She gasped at the pain, but when she looked down, her arm looked fine. Then more pain shot through her stomach. She grabbed her middle and tried not to double over from the pain.
She could feel the curious glances on her, but she had no idea what was happening. The pain came from the same spots Ryan had pushed the knife into her body. She needed to get the hell away from this place.
Abruptly as she’d burst into the room, she backed out of it. Hope was still fighting with the guard, but didn’t look as if she was winning. Gena grabbed her arm and grunted out through the pain, “We have to leave.”
The guard seemed to agree because he let Hope go and pushed her down the hallway. It didn’t look as though he pushed too hard, but Hope slid across the floor a good fifteen feet. Another pain ripped through Gena.
By the time she reached Hope, the woman was standing and walking next to Gena. “What happened?” she asked.
Gena just shook her head and stumbled her way through the crowd until she reached the blissfully cool air outside the club. She took in deep gulps of it and felt the pain finally start to subside. “Are you okay?” asked Hope. “What happened back there?” Gena could hear genuine concern in her voice.
“I should have never brought you here,” continued Hope. “It was way too dangerous. Especially after that jackass back there.”
Gena lifted her head up and started to reassure Hope, but stopped abruptly. Across the street stood Ryan Stone, and he stared right at her. Gena jerked her face away quickly and looked at Hope.
“Um...” Her heart was still imitating a jackhammer in her chest and she could feel the remnants of pain so similar to the feeling of being stabbed in the stomach.
The pain reminded her just how dangerous Ryan was, and he was watching her and Hope at this very moment. She couldn’t let him hurt Hope. Not after all she’d done for Gena. “I need to be alone,” she told Hope.
“I can’t do that,” said Hope.
“Just go!” shouted Gena. “I have been through a lot of shit in the past twenty-four hours and I need some time to think! I can’t do that with you.” The words sounded mean, but Gena needed to get Hope away from her. She was dangerous, and Hope had already risked too much to help her.
“Gena—”
“I promise I will be back at your apartment soon. I just need a little bit of time,” Gena begged.
She could see that Hope wanted to argue, but she eventually nodded her head. “You have until dawn to get your head on straight, but if you are not back by then, I’m going to kill you all over again,” she said.
Gena just nodded and watched her go. She immediately turned and walked in the opposite direction. She didn’t look to see whether Ryan was following her. She already knew he was.
CHAPTER SIX
Marcus watched the two women walk away from each other. What the hell was going on?
He watched the taller one for a moment, but followed the one he was truly interested in. The girl had stumbled into Vlad’s meeting room like a lamb to the slaughter. He had been fully ready to throw her out before she got herself killed, but then she’d bent over as if in great pain and run away on her own.
He was a predator by nature. He couldn’t just watch her run away. So he gave chase.
In all honesty, he couldn’t stand another minute in that room. He’d been coming there every night for the past two weeks, waiting for any mention of negative feelings toward the king, but he hadn’t heard a word yet. Vlad wasn’t on friendly terms with Aleksander, so if there was any place for traitors to be, it would be at Fang.
He just needed a whole weekend to disappear into the mountains. He’d spend from sundown to sunup running through the forests and embracing his inner beast. Instead, he felt like a prisoner in a shared cell with Vlad and his men. He could use a distraction, and this lamb was the perfect one.
She’d been a cute little thing behind the clothes and makeup. Her form had been shown to its best advantage in the tight-fitting outfit, and her breasts were just begging to be released from the top held together with all those strings.
His mouth watered at how she might taste. One small tug would probably be all that top would need to fall right to the ground. He quickened his step and searched the air for her scent.
As he followed her path, he noticed that he wasn’t the only one trailing the lamb. A human was about twenty paces ahead of him. The man made an effort to remain unseen and quiet, but Marcus could see and hear him clearly. His feeble attempts at subtlety were useless against his vampire senses.
Even more intrigued now than he’d been when he left the club, he continued to follow silently. He wanted to see how this would play out.
After another block, the street was suddenly deserted. The man was still trying to be silent, but it was much harder to be inconspicuous. The lamb turned a corner, and Marcus felt some pity for the girl.
She’d just turned into an alley. Was she trying to get attacked?
The man turned and followed her, but Marcus stood just by the corner and remained out of sight. “You son of a bitch,” he heard the woman say. “How dare you come anywhere near me.”
Maybe she wasn’t as sweet as she first seemed. The man responded, “Demon! You think I would let you walk around in her body?”
What the fuck?
The lamb was also confused by the man. “What the hell are you talking about? You stabbed me! I’ve told you once, I’ve told you twice, and I will tell you as many times as I need to. Stay away from me. Stay away from anything that has to do with me. Leave me alone!”
“What did you do with Gena?” the man asked.
“If I were you, I would be running,” threatened the lamb. “Your fingerprints are all over my house, and I know you’ve been arrested enough that they’re on file. It’s only a matter of time before they find you and lock you in a cage like the animal like you are.”
“Animal!” came an outraged shout. “You’re the abomination! Walking around in her skin, like you are half the person she was.”
