound like a pleasant way to die to me.
“Of course there is,” Henri responded. He tugged on my elbow and led me toward the front door. “And my concubines did not starve to death.”
I hated that he’d read my thoughts again, but I didn’t say anything on the matter as I followed him out the door and to the elevator. “How did they die?” I asked as we stepped into the elevator and Henri pressed the button for the twentieth floor.
“Tortured and drained of blood,” he replied quietly. He seemed upset about the death of his concubines and I found myself reaching out to him.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly, and the knife suddenly thrummed on my leg. I realized I had reached toward him to comfort him, but I stopped and lowered my hand to my side. Henri turned and looked at me quizzically.
“Isabella, what is it?”
“Are you upset those women are dead, or angry?” I asked.
Henri frowned at me in confusion. “I am angry. Why do you ask?”
I pursed my lips in thought and didn’t say anything as the elevator stopped at the twentieth floor. I kept forgetting he was a vampire, with vampire emotions, not human emotions. He wasn’t upset the women were dead, he was angry someone had destroyed his property. The doors opened, and I stepped out past the two guards stationed outside the doors. Henri brushed past me and led me down the hallway, where the smells of food wafted toward me. I didn’t need him to guide me any further, as the delicious aromas obliterated all other thoughts in my mind.
“Isabella,” Henri said earnestly, grabbing my arm and pulling me to a stop.
“What?”
“I can feel your jumble of thoughts. Talk to me. What are you thinking about?”
“My thoughts are currently on food,” I replied as I attempted to tug my arm free. “Can’t you just read my mind?”
He shook his head, and the frown on his face deepened. “I sense your desire for food, but your thoughts are all over the place. You’re angry about something, and you keep thinking about your leg.”
“My leg?” I asked, trying my best to sound confused. I hadn’t been thinking about my leg, necessarily, but rather the knife strapped to it. “The only leg I’m thinking about is a chicken leg, or a maybe turkey leg. Oh, are those biscuits I smell?” I sniffed the air and Henri finally released my arm. I hurried away from him toward the smell of food, and concentrated hard to keep my thoughts there.
The kitchen looked like a high school cafeteria, with rows of tables and a line of food under heat lamps. I looked around at the men seated throughout the room, and amended the high school cafeteria thought. It looked like a military mess hall, complete with military personnel; human military at that. The men were all dressed alike in uniforms of black cargo pants, black boots, and black t-shirts. There were no women in the group and all chatter stopped immediately when I walked in the room.
Several dozen heads turned toward me, eyeing me with curiosity, and a bit of hostility. Suddenly all the men stood at once, their eyes fixated behind me. I didn’t have to turn around and look to know that Henri had followed me into the room. His presence was overpowering. After a moment, the men returned to their seats and I walked toward the line of food.
Plates were set out in stacks, and I grabbed one before heading toward the food line. I helped myself to the food, which included chicken. After my plate was stacked high, I turned toward the room. Henri moved toward me, but I ignored him and walked purposefully toward the tables.
“Isabella,” Henri whispered softly in my head.
I stopped moving and turned to look at him. “What?” I asked testily.
Henri smiled and turned on his heel, walking quietly out of the room. “Don’t get yourself killed,” he uttered in my mind.
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes as I walked to the first open table and plopped my plate of food down. All eyes in the room were on me, but I ignored them as I picked up a chicken leg and took my first bite. The juice burst into my mouth, and I moaned softly in pleasure. The knife suddenly pulsed against my thigh, and I looked around the room. Several vampires had entered the room and taken up stations at the exits. Henri’s doing, I was sure of it.
A plate full of food slammed down on the table beside me, and I jumped, turning to see a large man with bulging biceps staring down at me. “Who are you?” he asked, biting off each word.
I ignored him and continued chewing my food as he sat
down on the bench beside me. He moved his body in close, until I could feel his leg touching mine. I started to scoot away, when another man sat down on the opposite side of me, blocking me in. The danger of the situation wasn’t lost on me, but my loudly growling stomach was taking precedence.
“I asked you a question, girl,” the man said again. He grabbed my plate, scooting it away from me.
“Don’t touch my food,” I snarled, snagging my plate and taking a deliberate bite of biscuit before turning to glower at the large man.
