She was tired of being afraid.
Not letting herself think of the potential consequences, Chloe charged the door. The hinges burst right off, the wood around the lock splintering. For a second she stood there, shocked that she had managed to break it in one go. But there were shouts from upstairs and so she bolted. Not for the stairs, that would take her right to the wolves, but to the other room.
There was a window right above a sturdy desk, and she scrambled up onto it to open the window. A laugh burbled from her throat when it opened easily. And it was big, big enough for a huge wolf like Sly to be able to squeeze through. As for her… she was able to get through easily.
She was almost out when a shout came from behind her. “She’s getting out!”
Devon lunged for her, his hand wrapping around her waist. For a moment, Chloe was tempted to let him drag her back him. A thrill of excitement and fear both swamped her chest as she imagined him pinning her to that desk and having his way with her.
But then what?
She kicked him in the face with her free foot and scrambled away. Several wolves were coming through the forest—guards brought in from the shouting?—and the front door was thrown open, silhouetting Sly in the warm light within. Chloe didn’t let herself stop to consider him or how impossible it would be to escape all of these people. She made a beeline for the trees, running as hard as she could.
A wolf jumped at her and she ducked under its huge paws, putting on another burst of speed. Soon, the darkness of the forest enveloped her.
She breathed deeply, a new thrill rushing through her body. Even though she wasn’t consciously seeing anything in the pitch-dark, she was aware of everything around her. She moved through the trees as easily as if it had been the middle of the day while she was human—more easily in fact. She knew where logs were, knew how to breeze past branches and briars.
She was also aware of the wolves trying to follow her. They were so big and clumsy! She almost giggled as she sensed one of them trip over his own paws. They weren’t going to catch her… although she sort of wished that Sly and Devon would.
She had left the wolves far behind before she came back to her senses enough to wonder what she was going to do now.
The darkness no longer felt so embracing as much as it did stifling as Chloe came to a stop. So she had gotten away—now what? She still didn’t know where she was. She had no idea if she’d gotten closer to town or further from it. Not to mention she didn’t know how far off the dawn was and had nowhere to hide from the sun when it did come up.
Her shoulders slumped. “Well… this is another massive fuckup, isn’t it? Can’t you do anything right?”
She sat down, tears filling her eyes. More than ever, she wished she had died in that crash. Being a vampire had caused her nothing but trouble—and had caused Erica nothing but trouble. If she did make it back to her sister, then what? She’d be the useless baby sister for the rest of her life, always having to be taken care of. And when Erica grew old, as she would because she wasn’t a vampire, then it would be up to Carolina or Rachel to take care of their agoraphobic aunt. And then their children and their children… she’d be a family burden passed on through the generations until someone was finally too sick of dealing with her and left her out in the sun to fry.
At least as Devon and Sly’s prisoner, I didn’t have to worry about being a burden.
A shiver tingled down her spine, jerking her from her thoughts. She jumped to her feet, but her introspection had cost her—she sensed the other vampires too late to do anything but run into their arms as she tried to escape them.
“Let me go,” she snarled, fighting. Vampires? Here? She had thought the morgue attendant was the only one.
Then the vampire who held her fast started to laugh and all hope left her body.
“Hello, Chloe,” Rodger greeted, his voice as much like silk as ever. “I’m glad to see that you’ve survived this long.”
“Let me go,” she gasped hoarsely.
Rodger only held her tighter. How had he found her? He was supposed to be dead! Bile churned in her stomach as he started to drag her through the trees. She screamed and fought against him, but when she did manage to free herself, she was caught by his minions soon enough.
“Come now, my delight,” Rodger crooned. “It’s time to finish your transformation. You did well, escaping those brutish wolves. But you have not yet drunk living blood, have you? Don’t worry—I have the perfect victim picked out for you.”
What was he talking about?
“But I’m already a vampire,” she cried. “What transformation?”
