by Ginna Moran
He leans in and inhales a breath by my ear. “May I take you to my suite, Gwen?”
I exhale, my nerves disappearing. I can’t believe he just asked me instead of biting. I mean, I knew not all vampires were crazy-ass lunatics on a mission to drain people, but I struggle with the concept. Even Corona hadn’t tried to bite me. The fact that he asks makes me feel a teensy bit bad because of what I plan to do next.
“Actually...” Swinging my fist, I clock the vampire right in his bleeding chest.
He hollers and thrashes at the strength of my punch, hitting his back to the wall. Thrusting his arms out, he shoves me forward, knocking the wind from me. He links his fingers through my hair and bends my neck, no longer playing nice.
Augie and the other man come up behind the vampire, but he spins to face them, throwing the man, whose name I don’t know, into the frail, half-dead guy now sprawled across the floor. The vampire rushes Augie again next, but I push off from the wall and ram my shoulder into the vampire. The three of us fall forward, Augie wrapping his hands around the vampire to try to hold him in place.
Pressing my palm flat on the back of the vampire’s neck, I pin him down with one hand and aim my fist at the stab wound Augie inflicted. I punch down as hard as I can, my strength crazy-powerful—so much so that I gasp at my hand sinking into the vampire’s back.
The vampire screams and bucks, managing to throw me off. I wince and close my eyes. I brace to have my throat ripped out at any second. But silence sounds through the hallway until Augie groans and a body thumps on the ground.
“Gwen, you okay?” Augie asks, drawing my attention to him.
I gasp a few breaths and open my eyes. “Yeah,” I manage to say. “You killed him.”
Augie pushes to his feet. “That was you.”
“Me?”
“You’re holding his heart.”
Lifting my hand, I stare at the organ oozing in my fingers, my body wanting nothing more than to pulverize it. And then it does. I drop the soft, bloody tissue to the ground and pop my fingers into my mouth to lick off the blood.
All three guys stare at me—a mix of surprise and something else, possibly horror—crossing their faces. I wipe my bloody mouth on my shirt and get to my feet, hugging myself instead of offering to help Augie up.
“Such a gift to humanity,” Augie murmurs, still staring at me with wide eyes. “I’ve heard the rumors but have never seen anything like it.”
“She’s not,” the other guy says, drawing my attention to him. He stands a few feet away, clutching my discarded knife. “She’s a traitor.”
Augie frowns. “What are you talking about, Cody?”
“She’s responsible for Kyler’s death,” the man, Cody, responds. “She’s here because she abandoned our people.”
Glancing from Cody to me, Augie searches my face for answers, a dozen thoughts morphing his expression. “But she helped us escape.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Cody says, inching closer. This bastard. He must be deep in the rebel life if he’s willing to try to kill me here before we’ve even escaped. Someone could find us at any second. “She can’t come with us. She chose vampires.”
Augie frowns, the wrinkles on his forehead deepening at the accusation. “Is that true, Gwen?”
“No,” I automatically say, fisting my hands. Annoyance rushes over me. “It was all a misunderstanding.” It wasn’t, but none of them have to know.
Cody points the dagger at me. “Because they betrayed you. They gave you away.”
I tighten my jaw. This guy.
“She deserves to be here,” Cody says to Augie. Cody’s hand shakes as he clutches the dagger tighter. “Frankie died because of her too. She refused to leave. She chose the Royale Coven.”
I take a step back, my muscles tensing even more under the man’s accusations. How he knows? I don’t have a clue. I’ve never seen him before. “Please, let me explain.”
Augie raises his hand at Cody. “Let’s give her a minute.”
“No.”
I don’t get a chance to react as Cody flies at me.
Chapter 2
Escape
THREE GUNSHOTS RING THROUGH THE air, piercing my ears. I startle at the heavy weight of Cody’s body slamming into me. The knife falls from his fingers before warmth blooms over me, his blood seeping onto my stomach.
“I found her,” a man says from somewhere above me. “The rebels were trying to kidnap her.”
