“And yet you blame me. Don’t you see your own hand in this? You started it all, you bastard!” Anger clouded my judgement and once again, I began searching for something to impale him with.
“Addy, let’s just call a truce,” he cried. “I can’t go back to work. I can’t go back to the island. I’ll spend the rest of my days on the run, adopt a new identity, if I even need one at all. I’ll just disappear.”
“I should just kill you now and put us all out of our misery,” I said.
“Or we can go our separate ways. The Council doesn’t suspect you. They don’t know about Leo, not as far as I could tell. Go live your lives. I’ll leave you alone if you’ll leave me alone.”
I spotted an open tool box to my right and reached over, quickly grasping a large screwdriver. I put it to Dane’s head, pointing the tip directly behind his right ear. He shuddered and shook his head.
“Don’t do it, Addy,” he said, shaking his head.
“No murder in my bloody boat!” Noah cried. The island grew smaller and smaller in the distance, the wind whipping through our hair as the boat flew across the water.
I looked over at Leo, my head spinning. We’d come this far. I didn’t want to start our future with another murder hanging over our heads, even if it was Dane. Now that I’d gotten Leo away safely, my anger at him was slowly fading.
I pushed him away, holding onto the screwdriver in case he decided to attack us.
“After we get to the mainland, I never want to see you again, do you understand?” I demanded.
He smirked and shook his head.
“I used to think I cared about you, Addy,” he whispered. “But now, I don’t even know who you are anymore.”
“You’re the one who crossed the line, Dane. Becoming a Collector was bad enough, but taking the one person you knew I cared about? That just shows me how heartless you truly are.”
“Heartless?” he roared. “Heartless! You say that as if any of us have a heart! We’re fucking murdering, blood-sucking vampires, for fuck’s sake! We’re dead! And you talk of humanity? How delusional are you, Addy?”
“Bloody fucking vampires,” Noah muttered to himself, beads of sweat pouring from his forehead. “I fucking knew it…”
“Shut up and drive!” the three of us screamed at him in unison. He threw his hands up again, shaking his head.
“Leave me the fuck out of your weird blood shit, you freaks,” he said, gunning the boat even faster. “I never should have agreed to pick you up…”
I turned to him with my fangs out, tossing a threatening glance his way.
He closed his mouth, silently driving us closer and closer to the mainland, as he made the sign of the cross over his chest.
TWELVE
LEO
We stepped off the boat and into a hub of activity along the waterfront of Brisbane. The morning was just getting going, with throngs of people streaming past, coffee and newspapers in hand. The pier was the main fisherman’s wharf of the city and fish flew through the air as the worker’s sold their catches. The smell was thick and pungent and disgusting.
Noah dumped us off as quickly as he could and I was pretty sure the wet stain on the front of his pants wasn’t there when we’d boarded. I felt sorry for him.
Hell, I almost felt sorry for myself.
If it wasn’t for the intensity of each of my senses distracting me so greatly, I might have had time to wallow in that misery. Instead, I was fascinated by everything around me. Every smell, every bird chirping in the distance, every voice, most laced with thick Aussie accents, that swirled around me — they were all in symphony now.
Addy and Dane bickered like siblings next to me, but I tuned them out. They’d come to some sort of truce, and now that they weren’t about to rip each other’s hearts out, I was able to let my guard down a little. Besides, I’d quickly figured out I was merely an accessory to Addy’s strength. She could handle herself just fine without me.
Face after face trailed past me and I studied each one. I was enthralled with the fact that I’d been living around vampires all my life and had never suspected. And yet now, now that I knew what to look for — the palest skin, the brightest eyes — I tried to spot each of them.
“Is that one?” I asked Addy, interrupting her quarrel with Dane on whether we were all sharing a taxi to the airport.
“What?” she asked.
“That lady over there. The one in the black suit, with the red hair. She’s one of us, right?”
