Once Bitten: A Paranormal Vampire Romance (Arcane City Book 1)

by Tilly Hart

  Grisma shook her head. ‘When I disenchant the building, it will temporarily disarm any charms in the vicinity. It’s a pain in the ass. If you are here, they will find you. The door may hold them back for a while, but I cant guarantee they won’t stay until you have to come out, or blow through the walls.’

  ‘How do I know this isn’t a setup?’

  ‘Can you afford to chance it?’

  I couldn’t, and she knew it. The tooth necklace slipped over my head and rested against my chest, feeling heavy but otherwise utterly non-magical. For all I knew she was playing me with a dog’s tooth and sending me to my death.

  I had no choice but to comply.

  Grisma led me to one room at the far end of the corridor and locked the door behind us. Next she took me into the small bathroom and pressed a button which made the shower tray slide back into the wall revealing a ladder into the cold moist space below. The thought of descending into the unknown space made me queasy. She lifted the top of the toilet cistern and handed me a torch pulled from a waterproof bag.

  ‘You need to go now,’ she said, but before I stepped forward, she grasped my hand in her papery fingers, ‘Be safe child, Jed’s a good boy, and if he’s chosen you, he will have done so for a reason. Don’t take the necklace off.’

  With her words reverberating through my head, I set about lowering myself into the hole. I’d barely cleared the top when the shower tray slid into place above me, securing me in the darkness with nothing but an almost dead phone and a torch for company.

  Fantastic.

  I neared the compound where the clubhouse stood, checking behind me as I did. Sure enough, the witches instructions led me out of the tunnel and a few streets over from the safe house. I didn’t know if the tooth dangling around my neck was doing anything, but so far no one had stopped me.

  Then I saw him, one lone unfamiliar biker positioned at the edge of the parking lot and my mouth went dry. I’d have to cross in plain view if I was to reach the safety of the club, and then I’d have to get Len’s attention without alerting the wolf in bikers clothing to my whereabouts.

  A deep breath steadied my nerves as much as I could steady them - which wasn’t an awful lot - and I stepped out into the night. The man made no sign that he could see me and so I tentatively took a step forward. Nothing.

  With my stomach in my mouth, I continued forward, skirting around the area where the man stood with small, quiet steps. The witch hadn’t told me if they could hear my steps, or my breathing, but I was careful just in case. I was halfway to the clubhouse door when I tripped, landing heaving on my knee. The man didn’t react to my gasp, but he did to the skittering of small stones. His eyes flew round to my direction, the whites yellowing at the corners and the pupils already unnaturally dilated. There were only a few hours left before the moon would rise in its fullest, and I didn’t want to be near him when it did.

  He took a step toward where I cowered on the ground, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air. But the witch must have been true to her word, as he didn’t focus on me, nor come any closer. After a few minutes he returned to his post, and I reached the door without further issue.

  Only, all wasn’t as it should be when I reached it. The door was neither closed nor locked, but hung an inch ajar. The hair on the back of my neck rose as I looked around, noticing for the first time, the lack of bikes in the car park. I prayed it meant they had merely forgotten to lock the door. But Len never left without someone else filling in for him, and he wouldn’t leave the door open.

  With trembling fingers, I pushed the door open, inching it slowly until just enough space was available for me to slip in through the gap.

  I didn’t lock the door behind me as a renewed sense of unease trickled down my spine. The security office was positioned to one side of the corridor, with Len’s living space attached beyond. Len usually kept the door locked, but the handle slid down easily as I pressed it.

  ‘Len?’ I said as I entered the room, but Len wasn’t able to answer. His body laid crumpled in a heap in the corner, a grievous cut across his throat and his blood pooled around him in a lake of red. Bile rose in my throat, burning its way upward as I choked back a sob. I hadn’t known him well, seeing as he largely had kept himself holed up in the office during my brief time at the club, but I knew he didn’t deserve that.

  I closed the door gently behind me as I made my way along the corridor, dreading what I’d find in the clubroom. My head pounded as my blood raced through it, my heart working overtime. With my back to the wall, I stole a peek around the corner. Whoever had killed Len was long gone. Pippa lay sobbing on the couch, her clothes ripped and her neck imprinted with a bloody handprint. The hand prints were elsewhere too.

