Because the Night (The Night Songs Collection)

by Strassel, Kristen

  He introduced me to several friends, but the music and alcohol pounded through my veins and I couldn’t understand what anyone said. It didn’t seem as important as staying upright. I smiled, nodded, and prayed we’d sit back down soon.

  A women in a purple latex catsuit stopped Tristan. She ran her finger down his chest while she whispered something in his ear. She never took her eyes off of me. He nodded and she smiled widely.

  “I’ll be right back.” He came close to my ear so I was sure to hear him.

  “Are you kidding me?” At first I was just concerned with being left to my own devices in the middle of the room. Then I realized what he was probably going to do with this girl.

  “We’re just friends, remember?” He winked, squeezed my arm, and then disappeared into the swarm with the girl in tow. She blew me a kiss before she followed him. I practically fell over when he let go of me.

  That bastard.

  Lights pulsed to the beat and bodies swirled to the music. I had no idea how to get back to the table. I took a long sip of my Venomtini and contemplated my next move.

  “Where did Tristan go?” A face emerged from the crowd, putting out an arm to stop me from swaying. It was Monkey, the band’s drummer.

  “I have no idea.” My tongue felt thick and fuzzy in my mouth. “I really need to sit down.”

  Monkey was much more of gentlemen than my chaperone to this party. He led me back over to the table.

  “You know, we’re not all like him.” He whispered in my ear once I sat down. “Some of us know how to take care of a woman.” He caressed my shoulder. Maybe he wasn’t so much of a gentleman after all. I shied I way from his touch. I didn’t want to be rude, since he had rescued me. I smiled and saluted him with my half empty drink. He got the message and left me alone.

  The waitress reappeared and asked if I’d like another drink. Would I ever.

  I slumped in my chair, watching the party for what seemed like forever. Tristan came back, leaning into me without sitting down. “Still nursing that drink?”

  “Nope. It’s a new one.”

  “Jesus, Callie, slow down.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do! You just took off with that slut and left me here like an idiot.”

  He squatted down in front of me, so our foreheads touched. His cool skin felt amazing and I could lose myself in those dark eyes of his, if I wasn’t seeing double. “When you’re the one who wants to take off with me, then you can tell me what to do.”

  I turned away from him, disgusted, and crossed my arms in front of my chest.

  “I think we should call it a night.” He sighed, no longer looking amused.

  “Why? We’re having such a good time.” I glared at him.

  Firmly but gently, he lifted me to my feet and led me out of the club back to the private elevator leading back to his apartment. As it began its ascent back up to the sky, my stomach crawled into my throat. I leaned up against the wall, closing my eyes.

  “You’re staying here tonight.”

  “Tristan,” my words sounded garbled, like someone else said them. I had to hold on to him to stay on my feet. “I can’t do that.”

  “I’m not sending you home like this. Come on, I’ll make up the couch for you.” I looked at him with as much wonder as I could muster. “Just friends.”

  “Just friends,” I mumbled into his chest as I slipped into blackness.

  Chapter Nineteen

  When I came to, my brain wanted to commit suicide by jumping out of my head and shattering on the cold marble floor of Tristan’s living room. In the unlikely event that actually happened, maybe my head would be light enough to pick up off the pillow. The sun blasted through the window wall, burning my eyes. Too warm, I pushed the blanket off of me. No wonder Tristan made peace with what he was. If I woke up feeling like this every morning, I would welcome death as well.

  What the hell happened last night?

  The last thing I remembered was going downstairs to the party and drinking the Venomtinis. Plural. And getting really pissed at Tristan, because he took off on me to do God only knows what with that tramp. I didn’t remember coming here, or anything else.

  The room spun in multiple directions when I sat up. I leaned back on the couch and closed my eyes. When I made my second attempt, I spotted my purse at the foot of the couch. I dug through for my phone, careful not to throw up when I leaned over. It was two in the afternoon. I had multiple messages from Janelle, wanting me to call her, text her, whatever. The words were too hard to read.

