by Lexi C. Foss
My stomach heaved on impulse, the rotting flesh producing a smell I couldn’t handle. Damien placed a hand on my shoulder and leaned over me to retrieve the head by the hair and more carefully set it on the table again. Rather than remove his palm, it remained there, his fingers giving me a slight squeeze of warning.
I swallowed the bile in my throat and parted my mouth for my next inhale, unable to handle the grotesque aroma in the air.
“What the hell is this?” the nasally voiced vampire demanded, the sound of a chair scraping following his words. “How dare you come in—”
Ryder silenced him with a bullet from his gun, the boom causing the entire room to stop breathing again.
A thud followed the gunshot.
“Apparently, my ascension wasn’t clear,” Ryder said after a beat, his voice underlined in power. “For those who need this stated in blunt terms, allow me to explain—I’m in charge. My word is law. I will be making changes around here, and you will abide by those changes or get the fuck out of my territory. Any questions?”
Silence.
Damien tightened his grip on my shoulder once more. I didn’t understand why. I was still sitting on my heels, my hands loose on my thighs. Was it my pulse? Could he hear my quickening heartbeat? I couldn’t control that, not with Ryder’s dominance flaring at my back.
“Now, some of you might be thinking this is temporary and believe that you don’t need to listen to me. So allow me to disabuse you of those illusions—I have every intention of staying. And as I’m one of the oldest of our kind, Lilith won’t be able to refuse me. So I suggest you attempt to ally with me rather than against me. Which brings me to my gifts.”
Ryder’s thigh brushed my arm as he stepped forward to push his chair beneath the table. Then he bent to retrieve something from the tabletop. While I couldn’t see it, I suspected it was the head that had fallen onto the floor before.
“Does anyone recognize this former immortal?” Ryder asked. “Or any of the others on the tables before you?”
Several comments followed his question, all voiced by different vampires around the room.
“Karim lived in the condo a few doors down from mine.”
“Alfonzo worked security for Silvano’s building.”
“Stiles was in charge of human transport from the farm down in Hugo’s area.”
Additional details continued to float around the room, the vampires seeming eager to appease Ryder’s request for information.
When the voices began to die down, he tossed the head back onto the table with a thunk. “Well. It seems we are all starting to understand each other. But there’s one piece of the puzzle not yet discussed, which is the fact that someone sent twelve vampires to assassinate me.”
Electricity hummed through the air on the heels of his statement, the tension pulling at my senses and making my heart race faster in my chest. Damien’s hand was beginning to feel like a brand, his presence a fixture at my back that refused to budge.
Something was coming.
Something bad.
“So now for my next gift,” Ryder continued, his hand appearing in my peripheral vision as he pulled a device out of his pocket.
What happened to his gun? Perhaps he’d set it on the table, or maybe Damien had it. The room had gone still, which could have been a result of Ryder’s domineering presence. However, I sensed more was going on than I could see from my subservient position on the floor.
“Who sent you?” His voice sounded through the room again, but this time from the item in his hand.
The question was followed by a grunt of pain and then another male saying, “Fuck, man. I said I’d talk.”
“Then talk. And I also suggest you remember who you’re speaking to,” Ryder replied through the recording, his tone implying dissatisfaction.
“There’s a group of older vamps who don’t want you in power.” The male cleared his throat. “I didn’t want to go along with this, I swear. But my maker made me.”
“Who’s your maker?”
Ryder stopped the recording there and asked, “Any guesses on what he said?” He paused before adding, “I’ll give you a hint. She’s in this room.”
A hiss broke through the air, sending a chill down my spine.
Damien’s grip on my shoulder shifted as he forced me to the ground, my nose hitting the marble below. Shouts and curses littered the air, as did an array of gunshots, each one making me flinch against the ground.
Screams followed.
Then a harsh gurgling sound.
Thuds against the floor.
General chaos.
And Ryder’s angry tones.
Rather than remain on the floor, I curled my legs beneath me and crawled quickly toward the table with the desire to hide beneath it, only to have my ankle caught in a savage grip. My gown slid across the marble as the culprit yanked me toward him.
I struck out with my heel, landing a kick against my opponent’s sternum. His grunt turned to a snarl as he wrenched me backward with his cement-like grasp on my ankle.
Just moments ago, I thought I was going to die at Ryder’s hands and become a meal for his friends to enjoy.
Now, I saw my death reflected in a pair of evil blue eyes framed by a handsome face and underlined by a cruelly curved mouth.
His hunger hit me like a heat wave, his hands reminding me of lycan claws as he tried to pull me beneath him.
No.
No.
No!
I refused to play the victim card, all those days in a cell raped repeatedly while drugged. Glimmers of the memories flashed behind my eyes, reminding me of the pain and torment I’d experienced. Just enough to kick-start my heart and my survival instinct.
My training took over, my arms and legs moving with a precision I’d honed over the years.
This had happened at the breeding camps, too. I had a vague memory of making a lycan bleed. He paid me back in kind by slashing his claws across my stomach.
There and gone in a second, my mind protecting me from whatever vicious act came next.
Not this time, I thought, blindly fighting for my life. The vampire crawled over me, his strength insurmountable and resolute. I tried to knee him, to kick him, to scratch out his eyes. But he caught my wrists and forced them over my head, his lower body landing against mine.
