My lids fluttered closed, and a shocked gasp escaped my lips as he began trailing ghost kisses down my neck and shoulder.
“Leo,” I said as his lips started wandering dangerously close to my breasts. “Stop.”
“I will,” he said, eyes glinting with a secret smile, “when you sound like you want me to.”
More protests built up on my tongue, but their logic died away as heat churned deep inside me. Every muscle tensed and coiled with longing, to give in to my body’s demands as Leo’s lips set fire to my senses.
My conscience screamed at me to snap out of it, but its voice became a distant whisper as Leo’s mouth hovered right over mine. “Do you love me, Sloane?” he whispered against my lips.
I looked at him. His eyes, though dark with desire, were so honest and full of hope that I didn’t pause to think through my answer.
“Yes, Leo,” I whispered. “I always have, and I always will. Forever.”
It was the most honest answer I knew how to give, though I still wasn’t sure if we were on the same page when it came to our love for one another. Either way, I didn’t have a chance to find out because his mouth came crashing onto mine, consuming me as one of his hands tangled in my hair and the other wrapped around my back, crushing me to him. His heat, his smell, was everywhere.
For a moment I stood there, unsure what to do with my hands, but eventually they wrapped around his neck as I kissed him back. The scent of his blood was intoxicating, as much a drug to me as my bite was to him. Pure, heady lust filled me up as my fangs began slowly elongating.
Leo’s hands trailed up the back of my shirt, running along my bare back and up over the clasp on my bra. When he tried to undo it, my eyes snapped open and I abruptly broke the kiss. “What are you doing?” I asked, panting.
“I want to be closer to you,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I want you, Sloane.”
Thinking maybe he’d kiss me again, I was surprised when his hand disappeared into his pants pocket.
“What’s that?” I asked as he fished around.
“A way for us to be closer.”
The end of a wooden handle appeared – a switchblade.
Too late, I was sucker punched by a cold wave of dread, realizing what he was going to do.
My body warred with my mind and heart. The vampire in me wanted him – all of him – while the piece of me that was still his best friend didn’t want to destroy our relationship this way.
The blade flipped out in a flash of silver, and Leo pointed the tip to the inside of his forearm. I stumbled against the wall, trying to back away from him as far as I could. “No,” I begged, covering my nose and mouth with my shirtsleeve as the smell of blood filled the air. “Leo, don’t.”
“Yes,” he breathed, holding out his bleeding arm toward me. “Drink.”
“No,” I choked out, trying to cough the smell up. It was so strong I could taste it along my tongue. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“I know exactly what I’m asking,” he said. “It’s the only way for me to feel close enough, like I belong to somebody.”
Those words mucked up the gears of my mind. While my brain tried to put some kind of hidden meaning behind them, Leo lifted his arm to his mouth, running his tongue along the wound, before grabbing me and planting a wet, bloody kiss on my mouth.
That did it. The moment my tongue touched the sweetness lacing his lips, my vampire side clawed free of its cage. I pinned Leo to the wall, clamping down on his neck after my fangs fully extended.
He cried out, moaning as I drank. I got in maybe two good gulps before it felt like someone had set my throat on fire. Gasping in pain and shock, I reeled backward, my hands reaching for my throat, trying to stop the burning sensation. The air was saturated with the smell of blood and burning flesh.
Ripped away from Leo, my fangs retracted and I blinked several times to clear my vision of the red haze of bloodlust. After a few seconds, the tip of a red sai came into view, pointed directly for my forehead.
“Take one step near him and I’ll kill you,” Arika hissed.
“No!” Leo shoved me back, stepping between us. “If you want her, then you’ll have to go through me.”
Arika’s face washed free of all color as she stared at him in disbelief, mouth gaping open. “You can’t mean it.”
“Cross my heart,” he said fiercely.
“Stop it,” she spat. “She’s a worthless vampire, a parasite.”
“She’s my best friend!” Leo shouted, the venom in his voice making us both jump.