  My mouth felt full of sand. I didn’t know where anything was in this apartment, the kitchen, the bathroom, anything. I barely had the energy to search, plus I was frightened by what I might find. I fixed myself the best I could in the reflection of the window, and made my way down to the lobby. Someone had been smart enough to mirror the walls of the elevator, so I could properly assess the damage. Besides my hair needing to be readjusted in its barrette, the rest would do. My stomach lurched as the elevator fell.

  No one paid any attention to me as I made my way through the lobby and back to the bus stop. I must have put on an acceptable performance. A man plunked down next to me on the bus. He spilled into my seat and reeked of cologne. I held my breath all the way back home.

  As soon as I got back to my room, I peeled off last night’s clothes, trading them for pajamas, and closed the blinds. I gulped down a glass of water, and then dove into my own bed.

  “Callie. Callie!” Janelle’s voice urged me softly out of sleep. She sat on the side of my bed with her hand on my side, gently shaking me. My lids still heavy, I looked at her like I had no idea who she was. I didn’t even know what day it was.

  “Are you alright?”

  I nodded, closing my eyes again. “I’m just tired.”

  “When did you get back?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Are you sure you’re alright?”

  “I’m fine.” I sighed, opening my eyes more this time. She really did look concerned.

  “Do you mind if I turn the light on?”

  “Go ahead.” Still, the brightness startled me.

  “Do you want anything? Water? Crackers?” I wondered how she knew I had the hangover from hell. Practice, maybe?

  “Water, please.” I slowly crawled into an upright position and leaned up against the wall.

  “So, um, Blade came by last night, looking for you,” She was almost apologetic as she handed me the water.

  “What?” Oh my God. I couldn’t believe I’d missed him. My brain hurt even more. “What did he say?”

  “We talked for a while. He’s a really nice guy, Callie. I like him a lot.”

  “So are you guys a thing now?” Each word carried a bite. My head was back against the wall, eyes once again closed. I couldn’t look at Janelle right now.

  “No! Callie, he’s totally into you, he’s just so hurt by this whole Tristan thing. I mean, how can you blame him?”

  If I had any energy at that moment, I would have reminded her that it was her website that had caused all of our problems. But I couldn’t argue. If my condition didn’t improve in the next few hours, I was going to need her to bring me to the hospital.

  “Did you tell him where I was?”

  “No, I didn’t say anything, since I didn’t know. But he jumped to his own conclusions.”

  Of course he had. If he had just called first, all of this could have been avoided. He’d probably wanted to do something sweet, like surprise me.

  And I’d ruined it, even worse than it was before. God, I was so stupid. When was I going to learn Tristan brought me nothing but trouble?

  “How did you leave it with him?” I was almost afraid to hear the answer.

  She looked away from me and hesitated. “He wanted me to text him last night to let him know you got home safe.”

  Chapter Twenty

  As much as Blade had been concerned with my safe return the night before, today he had no interest in talking
to me. The sound of his voicemail shredded me repeatedly throughout the afternoon. There was no reason for him to not return my call other than he simply didn’t want to.

  I couldn’t be bothered to get out bed. I might as well make myself comfortable while I spent the weekend loathing myself. The blinds were shut so the room stayed as dim as I felt. Janelle seemed alarmed when she came back to the room and found me exactly where she left me.

  “Callie, you’ve got to get up.” She coaxed me.

  “Why?” I spoke more into the pillow than to her.

  “It’s not that bad.”

  “How is it not that bad? What should I do? Blade won’t talk to me. He knew I went to Tristan, and for what? So he could go off and act like his rock star asshole self and screw up my life even more?”

  She sat on the edge of my bed, looking thoughtful. “Maybe some things are just meant to be.”

  Maybe I didn’t deserve Blade after all. He certainly deserved better than me. I squeezed my pillow as my phone vibrated.

  How are you feeling? Tristan. His timing impeccable as usual. I didn’t realize it was late enough for him to be awake.

