I captured her mouth in mine again and lowered my body on top of hers, not wanting any space left between us.
She arched up to meet me, and I reached for the bottom of her top, starting to remove it. I couldn’t wait to see her body—I bet it was as beautiful and as perfect as the rest of her.
But her hand rushed to mine, stopping me.
“What?” I was confused—I thought she wanted this.
She flipped me over with more strength than I’d given her credit for, and she straddled me, smirking down at me. “Not yet, Jacen.” Her voice sounded different than before—sharper and crueler. “There’ll be time for all of that—and more—later. But first, I need to taste you.”
Before I could ask what she meant, she smiled—revealing sharp fangs that definitely hadn’t been there earlier—lowered her head to my neck, and pierced my skin.
I tried to push her off of me, but she gripped my wrists and pinned them above my head. I struggled, but it was no use—my strength was nothing compared to hers.
How was that possible? I was a future Olympian and she was a girl less than half my size.
She must have drugged me. She’d certainly had plenty of opportunities throughout the evening to slip something into my drink. It would also explain the fangs, because that had to be a hallucination.
“Crazy bitch!” I continued to struggle, even though it was futile. “Get off me!”
She lifted her head from my neck and smiled, my blood coating her lips. “Don’t make another noise.” Her voice took on that musical quality from when we’d been at the bar—when she’d asked me to invite her to her room.
I opened my mouth to scream again, but no sound came out. So I thrust my head forward and knocked it into hers, hoping to catch her unaware.
My head felt like it had collided with a brick wall. I fell back into the pillow, the world spinning around me.
Laila was unfazed.
“Stop fighting me.” Her voice still had that musical quality, and as if by magic, I stopped struggling.
I wanted to fight, but I couldn’t.
All I could do was stare up at her in terror.
“This will all be over soon,” she said. “I promise.” She lowered her mouth to my neck again, and I felt colder and colder and she sucked the blood from my body.
I tried to stay awake, but eventually, there was no fighting it anymore.
The world grew hazy around the edges, and everything went dark.
FIVE
My throat was on fire, burning so badly that I couldn’t swallow. It was the telltale sign of getting sick.
At least I’d picked up this virus after the Global Aquatics Championship. I’d have to take it easy with training the next few days, but I’d been able to help my team secure the gold. That was what mattered.
But it wasn’t just my throat that didn’t feel right. The rest of me felt empty, too. All the way down to my bones.
I was starving. I’d never been so hungry in my life.
How long had it been since I’d eaten?
I should get up, grab some medicine, and order breakfast. But the bed at the hotel was so comfortable. I wanted to go back to sleep until my alarm blared to wake me up for my flight.
But I couldn’t get back to sleep. My mind was too busy racing with the crazy nightmare I’d had last night, of the beautiful woman who had come up to my room to drink my blood.
I hadn’t had nightmares since I was a kid. But this one was burned into my mind so intensely that I doubted I would ever forget it.
Last night was pretty hazy, too. I must have had a few too many celebratory shots with the guys.
Maybe that was why I felt so awful.
I’d had my fair share of hangovers, but this one took the cake. Everything felt sensitive beyond belief. The footsteps from the hall were amplified so much that they pounded in my head, and a variety of smells assaulted my senses, so strong that I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
To top it off, the burning in my throat kept getting worse and worse. I felt sicker than when I’d had the flu a few years ago.
I reached over to the nightstand to check the time, but my cell phone wasn’t there. Weird. I always kept it next to me when I slept.
Reluctantly, I opened my eyes, threw off the blanket, and sat up.
She sat at the foot of the bed, still wearing the tight jeans and silky black top she’d had on last night.
Laila.
The girl from my nightmare.
And instead of being in the hotel, we were in a lavishly decorated, massive room that looked like it belonged in a palace.
I reached for the spot in my neck that she’d bitten last night, surprised that the skin was perfectly smooth—like it had never been bitten at all.
Whatever drug she’d given me must have made me hallucinate the entire biting scenario.
Hopefully that meant kissing her had been part of the hallucination, too.
“You,” I growled, flexing my fists. “What the hell did you do to me?” I rushed forward to strangle her, but her hands wrapped around my wrists, and she pinned me to the bed just like she had last night.
Which apparently hadn’t been a nightmare, and had actually happened.
“You’re much stronger now than when you were human.” She straddled her legs around my waist, pressing herself against me in a way that would have been sexy in any other situation. “But you won’t reach your full potential until you feed. To this day, I still remember the pain following being turned. It makes a hangover seem pleasant, does it not?”
I had no idea what she was talking about.
But one thing was clear—the crazy bitch had drugged me and abducted me.
I needed to get out of here.
“If it’s money you want, I have plenty of it,” I said. “Let me go, and I’ll send you whatever you want. I promise.”
There was no way in hell I was giving her anything—other than reporting her to the cops and getting her arrested. But promising money was what heroes in action movies did all the time, so it was worth a try.
I’d promise her anything if it meant getting away from her and out of this place.
