by Maya Daniels
I sound raw, feral, animalistic, and unequivocally not human.
Sebastian sounds the same. If I had a brain, I would’ve been running away from him, screaming. Instead, I need him more than I need my next breath. I bite his lower lip hard, filling my mouth with his blood in anger. I feel like I’m losing myself, and I blame him for it. My hand snakes between us, tugging on his belt. The leather snaps, the metal buckle clinking on the wooden parquet. Pushing my fingers in the waistband of his pants, my fingertips brush against his hard, throbbing flesh.
The loud rapping on the door makes both of us jump away from it as if burnt. Crouched and panting, we glance at each other before focusing on the cracked wood standing between us and whoever it is that doesn’t value their life.
“It’s Eshe,” A husky, accented voice speaks, loud and clear. “Open the door!”
Sebastian
April disappears in the apartment, giving me a wide berth. Tremors rake my bones, the tenacious craving for her driving me berserk, while Eshe impatiently raps at the door. The situation is so bizarre that I want to laugh.
Rubbing a hand over my face, I glance down my body. My pants gape open at the waistband, my cock straining the fabric like a tent. My once-immaculate shirt hangs in strips over my shoulders and red gashes from claws are in various stages of healing over my arms and chest. By the damp feeling I have, my back is not fairing any better, and my thigh still throbs with a dull ache from April’s fangs.
A grin stretches my lips.
Unconcerned about my disheveled state, I yank the door open none too gently. If I expected shock or a remark about my state of undress, I didn’t get any. With just a slight arch of an eyebrow, Eshe shoulders her way in, entering the apartment without waiting on an invitation. I guess we are past formalities after trying to kill each other. Who would’ve thought?
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Turning to face me, she looks pointedly at my erection. “But I don’t have much time.”
“How are you even here?” With my hands on my hips, I scan her for burns. I see nothing.
“When there is a will, there is a way.” Dismissing my comment with a wave of her hand, she narrows her eyes on me. “You are not the only one with tricks up his sleeve that prepared for this mess we find ourselves in.”
“Is that so?”
“Don’t play coy with me Sebastian. It doesn’t become you.” Stalking closer, I can feel her probing my mind to bend me to her will. Strengthening the walls I’ve built and pushing her out of my head, I smirk at the surprise on her face. “I almost believed you a fool. When you invited Khan here to see the girl, I was so disappointed.”
Remembering too well the disappointment in her dark eyes the night when the Council summoned me like a child, I watch her, tilting my head. For the life of me, I can’t figure out her game. The rest of them have always been clear with their pettiness and treachery. But not her. Always the one staying quiet, Eshe is the observer of the bunch of old idiots.
“I’m sure you didn’t come here in the middle of the day, risking being beheaded, to give me a compliment.” At her snarl, my smirk grows. “My patience is nonexistent the last few days. Speak your peace before I tire of hearing your words.”
“Cockiness is what got us all to this stage, fledgling.” In a blink of an eye, she gets in my face. The whites of her eyes almost glow on her ebony face, thick red lips are lifted in a warning snarl. “I thought you smarter than that. Do not start proving me wrong now. I would hate that I have wasted my time.”
“Step away from him.” April’s soft voice makes both Eshe and me turn slowly in the direction of her voice. “Now, bitch.”
“So territorial.” With a proud smile and gleaming white teeth, Eshe forgets all about me. I bristle at her dismissal. “I knew what you were before I even saw your face.” Cautiously, she approaches April. “I waited for millennia, but dared not to hope. Yet, here you are. At last. I can feel your power struggling to break free.” Turning to glare over her shoulder at me, her bare breasts sway with the movement, making April bite her lips to hide a smile. “What have you done to her?”
“Unless we are talking about setting me up to die, he has done nothing.” April brings Eshe’s attention back to herself. “You, on the other hand, have been hunting me all my life. You have bigger balls than the man on your stupid Council for coming here, I’ll give you that.”
