Born in the Shadows (In the Shadows Series Book 1)

by Courtney McPhail

She lowered her hand and he saw that her fangs were twice their normal length. He knew that the sight of them should instil fear but he found his arousal growing instead. As he stared at her fangs, he felt a tingle in his neck, right where she had bit him. His mind flashed back to the alley and what it had felt like when she had drank from him.

  It had been better than any sex he had ever had and he had had some good sex in his lifetime. The moment she had bitten him, he had been filled with a burning desire that had rushed through his entire body. He had become instantly hard, a painful erection pushing against the fly of his jeans. Each pull of her lips on his neck had corresponded with a phantom pull on his shaft and before he knew what was happening, he had come in his pants. That was a little something he had kept to himself because he had been embarrassed. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do it again. Premature or not, it had felt fucking amazing.

  “It’s okay, Cordy. You can drink my blood.”

  ***

  Cordelia stared at Gabe, going over what he had just proposed. Sure, he belonged to her and she could drink from him anytime she wanted. He also tasted damn good and a part of her was screaming inside to get another taste. The problem was this wasn’t what she wanted with Gabe. She didn’t want to use him like he was some feedbag. She wanted so much more than that.

  God, it had been amazing to kiss him. She felt like she was filled with electricity, her entire body vibrating with desire. Then when she had straddled him and felt his hard length pressing against her sex it was like a kick in the gut. She wanted more of that but she didn’t think she could ignore her baser instincts. She couldn’t risk messing things up with Gabe because she let bloodlust take over.

  “I can’t drink from you.”

  “Why not? You did it in the alley so why not now? It doesn’t hurt, really. It feels pretty damn good, actually.”

  He was smiling broadly and as he leaned back on his hands, she could still see the outline of his erection quite clearly. Nicky had told her about humans that became addicted to the bite and the thought cooled her heated blood.

  In fact, her veins filled with ice as she regarded him with new eyes. Mary and Anne had reassured her that she could not force his arousal but that didn’t mean his arousal was actually for her. It could just be the bite he wanted.

  “It feels good?” she asked him, her eyes narrowing as she watched his smile widen at the question.

  “Oh yeah, fucking fantastic.”

  “So that’s why you offered. Because it makes you feel good.”

  He nodded eagerly and her lip curled up in disgust. She had thought Gabe was a sweet, caring guy but he was just another selfish ass. He didn’t care about anything but getting what he wanted and he’d use her to get it if needed.

  He didn’t think the old Cordelia was beautiful. He thought the supernaturally enhanced Cordelia was beautiful, just like all other Shadow Walkers were to him. Hell, he’d probably let anyone in the house feed from him.

  She had thought that things would be different now. Her growing confidence had just been an illusion. She was still the ugly girl her mother had always hated.

  It made her angry. Angry at the world, at herself and at Gabe. This was all his fault. She wished she had just let Armand feed from him and then she wouldn’t be in this mess. Olivia would still be alive and she wouldn’t be feeling like this. All of this was his fucking fault.

  She had the sudden urge to punish him and, in a flash, she had him on his back, pinning his wrists above his head as she straddled his hips.

  She stared down at him, her damp curls falling forward to curtain the two of them from the rest of the world. She was all he could see, all he could feel as she began to taunt him, a cat playing with a mouse before it went in for the kill.

  “I can make it hurt. Do you want me to still do it if it hurts?”

  She leaned down and ran her tongue over his throbbing pulse point, causing him to strain against her hold on him. She gripped his wrists tighter and he grunted from the increase in pressure. She bared her fangs and growled lowly in the back of her throat. She could smell his fear but it was barely detectable over the powerful scent of arousal wafting off him.

  “You do. Even if I hurt you, you’d still let me. Why?”

  “Because I want you,” he gasped.

  She dragged the tip of her fang up his throat and he trembled beneath her. When she reached his ear, she darted her tongue out to caress the shell. He let out a pained groan and she smiled, her lips brushing against his ear for one final test.

  “Liar. You don’t want me, you want the bite.”

  He shook his head fiercely. “No, it’s you. Can’t you feel it?”

  His hips rose off the bed and he pressed his hard length against her core. Her entire body trembled at the sensation of him against her, the steel heat of it igniting a fire within her. She tried to tamp it down, intent on keeping control but she couldn’t stop the moan that issued from her lips. Oh yeah, she felt it.

  She pulled his wrists together and used one hand to hold them while the other one slid down his chest and over the front of his jeans. He hissed as she squeezed his erection, his hips bucking up into her palm. She made quick work of the button and zipper, slipping her hand inside his boxers to wrap around his thick shaft.

  He cried out as she squeezed him and then slid her hand along his length, getting familiar with his size. His breathing increased and he strained against the hold she had on his wrists. She could see his jugular vein pumping in time with the throb of his shaft.

  She remembered exactly what he had tasted like and she wanted more. She traced her tongue over the vein and felt him shake beneath her. She felt her own body respond as well. Her nipples hardened until they ached as they brushed against his hard chest and wetness seeped between her thighs.

