The Vampire Awakenings Bundle: Books 1-5

by Davies, Brenda K.

  That’s my girl. Pride and fear for her swelled within him; he renewed his battle against his captors when Abby leapt back over the couch. He realized one of the vamp’s had a crossbow seconds before the bolt hit her shoulder. Brian roared with fury. He managed to knock away one of the hands holding him as he flailed wildly. Another restraint gave way beneath his flexing forearms.

  Abby stumbled back, her eyes latching onto the crossbow before she turned and fled down the hall. “Here she comes,” Drake said excitedly.

  “Abby, no!” Brian shouted.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Abby tore the bolt from her shoulder as she raced down the winding tunnels. The slap of her pursuer’s feet echoed around her as she ran. She kept her hand pressed against the wound to staunch the flow of blood soaking her sweater.

  Behind her, she could hear the others still battling against the vampires. She had no idea how to get back to help them, and she didn’t much feel like coming up against a crossbow again. She was following Brian’s pull through the tunnels when a bellow reverberated over the concrete surrounding her. “Abby, no!”

  The sound of Brian’s voice caused her heart to leap. It didn’t matter that he was telling her not to continue, all that mattered was seeing him again. Her hand fell away from her shoulder, the pain of it forgotten as she poured on the speed. Rounding another curve, the tunnel widened before her.

  A door opened to reveal a sterile white room. Her eyes latched onto Brian, strapped to a table raised so she could see him and tilted so he was almost upright. Blood trickled from his forehead and other places across his body as he strained against the holds on him. His muscles grew larger before her eyes as his veins throbbed with the blood filling them.

  The sight of him, covered in bruises and blood, caused something to emerge within her. She’d been angry and determined before, but now she was enraged. A ruthless snarl tore from her as she plunged heedlessly onward.

  Brian lifted his head. His eyes widened on Abby as she ran toward him with far more speed than he’d considered possible for her age. Her eyes glowed red, illuminating the darkness surrounding her.

  “No!” he shouted at her. “Don’t come in here!”

  She’d never obeyed him before; he hadn’t expected her to do so now. She plunged into the room, oblivious to Drake standing by the monitor. Drake’s head tilted to the side as he watched her. He adjusted himself in his pants and groaned as he stroked himself. As his hand fell away, he licked his lips.

  “Get out of here!” Brian hissed at Abby when her hands fell on the metal clasps holding him in place.

  It was too late though as the three who had been chasing her stepped through the door. “Close it,” Drake commanded.

  Abby’s gaze shot to Drake, her eyes burning hotter as her nostrils flared. A pureblood scenting out another pureblood, but Drake was far older than she was. Brian thrashed against the bonds again when Drake sniffed the air and moaned. Abby’s lips curled when he reached down to fondle himself once more.

  “Your blood smells like heaven,” Drake murmured. “I’m betting your body will feel like it too.”

  A ripple of shock radiated from Abby and into him. The effects of the drug were fading; he could feel a thin thread connecting them again and pulsing to life between them. He tried to probe her mind, but found he was still shut out from her.

  “I’ve decided to keep you for myself,” Drake said to her. “We’ll let him watch, of course.” He flicked his fingers at Brian as he moved closer to her, circling her from the other side of the table. “It will be more fun that way.”

  Abby took in the other vampires in the room before landing on the one holding the crossbow now aimed at Brian’s heart. “Move that,” she spat at him.

  “Not until you come to me, love,” the hideous looking vamp across from her replied.

  She had no idea what had happened to him to leave such destruction on his face, and she didn’t care. “I’m guessing you’re Drake,” she said.

  He gave an elegant bow with a wave of his hand. “My reputation precedes me, I see.”

  Abby glanced at the two vamp’s still holding Brian. Their gazes were focused on her, but the look in their eyes said they were prepared to kill Brian if it became necessary. She grasped the metal band wrapped around his bicep as she prepared to wrench it free.

  “Tsk tsk, love,” Drake said. “Those are to stay in place.”

