by J. L. Myers
Touched, I rose on my toes and captured his lips for a short, hot kiss. The temptation to stay was there, to distract him from our training. But Ty was right. “Be careful.”
Ty released me and backed up. “Don’t hold back.”
I squared my shoulders and let the whip roll out, ignoring the clenching of my gut. Ty’s stance was centered, his focus sharp, waiting for my strike. With a deep, dreadful breath, I flicked my wrist. The silver length strung out into the air at Ty’s arm. I winced, but he ducked at the last second, evading its curling spikes. I struck out again, this time at his shin. Again I missed, hitting air as he launched six feet into the air. The next move was a sweeper, gliding fast as light to trap his torso. Ty evaded the needle-like tip, back rolling out of its path.
The strikes and dodges continued on. After what felt like hours my arm began to ache, and Ty’s chest was slick with sweat and his face was red.
I reined in what little stamina I had left and compiled the moves I’d learned. The ebbing energy and growing fatigue made my attempts less precise, more desperate, and erratically faster. When my whole body started burning with exhaustion, I picked my last moves. Quick curl-out above the chest. Missed. Backward sweep for the waist. Missed. And wrist flick for the—
The whip met its mark, curling around Ty’s leg, spikes embedding in his shin.
He fell backward and I rushed over. “Shit. Oh shit!” Red torrents leaked from the numerous holes now plugged by silver in his leg. “What do I do? Shit. Tell me what to do!”
Ty leaned up on his elbows, pain tightening his muscles and…smiling? “Calm down first,” he said. “Believe me, these are just scratches. I’ve had much worse. Now twist the handle, jiggle, and pull back.”
“Ty, no. It’ll—”
“It’s the same thing you did with the dummies.” His voice was so calm, reasonable. “If you can’t do this, you’ll lose your weapon in battle. Plus taking it out myself will tear open the holes even more.”
The panic left me with a rush of instant calm. Adrenaline faded while the smell of his dripping blood onto the wooden floor soared. I bit my lip and held my breath, twisting the whip’s handle. A jiggle and a tug freed every spike from Ty’s shin. The whip recoiled into a tight hoop in my hand. Now unplugged, scarlet poured from the punctures, streaming down Ty’s leg. Fresh desire pumped through my veins, speeding faster with my bloodlust.
“Hold it back,” Ty spoke without concern. His eyes caught my wild ones, burning with total belief. “You can control it.”
Repeating control it over and over, I stared as the leaking blood began to slow. My mouth watered and my fangs ached, but I wouldn’t give in. As the last drops fell, the holes closed over, crystallizing with scabs that smoothed to pink fleshy spots.
As I stared at his leg and the pool of scarlet beneath it, Ty moved to kneel before me. His irises glowed as he curled his fingers around the back of my neck. “You did it.”
Overwhelmed by my achievement and the still-lingering aroma of Ty’s spilled blood, my body took over. I flattened Ty against the wooden floor and leapt on top of him, bloodlust warping into desperate desire. His breath sucked in as my hands ran along the outline of his chest, my nails digging in just a little. I took a deep breath and let his scent fill my lungs. With the mental blocks reinforced in my head, I threaded my hands through his sleek hair and lifted his face up to mine. Met with hunger, his lips slanted across mine, over and over. His hands captured my hips, pulling me closer. Our tongues slid against each other and any space between us was lost. The scent of desire rose from both our bodies.
And still my bond blocking held. I lowered my hands, wanting to remove the material separating us. Wanting to see how far we could get this time. My fingers grazed the hem of my dirty, purple tank…
Then the door to the training room swung open.
Mr. Malau strode in, eyes registering me and turning incredulous. “Get. Up.”
I scrambled off Ty, my face ablaze and my heart smashing against my ribs.
Ty sighed through uneven breath and leaned back on his elbows. “Father. You’re back early.”
The pissed off alpha let his glare slide from me, taking in the mess of sawdust and blood before narrowing at his son. “You’re training her.” It wasn’t a question, and was spoken like an accusation.