  God she wanted to taste him again. She opened her mouth, her fangs elongating instinctively as the tips pressed against his flesh. As she gave in to the bloodlust, her mind brushed against his.

  …fuck yes, do it…I need it again…anyway I can get it…please…

  His impassioned thoughts were the cold water she needed. He really was using her. He wanted the bite so badly that he would have taken it from anyone. He probably would have let Armand do it if he could have.

  She quickly disentangled herself from him and rolled herself off the bed. He laid there for a moment, staring up at the canopy, his breathing laboured, his exposed cock still twitching on his belly. Eventually he slowly turned his head to stare at her. She stood there, glaring at him, her arms crossed over her chest in a closed off stance.

  “Get out,” she ground out from behind clenched teeth.

  “What?”

  “Get out. You don’t care about me. You just want to use me. You’re like any addict and I’m not going to give you your fix so get the hell out.”

  He rose off the bed, quickly stuffing himself back in his jeans, and he tried to move towards her but she stepped back. His expression changed from one of confusion to one of anger.

  “Since I came here, you’ve been screwing with my head the entire time, running hot and cold. Do you think dealing with your issues is some fucking picnic for me?”

  His words hurt but her pride kept it from showing on her face and she regarded him with cold eyes.

  “Consider my issues no longer your problem. You know where the door is, use it.”

  “Fine, I don’t have to deal with this bullshit.”

  He pivoted on his heel and stormed out of the room, slamming the door in his anger. The moment the sound stopped reverberating in her ears, she started sobbing.

  She had been so stupid to think that Gabe would ever want the real her. Of course, all the Shadow Walker accessories were what got him interested. She had thought that everything would be easier now. She had been so wrong.

  ***

  Armand came through the back door of the house and listened for the sounds of his cousins. He heard them in the basement and he followed th
e sounds of electronic gunfire downstairs to find the three of them sprawled on the sofa playing video games

  “I did it!”

  Matthew was the only one who looked up from the game at his words. Liam continued pressing the buttons on his controller and a rocket launcher went off on the television screen. Michael cursed animatedly, tossing his controller aside before looking up at Armand.

  “You did what?”

  “I took the first step in my plan for revenge.”

  That got everyone’s attention, the Xbox forgotten as gunfire went off and the words GAME OVER flashed on the screen.

  “Armand, what did you do?” Liam asked with trepidation in his voice.

  “I went to the Zopyros home and I killed one of their humans.”

  Liam cursed and threw his controller across the room while Michael jumped up, his face paler than normal. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

  “I did what needed to be done.”

  Michael’s eyes went wide at that. “Let me get this straight…you killed a Datores Sanguis from one of the most powerful clans and on their own land, no less. You are out of your fucking mind!”

  “You need to leave here now.” At his solemn words, all of them turned to look at Liam. “You’ve declared war between our clans. The clan will disown you and you’ll be marked as a rogue. The Enforcer will be after you and if you stay here, we’ll be charged with conspiracy.”

  “You are abandoning me, your blood?”

  Liam shook his head, a look of disgust on his face. “You made the choice, not us. If you want to go rogue, that’s your business but you aren’t going to drag us down with you. None of us are going to freeze because of you.”

  They were cowards, every last one of them. They had sat there in the bar, complaining along with him but when it came time to put up, their words amounted to nothing more than a giant pile of bullshit. None of them had the balls for this and he should have seen that all along.

  “Fine, I don’t need a bunch of pussies like you. But mark my words, you’ll be sorry that you abandoned me. I’m going to change things in our world.”

  Armand turned his back on his clan and mounted the stairs leaving the same way he had come in. He stood on the lawn, staring up at the night sky. Even though he couldn’t point them out, he knew that tonight there were stars missing. They had flashed out years before and their last rays of light had finally reached Earth before fading out.

  Just like that woman tonight. She had been shining the night before and now she was gone, her light snuffed out forever.

  He smiled at that thought, bolstered by the taste of her blood still in his mouth and the tears that had clung to Cordelia’s cheeks. Being abandoned by his cousins didn’t matter when he had that memory and, of course, the information he had gathered at the manor tonight. That would definitely come in handy during the next phase of his plan.

  His only problem now was figuring out where to spend the daylight hours. He supposed there were probably some abandoned buildings downtown but the thought of sleeping in some condemned hovel had no appeal.

  As if on cue, he heard the back door open and he turned to see Matthew standing there.

  “Did they send you to make sure I was gone?”

  “No.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “I have a cabin in the woods. I’ve kept it secret from everyone. We could go there.”

  Well, it looked like he might not be completely alone in this after all.

  “We, huh? Does that mean you are joining me?”

  Matthew nodded and Armand smiled, before closing the space between them and embracing Matthew. “Thank you, cousin.”

  In a rush of wind, Matthew shadow walked them from the concrete jungle of suburbia to the overgrown brush that grew around a small cabin. The rough-hewn logs were badly weathered; the tin roof orange with rust and the vegetation of the wood was encroaching on the front porch. No windows and a single door made it light tight and the perfect place to spend the day.