“Look around, Jacen.” Her blue eyes no longer looked big and captivating. Now they were sharp and severe. “Does it look like I need your money?”
I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm despite every muscle in my body aching to fight. Because fighting wasn’t getting me anywhere. Whatever drug she’d given me must have still been in my system, or I was coming down from it. That would explain why I felt like such shit.
Since I was in no condition to fight, I might as well try to talk her down from whatever she was trying to do to me.
“Is this your room?” I tried to sound as relaxed as I had when we’d chatted at the bar.
The more information I could get from her, the better.
“No,” she said. “This is your room. Inside of my palace.”
“Your palace?” I couldn’t help but laugh at how absurd she sounded. “If you have an entire palace, then why did you need to abduct me?”
“I didn’t abduct you,” she said. “I turned you.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It’ll all make sense after you feed,” she said. “Now, I’m going to let go for a second to call for your meal. I advise you not to fight me. Not only am I stronger than you in your weakened state, but there are guards stationed by the door. They won’t be nearly as gentle with you as I’ve been.” She pulled one of her hands away and ran a finger across my cheek, like she was studying me.
The feeling of her nail against my skin made me shudder in revulsion.
She must have mistaken my reaction for pleasure, because she smiled in triumph. “You’ll be good and stay here, right, Jacen?” she asked.
“Of course.” I held my gaze with hers, keeping all emotion from my voice. I couldn’t let her hear how much she disgusted me. Not if I wanted a chance of getting out of here.
But how could I get out of here? I was strong, but there were armed guards outside the doors. I wasn’t so delusional to think I stood a chance against guards with weapons.
All I could do was bide my time, assess the situation, and plan an escape.
So I did as she asked and made no attempt to run as she reached for her phone.
Her eyes stayed on me as she moved, her lips turning up in pleasure when I obeyed. I made sure to keep my gaze on hers. I might not be running, but that didn’t mean I was weak.
“The new prince has awoken,” she said to whoever was on the other line, sounding mighty pleased with herself as she spoke. “Bring his first meal up to his room now.”
SIX
“Prince?” I raised an eyebrow, pretty sure she’d been talking about me.
“It’ll all be explained in time.” She sat back down on the foot of my bed, still looking beyond pleased with herself. “But first you need to eat. Once you eat, you’ll feel better. I promise.”
“Unless the food contains the antidote to whatever drug you gave me, I doubt it’ll make much difference.” I narrowed my eyes, keeping my guard up despite the pain pounding in my head.
“I didn’t drug you.” She laughed, although her attention quickly turned to the door. “Do you hear that?” she asked, perking up. “Dinner’s here.”
She walked across a sitting room area and over to the doors to throw them open. A tall, buff man waited on the other side—I assumed he was one of the guards she was talking about. Next to him was a scrawny, older man in shackles.
She pulled a knife out of her boot and slashed it across the old man’s neck.
The sweetest, most intoxicating scent I’d ever smelled filled the room, and my body exploded with pleasure. My gums ached with need, red filling my vision as I ran for what I desired—the blood pulsing out of the man’s throat.
The next thing I knew, I was kneeling over his drained corpse. There wasn’t even any more blood left from where it had landed on the hardwood floor. It looked like it had been licked clean.
Had I done that?
I stood and backed away in horror, my eyes locked on the man’s empty gaze. His pupils were dilated so much that I could barely see the brown in his eyes. It was almost like he’d been drugged to death.
More horror set in as I realized I’d just drank his blood. That shouldn’t have made me feel good.
Yet, the burning in my throat and the pounding in my head was starting to ease.
“The prince is still hungry,” Laila purred from behind me.
“We’d prepared for this.” The guard reached for his phone and used it like a walkie-talkie to say, “Bring the next prisoner in.”
The “next one” turned out to be a woman around my mom’s age.
“Please,” she begged, looking at me in terror. “Don’t—”
She didn’t have time to finish her sentence before the redness filled my vision again, and I pounced.
When I came to, she was crumpled on top of the old man’s corpse.
Dead.
This continued until there were four human corpses in the pile.
In the middle of the fifth one—a male who looked around my age—I became aware of what I was doing. The redness cleared while my mouth was still attached to the twin holes in his neck. I heard myself moan as the most delicious liquid I’d ever tasted rolled down my throat, filling my body with a warm, Heavenly light.
The man went limp in my arms. If I didn’t pull away soon, he would die.
But everything in me pulsed with need. My mind said, “stop,” but my body said, “keep going.”
My mind stood no chance against the fervent desire of my body. I didn’t stop until I’d drained the man of his last drop of blood.
“No more.” I dropped the body on the ground, studying it so I’d feel the full weight of the life I’d taken.
Once I’d memorized his face, I turned around and ran for Laila, wrapping my hands around her throat like she’d done to me earlier and forcing her to the floor.
“What have you done to me?” I yelled, bringing my face close to hers.
She just looked up at me and smiled, like she enjoyed being strangled.