Ty answered anyway. “I want to know she can protect herself.” There was challenge in both their faces, but neither said any more on the matter. Instead Ty asked, “So, you have news?”
Mr. Malau’s jaw clenched, a muscle ticking in his cheek. “There’s been another one in Anchorage.”
Ty jumped up, dusting off his hands. “Same location?” He pulled me up and smiled. Then he nodded at his father. “I’ll make the arrangements straight away.”
My brain raced with confusion, my lips speaking past the shock of Ty’s father walking in on us. “What’s going on? What arrangements? And another what?”
Mr. Malau’s eyebrows lifted at me. “Nosey. Aren’t you.” His gaze narrowed and he huffed. “Since my trusting son’s going to tell you anyway… There’s been another rogue murder in Anchorage. Near the club you tried your luck at.”
My gaze fell to my dust-caked Vans, my stomach twisting. Ty’s father was referring to the time I’d almost killed a human. The first time I’d met Ty when he’d stopped my kill. Back then he’d thought I was the killer they were after. After that, his hunting expeditions had been to take out any acting rogue vampires. So he must have found and killed the one in Anchorage, right? “Does that mean there’s a new rogue vampire?”
Ty ran a hand through his dusty hair. “Maybe. I’m not sure. We put down one in Anchorage back then. But there have still been victims, and the numbers are growing. The last time we interrupted two attacking one girl. One got away.”
Imagining two blood-hungry monsters chowing down on a poor innocent girl brought acid to the back of my throat. “So what happens now?”
“I’ll go on recon?” Ty said. At my confused look he explained. “Check out the victim and murder scene. See what clues were left behind.”
Like a menacing hulk Mr. Malau strode forward, his golden eyes sparkling dangerously. Ty blocked my body with his, a warning growl rumbling from this throat. My hand tightened on my whip.
Mr. Malau laughed, seeing the weapon. He sniffed the air. “You may have spilled my son’s blood, but I’ve got decades on him.” Ty growled louder as his father came closer, eying his son. “Stand down, before I knock some respect into you.” When there was no movement he almost smiled. “Strong and fearless. I’ve trained you well.” The older version of Ty slid his gaze my way, the expression on his face devious at best. “Since you, vampire, insist on remaining in my son’s life, you may as well experience our world. Our lives.”
“Father…” Ty’s tone was warning, a challenge he was ready to take. “No.”
“No what?” I tugged on Ty’s arm. “What does he mean?”
Ty stared down his father who flashed canines as he spoke. “I think you should go on recon with Ty. If you’re lucky you could witness my son disposing of a vampire. Or is that too real for you?”
I met his challenge head-on, expression set with absolution. “I know what Ty is, what he does. He’s a hero, saving humans from, well…yeah, vampires. Bad vampires. And I have no issue with that. He’s saved me more than once, too.” I now knew what was out there, rouge and damned vampires, creatures that thrived on blood and death. I couldn’t stand idly by and let Ty take all the risk. Besides, this could be linked to our attacks, and even Caius. I laced my fingers through Ty’s. “I’m coming with you.”
Surprise sparked across the older alpha’s face. He half-smiled at his son. “She has fire…like your mother did.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Why do we have to see the body?” I asked. My skin crawled at the thought while my Vans made light squeaks across the linoleum floor.
In my short new life as a vampire I had already se
en one damned vampire die. Well, almost two if you count Kendrick and Dorian’s attacker being decapitated. In the way that ours had been killed, his body had instantly incinerated. Except this time we weren’t going to see a damned vampire’s body. We were here to see a human who’d been killed. Drained to death. I wondered what that kind of death would change in a decomposing body, and shuddered. I’d not so long ago come close to that end myself.
It was after 8PM, the day following my run-in with Mr. Malau. Now in Anchorage, we headed for the morgue on the lower level of the hospital.
Wearing a suit and tie, Ty ran a hand across my back as we headed down the off-white corridors. “Apart from the crime scene itself, a body can tell you so much about the killer. It could lead us to him or even his hideout.”
I went to ask about the formal attire when something distracted me. The capital letters MORGUE headed the end of the hallway. There was no turning back now.
