Jake turned his steely gaze on the vampire and bellowed, “You will get no cooperation from me until you tell me how to fix her complication! If you do, I’ll consider handing her over.” Jake wasn’t going to let her go in a million years, but he could at least act like he was playing the game. Seeing Neve in such pain was driving him to the brink. “What’s it going to be?”
“She must choose you above all others.”
“That’s it? She just has to choose me?” Jake asked.
“She has to choose you with her soul.”
Neve heard the conversation between the two men through her pain. Listening to it was the only thing that had kept her rooted in the real world. The pain this time felt like a pile of concrete cinder blocks crushing her brain, and her awful father kept stacking them up with no breaks in between.
How could she be Jake’s bride? That news was beyond staggering. She wasn’t anyone’s bride.
It didn’t make any sense, but it being complicated did make sense.
The very first time she’d laid eyes on Jake she’d been drawn to him. She had frequented his bar on purpose just to be near him. She enjoyed watching him move, talk to customers. She’d been mesmerized by everything about him, but she had just counted herself among one of many. It wasn’t unusual to be attracted to the dynamic hellhound—pretty much every supernatural she knew was.
Even though she’d craved him in a way she didn’t understand, she’d hated herself for going to his bed. It had disgusted her that she’d been so needy, and being confused afterward hadn’t helped. It had exacerbated everything she’d already been feeling.
But now it seemed Jake had been right all along. He hadn’t been responsible for any of it, and now she knew why.
A new wave of pain descended on her as the two men continued to argue, blocking out any more coherent thoughts. She writhed as Jake tried in vain to persuade her father to lessen the torture so they could come to a mutual agreement.
But they all knew Jake wouldn’t give her up.
Neve believed her father. He would break her mind before he gave in. This was a no-win situation. Neve thrashed and lamented her fate internally. She’d been so very close to netting the vampire herself. The moment his fangs had punctured her, she’d been ready to shove that silver arrow deep into his heart. Then Jake had crashed the party trying to save her.
That big, lug-headed hellhound.
She had no idea where the arrow had gone. Once Jake had barreled into them, she’d lost her grip on it, so they were going to have to do this another way.
“I…give…up,” she managed on the end of a short breath.
Jake stilled, but his grip on her remained firm. “What? Neve, you can’t be serious. We’re not giving up!”
She squeezed his arm. “We…can’t win,” she gasped, “and my brain needs…a break.” She was hoping this drama scene would play right into the vampire’s ego—the hugely inflated vamp ego, which was always set to “I win.” “I’m rethinking…things. Power is…nice. Hate…being weak.” She gritted her teeth against the continued onslaught of pain.
“Power is indeed nice,” her father almost purred. “And you will have much more once you drink from me, child. Over time you will gain much strength, and with the proper training from my horde, you will earn the right to be at the very center of my inner circle. There is no doubt. Any offspring of mine will be stronger than any other turned vampire. Come to me now.”
The pain stopped immediately. Neve blinked her eyes open and found herself staring right into Jake’s intense stare. She held his gaze for a moment, and being careful not to give anything away, tried to rise.
“I’m sorry, Neve, but I can’t let you do it,” Jake said as he kept a protective lock around her.
Her heart may have given an erratic beat for a split second, but she couldn’t let that stand in the way of business. “What are you talking about?” Neve made her voice achingly angry. “You have no claim over me! I heard what my father said, and I’m not your bride if I don’t choose you with my soul. And I don’t. I’m not picking anyone. Being tied to someone is not my style. I lead an independent life, and I fought hard for it.” Neve busted out of his arms with an elbow straight into his solar plexus, and he reluctantly let her go.
She rose, irritated, making a show of dusting herself off.
“That’s right, my child. A vampire can have many lovers and be tied to none. We often choose a life of…indulgence. Why be bound to one when you can have many?”
Neve took a step forward, hands on her hips. “So how do we do this?” she asked. “You drink from me then vice versa, and once I wake up, I’m powerful?”
