by Lexi Blake
Dev ran five nightclubs and was always thinking about expanding. He was a shrewd businessman, and though he’d ceded much of the day-to-day operations to his second in command, Roman, he still kept up to date. He was much more involved in Daniel’s politics now. Dev had become convinced that Daniel should be on the throne and the Council should be disbanded.
Both of my men had valuable things to do with their time. I shopped. I made my bodyguards regret that they had ever been born. I had an awful lot of sex. It was everything I’d been afraid of when Daniel and Dev made their proposal. I was a plaything to them; precious and beloved, yes, but also marginalized in a way. They coddled me and spoiled me, but they rarely treated me like a partner anymore.
I was a pleasure to be had. I was a problem to be handled.
I leaned over the secure railing and the lights of the pool made the night seem serene. It was humid, but the quiet made up for the heat. In the distance, I heard a bird calling a playful little cry. “Tik-tik,” it sung, but it seemed to be moving away. That bird had the freedom to just fly away when it wanted. I didn’t want to fly away from Dev or Daniel. I loved them, but I needed some space.
I couldn’t really blame the guys. I’d allowed myself to get to this place. I knew how domineering each was, and I’d let them have their way the last six months. It had been far easier to give myself over to the pleasure they offered than to fight for the relationship I really wanted. It was simple to just lay back and let them handle everything, but my laziness was coming home to roost now.
I shook my head ruefully as the bird continued to “tik-tik.” When I was running a crew, I’d had to be a badass or no one took the little human seriously. I hadn’t picked up a freaking gun in months. What the hell was happening to me?
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught something moving in the trees. A large black bird sat on one of the lower limbs, its big body perched delicately. It opened its beak and the sound came out again. I leaned forward to try to get a better look at it because something was wrong with this picture. That sound was coming from far away, yet I knew it was the bird making it. It was almost as though the big black bird was throwing its voice.
I was concentrating so much on the freaky bird, I almost missed the woman who moved silently from the trees. She was small, her body slight. Her hair was pitch black, long and disheveled. Dressed in dark clothes, she blended in with the night. I almost called out, but my eyes caught on something that was deeply wrong. As she moved closer to the pool, I could tell that her feet were on backward. She wasn’t wearing shoes, so it was easy to see her toes moving across the deck. In the wrong direction.
That good old adrenaline started pumping through my body because whatever the crazy bitch with the dark hair was, she wasn’t human. I wished I hadn’t seen all those Japanese horror films. She could have starred in one. I kept my eyes on her, not willing to turn my back as I moved toward the door.
She changed so quickly it almost didn’t register. One moment she was a freaky-ass chick who had her feet on wrong, and the next there was a big black bat hovering in front of me. I couldn’t help but stare. Big mistake.
The wings moved slowly, hypnotically. I was caught for a moment, unable to do more than watch those wings and look into her eyes. Obsidian eyes peered at me, like giant holes I could easily fall into. This was not a living creature. This was a dead thing. It might move and change form, but there was no spark of true life in those eyes.
The black bird had joined the bat and I watched, horror coursing through me as they opened their mouths.
The bat’s tongue slithered out, far longer and stronger than I could imagine. It was like a thin arm, and it wrapped itself around my waist. I finally came out of my stupor, struggling as I was pulled toward the edge. It gripped me so tightly I could barely breathe. I shoved at the wet muscle hauling me toward the bat. It was slippery, and my hands just got coated in goo. I could see fangs now, and they were so much larger than Daniel’s. Daniel’s fangs were large but were meant to feed and leave the victim alive for another meal. These had no such function. These teeth were meant to tear and rip and get at soft, sweet insides.
The black bird’s tongue didn’t look at all like a tongue. It was more delicate and rounded. As it came closer to me, I could see it was actually a little mouth, a circular tube, and at the end were tiny, sharp teeth. The mouth knew exactly where it wanted to go.