Addy peered at the woman I pointed at and shook her head.
“No. Most redheads are mistaken for our kind, but it’s only because of that skin. You have to look beyond the pale skin and look for the blue tint underneath,” Addy said, before turning back to Dane. “I’m not getting in a car with you, Dane and that’s that!”
I nodded my head and vowed to keep trying, determined never to be so clueless again. I still didn’t trust them…us….me…whatever. After my impulsive actions back in the lounge, I had no idea how any of us were expected to control ourselves.
I gazed back at the redhead, her pulsing neck beckoning to me like a siren’s call, hypnotizing me, mesmerizing me. Addy and Dane’s voices faded away again and I walked towards her, my mouth salivating as I imagined what she might taste like.
She smiled as I approached, a smile so open and bright and trusting that I immediately felt a pang of guilt. But it wasn’t enough. Not enough to keep me from putting one foot in front of the other, not enough to keep me from smiling back, to keep me from formulating a quick plan in my head.
The pier was filled with people milling around, and I knew I had to be careful, be responsible. I couldn’t just take her here in front of everyone. I couldn’t dare to be that bold. I’d learned that, at the very least.
“Hello, there,” I said, giving her my most charming smile.
“Hello,” she said, her shy smile widening. She had pretty green eyes and the cutest sprinkling of freckles across her upturned nose, but it wasn’t her eyes I was interested in. My gaze trailed over her face, drinking in the milky white skin, so smooth, so youthful. Her neck was long, slender, the skin there appearing even whiter, so delicate and thin. She threw her hair over her shoulder with a flirtatious toss, putting the pulsing vein in full view.
Temptation beckoned me. The life pulsing through it like a fountain of youth, of life, the only thing in the entire world that I desired in that moment. Everything disappeared, the people around us, Addy and Dane, lost in their bickering behind us, the fishermen, the flying fish, even the waves thundering against the shore faded away.
“Would you like to go for a walk?” I asked the young lady.
“I don’t even know you,” she demurred.
“How rude of me,” I smiled, putting out a hand. “I’m Leo Zamarippa. And you are?”
“Wendy Barnaby,” she nodded, taking my hand and shaking it.
“Now we know each other,” I insisted. “Would you take a walk with me?”
She laughed and looked me over.
“I’m waiting for a friend, but sure, why not?” She took my arm and I led her down a staircase behind us. It led down to a boat dock that was delightfully abandoned at this busy hour.
“I love the view from down here,” I said, pulling her along eagerly, looking over our shoulder to make sure we weren’t followed. Addy and Dane were still bickering as they waited for a taxi, neither of them having noticed that I had wandered away. I knew it would be mere seconds before Addy noticed though.
I didn’t have much time.
Luckily, I didn’t need it.
The girl turned to look at the view and I pounced on her from behind. Grabbing her and sinking my fangs into her neck, her knees buckled and she fell back against me as I began drinking from her open vein.
She barely struggled.
It was remarkable really. Too easy.
I drank and drank, her nectar so sweet and almost tangy, metallic.
“Wendy!” I
heard a woman’s voice call from above. The girl cried out for the first time, her faint cry carried away by the heavy winds coming off the sea.
“Wendy! Wendy?” her friend called.
I kept drinking, hoping like hell the woman would walk away and not look down.
My luck ran out, though.
I heard a scream above and then a rustle of commotion.
“What are you doing!” the woman’s voice cried, followed by hurried footsteps. I reluctantly untangled myself from Wendy, gently letting her weak body fall to the wooden pier.
“Wendy!” The woman shrieked.
I rushed over to the frantic woman, pressing my palm against her lips to quieten her. She struggled and tried to cry out, her sharp nails clawing at my arms.
“Stop it!” I demanded, panic rising in my throat. I hadn’t thought this through. I had no idea what to do with the two of them now.
The sea! I thought. I have to get rid of them. I’ll push them off into the sea…
I saw no other choice, and as Wendy’s friend struggled against my hold, Wendy began to stir and lift her head.
