Gut Deep: Torn Worlds Book One

by Augustine, Donna

  Huddy half turned, running his hand through his hair. “Fuck. Did he feed on her? Is she alive?”

  “I got to him before he could do much damage. She’s bruised but otherwise fine.”

  Huddy let out a long sigh and shook his head. “I told him in no uncertain terms you’d marked her. She was marked, right?”

  “Marked enough.” It didn’t matter if it was light. It was there. I could sense it, so Mallard could as well.

  Huddy squinted. “What does that mean? Didn’t you fuck her?”

  “Not exactly, but she had my scent.”

  I could see Huddy pondering it, flipping the situation all different ways in his head. Sometimes I thought the guy should’ve been a lawyer instead of a shifter.

  “If it was barely there, he might have a leg to stand on if he brings this up with the council. Considering she wasn’t really hurt, that reaction might’ve been a bit harsh.”

  “He stepped on my toes. That had to happen.” Huddy was my friend, my second-in-command, but when it came to being crossed, I didn’t care if he agreed wholeheartedly with the situation or not. I’d marked Pen as mine, whether I’d fucked her or not. No one else was going to touch her.

  “Don’t misunderstand me—I have more compassion for humans than anyone, but I’m not sure how the pack will handle it. They might take this as a signal from you that the gloves are off, especially if she wasn’t marked well and he hadn’t actually fed on her again.” The door to the house opened, and Huddy’s attention shifted behind me. “Fuck. We’ve got incoming.”

  By the grimace of a smile he gave the newcomer, it was either my mother or Veronica. The perfume tipped me off that it was the latter.

  “I’ll leave you two alone,” Huddy said. He would’ve let someone pull his canines out to not be stuck with the two of us.

  I gave Huddy a glance that promised payback for jumping ship.

  Veronica walked over to me. “Your mother asked me to speak to you about what happened.”

  Of course she did.

  “I’d think it was fairly self-explanatory.” I angled away from her, not giving her my back completely but enough.

  “Was it because of the human female? You threatened to kill him if he touched her again. Is it true? Did you risk the pact because of a human?” she asked, her eyes fixed on me as if she were waiting for me to say something that would make sense of it.

  “This is none of your concern.” And I could not have this conversation with her tonight.

  “Did you mark her? Why else would you claim her to be off-limits,” she said, staring at me with disbelief.

  “Shifters sleep with humans all the time. It’s not that outrageous to think I might’ve.” Fuck if I hadn’t wanted to.

  She shook her head. “No. You don’t sleep with humans. You never have. Now you marked one and you’re fighting over her? What happened? I don’t understand. You won’t be with me but you’ll take a human?” She planted herself square in front of me.

  “I punched him because he crossed a line. It had nothing to do with a female, not that it matters between us. We were together one night years ago. That’s all it was. A one-night stand.” I took a few steps away from her, trying to end a conversation that I didn’t have the patience for.

  “But doesn’t it?”

  “No, Veronica, it doesn’t,” I said, walking toward the house.

  She followed me, grabbing my arm. “There’s no one else suitable for you, and you know it. Everyone knows it. Why are you being so stubborn? We were meant to be together.”

  I turned, trying to disengage her from my sleeve. “Based on what? What you consider the pecking order of the pack? Bloodlines are not going to determine who I mate with, and I’ve told you this.”

  No matter how I pulled her hands off, she seemed to find another spot to latch on to. “I’ll wait for you. I don’t mind. It’s okay. You can do what you need to until you’re ready.”

  “I don’t want you to wait,” I said, finally getting free of her hands.

  “So you do want that human.” There was a sneer on her face, as if I’d told her I wanted to eat slugs.

  “It has nothing to do with her. The only reason I’d bother with a human is to fuck, and normally not even that. She’s not the point. She’s a non-issue. The problem here is us. We won’t work.” I kept my voice down, but my tone was harsh. I hoped some of this would sink into her single-minded brain.

