Burn the Dark

by Nicola Rose

  “What’s Emory waiting for?” I asked.

  “He’s trying to eliminate his adversaries first. Namely the Unaligned, amongst others. And ensuring that all his key players are in position. The Bael control England and America, but the rest of the world has its own leaders. If he’s to succeed at world domination – making slaves of humans, whilst maintaining some semblance of control over the vampires – then he needs powerful members all over the globe. At the moment, he simply doesn’t have the numbers. Beatrix alluded to a solution. I believe they’re working on a new army.”

  I took a shuddering breath. “The vampire apocalypse.”

  “Sounds fun,” he mused. “But the fun wouldn’t last once the initial excitement passed. Once Emory lost power over vampires and they went too far. It wouldn’t take long before we extinguished the human race and killed ourselves in the process.”

  “Why can’t he see that?”

  “Because he’s a psychopath who has held power for too long. He thinks he’s invincible, that his revolutionary ideas are infallible.”

  “Sounds like someone else I know.” Anna strolled past, wearing a blood-stained dress that barely covered her ass. “Hello, Maker.” She bowed respectfully. “Should I worship at your feet today?”

  He ground his teeth and I couldn’t help but let out a laugh. My feelings towards her changed daily. I was angry, then I was happy, then I was jealous. At that moment I was just excited to see her again. She grinned back at me and came to give me a hug. I tried not to wince when she pulled away and I saw the blood that had transferred from her dress onto my t-shirt.

  “I’m sorry I’ve been so absent, Jess.” Her eyes widened as she noted the blood. “Oh, fuck! I’m so sorry!” She grabbed my hoodie from the table and used it to start wiping me down.

  “It’s OK,” I soothed. Was it OK? How was that OK?!

  She shook her head. “I’m getting better.”

  Her dimpled cheeks no longer flushed like they used to.

  “That’s good. Zac told me how hard it is to learn—”

  “Not better at not killing!” she trilled. “Silly, Jess, that’s the best part. No, I mean, I’m getting better at being near you without thinking about bathing in your blood.”

  Alex stifled a laugh this time.

  “Oh,” I muttered. “Right.”

  She suddenly noticed the line of stitches down my arm. Then her wide eyes travelled up my body and settled on the bruising around my throat.

  “Who did this to you? I’ll kill them!” She yanked me back into another embrace, the blood no longer a concern.

  I went to reply, but she cut me off, “When are you two going to stop time-wasting, anyway? Hurry up and make Jess a vampire, Alex. Then we can play together.” And with that she skipped away, banging the front door as she left. My little bloody whirlwind.

  Alex and I stared at each other in silence.

  What would it mean if he did that to me? Did I want him to?

  The Legacy has found its own balance. Zac’s rage is owning him, but Alex’s heart is taking over…

  That seemed to make sense – that the bonding had messed with Alex’s emotions and opened his heart. At least it explained why he’d taken to hanging around me, holding himself back… trying to please me? I felt sure the reason his own asshole Cell members weren’t hanging out at his place, with their fucked-up parties, was for my benefit. To reduce the discomfort and tension between us. Putting me first.

  “Do you have feelings for her?” My gaze lingered on the door where Anna had flounced away.

  “Anna?” he asked with a frown. “Have you forgotten who you’re talking to? I don’t have feelings. Period.”

  “You have feelings for me.”

  “Oh, we’re finally acknowledging that, are we? Now that Constance has declared it? Does that mean you’re about to confess your own feelings for me?”

  I began mumbling my excuses on the way out the door.

  “I sired her,” he called after me. “We’re connected and I’m protective of her, but only as a father is of a child.”

  “She wants you to fuck her.”

  “She can join the line.”

  He found me in the garage, working up a sweat on the punch bag. He’d bought extra ones for me, of varying heights and weights, some even shaped like people. They were dotted around the room, allowing me to move between them, one fluid attack to the next.

