by L.H. Cosway
As I spoke, I could already hear sirens approaching in the distance.
The man continued staring at me, bug-eyed. I shook my head, turned, and limped away. He’d kicked me in the skin and ankle, and I was hurt, but I could get Rita to whip up one of her healing remedies.
Lately, I’d been hanging out at Nicki’s a lot, but she and her girlfriend just left for a six-week trip to Europe, so now my only option for avoiding everyone was to sit in cafés people watching or mindlessly browse through bookstores. There were way too many people around Finn’s place these days, one of whom happened to despise me. I wagered it would be a long time before Ethan forgave me for what I did. If ever.
Every time I thought about him my heart clenched painfully.
He was hard to avoid, too, since he started renting a house across the street from Finn’s place. Ethan, Delilah, Dru, and Lucas were living there while we maintained our strange alliance. Cosy, right? Well, it would be if they all didn’t think I was the biggest bitch to ever grace the planet. Delilah was the only one who tolerated me.
Ethan hadn’t spoken a single word to me since he showed up at Finn’s house. Hell, he’d barely even spared me a glance, and it cut like a knife. I just wanted to go back to the way things were, but that wasn’t to be. Delilah said that when it came to betrayal, Ethan didn’t let things go, and boy, was she telling the truth.
It was dark out when I finally got home. I slotted my key into Finn’s front door, hearing chattering coming from the kitchen. When I stepped into the hallway, shrugging out of my coat and hanging it on the banister at the end of the stairs, I picked out two voices.
Rita and Ethan.
It was all I could do not to roll my eyes.
Ethan had been doing his utmost to get close to Rita lately. The bastard knew she was powerful. I think he also knew how much I liked her and that’s why he was laying on the charm. He was trying to lure her away. Just one part of what was sure to be a thorough and complicated revenge sequence. I didn’t even have it in me to be worried. I was too lost in grief over my dad. It killed me inside to not know whether I’d ever be able to save him from wherever he was. Even with all my magic, I still felt completely useless.
Disgruntled, I flung open the kitchen door and limped my way over to the sink to wash my hands. Their chatting immediately ceased, and Rita let out a quiet gasp.
“What happened to you, Tegan?” She rose from her seat, a look of worry on her face as she took in my injuries.
“I got caught up in a riot down on Campion Row. Some crazy bastard attacked me.”
“Jesus, why would he attack you?” She fussed over my face while Ethan stood stoically on the other side of the room, expressionless. If it bothered him to see me beaten up, he didn’t show it.
“I don’t know,” I told Rita. “But something fishy is going on. One minute everything was normal, people going about their business, and the next, they were transformed into a bunch of violent lunatics.”
I allowed myself a glance at Ethan. There was a quick flash of anger before his face returned to the usual blankness he bestowed upon me daily. I almost gasped when his cold eyes cut right through me. Whoa.
I looked back to Rita because I couldn’t handle the intensity of Ethan’s hatred. “Do you think it might have something to do with Theodore? I seriously wouldn’t put it past him to try turning the human population violent simply for his own entertainment.”
Rita leaned back against the counter, a thoughtful expression on her pixie-like face. Today she wore dark red lipstick, paired with this weird white eye shadow and mascara. It was a striking look; something you’d see on a catwalk model. Definitely not your typical everyday make-up. Her outfit consisted of ripped black jeans and a lacy purple shirt. Oh yeah, and bare feet. Rita loved to go around barefoot. Perhaps she felt it brought her closer to some kind of earth magic.
“Theodore could be behind it, but there’s also a chance it seeped through from the hell dimension when Marcel opened the portal. There’s some dodgy stuff over there, stuff that might make people go a little bit crazy when released into the atmosphere.”
“Can you be more specific?” I asked.
“Malevolent entities, spirits, demons, that kind of thing.”
“Yay, I love it when evil comes for a visit. Remind me to ask Finn where he keeps the good china,” I replied sarcastically.
“Good luck with that. I don’t think Finn’s the kind of man to own fancy china.”