  ‘Pippa, what happened?’ I made my way to her and jumped as she sat up and threw her arms around me, the congealing blood on her skin sticking to my clothes.

  She couldn’t talk through the series of sobs which followed. From behind the couch I saw a pair of shoes and their corresponding legs. Pippa folded herself up on the couch as I stood, letting out a wail of despair.

  ‘This was the wolves, right?’ I said, fixing her with a stern stare.

  She nodded, breaking into another fit of sobs.

  ‘Then shut the fuck up. There is another outside and you need to get this place locked down before he comes back for more. There isn’t time to be crying about it. Go to the front door, lock it. Go into the security office and find a way to activate anything that can be activated. If he’s still out there when the moon rises, we’re all fucked.’

  She skittered off in the door’s direction.

  My breathing hitched as I approached the body behind the sofa, hoping beyond all measure that it wasn’t Jed. The corpse that awaited sent revulsion quaking through me. For the first time, it showed me the genuine horror of the vampire. It was impossible to tell who it was; the skin had shrunk and dried like brittle old parchment, and the hair had turned white and grown longer than any of the styles the vampires had sported. Only the clothing ruled Emmeline out. A wooden stake stood up from the creature’s chest. His face was pulled into a terrible grimace, his fangs extruding from his withered lips.

  I shuddered as I crouched close to it, unconvinced that it wouldn’t awaken from its terrible end. I had to see its stomach, see if the tattoos were visible. It’s the only way I could rule out Jed.

  As I leaned over, my knee pressed into the corpse’s side, and the skin and bone crumbled to dust beneath me. I had to swallow back vomit.

  The torso was heavily tattooed, but to my relief none were Jed’s.

  I closed my eyes and gulped back a sob.

  ‘Rebecca?’ A strained whisper reached me from behind the bar. Angus sat slumped against the dark wooden bar, clutching at his stomach, where the internal contents were visible externally. His arms held a loop of intestine, while viscous blood blossomed out from his slash.

  ‘Shit, Angus. You’re a mess.’

  He snorted and winced. ‘Can say that again, kid.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘They struck after everyone had gone out to take out Greyson. Vance held them off for a little, but they were six on two and he didn’t stand a chance.’ My heart ached for Vance, he was a cocky asshole, but he’d died protecting the humans.

  ‘Two?’ I asked, listening as his words became slower.

  ‘Emmeline. She’s here somewhere. Len?’

  I shook my head and the tears I’d barely noticed streamed down my face with new vigour. I hadn’t noticed when they began, but they showed no sign of stopping. Angus’ sob for his friend broke my heart and inflamed my anger.

  ‘I have to get you help, and I need to go help Jed and the others.’

  ‘There’s nothing you can do.’ A voice came from behind me, I swivelled around and there stood Emmeline. She had a nasty gash above her eye, but otherwise seemed hale. ‘You’re a human.’

  ‘I’m a human who has a charmed necklace which makes me invi
sible to werewolves.’

  Emmeline glanced down at my necklace and smirked. ‘Willing to bet your life on it holding up?’

  ‘I’m willing to do anything to keep Jed alive and help take out the one who orchestrated this.’

  ‘They have ordered me to stay here with the humans, and while I wasn’t expecting you, I will follow my father’s orders.’ Emmeline crouched down beside Angus as her face crumpled in the first sign of genuine emotion I’d seen.

  ‘You need to get him to a hospital, and I need to go. Now. Before they shift.’

  Angus whispered once more, his words barely legible. ‘Go to… safe. Eight oh eight seven six. Silver, you’ll need the silver.’

  He coughed and a spray of bright red blood emerged from his mouth, covering his torso.

  ‘Make the choice Angus,’ Emmeline urged, her white hair pink at the ends where his blood had covered her. He shook his head. ‘Don’t die for nothing old friend.’

  His head lolled to the side, and she waited no longer. With a sickening lurch inside me, I watched as Emmeline sunk her fangs into his neck. The bitch was using him as a meal as he lay on his deathbed.