  Like I’ve been run over by a fleet of Mack trucks.

  Wimp. You need some more practice.

  Like a hole in the head.

  Peel yourself off the pavement and come back tonight. I still owe you some fun.

  I don’t know if I like your idea of fun.

  You don’t even know what fun is yet. See you later. XX

  Of course I was going to go. I couldn’t stay away. And Blade already hated me, there wasn’t much left to lose. Once I dragged myself out of bed, I took a long hot shower. It helped. I hadn’t been dressing to impress on my recent visits to Tristan lately, but tonight I needed to try to feel good about myself. I pulled out my favorite tie dyed skirt and eyelet tank.

  The same outfit I had met Blade in. So much for feeling good about myself. My options were limited, so I went with it as a reminder of what Tristan had cost me.

  Once I arrived at the theater, someone led me to Tristan’s chair in front of the monitor, just like last time. Tonight they were filming a scene with the band playing one of their songs to a small, enthusiastic audience. Scantily clad girls smeared with blood intermingled with the band in a choreographed dance.

  “You look amazing tonight,” Tristan breathed into my ear. I didn’t even hear him come up beside me between takes.

  “Thanks,” I looked him up and down. He wore a red military style coat with long tails with no shirt underneath, leather pants, and undone combat boots. Somehow, it worked. “You do too.”

  He moved in front of me and gently pulled me forward out of the tall chair, so I slid down the front of his body on the way down. “You need to stop teasing me, Callie.” His eyes were inches from mine, full of need. “I will drag you out on that stage and make love to you in front of all these people. They’ll think it’s part of the show. And all you’ll be able to do is beg for more. Do you understand me?”

  His arms closed tightly around my hips. I didn’t realize I could be this close to him without, well, him being inside me. I swallowed hard, my eyes never leaving his, and nodded slowly.

  He kissed me. I expected it to be rough, more like an invasion, but it instead it was sweet and gentle, his lips playing softly against mine, making me hungry for more. Somehow I resisted.

  Who was teasing who, again?

  “Is that what you want?” His voice was low and raspy.

  I could barely breathe, let alone think. I opened my mouth, still cold from his intrusion, to try to speak.

  He smiled when no words came out.

  I resorted to shaking my head. “Not like that.”

  I pulled my eyes from his to look around the room to see if anyone was paying attention to us. Everyone was too wrapped up in their own worlds to notice.

  His fingers softly tipped my chin back to him. “Like what then? Tell me.”

  My eyes grew wide.

  “Tell me how you want me to make love to you.”

  I couldn’t form the words to answer him. He let me go so abruptly, I fell back against the director’s chair from the shock of it.

  “You don’t even know what you want.” Acid dripped from his words. My heart exploded as he turned from to go back on stage.

  He called over his shoulder as he picked up the guitar and stepped in front of the camera. “You need to get your head and your heart of the same page.”

  I curled myself into as much as a ball as I could in the chair and watched the endless series of takes from the monitor. I could see the fire in Tristan’s eyes as he played, and I knew it wasn’t for the show. He was right, I needed to figure out what the hell I was doing here.

  The director called cut and the crew relaxed. The girls in the audience cried out to the band members for photos and autographs. One pulled up her shirt to get their attention. Tristan marched passed them without looking at them or acknowledging them and came straight to me. They gasped in disappointment. The sea of eyes rested on us.

  “So, do you have any answers for me?” His question made me jump. I was hoping that conversation had ended.

  “I just need time to think.”

  “Think about what? What did you come here for, Callie? I may have forever but it doesn’t mean I want to spend it waiting.”

  “I know that.” So he was willing to walk away from me, again. Tears brimmed in my eyes.

  “Come with me.” He softened, held out his hand to me, and I accepted it. There was nothing I could do to stop this downward spiral. I had lost control over my entire life.

  Tristan paced restlessly once we returned to the apartment. I sat in one of the chairs but I couldn’t relax watching him. He poured himself a healthy glass of some poison, downed it quickly, and refilled his glass.

