“Good, there aren’t many people here this early,” Addy whispered, her hand clinging tightly to mine as we scanned the room.
“Fountains?” I said, my eyes wide as I watched the blood from the humans above pouring forth into a frothy pond. I froze in place, staring hungrily at the bubbling scarlet nectar.
It was such a mind-fuck. To want something so badly and be disgusted by it at the same time.
Those were humans up there — incredibly beautiful ones, at that. And yet, they were willing to just lie up there and be of service to us like that? I looked around the room and saw other humans, too. Some were splayed out over couches, languishing amongst the other vampires, laughing and drinking and kissing. Others were at the bar, flirting and talking. I spotted the man who’d greeted us, Apollo, talking quietly with the bartender from a seat at the end of the bar, flanked by two gorgeous women.
Everywhere I looked, people were having fun, getting along as if they weren’t prey and predator. As if they weren’t as different as night and day. As if the things they had in common were strong enough to overlook the fact that one of them could drain the other dry — dead — in an instant.
“Look normal,” Addy whispered, nudging me. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
“This is just incredible,” I said, shaking my head.
“It really is,” she said, grabbing a glass from a passing waiter’s tray. “Here, drink this.” She pushed it into my hand and I downed it quickly, but it only made me hungrier. I focused in on a woman lying on a chaise across the room, her head thrown back in laughter, the thick vein on her neck pulsing rapidly, the sound of the blood rushing through it pounding wildly in my ears.
“I can hear her blood rushing,” I said, inhaling deeply. “I can smell her.”
I stood bewildered, staring intently at her.
“I know, Leo, but we don’t have time,” Addy said, tugging on my arm.
The urge to sink my teeth into the woman soared through me. I could smell her, practically taste her already. I shook my head, temptation overwhelming me, the pounding rhythm of her heart now drumming through me. I shook my head, unable to ground myself.
My fangs snapped out, my eyes grew hot and began throbbing in my head. All I could hear was the woman’s pounding blood, Addy’s voice drowned out by it all…by the need, the sounds, the desire. The temptation was torture, my heart feeling as if it would burst from my chest if I didn’t give in to it.
I felt a pull on my arm as I started forward and I turned to Addy with a mighty, angry growl, my fangs exposed, my rage directed toward the only obstacle to fulfilling the only need that made any sense to me in that moment.
“No, Leo!” she hissed, bearing her own fangs, as she pulled at my arm again. Her grip was strong, but with a jolt, I easily pulled away from her and bolted toward the blonde, my hunger raging.
She was startled at first, but with a girlish giggle, she threw her head back, allowing me full access to her neck. My fangs sunk into her skin like a warm knife through butter, searching and finding the bloody pumping rhythm of her scarlet honey.
I drank deeply, the blood pouring deliciously into my mouth, everything melting away around me. The woman whimpered below me, her body moving against mine suggestively, her thighs opening to me, welcoming me. But I wasn’t interested in what she was offering.
All I wanted was the poison flowing through her veins.
A mighty roar sounded beside me and suddenly, I was thrown across the room, landing on my back, my mouth smeared with blood, my eyes confused. Addy stood over me, her eyes full of rage.
“I said no, Leo!” She hissed, pulling me up and pushing me towards the door. Heads turned our way as we passed.
Addy smiled at the onlookers, shaking her head.
“He hasn’t eaten in a while,” she said, shrugging as she pulled me through the doors.
“Sorry, Addy,” I murmured, feeling like a total jerk now.
“I told you it’s very difficult to resist,” she said. “If we had more time, I’d let you eat all you could, but we have to get to the boat, now!”
She pulled me down a long, winding trail and I followed along like a bad puppy dog, my confidence ripped away by her disappointment.
“Sorry, Addy,” I said again. She stopped and turned to me, her blue eyes shining brightly up at me. She kissed me, hard and quick.