“Will they let us see the body?” I asked. We weren’t related or anything. We didn’t even know her name.
“I’ve got it covered.” Ty sounded both cocky and confident. As if this was something he did on a regular basis. And here I’d thought he just put down murdering vampires. Apparently there was much more to being alpha of a werewolf pack than I’d ever thought.
Ty held open one side of the double doors for me to enter, and then followed behind. Inside was a glass-enclosed office manned by a male nurse. Corridors flanked either side of the office with swinging doors. One was unmarked. The other stated NO ENTRY.
The male nurse glanced up from his desk as we stopped in front of the glass barrier. “Can I help you?”
Ty withdrew a wallet from his pocket and flipped it open, displaying a badge. “Officer Scant. I’m here to pick up the murder victim’s personal affects.”
Somehow I managed not to blanch. So that’s why he’d dressed in a black suit with a collared shirt and tie.
“Who’s the girl?” the mid-twenties guy asked, more curious than suspicious.
Ty, or should I say, Officer Scant, glanced to me. “Right. Her.” He gave me a careless tap on the arm. “Almost forgot you were there.” His gaze returned to the male nurse. “Please meet our latest intern. What was your name? Oh that’s it, Jenny, right?”
The nurse scanned us over and shrugged. “You types get younger by the year.”
Ty smiled. “Yeah, and us newbies always get the mundane jobs. Where’s the action I signed up for?”
With a distracted noise the nurse went back to his computer screen. “Head on in, down the left. Second door on the right.”
We began to move away, but as we reached the doors below the NO ENTRY sign the nurse called out. “Oh, and don’t mind the body. It’s still in there but it’s covered.”
“Sure thing,” Ty called.
The doors creaked as he pushed them open. Less light brightened the hallway than the entry, and it was quiet as hell. Hairs rose up the back of my neck. At least I couldn’t see dead people. That ability was part of the spirit gift, to see and speak with the dead. But so far I hadn’t had any eerie spectral run ins. Hopefully that wasn’t about to change.
We paused before a door with a square glass window. I peered inside. Beyond the glass was a sterile room. Cabinets and pigeonholes marked the right wall. Body fridge doors marked the back wall. A suspended lamp centered the room, flickering above a stainless steel table. A knot formed in my throat and I swallowed. A lumpy mass took up the table space, covered by a white sheet.
Ty squeezed my hand. “You ready?”
I feigned strength. With everything we’d been through and would have to deal with, this would end up being a walk in the park. Plus I needed the exposure. In the future, I may have to kill to stay alive. Seeing death without falling apart was a step in training. I nodded, feeling anything but ready. “As I’ll ever be.”
We moved to the table. Beside it was a trolley with a plastic bag on top. Inside appeared to be the victim’s bloodstained things: a Lycra skirt, skimpy top, heels, and a purse. Below the table a bucket collected draining blood. It was a fair sized bucket, but hardly a drop filled it.
Ty noticed it too and frowned. “She was almost completely drained before being dumped.” He took hold of the edge of the sheet and uncovered her face.
I gasped and stepped back, hitting the trolley. The girl was young, maybe eighteen. Her auburn hair was tangled and wet, her pale face dirty. Her dead fish eyes were frozen in an open and eerie stare. But something about them stood out. Even though they were cloudy their silver-blue color was still visible.
“She’s a vampire.”
“You’re right.” Ty bent, pulling back more of the sheet.
I fought the urge to gag, even as the sight tingled my gums and made my stomach ache. The girl’s neck was shredded. Chewed into so viciously that bone glinted through the mess.
“The attacker was newly turned, ravenous,” Ty said. “Probably a first kill.”
I clutched the edge of the trolley as he peered under the sheet at her body. “H-how can you tell?”
“He kept biting until he punctured a vein. That’s why her neck’s so shredded.”
Glancing away, I opened the plastic bag to rifle through her belongings. I needed a distraction, and without chocolate, that bucket of blood drops was the only thing on offer in this room. The fact that I even thought about it made my stomach lurch. I reached past her soiled clothes to pull out her purse.
