Shane was one awfully pissed off vampire now and fought with a fury he has never shown me before. He threw his weight into me and landed a right hook across my cheekbone. Nothing broke, but it stung like a bitch. His wrath didn’t fizzle out there either.
He launched himself at me and latched onto my outstretched arms. He swung me around in circles like a dance until the centrifugal force knocked my happy ass right into an untouched pillar. A ripping noise rumbled above us, but when I glanced up to see the gap spreading, Shane landed a knee to my stomach.
I double over, realizing my mistake too late. The reaction cost me when my face lined up perfectly with the path of Shane’s steel-toe. When the dancing stars wore off, I was flat on my back in a pile of dirt and rock. Shane came to stand over me, a smug look on his face.
The sound of metal snapping drew Shane’s attention up, behind my head. I tilted my head back, my scalp scraping painfully across sharp rocks. When my vision focused and my eyes settled on the now empty beam, I smiled like the lioness that came across a wounded gazelle.
“Shit,” Shane whispered.
He never recovered from his stupor in time to stop my legs from wrapping tightly around his waist. I brought him down to the ground with enough force to bounce his head off the concrete like a basketball. I rolled on top of him, pounding into him with every bit of vengeance I had.
He managed to muscle me away and sprang forward. He rushed me, and we slammed into something hard and made of concrete. Imagine that. More rumbling echoed through the vast space. A hand curled around my throat and squeezed painfully. He dragged me up against the column, and his jet black, vampiric eyes met mine.
“You know, he wanted you alive. Maybe it’s for the best. I can’t wait to see what he has planned for you,” he whispered.
That was cryptic.
The bite of his fingers digging into my larynx prevented me from responding or questioning him further, but it didn’t matter. While waiting for the pain to worsen, I closed my eyes and imagined Gavin escaping.
The pain didn’t worsen. In fact, the hand that was wrapped around my neck slipped away, and I fell to my ass. When I looked up, I witnessed the most breathtaking sight in the world.
Gavin stood above me, broken chains hanging off his wrists. He peered down at me and once our eyes connected, I was snared. I couldn’t look anywhere else, and I didn’t want to. I gazed at him in awe, drinking him in like he was the last drop of rain to fall in the desert. I never knew I would even get to see him again after everything went down. So many emotions flickered in his eyes that it was difficult picking out one in particular. Seconds, maybe minutes passed.
He was the first to look away, drawn to a choking sound a few feet away. Reluctantly, I tore my gaze from him and spotted a lump on the ground. Gavin stepped toward Shane, prepared for another round, but like the coward Shane was, he fled. He flashed out the exit before either of us could move on him. The building groaned louder, and the sound of popping and cracking echoed through the room.
I looked back at Gavin, who was swaying a little. “We have to go,” I said, standing up.
I walked over to him and put an arm around his waist to steady him. He didn’t say anything, just leaned against me for support while I guided us through the rock fall.
The building was indeed coming down. A low thunder from above vibrated the foundation. We dodged brick and pieces of concrete, stumbling toward the stairs in a quick run, which was more like awkward hopping with the height difference between us.
We burst through the remaining set of doors into the cold night as people started gathering in the street to see what caused the commotion. As it caved in, we hobbled around the corner through an alley and were followed by the roar of destruction and shouting. The dust and debris created a nice fog for us to escape into, but we needed to get farther away in a very rapid fashion.
“Can you run?” I asked, craning my neck to look into his eyes.
Silently, he nodded and pulled his arm off my shoulders. He tested his balance and weight, shifting lightly on his feet. I nodded to him to let him know I was ready when he was. He returned the gesture, and I sprinted away from the noise hoping he’d follow.
When I felt him behind me, I picked up speed until I was sure we were at a safe enough distance. I ducked into a lit alleyway behind a Mexican restaurant I used to frequent with Holly.