“What do you want, Eshe?” Coming a full circle, I ask the question again.
“Two of your humans were discovered and ripped limb from limb last night.” Squaring her shoulders, she looks down her nose at me. “Khan is in a foul mood, you see.” Chuckling gleefully, she shakes her head, sending her braids swinging around her shoulders. “I never thought I’d see the day, but you will never know how grateful I am.”
“Okay.” Dragging the word, April leans forward on the balls of her feet. “And we get to the point in three, two…” She only mouths one, throwing both hands at Eshe like some witch casting a spell. “No?” Blinking innocently at the scowl on Eshe’s face, April sighs. “Nothing?”
“Don’t mock me child, you are not strong enough to fight me right now no matter who you are.” At the uncertain glance that April sends my way, Eshe laughs. “Oh, I know exactly who you are. What I don’t know is how are you not whole? We don’t have time to search for answers.” Turning to me, she finally tells us why she is here. “The Council is assembling in three days’ time. They regrouped a lot sooner than I thought.”
“You are talking like you’re not one of them. You think we are stupid or something?” Inching towards me, April positions herself between Eshe and the door. “You are not leaving this building alive. I hope you knew that coming in.”
“So young.” The soft smile on Eshe’s face shocks me into silence. “So naïve.” Moving closer to April, she stops within arm’s reach. “I came to warn you. The Council is having a ball to celebrate your death in three days. My mistress made me give a blood oath to not defend her on the day she lost her life. She made me promise to join the Council and be patient. She swore that we would reunite again when the time was right.”
April and I watch silent as tears trickle down Eshe’s face, her hand lifting towards April’s face with shaking fingers.
“I couldn’t stay silent and watch history repeat itself. I would meet the sun if I sat and let them hurt you again. You kept your vow, you came back.” Cupping April’s cheek, she leans in and presses a kiss on her forehead. “I never stopped serving you. Stay safe, watch your back among your own, and I will await you in the Council Towers three days from now. Your murderers will pay, and I will bathe in their blood.”
One second, she was gazing adoringly ay April, the next only a breeze is left in Eshe’s wake. April and I look at each other, the shock evident on both of our faces. Apprehension like ghostly fingers chills my skin and I snatch April, pulling her to my chest.
“What the fuck was that?” She doesn’t push me away, which tells me she is as shaken as I am.
Marcus and Andrei watch us from the open front door. For the first time, I don’t know how long they’ve been standing there, but judging by the solemn look on their faces and their clenched fists, I’ll venture and say long enough.
“Call everyone in. No one goes in or out of the building the next three days. We have a mole in our midst.”
Turning to see who I’m speaking to over her shoulder, April tightens her fingers on my waist. “When you find them, bring them to me.”
April
“I don’t trust her.” Moving away from Sebastian, I go to close the door.
What I don’t say out loud is that I don’t trust any of them really. Lying and treachery is a trait of them all. Apparently living forever is not enough, so they go at each other’s throats like snakes.
“Hmm...” Humming under his breath, Sebastian walks up to the bar in the corner, pouring that stupid drink he keeps sipping even when he says he can’t taste it.
> Silly me, I actually try it to see if he is telling the truth. It burns going down, leaving me sputtering and hacking my lungs out while tears trickle down my face. That’ll teach me to listen to him and his sad stories.
“I think they sent her just to mess with my head.” I’m not going to drop the subject, not even if he hums until next Sunday.
“I don’t see what she has to gain by coming here to lie to us.”
Watching me over the rim of the glass, he moves to place his free hand in the pocket of his pants. He looks like a shipwreck victim with his shirt hanging in strips over his broad shoulders and chest, and one leg of his pants ripped at the side. Fire burns in my face from the embarrassment of how deprived I acted before Eshe put a stop to my insanity. A knowing glint appears in Sebastian’s gaze.