Her father chuckled. “Something like that. Once you are finished consuming my essence, you will be held under my sway…for a time. But my blood will instantly fortify you and destroy whatever humanity is left inside you. Once you transform into a full vampire and learn our ways, I will release you into your own right. Vampires grow stronger each year of their lives, and the blood we feed upon makes us more powerful than any other supernatural being.”
Neve had to force herself not to gag. It would never cross his ego-inflated mind that she wouldn’t want to become an ever-so-powerful vampire. To him it was the ultimate gift—something to cherish and be on her knees thankful for. “Okay, I’m in.”
Daddy Dearest spread his arms wide, and Neve strode forward.
“Neve,” Jake said urgently, catching her arm as she passed him, slipping something smoothly into her hand. “Please don’t do this. I know you feel something for me. If you go this route, there can be no future for us. It will be over before it starts.”
Neve shook him off. “That’s right. I want it over before it starts. There was never any future for us anyway, Jake, so don’t beat yourself up. Honestly, it’s not like you can’t get a piece of ass any night of the week if you wanted to. Women form a queue the moment they step into your bar, and I’ve seen you graze the line more than a few times. You won’t be lonely, and I won’t be weak. It’s a win-win.”
“What if I don’t want anyone else?” Jake’s voice was gruff. “And I only want you?”
Neve swallowed, yanking her arm out of his grasp. “I don’t care what you want, hellhound. Like I said before, you don’t get any say in my life. My father finally found me, and I’ve just realized that this is the only ticket I’ll ever have out of this sorry life. I hate it here. I’ve never fit in, and it’s time for me to move on.”
“That’s because you are more vampire than dhampir,” her father interjected smoothly. “Some children have more human traits, and some do not. You are clearly a strong-minded vampire. I curse myself for not knowing of your existence sooner. I could’ve been guiding you all along. But it cannot be helped.” He strode toward Neve.
She turned toward him and smiled. “I’m ready. I want the strength you have to offer.”
“Neve, please.” Jake’s voice held enough anguish to cause chills to race up her spine. “Please, don’t do this.”
“There’s no room for you here, hellhound.” The vamp turned his back on Jake as he drew Neve into the cradle of his shoulder. “This exchange will take only a minute, but when she is finished, she will shun you forever.” His voice could not contain his glee.
“Jake,” Neve said. “You may want to take a step back. Like my father said, this is going to be over quick.”
Neve cuddled into her father’s chest, making sure he knew how relaxed she was. She breathed a sigh of relief as she angled her neck up toward the vamp.
“That’s it, child. It will be only moments now,” her father crooned.
“I can’t wait.”
Daddy Dearest smiled as he leaned down, smoothly puncturing her skin with his fangs. Neve smiled as she raised the arrow she’d just palmed from Jake.
And plunged it straight into his heart.
Jake hadn’t been entirely sure of Neve’s intentions, right up until she rammed the weapon he’d found on the grou
nd and slipped her, into her father’s chest. She’d played a convincing role, and he was a little in awe of her handiwork. She’d always had incredibly fast hands, but her father had never seen it coming.
The vampire hissed and flew backward, snatching at the arrow but not finding it.
She’d buried it deeply in his chest.
“Jake!” Neve shouted. “We can’t let him escape! If he does, we won’t get another chance to Collect him.”
“You wretched bitch!” the vampire raged, turning in a circle so fast Jake almost couldn’t track him. “You will pay for this a hundredfold! I will lock you up in my dungeons and starve you until your mind is destroyed and you beg me for mercy.”
“That’s not going to happen, champ.” Jake sprang, locking his arms around the vamp’s neck as Neve came at him from the front. She had another weapon in her hands, a small silver blade. This time she shoved it without hesitation into his neck.
The vamp gurgled and sputtered.