Bracing myself, I turned toward Gavin, but nothing could prepare me for the rush of butterflies that were multiplying like rabbits in my stomach. I studied every feature and didn’t realize how much I was holding back until it all broke free. Every simple touch, every fiery argument came back with the force of a Mac truck going eighty. There was so much between us and so much that has happened.
The last time I saw him, I basically told him I never wanted to see him again because of the secrets he kept from me. What he did wasn’t right, but I understood why he did it. He only ever wanted to protect me. He needed my trust before he could answer my questions without me trying to kill him. I couldn’t give that to him before, but after all the times he’s saved my life, I couldn’t imagine not trusting him now.
Tears stung my eyes when I realized he was looking at me the same way. His gaze traveled the length of me in a slow perusal that had my heart doing back flips. When he met my eyes again, a thousand unspoken, yet beautiful regrets peeked back at me. I could get lost in his complicated, tangled depths for years to come if he’d allow it.
The way he looked at me made me want to jump in his arms and cry at the same time. I would fight a million vampires, run across the world in super speed, and then lift it up with my bare hands to see him look at me like that. Only he could look at me like he was seeing everything, inside and out. And I really missed that intense blue gaze.
A small eternity ticked by as we stood locked in each other’s gazes. I cleared my throat.
“Gavin,” I whispered.
Before I could say more, he stopped me. “Lucy, don’t. Not now. Come here,” he said, reaching out his hand.
I took it without having to think about it. He pulled me into the warmth of his strong arms, and I was glad he was holding me up because that intoxicating scent of his nearly undid me. It was so unique to him and smelled like the most expensive cologne. I inhaled greedily and his light chuckle reverberated in my chest.
He wrapped his arms around me, caging me in and gripping my sides so firmly his fingers dug in brutally. His relief emanated from this hug. My dangling legs instinctively wrapped around his waist, and I clung to him so hard that he was going to have trouble prying me off him.
Luckily, he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to let me go. One hand glided up my back and ran through my hair, smoothing it down before coming around to tilt my head back. My face was only inches from his when I looked into those beautiful eyes.
He cupped my face with that hand and caressed my cheek with his thumb, wiping away tears I didn’t notice had fallen. I was a spastic wreck. I couldn’t stop the rest of them from spilling over. There were some happy tears that fell and some tears of grief from what I had lost, and there were tears of relief for what I still had.
“Lucy,” he whispered, and it sounded like a prayer. “I’ve never seen you cry before.”
I laughed through the tears. “Yeah, kind of scary, isn’t it?”
His expression grew serious. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. It’s real and in the moment. It’s how you feel. You always try to hide your emotions. Don’t. They’re exquisite.”
I studied his expression before deciding he was being honest. I have never felt so exposed and vulnerable in my life. But I didn’t try to hide from him like I used to. I made a promise to Holly that I would allow myself to feel from now on. I didn’t want to hide anymore, especially not from Gavin. He has dealt with a lot of craziness just by knowing me, but he never left me. He was always there for me. I pushed him away, and I wasn’t around when Shane took him.
“Gavin, I�
��m so sorry,” I choked on a sob.
“Shh,” he soothed. “I’m the one who’s sorry. For a lot of things.”
He pulled my head down to his shoulder, and I let everything out. I wasn’t sure how long he let me cry all over him, but his grip never wavered.
When I finally pulled away, he lowered me to my feet. I slid down his bare chest, not letting go of his neck. Suddenly, there were reasons other than comfort for not being able to move away from him. His gaze heated, and I knew I should step away from him. It was definitely not the time for funny business.
“You probably need rest. Or blood?” I asked, not really sure what he needed.
“I’ll be fine if I can rest a little. How about you?” he asked hesitantly. “Do you need any… Blood?” I forgot it was his first encounter with the new me.
Suddenly, I became very interested in my boots. They were a dark brown but had creases across the leather that were worn and a lighter color. “I’m okay for now,” I mumbled.
He exhaled loudly, and my eyes darted up to meet his. “Lucy,” he breathed.
