Ravaged (Vampire Awakenings, Book 7)

by Brenda K. Davies

  “Look, Carha—”

  Whatever the man had been about to say was silenced by the blow Carha delivered to his face. His head snapped to the side, and his legs gave out. The blood spurting from his mouth sprayed the floor. Shouting obscenities, the man struggled to regain his feet, but Carha’s next blow dropped him to his knees.

  “Enough!” Aiden commanded.

  The woman gave up on trying to dress and fled the room. The startled squeak she released in the hallway drew Carha’s attention. Red blazed through Carha’s eyes as she gazed behind him to where Saxon and Declan stood in the hall. Ronan, Killean, and Lucien were in the club, working their way through the patrons and employees to see what they might know about Carha’s extracurricular activities.

  Carha hit the man again before turning and fleeing toward the back of the room. “She’s running!” Aiden shouted before chasing after her, though he had no idea where she hoped to go as she barreled straight at the wall.

  A foot from the wall, she stopped and stomped her foot on something. Hinges squeaked and then Carha fell through the floor. Aiden skidded to a stop next to the trapdoor Carha had vanished through.

  “Shit,” Aiden muttered as he gazed into the black pit.

  The dim, reddish glow of the room did little to illuminate what lay below. It could be a deathtrap waiting to spring on him. He never would have hesitated to follow Carha to his possible death before, but he remained standing over the hole. Maggie.

  He had her to live for now, but they weren’t bonded yet. She cared for him, he knew, but she could move on from this, and if he didn’t stop Carha, then the hunt for him and Maggie might never end. He couldn’t let Declan and Saxon do this on their own either, and if he didn’t move now, Carha would get away.

  Wind buffeted his hair and clothes as he plunged into the hole behind Carha.

  CHAPTER 37

  Aiden landed in a crouch with his fist on the dirt floor as he surveyed the darkness. Some instinct told him to roll a second before he heard a crossbow release. He bit his lip to keep from making any sound when his back came up against a wall. Dirt rained down on him, and he realized the bolt had embedded in the wall above him.

  Twenty feet over his head, he saw the opening of Carha’s trapdoor. Behind him, soft footsteps crunching on dirt drew his attention away from the door and to the woman fleeing him. Aiden launched to his feet and raced after Carha. He had no idea where he was going, couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, but her footsteps drew him onward.

  The thrill of the hunt pumped his adrenaline faster, and his fangs lengthened. Instead of trying to bury his more malevolent nature, he let it have free reign. He’d intended to take Carha alive, but he would do whatever it took to keep Maggie safe; Carha’s existence was a threat to her he wouldn’t tolerate.

  The footsteps moved toward the left. He turned to follow them, but not in time to prevent his shoulder from colliding with a wall. The impact staggered him briefly to the side; debris clattered to the ground. Recovering his balance, he honed in on Carha as she continued with barely a sound. She’d traveled this escape route often to remain so silent down here and to progress so fast.

  Hearing a creaking sounded ahead, he poured on the speed as he realized a door was opening. He ran headlong into what he initially thought was another wall. The impact rocked him backward, but not as hard as it should have if he’d hit something completely unmoving.

  Whatever he hit, swung away from him, and instinctively he reached out to grab it before he fell over. His hand curved around the edge of a door. Jerking it toward him, he wrenched it off its hinges. Chunks of debris crashed onto the floor when the door smashed into the wall.

  As if a dozen tanks were being driven through it, the tunnel shook from the impact of the door. A thundering crash rocked the tunnel behind him, and when a shout sounded, he suspected part of the ceiling had collapsed near Declan and Saxon, if they’d both followed him.

  Carha released a startled cry and Aiden continued his pursuit of her. Judging by the increased sounds of her breathing and the closeness of her steps, he was almost on her. Then, something creaked again, and the light suddenly flooding the dark space nearly blinded him.

  “They’re after me!” Carha shrieked.

  Aiden blinked as he tried to acclimate to the influx of light. He skidded to a halt in the doorway, and five heads turned toward him; he recognized the faces of each one. The Savages’ red eyes blazed in the fluorescents hanging above.

