by Tessa Bailey
“Jonas Cantrell,” she gasped, searching the dark lobby for his figure and finding nothing in the pitch blackness. “I hope you plan on cleaning up this mess and replacing these lights. Kristof’s wake is in the morn—”
Ginny’s feet were swept out from beneath her and then she was face down, thrown over Jonas’s now-familiar shoulder. “She talks to me of lights,” he growled.
Uncoordinated as her movements might have been, she tried to wrestle her way off his shoulder and perhaps for the first time, she realized how truly, inhumanly strong Jonas was. Exerting the effort to break his hold winded her in seconds. “Where are you taking me?” she asked, listening carefully to his crisp footsteps to determine if they were on hardwood or carpet. “You might have mentioned up front that you can move objects and explode things.”
No answer.
A door closed—forcefully.
Ginny’s world turned right side up again, her bottom landing on something hard and she blinked into the darkness. She felt the wood beneath her fingertips and would have recognized the office desk even if lamp light didn’t burst into a glow to her left. Jonas stood in front of her with a cool and unreadable countenance, obviously having turned on the light without the use of his hands.
And she wanted answers.
“You just…did all of that,” was all she could come up with.
Admirable effort, Ginny.
Jonas gripped the edge of the desk, his hands on either side of her thighs. “Are you interested in that child?”
“Oh, I’m not answering that.”
“Why not?”
“Several reasons, the first of which is how you phrased it. Gordon is the same age as me, but that’s beside the point. You meant it to be condescending.” She leaned in close enough to count the individual green sparks in his eyes. Fourteen. “At least he didn’t wreak havoc on my lobby.”
“It was involuntary,” he said through his teeth. “These abilities are usually triggered in a vampire when he or she undergoes something harrowing. More and more every time. And you, love, most definitely fit that description.”
“I’m harrowing?”
“Your safety being compromised is harrowing. As is another man wanting to take you on a birthday date. Or listening to him compliment your scent. Harrowing.”
Ginny lifted her chin. “He was only being nice.”
“Yes, men typically search for women on Facebook and such because they’re planning on being nice. I could hear his pulse, remember.”
Which reminded Ginny, Jonas could hear hers now, too. Could hear it racing like she’d sprinted home again from the Belt Parkway. Too bad there was little she could do about it. “Maybe he does like me. That’s a good thing, isn’t it? I’ll have another fifty to seventy years left on this earth once you wash your hands of me.” She ignored his warning look. “Who knows? I might even date once or twice.”
A slicing sound rent the air.
Jonas’s fangs were out.
Ginny’s ears started to ring and she was frozen to the spot, unable to move. She was almost hypnotized by the sight of them. The sharpness, the way the lamplight lent them an almost beautiful glint. Wood creaked beneath her, a telltale sign that Jonas’s grip was tight to the point of almost snapping the desk. Her fight or flight instinct revved like an engine, but her common sense told her it would be pointless to run when Jonas could break the sound barrier.
And perhaps stupidly, she still firmly believed he would put a stake through his own heart before harming her.
How could she believe that so insistently?
“I’m sorry,” he said hoarsely, self-disgust rolling over his features. “I thought this animal part of me was long dead, but it’s not, Ginny. Every time I think I’m getting a handle on my need to…”
“To what?”
“Possess you,” he growled, dropping his open mouth to her neck, his hands sliding beneath her knees and tugging her closer. “Every time I have it handled, I’m proven painfully wrong. I’d almost fooled myself into believing I was nearly human. Then I meet you, I smell you, and I’m reminded I’m a beast. The man knows he can’t and shouldn’t have you, but the animal refuses to share.”
Oh wow. “It’s not sharing if you haven’t…partaken yet,” she whispered, barely able to keep her neck from losing power in the presence of such honest sensuality. Bite me, she wanted to say. How bad could it be if it would bring him such pleasure?