Neve got right in the vamp’s face, fury radiating from her. “That’s for thinking even for a single moment I’d choose to be your slave. I don’t care if we share the same gene pool, I’m nothing like you. And if you’d understood that for a second, you wouldn’t be standing here in a pool of your own blood.”
The vamp leapt out of Jake’s grasp and dove for Neve.
The asshole was slippery.
He had Neve around the neck before Jake could react. They tumbled to the floor and began to roll around.
“Get him…off me!” Neve shouted.
“I will drain you,” the vamp hissed. “This is not the end.”
Jake ripped the vamp off Neve and flung him against the wall. Then Jake reached a hand down to help Neve up, and remarkably, she took it.
“He’s a strong bastard,” Neve commented as she rose, “but with that much silver in his system, he should be slowing down any minute now.”
They both glanced over.
The vamp was huddled in a corner, seething. That wasn’t a good sign. “Mr. Laurent doesn’t seem to be slowing,” Jake grunted. “He seems to be in the process of digging the arrow out of his chest.”
Sure enough, the vamp had his entire fist inside his chest, trying to fish out the silver. Neve ran at him before Jake could stop her. “You’re not getting up until I give you permission,” Neve yelled as she dove for him, something flashing in her palm.
How many tricks did that girl have up her sleeve anyway?
Jake was right behind her. This time Neve shoved what looked to be a throwing star into the top of the vamp’s head, effectively knocking him out.
It stuck out like a mini saw blade from his cranium.
“Quick”—Neve motioned—“drag him by his feet. He’ll be under for only a second or two, if we’re lucky.”
Jake obliged, picking up the vamp’s well-clad feet and tugging him almost effortlessly to the center of the room. “Now what?”
Neve glanced up, her eyes shining with triumph. “Now we call Louie. We’re not going to be able to bring him in ourselves. He won’t be out that long, he’s too strong. So we get Louie here. Got your phone on you?”
Jake patted his jean pockets, but found them empty. “It must’ve fallen out during our”—he cleared his throat—“interlude.”
“Well, don’t just stand there, use the hotel phone. Go!” Neve knelt next to her father and slid a hand inside his torn shirt.
Jake plucked up the phone on the desk and pressed nine, and then Louie’s cell number, hoping it would work. When it rang, he told Neve, “It’s ringing,” feeling a little foolish he was interested in her approval, but there was no denying he was. His uncle always answered his phone. Right as Louie picked up, Jake roared, “Louie, you need to get your ass over—”
The hotel door blew inward.
It effectively halted Jake’s conversation. He dropped the phone and turned to face the three disgruntled shifters. The witch entered the room a half a beat later. But instead of fighting Jake, they all immediately turned toward Neve, who still knelt by her father.
Jake raced forward, reaching Neve at the same time they did. He took the lead shifter by the throat, satisfied to see he hadn’t been able to heal all the wounds Jake had inflicted before, and smashed him into the other two with such force they all spun out like bowling pins.
The witch slipped around him, giving him a toothy grin. He heard her address Neve, “Well, doll, it looks like you managed to fell the ancient vampire, and that’s very impressive, but that’s my paycheck, so I’m going to have to ask you to take a step back from the dead guy.”
Jake watched Neve rise slowly. “You’re going to have to make me step back, witch,” she said. “And that’s not going to be as easy as it looks.”
Two of the shifters lunged at Jake again. He tore his gaze off Neve and head-butted the fool. He crumpled to the ground instantly. Jake’s leg was already up in a roundhouse kick that sent the other one crashing all the way into the bedroom. He turned back just in time to see the witch mutter a spell.
“Look out!” he shouted to Neve as he started to run.
Not only did Neve have fast hands, but she had awesome reflexes. She ducked the spell and moved to launch herself at her new foe when Jake barreled into the witch from the side, sending her flying. Neve knew that wasn’t going to be enough to keep her down, so she sprang, landing on the wiggling witch before she could do any further harm.
