by Trim, Brenda
“Yes. I will walk into the sun if she doesn’t survive,” I reply.
“Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen,” Lucius says as he looks up from Harper. Is her heart beating faster? I focus on her chest for several long seconds. Nothing has improved yet, but she isn’t worse. I hold onto that last fact as tight as I can.That one fact sparks hope in my utterly bleak world. It’s not enough to chase the cloud of doom away, but it gives me something bright to focus on.
I have to believe that fate brought her to me for a reason. It can’t be to take her away mere days after she’s worked her way into every cell of my body and soul. Fate isn’t that cruel.
I don’t deserve better, but Harper sure as fuck does. She’s better than everyone in this room. Hell, she’s better than everyone on the entire planet. She deserves a life of joy and happiness of her own choosing. Even if that doesn’t involve me. It will rip me apart, but I want her to be happy more than anything.
Not something I ever thought I’d feel. I’m a selfish asshole and have always focused on what I want and need above all. I took blood when I wanted, and seduced women to get it.
There was a time when I killed indiscriminately. I’ve stolen from royalty to secure my future. I’ve lied. The more I think about it, the more I realize I don’t deserve Harper. But I will do anything to earn her.
She is the light to my darkness. She is my everything.
Footsteps in the tunnel make me and Selene jump to our feet. We take identical stances in an attack position, fists raised in front of us.
Garrett steps into the room and rights a camping lantern that has fallen over. I never noticed it before that moment. The new position highlights Harper’s battered and beaten body.
Every cut shining in the dim light. There are more deep slices covering her body than clothing. Every bruise standing out starkly against her pale skin. Tears once again burn the back of my eyes.
“I was going to ask what the hold-up was, but I can see. Do you want help with her?” the alpha asks.
Lucius climbs to his feet. “No. We’ve got this.”
Garrett’s gaze sweeps from Harper to my sire to me and his mouth thins with his disapproval. The male’s chest puffs up, telling me he is going to try and stop her transition.
Lucius growls and I notice he seems bigger than before. That could be an illusion given the power I feel emanating from his body. Something changed for him. His energy nearly knocks me on my ass. Is it his connection to Selene?
When I look at her, I dismiss the idea. She’s looking at him with confusion written all over her face. She meets my gaze then masks her reaction and moves to stand by her mate’s side.
“Does she want this?” Garrett barks.
“She doesn’t want to die at the hands of an asshole,” I snap. “She was innocent in all of this. I know she wants to live and is willing to pay the price for that to happen.”
It is reminder enough for the alpha. Harper isn’t gaining immortality without paying a price. She is giving up her mortal life. She will never have children, and she will never see another sunrise again.
It may be more than she is willing to live with, and she might end her existence. But that will be up to her. It will gut me if she decides to end her life, but I will respect it.
Nodding, Garrett turns to leave, but pauses. “The fire is still blazing out here. We will remain in the area to ensure it doesn’t get out of control, but I will pull my men further away.”
“Thank you,” Lucius tells the alpha, who walks out of the cave. “What is she?” he asks me.
Shaking my head, I think about when I fed from her. “I have no idea. I’ve never tasted anything like her blood, and she has no idea. When I mentioned that there was something more to her, she denied it. She said she was a normal, boring human.”
“She’s different all right,” Lucius says as he watches Harper.
“I bet that’s why the alpha wanted to mate with her,” Selene interjects. “He wanted his children to be powerful enough to hold onto their title. She might even give me a run for my money.” The shifter-vampire hybrid almost smiles.
I will never understand why that makes her so happy. She should be afraid of another taking power from her. Perhaps it’s lonely for my queen. I never considered how being different made her an outcast. She has Lucius, but women are different from men.
We don’t need much. Before falling in love with Harper, I lived alone and preferred it that way. I worked, fucked, and fed and repeated the same night after night. I had no real close friends to do things with and have been more than okay with that.