Rodger hummed as they emerged into a clearing with a cabin, similar to the one Sly lived in. This one was a little bigger, though. Chloe’s heart nearly stopped when she saw Angela’s car parked in the front. No! What had they done to Angela? Her shy smile, her kindness when Chloe had stumbled around the diner on that first—and only—night of working. She didn’t deserve this!
“You have a beating heart, don’t you?” Rodger told her, a cruel twisting smile on his face.
“But that’s because of the herbs and—”
“No, that’s because I was unable to complete your transformation. And you have been rather stubborn since then, haven’t you? A tame little kitten when I need you to be feral.”
What did he mean? Chloe didn’t know, and she didn’t want to know. The vampires dragged her into the cabin, where Angela was tied up and gagged on a chair. Her eyes were wide, and they widened even further when she saw Chloe. She started to shake her head, and Chloe didn’t know whether to reassure her or try to run away again. Her heart slammed against her ribs as a terrifying dizziness spun in her brain.
“It’s the mating moon,” Rodger said, circling Angela. He put his hands on her shoulders and she cringed. “Which means instinct is strong. The call for blood… strong. Can’t you smell her? Her delightful scent? Come, drink her blood. Drain her dry and become mine.”
What did he mean by that? Chloe stared at him, horror pounding through her as her mouth watered. He was right. The fresh, clean blood that Angela offered… it was almost too much to resist. She still managed to, though, even when the vampires started to drag her forward.
The door slammed open and a black-haired man stumbled in. He was covered in cuts and bruises and when he snarled, there was no mistaking him—he was a wolf. “Get your fucking hands off my sister!” he howled and lunged.
Rodger intercepted him, punching him hard in the gut before slamming his skull into the wolf’s. The wolf growled. He threw himself forward with a roar. Another vampire dodged in to protect Rodger. The wolf had wrapped an arm around the vampire’s neck, squeezing hard. Howls sounded in the woods beyond, and the vampires holding Chloe released her. She scrambled away, pressing both her hands to her mouth and nose to stop smelling the blood all around her.
“Well, it seems those wolves are smarter than I gave them credit for.” Rodger sighed as he glanced at Chloe. He grinned, revealing his pearly fangs. “Don’t think this is over, my dear. If you will not be of use to me, then you will die. Until we meet again.”
He left three vampires to fight the wolves and sauntered out of the house.
Within minutes, Sly and Devon had burst in. They dispatched the vampires without so much as a flicker of emotion in their eyes. As the black-haired one went to release Angela, who was sobbing at this point, Devon came to Chloe. She shied back, terrified that she would want to drink his blood, too. But that need for blood washed from her system as relief pounded through her—and a tightness built in her core.
With a sob, she threw herself at Devon. She didn’t care how strange it was or what they might think of this. Right now, she needed him to hold her.
And he did.
Chapter Eight
Other than the three left behind fighting Ian, all the vampires got away. Sly wasn’t surprised, not when the night was this dark, but it did not improve his mood any. He snarled under his br
eath as he heard the reports from his men. The vampires had split into several factions, making it harder for them to be tracked, and disappeared into the night. Typical of the slippery bastards.
They’d left Chloe behind, though. Whether because she would slow them down, whether she was in some sort of position to be a spy as she was held prisoner, or whether they just didn’t want her, he didn’t know.
The most disturbing thing about this whole incident wasn’t how easily she had escaped his cabin, though. It was the report he got from Angela about what had happened.
She’d been sleeping and was woken up by the vampires breaking in. They’d tied her up and waited. For Chloe to be brought in, apparently. Then the one who seemed to be in charge talked about completing her transformation and tried to get Chloe to drink Angela’s blood. Ian was going to have a lot of explaining to do—he’d never told his sister about vampires and now she’d been attacked by them.
“They chose her because she’s Ian’s sister,” he murmured to Devon as he folded his arms, glaring at where Chloe sat quietly in the corner. Her arms were wrapped around her waist, a haunted look in her eyes. “But what did this guy mean by completing her transformation?”
“I don’t know.” Devon shrugged, his arms folded over his chest and a heavy frown on his face. “Maybe there is more to vampires than we know.”