I stepped away, glancing from Rita to Ethan. “Well, I’ll let you two get back to whatever you were up to before I interrupted. I’m going to see if there’s a first-aid kit upstairs.”
Ethan was stony-faced, but then he suddenly strode toward me, grabbed my wrist, and yanked me from the room. “What are you doing? Let go of me,” I protested as he ushered me up the stairs to the bathroom.
Without a word, he slammed the door and turned over the lock. My heart pounded as I finally managed to jerk my wrist from his hold.
“Unlock the door, Ethan,” I demanded, standing as far away from him as I could in the small room.
“No,” he grunted, his jaw working. The tension emanating from him gave me goosebumps.
“Have you finally decided to acknowledge my existence then?” I asked, folding my arms. My attitude was all bluster. It was my only defence. Being in close proximity to him had my insides going haywire.
“Stop talking, or I won’t help you.”
“I don’t need your help. I’m fine.”
His eyes travelled over my bruised face, and if I wasn’t mistaken, they strayed to my lips for a fraction of a second before meeting my gaze again. “You don’t look fine.” He gripped my shoulders, pushing me over to the edge of the bath. “Sit down.”
With a distinct gulp, I did as he said. The brief pressure of his hands on my shoulders was annoyingly pleasurable. I resented how much my silly, sentimental heart latched onto any tiny grain of attention from him. I exhaled nervously, hoping he couldn’t smell how I was feeling, the guilt mixing with need.
His gaze flashed to mine, so heated it practically scorched. His lips parted slightly, and his sharp, white fangs extended downward. He straddled the bathtub, placing one foot inside it and the other on the tiled bathroom floor so that he sat facing me. He lifted his wrist to his mouth, eyes still trained on mine, then bit down, breaking the flesh.
“What are you doing?” I gasped. “You just bit yourself.”
Blood began to seep from the puncture before he thrust his wrist at me. “Drink. It will heal you.”
“No, thanks,” I said, tensing again. Just like the last time he’d offered me his blood, I felt pulled in, entranced by the allure of it.
“Just drink, Tegan. I can tell you’re in pain.”
On instinct, I licked my lips. “Does this mean we’re friends again?”
His expression was infuriatingly blank. “You and I will never be friends,” he stated coldly, and the statement cut me to the quick.
“Well, that’s very definitive. I thought that maybe with time you could bring yourself to forgive—”
“Friends do not want each other as we do,” he said, cutting me off and causing butterflies to fill my stomach. “And no, you are not forgiven, but that doesn’t mean I want you to be in physical pain. Now drink.”
I stared at him, gobsmacked. I’d barely heard the bit about me not being forgiven because I was too fixated on the part about him wanting me. He still wanted me. The thought made me feel hot all over. It also gave me hope that one day things could be different between us.
I glanced at his wrist again, and it was like someone cast a spell on me. I leaned closer, and before I knew it, my mouth had latched onto him and the sweet nectar that was his blood slithered down my throat. A small hiss escaped him at the contact, and arousal swept through me.
At first, I drank tentatively, but when the honey-sweet taste hit my tongue, I started to take much deeper gulps. I was vaguely aware of him groaning
and shifting closer, but I was too consumed by his blood to be fully aware of what was happening.
A second later, he picked me up and flipped me across the room, caging me against the wall. Ethan pressed his body flush with mine as I continued to drink from him. I opened my eyes, and our gazes locked. Sexual energy thickened the air. He ran the tip of his nose up the side of my neck softly, as though tracing the line of a vein.
My injuries receded, my pain easing, while Ethan’s hand slid under my T-shirt, his palm smoothing out over my bare stomach. I didn’t need pain relief any longer, but I did need a different kind of relief. I felt like I might burst if he didn’t fuck me right there and then, but I saw the moment when his logic returned and he clamped his hand onto my jaw, easing my mouth away from his wrist. I withdrew with a whimper, blood dripping down my chin. Ethan’s fangs were still extended, and I could tell it took every ounce of his willpower to back away from me.
