by L.H. Cosway
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.
“Tegan!” Finn called from somewhere downstairs. “Are you awake?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Good. We’re having a meeting in the living room in ten minutes. The vamps are on their way over.”
A rush of anxiety w
ent through me. I wasn’t ready to see Ethan again so soon, not after the fireworks of last night. Finn appeared in the doorway, eyeing my bed head.
“Oh, you can wipe that judgemental look off your face. I needed to sleep.”
“It’s late evening. You’ve been asleep all day,” Finn commented.
“And your point is?” I shot back, feeling snappish. “What’s the meeting about?”
Finn folded his arms across his chest. “Rita mentioned what happened to you yesterday, about the riot and how you think it had something to do with Theodore. We’re having a meeting to discuss that possibility.”
“I guess hashing out some theories couldn’t hurt,” I said before glancing at Amanda. “You might want to make yourself scarce. Lucas will be coming over for the meeting.”
“Sure, I’ll stay up here,” she replied, picking up a paperback that she’d been reading.
I ran a hand through my hair to neaten it up. Finn’s wry glance informed me it was a wasted effort. I shuffled past him grumpily, grabbing a clean top, underwear, and some jeans before heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower.
Once out and dressed, I headed downstairs in search of food, suddenly ravenous. I pulled a packet of tortilla chips from the cupboard before I even noticed Ira sitting silently over by the window. He stared out into the garden, a meditative look on his face.
He glanced at me then, probably sensing my eyes on him. I gave him a nod, not bothering to make conversation because he was still doing the whole mute thing. I wondered if he lost the ability to speak as a result of the curse placed on him. Finn had been helping him a lot, taking him out and teaching him how to be a human again, but he still had a long way to go.
When I went into the living room, everyone was there except for Finn. They must’ve arrived while I was in the shower. Silence fell when I stepped into the room, all eyes on me. I feigned nonchalance, continuing to munch loudly on the tortilla chips because I suspected it would bother Ethan. Rita’s lips twitched in amusement.
There wasn’t anywhere for me to sit, so I lowered myself to the floor by the fireplace. Sensing someone’s attention, I lifted my gaze, and Ethan was eyeing me without expression. I felt my cheeks redden as memories from last night filled my head.
I should teach you a lesson.
Why did that statement fill me with anticipation rather than dread?
My gaze drifted to Delilah, who sat next to him. I had to do a double-take because she wore a translucent vest top with no bra underneath, her B-cups all on show. None of the vampires seemed to have noticed, or maybe they just didn’t care. They were so jaded someone could traipse in stark naked and they probably wouldn’t bat an eyelid.
A moment of silence passed before Finn finally joined us. He was still a little uneasy around the vamps, and I guessed his late arrival was a bit of a power play. It was going to take a lot more time for him to overcome his reservations about them, if he even could. I held in my laughter when I noticed him do an almost identical double-take to my own when he spotted Delilah’s see-through vest. This was one of the main reasons why I liked Finn so much. We picked up on the same things when we walked into a room.
I watched him struggle to keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately, his trap won out.
“A bit nippy in here, isn’t it?” he commented, doing his best to keep a straight face. Without meaning to, I let out a quiet snicker. All eyes darted to me again as I struggled to keep my giggles under control. Finn smiled widely.
“What’s so funny?” Rita asked. She wasn’t in direct view of Delilah, so she didn’t get it.
“Nothing,” I replied. “Just choked on a tortilla crumb.” I glanced at Finn. “Should I turn the heating on?”
He shook his head, suppressing a grin. “Nah, it’ll warm up soon.”
I chanced a peek at Ethan and found him looking between me and Finn questioningly.
Finn turned to Gabriel, avoiding eye contact with all of the vamps. “So, how do we start this, Gabe?”
Gabriel cleared his throat. “Well, I was hoping that Tegan could give us a more detailed account of what happened to her yesterday.” He glanced at me expectantly.
I put down my bag of chips. “In a nutshell, I was out shopping when I came to Campion Row. It was like I’d stepped into bizarro world. People were beating on each other at random like crazed animals. No rhyme or reason. Then this one man, I’m telling you he couldn’t look any more harmless, decided to attack me when I told him to stop fighting with another man. In the end, I had to do a runner to get away from the fighting. The man kept chasing me though, and when I turned around to confront him, he began rambling. He was all confused and couldn’t explain why he was after me. Something dodgy was going on.”
“Wait a second, some man attacked you?” Finn asked, looking angrily at Rita. “You never told me that part.”
Rita shrugged. “Ethan gave her some of his blood to heal her injuries. She’s fine now.”