That pang of guilt grew in my stomach and I forced myself to push it away.
“I’m sorry,” I growled, shaking my head, my fangs still out as Wendy’s blood dripped from them. “But you have to be quiet!”
The woman stopped struggling, her eyes wide with fear, her heart pumping with terror. I shrugged and pulled her over to the edge of the dock.
“Leo!” Addy’s voice sounded in my ear as she and Dane thundered down the dock, both of them at my side in a flash. “Stop it!”
“P-p-please help us!” the woman cried, grasping Addy’s arm. Dane grabbed her, pulling her away, snapping his fangs out and growling at the woman. She cried out again and he put a hand over her mouth.
“I tried that, it didn’t work,” I said, shrugging, avoiding the glare that Addy was shooting at me.
“Shhh!” Dane demanded. “Get your friend and get the hell out of here. If you ever tell anyone about this, we’ll find you and kill you, do you understand?”
She nodded, trembling and shuddering.
“Go!” Dane said, pushing her away. She ran over to Wendy and hoisted her up under her arms, wobbling as she pulled her up the stairs.
Dane and Addy turned to me.
Addy looked at me with utter disappointment and Dane’s face was filled with amusement. I gazed back at them with helpless innocence.
“Sorry,” I said, shrugging. “That didn’t go as planned.”
“Don’t leave my side again!” Addy insisted. “You have to stop this, Leo! This isn’t the island!”
“Jesus, Addy, didn’t you teach him anything?” Dane asked.
“I didn’t have time, thanks to you!” Addy replied, seething in anger.
“Yeah, well, you’re welcome,” Dane said, laughing fully now. “Listen, Leo, I can’t always scare away your frightened prey and Addy can’t always cover for you okay? Bloody hell, boy! What were you planning to do? Toss them in the fucking ocean?”
I shrugged again.
“Oh, Addy,” Dane laughed, “have you got your hands full with this one.”
“Shut up!” she seethed, grabbing my arm and pulling me away. We walked back up the stairs and back to the street. “We need to get a taxi to the airport and get out of here as soon as possible. Before you can cause anymore trouble!”
“Sorry, Addy,” I said again. I sincerely regretted it now that I saw how upset she was. I loved her. The last thing I wanted to do was upset her.
“You’ll learn,” she muttered, shrugging, even though she refused to meet my eye. I reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing it, hoping she’d forgive me. She squeezed back quickly, then let go.
I nodded, giving her a little space. I’d fucked up again.
Those urges were insanely strong. Once I focused in on one human, it seemed almost impossible to resist.
I’d have to do better.
For Addy’s sake. Because if she doesn’t forgive me, if she gives up on me, if she abandons me — I have no idea how I’ll survive.
There’s so much I don’t know and that much is so apparent.
If I didn’t have Addy around to help me, to guide me, I don’t know what I’d do. I gazed over at her as she flagged down a taxi and felt a huge wave of love wash over me.
After all this, Addy still made me feel like this.
After all this, Addy was still the one I’d been waiting all my life for. I’d realized it before, but I had no idea just how right I was.
Now, we’d be together forever.
Our future as a couple was cemented in fate and nothing would ever tear us apart.
Unless I fucked up again.
And I vowed, right then and there, never to let those urges get the best of me ever again.
I was a fucking man, for fuck’s sake. No, a vampire.
Strong as ten men now.
I wasn’t about to let a little bloodlust get in the way of my destiny with the woman I loved so dearly.
It would be just as easy as keeping my cock in my pants when I was dating someone.
And I never had any trouble with that.
THIRTEEN
THE COLLECTOR
I’d made a huge fucking mistake.
After Leo’s public spectacle, Addy didn’t say a word when I piled into the taxi with the two of them. She just wanted to get Leo out of there as quickly as possible. As soon as the doors closed and she instructed the driver to head straight to the airport, she started in on him.