Now, I cannot imagine being without the love of my life for even a second. Harper is my other half, and every fiber in my being revolts at the idea of going home without her after we leave this cave.
Women, however, are gentler creatures. Not that I’d call Selene soft. Just the opposite. The first time I met her I wondered why my sire had taken a murderer into his home. Selene has been honed into a weapon, but that’s not all there is to her.
Perhaps she and Harper will become friends. I can imagine the two of them kicking ass and taking names. No one will pose a threat to our nest with the two of them around. Harper has to live for that to happen.
“Let’s finish this,” I tell him when Harper’s heart slows even more. Urgency rides me like a bitch. She isn’t getting better, and I have a sinking feeling in my gut she isn’t going to make it.
Fate is a fucking bitch.
Nodding, he kneels beside Harper again and bites into his wrist. I hold Harper’s mouth open and watch as several drops hit her grey tongue. Before any of us are prepared, Harper latches onto Lucius’s wrist and starts drinking his blood.
That’s a good sign, but we aren’t out of the woods yet. Her body might reject the vampire blood and she might die anyway. I stroke her hair, crooning words of encouragement in her ear.
I swear electricity travels through her body and singes my hand. Startled, I lift my head and notice her color is much better now. She still looks like a corpse--with so much bruising I can’t see her stunning features. Now her countless cuts look fresh rather than desiccated and she isn’t so gray anymore.
Selene crosses to Lucius’s side and puts her hand on Harper’s forehead. “No. Not yet,” Lucius tells her.
It seems like an eternity passes while I fight my possessive demon and Harper fights for her life. She continues drinking Lucius’s blood before Selene helps him disengage her mouth from his arm.
I’m afraid to ask the question burning in my head. I cradle Harper close and hold her. Her scent has changed. It’s richer, earthier now. But her unique essence is still there.
Her hair is a tangled mess, but I carefully run my hand over it anyway.. There is no improvement in her condition and her head lolls against my chest, making it difficult to determine if she will survive the process.
“We must go now,” Lucius informs me. He and Selene are standing near the exit. I can tell they want to give us time, but we are out of it.
“Can I drive her to your house?”
My sire nods. “I will go with you and Selene will follow us.”
Holding Harper, I kiss her forehead. “I love you, kitten. Please come back to me.”
Lucius and Selene are already out of the cave and I hurry to catch up. The bonfire rages and I am bombarded by the scent of charred flesh the second we are outside. My rage returns, reminding me why I am standing in the middle of a desert holding Harper, hoping she survives the change, rather than taking care of her after a particularly intense scene.
I clench her to me on instinct, needing to feel her close while I imagine shredding the alpha all over again. His death was far too easy. He should be even now suffering a thousand cuts.
I smell the shifters a few hundred feet in the distance and need to get away from the animalistic scents. Their proximity is rapidly shredding my control. If I can’t take my anger out on the shifter responsible, my dark side is willing to a
ccept any substitute.
Holding her close, I blur across the desert. Selene and Lucius aren’t right with me this time. I know the process took a lot out of my sire. I’m no help to him while holding Harper.
In fact, I’m more of a danger to destroying his agreement with Garrett. I don’t see Lucius being in danger while we are still allied to the pack, though. Stopping by my car, I lower my head to Harper’s.
Her heart beats steadier now. “I hope you can forgive me for this decision, kitten. I couldn’t let you die.”
Selene and Lucius reach the cars a second later and they are saying their goodbyes. I settle Harper in the backseat, but before I can climb into the driver’s seat, Selene grabs the door.
“I saw your debate when you took off. It’s one of many times I’ve seen evidence of your loyalty to Lucius. From what I’ve learned it’s more than I expected. You’ve proven not all sired are treasonous assholes. For that, I promise to do everything I can to help Harper through this process,” my queen tells me.
“Let her know I couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. And I will be waiting for her when she’s ready to see me.”