I pat my hand across the floor, feeling for the dagger. The cool hilt grazes my fingers, and I snatch it up without pushing Cody’s body off me.
“Ms. Gallagher, are you hurt?” the man asks.
“Y-yes,” I say even though I’m not. “Please help me. If Corona finds me out here, he’ll kill me.”
“You’re going to be okay, Ms. Gallagher. Your survival is Mr. Anderson’s top priority. You should not fear him.”
The hell I shouldn’t.
The man kicks Cody’s body off of me, and I groan and roll to my side, clutching my stomach while hiding the knife under me. With all of the blood, there’s no way for the guard to tell for certain if I’m truly injured.
“We need a health keeper,” the man says, calling into his com device. “Human. There’s a lot of blood.”
The man kneels next to me and touches my side, gently easing me onto my back. Without hesitating, I jam the knife into his side, but the blade scrapes off his body gear and misses its mark. I swing my arm out and punch him in the face instead, sending him back. Hopping on top of him, I pin him down and sock him again. And then again.
He slumps under me, surprised by my move.
A few voices trickle through the air along with more thudding footsteps. I scramble off the guard and reach for his belt, not managing to grab anything before another pop sounds through the air. Bolting to my feet, I dash down the hallway with no idea where I’m heading. I don’t stop to try to break the tinted glass windows, knowing I’d be unable to.
“Running is pointless, Ms. Gallagher,” another security guard calls from behind me.
A man releases a whistle. “Just let her wear herself out. She’s not going anywhere.”
As the words come out of the man’s mouth, I reach a foyer far less impressive than the grand entrance of the Night Palms Castle. A blank wall, a black metal chandelier, and a single wooden door greet me. I yank on the handle, despite what the guards said, and attempt to force it open.
The world spins around me, and I screech as bright light stings my eyes. Warm sunshine engulfs me, and I land on top of the first female human I’ve seen here. She gasps under my weight and covers her eyes with her hands.
“Don’t hurt me,” she says, her soft voice pushing me into action.
I roll off her and get to my feet. “Tell me where the orchards are. I need to head north.”
Loud alarms blare through the air, and my soul nearly jumps from my skin. The young woman quickly points in what I hope is the right direction, and I push my legs to run as fast as I can without looking back. Voices yell out, prodding at me to move faster even though all I want to do is bend forward and catch my breath. The days locked inside the room wreaked some horrible havoc on me. Or maybe it’s my still burning hunger. No matter what, I feel like shit and am afraid I’m not going to make it.
More gunshots ring through the air, and I try my best to weave back and forth as not to give the guards a clear shot. If they manage to shoot me, it’ll be the end. Because I’m not going back. I’ll not be imprisoned a moment longer. Only torture will await me. The guard already said that Corona wouldn’t kill me, which means that he’ll try to break me. He nearly did by starving me.
“Come on, Gwen. A hundred more feet. Don’t make me face the sun.”
I jerk my head up at the sound of Everett’s encouragement. I don’t know what I expected from my sudden release, but it sure as hell wasn’t finding Everett waving his hands at me from the shade of a tree.
My heart races, my breath q
uickening. I’ve never been so relieved in my life. Except for the relief I feel flees away with the stretch of a long shadow closing the space behind me.
“Don’t stop,” Everett says.
But it’s too late. The surprise of someone getting this close distracts me, slowing me down. A deep, threatening growl rips through the air. Two hands lock on my shoulders, yanking me back. I lose my footing and hit the grass, tumbling a dozen times. My head spins when I finally stop, and I dig my fingers into the grass in an attempt to get to my feet.
Someone grabs my leg, and I jerk my head up to stare at a man training a gun at me. “Stop fighting. It’s over.”
Everett releases another growl, causing the man to draw his attention away from me. He pulls the trigger on his gun, and I screech, pulling my knees to my chest. I expect pain to blast through me like the other time I was shot, but nothing happens. The man’s gone.
Heaving a breath, I push my hands into the ground to get to my feet. I spot Everett and the man in the shade of the trees. Everett flashes his fangs, looking ready to chomp down on the guard’s throat. Fear trickles through me, my human instincts going off like crazy. I can’t help it. Seeing Everett so intense and snarly freaks me out a bit.