Without warning, Jonas yanked her to the barest edge of the desk, settling her inner thighs on his hips. “Partaken,” he repeated, inhaling against her neck. “Do you have any idea what that means?”
The thick ridge pressing between her legs gave her some idea. But that’s all it was. An idea. She’d never been with a man and knew only the mechanics of what happened in bed. Being with a vampire? She knew nothing of that.
Was it even physically safe, considering he was so much stronger?
How much would drinking factor in?
Why did she get an almost giddy feeling when she thought of him using his fangs on her? Sustaining himself with the lifeblood than ran in her veins?
“Your excitement is making it very hard to get control of myself.”
“Uhm, yes,” she breathed. “I’m actually a little worried that what everyone believes about me is true.”
Jonas lifted his head and pinned her with concern. “And what does everyone believe about you?”
“That I’m too comfortable with death and blood and ooky things.”
He made an amused sound. “Am I an ooky thing?”
“No,” she murmured, unable to lie while looking into his eyes. “You’re a beautiful thing. When you’re not damaging my property.”
His fangs sliced back in, followed by a rueful pause. “How can I want to devour you one moment and rock you in my arms the next?” Briefly, he looked down. “I shouldn’t ask you this, but I’m starting to sense I’m already up shit’s creek without a paddle.” A beat passed. “You’re worried because the idea of me having you—all of you—body and blood…it excites you?”
“Yes.”
Jonas’s nostrils flared and it took him long moments to speak again. “Every single thing about you is perfect and natural and right. Don’t ever question that.”
“You’re a flatterer, in addition to being a property destroyer.”
Jonas pinched a lock of her hair between his fingers and studied it. “Finish with Kristof while I repair the damage.” Unease seemed to settle over him. “We have another stop before the sun comes up.”
CHAPTER TEN
Tucker picked them up outside the back entrance of P. Lynn, both vampires flanking her and scanning the moonlit rooftops as they hustled her into the back seat. She was already nervous just knowing some otherworldly being wanted her dead, but Tucker and Jonas’s overprotective nature really brought it home.
Someone wants me dead.
They could accomplish it and she might never know the reason.
Sure, they couldn’t kill her outright, but the best case scenario was being dropped into a perilous location and being required to use her wits to survive—and that wasn’t a best case anything. It was terrifying.
Jonas must have sensed she’d been spooked, because he pulled her into his side and rocked her gently, his mouth ghosting over her hair. They rode in silence for a moment, before Jonas sighed and took the blindfold out of his pocket, tying it across her eyes.
“For your protection,” he murmured near her ear.
Ginny didn’t answer.
To be honest, she believed him this time. There was an unusual tension in among Jonas and Tucker, an almost predatory stillness, as if they were preparing for an upcoming battle. A battle on her behalf.
What if something happened to them while protecting her?
The car stopped, interrupting her worry and tensing her muscles. The front passenger side door opened, the vehicle sagging under the weight of a fourth occupant.
“Elias,”
Jonas greeted the newcomer, before lowering his voice to address her. “I have no choice but to bring you with me tonight, but you’ll be protected. You know that, right? There’s nothing to fear.”
Ginny’s pulse sprinted. “Where are we going?”
“I have a meeting with a freshly Silenced.”
“Oh.” She shifted in her seat. “Sure.”
“You’ll be alright, Ginny,” Tucker called from the front seat. “You’ve got three bad motherfuckers as bodyguards.”
“Could have been four bodyguards if Jonas hadn’t run off the slayer.”
“Her charge was dropped into the middle of a busy highway,” Jonas returned tersely. “I spoke only the truth.”
Elias didn’t respond for a beat. “If she’s gone off half-cocked to get revenge on whoever did it, I’m going to put her over my knee.”
“What did I tell you?” Tucker drawled. “Kinky as they come.”
“She’ll be back,” Jonas sighed. “She never stays away long.”