“Not anymore!” Arika shook her head, her pleading eyes locked with his. “Leo, she’s using you!”
“I asked her to!”
That stunned Arika into silence. No one moved or spoke as the sound of Leo’s labored breathing filled the air and tension swelled between us.
It took Arika a while to regain her senses. “Please tell me you’re joking,” she said at last, her voice smaller but just as passionate.
Leo’s mouth pressed into a thin line and his jaw vexed.
That was all the confirmation Arika needed. Slamming her sai back into her belt, she stormed past him, knocking shoulders with him roughly. “Fine,” she said, her voice tight with emotion. “See if I care when you turn up dead. Baka.”
I didn’t know much Japanese, but I’d seen enough anime to know that was the word for “idiot.”
Without a backward glance, she shoved open the door so forcefully it banged the outside glass before closing with a thud.
Neither Leo nor I spoke for at least a good long minute after Arika left. Finally, he sighed. “Sloane –”
“No,” I said violently, backing away from him with tears in my eyes. “Don’t you see? It’s never going to change. I’m always going to be like this – hurting you.”
His mouth closed as the look in his eyes turned solemn.
“So if you know what’s good for you,” I said, my voice barely a whisper, “then you’ll show me the lab and get the hell away from me.”
Not waiting for a reply, I turned before he could see the single tear trailing down my burning cheek.
CHAPTER 20
Rook and Dezyre didn’t say anything to me when I stormed by, swiping at my eyes, for which I was grateful. I was in no mood for comforting.
Not knowing what else to do and wanting to be alone, I found a nook tucked behind a pair of old washing machines and lied down. Trying to get comfortable as best I could, I curled up on my side and shut my eyes in an effort to force sleep. I wanted to forget about what had just happened. Mostly, I needed to forget about the way Leo’s kiss made me feel, like I was on fire.
Inside I felt very cold. And afraid.
What’s happening to me? Who is this girl – this thing – I’m becoming?
I needed to see Aden, needed to know that what we shared wasn’t just some you’re-dying-and-I-need-someone-to-love bullshit. It was more than that. I wasn’t sure exactly what, but I knew there was more depth to our emotions. I also knew there was more to the twisted, codependent relationship Leo and I had staggered into, but I also had no idea how to go about resolving that. Part of me didn’t want to think about it.
What if I wasn’t strong enough to defeat it? What if the darkness inside me consumed me whole?
When Rook woke me up thirty minutes later, I cracked the back of my head on the washing machine from jerking awake so fast. Rubbing it, I glared at him. “What?” I snapped, my voice edgy because I still felt so exhausted.
Rook never flinched and his kind, worried expression never changed. “I would have let you sleep longer, but I thought you’d want to know it’s time.”
I sat straight up, my heart suddenly kicking into high throttle. If he woke me up, it must be nightfall. “What time is it?” I asked, rising.
He backed up so I could stand. “A little after 9 p.m.”
“Shouldn’t we wait a little later, when people could be asleep?”
“They should alr
eady be asleep, or at least, out of the way,” said a voice that made my breath catch.
I whirled, finding Leo leaned up against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. A bandage was wrapped around his forearm. My eyes froze on it, and I swallowed hard, forcing myself to find my voice. “Oh?” I said, the word sounding tiny.
His face was perfectly stoic, as if nothing had ever happened between us. “While we were out running reconnaissance, Arika and I discovered the Scarlet Guard had raised curfew. It’s at 8 p.m. now.”
“Why would they do that?” I asked, momentarily forgetting about my soap opera drama.
He shrugged, seeming indifferent. “I don’t know. It’s probably in direct retaliation against the increasing number of riots. Arika and I saw another one on our way back, out by an apartment building someone had set on fire.”
The thought of what could have happened at that riot chilled me more than any demon could. What if people had been inside the building? What hope did humanity have if they were willing to turn on each other?