Whipping his head in my direction, Everett catches my gaze. His chest heaves with a few deep breaths, and he locks his fingers around the guy’s throat and leans into him, capturing his stare. The man slackens in Everett’s arms. I shuffle my way closer, pushing past the panic engulfing me, causing my hands to tremble.
“Ms. Gallagher was taken by Blood Rebels,” Everett tells the man, breaking into his mind. He flashes his fangs, growling again like he can’t help himself. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was about to bite him.
The man stares at him without a word.
I inhale a small breath at the memory of how awful it was to experience such a thing by the hands of Mr. Bevaldi. It takes everything in me to keep walking to close the space to Everett, though my mind wants me to hurry the hell up. His tense muscles bulge against the fabric of his long-sleeved shirt, his blond hair hidden under his hood. His cheeks glow light pink, a few blisters peppering his jaw from his few seconds in the sun to get the guard away from me. I want so much to tackle him and attack him with my lips. If he wasn’t focused on the guard, I would.
“You will return to your post and forget I was here. Do you understand?” Everett asks the man without looking at me, though I know he senses my closeness. His shoulders relax just a bit, hearing me come up beside him.
I touch my fingers to his sides, resting my head on his back between his shoulder blades. It’s so amazing to breathe in his scent, to touch him, to hear the sound of his heart picking up speed for me.
“Yes,” the guard says, his voice even, robotic almost.
“Now go.” Everett releases the man, pushing him back into the sun.
I don’t have a second to react as Everett spins and engulfs me in a hug. He lifts me off of my feet and kisses me. I cling onto him, devouring his affection. He breathes softly into my hair and takes off, blurring the world around us. I can’t stop my eyes from burning with tears—summoned from both my fear and relief—and I tighten my arms around Everett, pressing my face into his hoodie to muffle my sniffles. I’ve been suppressing my emotions, so focused on my hunger that Everett breaks my walls down, sending me spinning through everything that happened.
“Gwen,” he whispers, his soft voice humming in my ear. “I’m so sorry.”
I don’t respond to his apology. I can’t. If I try, I know my voice will break. The last thing I want is for him to see how out of control I am right now. I want to be tough, strong. Not some whimpering mess.
“I wanted to come sooner, but—”
Instead of letting him finish, I pull away from his shoulder and meet my lips to his again, silencing the words I’m not so sure I want to hear. I know the way the world works. I understand that Everett and his brothers probably had a mess of things to deal with...and that their region takes precedence. I just—I push the thought away.
“I get it,” I finally say without pulling away more than an inch from his lips. Resting my forehead to his, I breathe in the sweetness of his breath, mingling with mine.
He kisses me again like he can’t resist the closeness of our mouths. I had no idea how much I missed him, his touch. Just everything about him. Being away from him and now returning to his arms cements the fact that my decision to choose the Royale Coven and let them claim me—claim them as my own—was the right one. I don’t want to imagine any other future.
“There is no need to explain. You have to take care of your coven first.” I don’t look at him as I say the words.
Everett huffs against my lips. “Gwen, no. It wasn’t like that. Let’s get out of here and I’ll explain.”
The world suddenly stops, and Everett slides me into the backseat of a car. He climbs behind the wheel and taps a few buttons, sending it jolting forward as he engages the autopilot. Pushing down the seat, Everett maneuvers his way into the back with me and lifts me into his arms to hug me on his lap, not even caring that I’m covered in all sorts of blood.
“You have been our priority,” Everett says softly, combing his fingers through my dirty, messy hair. “Not the coven or the region. You.”
I lick my lips and nod. I don’t know what to say. My brothers used to claim that I was the priority, but it never felt that way, not like it does now. I can feel the truth to Everett’s words deep in my soul.
His eyes flash silver as he turns his attention from me and out the windshield, keeping his attention split. “I know it felt otherwise, and I’m sure Corona said some things—”
“Like how you willingly gave me to him,” I say, resting my ear to his chest to listen to his heartbeat.