“I don’t know what any of you have to gain with your manipulations and lies, yet here we are, Sire.” Sneering that last word, I want to pat myself on the back when a muscle jumps in his jaw.
He doesn’t take the bait.
“She had a point about your powers being blocked.” I blink at him stupidly, and it takes me a moment to get on track with the switch of the subject.
“The only thing being blocked is my mind after sunset.” Clenching my hands, I glare at him. “And I have every intention of figuring out how to fix that.”
“My blood should’ve been enough for a full transformation without a problem.” He is looking at me without seeing me, his gaze going unfocused while the gears turn in that head of his. “I must’ve missed something in my research, some lost scroll or text…”
“Hello!” Waving a hand to get his attention, I do my best not to walk up to him and slap his handsome face. “Mole. Here to kill me, remember?”
“I can barely keep up with you, April.” Dismissing my worry, he actually rolls his eyes at me. “I should feel sorry for whoever the fool is that will try to harm you in any way.”
“I feel so safe when you put it like that, asshole.” Matching his narrowed look, I let that simmering anger come to the surface. “So, what you’re saying is, if what Eshe said was true, I should just let whoever it is attack me and hope for the best? Why did you send Marcus and Andrei to look then? You keeping them busy in case they are bored, or what?”
“We were very closed off on who we allowed in our inner circle before you were found. Everyone was tested and proven loyal from ours. The humans are bound by blood and can’t go against our wishes even if they try.” Acting put out for having to explain himself, he scowls down his nose at me. “After your transformation, they started flocking here when the word spread of what you did in the Council Towers. Again, only immortals and humans joined our forces, while the Council fled like cowards. I’m not worried about any of them being able to hurt you.”
I stay quiet, my mind working on trying to read through what he didn’t say in his little speech. If I learned one thing about Sebastian, that is that he twists the words, speaking a lot but saying nothing that he doesn’t want you to know. Riddles. It’s all games and wordplay with him, keeping me on my toes.
“Okay, so vampires and humans can’t hurt me.” As ridiculous as it is, I feel giddy knowing that little fact. “So, what? You think they’ll use animals?” The idea of monster animals chasing me through the hotel with fangs as long as a mammoth’s and the speed and strength of a dinosaur makes me want to puke. “Oh, my God! You think they got to Mutt? Where is he? I need to see him now!”
“Calm down…”
“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Screeching at him, I want to kill something. “Where is my dog?”
“The creature is in the building and it’s safe. Marcus is looking after it until we figure out how to get you under control.”
“The only time I’m not in control is when you are around. Maybe we should remove you and I’ll be fine.”
The asshole laughs.
My fingers twitch with an urge to claw his pretty face out. The only reason I stay rooted to the spot is that I can still feel the taste of him in my mouth and the burn of his touch on my skin. By feeding me his blood before I stupidly ran to save him, he made sure that he is embedded in me so deep that only death will keep me from it. Maybe not even that.
“Ah, bella.” His deep voice sends shivers down my spine. “But you wouldn’t have it any other way, now would you.” Cocking his head to the side, his eyes crinkle at the corners. The easygoing attitude can’t hide the hunger burning in his gaze, and my heart skips a beat. “It didn’t seem to bother you so much before we were so rudely interrupted.”
“It was a moment of weakness and insanity. Acting on instinct instead of using my brain.” I can be the bigger person and not take the bait as well. “It will never happen again. You can be sure of that.”
And that is true. It was pure instinct because that is how I function now that they turned me into a monster. All I want is blood, sex, and violence. Not necessarily in that order, and not necessarily separate from each other. I’ve succumbed to the thirst for blood and violence. I’ve avoided the hunger for sex part so far, thankfully.
I hate myself that it bothers me to see the hurt look on his face at my words. He made sure you died, April. Don’t be stupid to fall for his tricks again. Berating myself internally, I hold his gaze. There is so much longing in his look that he is not trying to hide right now, tears prickle my eyes, and his face turns blurry for a second.