As the bat hauled me into the air, I lost all footing and any way to fight. I was pulled from the safety of the balcony and hovered over the pool lights. My sense of balance shattered as I fought, trying to punch out as the bird’s mouth sought a place under my right breast, just below the rib cage. It struggled with the layers of fabric. I was lucky that wide belts were in this season.
The tongue tightened around my waist to the point of real pain. I pushed at it, but it just kept going. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t fight. My eyesight started to fade, my arms feeling like useless, flailing things.
Just when I was starting to lose consciousness, I heard a whooshing sound and the bat jerked. The large animal convulsed forward and the black bird retracted that mouth and squawked off. The bat’s tongue released its hold and for the barest minute, I was relieved.
Unfortunately, that freaking tongue was the only thing holding me up, and I found myself in midair without the ability to fly. I dropped, my head hitting the railing as I made my way to the pool. I didn’t even feel myself hit the water.
Chapter Four
I woke up completely drenched, my head pounding in a nauseating rhythm. The world seemed too quiet, but then I felt a gentle press against my lips. I forced my eyes open.
Dev held me gently in his arms, his lips caressing mine. Despite the pain, I couldn’t help but think of the old stories where the prince woke the princess with a kiss. He pulled back, staring down at me, his eyes like jewels gleaming in the hazy light.
I shivered despite the heat of the night. Dev’s clothes were as wet as mine, and his hair was slicked back. It looked so much longer when it was wet. It flowed down his back. My eyes weren’t completely focused, and I realized it must be a trick of the light because Dev’s hair was short. I’d been damn lucky he found me. I could easily have drowned.
“Thanks for the rescue, baby.” The words came out in a croak. I could taste the pool water and wondered if he’d had to give me mouth to mouth.
Dev touched my face, a gentle brush of his skin to mine before he lowered his head and kissed me again. It was odd. Perhaps it was the pain I felt, but I missed the passion that normally flared up between the two of us the minute he got his mouth on mine. I pulled him closer, trying to find that bond we had. It was a nice kiss, but it felt flat to me. Dev’s hands found my breasts, and he cupped them through my wet shirt but it felt more curious than passionate. I finally pulled away.
“Stop, Dev. What are you doing? I think I need to lie down.”
He grinned over me and put a finger to his lips. “Shhhh.” He winked and laid me back down on the deck. He was gone before I could push myself up.
The minute my head was down again, darkness threatened. The world went hazy once more and I lost some time. I had no idea how long I was there, lying by the pool, but a sound finally woke me again.
“Jesus, Zoey.” I heard Daniel curse from above. He leapt over the balcony and hit the deck with a resounding thud. “What the hell happened?”
I pushed the wet hair out of my face and glanced around, trying to see where Dev had gone. Why hadn’t he stayed with me? My head was so foggy. Daniel hauled me into his arms, his blue eyes glowing in the dark as he stretched his senses outward. He stilled, a sure sign that he was trying to catch a scent or a sound that would lead him to his prey. It wasn’t hard to figure out that he was looking for any evidence that Lucas Halfer had surfaced, but I knew he wouldn’t find any.
He shook his head. “I’m getting a bunch of small animals and Dev. When was Dev out here?”
I l
et Daniel cradle me, loving how safe I always felt in his arms. I tried to force myself to focus. “He saved me. There was this bird and then this chick with weird feet and she turned into a bat with a freaky tongue and then the bird had this mouth and it tried to eat me, but Michael Kors saved me.”
At least his well-designed black leather belt with metal grommets had been wide enough to protect my midsection. If I hadn’t had it on, the bird likely would have punctured my middle and I would have been a nighttime snack.
Daniel looked down at me like I was crazy. I probably sounded like I was. I was slurring my words slightly, and he was still out of focus. “How much did you drink tonight?”