  “You don’t know that,” she said, tears pooling in her eyes.

  “I do.”

  “Well, I don’t. I know you’ll come around.”

  “I don’t know what else to say to you if you don’t want to hear the truth. You want to wait? Go ahead, but it’s going to be a very long time.”

  She smiled as if I’d just told her we’d eventually work out. The woman had a comprehension problem at the very least. But it was her problem. I had enough of my own.

  Fourteen

  Penelope

  A black sedan pulled up outside the house. It was the same car from in front of Arnold’s. The same one that I’d been driven home in last night. If I needed any further confirmation, Bigs was in the driver’s seat.

  Why was Donovan here? Everything had been settled. I wasn’t supposed to see him again. They say people come into your life for a reason. His was done, finished, handled. He’d saved my ass, repeatedly. I’d thanked him. After last night, I’d finally gotten it in my head. I couldn’t go back there. So why was his car parked outside my house?

  Sassy perked up from where she’d been washing dishes at the sink as my father snored on the couch.

  “Whose fancy car is that? Is that him?” she whispered.

  I walked over to where Sassy was staring out the window just as Bigs was getting out of the car, looking as if he were heading toward our door.

  “Yeah. It’s him. I’ve got to go see what he wants. Stay here and tell Dad I’m sleeping if he wakes up and happens to realize he’s missing a daughter after curfew.” Doubtful he’d notice I was gone, but the last thing I needed was the hour-long spiel about mingling with the enemy again. That might lead into “food doesn’t magically appear on the table” talk. I was too tired for either of those conversations.

  “This might take a while, so don’t get nervous,” I said, grabbing my jacket off the chair.

  Sassy grabbed my arm. “I still don’t trust him.”

  I pulled out of her grip. “He’s already saved my ass a few times. I’ll be fine.”

  I got outside before she could try to stop me again and Bigs got too close to the house. I’d heard Sassy coughing in the early morning hours, and I wasn’t letting anyone get near her. If Bigs sensed something off and told Donovan, he might want to investigate. Your run-of-the-mill shifter might not notice there was something wrong, but an alpha was anything but average. Their senses were supercharged, smell, vision—pretty much everything.

  Bigs nodded at me and changed his direction, turning toward the back of the car. He opened the door as I approached.

  Donovan leaned against the opposite car door. He turned his head toward me and narrowed his eyes, taking me in from the top of the messy ponytail to the worn sneakers that had a hole by the big toe. If he found me wanting, he didn’t show it, but I could surely imagine.

  I wish I could find him wanting. I hadn’t seen him in a day. In that time, I’d told myself he hadn’t been as perfect as I remembered. But here he was, dark locks hanging across his forehead, shoulders impossibly wide, with a stare that went right through you, some strange mix of intensity and nonchalance.

  I braced my hand against the car’s roof, leaning in just enough to talk to him but with a firm grip on freedom.

  “What are you doing here?” Whatever it was, I needed to handle it and fast. He was a complication I couldn’t afford. He’d helped me, and I appreciated it, but now we were done. He was supposed to be out of my life. I needed him out of my life. I had too many vulnerabilities all wrapped up in a little sister n
amed Sassy.

  “We have a problem. Get in.” He waved toward the seat beside him.

  His tone made it clear he wasn’t messing around. If I didn’t get in, he might get out. I climbed into the back seat like the air outside the car was on fire.

  He looked me over again, and this time my ponytail elicited a grimace.

  “Lucky you’re pretty, or we’d never be able to sell it, no matter how many favors I called in. Take that thing out, though.” He reached toward my ponytail, and I backed up, doing it myself so he’d keep his hands to himself, too aware of what his touch did to me.

  The car had taken off before he finished speaking. “Sell what? Where are we going?”

  “Better,” Donovan said, looking over my hair before turning to stare out the window again. “Mallard has put in a property dispute with the council. He says he was cheated.”