He left me standing breathless by the wall as he returned to the edge of the tub, never dropping my gaze. It took a moment before I gained any level of coherent thought.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Did I drink too much?”
Ethan practically growled his response. “No.”
A shiver skittered down my spine. “Okay, well, thank you. The pain is gone. I’m completely healed.”
“You’re welcome.” Now I couldn’t tell if he wanted to kill me or shag me.
I dragged my eyes from his as I approached the sink and turned on the tap to wash the blood from my chin. I was practically trembling, half because of his blood coursing through my system and half because of his intensity as he watched my every movement.
It was like being locked in a bathroom with an uncaged tiger and having no idea whether or not he was hungry. Okay, I tell a lie. Judging from the look in his eyes, Ethan was ravenous.
“How do you feel?” he asked as I splashed warm water over my face. “You drank more than you did the last time I healed you.”
I turned off the tap and grabbed a towel to dry my face. “I feel …” I trailed off, because I couldn’t tell him the truth. The truth was that I felt like tearing all his clothes off and mounting him on the bathroom floor. I knew his blood formed a connection between us, one that would last a month or two. That was why I felt so aroused. It wasn’t real.
If I kept telling myself that maybe it would come true.
A wave of euphoric dizziness swept over me as the high from his blood took hold. Under my T-shirt, my nipples hardened, and my clit throbbed between my thighs. Jesus Christ, it was like I’d just taken Viagra.
Ethan arched an eyebrow. “Tegan?”
I swallowed thickly. “I’m fine, just a little discombobulated. Vampire blood is like a drug.”
“Some people also describe it like an aphrodisiac,” he countered. “For both parties. That’s why I …”
“Why you pounced on me? Yeah, I got that. Obviously, you wouldn’t come near me otherwise.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, you’ve been pretending I don’t exist. This is the first time you’ve spoken to me in weeks.”
He didn’t respond. Instead, his eyes traced the curve of my hips. I’d been drowning my sorrows with a little too much food lately. Dad in hell. Ethan hating me. Theodore back to wreak havoc. Comfort eating was my only comfort. The local corner shop owner was making a fortune from the amount of Fry’s Turkish Delight bars I’d been purchasing.
“You’ve put on weight,” he commented.
“First, he ignores me, then he calls me fat. You really know how to boost a girl’s ego,” I said dryly.
“I didn’t call you fat. On the contrary, the weight suits you.” There was that flash of heat again, but it was gone in an instant. Carefully masked behind a wall of indifference. I wished I couldn’t feel his blood rushing through my veins, infiltrating my pleasure centres and making me feel like I could conquer the world. Vampires should bottle this stuff and sell it to humans. It would be incredibly lucrative.
“Your pupils are very dilated,” he said then, standing to come and inspect me. “Perhaps you did drink too much.”
“Just riding the high,” I said. “It’ll die down soon I’m sure.”
His attention wandered over me. “Describe it.”
“Describe what?”
“How my blood makes you feel.”
“Nah, don’t fancy doing that right now,” I swallowed thickly and closed my eyes, because seriously, feeling the way I did and him being so close, I was in danger of doing something stupid.
“I can smell that you want me.”
Tingles travelled down my spine. Oh, so he was trying to torture me via sexual frustration? Right, got it. There were worse forms of revenge. Also, two could play at that game. I had no intention of letting him win. I opened my eyes, braced my hands on his chest, and summoned a small measure of magic as I pushed him back. The extra force caused him to stumble and fall back into the bathtub. He looked furious until I stepped into the tub with him and sat astride his lap.
Normally, I’d never be so bold, but the blood high had taken over. I wasn’t myself. I heard him suck in a surprised breath as I leaned down and pressed my lips to the pulse pounding in his neck. My effect on him felt like a prize. A growl rumbled from deep in his chest.
“You must be feeling very brave to use your magic on me like that,” he said, a husky threat in his voice.