  Brian kept his eyes on Drake as he continued to close in on Abby. There was nowhere for her to go. If she moved away from him, she would be within reach of the three vamps who had chased her in here or the two who stood just behind him.

  Her fingers caressed the flesh of his arm before she released him and took a step away. Brian gritted his teeth and attempted to lunge for her, needing her back, needing to protect her as she edged closer to the other three.

  One of them snickered at her and altered his stance as he prepared to grab hold of her. Her reddened eyes met his. Within their ruby depths, he saw what he’d always seen with his Abby, a refusal to back down and admit defeat. He had to help her.

  One of the vamp’s jerked him back against the table and punched him in the temple when he tried to surge forward. Lights burst before his eyes as he fought against the darkness threatening to drag him under. He couldn’t pass out now, not when she needed him so badly.

  “Don’t hurt him!” Abby cried.

  “He doesn’t have to experience anymore pain, just come to me,” Drake said with a beckoning wave of his hands. “Otherwise…” he gave a nod at the vamp’s holding Brian.

  Before he knew what they intended, one of them grabbed hold of his right hand and jerked all of his fingers back. Brian clamped his teeth against the shout that almost escaped him when his fingers were ripped back and bone burst through his skin. Sweat beaded across his forehead and slid down his body. He could feel blood dripping from where one of his bones had pierced the skin of his palm.

  “No!” Abby screamed.

  She lunged toward him, but froze when the other guard grabbed hold of his left hand. “Do it!” Brian sneered at him. “What I’ll do to you will be much worse. You have no idea who you’re fucking with.”

  The guard’s hand trembled on Brian’s when he bared his fangs at him and snapped his teeth. “Don’t,” Abby pleaded. “Don’t hurt him anymore.”

  “Then come, I’ve a present for you.” Drake slid his hand over his erection again.

  His one eye rolled in his head as he licked the side of his face that still had lips. He was the most hideous man Abby had ever encountered, and that hideousness had little to do with his looks. The rot within him made him truly disgusting. She’d never smelled anything worse than the way Drake smelled. The main source of the decaying stench they’d been following through the tunnels had been coming from him.

  Her gaze slid to the asshole with the crossbow again. She could get to him, take him and maybe the two next to him out, but the two still holding Brian were a problem. Then there was Drake. She could feel the power oozing off him. He was another pureblood, capable of anything. She looked to Brian again, coated in blood, with sweat beading across his brow and his fingers bent in a way they were never meant to go.

  His reddened eyes held hers, his fangs shining in the light beating on him. There had been no spoken words of love between them, but she did love him. She would die for him and she would die without him. Even if there was no love on his part, she knew he cared for her. She could hand herself over to Drake now and wait for an opportunity to escape. It may destroy something within both of them, but they would find a chance to break free, and they could be with each other again once they did.

  They may be different afterward, but they would survive it. Everyone was changed by life at some point in time. If they weren’t changed, then they weren’t living.

  Brian watched the emotions flickering over Abby’s face. When her gaze slid to Drake, then back to him, he sensed a wavering within her. No, Abby, don’t ever
give into him. Tears swam in her eyes as he finally succeeded in penetrating the haze that had been enshrouding his mind to communicate with her.

  The guard’s hand tightened on his. “Don’t,” Abby said to him. “Don’t. You win.”

  Brian’s heart pounded against his ribs. He strained against the bonds as Abby held her hands up and took a step closer to the three who had chased her in here. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before opening them again. Resolve and something more glistened in her eyes when they met his. The lethal look in her gaze caused his heart to stop for a minute.

  Then, the guard released his hand and bashed his fist against Brian’s face again. Blood exploded from his mouth, and he snarled at the guard who smiled back at him. “I’m not fucking with much,” the guard said with a dismissive glance over Brian’s body.

  The fresh scent of Brian’s blood on the air and the sight of his torn skin caused something to swell within her. He was her mate, and they were abusing him. His hand, his bones… Her fangs pricked and extended. Saliva dripped from the ends of them when her lips skimmed back. She’d heard about bloodlust, but she’d never truly experienced it, not until now.