“I am not wasted,” I protested, except that I was a little bit. The evening had been crappy, and Christine was always generous with the good vodka. But I was pretty sure my pounding head had to do with the fact that I’d bounced it off the side of the deck. “It happened and when the bat thingee dropped me, I fell in the pool. Dev must have pulled me out. When I woke up, he was holding me and trying to get into my pants.”
Daniel didn’t look convinced. “Dev’s been inside talking to Ingrid for the last thirty minutes. They’re going over the ceremony and all the things you have to do to prepare yourself. There’s a whole purification process.”
I shook my head to try to clear it. It didn’t work. It just throbbed more. “That’s not possible. I know what happened, Danny. Dev kissed me and felt me up and then he was gone.”
“What’s going on?” Dev walked through the French doors that led from the kitchen to the back porch. His clothes were dry, and I had to admit that maybe I’d hit my head harder than I thought I had. “Where the hell have you been, Zoey? I checked the bathroom and you weren’t there. Halfer is out there just waiting to get his claws into you. You had to know how disappearing would scare the crap out of us.”
“Apparently Zoey decided to take a little swim,” Daniel said with an obnoxious smile.
“I didn’t jump in the pool, Daniel Donovan.” He was treating me like an obnoxious kid, and I’d had about enough of it. I knew what I’d seen. “Put me down.”
He acquiesced, and I immediately felt my knees buckle. Daniel cursed and helped me back up. I watched as he and Dev shared a look.
Dev shook his head, his eyes deeply disappointed. “I’ll go tell everyone we’re heading out.”
“I’m not drunk,” I protested, but my skull felt like it was going to split open and I bit off a cry.
Dev held my head in his palms, gently inspecting my scalp. “She has a bump on her head.”
“I hit it when I fell in the pool,” I explained.
Dev’s eyes went wide as he thought about the implications. “You fell in the pool? You could have killed yourself. I realize we pushed you tonight, lover, but that’s not an excuse to get so drunk you can’t walk. I can’t believe I didn’t see this. She was all right earlier.”
Daniel’s mouth was grim. “This wouldn’t have happened if we’d brought Zack.”
“He has to have the night off sometime, Dan,” Dev replied.
“Screw Zack,” I said, needing to rebel. I could see exactly what was coming since neither one of them seemed willing to believe I wasn’t drunk off my ass. “What’s he going to do? Monitor my alcohol intake?”
Dev frowned. “If necessary, yes. At least he would have been here to catch you. I’ll start looking for some more muscle because she needs twenty-four-hour surveillance. Somebody should be with her even when she’s out with us.”
“But you were here, Dev.” I teared up because my head really hurt and I didn’t understand what was going on. It was all a jumble in my mind, and now they were talking about more restrictions. I couldn’t take it. “You saved me.”
Dev looked at Daniel for explanation. “She thinks the two of you got it on out here after she nearly drowned herself.”
Dev shook his head. “God, she’s out of it. I should never have come. I should have just let her have her way. It’s not like it worked anyway. Harry still hates me, and now he blames me for corrupting the both of you. What a clusterfuck.”
“Dev, I wanted you to come.” I tried to explain as I sought to make things stop spinning. “He’ll come around.”
“Not when he sees the condition I let you get into, sweetheart,” Dev said bitterly. “He’s going to think I’m turning you into an alcoholic.”
“Once and for all I am not drunk.” And that was the moment my gut decided to completely betray me. “Oh, god, I’m going to be sick.”
I pulled away from Daniel and managed to make it to the grass before emptying the contents of my stomach.
Dev was behind me, trying to hold my hair and making sure I didn’t fall over. When my insides stopped clenching, I sat back up. I was so miserable and it wasn’t all about the concussion I was pretty sure I had now. There was no way I was going to be able to make them believe me, and it really pissed me off. I was willing to ponder the idea that Dev had been a hallucination. The hit to my head was obviously more serious than I’d first thought. I must have managed to get myself out of the pool. But the weird bat and bird were no hallucinations. They’d been very real, and I needed to figure out what the hell had happened tonight. It looked like I was going to be doing the research on my own, though.