“Who are you?” he asked again, his hand reaching toward my plate once more.
I pulled my plate closer toward me and turned toward the man. “Isabella,” I replied between bites of biscuit.
The man made a growling noise in his throat, in what I supposed was meant to be an intimidating manner. If I hadn’t spent so much time around werewolves, it might have been. “What are you doing here?” he snarled.
“Eating,” I replied.
The man reached his hand out and snagged my plate of food, tossing it behind him to land in a messy pile on the ground. “You’re done eating.”
The knife grew warm to the touch, and I looked around the room to see the vampires moving in closer. My stomach growled loudly and I took the opportunity to glare at the man beside me. His arms were littered with tattoos and he looked like he had probably spent some time in prison. A lot of time, most likely. I glanced at the other men surrounding me, taking in the distinct tattoos and overall menacing atmosphere. Perhaps all these men had come from prison. Well, that was lovely. I put the last piece of biscuit in my mouth and deliberately chewed it as I thought over my next move.
My stomach took the opportunity to growl again, and I stood up slowly. “I wasn’t done with that,” I said.
Another man grabbed me from behind, his hands pulling my arms behind me. The first man stood up and began cracking his knuckles. He towered over me threateningly. “You have a death wish, girlie? Or do you think we won’t hurt you because you’re a female?”
“Neither,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m really just hungry.”
A few men around the room chuckled, but a glare from the big man silenced them quickly. This man was obviously a leader of some kind. Several men stood up around the room, and began converging on us. The knife pulsed angrily and I noticed the vampires were moving in closer as well. The men didn’t seem to pay the vamps much attention, and I wondered suddenly if the vampires were here to help me, or help the men in uniform.
The man lashed out suddenly, taking me by surprise as his fist made contact with my stomach. I expelled the air in my lungs, and dropped to the ground; the man holding my arms releasing me. Laughter erupted around me as I struggled to breathe. The sound of boots marching toward me spurred me into movement, and I rolled across the ground. I sat up in a crouch, eyeing the room. The humans had backed up, leaving a large space with the tattooed man and me in the middle.
“Just you and me, Goliath,” I said, pointing at the big man.
“You want to fight me?” he asked. I nodded my head and he laughed loudly. “You do have a death wish.”
“I told you before; I’m hungry. You don’t get between a girl and her meal.”
He laughed loudly and shook his head. “You couldn’t just answer my question.”
“Sure I did, you just didn’t like my answer.”
The man frowned thoughtfully at that, then nodded his head in ascent. “I win, you answer my questions.”
“And if I win, you let me eat in peace.”
He laughed again and nodded. “You’re a gutsy one, I’ll give you that. I agree to your terms. We fight man to man, or man to woman, no weapons. First one to pass out or concede, loses.”
I had no idea how I was going to beat this giant of a man in hand-to-hand combat, but it was a little late to back out now. The knife buzzed in what I thought was anger, but I ignored it and charged toward the man at full speed. All I had was my small stature and speed to work with. The man moved quickly in response, and I had a split second to realize my error in judgement. This man was at a vampire lair, and while he was definitively human, he’d probably been fed on by vampires, and drank their blood in return. His speed was faster than a normal human, and he reacted to my attack easily, deflecting me with one arm.
His outstretched arm slammed into my chest even as I skidded to a halt. I tried to turn, but he grabbed my arm and flung me through the air. I curled into a ball just before landing on the rough concrete floor, and rolled away, minimizing the impact. The man charged after me and I scurried to the side until I could get my feet under me again. I switched directions, dodging the man, and trying to figure out my next move. Speed wouldn’t save me, so I had to outthink him.
I stopped moving and planted my feet, facing the much larger man. He had to weigh over 200 pounds, mostly muscle, and towered over 6’ tall. He barreled at me, his arms stretched out to grab me. Just before he reached me, I dropped low, hitting him in the knees. The man toppled over me and rolled to the ground. I scurried after him and latched onto his back with one arm pulled tight around his neck.
The man struggled for a moment before flopping over onto his back, with me beneath him. I cringed as his massive body crushed me into the floor, trapping me. There was no chance I’d be able to flip the man off me, so I put all my strength into the arm wrapped around his thick neck. My arm was slender and fit snugly against his throat, but he pressed his body against me, making it difficult to draw breath.