  Maybe my father was right. I shouldn’t have worked for them. Now they wanted to use me as a character witness. Whoever I testified against would surely have me killed immediately after.

  “I didn’t see anything. Whatever he’s accusing you of taking, what does that have to do with me?” I’d only met them both a handful of times, and I hadn’t gotten what I needed. Why was I being dragged into their affairs? I had my own issues.

  He turned. “You’re the property in question. Mallard’s accused us of being a farce to cheat him. True but irritating.”

  As he sat there, reclined and suave in a suit that cost probably more than my first car—back when humans could own them—I was too stunned to speak. That had never been a problem for me before. Talking too much was my problem du jour. Usually, I had to bite my tongue to keep the words from spilling out, and that typically didn’t do the trick either. But right now? I had nothing.

  I was property. That vampire thought he owned me, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. There was no police force to help me. My life was in the hands of whoever this council was, and that didn’t bode well. So, the only thing standing between me and Mallard was the arrogant man sitting beside me, the one who didn’t like to bother with humans, who acted as if our presence was an inconvenience, a chore. If he couldn’t save me? Or maybe just wasn’t in the mood to tonight? I’d be dead.

  “Who’s the council?” It would be good to know who the monsters that would decide my fate were.

  “In the human world, the council would be called a jury of your peers—or mine, in this case. Except this jury never changes, so maybe it’s closer to what your Supreme Court was.”

  “What happens if they side with him?” Why had I asked that? I didn’t want to know. If I was driving to my death, so be it.

  “They won’t.” His confidence should’ve inspired me, but nothing would make me feel better.

  “Because you called in a favor? Should we—”

  He leaned in, his head so close to my neck that the shadow of his jaw grazed my flesh. Memories of lying naked with him came to mind, my heart kicking up another beat as I tried not to shiver.

  He backed away. “No, my scent is still on you, and as strong as it was, though that was always pretty weak.”

  “Maybe we should do this the whole way, just in case?” I didn’t know if it was panic or longing that drove my question.

  “Doesn’t matter. We’re out of time.”

  We pulled up to a set of gates. Armed guards walked over to the driver’s-side window.

  “Donovan and guest,” Bigs said.

  My window rolled down, and the guard looked into the vehicle and gave a nod. He straightened and then yelled to a companion, “All clear.”

  The windows rolled up as the electronic gates opened slowly.

  “Unless they ask you something directly, don’t speak. Understand?” Donovan asked.

  “Yes.” There was a heaviness to his stare that made me fear doing anything else, as if one wrong word could have me walking from this place with Mallard.

  We drove down a longish driveway toward a building that could’ve been a corporate headquarters before the takeover.

  All I could think of was: why hadn’t I hugged my sister before I left? She’d been right there beside me. And my father—when was the last time I’d had a civil word with him? He wasn’t the same man he was when we were kids, but that person was still in there, the one who’d pushed me on the swings and walked me to the bus stop in the mornings. He was the man who’d stayed by my side all night when I was sick. The only interactions we had anymore were fights, yelling at each other for what we didn’t do well enough. What if those ended up being the last words we ever said to each other?

  The car slowed then came to a stop in front of the building, and my heart stopped dead in my chest. Donovan got out of the car as if he didn’t have a nerve in his body, while I was nothing but raw ends. Maybe he didn’t care? I was a human, after all, and he wouldn’t be the one turned over to Mallard.

  He turned toward me to help me from the car. I took his hand without thinking, his large, warm fingers wrapping around mine.

  There were guards on each side of the doors. They kept their eyes forward as we walked inside. It felt like the lobby of a high-end boutique hotel, with a receptionist sitting behind a desk, smiling to greet us as we walked toward the elevator doors.

  My heart was jumping Double Dutch and tripping in the ropes. A cold sweat broke out on my skin, and my lungs forgot how to expand in a ribcage that had turned into a cage of steel.