  One glance at the cavernous space told him Carha’s escape route had led into a warehouse with the remaining Savages who had jumped him. The concrete floor was barren and night pressed against the rectangle windows set high up in the walls.

  Smiling smugly, Carha slipped behind two of the Savages and rested her hands on their shoulders. He had no idea why she didn’t stink as badly as they did, but it was clear she was in league with them. The Savage Ronan captured had ultimately given Carha up as their ringleader before Aiden destroyed him.

  “You should have taken me up on my offer,” Carha taunted as the Savages surrounded him.

  “And what offer was that?” Aiden growled.

  “The one for the best fuck of your life.”

  Aiden’s mind flashed back to their last conversation in her room. “Soon,” she’d said. “You’ll be begging to have me.”

  “That will be the last time I come here,” he’d told her.

  “Oh, I doubt that will be the last time,” she’d replied.

  Then, he’d assumed she meant he would only come back for more sex with her afterward, but what she’d truly meant was she expected that night to be the last time he entered her club. He’d refused her advances too many times, and the miserable bitch had taken the saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” to a whole new level.

  He’d make her pay, not for what she’d done to him, but because Maggie had been caught up in Carha’s spitefulness too.

  “And when they’re done with you, they’re going to kill that little human bitch you brought into my club,” Carha said.

  Aiden’s hands fisted, but he kept himself from lunging at her. “You’ll be dead before that can ever happen,” Aiden vowed.

  Fear flickered in Carha’s eyes, but his attention was drawn from her and to the vampire beside her, the one who had hurt Maggie. “She tasted delicious,” the Savage murmured and licked his lips.

  Aiden smiled at the Savage as his fangs lengthened. “I’m going to enjoy killing you the most.”

  Aiden widened his stance as he beckoned the Savages forward with a wave of his hands.

  • • •

  Maggie glanced at her phone, worried she’d somehow turned it off or accidentally placed it on silent. It wasn’t her normal phone, after all; it was possible she’d done something to it. Or at least that’s what she kept telling herself.

  It was still on, the screen obnoxiously blank. She’d tried calling and texting Aiden, but it had gone straight to a computerized voice mail, and there had been no reply to her messages. Maggie drummed her fingers on the bar as she gazed at the occupants.

  Sitting here was driving her nuts, but she had no idea what else to do. Usually, she’d go for a run, but she had at least a bottle of Crown Royal in her, and she didn’t think a whiskey-fueled run was the best idea. Absently, she scratched at her arm before rechecking her phone.

  She hated this almost clinginess feeling and sense of loss enveloping her. This wasn’t who she was. Yes, she cared for Aiden, but her whole world couldn’t revolve around a man; she refused to let it.

  “He’s fine,” Vicky said, but she didn’t sound as confident as she had earlier.

  Maggie glanced at the TV. The game had ended over an hour ago. She rose and stood on the backside of her stool. She gripped the seat. “Then why do I have such a bad feeling?” she muttered.

  Vicky and Abby exchanged a nervous look. “Why don’t you call Ronan?” Abby suggested to Brian, who already had his phone to his ear.<
br />
  “Ronan’s phone is off,” Brian replied, “but that’s normal if they’re working on something. Also, now that Ronan’s mated, his phone’s off more often too.”

  “Those damn mated vamps,” Vicky quipped and winked at her sister before smiling at Maggie. “See, there’s nothing to worry about.”

  “You don’t believe that either,” Maggie said to her. “Can we go to where they are?” she asked Brian.

  “No. I’m not taking you three anywhere near what is going on. No,” he said more firmly to Abby when she opened her mouth to protest. He placed his hand over hers as if to temper his next words. “You won’t win this one. Besides, Maggie is mortal.”

  Abby stared at him for a minute. “He’s right. Aiden will have our asses if we risk yours.”

  “Maybe he’s decided not to return,” Maggie said.

  “That will never happen,” Abby said. “I know you don’t get the bond of mates, but believe me, Hell itself wouldn’t keep him away from you.”