Ginny had the distinct feeling that Roksana would return thanks to the obvious connection between her and Elias, but now didn’t seem like the time to mention it. There might never be a good time, really, since she found Elias extremely intimidating and she’d never even seen his face. “How do the Freshly Silenced know to come to you, Jonas?”
“He comes highly recommended on vampire Yelp.” Tucker said.
“Really?” Ginny gasped. “Is that on the dark web or something?”
“He’s kidding,” Jonas said—and she sensed him smacking the back of Tucker’s headrest. “Newbies are easy to spot. Oftentimes one of our acquaintances puts us in contact. This time, Elias happened to…stumble across him while he was looking for Roksana.”
“He was feasting on a pigeon under the boardwalk,” Elias said. “Noisily.”
Ginny’s mouth fell open. “Poor little pigeon.” She turned in Jonas’s protective hold. “You said acquaintances sometimes put you in contact. Exactly how many vampires are there in the area?”
None of them answered.
“Wow. That many, huh?”
Jonas swiped a thumb over the back of her hand. “They can be somewhat…rowdy, so I’ll have you stay in the car. It’s somewhat confusing for them in the beginning.”
“Yeah,” Tucker agree. “Suddenly you’re catching on fire on your way to get the newspaper and your morning beer tastes like piss.”
“Yes, the quintessential experience,” Elias said dryly. “I assume we’re waiting in the car with the human? After all, it wouldn’t be wise for a vampire outside of our immediate circle to know we’re fraternizing with her. That information could be used against us with the High Order.”
Seconds ticked past. “I’m finding it difficult to have her out of my sight,” Jonas said unevenly.
Tucker whistled through his teeth.
Elias said nothing, but Ginny could sense his…dread, perhaps?
She couldn’t relate. Maybe she should be experiencing dread, but Jonas’s admission only made her feel as light and fluttery as a hummingbird. “I don’t like having you out of my sight, either,” she whispered.
“Well it’s a damn good thing she’ll be forgetting you shortly.” The front passenger seat creaked. “Isn’t it, Jonas?”
“We’re here,” Jonas said abruptly. “If any harm comes to her…”
“On my word, she’ll still be as cute as a button when you return,” Tucker called over his shoulder.
“It’s beyond me why you continue to take these clandestine meetings,” Elias groused. “The Freshly Silenced are not your responsibility.”
“Someone has to take responsibility for them,” Jonas said calmly. “Otherwise the cycle continues. Innocent people are turned. Without any official guidance or somewhere to turn, they kill a human in a blind bloodlust and they’re put to death by the High Order.”
“Like we’ve been telling you for years,” Tucker started, sounding serious for once. “You’re the only one in a position to challenge the King—”
“Enough.”
Silence fell like a curtain in the car. After a moment, she felt Jonas’s palm slide over her cheek and leaned into it greedily. “I’ll be very upset if something happens to you this close to my birthday,” she said.
“My only worry is for you, love,” he muttered, his lips grazing her mouth. “Leave the blindfold on and stay put, no matter what you hear.”
Ginny didn’t agree out loud because she didn’t want to get caught lying, thanks to a wonky pulse. So she crossed her fingers in the folds of her skirt, instead.
Jonas
Without the sound of her breath, Jonas was instantly hollow.
The fibers left functioning in his arms and neck twisted like twine around a baseball bat the farther he walked from the Impala holding Ginny. He only made it two steps before turning back around to remind himself she was safe and whole. Although, Christ, look at her through the back window. In her blindfold, she looked like a kidnapping victim.
The side of his mouth tugged. There was no way in hell she’d keep that blindfold on much longer. That reminder of her spirit gave him peace and ravaged it at the same time. He couldn’t stop himself from memorizing every facet of her personality, even though they would undoubtedly haunt him forever.
Make her safe before you become a plague on her life.
He would.
That was his mission and he needed to get his mind back on it immediately. Needed to stop pining for something he couldn’t have, like some sort of wet behind the ears human. A relationship between them could not be.
It could not be.