  Now she could feel it thrumming through her veins, pulsing throughout her body. Red shaded her vision and her fingers curled as the room around her became strangely serene. No one moved, even the heartbeats faded away until there was nothing but stillness and her need to kill. Then a single drop of Brian’s blood landed on the ground with a plop that unleashed the growing frenzy within her.

  When one of the vamp’s stepped toward her, she spun so swiftly that Brian never saw her move before blood was spurting from where the vamp’s throat had been. The vamp holding the crossbow fired a round a split second after the crossbow was jerked up in his grasp. The breeze the bolt created blew against Brian’s ear and sliced his flesh when he twisted his head to the side in order to avoid taking it in the face. It hit one of the guards behind him in the shoulder, knocking him back.

  Abby reloaded, spun and fired the crossbow at one of the guards trying to hold him down. Clawing at his chest, the guard fell back as he struggled to tear the bolt free. Brian surged forward against the bonds. Metal pings reverberated around the room when more bolts gave way. Jerking his right wrist free, Brian tore at the bonds holding his other wrist as the two other vamps who had chased Abby into the room ran for the door. He felt the movement of air from her passing more than saw her as Abby leapt onto the back of one and sank her fangs into his throat.

  She jerked back with all her might. Brian’s fingers froze in the act of trying to tear the metal from his forehead when she tore the vamp’s head from his body. The one who had been holding the crossbow screamed and threw himself against the door when she dragged him down. Blood coated her, but beneath it, he also saw the subtle shift in hue on her skin.

  The change of skin color happened amongst the pureblood males when they’d been pushed to the edge, or when their mate was threatened. Usually, they were also much older. When Ethan and Ian had exhibited the trait at such a young age, it had been surprising. To see Abby doing it now was astounding. It was extremely rare for a female to exhibit the turning, but before his eyes, Abby’s skin was darkening and her eyes were becoming redder. She wrenched the head from the vamp’s shoulders as easily as if she’d plucked a flower from the garden.

  Brian tore the band from his forehead as she spun toward him. The last bonds gave way against his feet as the guard who had punched him tried to run past. Brian snagged hold of him and sank his fangs into his neck. He welcomed the hot wave of blood as it replenished the blood he’d lost and washed away the remaining effects of the gas. The guard thrashed in his grasp, trying to fight him off. Brian grabbed hold of his chin and wrenched his head to the side, ceasing anymore of the man’s struggles.

  “I told you I’d make you pay,” Brian snarled at him before throwing the drained vamp away from him.

  Abby bolted past him again. There was only one vamp left in the room for her to go for; one who was far more powerful than she was. He spun in time to see her vanishing through a door he hadn’t known was behind him. Instead of staying to fight, Drake had fled like the coward he was, drawing Abby into his convoluted tunnels.

  Leaping off the table, Brian fled down the hall after her. “Abby!” he shouted, but she didn’t slow as she ran heedlessly around the corners. He knew that she was consumed by bloodlust and all she could focus on right now was the fact that Drake must die. She wouldn’t stop to think that Drake could be luring her into a trap.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Abby was nothing but a blur before him, one he was determined to catch as he poured on the speed after her. She had the strength of her pureblood and so did he. He drew on the flow of her within his veins, the flow of the many lives and power he’d harvested over the years. Never had he needed that strength as badly as he did now.

  He felt his muscles swell with it as he began to take her over. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he lifted her up and spun her away when Drake turned and charged at them. Abby’s displeasure beat against his mind as he set her on her feet beside him. Everything in him screamed at him to stand before her, to protect her, but she could hold her own, and standing behind him was not where she would be throughout the rest of his life.

  No, she would stand at his side from here on out.

  Panicked, Drake’s eye was red as he barreled toward them. Brian braced his legs apart; a smile spread across his face as he thought of everything he was going to do to this bastard. Before he reached them, Drake dashed to the left and toward a tunnel Brian hadn’t noticed in his urgency to get to Abby.