  Sometimes, for a brief moment, I felt like a ninja. Then I’d stumble, or he’d show up to remind me how slow I was, and the frustration would return. I’d increase the aggression and get nothing for it, except being out of breath and looking like a mess.

  Today was no exception. I was stiff. My form was off. I could feel the disapproval wafting in from his loitering presence in the doorway.

  Then he was on me, striking so fast that I could never have registered it – should never have registered it, but somehow I did. I dropped left and ducked out of the way. Maybe I was improving after all. He grinned, and threw a punch toward my face. He would have stopped short of making contact, but as I ducked again I managed to crack my temple painfully into his elbow when he followed through.

  The ground wobbled. Buzzing erupted in my ears.

  “Shit! I’m sorry!” He took hold of my face, a panic in his eyes that I’d never seen before.

  “It’s fine,” I replied, shaking my head to dislodge the stabbing ache.

  With the fading pain, the buzzing stopped, leaving behind a familiar numbness. He still looked worried, trying to assess the damage, as if he thought my skull might have caved in.

  “Stop pussy-footing around and fight me!” I yelled, clawing back at the disappearing adrenalin.

  “Jess—”

  “Hurt me!” I screamed.

  “What? No—”

  “Fucking hit me, Alex! I need you to hurt me.” And I did. I needed it, right then. The pain would lessen the nothingness.

  Pain from Zac killed me. Pain from Alex brought me back to life.

  He stepped back, head shaking. He’d never looked so conflicted.

  “Hit me, you fucking coward!” I cried. Real tears. “I need you to hurt me. You play the big man, but really you’re pathetic. You make out that you take what you want, but I’ve been here all along and you let him take me, you let him claim me and do this to me. You’re no fucking better than he is. I hate you. You’re a vile piece of shi—”

  His backfist came from nowhere and split my lip. I spat blood onto his feet.

  A spark stuttered inside me and my lips curled into a smile. “Again.”

  “Jess—”

  “Again!” I shot fire from my palm into his face.

  He responded with a sweeping kick to my ankles, which landed me on my ass. The impact sent a jolt through my spine. I shot to my feet and found another fist, this time landing against my cheek. My head whipped over my shoulder and I spat more blood.

  He was holding back. He had to – he could snap my neck with an overzealous hit.

  I wanted more.

  The thrum in my veins intensified. Something black ran through my veins, and it wanted out.

  “You make me sick,” I whispered to his face, staring him down. “I’ve never met a weaker man. You think your games give you control? They give you nothing but a delusional ego. Zac is more man than you’ll ever—”

  There it was. The darkness that hid behind those sparkling blue eyes. The demon that lurked beneath the smiles and jokes.

  The next hit caused a torrent of blood to pour from my nose and put spots in my vision. The spark inside ignited into a blazing wave. It lapped at the cage, eager to be free. I couldn’t get hold of it. It was right there, but it wouldn’t cooperate.

  I howled in fury.

  And we became a perfectly choreographed dance of anger and lust. I feinted this way, and struck that way. He reciprocated, but with less restraint than usual. I’d poked the devil and revelled in his freedom.

  He let me hit him w
ith everything I had. The only difference was that he didn’t feel any pain from my blows. But each time he made contact with me it created a wave of pain, followed by a wave of euphoria.

  Time lost all meaning. My body lost meaning. It didn’t matter. I didn’t care if he broke me into a thousand pieces. He would build me back up.

  His perfect nose had a cut across the top. I went to hit it again, to cave it in, to watch it splatter—

  He caught me in a tight embrace, pinning my arms to my sides.

  “How long are we going to keep doing this dance?” he groaned.

  His face was a bloody mess. I dreaded to think what my own looked like. I could only see from one eye, since the other had puffed shut.

  He was agonisingly beautiful. Raw, and dark… and yet, there was light. He’d shown me. His power wrapped itself around me, circling tighter. I hoped it would never let go.

  Still, I head butted his nose and twirled free.

  He grappled me to the side of the room and pushed me, face first, into the wall. His chest heaving into my back, panting in my ear. Was he trembling?