“Run away, Ryan. Enjoy what semblance of a life you can have before the police drag your sorry ass away,” came the lamb’s voice.
A metal clanking noise filled the night, and Marcus heard the lamb take a surprised breath. He’d been around long enough to know that the man had just cocked a gun.
Marcus chose that moment to make himself known. The lamb’s eyes shot to him, and she took a step back in fear. He flashed a little smile at her. She recognized him, and she was right to fear him.
The man, she’d called him Ryan, saw her reaction and turned around to face Marcus. He quickly pointed the gun at Marcus. “Stay out of this, man. You don’t know what she is.”
Before Marcus could point out that Ryan didn’t know what he was, the lamb stepped forward. “Ryan, for the love of God, put the gun down. You don’t have to hurt anyone else.” Ryan didn’t move the gun. She continued, “I promise I won’t tell anyone what you did. Just leave.”
“I can’t let you live,” said Ryan. “Gena deserved better than this.”
Marcus saw frustration filling the lamb. She looked as though she wanted to scream at this gun-wielding maniac. Instead, she looked at Marcus. “You need to leave, sir. This man is very dangerous.”
He smiled at the novelty of a woman telling him to run to safety. This was curious. “No,” Marcus corrected her. Ryan was startled at the noise. “I’m dangerous,” he said.
“Fine,” spat Ryan. “I’ll show you. I’ll show the whole fucking world just what this bitch is.” Before even Marcus could stop him, the human turned and shot off two rounds at the lamb.
Marcus screamed in anger and pushed the man with all his might. The human hit a brick wall with a loud thud and slid to the ground.
Marcus reached the lamb, who was on the ground, gasping for air. She had two holes in the middle of her chest, and blood ran over the breasts that he’d been fantasizing about just moments before. He cursed himself for not stopping the stupid
human when he had the chance.
He had the ability to turn the lamb, but he knew nothing about her, and he couldn’t take any variables right now. She was going to die in front of him, and it was all his fault.
She stared up at him, eyes pleading, as if asking for help, and he cursed at his inability to give it. He knelt next to her and lifted her upper body. He cradled her to him and held her as her whole body shuddered while trying to draw in enough air. Marcus saw so much blood was lost already, the oxygen wouldn’t have enough cells to cling to in order to reach her limbs and organs.
Suddenly, noises came from the lamb’s throat. Pained noises, as if she were being shot all over again. Then she was screaming in his arms. One of her hands reached up and grabbed his shoulder as all of her muscles tensed up and her eyes squeezed shut. Her breaths came faster and even more blood poured from the two wounds.
Marcus watched in amazement as the bloody holes started to move. Then a small piece of metal was pushed from each wound in her chest. It tumbled down her body and he stared at the crushed bullet. When he looked down again, her chest didn’t have any holes at all. There was still lots of blood, but it was no longer flowing, and he didn’t see any source for the blood.
Her blue eyes snapped open and stared into his for one breathless second. Before he could say anything, she pushed herself up and away from him. She certainly wasn’t moving like a woman who had just been shot twice.
Her eyes searched around the alley, but he could not look away from her. “Where is he?” she asked.
Marcus almost asked who she was talking about before his mind even realized that the gunman was gone. He mentally cursed himself again. He’d been too distracted by the bullets wiggling their way out of her chest to notice the coward running away.
The woman ran to the street and looked frantically both ways. “Did you see which way he went?” she called to him.
He slowly moved over to her and shook his head while he moved. She let out a sigh of frustration and moved away from him, still scanning all the shadows for Ryan.
He used his vampire speed to catch up to her. She didn’t seem to notice how fast he moved, but he could tell she wanted him gone. Well, tough shit for her, he thought. He wasn’t letting this one go.
“What was that back there?”
She didn’t even look at him. “That was nothing.”
He smiled at her blatant lie. “You just pushed two bullets out and instantly healed. That’s a little more than nothing.”
She stopped walking then. “No one heals instantly from bullet wounds. I think you’re mistaken.”
He grabbed both of her arms, stopping her retreat. She tried to move back, but his grip was too tight. “Look down,” he told her.
She did and saw that her chest was covered in a thick, red liquid that was obviously her own blood. Even with the evidence mounting, she still didn’t back down from her story. “What you’re describing is impossible. Now, please leave me alone.”
She pulled away from him and he released her, but she didn’t walk away. She put her arms up to cover the blood, but pulled them back when the sticky substance touched the skin of her forearms.
Marcus shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to her. She shook her head. “I can’t get blood all over your jacket.”
He smirked at her slipup. “So you admit that it’s blood?” She looked startled she’d said the word, but he continued, “You can’t walk around like that. People will notice. Besides, it’s an old jacket.” He left out that the material had seen its fair share of blood. No need to spook her any more than she already was.
She still seemed hesitant, so he added, “It goes with the whole leather look you have going on.”
With his excellent night vision, he saw pink flood her cheeks as she grabbed the jacket from his hands. “I-I don’t usually dress like this,” she stammered.
He believed it. He didn’t know the last time he saw a patron of Fang blush. “What were you doing at the club?”