“I get it,” she whispered. “It’s okay, it really is, Leo. This is all my fault…”
“No, it’s not,” I protested, kissing her again. Her lips were so soft, so warm. My cock twitched again and this time, blood was the last thing on my mind.
“Later,” she whispered, leaning into me. “Come on. We’ve got to get off this island…”
EIGHT
ADDY
I thought he was dead. I never really imagined I’d be escaping with Leo. I was sure that as soon as I arrived, I’d discover the worst. Underneath all the hope, was the dark reality that the world was not a fair place, it was not a just place, it was not a place where merely hoping something would make it so.
The fact that Leo’s hand was in mine, and we were practically flying through the forest back to the boat was a miracle.
I knew this.
Which is why I also knew that we weren’t out of the woods yet, literally or figuratively. The boat might not be there. Noah could have chickened out. I’d seen the fear in those eyes.
Or, they could be waiting.
The Council could have figured everything out by now. Dane could have ratted me out, which there was a high possibility of. Why wouldn’t he?
I looked behind us, amazed that we weren’t being followed.
Whatever happened, though, we had this moment right now. If Leo and I were torn apart, and I was thrown into a dungeon or killed for slaying one of ours, then I’d always have the memories of the last few hours.
What a roller-coaster of emotion it had been.
The fear until I’d found him, the terror of getting him to my room, the heart-wrenching decision to turn him. And then, after his initial shock, all he wanted was to make love. If you could call it that…
It was more like he took me, over and over again, a slave to the urges pulsing through him. Not that I minded. It was electric, savage, raw…delicious.
And I understood…
The change affects all of us differently.
It’s unpredictable. Most of the time, the wildly shocking realization that one has become a vampire manifests itself in violence. But, sometimes, it takes the form of whatever emotion is the easiest to access.
For me, that night in the darkness with the man who changed me, it was anger that found its way to the surface. That night, Bernard introduced me to the beast inside of myself, the one I now kept locked away. But for a long while, I was the beast and the beast was me.
I did everything I could to express my hatred for Bernard. It took decades for me to forgive him, and maybe I never fully have. Even after all this time, there are still twinges of resentment that pop up.
Who am I kidding? The twinges are more like waves that hit me out of nowhere, knocking me off my feet when I turn my back on them for too long and let them creep up.
When I see a little girl and realize I’ll never be a mother…
When I see a family, playing in the park, a tight, cohesive unit, looking out for each other, learning from each other, loving each other…
I’ll never have any of that.
I’ll always be alone. Forever.
Or so I thought…
Leo’s warm, pulsing hand in mine was a reminder that perhaps my future might not be quite as dark as I had convinced myself it would be.
I squeezed his hand one last time before we rounded the last corner of the trail, before we’d have a clear view of the shore, and we’d know if Noah was waiting…
If he wasn’t, I had no idea what the hell I was going to do.
My plan stopped here.
Plan B did not exis
t.
NINE
THE COLLECTOR
One of the cops escorted me back to my room and reiterated Apollo’s order not to leave the island. As soon as he’d left me alone, I turned to my room, grateful that someone had removed all the leftovers from breakfast and the bodies from last night. I’d never drained a human completely at the sanctuary, outside of the hunt. I’d certainly never done it in my room.
I wasn’t even sure of the proper protocol for disposing of such things but I was glad I didn’t have to deal with it. I had more pressing things to attend to.
I took a quick shower and dressed quickly, before leaving my room and heading down to the front desk of the hotel. I flashed my most charming smile at the clerk and leaned in over the counter to peer deeply into her eyes.
“Hello, Melissa,” I said, quickly reading her name tag.
“Hello,” she said, blinking. “How can I help you, sir?”
“I’m Dr. Dane Benjamin,” I said. “Melissa, you have the prettiest blue eyes I’ve ever seen!”
“Oh, well thank you,” she said, smiling.
“It’s true, they’re striking.”
“I get them from my grandmother,” she replied.