  “Enough,” he warned, and the hairs rose on my neck. “Palms to the wall.”

  I grunted.

  “Stop fighting me. I can get you where you need to be without tearing you apart.” He took my hands and pressed them against the rough brick. Then he kicked my feet apart, spreading my legs, and I whimpered.

  I was alive. He made me feel alive.

  I didn’t want to be alive.

  I didn’t want to be dead.

  I wanted to be like them.

  Enough weakness. Enough with the emotional rollercoaster of adrenalin and anxiety.

  I hold the key to the shackles that bind you. I can set you free.

  His hands travelled along my body and I winced as they passed over bruised ribs – even so, I pushed my ass back into his groin. More.

  There was a ripping noise, and a flurry against my tingling skin, and my clothes were gone. I hadn’t even moved from my position against the wall. The bare skin of his chest met with my back. His erection was free, and pressing eagerly between the gap in my thighs. I glanced down at the torn clothing and suppressed the sudden urge to flee.

  No more running.

  A vision came to me, the memory of a dream; a dream where he’d threatened me at gunpoint and pinned me in this same way. Was that even a dream? It felt so real. He’d used the gun—

  He groaned and trailed a line of kisses down my spine and I knew – I was way beyond escaping his snare. His pleasure took me to a new place. Somewhere dark, and dangerous, and somewhere that I very much wanted to go.

  I spun around and fell into his dizzying kiss. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. He owned me with his tongue alone. Electrifying. Terrifying.

  Eventually I broke away and lost myself into his eyes – like opals dipped in golden glitter and polished to sparkling perfection. Did a monster really live behind them?

  “I’m scared of you,” I breathed.

  “I won’t ever hurt you.”

  I scoffed. My body was covered in cuts and bruises.

  “Don’t,” he said. “That’s not fair. You asked me… you needed… we—”

  I pressed a finger to his lips. So cold. So perfect.

  “Mostly I’m scared of what I am, when I’m with you,” I corrected. “Because when I touch you, I feel like I could do anything. And sometimes… something sparks in my chest, and what I want… it’s not… it’s darkness—”

  This time it was me stammering, and he cut me off with another kiss.

  Time stood still, as if the occasion were momentous enough for this feat. Encapsulating us in a frozen bubble of ecstasy.

  You could be one of us.

  I couldn’t tell if he was inside my head or if I was just remembering previously spoken words. But the thought wouldn’t shift. My heart soared at the idea. If I was a vampire, then maybe Zac wouldn’t have to run from me. And maybe I wouldn’t feel so hollow. Maybe I’d have a reason to keep going.

  Or maybe, just maybe, I would forget Zac altogether and follow the black tendrils wisping through me… follow them all the way into Alex’s heart. Maybe I would let him in. Would it be easier, to deal with the guilt of betrayal to Zac, if I had an immortal’s level of feeling?

  Then she dies… and I’ll be free of the fucking siren bitch.

  Zac hated me. The crushing pain in my heart caused a sob to escape, whilst Alex was still kissing me. How long had we been kissing? My split lip was sore, my tongue coated in blood – mine, or his? I pulled back, only so far as to rest my forehead on his shoulder and breathe him in. There was a scent – not sweat, but something similar, something primal. Possessive. Was he marking me? Was that a thing?

  “I can’t take this pain anymore,” I gasped, clutching him tighter. “I’m either totally numb or I feel like my heart is being ripped from my chest. It’s agony. Please, Alex. Please. Make it stop”

  “I will. When you ask for exactly what you want.”

  I pressed my head harder against his shoulder until it hurt.

  “OK,” he said. “How shall we do this? A nice warm bubble bath and some candles to get you in the mood, or shall I just fuck you right now? Because, you know, if you don’t give me specifics then I’m going to make the decisions, and you might not like them.”

  “I hate you.” I intended for that to sound aggressive, but it came across pitiable. My heart was thundering so loudly in my ears that I could barely hear anything else.