“Don’t. I don’t want to talk about it yet.” I knew he wanted to apologize for my transformation like it was his fault. I didn’t want to think about any of that yet.
He nodded, letting it go. “Well, I would say we could stay at my place, but with everything that’s happened and the assassins still hanging around, I don’t think it’s the safest place to spend the night.”
“I know where we can go,” I supplied.
He eyed me skeptically.
“What?”
“You’re apartment isn’t any safer.”
“Well, thanks for pointing out the obvious, Mr. Helpful. I wasn’t talking about my apartment.”
The corner of his mouth twitched, but he continued to doubt my resourcefulness.
“What? I do know people here,” I said, defensively. Okay, so I really only knew one person, but I definitely wasn’t admitting that to him, when he was looking at me like he thought it was cute or novel that I would have any friends.
“I believe you. With all that charm, how could you not know everyone in this town?” he teased.
“Shut up. Ass,” I shot back, but I grinned despite myself. It felt good to banter like we used to. Anything familiar was a nice reprieve from the mass of ugly and downright terrifying unknowns we were currently knee-deep in.
He chuckled. “Well, lead the way, Miss Popular.”
The way he smiled at me had me wanting things I shouldn’t be thinking about at the moment. I think I may have needed a cold shower more than blood. I really needed to get a grip on all these ridiculously intense urges. I wondered if it had anything to do with being a full-fledged vampire.
I looked at him again and wondered why I couldn’t have had an extra shirt or blanket on me to cover that perfectly sculpted chest and impossibly ripped abs. The fluttering in my belly was back, but the butterflies have moved much farther south and were multiplying at an alarming rate. And that made me wonder what exactly it was they were doing in there to reproduce so quickly. My butterflies were getting more action than I would be getting tonight. Because that, really, was the main thing I should be worrying about.
Seriously, Lucy. Focus.
Gavin was gesturing for me to take the lead, and I forced my feet to move while trying to hide my wobbly knees. They gave out, but I corrected myself and tried covering it up by pretending to step over something.
“It’s not far from here,” I assured him.
His gaze burned a hole in my back, and I knew if I turned around, I’d see that infuriating half smile. I almost forgot how confusing and chaotic my moods got when I was around him. And now that everything was amplified, things were bound to get a little out of control. As if my life wasn’t complicated enough, I had to add teenage vampire hormones to the list.
3
Eight blocks later, we stood under a green awning, staring at the giant picture window reading Music Lovers Only in bold frosted letters. I stepped back and lifted my head, checking for signs of life. No lights shone from the upstairs apartment, but when I fine-tuned my hearing, which I found to be a lot easier when I wasn’t hungry, I could make out his rhythmic heart beat and steady snoring.
Gavin leaned against the brick building, somehow pulling off an incredibly relaxed vibe, regardless of his limited wardrobe. He crossed his arms over his bare chest while maintaining skepticism in his brows.
“So we’re just going to wake up your ex-boss in the middle of the night and ask for a place to crash? That’s your plan?”
“You got a better one?” I snapped. I was worn down and a bit cranky. Add that to my new and upgraded temperament, and he was lucky I didn’t punch him. After all the violence and bad shit that’s happened in the past week, I really wasn’t in the mood for any more fighting tonight. But with his history of pissing me off, I was sure it wouldn’t take long for that to change.
“Well, I do have several contacts in the city,” he informed me judiciously.
“Yeah, I’m aware of the types of contacts you keep. Forgive me if I’m not keen on sharing the same living space with slutty vampires and watching them try to hump your leg while I try to sleep.”
Ok, that sounded a lot less like a jealous psycho in my head than how it came out. After all this time, I still haven’t learned to check myself and subdue my temper around him, but the memory of his old informant friend, Trixie, and how she wanted to suck more than blood when she was around Gavin made my skin crawl in a nasty, I must shower immediately kind of way.
And there it was, the half-cocked grin I knew and loathed, spread smugly across his face. Great. I was never going to hear the end of it.