“If you’re done talking, we should probably get moving,” Dezyre said, walking up behind Leo. She had tied her hair up in a messy bun, but it still managed to make her look like the artistic, eccentric type and not frumpy.
“Right,” I said, releasing a nervous breath. “Let’s go.”
It only dawned on me when I walked out the door that I hadn’t dreamt of Aden.
***
Worry over Aden – or rather, his absence – nearly gnawed my insides out as we slinked through the shadows, consuming my thoughts and distracting me. Forcing him to the back of my mind, I made myself focus on the task at hand.
Leo knew of a small weapons store nearby. We didn’t have to break into it because it looked like someone already had. The front windows were busted up and the door was wide open. Most of the stock was already pilfered, but I did manage to find a small knife and – to my glee – a grenade.
“Is this shit even legal?” Rook said, eyeing it warily.
“We’re in the middle of the apocalypse, and you’re worried about us carrying contraband?” I asked. “Get your priorities straight.”
After grabbing a few more knives and two handguns, we were out in less than five minutes. I had also managed to swipe a small leather watch while I was in there. It was lying on the floor with a broken band, but we found some duct tape and managed to rig it back together.
At Dezyre’s insistence, Leo begrudgingly towed us to a hand-me-down clothing store, or the remnants of one. Though I didn’t say anything aloud, I was actually thankful Dezyre’s vanity had led us here. The baggy pants Leo’s dad had given me were starting to wear thin on my nerves, and the thin cotton shirt didn’t do much for the cold.
The thrift store was also in disarray, but I managed to find something that looked like it would fit after riffling through the haphazard piles strewn about the place. I had never been so happy to see a hoodie and sweatpants in all my life. Dezyre, to my surprise, pulled on a simple black sweater and some black stretchy pants.
“What, no ball gown?” I asked, only halfway joking.
“Please,” she said, tucking the knives in the boots she’d found in the shoe section. “I’m girly but not stupid.”
I smirked. Though she didn’t return my smile, her eyes had an unmistakable sparkle to them.
Rook and Leo also found black clothing to wear. Everybody dressed in record time and we left, sneaking like shadows through the night.
According to Leo, the lab was actually nestled in Schenley Park, a few blocks away. Every nervous step made me cringe. Now that I knew the Scarlet Guard were actually vampires, my stomach was rolling itself into knots at the prospect of coming up on one of them in an alley.
The farther we went I noticed more and more black crosses. They were spray-painted against the sides of buildings, on stop signs, everywhere, just like a gang marking its territory.
Great. As if the Scarlet Guard didn’t give us enough to worry about.
The park was just as I remembered it during the wintertime. The trees were bare, their branches like talons clawing at the red-tinged sky.
After the Eclipse, the park had been closed down. It was rumored to be in use by the military for their secret projects, but I’d always thought that was just an urban myth thought up by people in an attempt to keep things interesting.
Now I knew better.
Sneaking through the park, our breaths fogging the air, brought back so many memories of my childhood, when my dad would bring my brother and me here to make snow angels without having to worry about a drive-by shooting. We hadn’t lived in the nicest part of town, and it hadn’t always been safe to play in the front yard.
Blinking away the sting of tears, I crouched behind Leo as he ducked down behind a bush a few feet away from the visitor’s center.
The building was still well-maintained, its red brick structure exactly as I remembered. Even the bushes looked like they had been freshly pruned. I almost laughed. It was kind of funny that someone’s day job was to trim the bushes on a secret government facility.
“How do we get in?” I whispered, trying to keep my voice down. My throat was dry from our sprint over here, and we were all trying to control our breathing.
Shadows moved around the building, and flashes of red hoods caught the security lights – Scarlet Guard.
“This place is crawling with guards,” I whispered. “There’s no way we can get past them.”
“Not even with glamour?” Leo asked.
I shook my head. “I can’t do this many, remember? Even with Dezyre and Rook helping, there’s the chance their willpower could be stronger.”