  Brian nodded his agreement. Maggie downed the rest of her glass and pushed it toward the bartender. The heat of someone’s body warmed her elbow. She glanced at the man who had walked up to stand beside her. “Can I buy you a drink?” he inquired.

  “No.” She turned dismissively away from him.

  “Come on, just one. It looks like you enjoy your whiskey.”

  Brian started to rise from his seat as she turned back to the man. “Creepy stalker guy is not attractive, and if you know my drink, then that makes you creepy stalker guy.”

  The man’s forehead furrowed as he seemed not to process her words. Given the glassiness of his eyes, Maggie suspected he’d had more to drink than she had. “Only one,” he said and placed his hand over hers.

  Maggie snatched her hand away and turned it over to seize his palm. Pressing down between his thumb and index finger, she gave a firm squeeze. “Back off.”

  The man’s knees buckled, and he nearly went to the ground. “Let go!” he wailed.

  Maggie released him. He gazed at her as if she were the antichrist before shaking out his hand and hurrying to a booth crowded with other young guys. They were all laughing at him.

  She focused on the others once more.

  “I don’t know why I’m here,” Brian said as he sat back on his stool.

  Vicky and Abby both grinned at her. “Where did you learn to do that?” Abby asked.

  “You grow up as a foster kid, and you learn how to defend yourself,” Maggie replied.

  “You grew up in foster care?”

  “I did.”

  “Come, sit, tell us more about yourself,” Vicky said and slapped the stool. “It will help take all our minds off things.”

  With no idea what else to do, Maggie sat, but she kept her phone in front of her as her uneasiness grew.

  CHAPTER 38

  Aiden ducked low and swung his fist out, driving it through the chest of the first Savage to come at him. His heart beat once in Aiden’s grip before he yanked it out and threw it aside. Reaching into his coat, he pulled a stake free and thrust upward at the next vamp to lunge at him.

  Unable to get in a killing blow against the Savage, Aiden propelled the stake straight up through the bottom of the vamp’s chin. The Savage stumbled back; his hands clawed at the stake in an attempt to pull it out, but Aiden had pushed it deep enough the vamp wouldn’t be able to remove it on his own.

  The vampire who had attacked Maggie moved further back to stand protectively in front of Carha. Carha crossed her arms over her chest as the other two Savages charged him from the sides, coming at him low and hard. Snarls of excitement radiated from them as the one with the stake embedded in its jaw recovered enough to run at him from behind. The one blocking Carha moved a little closer.

  Carha edged away, creeping toward the door on the other side of the warehouse. Aiden tracked her every move; she would not get away. When the two vampires charging him from the side were nearly on top of him, he jumped back. The buffoons crashed headfirst into each other. Blood burst from the head of one, while the other fell back, his broken neck causing him to twitch on the ground.

  Carha’s smile vanished when he lifted his head to meet her eyes. Aiden started toward her when the Savage with the stake embedded in his jaw leapt onto his back. Aiden threw his hands up to pull the vamp away, but before Aiden could grab him, the Savage’s weight was yanked away from him.

  Aiden spun to find Declan tearing the heart from the Savage’s chest. Behind him, Saxon ripped the head from the idiot who had split open his skull. The one with the broken neck made a gurgled sound when Declan knelt over him with a stake in hand.

  The Savage who attacked Maggie turned and fled to follow Carha toward the door. When she didn’t move fast enough for him, he shoved Carha out of his way. Saliva filled Aiden’s mouth as the thrill of the hunt took over. Bursting into motion, he chased after the Savage. The vamp was almost to the door when Aiden pounced on his back, seized his head and yanked it to the side.

  The cracking of bone reverberated off the cavernous walls and high ceiling of the warehouse. The Savage wailed, his hands beat against Aiden’s head. When Aiden gave another twist of his neck, severing his spinal cord, the Savage fell out from under him.

  He’d envisioned torturing this bastard for a long time after what he’d done to Maggie, but Carha was still fleeing toward the door. This piece of shit had hurt Maggie, but Carha had been the cause of it.

  Aiden bellowed in fury as he wrenched the Savage’s head off and tossed it aside before jumping to his feet. The need to kill thrummed through him as he raced after Carha. When she reached the door, he drew on the strength of Maggie’s blood flowing through his veins and poured on the speed.