“Leo, there are many things you cannot do and what you did back there is at the top of the list!”
“I know, Addy,” he said, flashing her an apologetic smile, trying to charm his way back into her good graces. And probably her pants, too.
I looked over at the two of them with disgust.
Their infatuation for one another was sickly sweet. In spite of the situation they found themselves in, in spite of the fact that Mr. Baby Vampire had been caught with his fangs sunk in some pretty redhead’s neck, Addy was still looking at him like he was a fucking God or something.
She was being patient and kind and gentle with him, but as soon as she turned her eyes on me, all of that disappeared and was replaced with disdain and hatred. I was only half-trusting my assumption that she’d opted not to kill me after all. I wouldn’t put it past her to try to shank me as soon as I turned my back.
I’d gotten us both out of there and she wasn’t even bloody grateful.
“You know what else you shouldn’t do, Leo?” I sneered. They looked over at me as if they were just now noticing I was even there.
“What?” he asked.
“You shouldn’t waste your time with Addy.”
“What!” she exclaimed.
“When we get back to the States, come with me. I’ll show you what it takes to survive.”
“You?” Addy asked, turning to me with a spiteful grimace. “What do you know, Dane, besides how to screw up everyone’s lives? Why would Leo come with you?”
“Yeah, I don’t think…” Leo murmured, his voice trailing off as he shook his head. It was obvious. He didn’t want to get involved in our argument. But I could see in his eyes that he also didn’t know which way was up. The poor guy was so lost and confused, he really didn’t know who to trust or which way to turn — and I intended to play on that.
“I’m a man. There’s a difference,” I shrugged, jutting my chin at him knowingly, as if our extra appendages bonded us somehow. “You know what I mean, Leo.”
“Fuck off, Dane!” Addy seethed.
The driver glanced in the rearview mirror, his nervous eyes meeting mine in the reflection. I wondered what his blood might taste like and I felt that familiar twinge on my tongue.
“You’ll see, Leo,” I shrugged.
FOURTEEN
LEO
“Stop it,” I said, trying my best to make my voice sound decisive. Between the two of them, they were fi
ghting like children, and it wasn’t looking like they were going to stop on their own anytime soon. “That’s an absurd idea, obviously. There’s no reason to argue about it. I’m staying with Addy, and that’s that. I’m sure I’ll be just fine on my own. This shit can’t be that complicated…”
“It’s very —.”
“Actually, there’s —.”
“Stop it!” I demanded, raising my voice.
They exchanged a quick glance but they kept their mouths shut the rest of the ride to the airport. The air was thick with tension and with the jittery driver stealing glances at us every chance he found, I was eager to get out of the car. The small space, being so close to both of them, was stifling.
I needed air.
I bolted from the backseat as soon as it came to a stop.
The bustling sidewalk of the Brisbane airport was a carnival of people of every type, every size and shape and ethnicity. Three different languages swirled around me as soon as I turned back to the car. My senses were again distractingly intense and I struggled to maintain a sense of normalcy.
I felt the urge to sniff everything. The air, the people, the trees, the jet fuel, the leather of the luggage slowly clamoring around the baggage claim belt, the pungent, dirty rubber of the belt and the stainless steel it repeatedly slithered over.
The sounds were almost as strong as the smells.
My ears swirled with conversations, idling taxi engines, the slamming of doors and trunks, the broken wheel of a passerby’s luggage scraping against the concrete sidewalk and the sucking swoosh of airplanes taking off and passing overhead…my head swirled, the volume intoxicatingly loud.
I trailed my gaze around, searching for Addy. She walked towards me, her smile returned, golden beauty beaming from her. She was stunning, pure, her skin so flawless and creamy, a stark contrast to her sparkling black hair. My cock swelled as I pulled her into my arms.
The Sanctuary 2: The Vampire's Passion Page 4