  He exhaled into my hair. “What are you, fifteen? You don’t hate me, Jess, you love me.”

  Before I could find a response to that, I snapped back to reality and became aware once more that we were naked. Extremely, very… naked. He was throbbing against me. Solid. Urgent. His breathing rate had intensified.

  “I might have lied when I said I could easily control myself with you,” he mumbled. “You need to calm down, your adrenalin is pushing me to the edge. I can’t remain standing like this for much longer before I act.”

  It was familiar body language. Muscles taut, jaw set, fists clenched – the way Zac always looked right before he pulled away from me, or disappeared completely, or…. I forced away thoughts of our sex. It was going to be different with Alex. He had no intention of disappearing and I had no idea what would happen if he let go.

  Telling me to calm down was about as much use as an ashtray on a motorcycle. My body had a mind of its own, and we all knew it relished getting me into trouble. Therefore, my heart kindly went ahead and beat even faster, and my palms went clammy.

  “That’s why you’re wasted on Zachariah,” he groaned, shifting to rock into me with his hardness. “There’s so much hunger in you.”

  I reciprocated his rocking, grinding against him. Aching need pulling me apart.

  “I won’t do it until you ask. I know you want me to do that, so you don’t have to feel any guilt. The bad guy storms in and takes you, and you get what you wanted all along, but you can pretend that you didn’t.” He gently lifted my chin up with a finger. I tried so hard not to look at him.

  “Stop,” I fought weakly. “That’s not fair, I can’t think straight…”

  “Let go,” he whispered. “Stop fighting me.”

  I leant into him, my hands shaking as his cool breath hit me again. Electric shivers ran along my spine. Every single muscle in my body burned with the ache of wanting him.

  Needing him.

  “Say it,” he demanded urgently. “I can’t hold myself back much longer. SAY. IT.”

  “I…. I….” All my breath seemed to escape me. “I… want you. I want all of you. Everything.”

  He whipped me around, once again face-first into the wall, and yanked on my hips, pulling my ass into him. There was no teasing, no tenderness – he entered me on a starved thrust, an explosion of passion and pain. I cried out as he drew away and slammed straight back.

  Fisting a handful of my hair, he pulled me flush to his so
lid chest. I teetered on tiptoes, trying to maintain balance whilst his rhythm never faltered.

  “Say it again,” he spoke into my ear, before biting it. The shock made me gasp.

  “No,” I spat. Poke the devil.

  He growled in response, tightening the hold on my hair until I felt it might rip from my scalp. My skin surged with energy.

  “Say it,” his voice dropped.

  “Fuck me like a man instead of a loser, and I might.”

  His thunderous snarl was half laughter, half anger. Hands went to my throat and squeezed until my eyes were bulging. He fucked me so hard that my legs trembled and buckled. I dangled, held up only by his cock, and his strangling hands.

  Then, in a flash, he scooped me up and deposited me amongst a pile of discarded punch bags. Fingers plunged into my wetness, followed by his tongue. Ravenous. Angry. I screamed his name over and over as he made me come.

  Before I’d even finished the shuddering climax he was crawling over me, pressing his tip against my opening. I thrust upwards, but he pulled back, only letting the head tease me.

  He held my gaze. Intense, wondrous. “Say it,” he urged.

  “Make me a vampire,” I gasped, flooding with relief and euphoria as he drove himself back into me. This was where he belonged. I could conquer the world with this man.

  26

  Jess

  He fucked me like the animal that I knew him to be. It was savage, it was desperate, and it was perfect. Bruises blossomed on my wrists where he held me. My ass was raw from the spanking he gave it. We shifted position so many times that I could barely tell which way was up – rolling amongst the tattered leather on the floor, my knees scuffed, and my mind blown.

  He didn’t escape unblemished either. My nails dragged down his back until they drew blood, revelling in how roughly I could claw, how hard I could bite. No pulling away from me. It only encouraged him further.