  I grabbed Angus’ car keys from behind the bar, saddened that he’d no longer need them, but knowing he’d not begrudge me them either. He was a kind man, and his death sickened me.

  The safe wasn’t too hard to find, though going through Pres’ office gave me an unwelcome chill. The vampire had been clear in his dislike, and disapproval of me, and I had a feeling my presence in his office wouldn’t sit well with him.

  I couldn’t dwell on it though. There was a high chance that night would lead to my demise if I walked into a pack of werewolves who were already baying for my blood. So damn what the President thought.

  The code worked, though it was less of a safe and more of a vault. All manner of ancient books and modern technology lined the walls. Everything from high-powered rifles to wooden stakes. The fact Pres kept them in a vampire den made me shudder. The silver bullets and corresponding hand guns weren’t hard to locate, the safe was excellently organised and demarcated.

  I attached a double holster around my hips, and shoved two of the hand guns into it. I filled all the pocket space I had with the silver bullets, hoping it would be enough.

  A week before I’d accidentally killed a werewolf and been wrecked emotionally by it. But there I stood, armed to the hilt and ready to go throw myself into the lions’ den.

  Except that lions seemed like pussy cats in comparison with blood-thirsty werewolves.

  Pippa closed the door behind me, and with the gravel crunching lightly beneath my feet, I made my way to Angus’ car. The biker on lookout turned as I started the engine, his face creasing in confusion as he failed to see me in the driver’s seat.

  I put my foot to the floor and headed for the carpark entrance as he ran for the car, standing in front of it. With the injuries of my new friends in mind, I didn’t lift my foot a fraction from the accelerator. He hit the hood hard, his body ricocheting over the roof with a sickening thud.

  It was a pity it wouldn’t kill him.

  If I’d have had more time I might have reversed back over his head.

  As it was I pressed onward, hunting down the enemy.

  Sixteen

  jed

  My side ached where I’d taken a knife to the ribs.

  ‘Damn it,’ I cursed. More work for Angus when I got back to the club. If I got back.

  Calvin grinned beside me, but with a mix of sweat and blood congealed at his temple. ‘Hardly even a flesh wound.’

  I fingered the skin and grimaced. Shards of white bone were visible with a bit of prodding. ‘Bad enough. Won’t kill me though.’

  The unlit room was quiet, with the clash of bodies audible at a distance through the Sons’ club. I shrugged off my jacket and lifted my tee-shirt over my head.

  ‘This is no time for a show, old friend.’ I glowered at Calvin’s jest while ripping a strip of fabric from the base of the tee, using it to wrap around the gaping wound. It wouldn’t do much for the pain, but it should hold the loose flap of skin together for a while.

  ‘We’re almost out of time. We need to get to Greyson, now.’

  Calvin looked around the corner, his eyes flicking left and right. ‘We’re outnumbered. There are too many people between us and him.’

  ‘Where are your people?’

  ‘In there with Greyson. They only intended to stand up to him if there is a chance we would win.’

  ‘Pussies.’

  ‘Something like that.’ Calvin shrugged as he wiped his sleeve over his blood splattered face. There had already been casualties on both sides, and we couldn’t afford to lose anyone else. It was nearing the moon rise and if we remained in the lair when the wolves turned, even Calvin would rip me to shreds with glee. While people fear vampires, at least we are compos mentis in our monsterdom. Werewolves are savage and bay for blood during the time they have shifted. They’ll kill for sport, for the hell of it. And they wouldn’t even remember it come morning.

  ‘Try not to eat me if we don’t get there in time,’ I said, smirking at Calvin as the hopelessness of our situation came to light. Pres had been right, and I’d cost us dearly delaying to give Calvin time. If by some miracle we made it out of there, I knew he would make sure I knew about it for the next god damned century.

  An arm shot round the corner and grabbed Calvin from behind, a stake pressing into the tender point on his neck as he winced.

  Not on my watch, mother fucker.

  I pardoned my humanity momentarily and went full metal vampire on his ass. I dashed behind him, tearing him from Calvin before he could even register I’d moved, and used my superior strength to launch him into a wall across the room with a crippling crunch.