The knife sent pinpricks across my leg and I knew the vampires had moved in closer. I tightened my arm against the giant’s throat, but I wasn’t sure if it was making an impact on him or not. It was a guessing game now of who would pass out first. It would probably be a very bad idea for me to lose consciousness in this room.
“Release her,” a voice said, but I couldn’t see who spoke.
“She agreed to this,” someone else said. “She won’t die.”
“The Master does not wish her harmed,” the first voice said again, who I figured must be a vampire.
“The Master agreed to this test,” the second voice replied.
I was growing lightheaded and the man on top of me was still alert enough to bare his weight down on me harder. The vampires weren’t helping matters by stepping in either. “Tell your vamps to back off,” I said to Henri in my mind.
“They sense your distress,” Henri responded. “You get hurt, they get hurt. That’s how things work around here.”
“I don’t give a fuck about your vampires,” I retorted as I attempted to move out from under the larger man. Moving was futile, so I needed to take him out before he took me out. It never took this long to strangle someone into unconsciousness in the movies. Maybe I wasn’t doing it right. I shifted my arm and locked it higher around his throat.
The man pulled against me and bucked his body while I desperately held on. Breathing had grown difficult and the room slowly grew darker. I heard movement around me, but the man atop me took all my concentration. He heaved and made a strange wheezing noise, before lying suddenly still. I kept my arm around his throat for a moment longer, before loosening my grip and attempting to squirm out from under his large body.
I finally managed to push the man off me and looked around the room. No one paid attention to me or the unconscious man beside me. Vampires had swarmed through the room and were flinging people around like rag dolls. The humans, while large and obviously faster than normal, were still ill suited to fighting the supernatural creatures.
“Henri, stop this,” I urged in my mind, but heard no reply.
One of the vampires grabbed the unconscious man around the throat and hefted him into the air. I stood quickly, trying to ignore the blood rushing to my head at the sudden movement. The vampire bared his teeth, ready to bite into the man’s throat. “Let him go,” I shouted over the commotion.
The vampire looked at me, grinned, and pulled the man’s throat to his mouth. I reacted, pu
lling the knife from my side as I rushed at the vampire. He looked at me in surprise as I barreled into him. The three of us tumbled to the ground in a heap, with me on top. The vamp stared down at his chest, where the knife was embedded to the hilt. I grabbed the knife, and it pulled out with surprising ease. The wound turned black as the magic of the knife spread across his body, turning him to ash before my eyes.
I quickly sheathed the knife before anyone noticed, and looked around. Most of the humans were injured and several vampires were snacking on any unconscious humans. The knife sent a pulse across my leg, as though pointing me in a definitive direction. I turned with the pulsing waves and stopped when my eyes landed on the vampire standing, arms crossed, near the doors I had entered through.
The man stalked toward me purposefully and I resisted the urge to draw the knife out as he came closer. He looked like he’d come straight from a mobster movie, minus a tommy gun. The other vampires in the room stopped their snacking, and the remaining humans took the reprieve to slink out of the room.
“Well, Isabella,” he said as he stopped before me.
“Thomas,” I responded simply. He nodded his head and smirked. Thomas had been in the presence of Sarah, although I had gotten the feeling they didn’t get along. I wasn’t sure what to make of him being here in Henri’s home. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“If you’re done causing mayhem, Henri asked me to give you the tour.”
“I wasn’t done eating.”
Thomas chuckled and nodded his head. “Well, by all means, grab a plate to go.”
The room had gone quiet and I tried to be casual as I glanced around. The vampires had stopped snacking on the humans, who were quickly banding together and helping their wounded. I grabbed a plate and quickly filled it with food before turning back toward Thomas. He nodded his head and led the way out of the room.
Chapter 4
Thomas led me out of the room and down a new corridor, as I followed a few steps behind him. The knife pulsed warningly on my thigh, but I tried to stay calm as I nibbled on a chicken leg and followed the vampire. Thomas wore a dark gray suit and no weapons that I could see, not that he needed a weapon. I tried to formulate a plan in my mind in case he attacked me, but the best scenario I could think of was that he’d get a face full of mashed potatoes.