“I can see your attitude hasn’t changed much. Your anger issues are still fully intact, aren’t they?”
“Funny how they didn’t seem to surface until you came around.”
He smiled wider but let it drop.
Huh?
I was expecting a colorful array of jealousy cracks. He never hesitated to rub it in my face before. Correction. He never hesitated to point out my attraction to him, a subject we always tip toed around before pulling back at the mere hint of something deeper. Because God forbid we have a functional, adult conversation expressing our actual intentions toward one another. No, our conversations were simpler and involved no words at all. Take for instance that last kiss we shared.
And was it ever a kiss to end all kisses. My face heated thinking about it. We were both so caught up in the brief instant of passion that we never got around to having one of those adult discussions about our feelings. But if that kiss had a say in anything, then I think we both may as well have proclaimed our undying love for each other.
But that kiss happened before I found out the truth of everything. He was going to reveal his secrets pertaining to me the following night, but I ran off and accepted the secondhand truth from Shane. There was so much between Gavin and I back then, so much distance separating us. But now, where did we stand?
There were still a lot of things unanswered, but we made it past the biggest hurdle between us. He had a role in my mother’s death. He didn’t kill her, but he was there, trying to save me from dying along with her, per her request. I’m grateful he saved me, but I was nowhere near able to accept what I had become, what I am.
Maybe it was the barrier between us that kept us from divulging our deepest, darkest desires. I had enough on my plate as it was. In fact, I should probably be thinking of how to get us out of our current predicament instead of standing here, crushing like a schoolgirl.
Jesus, Lucy. Get it together.
There were more pressing issues to worry about, like getting out of the cold and resting this overactive little brain of mine. I stepped forward and rubbed my palms together, more from nerves than for warmth against the frigid air. We needed a safe haven for the night, and securing one would require me to play nice.
Approaching the door neighboring the music shop entrance
, I pressed the buzzer to my ex boss’s apartment. I had no clue what I would say to him after weeks of no contact. I just left suddenly without actually quitting. It wasn’t like I had a choice, since the cops were after me for murders I didn’t commit and crazy strong assassin vampires were hunting me for murders of their kind, which I totally committed.
A handful of seconds ticked by after I pressed the buzzer, and because I had the patience of a toddler instead of a monk, I pressed it again. For a very long time. Gavin raised his scarred eyebrow at me, clearly unimpressed by my social skills.
Play nice… Play nice… Play nice.
Finally, I heard a muffled curse and heavy footfalls trudging down the stairs. Several lock clicks later and the door swung open to reveal an extremely unhappy Clint. I thought he might start foaming at the mouth.
“Lucy, what the hell?” he grunted.
“Hi, Clint,” I said around the sweetest smile I could muster through the crushing exhaustion.
He stood there with his dark hair in a mess of waves that covered most of his receding hairline, and he wore a dark green t-shirt with grey sweatpants. His fist clutched a wooden baseball bat. The severe expression eased into one of confusion.
“Lucy, what are you doing here? Are you in trouble with the cops? They came here looking for you awhile back.”
“No, not the cops. But there are bad people out there who want to harm us.” I tried getting close to the truth without freaking him out too much.
Gavin stepped closer and Clint’s gaze shifted upward, somewhere above my head. It went as expected. Hell, I couldn’t even see him right now, and his presence affected me on a cellular level. For some reason, my body was drawn to him like cold-blooded animals were drawn to the heat of the sun. I could bask in his warmth…his scent…his touch, basically, his everything all day.
Clint didn’t quite share my reaction to every woman’s fantasy, but there was the typical awe that followed the man around wherever he went. Some shameless gawking ensued followed by wide eyes and a few steps taken backward. Probably a good idea. The man’s ego required plenty of breathing room, especially if it planned on keeping me up all night with its obnoxious tendencies.
Blinding Light (The Bloodmarked Trilogy Book 2) Page 4