Sly grunted. He didn’t want to know more about vampires. But… if it helped them better defend the town against them…
“Well, we have one confirmation if nothing else,” Sly said, turning away.
“What’s that?” Devon prodded.
“There are more vampires around here. Angela said she saw at least a dozen. What was Chloe’s report on the matter?”
Devon glanced at her and shrugged. “A dozen. Apparently, the leader of those vampires was the one who turned her in the first place. She said she thought he was dead, and she seemed to be quite terrified to have him back in her life. Vampires can feel fear, too,” he added, narrowing his eyes at Sly’s expression.
“I know they can. I just don’t know if hers is genuine.” But Sly knew that wasn’t quite true. Even Chloe couldn’t be such a good actress as to be able to make her skin that pale, to have those tremors running down her spine, that hollow look in her eyes. She wasn’t faking anything. Whoever this Rodger was, she was terrified of him.
A roar and howl from outside the cabin had Sly and Devon both running to see what was going on, as Sly shouted over his shoulder to Omar to stick with Angela and keep her safe.
It wasn’t a fresh vampire attack, though. Sly snarled under his breath as he saw Ian and Theron beating each other in the yard. Ian was trying to get Theron in a headlock while Theron laughed, spitting out insults as he lithely danced out of the larger wolf’s grasp. Sly growled, pressing his fingers to his temples. This again. While he didn’t blame them for hating each other, why did they always have to act like a couple of idiots when he had other things to deal with.
“At least I didn’t get bit by a vampire,” Theron taunted, smacking Ian in the shoulder and making him spin around. He jumped on Ian’s back and wrapped his arms around his throat. “Awww, are you feeling a little sick?”
Ian roared. He seized Theron from behind and whipped him around over his head. He slammed him hard in the dirt and punched him in the face.
Sly strode forward, body-checking Ian off Theron. He sprawled in the dirt. When he made to jump to his feet again, though, a snarl from Sly kept him on the ground. Theron made to stay and Sly kicked his feet out from under him.
“If you’re going to act like a couple of animals, you can stay in the dust,” Sly spat at him. “We’ve got vampires crawling around our city and you two decide to fight? I don’t care what he did,” he said as Ian opened his mouth. “I expect you to have some restraint. And you.” He kicked Theron again as he smirked. “Get a fucking brain already. Ian’s sister was attacked. If you can’t show basic empathy, I’ll have to eject you, understood?”
Theron’s expression sobered. He dropped his head and nodded once.
Sly knew better than to expect that either of these two would apologize, so he took it as enough. “Both of you assemble teams and go looking for the vampires’ lair. They have to get below ground before sunup and I want to know where they are so we can deal with them. Roman,” he called, and the russet-haired wolf jogged over, nodding. “Take Angela into Deville and put her with a friend for the night. Ian will be by in the morning to explain everything.”
Roman nodded again. Sly allowed them to work out their teams and head off, assigning Omar to stay with Roman on Angela’s protective duty.
Once all of that was taken care of, he and Devon collected Chloe again. She was quiet, still shivering, as they walked her back to the cabin. She moved a lot slower than she had when she was running away from them and jumped at every little noise in the forest. Sly almost wanted to put an arm around her and reassure her that they weren’t going to let Rodger get his hands on her—only because it meant luring her in, that was. It wasn’t because he actually felt sorry for her.
If that was what he had to tell himself in order to walk a little closer to her, in order to let himself be glad that she didn’t cringe from him, well… he’d keep telling himself that.
“We’ll have to do something different with the door,” Devon mentioned once Chloe was back in the basement. The door still lay on the floor and Sly frowned at it.
“Shoulda remembered about the new moon. We’ll have to put in some sort of metal poles sunk into the cement to keep her in place.”
Chloe shuddered. “You mean you’re going to put it through me?”
“No, I mean we’ll cuff you to it. Might just need to keep you cuffed all the time.” Sly snorted. “I’ll have to see if Ian has an extra set, now that he’s a deputy.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Chloe murmured. “I’ll behave now.”