He releases a soft growl. “We’d never. Mikkalo thought your chances of survival would be higher if we didn’t fight. If we didn’t...reveal how much you mean to us. Corona already has Zaire to use against us.”
I shudder, inhaling a ragged breath. “I never want to be your weakness, Everett.”
He shifts me on his lap so that I face him, straddling his waist. “It’s already too late for that. You’re our girl.”
His claim brings a smile to my mouth. It’s the first time I’ve managed to do so. “Everett.”
Leaning forward, he caresses his lips to mine. “You are. And so you know, I don’t think you’re our weakness. You make us stronger if anything. You have no idea how relieved I am to hold you right now. My brothers are probably going crazy.”
“Where are they, anyway?” I ask, easing away.
My heart beats wildly just thinking about them—about how Jameson will smother me in his arms and let me bite the hell out of him. How Mikkalo will be so proud of me for getting my ass out of there when not only Corona’s security was after me, but the damn rebels too. And Bronx? I can already feel the weight of his arms around me. How his ever broody face will light up just for me.
“With Corona,” Everett says, tightening his jaw. The throatiness of his voice cuts through me in a good way. The way he says Corona sounds like he can’t wait for the moment to rip that asshole’s heart out on my behalf. He’ll probably hold me down to let me do it now. “Our plan took a bit longer to kick into action, but it had to be this way. We can’t give Corona a reason to suspect we had something to do with your disappearance, so they’re all there. Even an ounce of doubt could complicate things.”
A loud ring cuts through the air, and Everett stiffens in my arms. Bronx’s picture flashes on the navigation screen. I bounce in my seat, excitement rushing through me, knowing I’ll get to talk to Bronx at any second.
“I need you to get on the floor, Gwen. Don’t make a sound, okay?” Everett says, quashing my anticipation to mush it into fear.
He slides me off his lap and onto the floor without giving me a chance to answer. My chest tightens with more panic, and I swear my heart will never even out again. I
thought life going from city to city to save humans was intense and sometimes freaky as hell, but I’m more on edge. Maybe because my secret about being a dhampir is out.
Everett climbs back into the front seat and gets behind the wheel. He turns off the autopilot and picks up speed before answering the line. I clench my jaw and cover my mouth with my hand just in case.
“What’s up, Bronx?” Everett asks, his voice even, strong.
“Checking in. Is everything all good?” Bronx’s smooth voice echoes through a speaker, and I silently beg my heart to chill out. “What’s your ETA?”
It takes everything in me not to sit up to try to glance at Bronx’s face on the screen. I can already imagine his dark eyes now. His chiseled jaw. Full, soft lips. So kissable.
Damn. The rest of my body needs to chill out too.
“Would be better if it weren’t the fucking afternoon,” Everett says, raising his voice in agitation. “Other than that, it’s all good. I’m seven minutes out. Be ready.”
“And what of the transfers?” The eerily familiar voice of Corona stops Bronx from responding.
I tense, squeezing my eyes shut.
Everett clears his throat. “I’ve signed off on the health statuses of the new Anderson donors. All Bronx needs to do is to confirm the transfer.”
“Very good. Always a pleasure working with the Royale Coven. I do hope our alliance remains strong for the unforeseeable future,” Corona says.
The words dig into me. I wish I could yell that it’ll only be strong until I bite his throat out.
“Yup,” Everett responds flatly. The car shifts as he turns. “Five minutes, brothers. I’m not waiting all day.”
“Got it, Ev,” Bronx says.
Corona clears his throat. “Actually, I would like you to go over the paperwork with me. I’ll come to the garage. It’ll be quick.”
“Sounds good. Three minutes.”
Everett smacks his hands on the steering wheel, startling me. One second I’m on the floor, and in the next, he’s pulling me into his arms again. He hits a lever on the backseat and pulls the seat forward to the cargo space of the trunk. I’ll have to curl on my side to fit in it, the space not as big as the trunks of the cars from the back-world that I’m used to.