  Carha was pulling the door open when he caught up to her. Slamming his hand against the metal door, he tore it from her hands and shoved it closed. He wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her off the ground. She kicked her heels against his shins as she spat like a cat. Her fingernails, filed into lethal points, peeled back the flesh on his hands, spilling his blood.

  Aiden ignored her thrashing as he turned and stalked back toward the others. He dropped her into the center of the Savage bodies littering the floor. Unprepared for her abrupt release, Carha landed on her ass with a loud oomph. The end of her black braid slapped her in the face; blood splashed onto her black leather pants and red corset.

  Shoving her braid aside, she lifted her chin to glare at him. Kneeling in front of her, Aiden rested his fingers in the blood coating the floor as he met her fiery gaze. Smirking, Carha seemed to decide to try something new as she propped her hands behind her, leaned back in the blood, and spread her legs. Aiden recoiled when she revealed her crotch-less pants.

  Keeping her legs open, she focused on Saxon. Sweat beaded Saxon’s brow as he stared between Carha’s legs. After a few seconds, he looked to the wall.

  “Saxon wouldn’t have turned me down,” Carha purred.

  Unable to tolerate standing so close to her anymore, Aiden rose and stepped away. “This really is all because I wouldn’t fuck you?”

  She shrugged again. “I get what I want, and when I don’t, my friends take care of the problem.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means Carha’s been working with the Savages for a while. She hires them to do her dirty work, such as eliminating her competition, taking care of those she has a problem with, and those who owe her,” Ronan said.

  Aiden turned to find Ronan standing in the open doorway of the tunnel. Ronan’s reddish-brown eyes were more red than brown as he gazed at Carha. Aiden saw no sign of Killean and Lucien and assumed they’d stayed in the club to make sure everything stayed safe there. Paler than normal, Zeke stood at Ronan’s side. Carha’s legs closed; her eyes narrowed on Ronan and Zeke.

  “Tell them what you revealed to me,” Ronan said to Zeke.

  “He’s a bartender. He doesn’t know anything beyond how to make a drink!” Carha snapped
.

  “He knows more than enough to condemn you,” Ronan replied. “Go on, Zeke.”

  “Over the past year, I’ve noticed if a new vampire bar crops up somewhere, the owners often meet with an untimely and often violent demise,” Zeke said. “There has also been a growing number of vampires with less-than-legal occupations disappearing recently. We may not have the vampire equivalent of Facebook, but word spreads fast through our community. Those deaths sparked a lot of gossip.”

  “Pushing drugs too, Carha?” Ronan inquired.

  “I wouldn’t dare, Ronan,” she replied with a false innocence. She opened her legs before leisurely crossing them once more.

  Aiden’s skin crawled; he couldn’t stop himself from stepping further away from her. He’d allowed this woman to do things to him that would make some of the most toughened vampires cringe. All he’d wanted was to return to Maggie, but he wouldn’t go anywhere near her while feeling as tainted as he did by his urges. As soon as he left here, he planned to scrub his skin bloody.

  “You know drugs are not allowed to be sold to vampires,” Ronan growled. “I will keep the vampires who follow me and who are innocents in all this safe; you are a threat to them.”

  “Prove it,” Carha taunted.

  “You proved it by running to these pricks when you fled the club,” Aiden stated.

  “I simply hired them to keep me safe. They’re my bodyguards,” Carha replied with a flutter of her lashes.

  “You hired them to keep you safe from me?” Aiden inquired. “I never hurt you, but these were the remaining vampires who jumped me outside your club.”

  She assumed a demure air. “I’ve seen how unstable you’ve become. I was afraid that the next time you came to me, you would snap and kill me. I’ve seen how much pain you can withstand, so I knew I had to hire a lot of help to protect me from you.”

  “You’re lying,” Declan said flatly.

  “Yes, she is,” Ronan agreed. “Continue, Zeke.”

  “A couple of weeks ago, I was taking out the trash and overheard Carha in the alley with that one,” he pointed to one of the dead Savages. “They were talking about some clients who owed her money.”