Her eyes met his for the first time since she’d jumped off his lap. They were beautiful, even with all the black paint surrounding them. They seemed familiar, but he could not place them.
“I really need to go,” she said.
“I can take you to Vlad,” he said, not wanting to lose her before he knew her secrets.
He could tell she was tempted, but was still hesitant. “I really should go,” she said. “But maybe my friend and I can meet with Vlad tomorrow night.”
His mind roared at the idea of her leaving him. “No,” he bluntly told her. “I don’t know what will be happening tomorrow night. It’s now or never, babe.” That was probably a lie. Sure, anything could happen in the next twenty-four hours, but more than likely, he’d be stuck in that same red room again.
This girl really was the most interesting thing to happen to him since he’d left Canada.
“I don’t like ultimatums.”
“I don’t like Amazonian women punching Gareth in the face. Get over it,” he shot back at her.
A little smile crept up her mouth, but she quickly stifled it. “I should probably talk to Vlad tonight,” she admitted. “But that guard had things well under control, by the looks of it.”
Marcus snorted. “You are lucky the both of you aren’t dead. Gareth is usually better at controlling hu—clubbers than that.” He stopped himself before finishing the word human.
“He was rather demanding. As if everything he said, we would just automatically obey.”
Marcus absorbed that. Gareth, like all pure vampires, could control human minds. It was curious that this girl had gotten past him, but Marcus had just assumed Gareth hadn’t had a chance to get inside of her mind. It sounded like whatever this girl was, she was immune to vampire control.
So what was she?
Marcus held a hand out in the direction of Fang. “Allow me.”
She gave him a dubious look but went where he was leading her. “So what are you going to speak to Vlad about?” he asked.
“I would really rather only talk to Vlad,” she said.
“You have never met Vlad,” he pointed out. “He is a stranger and you are willing to tell him, but not me? Hell, I just saw you push bullets out of your chest,” he pointed out.
“I was told Vlad could help me with his connections around the city.”
He wanted to tell her that he had all the connections she’d ever need, but even more than that, he wanted an excuse to take her to Fang. He wanted to show her off. Though she wasn’t his, he was already anticipating how sweet she’d taste when he got her to his apartment.
He felt his fangs push against his bottom lip and forced himself to think cleaner thoughts.
“What exactly are you?” he bluntly asked.
Her shoulders stiffened at the question. “I’m human.”
“I’ve been around,” he told her, “but I have never seen a human do what you did.”
She crossed her arms defensively. “I don’t care what you think. My life up until last night has been nothing but normal. I am just as human as you or anybody else.”
A mocking smile graced his lips. She had no idea what he was. “Okay. You’re just as human as me. What exactly happened last night that wasn’t normal?”
She looked him over, as if considering if he was trustworthy enough to hear her secrets. He must have passed her test, because she said, “I was murdered last night, and I woke up in a brand new body next to my dead one.”
She stared at him to gauge his reaction. “Really?” was all he said.
“Really,” she affirmed. “And it only gets stranger. Now I can push out bullets.”
“And you have no idea why all this is happening?”
She sighed. “If I knew what was going on, I wouldn’t be wearing what even slutty girls refuse to wear on Halloween and grasping at straws that some guy at some nightclub might possibly be able to help me.”
So this helped explain why she seemed so innocent to his world.
She truly knew nothing of it. She had lived as a human for her entire life and was now lost in his underworld.
No matter what she said, she was no longer human. She looked and smelled human, but Marcus knew more than most that what walks like a human and talks like a human does not make it so. He was better than anyone to show her the new world she was a part of. Someone would have to.
“What do you think Vlad can tell you about this?”
Her arms were still crossed in front of her as if she were cold, but he knew his jacket should be providing plenty of warmth. “I was hoping a psychic could help me discover what’s happening, but I’ve been told that the real deal is hard to come by.”
She had a point. He’d only ever met someone with true ability a few times in his life. He could find one easily enough with his connections to the vampire monarchy and High Council, but at the moment he was not supposed to have contact with any of them. He was still pretending to be in exile.
A lot of fun that had been so far. At least now he could amuse himself while he waited for a proposition from a mysterious rebellion that might never come.
“It’s not a bad idea,” he said. “Except Vlad is a dangerous man, and it was stupid for you and your friend to even approach him tonight, let alone assault Gareth.”
She just shrugged. “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“Who was your friend? Is she the one filling your head with tales of Vlad and psychics?”
“She has been really good to me. She’s a relative of a good friend, and I’ve never met her before today, but she hasn’t hesitated to help me.” They walked for a few moments in silence. He had a hundred more questions to ask her, but she didn’t appear as though she wanted to talk to him, and he didn’t want to push her any more.
Really, he shouldn’t even be messing with an innocent. He was too old and too damn mean to be of any use to her.
“Who are you?” she asked him in a soft voice.
Now that was a loaded question, he thought. “My name is Marcus Grey.” He decided simple answers were best.
She was smarter than that. “And how do you know Vlad?”
Daring Fire: Paranormal Romance (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 2) Page 5