  “No!” Abby shouted and dove at the tunnel. Rolling across the ground, she popped up in front of it just as Drake hit her with the force of a Mac truck. Something in her shoulder gave way with a loud pop that echoed throughout the room. The fingers of her right hand went numb, but she swung up with her left hand and punched him in the temple.

  His fingers tore at the flesh of her arms when he snatched hold of her and threw her back. Unable to keep her balance, Abby stumbled and fell onto the concrete floor. Drake loomed over her, his fangs dripping as he glowered at her.

  She’d believed the roar in her head was from the blood pounding against her temples. She realized now it was coming from Brian as he leapt onto Drake’s back and clutched his head. Drake squealed like a rat. He reeled away from her and started to beat at Brian over his back. Abby scrambled to her feet as Brian sank his fangs into Drake’s throat.

  Drake squealed again and spun in rapid circles that became a blur to her eyes. Brian hung onto him, refusing to relinquish his hold. Trying to differentiate one from the other, Abby threw out her leg. She somehow managed to time it right enough to trip Drake with her foot. He stumbled forward before his legs gave out and his knees hit the concrete.

  Brian’s pleasure and assurance of victory beat against her as he grabbed hold of the back of Drake’s head and smashed it into the floor. The man’s arms and legs jerked out as his forehead caved from the force of the blow.

  Turning Drake over, Brian grinned down at his one good eye. “I made you a promise,” he said as his hands dug at the vulnerable flesh of Drake’s belly.

  Abby took a step forward, drawing his attention to her before he could tear Drake open and shove his intestines down his throat. Brian’s hands stilled as he warred with his more vicious nature and stared into her reddened eyes. It didn’t matter how badly he wanted to torture Drake, didn’t matter he knew she would never turn away from him, or that she was more than capable of brutality. He simply couldn’t be that kind of a monster in front of her.

  Releasing his stomach, Brian drove his fist into Drake’s chest. Flesh and bone gave way beneath his hand. He winked at Drake as his hand wrapped around his pulsating heart and tore it from the man’s chest. Gurgling sounds escaped the vamp. Blood shot from his lips as he coughed and choked it up. Brian threw the heart aside and wiped his hands on his j
eans as he rose to his feet.

  Abby ran to him and threw herself into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her, inhaling her sweet scent and savoring the feel of her body against his. She slid her legs around his waist as he pulled her head back to claim her mouth. A whimper escaped her when his tongue traced over her lips before greedily slipping inside to take in the taste of her. He couldn’t stop the shaking rattling him as she pressed closer, the hand on her good arm desperately grabbing him. He ignored the pains in the mending bones of his hand as he clung to her.

  Tears streaked through the blood coating her face when she pulled away to look at him. “You’re okay!”

  “I’m okay,” he said as he brushed her hair back from her face. Her eyes gradually returned to their beautiful emerald color as she gazed at him with a wonder that rattled him.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  His heart jumped in his chest and a lump lodged in his throat at those humbling words. His hand stilled on her face, cupping her cheek.

  “You have to know that. I thought I was going to lose you…” her voice broke on a sob. “You don’t have to say it back. I understand if you don’t feel it too. I know you love your wife—”

  “I did,” he interrupted. “Very much, but not as much as I love you.”

  She drew her bottom lip into her mouth as she stared at him with hope shimmering in her eyes. “Really?”

  He grinned at her, pulling her head down so her forehead rested against his. “Truly.”

  More tears spilled from her as she threw her good arm around him. Her fangs scraped against his neck as she snuggled closer. “Feed, Abby.”

  “No, you’re wounded.”

  “So are you. I need this.”

  So did she. Unwilling to argue with him, her lips skimmed back, and she sank her fangs into his neck. A mewl escaped her when his powerful blood filled her mouth. The fingers of her good hand dug into his shoulder as his love for her pulsed against her through the bond.