Finn looked cuttingly at Ethan for an explanation. “You gave her blood?” he accused.
“Our blood heals human injuries, slayer. I thought you of all people would know that,” Ethan answered, his voice low. I sensed he didn’t enjoy being questioned by Finn.
“What happened wasn’t normal. The city just randomly turned into a war zone. Has anybody seen anything on the news?” I glanced about the room, but no one had any answers.
I shook my head, grabbed the remote control from the coffee table, and switched on the television. I flicked through to the news stations, where there was a story about an upcoming referendum before the news reader mentioned yesterday’s fighting.
“There are reports of a violent disturbance that occurred in the city centre on Tuesday. Several department stores were broken into and looted, and a number of people were critically injured. It is thought that the disturbance was gang-related. The police are currently investigating the matter.”
“What a load of BS,” Rita said, folding her arms.
“I don’t know,” Delilah murmured. “Perhaps it was just some human gang war. These sorts of things are a regular occurrence nowadays.”
Rita gave her a sharp look, then turned to me. “Tegan, did the man who beat you up look like a member of a gang?”
“Not unless it’s suddenly become stylish for gang members to wear brown leather dress shoes and wool peacoats,” I answered. “Oh, and not unless middle-class dads are now partaking in gang membership.”
Rita turned back to Delilah. “You see?” she said right before she bucked forward. Rita fell to the floor, her entire body shaking like she was having a seizure.
2.
Alvie and Noreen rushed to Rita’s side as she coughed violently with her hands wrapped around her throat. Noreen muttered a spell under her breath, running her hands down her daughter’s body. Soon Rita’s coughing died down, and Gabriel lifted her onto the couch. Her eyes were wide and fearful, and the first person she looked at was her mother.
“He knows,” she whispered, horror in her eyes. The colour drained from Noreen’s face.
“Who knows what, Reet?” Alvie asked.
I went and knelt down in front of Rita, taking her small, thin hands into my own. “What just happened?” I asked her quietly, not failing to notice the rapt attention of the vampires in the room.
They all knew that Rita was a powerful witch—that she could prove a very useful ally—but they also appeared keen to understand the source of her power, which was still very much a mystery to them. They had no clue that her father was a sorcerer, let alone their enemy Theodore.
Rita glanced quickly between her mother, Alvie, and myself. She looked me dead in the eye and silently mouthed, “Theodore.”
Oh, shit! Did this mean that Theodore knew she was his daughter?
I leaned in close to her to whisper, “Did you see him?”
Noreen sat back, her face pale as her hands shook.
Rita nodded and tapped a finger to her forehead. “In here,” sh
e paused, eyeing the vamps before lowering her voice. “He was trying to persuade me to go to him. It took all of my willpower not to succumb. He knows what I am to him.”
“Where did he want you to go?” I went on, sensing the vampires were on the edge of their seats, intently watching and listening.
“I don’t know. I could just feel him pulling on me like there was a thread around my wrist.”
Ethan stood and approached us. “What are you both whispering about?”
I glared at him. “None of your business.”
Ethan ignored my cutting stare and focused on Rita. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” she answered, plastering a breezy grin on her face. “Nothing to worry about.”
“You’re hiding something,” Ethan said disapprovingly. “Don’t do that. It will not end well.”
“Are you threatening her?” Gabriel asked, rushing to Rita’s defence.
“Of course not, Gabriel,” Ethan replied. “No need to get your panties in a twist.”
“Don’t talk to him like that,” Alvie interjected, angered by Ethan’s mocking tone towards Gabriel.
Ethan’s eyes drifted slowly—condescendingly—over to Alvie, a satisfied smirk on his face. “I’m sorry, did I offend your boyfriend?”
“You’re a real piece of work, you are,” Alvie said, folding his arms. “Would it kill you to be pleasant to him? He is your half-brother, you know.”
Ethan laughed and looked back at Gabriel. “Isn’t that sweet? Your little boy toy is sticking up for you.”
Gabriel’s eyes turned to slits. He stood up to face Ethan head-on. “If you so much as look at him that way again, I’ll end you.”
“End me? Don’t flatter yourself, brother, you would only hurt yourself trying.”
Finn, who stood casually on the other side of the room, interjected with smooth confidence, “Oh, he’d have help.”
As Ethan prepared to make some other smart comment to Finn, I jumped up and put my hand over his mouth. “Enough. That’s enough from all of you. We’re supposed to be allies, not enemies. I know it’s going to take some getting used to, but everybody is going to have to put their prejudices aside and make a concerted effort to get along.”