Before I could scream at her to answer me—or to fight me, since I knew she could—the guards grabbed my arms and pulled me off of her. But I twisted out of their grasps and ran for the door. The pile of bodies before it was the only thing that made me pause.
The bodies of the people I’d killed.
In that split second pause, something pricked the back of my neck. An icy-hot pain burned through every vein in my body, all the way to the tips of my fingers and toes.
I screamed and fell down to my knees, shaking from the pain.
“That’s better.” Laila appeared between me and the doors, a needle of light green liquid in her hand. “I’d give you more to punish you for attacking me, but I suppose I can’t blame your outburst, since I didn’t exactly introduce myself properly the first time we met.”
I just stared up at her, swallowed down the pain, and forced myself to stand. It hurt like Hell—like my joints were stiff and rusted from neglect—but I refused to remain on my knees in front of Laila like a pathetic, subdued weakling.
“Most would be writhing on the floor like a dying animal after the dose of wormwood I just gave you.” Her eyes glinted as she watched me struggle to stand, like she was getting some kind of sick pleasure out of my pain. “But not my Jacen. You’re strong. Just like I’d planned.”
“What are you?” I asked, somehow forcing myself to speak through the pain.
“I already told you what I am—it was one of the first things I said to you. But of course, you didn’t believe me.” She stepped closer to me, sounding nothing like the sweet, flirty girl I’d met at the bar. “You thought I was joking. But maybe you’ll take me more seriously now that you’ve had your first meal. Because I’m Laila, queen of the vampire kingdom of the Vale.”
SEVEN
I stared at her in shock, unable to believe it. This was all insane. It had to be a nightmare.
But it felt real.
And the proof of what she’d said was right in front of me—the bodies I’d drained of blood. It was also in my memories, when she’d flashed her fangs and sank them into my neck back at my hotel room.
I should be dead, like those five humans I’d killed.
Yet I was here. Alive. I was stronger than ever, and I’d drank blood.
I didn’t know much about vampires. I’d been too focused on my training to care about silly fantasy stories. But I knew enough to know that vampires turned people into vampires by biting them.
Was that what she’d meant when she’d said she’d turned me?
“You’re silent, but I see you have many questions.” Laila’s gaze didn’t leave my own. “After what I’ve put you through, you certainly deserve answers. So I’ll give them to you... as long as you promise not to attack me again.” She smiled sweetly, as if she was trying to flirt her way into getting me to agree.
We’d passed the stage where that would work a long time ago.
She might be beautiful, but when I looked at her now, all I saw was a monster. Especially when she pressed her thumb lightly enough on the syringe of the needle that a droplet of the torturous liquid—the wormwood—collected in a droplet on the tip. The poison was odorless, but the needle was still more than halfway full, which got the message across loud and clear.
Give her any more trouble, and I’d get a lot more than the dose she’d already shocked me with.
“Fine,” I said, since despite my rage at her, I believed her when she said she was going to give me answers. I’d rather get them the easy way than the hard way. “I’ll play nice—for now.”
“Lovely.” She capped the needle and secured it in her pocket. “My reflexes are faster than yours, so don’t test me.” She glanced over at the guards, who were watching her expectantly. “Leave,” she commanded them. “And remove the
trash on your way out.”
She motioned toward the pile of corpses in front of the doors, making it clear what she’d meant by “the trash.”
The guards did as she said, lifting the bodies with ease and taking them out of the room.
I couldn’t believe that I’d killed all those people. Yet, the moment Laila had slit the first man’s throat, the urge to drink his blood had been primal—so strong I couldn’t resist it.
The worst part was that I’d liked it.
“So, where were we?” Laila asked with a smile.
“The part where you were telling me that you turned me into a monster.” I held my gaze with her, my eyes cold.
“That’s what you think I did?” she asked.
“I just killed five people in cold blood.” I motioned to where their bodies had been on the floor. “So yes—that’s what I know you did.”
“About that,” she said, clearing her throat. “You needed to drink from the vein to complete your transition. But until you learn to control your bloodlust, that feast was a one-time deal. So you’ll be drinking bottled blood, like most of the vampires in the kingdom. Only once you gain control will you be granted the royal privilege to drink from the veins of the prisoners whenever you’d like.”
“That won’t be happening.” I curled my hands into fists. “Because whatever you did to me, you’re going to reverse it.”
“That’s impossible,” she said. “The gift I’ve given you cannot be reversed.”
“Gift?” I lifted a small vase from an end table and threw it across the room. It whizzed by Laila’s head, missing her and shattering against the wall. “You turned me into a monster!”
She zipped toward me and jammed the needle into my arm.
Shattering pain wracked through my body. I yelled out in pain, crumpling to the floor. Darkness threatened my vision, but I blinked and took deep breaths, determined not to pass out.
Who knew what Laila would do to me if I did?
I eventually got ahold of myself enough to pull myself up onto the nearest sofa. It hurt too much to stand, but there was no way I was going to stay on the floor.
The Vampire Rules Page 2