“Well,” I exclaimed, “if she’s half as lovely as you, I’d love to meet her!”
Melissa blushed and I moved in for the kill, lowering my voice to a conspiratorial whisper.
“Here’s the thing, Melissa. My dear friend Addy is here at the sanctuary, but I haven’t run into her yet. I don’t know what room she’s in, but I want to surprise her.”
“Sir, I’m sorry, we can’t give out guest’s room numbers —.”
“I know the policy, Melissa. I respect that. You’re doing such a great job and I’ll make sure I put a good word in for you with management. Rio, the general manager of the hotel, is a good friend of mine. But anyway…you see, Melissa. I didn’t tell you the entire truth. The thing is…Addy is the love of my life. We met right here, in the lounge, a few years ago, in fact. She doesn’t know I’m here and I want to surprise her, because I’m going to propose!”
“Oh!” Melissa said, holding a hand to her heart. “That’s so sweet.”
“It is, isn’t it?” I winked, flashing her another smile. “But I can’t propose if I don’t know what room she’s in. You see my problem?”
“Well I can’t get in the way of true love,” she said, shaking her head and turning back to her computer and clicking away. “Addy is her name?”
“Yes. Dr. Adriana Vincent.”
“Yes, I found her. She’s in room 5213.”
“Melissa, you are an absolute angel!” I cried. “We’re going to name our first born after you!”
She laughed and shook her head.
“Good luck, Dr. Benjamin.”
“Thank you, darlin’,” I said, tipping an imaginary hat and walking away towards room 5213. If Addy was still there, it would be the first bit of luck I’d had since arriving. Anger still pulsed through me and I needed her face in front of me so I could properly take it out on her.
I wanted answers.
I wanted to know what she did and why she did it. And most importantly, I wanted to know how the fuck she was going to fix this mess she’d gotten us into. It took me several minutes and one wrong turn to finally find myself standing in front of her door.
I took a deep breath, listening for voices or movement behind the door.
Nothing.
I knocked and waited a moment before reaching down and turning the doorknob.
“She’s not there,” a voice sounded behind me. I turned and saw a man I’d seen at the bar the first night I was here. He was putting a key in the door next to Addy’s. “She, and the man she was with, took off a little while ago. Looked like they were all packed and ready to go. Had luggage with them.”
“Is that so?” I asked. “How long ago did you say?”
“Half an hour tops.”
“Thank you,” I replied with a big smile. “Have a wonderful day, sir.”
“You’re very welcome. You have a wonderful day yourself, sir,” he said.
If I wasn’t running down the hallway faster than a freight train, I’d have remarked about how polite and civil vampires used to be with each other and how the young vampires these days showed no respect toward one another, and really they should all just get off our lawns…
But there was no more time for appreciating civility.
I was on a mission.
TEN
LEO
“He’s there!” Addy exclaimed as we rounded the last corner of the trail. I hadn’t realized just how worried she was that the boat wouldn’t be there until just then and I shot a quick, inquisitive glance her way.
“Anything can go wrong,” she shrugged. We approached the boat and I saw the same driver that had driven Dane and I to the island.
“Noah, thanks for coming,” Addy said as we loaded our bags on the boat.
Noah squinted when he saw me, his gaze intrusive and quizzical.
“You were with that other guy, right mate?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I muttered, avoiding his eyes. The heat of his gaze turned accusing and rude.
“You with her now?”
“Yes, he’s with me,” Addy replied impatiently. “Can we go now?”
“Trust me, lady, I don’t want to be here any longer than you do,” he said, tossing a last reluctant glance my way. “You look different, mate. You sick?”
“Noah!” Addy said, glancing behind us at the island.
“Bloody hell, I’m moving, I’m moving,” he said, finally tearing his eyes from me and turning to steer the boat from the shore.
Addy looked over at me, her eyes shining with happiness and relief. It was contagious. I wasn’t sure what lay ahead for us, but I wanted to get as far away from this horror-show of an island as I could.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” she whispered, grabbing my hand and taking a seat next to me. The turquoise water shimmered and sparkled in the morning sunlight.