Of course, that reminder didn’t keep him from turning to check on her another three times before reaching the back door of the establishment. She was already growing impatient. Without seeing her hands, he knew her fingers played with the hem of her dress, picking a section of material to rub on her knee. Jonas knew because every time she performed the adorable habit, it drove him wild with the need to push aside the material and kiss the chafed skin.
Or possibly arrange her knees so they were hugging his waist and therefore she wouldn’t be able to reach them.
He was staring back at the car again. At her parted lips and windblown auburn hair, the gentle rise and fall of her breasts. It was a crime to cover those guileless hazel eyes for even a second. They were the epicenter of life and spirit and hope.
Beautiful, beautiful girl.
Even from this distance, the scent of her blood loitered in the back of his throat. A thirst like any other that had planted roots so deep, they would remain long after he did what needed to be done—leave her the hell alone.
How will I ever do it?
He could barely make it across the alley to the door, let alone move to a new place where she would be out of his reach. Free to date, free to marry—
Jonas nearly ripped the door off the entrance to Haven. Since meeting Ginny, he’d wondered early and often if a certain amount of blood still ran in his veins, because the narrow passageways crisscrossing through his body had the ability to turn molten, like he’d swallowed liquefied silver. The image of a hand upon her skin that wasn’t his own unleashed a swarm of locusts in his ears, chest, stomach, the urge to kill putting the taste of rot in his mouth.
He’d worked so hard to rid himself of the violence inherent in vampires. But it seemed to come part and parcel with the rampant joy Ginny made him feel. He could vacillate between the two in the snap of a finger. Feeling so much, so hugely, was addictive. She was addictive.
And endearingly kind. Funny. Gorgeous. Dreamy. Brave, if a little sad.
Smooth. The skin of her neck was so smooth and warm.
It fluttered with a touch more insistence when she said his name.
Jonas stopped just inside the entrance of Haven and grasped at his throat, ordering his thirst for Ginny back under control.
Who was he kidding? It would never be under control. It stole through him now like a jaguar with a
deer in its sights, baring down on Jonas and throttling his throat, burning his eyes and making his hands tremble.
Focus. You need to focus.
Jonas called on his determination, rolling a shoulder back and striding farther into Haven. The small tavern had been so named by Jonas because that was what this place represented. A place to convene without judgment or fear. A place to discuss resources for their kind and create support systems. The mission Jonas had designated for himself should have been the responsibility of the High Order, but they chose instead to let their population manage alone—until it came time to mete out punishment. They certainly loved that aspect of being in power, but refused to do any of the hard work it would take to avoid executing their own or even helping the Silenced find some semblance of peace.
Jonas hadn’t returned to Haven since opening it a decade earlier, as he’d been traveling, finding and helping as many of the Freshly Silenced as he could, but since returning to Coney Island, he’d made many stops there.
Too many.
He stopped inside the small, low-lit dining room and nodded at the manager, who immediately went behind the bar to retrieve blood for Jonas. As if he would be able to enjoy it. Everything tasted like refuse now.
Jonas took a seat along the wall and quelled the urge to return to the alley, have one last look at Ginny. Remind Tucker and Elias that he’d burn them alive if a hair on her head was out of place when he returned.
His hand flexed on the table, craving the silkiness of her skin.
Stay where you are.
Jonas reached deep and centered himself, surveying the bar. Haven consisted of eight tables and they were all full now. Silence had descended like cloth as soon as he walked inside and now, one by one, the vampires in attendance placed hands over their dead hearts. Pledging fealty to Jonas that he didn’t ask for, nor did he expect. He was only glad they knew he was there to help, not intimidate or make this life even harder.
The High Order did more than enough of that for everyone.
A chair scraped back and a young man stood, twisting a ball cap in his hands. Several of the vampires patted him on the back as he crossed the tavern toward Jonas. Just before he took a seat on the opposite side of the table, Jonas noticed one of his legs was a prosthesis, though his limp was minimal.