Sly rubbed his eyes. He wanted to believe that. It was stupid, really. If this whole thing with Rodger was just meant to get him to drop his guard, then it was working. Wasn’t he smarter than this? He tried to pull his anger and hate forward, to shield himself from unfortunate emotions—but he was so tired of being angry. He sighed as he turned toward her.
“How many vampires are in Deville?”
“I only knew about one,” Chloe murmured, holding herself tightly. “The morgue attendant. He was supposed to get me blood so I wouldn’t have to hunt for animals and risk running into people. I didn’t know about any others. I don’t know how… how Rodger found me. I don’t know what he wants from me. What did he mean by completing my transformation?”
Devon shook his head. “I’ve got a friend I can ask about that.”
“So you’re claiming you don’t know anything about what that was about? Even though Rodger was the one who changed you? Even though he just happened to show up here, where you moved to?”
Chloe shivered. “I never saw him before he turned me, and I only saw him twice since. I thought he was dead.”
Sly advanced on her and she backed into the wall, staring up at him with wide eyes. “Why should I believe you?”
“Because… because it’s the truth. I don’t have anything else to tell you. I don’t know what’s going on. If I did, I’d tell you. I hate him. I hate what he did to me. I don’t want to be a vampire. If I could have made the choice, I would have died in that crash with my father. Not lived like… like this!” She gestured at herself, hatred and despair mixed in equal measures on her face.
Sly pressed her into the wall and wrapped one hand around her throat. Gently. Not hurting her. Just wanting to see her reaction. He had no intention of actually killing her, after all. “I could kill you now, if you want.”
She met his eye, her head falling against the wall. “I’m too much of a coward to ask you to do that.”
“Wanting to live doesn’t make you cowardly,” Devon soothed.
He put a hand on Sly’s shoulder, but Sly d
idn’t release her. He kept staring into her eyes. Thoughts darted through his mind, more images and feelings than the words he was used to. He didn’t want to feel what he felt looking at her. Didn’t want the sympathy, didn’t want the doubt. He swallowed hard. He didn’t want her to look up at him like that, as though he was the only one who could protect her.
“I could kill you anyway,” he hissed, but his hand loosened and dropped to her collarbone.
Chloe shivered again, her pupils dilating. Was she… turned on by the threat? But no… their bodies were so very close. Her breasts brushed against his chest. Was this arousal or fear?
“I don’t think you will,” Chloe blurted. “I don’t think you’ll hurt me. You don’t seem like that sort of a person.”
Sly forced himself to laugh as he pressed his hands to her hips, his lip curling back as he narrowed his eyes down at her. He could hear how fast her heart was beating, see the fear building in her eyes now. Good. He didn’t want her to feel anything but fear toward him. Not that sort of a person?
“You don’t know me. I have done terrible things,” he hissed at her while Devon stood to the side, arms folded over his chest. Sly didn’t know and didn’t care who the scowl on his face was directed at. “And I got a taste for it. For hurting people.”
She swallowed hard. And then, impossibly, her hands reached out. She pressed them against his chest, her fingertips brushing open his shirt to skim over the scars hidden beneath his tattoos. She licked her lips, pupils dilating. And when she looked back at him, she uttered the words he never thought he’d hear anybody say.
“Then hurt me. Take me any way you like. Make me beg for you to stop. Do everything that you hate yourself for wanting to do.”
His loins tightened. His wolf snarled in delight, and Sly stared down at Chloe, wondering if this was a trick—and then decided he didn’t care.
He was tired of silicone.
Chapter Nine
Devon tensed, in case he needed to pull Sly away; such a suggestion would only make him angry—or so Devon thought. To his surprise, Sly responded to Chloe’s soft-spoken words by gripping her hips even tighter and thrusting himself forward, grinding against her. Chloe let out a soft yelp, jumping slightly. Her eyes were huge, and Devon couldn’t tell if it was arousal or fear or some strange mix playing across her features.
Kidnapped by the Wolves Page 5