  Matthew unlocked the padlock on the door and opened up the cabin. Armand’s heightened vision showed that the inside was much better preserved than the outside. The walls and floor were bare but clean. A cot sat in one corner, a small table and a chair in the other. A few cupboards were mounted on the wall over a large metal basin next to a wood stove. That appeared to be the extent of the kitchen in the place.

  He looked into the other room but found it nearly empty, the only objects in the room two metal hooks on metal chains that hung from the rafters. He didn’t need the light on to see the brown stains that covered the floor and walls of the room. Even though the stains were old, he could smell them, as if they were still fresh. The scent of blood tingled in his nostrils and he could smell the distinct odour of deer, rabbit, squirrel, raccoon and a few others he couldn’t quite recognize.

  “This used to be an animal trapper’s cabin. He used that room to skin the carcasses and dry them.”

  “This place is perfect.”

  “Perfect for what?”

  “Our plans. This isn’t about just hurting the Zopyros clan anymore. I am not on a suicide mission and I’m not going to let the Council punish me for what has happened. It should be my right to get revenge any way I want. The Council has kept our kind on a leash for too long. Things need to change and I plan to be the one makes it happen.”

  “How?”

  Armand lifted his shirt and pulled out the manila envelope he taken from the Zopyros manor and had stuffed in the waistband of his pants. “I have some ideas. But we are going to need more help. I need you to scout others who think the way we do. The ones who are just as sick of the laws as us.”

  “How do you plan on convincing them that they should join us? Defying the Council is a death sentence,” Matthew reminded him.

  Armand gave an arrogant laugh. “It’s only a death sentence because the Council says so. If they are brought down, their laws no longer apply.”

  “It will be difficult to find Shadow Walkers willing to take them on.”

  “Not when they see what I have to show them. Our kind forgets that the Council is made up of Shadow Walkers just like us. The older generations can bleed just as easily as the young ones.”

  Matthew’s eyes narrowed and he could feel the younger male probing his thoughts but Armand blocked him out. He didn’t need to know what exactly Armand was planning, not yet. He would try to talk him out of it, call him crazy for thinking it would work. But Matthew didn’t know how resourceful he could be, especially when it was something that would be this fun.

  He said a silent prayer of thanks that Fate had led him into that study. The information he had found there had been priceless. Information about the Council and their minions handed to him on a silver platter. It was child’s play to come up with his plan after that.

  Now it was just a matter of putting things in motion. Matthew would find new recruits while he took a quick trip across the Atlantic and then he would show everyone just how much he could change things.

  Chapter 12

  Gabe was relieved when he finally found the door to the lounge. When Cordelia had kicked him out, he had stormed out the door and down the hall. After a few angry strides, he realized he had no idea where he was going. He had decided on returning to the lounge, because it had a bar and was the only room he was fairly sure he remembered where it was located.

  Turns out fairly sure was actually barely right. This place was too fucking big. After a few wrongs turns, one of which led him to the laundry room of all places, he had finally found the staircase to the great hall.

  He made a beeline to the bar and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, pouring himself several fingers and a generous thumb. He needed to drink away the feeling of being a complete asshole and that was going to require an extremely large quantity of liquor.

  He felt sick about what happened with Cordy. He shouldn’t have yelled at her. He had been angry, partly from sexual frustration but mostly be
cause her words had hurt him. And the reason they hurt so much was that every single one of them was true.

  He was a selfish son of a bitch. He had offered himself to her because he wanted that feeling again. The more he thought about the rush he got from her bite, the more he wanted it. Christ, maybe Cordy had been right and he was addicted to it.

  All she saw was some junkie jonesing for another hit instead of the caring man he wanted to be for her. Yep, he was a top of the line son of a bitch. He should do what she said and leave this place right now, just slink off into the night and forget that any of this happened.

  But he wouldn’t because he was weak. His hormones might be all screwed up because of her being a Shadow Walker but his heart knew the real deal. He knew it would be impossible to forget Cordelia and what he felt for her.

  He had also given his word to Nicky that he would stay and he wouldn’t break that promise. Then again, what use was he anyway? Nicky said she needed him but with the turmoil inside of him, he felt like he was doing more damage than good. She might be better off without him around, worrying about him creeping on her at every turn, begging for a bite.

  The thing was she was right about him being selfish. There was something about being here and being with these people that eased his soul. For the first time since he had lost his mother, he felt like he was where he was supposed to be.

  Just like all good discoveries, he had not realized something was missing in his life until he found it. It was a bit of a shock to realize that finding out vampires existed would be what did it.

  Gabe was pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of someone coming into the room and he turned to see Demetri standing there.

  “Hey, I didn’t expect to find you here.”

  Gabe lifted up his glass in salute. “Just grabbing a drink.”

  “Sounds like the right idea to me.”

  Demetri joined him at the bar, pouring himself a healthy glass. He held it up in a toast.

  “Here’s to one fuck up of a night.”

  “I can drink to that.”