Selene nods then gives Lucius another kiss and helps him into my car. Behind the wheel, I take a deep breath and pray to any God willing to listen for a chance to earn Harper’s heart.
I can’t even contemplate not being able to hold her again. It takes a hundred silent reminders that I will honor any decision she makes. Already I want to hide her away, so I have the chance to prove my love for her.
The knot in my stomach refuses to unwind and allow me to take a deep breath. There might be no way for her to get past the urge to kill long enough to find the control needed to function. My Harper is a soft soul full of compassion and a zest for life. It will destroy her if she kills anyone.
Shaking my head, I cut off any further doubt from creeping in. I made the only decision possible given the scenario. Torturing myself will do no good. I’m not a patient vampire though. I suddenly can’t wait until sleeps takes me under.
Chapter 14
Harper
I come awake with a gnawing hunger razing my insides. And I’m parched. My veins cry out to be quenched. Where the hell am I? I wonder as a musty dirt smell invades my nostrils.
Sitting up, I rub my back and brush dirt from my clothes. A quick scan tells me I am in a room with a dirt floor and metal door. What the heck? How did I get here? The last thing I remember is going to work…and being kidnapped by shifters.
“Steve,” I gasp. I’m on my feet and heading for the door before I realize I’m even moving. A twist of the knob proves I am locked inside the room.
I pace the length of the small room and wonder how I’m able to see anything in the darkness. There is no light in the room, and none comes from under the door, yet I can see the faint outline of my hand when I lift it in front of my face.
A loud scraping sound echoes through the closed door, making my hands fly up and cover my ears. Is the building or mountain or whatever coming down on me? Between the concrete walls and the dirt floor, I have no idea if I’m under a house or in the mountain still.
Right after the scraping stops the door creaks open almost as loudly as the other noise. Lifting my head, I blink in the bright light burning my eyes.
“It’s good to see you awake. How are you feeling?” The masculine voice is familiar, but it takes a few seconds to realize who it is.
“Lucius!” I cry out and rush to him. “You saved me. We have to get out of here. Steve and his shifters might be back any minute.”
I pull him toward the stairs I see in the distance, but don’t get very far. The hunger overwhelms me, and I jump at him trying to lock onto his throat. He smells delicious. It’s like a spell takes over my mind and all I can think about it sinking my teeth into his flesh and gulping down his blood. I’m hardly aware of what I’m doing.
An arm wraps around my waist and I never make contact with Lucius. When I smack into a stone sarcophagus I fall to the ground with a groan. When I lift my head, I see Selene standing there in a crouch with sharp teeth bared and a low growl.
As the past few seconds register, I curl into a ball. “What did he do to me? How am I alive? Did he turn me into a monster?” I recall being close to death. The agony was on the heels of images of Steve kicking me.
The sound and agony of a rib breaking had me shaking like a leaf. My hand lifts to my temple, but there is no gash anymore. In fact, nothing hurts on my body at all aside from the hunger that is killing me.
“You’re safe, Harper. Liam found you in that cave,” Lucius informs me.
Liam.
Hearing his name makes me want to smile. I knew he’d come for me. I just didn’t think it would be in time to save my life.
“Where is he? How long have I been asleep?” My gaze goes to the open door of the room I was in moments ago. If I was close to death, why did they put me on a dirty floor where I could get an infection? My mind refuses to think on the obvious answer.
Lucius comes closer and his scent turns my brain to mush again. All I can focus on is how hungry I am. The desire roars to the forefront and all I can think of is taking what I need.
Once again, I am in motion before I realize the desire. I end up on my back with Lucius pinning me down with a knee on my chest and one of his big hands around my throat. I thrash around and snap at his arm trying to get a bite.
Lifting my legs, I kick him off me and run toward him before he has a chance to get his feet under him. I latch onto his arm, but something kicks me in the side before I get much more than a taste of ambrosia.