“Can you get up, sweetheart?” Dev asked. “Daniel’s gone to get a cool towel. We’re going to move you into the limo and then see how well vampire blood works on a hangover.”
“It’s not a fucking hangover.” I was forced to let him help me up because my legs weren’t exactly listening to commands. I would have to take that blood, too, because while I wasn’t certain it would help a hangover, I was pretty damn sure it would work on my concussion. My stubborn nature told me to tell the boys to screw themselves, but I didn’t want to end up in the hospital. At this point, they would take the concussion as a symptom and not the cause.
Dev sighed. “All right, sweetheart. We can call it anything you like.”
“Don’t you condescend to me, Dev,” I managed to get out. Daniel was back, and he pressed a cold rag to my forehead.
I found myself in the limo before I could say anything vaguely like good-bye. I was an embarrassment to be dealt with, and Dev was good at smoothing over a difficult situation. I was hustled out with all haste and scooped into the limo, still shivering in wet clothes.
The car pulled away as Daniel pulled his shirt over his head. Dev was attempting to get me out of the wet clothes, but I slapped his hands away.
“Zoey, don’t be difficult,” he said with a huff.
“I haven’t been difficult enough, Dev.” I’d been accommodating for months, never questioning them or asking to be let in on their plans. I’d allowed them to maneuver me to a place where I was nothing but ornamental. I had no one but myself to blame. “I’ll take the blood but these clothes stay on until I get home.”
“You’re going to be uncomfortable,” he pointed out as though that was the absolute worst thing a person could be.
“Maybe I’ve gotten too comfortable,” I muttered more to myself than anyone else.
Daniel tossed his shirt aside and leaned back. He pulled me into his lap, not complaining about the wet clothes. He quickly popped a claw out of his right hand, the change as elegant and quick as any alpha. He drew the claw across his chest in a short deep stroke. The blood welled up, and I put my mouth to it.
It tasted like a dark, slightly metallic chocolate, rich and thicker than a human’s. It healed and brought youth. It brought Daniel great pleasure. He held my head to his chest and encouraged me to drink my fill as I felt the pressure building in him. After a minute or two, I licked the wound. It closed quickly once I was no longer sucking at it.
Desire was plain in Daniel’s eyes, but I pushed away to the other side of the limo—the side the boys were not on. I knew what Daniel wanted. He wanted me to ride him hard and fast until he came. He wanted to feed and make me scream.
I wasn’t ready
to do any of those things. My head was clear now and those pesky twitches were gone. My stomach felt infinitely better and a pleasant, healthy warmth was infusing my entire body. Unfortunately, now that I was able to think again, I was getting really angry. Had they told me the same story, I would have believed them until facts proved me otherwise. I would have given them the benefit of the doubt. I would have been out there trying to hunt down the things that had attacked my men.
“Thank you, Daniel.” The events of the night were weighing on me. They didn’t trust me. I didn’t really have a place in their lives besides the bedroom. “I feel better now.”
“Glad to help, Z.” His jaw clenched as he dealt with the sexual frustration. In the normal course of our lives, I would be riding him by now and Dev would be cheering me on, waiting for his turn.
I stared out the window as we moved back into the downtown area where Ether was located. I could feel the tension in the car, but I wasn’t ready to talk yet. Dev tried to initiate a conversation, but he fell back into silence when I said nothing and refused to look at either one of them.
We pulled into the parking garage, and the three of us walked silently to the elevator. One of the reasons Dev had decided Ether was the best place for us to live was the labyrinthine path we had to take to get up to the penthouse. We had to go all the way down to the club and then up to Dev’s office, which was protected. There was an elevator in the office that only went to the penthouse. It was controlled with a keycard and could be locked down. It was great for security purposes. It sucked because it meant I got to parade past much of the supernatural world looking like a drowned cat.