  I stared, waiting for the elevator doors to open. “Donovan, will—”

  He turned to me, threading his hand through the hair at the base of my skull.

  His eyes met mine, weakening my knees with their intensity, right before he angled his mouth over mine. It didn’t matter that another set of guards were standing right there, or that his man Bigs could see us through the door. Everything ceased to exist except for the taste of him, the feel of his lips moving over mine, his tongue claiming me as the pressure of his hand urged me closer until I was on tiptoes.

  He moved his mouth from mine and made a soft shushing noise in my ear. “Relax. It will be fine.”

  He’d been afraid of what I’d say. We were being watched and this was all for show. The kiss that had rocked me to my core was nothing but an act.

  That was okay with me. It really was. And even if the idea of never having it again darkened some little spot in my soul, it would still be okay. Because if he saved my life with his act, I’d never be able to repay him.

  We stepped into the elevator, and the question I’d been about to ask returned to hover in my periphery like a phantom. Would Mallard be here? If we lost, would he be waiting to take me, or would I have a chance to escape? Odds were he’d be here.

  Donovan took my hand as the doors slid open, and the curtain drew back for act two.

  There were two more guards waiting beside another set of doors. The guards opened them for us as we approached.

  We walked into the room, and Mallard was already there, glaring at us. Donovan released my hand and then wrapped his arm around my waist, tugging me into his side. I didn’t look at his face because my attention had shifted to the eight others in the room, lined up and sitting behind a long table, facing us. There were two men and two women on each side. The four on the right, with their flawless skin, looked like vampires. The four on the left, I assumed, were shifters. Even if I couldn’t be sure, the side that smiled at Donovan was a big tip-off.

  An older, stately-looking woman on the shifter side asked, “This is the human in question?”

  “Yes, that’s the property,” Mallard answered.

  A vampire sitting on the end of the panel snickered. A low growl emanated from Donovan’s chest.

  The female shifter cleared her throat, drawing attention back to her. “Please state your name.”

  “Penelope Abbot,” I said.

  The woman turned her attention to Donovan. “And are you currently mating with this human?”

  “Yes,” he replied. “She’s
mine.”

  If I hadn’t been part of the fraud, I would’ve believed I was his. Between the low growl before, and now the way he said mine, his voice dropping a couple octaves, and him squeezing my waist, everything about him was claiming every inch of me. Note to self: Donovan was one hell of an actor.

  Mallard took a step toward us and looked like he was struggling to not take another. “He doesn’t want her. He’s never taken a human before, and everyone knows it, including this panel. He only wants what’s mine.” Mallard bared his fangs, looking at Donovan.

  “What I do with her is my business,” Donovan said, tugging me back until he was angled in front of me.

  Mallard turned back to the panel. “Smell her if you don’t believe me. He says she’s marked, but the scent is barely there. It’s a ruse. He can’t even bring himself to fuck her.”

  “We’ll need to see for ourselves,” a female vampire said, standing, causing a domino effect of shifters standing. The remaining vampires stood, making a show of their superior speed in the process.

  Another female vampire led the group, stepping around the table. “Mallard and Donovan, please step away from the human female.”

  The only part of me that wasn’t ice cold was where Donovan’s arm had been wrapped around my waist. Now that was gone, I was afraid I’d crack in half.

  I hardened myself as the female vampire approached, breathed deeply of me, and then narrowed her eyes. The accusation was clear. I’d expected her to be on Mallard’s side, but what if the marking was so scant that we got the same reaction from the shifters? I should’ve made Donovan pull over on the side of the road. I hadn’t fucked him, and now I’d die because of it.

  I took long, calming breaths as the next vampire approached, afraid my fear would drown out whatever weakened mark was left.

  He came close, the larger vampire who had cackled before. He gave me a slight smile, as if he had some sort of humanity buried deep in the monster. I smiled back. Someone in my position couldn’t afford to offend.

  He dipped his head closer, and then a little closer, his nostrils flaring and his brow furrowing.