Snarling, I rake my claws across Selene’s face. Blood drips down her cheek, making my mouth water. I snap my jaw in her direction. Inches from reaching my destination, I am picked up from behind and carried across the room.
The scent behind me is far more attractive and makes my mouth water. I thrash and try to twist and reach my goal. My fingers draw blood from the thick arm around my middle. Bringing them to my mouth, I lick them clean.
I kick, scream, and wriggle. My head is angled, and I see an ear in the periphery of my vision. My arm goes back and wraps around Lucius’s neck. I hear movement behind me, and my leg shoots out without me turning. I hear a grunt before a body hits a wall.
I’m so preoccupied by the flavor that I don’t notice his intentions until I am flying through the air and landing on the dirt floor. The metal door slams, and I hear the lock engage from the outside.
“Let me out!” I demand and pound on the door. After several seconds I decide to look for another way out. It’s obvious they aren’t letting me go. Prowling around the room, I run my hands over the walls looking for weaknesses or a secret tunnel.
Outside I hear Lucius and Selene talking about calling Liam. The name makes my heart clench and I’m distracted for several seconds by the desire to find Liam. The hunger in my gut and the delicious scent all around me refocuses me on the mission at hand.
There is only dirt beneath my movements, and I decide to dig my way out. Going to my knees, I claw at the dirt and shove piles away from the wall. My fingers are raw and start bleeding within seconds, but that doesn’t stop me.
I’m knee deep in a hole when the door creaks open again. I bend my knees and jump toward the man standing in the way of my exit. I collide with a hard body and feel arms wrap around my middle.
He smells divine, and familiar. It makes my heart ache while hunger gnaws at my insides. My mouth goes directly to his throat and I bite. His blood lands on my tongue. Its beyond anything I can imagine, and I start gulping. It doesn’t sate the deepest of my hunger, but it fills my veins.
An arm wraps around my neck and a hand pries my jaw apart. I can’t breathe and I can’t move, but I see Liam’s face staring at me with concern and…love? It stops the fight and I drop from his body.
“Are you alright, kitten?” Liam asks.
That question pisses me off. “No. I’m not fucking all right, asshol
e,” I scream. Behind me Lucius increases his hold.
“I’m sorry,” Liam whispers. “I couldn’t let you die, love.”
“Calling him might not have been the best idea,” Selene snarks from right next to me. She is holding my jaw open and I try to bite her digits off.
“Harper. Stop. We need to talk,” Liam tries again.
I try to yell at him, but I’m not able to move my mouth to get the words out. I continue kicking and thrashing my body. Curses surround me and I am flying through the air again minutes later.
The door slams shut, and I pound on the metal for several minutes until fatigue drags at my body. Falling to the floor, I decide I’ll rest then try to escape when I wake up.
* * *
The creak of the door makes me jolt into a crouched position in a flash. I watch as Lucius and Selene enter the room. Relaxing, I stand up and try to swallow past my dry throat. The hunger is even worse now.
“Are you ready to try talking again?” Selene asks.
Nodding, I head to the door but am distracted by the scent of Lucius as I get close to him. I’m flat on my back with Lucius looming above me. It’s a position we’ve been in before, I think when his hand lands on my throat.
Selene is next to us a second later holding my head. “Lucius is going to feed you a little bit. Shhh, it’ll help.”
What she says hardly registers as I fight them both to get what I need. My veins feel like dried husks running throughout my body.
“Hold her, pet,” Lucius commands his mate, and lifts his arm to his mouth.
My eyes roll back in my head as a delicious scent fills the air. It makes my mouth water and sends me into a frenzy. I have to have whatever that is. The thrashing is back, but I don’t get very far as Selene holds my head still.
Lucius presses down on my throat with more force and holds his arm above my head. Blood dribbles off his arm and splashes the corner of my mouth. The best tasting dark chocolate I’ve ever tasted teases my taste buds, and my lips part, searching for more.