“Her name was Delina,” I said, studying her pretty face in the picture I.D. Apart from that there were a few twenties and small change. There was a card for the local blood bank and one other. It was worn and tattered with a fold through the middle. She’d had it for a while. “She’s been to Pulse, a lot,” I said, putting the card in my back pocket. I grabbed the clipboard from the top of the trolley. Delina’s body was found a few blocks from the popular vampire club. “But she wasn’t killed there.”
“Don’t crap where you eat,” Ty said. He replaced the sheet over her body. “It doesn’t make sense. A new vampire wouldn’t be able to think rationally enough to take his victim from the abduction site. What else doesn’t make sense is…” He lifted the sheet from her thigh, exposing another vicious bite mark. “That she’s been bitten in three separate places. A new vampire would latch on and not let go until their victim is empty. He wouldn’t change positions.”
I cringed at the memory of my own attempt to kill the school quarterback. I’d latched on too, fangs finding that spot and keeping a fatal hold. That had been the night I’d discovered I was a monster. But you’re not one now, I told myself. Since then I’d come so far. Every day my control over bloodlust improved.
I dared to ask, “So what does it all mean?”
“That there were three attackers,” Ty said, his voice grim. “And they were all starved. New vampires. Unless—”
“Unless what?”
A creak followed by footsteps, cut off Ty’s response. Someone was coming. Ty grabbed my hand to pull me from the room, but the door swung open before we’d even reached it. A blond guy strode in, flanked by two men in black gear. The men tensed and went to move in on us. The first guy held up a hand, freezing them in motion.
“Marcus?” I couldn’t believe it. “What are you doing here?”
“Leave.” The order in Marcus’s voice was crystal clear, disobeying would mean punishment. Before we could react the two men with him vacated the room. He studied Ty, moving slowly from his face down, then up again. “Is that him?”
Ty tensed, a rumble vibrating from his throat.
I edged forward, blocking him from Marcus. “It is.”
“Why are you here?” Marcus’s nostrils flared as if scenting him.
Ty made fists of his hands and his lips curled back from canines. “Stepping in because your ‘powers that be’ won’t police your own kind,” he snapped.
“Why do you think I’m here?” Marcus looked amused, unmoved by Ty’s hostility. “Besides, when
it’s one of our own and not just a blood bag, we’re a little more vigilant. Can’t have humans running autopsies on vampires, now can we?”
His flippant tone and words shocked me. “Humans aren’t blood bags. They’re—wait. So you knew she was a vampire?” I hoped that wasn’t the only reason The Council was stepping up. Though with how they kept their humans for food, it shouldn’t have surprised me so much.
“Not just a vampire,” Marcus said. “She was a Pure Blood.”
~
“There’s nothing here,” I said, kicking rubbish away with my Vans.
We’d left the hospital after Marcus’s bombshell and checked into our hotel. Now we were down the alley where Delina had been drained to death. Marcus had of course ordered us to steer clear of Council business. Like that was going to happen. Ty was an alpha, and whether the vampires appeared to be policing their own kind or not, he wasn’t leaving anything to chance. His integrity surprised me. After discovering the victim was a vampire, I half expected him to let it go. But it seemed that human or not, Ty didn’t discriminate. Delina may have been a vampire, but she was still a victim.
“She wasn’t killed here.” Ty straightened from the wet asphalt, taking a deep breath through his nose. “I can’t even pick up the scent of blood. With how badly she was chomped into, there should be at least some.”
“So what now?” I asked.
Ty slid his hand around me and into the back pocket of my jeans. I held my breath at his closeness and touch. An alchemist mark on his chest blocked his amazing scent. Still that didn’t mean I couldn’t remember the delicious taste. Though in spite of my rising desire, this dingy alley was far from romantic. I hadn’t even pulled up the walls in my mind to block Kendrick.
“Ty, uh…”
In a flash his hand left my back pocket, now holding up a card. It was the card I’d found in Delina’s purse. “I need to check out Pulse.”