I pulled back and stared down at him. “Don’t underestimate me, Cristescu. I’m a formidable opponent, and I’m not going to roll over and play dead anymore.”
He bared his teeth for a fraction of a second. “You betrayed me.”
“True, but you were hardly a saint. You need to get over it.”
“Fuck you.”
I shot him a smirk as my gaze wandered down to his blatantly hard cock. “Yeah, it’s clear you want to. How embarrassing. Sorry I’m so irresistible to you.”
With that, I moved to climb out of the tub, but Ethan grabbed my hips and flipped us so that he hovered over me, a wild look in his eyes. Remind me why was I goading him? I was playing with fire, and I was only an inch away from getting burned.
“I should teach you a lesson,” he said, his voice pure gravel as he nestled his erection between my thighs. It was all I could do not to moan at the rush of heat that flooded me.
I bit my lip. His eyes wandered to the movement. I squirmed beneath him, and he groaned. My eyes locked with his, and a storm roiled in his gold irises. I wanted him to devour me and I wanted to flee all at the same time. The warring emotions had me all twisted up inside.
“Is everything okay up there?” Rita called from downstairs, and just like that, the weird sexual tension-filled battle of wills we’d engaged in was over. Ethan swiftly climbed off me and left the bathroom without giving me a second glance.
“Everything’s fine. Let’s go over to my house and continue our conversation,” I heard him say to Rita as he descended the stairs. I lay there, supremely annoyed with myself that I’d let him get to me.
I should never have let him heal me with this blood. Now I was going to have to deal with being connected to him for months. It was bad enough having to be around him in general. With the blood connection, it was going to be ten times worse.
After a few minutes, I managed to drag myself out of the tub and to my bedroom, which I was currently sharing with my friend Amanda. Living with Finn was only ever supposed to be temporary, but he’d agreed to let me stay until I could figure out a way to save my dad. I sat down on the edge of the bed and ran a hand over Amanda’s hair.
After I returned her to her parents’ house, she’d fallen off the wagon again. Lucas found her passed out in an alley two weeks ago, and I’d taken it upon myself to get her clean. Rita’s mum, Noreen, was a healer, and she whipped up a batch of special magical tea that I had Amanda drink three times a day. The stuff worked miracles. Gone were the dark circles under her eyes and the desperate need
to be bitten. Amanda was almost ready to go home. Now I knew why Rita and her mum had so many loyal clients. Their spells and concoctions really worked.
I climbed into bed next to her, laying down and riding out the high from Ethan’s blood. I rested my head on my pillow as pleasure took over, my every pore tingling. Wow, this was insane. The feeling radiated through me, wiping all worries from my mind.
This could certainly become addictive.
Somewhere along the way, I fell asleep, dreaming of what might’ve happened if Rita hadn’t interrupted me and Ethan while we battled it out in the bathroom.
I didn’t intend to, but I slept through the night and half the next day. Ethan’s blood had completely wiped me out. Amanda came into the room as I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. She was dressed as she sat next to me on the bed, looking fresh and vibrant. She was practically back to her old self. Although, it also meant she recently had her eyes re-opened to what was really going on in this city. When she was deep in her addiction, she was too out of it to fully comprehend what was going on. Plus, her memories kept being wiped by the vampires who fed from her.
“Have you been out for a walk?” I asked, noting the rosy glow to her cheeks.
“Yes, I went shopping with Noreen and Alvie, then we had lunch at a sushi restaurant.”
“Sounds fun. You look good.”
She nodded. “I feel good. I think I might go home tomorrow. See my parents. They’ve been worried about me.”
“Of course. I’m sure they’ve missed you. I’ll be sorry to see you go, but you’re all better now thanks to Rita and Noreen.”
“I can’t thank all of you enough for taking care of me. I’m never stepping foot near a vampire again so long as I can help it.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Does that include Lucas?”
Her cheeks flushed a little before she replied, “Yes, that includes him. I’m an addict. I have to cut myself off completely. It’s the only way.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” I pulled her into a hug. At least one thing had gone right lately.