  The attacker stood, his body swaying as he focused in on us. I swooped onto him before he could make a move and sank my fangs into his throat. Acrid blood gushed over my tongue, bitter and entirely unlike that of a clean animal or human. Werewolves were cursed, tainted, and even their blood reeked of it.

  I wasn’t there to drink his blood though.

  I bit down, feeling cartilage snap and muscle tear as I ripped his throat out from within his neck. His body hit the floor, twitching, as blood gushed like a red waterfall from the gaping wound. I used the rest of my torn shirt to mop the blood from my chin before discarding it on the crumpled body.

  ‘Fucking hell,’ Calvin said, covering his mouth and swallowing back a heave. ‘I mean, thanks, but fucking hell.’

  He went over to the body and knelt, closing the shocked, dead eyes of his former pack mate before finishing the task by decapitating his friend with his knife. His shoulders slumped forward as his eyes moistened.

  ‘Jace. He was barely twenty. Not a bad kid, but believed all of Greyson’s rhetoric. An unnecessary loss.’ Calvin’s voice hardened as he spoke, his veins throbbing in his neck. ‘If I can’t take him out, you need to do it for me. We were a band of brothers before he took over, and now it’s nothing but division and death. Following him would have saved Jace, but at the expense of how many others?’

  ‘I will,’ I promised. ‘And if I don’t make it, you need to tell Rebecca yourself. I don’t want her having to come searching for what happened. Tell her… I loved her.’

  ‘Soppy bastard. You barely even know her.’

  ‘The heart doesn’t have a clock, you know? It measures time in the intensity of feeling.’

  Calvin got up and pushed my shoulder. ‘You can’t be spouting poetic bullshit with another man’s blood dripping down your chin, you fanged maniac.’

  ‘I’m serious, you need to tell her.’

  ‘I will. Let’s just hope I don’t have too.’

  We pressed onward, sneaking through the deserted corridors like rats. The Son’s of Cerberus’ club was much bigger than ours and with each step further into its maze, I felt more and more trapped. Even if we reached Greyson, there was no way we would make it out
before the others turned. No matter what they agreed with in human form, it would all be meaningless once they’d gone to the dogs.

  Voices sounded up ahead, and I glanced over at Calvin, who was visibly sweating. The door stood open, and four men were visible inside. One held a mummified arm and was using it to swat the others as they laughed. They gathered around a withered body, with a stake embedded deep into it’s chest. I choked back a roar as I watched them desecrating one of my people, I may be a killer, but I respected the dead.

  And it was with pure red fire I swept in, grabbing the stake from the malformed body and slamming it through the chest of the man. His eyes widened as they lowered to the wood emerging from his heart, until his body collapsed and slid to the floor, his fingers still clutching the dead arm of one of my friends.

  ‘Let us past.’ Calvin held up his hands as he came in behind me. ‘We need to get to Greyson.’

  ‘Like hell are we going to let you through. He just killed Reef. Who’s side are you on?’ The biker bristled as he stood up, squaring his chest toward Calvin.

  ‘Just let us go, we need to get in the cages before the moon is up.’

  ‘Scared of your true self, Calvin? What’s the point in being a werewolf if we spend our genuine nature locked up in a metal cage, seething. I want to feel alive.’ Calvin shook his head in disbelief as the three remaining bikers circled him. ‘What will it be Calvin, are you with the bloodsuckers and the two legged vermin, or are you with your pack?’

  I saw the knife emerge before Calvin did as one of them brought it in an arc toward his side, the long blade gleaming as it caught the overhead lights.

  ‘Ambush,’ I shouted as I lunged forward and threw myself between Calvin and the blade. A stab in his side wouldn’t kill him, but if they weakened him enough, I didn’t doubt his head would be the next target. The blade caught me in the arm, weakening my grip in my dominant hand. I cursed as my fingers refused to respond. The fight should have been easier, but I hadn’t fed for weeks, and with my body working overtime to rapidly heal the many wounds I’d sustained, my strength was flagging. We fought for what seemed like hours, but in reality was just a mesh of frenzied minutes.