The witch started to mutter again, and with much satisfaction, Neve swung her fist, breaking her jaw. As blood rushed out of her mouth, she smiled up at Neve in an unnerving way, and said, “Nice swing, but you didn’t need to go that far.” The witch spat out a huge glob of red blood. “How about instead of fighting me, I make you both a deal, since you seem so intent on your prize? Offer me twice the amount he’s paying me”—she nodded at the still out-cold vamp—“and I’ll help you make sure he stays down. By my calculations, you have less than—”
The vampire shot to his feet, fangs down, his face spelling cruelty for everyone in the room as he stalked directly at Neve.
Jake stepped in front of her, and the vampire laughed. “By all means”—he reached through his torn shirt, and with a sickening sound his fingers entered his chest as he dug Neve’s arrow out and tossed it to the ground—“tempt me to kill you.”
Neve was curious to see what Jake’s plan was. As the vamp strode forward, Jake swung his arm, but instead of it smashing into her father’s chest, which she was sure had been Jake’s target, the vampire had somehow shot his hand forward and now gripped Jake’s fist, holding the hellhound back effortlessly.
That was unexpected.
“My daughter caught me by surprise,” the vamp sneered at Jake. “She managed to get silver into my body, but I assure you that won’t happen again. See? Behold my strength. I am much stronger than you, hound. You have failed all along to realize what you are up against. But I will right that wrong now. My momentary bout of tenderness toward my daughter made me weak. It will not happen again.”
Neve’s voice was enraged, “Tenderness? That was tenderness? When? While you were commanding me to be your slave or when you were inflicting as much horrible pain and agony on my brain as you possibly could?”
Her dad hissed over Jake’s shoulder, and it took everything in Neve’s body not to cringe. Now was not the time to appear weak. Vampires preyed on weakness like locusts, and Neve was still shaken by the torture she’d just received.
But she’d be damned if she’d let her father know it.
“What I should’ve done was strike you down the moment you defied me,” the vamp raged at Neve. “Instead, I let my nurturing side get the best of me. And as I just stated, it will not happen again.”
“Your nurturing skills need a little work, and damn right it won’t happen again,” Neve said as she boldly took a step toward the vamp and the hellhound, who were still locked together, neither giving any leeway to the other. “None of this is happening again, because
I’m Collecting you, and once I’m done, you’ll never be able to come near me again.”
His laugh was maniacal. “You cannot simply Collect the Regent vampire, errant child. I am much too powerful to be wrangled so easily.”
“Oh, there’s no doubt you can be Collected, vampire,” Neve stated evenly. “We don’t make mistakes here in Vegas. If the powers that be marked you for a Collection, you can be Collected. It’s as simple as that.”
“I don’t care how you operate, foolish one.” The vampire dismissively waved his unoccupied hand. “I won’t be Collected, and instead, I will kill you.”
The vampire lunged around Jake toward Neve at the same moment Jake shouted to the witch, “I will pay you!”
The witch’s spell was instantaneous. The only problem was, it hit Neve squarely in the chest first.
Jake’s outraged bellow shook the room.
“Relax, puppy dog,” the witch cackled. “She’ll recover. It was only a stunner, not a killer.”
Laurent and Neve had both gone down, and surprisingly neither one of them were moving. Jake rushed over, absently kicking one of the shifters in the chin with his boot as he attempted to rise. Those guys were never going to learn.
Jake reached Neve and gently untangled her from the vamp. She was unconscious, and as he turned her over, Jake couldn’t help noticing once again how beautiful she was. Her full lips were slightly open, and her skin was flawless, dusted now with a blush of red. She had to be okay.
“Neve, Neve,” he coaxed. “Wake up.”
“Fella, you might want to move your girlfriend out of the way, like possibly to another country. This vamp is going to wake up incredibly pissed off. The spell won’t hold him for too long. In fact, he should be rousing about now. I’m not sure how I managed to get a twofer with that spell, but I’m not complaining.”
They both turned to stare at the vamp. But he continued to lay, unmoving.
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