If my head wasn’t filled with the memories of all that I’d witnessed in the last few days, I could almost fool myself into thinking that Addy and I were on some exotic vacation together. Her beauty was astonishing in this light, with tiny drops of morning dew clinging like diamonds to strands of her raven hair, her eyes full of love.
I bent my head, her lips begging me to kiss them. Inching towards them, I inhaled deeply, her sweet intoxicating scent sending waves of desire through me. Our lips met, softly, confidently, lovingly.
I pulled her close, our kiss lingering, both of us clinging to each other, like a lifeline in a storm.
A sudden swoosh startled us apart. I turned my head and stared into the last pair of eyes I’d thought I’d ever see again.
“Looks like you lovebirds are trying to leave without me,” Dane said.
ELEVEN
ADDY
One second I was kissing Leo, my heart full of love and a tiny glimmer of hope. The next, I was on top of a splayed out Dane on the bottom of the small boat, my fangs exposed and my eyes searching for something sharp I could sink into the side of his head.
Dane growled at me, his rage exposed as bare as his fangs. Leo hesitated for a slight second before joining me, and the combined strength of both Leo and I rendered Dane, no matter how strong he was, helpless below us.
“First you fucks frame me for murder and now you gang up on me?” Dane seethed, his eyes glowing with bright red anger.
“We’re leaving, Dane and you can’t stop us.”
“You’ve fucked us all over, Addy! You’ve ruined us! Why did you kill Stefan? And why the fuck did you tell them I did it?”
“I had no choice. He got in the way. But I didn’t tell them you did it.”
“No, you just left my hunting pass behind as an ID.”
“Well, I’m sorry you got pulled into that, Dane, but this is all your fucking mess that I’m cleaning up here! If you’d left Leo in the
fucking hospital where he belonged none of us would be here now!”
“So what now, Addy?” Dane asked, staring up at me. “You’re going to kill me?”
“Isn’t that what you’re here for?” I asked. “To kill me?”
“I’m going to kill you both,” Dane seethed.
Dane growled again, causing Leo to growl louder as he lunged towards him, putting his hands around Dane’s throat as he struggled beneath us.
“I didn’t sign on for this shit, mates!” Noah was shouting behind us and by the sheer shrieking sound of his voice, was no doubt trembling in fear. “No fighting on my bloody boat! Everybody off!”
He put a hand on Leo; his first mistake. Leo was in full fight mode, and he was way too young to be able to restrain himself. He turned, slamming Noah to the floor in a flash, his crimson eyes flashing with uncontrolled anger.
“Don’t touch me,” Leo growled. Noah held his shaking hands up in surrender, his eyes wide with fear.
“I’m sorry, mate, but —.”
“—But nothing. Drive the fucking boat!” I shouted over my shoulder, struggling to hold Dane down now that Leo had let him go. “Leo, let him up!”
Leo let out a savage growl, reluctantly removing his hands from Noah’s body. Noah shuddered, slowly standing up and backing away from Leo.
“Now, Noah! Drive!”
“But w-what about him?” he asked, his voice a stuttering mess, as he pointed to Dane. I looked back at Dane, our eyes clashing in a silent battle.
“I can handle him. Just drive,” I said, my voice steely and cold. Noah shuffled back to the wheel and steered the boat, hitting the throttle as we sped through the water and away from the island.
“Now,” I said, peering deeply into Dane’s beady eyes. “You’re right. We’re all screwed. But you’re screwed the most. How did you get away?”
“I blamed someone else. They told me not to leave the island. Obviously, they’ll figure out I was lying soon and they’ll be looking to lock me up again. You know how those things go. A trial, all that bullshit. And then what? A death sentence. You think I’m sticking around for all that torture?”
The Sanctuary 2: The Vampire's Passion Page 3