“I only hope you will forgive me for what I have done one day, my redemption.”
“You can hope I will forgive you, but it will never happen. And stop calling me your redemption. I’m your nothing, you hear me? Nothing.” Fighting the emotions swirling inside me, I swallow the lump the size of a golf ball stuck in my throat. “If it’s not vampires, humans, or animals, then Eshe was full of shit, just as I thought.”
“Well.” Sebastian struggles to keep up with the change of subject, but finally he blows a breath and gently sets the glass on the bar. “I’m only worried about magic…”
I can’t help it. I burst out laughing, and he trails off watching me like he has never seen me before in his life. I mean, come on. Monster animals running around the world was a crazy enough thought, but magic? What’s next? Dragons, elves, and dwarves will start coming for a cup of tea? The more I think about it, the harder I laugh.
“You do remember me telling you that when they killed you millennia ago, they used a mage to curse your blood, do you not?” Drawling, Sebastian presses his lips in a thin line.
A few more giggles and barks of laughter escape me before I finally realize how serious he is. “You gotta be joking! They sent witches to kill me? Like what the fuck! Sucking my blood and turning me into this crazy thing was not enough?”
“I’m not sure that is the case, but I will be looking into it.” Satisfied that I finally understand the gravity of the situation, he turns to leave the apartment. “Until we are sure what we are dealing with, stay here.”
The cracked door closes behind him with a soft click. I gape at it for a long time after he is gone, the words magic, witches, and mages spinning through my head. And in his right mind, Sebastian told me to stay here? In an apartment where there are not many places to hide or fight if someone tries to kill me.
Like hell I will wait here to be killed.
I’m out of the hotel before the front door of the penthouse is done closing behind me.
The city blurs while I run through the streets. A car crashes into a parked van when I zip across the wide road in front of it, nicking it with my leg. Horns blare, the blaring of the alarm from the silver sedan piercing the hum of the Financial District. Stopping between a pizza place and a dry cleaners, I lean on the wall, watching the middle-aged man run out of the bakery, waving his arms angrily at the stunned woman still behind the wheel of the silver sedan.
Sticking my head out, scanning everything around me, I make sure no one noticed me when I created the recluse. With the air clear, I bolt down the sidewalk so fast it’
s with great effort that I’m able to take turns at the corners. When a recognizable restaurant comes into view, I almost sob with relief. Entering the dark alley, the familiar dumpster meets me like an old friend. My stomach lurches at the stench that shouldn’t bother me, but thanks to my new sense of smell it makes me want to retch. Holding my breath, I slink in the shadows.
Glancing around to make sure no one is around me, I pull the manhole lid up, sliding down the metal stairs and jerking it closed above my head. The putrid air of stagnant water from the tunnels is not much of an improvement, but it has the calming effect I was hoping to achieve. After clinging to the railing for a while, I move down until my shoes plunk down in nasty water that sloshes over my toes. Ignoring everything, I walk up to my usual spot and, with a sigh, slide down the damp wall to sit on the moist ground.
“Why don’t I feel at home?” My voice echoes in the empty tunnels.
I was hoping to get the same feeling I always did after closing the lid to my sewer and shutting the world out. Instead, I want to barf, and my skin is feeling itchy already. Nostrils flaring, I grind my teeth and stubbornly stay where I am. I’ll sit here for days if I have to, until all thoughts of magic and killers disappear from my head. That’s why I came here. This will be the last place anyone will expect me to be. Slowly, my tempestuous thoughts go silent, and for once I feel peace inside my mind. With a heavy sigh, my shoulders sag and my arms flop off my lap, feeling like limp noodles. My eyelids droop, and I allow myself to drift off.
“I knew I’d find you here.” A deep voice makes me jump out of my skin. “I should’ve checked this place first, but I didn’t want to give Andrei a clue.”