  “C’mere, Callie,” he said slowly, looking at me though heavy eyelids. Whatever it was he drank worked fast. I stepped towards him.

  He pulled me in closer in a jerking, ungraceful motion.

  “I crave every inch of you.” He ran his lips slowly down my forehead, the bridge of my nose, settling just above my mouth with his forehead resting on mine. “Want and need, that’s all I have. Just instincts.”

  He kissed me hard on the lips, grasping me against his body. If it wasn’t for the strong taste of alcohol and a little bit of sloppiness on his part, I would have enjoyed it. Tonight, he terrified me.

  He moved down and started to kiss and explore the side of my neck, settling on the spot where my pulse throbbed. He had such a tight grip on me, I felt I was in a coffin. Tristan began nipping very softly at first, sending my heart racing even more. When neither of us could take it anymore, he sunk his teeth into my flesh.

  I screamed.

  The pain blinded me.

  “NOOOOO!” I pushed away from him with all the strength I could muster. I could barely think as he continued to feed. His mouth drew me closer, no matter how hard I fought.

  “NOOO!” I finally worked myself free of him, landing in a heap at Tristan’s feet on the floor. I pushed my hand against my pulsing neck, slick with my own blood, and tried not to scream again. I looked up at him in horror.

  No human in the eyes looking back at me. Just animal.

  He felt to the floor, on top of me, holding me motionless while his tongue caressed the wound, sucking me dry. I whimpered, trying to form words that wouldn’t come, too scared and too weak to beg him to stop. My eyes, unable to blink, stared at Tristan’s body on top of me, his hair splashed across my face. I faded in and out of blackness. The cold from his body consumed mine.

  Finally, he freed me. All I could do was close my eyes and wait whatever came next. Inside the static of my brain, I prayed.

  “Oh my God, Callie,” Tristan gasped somewhere in my haze and fell back on top of me. “I’m so sorry. Callie! Can you hear me? Oh my God, answer me.”

  His head fell on my chest. He sobbed. I couldn’t tell him if I was okay. I
didn’t know if I’d ever be okay again.

  Chapter Twenty One

  Please, let it have been a nightmare. Alone in my bedroom, I woke up with a jolt, having no idea how I got there. Slowly, painfully, I crawled out of bed. This was worse than the Venomtini hangover. My neck burned. The mirror was the only way I would know for sure.

  Two nasty rips in my flesh screamed to the world exactly what had happened to me. Purple, pink, yellow, and green bruising fanned out around it in grotesque decoration. I put my hand up to it slowly to make sure my eyes did not play tricks on me. Heat radiated from the spot. I fell back on my bed and tried not to faint. I looked like I’d been attacked by a wild animal. There was no nice neat swipe of vampire spit or magic that made this ugliness go away. My brain couldn’t rewrite history in my favor when I looked like road kill.

  Tristan had attacked me. I kept staring at my neck to make myself believe it. I moved my head back and forth and gasped in pain. Of course, it might have meant something totally different in the vampire world, but in the world I knew, it was nothing but violent. This is what I had thrown my life away for? What else would he do to me?

  Everyone had been right. I didn’t know what I was messing around with. Tristan wasn’t human, he was a monster. He didn’t play by the same rules. I needed to bow out of his sick little game if I expected to stay alive.

  It was time to take matters in my own hands. I’d racked my brain to remember the name of the garage that Blade worked at. I prayed I remembered correctly as I mapped out the bus route. It would take me three changes and two hours to get there. The trip promised to be long and torturous accompanied by some of Las Vegas’ finest residents. I hoped this bus route didn’t take me anywhere too dangerous. I didn’t know the difference looking at the map. I didn’t want to tell anyone what I had cooked up in case they tried to talk me out of it. My bravado was fragile at best.

  Two and a half hours later, I arrived at what I thought was the garage Blade worked at. I adjusted the gold scarf Blade bought me to make sure it covered the carnage on my neck. I said a quick prayer that I was doing the right thing.