“Oh, that’s right,” he breathed, sounding agitated. He chewed on his lip. “I think I might know another way in.”
Silently following Leo’s lead, we melted back into the shadows and sneaked around the tree line. I was so preoccupied with making sure we weren’t being tailed that I nearly slammed into Leo when he suddenly stopped, seemingly at random.
“What is it?” Rook asked.
Leo knelt, running his hand over the ground. Even the grass seemed greener here. Just when I thought he had completely lost it, he grabbed a handful of grass and pulled. To my utter puzzlement, a small square lifted, flashing with blinking red lights.
We all knelt next to him, watching in wonder as he produced an ID badge and held it in front of the panel. A tiny white light shone from the top of the badge to the bottom, reading it. The red lights changed to green, and something clicked within the ground before a door opened up, right in the earth, with a soft whoosh of air.
“How did you know about this?” I asked, catching a glimpse of the face on the badge. It was his father.
Leo’s gaze was guarded; I could tell he was avoiding my eyes from the way he ducked his head. “I went back to my dad’s shelter and found all these floor plans detailing entrances and exits for emergencies.”
My mouth dropped open. “You did what? Leo, why would you –”
“Chastise me for my stupidity later, okay?” he said, pleading. “Right now we need to move.”
Something rustled behind us, so soft it was nearly imperceptible. Rook, Dezyre, and I all turned at the same time, whipping out knives and cocking guns. For a moment, none of us moved, our eyes searching the shadows.
At last, a raccoon burst from the bushes, scampering away and totally clueless it was about to be mincemeat.
With a long sigh, we all relaxed.
A knife flew out of the dark woods toward us. Rook managed to turn his head at the last second, and the blade cut a long gash on his temple before burying itself in the ground a few feet away.
The glint of a red hood caught the light as a shape moved for us.
“Damn!” I hissed. I looked at Leo. “Go ahead! We’ll handle him.”
“What? I’m not leaving you here.”
“You’re no match for them,” I said. “Just go.”
Hesitating, he finally tu
cked the gun he’d just pulled out of his belt back inside its holster and descended the ladder into the entrance.
I rounded on the others. “Dezyre, go with Leo. Rook and I –”
She didn’t look like she was paying attention to what I was saying. As the guard stepped from the trees, lifting his walkie-talkie, Dezyre flipped her knife so she was gripping the blade and hurled it at the guard. It flipped through the air, whirring before knocking the radio out of his hand. It fell to the ground in a shower of sparks, and Rook took the opportunity to fire the silencer-rigged gun. The bullet ripped through the guard’s hood as he turned back around, a growl rising from his throat, which abruptly cut off as the bullet planted itself in his head. The guard fell backward, dead.
“Will he get back up?” I asked.
“Scarlet Steel or not,” Rook said, lowering the smoking gun, “a bullet to the brain is deadly for vampires, just as it is for humans.”
I glanced at the destroyed walkie-talkie. “Nice move,” I said, looking at Dezyre. I genuinely meant it. “How’d you learn to throw?”
“Doctors have to go through basic combat training,” she said, as if I should know this already.
“Right,” I said, lifting my brows and eyeing the guard. “They’ll find the body eventually. We should get in and get out.”
Rook and I dragged the body a short distance into the woods, hiding it as best we could under some bushes with the remnants of the walkie-talkie. Dezyre had already climbed down the ladder; she stood at the bottom, waiting for us with Leo. Leo motioned for us, letting us know it was clear, and Rook and I climbed down. Rook shut the entrance behind us, and we hopped off the metal ladder, looking around.
The hallway was slim and dimly lit. “What’s it with secret labs having poor lighting?” I said as we began quietly walking. “Is there some law that says you shouldn’t be able to see where you’re going?”
“I think it’s just because this is a rarely used entrance,” Leo said, keeping his gun in front of him, ready to fire. He was in the lead. “We came in through a backdoor, so to speak.”
Dark Horizons (The Red Sector Chronicles) Page 21