And in the next moment, he disappeared.
A roar came from nearby, followed by my perpetrator’s head landing on the floor beside me.
I gaped at it, then looked up to find Ryder standing above me in his immaculate suit.
He holstered his gun against his belt—a wardrobe attribute I’d missed in my earlier perusal of his outfit—and then he held out his hand for me.
I pressed my palm to his, my mind lost to a series of questions. My world shifted as he pulled me upward. His lips brushed my forehead before he tucked me behind him in a protective gesture.
I clung to his jacket, confused and overwhelmed. My lungs ached, demanding more air. I inhaled Ryder’s minty scent, his presence immediately calming my nerves. It was wrong, and frightening, but I needed it right then, and so I allowed it. I’d evaluate the reasons behind the comfort later.
As my pulse began to slow, I made the mistake of looking around the room.
My heart promptly jumped back into a chaotic rhythm, but for an entirely different reason.
Headless bodies decorated the tables, and blood dotted the clothes, chairs, and floors.
He massacred them… But how? He only held a gun.
The answer lurked in Damien’s hand as he sauntered toward us. “Done” was all he said as he set a wicked dagger on a nearby table.
I peeked out from behind Ryder to find a handful of vampires standing in the corner of the room, the majority of them gaping at the scene. Two, however, wore smiles of approval.
Rather than drop my gaze the way I should, I studied them and the scene, both mortified and enthralled by everything at the same time.
&nbs
p; It was so thorough and efficient—two adjectives I associated with Ryder. Powerful, too, which was evidenced by the blue-eyed vampire’s headless body a few feet away from me. Another blade stuck out of his chest. That one must have belonged to Ryder.
Had the knives been in the bag of heads? They were too big for him to have concealed beneath his jacket. However he’d done it, I was impressed. Not only had he taken down over a dozen vampires in the blink of an eye, but he’d done so without getting a speck of blood on his suit. Even his hands were clean.
Ryder redefined the term monster. And rather than terrify me, I felt… hot.
He’d just slain an entire room of evil in a way I could only dream of accomplishing.
Who are you? I marveled, studying his broad shoulders.
His claims to be a royal were real, but he was unlike any I’d ever studied. He was ruthless and harsh, two traits known for his kind, yet he’d acted out against his fellow vampires, not the humans. That alone made him unique. The events of tonight, coupled with everything else, and I just didn’t know where to even begin with him.
“Consider yourselves warned,” Ryder said, addressing the huddled group in the corner of the room. “I will not tolerate disobedience. I will not tolerate assassination attempts. And I will not tolerate disrespect. I am not Silvano, but I am your new royal. It’s now your duty to inform the others.”
A chorus of “Yes, My Prince” and “Yes, Your Highness” sounded from the group.
“Good. And to ensure you all truly understand who I am and what I can do, I expect you to work together to clean up this mess. The bodies are to be burned, and human help is not allowed. Why? Because my message is for you and you alone.” He glanced at Damien. “Are there cameras in this room?”
“Yes,” his friend replied. “Security footage covers all common areas of this building, including the kitchens, servant areas, and the incinerators out back that are commonly used to dispose of remains.”
“Brilliant. Then I can use those feeds to verify that my orders are being executed properly.” He returned his attention to the others. “Should any of you decide not to assist in cleaning up this mess, I’ll visit you personally to ascertain why. My guess is, you won’t like my response.”
No one protested or dared to utter a word.
Perhaps they were as stunned as I was at his edict.
“Also, going forward, there will be no children on the menu,” he continued. “There will be no organs on the menu or otherwise, either. Do I make myself clear, Meghan?”
“Y-yes, Your Highness.”
“Should I find you incapable of following such a direct order, you will be replaced,” he added, his tone severe. “And the children you’ve already procured are to be sent up to Silvano’s former penthouse. I will find a use for them there. Also, the female human who tried to offer me her organs will be my personal server going forward. She will not interact with any other customers. Only me.”
“Yes, My Prince. I’ll see that it’s arranged.”
“See that you do,” he replied, then looked to his friend. “Shall we?”
Damien nodded. “I believe your message came through loud and clear.”
“Let’s hope,” Ryder drawled as he faced me.
His gaze registered surprise, confusing me for a moment before I realized what I’d done.
Shit.
I immediately lowered my head, taking on a submissive stance. But it was already too late, the tension in him palpable as he pressed his palm to my lower back.
He led me to the door and out into the lobby. I remained silent with each step, my heart racing in my chest.
Yet it wasn’t driven by fear but by rebelliousness.
I’d broken a society rule.
Several, in fact.
That vampire who attacked me had every right to put his fangs in my body—at least according to the hierarchy of our world—and I’d fought him. Then I’d studied the room and met Ryder’s gaze head-on. It made me feel powerful. Alive. Indestructible. Which was a ridiculous reaction because Ryder could snap my neck with a flick of his wrist.
However, some broken part of me didn’t care.
I could make my own choices. If they earned me a death sentence, at least I’d go to the afterlife with my soul intact.
“You need a card,” Damien said as he approached us. I dared a glance at him and found him holding a bag. Did it contain more heads? Weapons? Dangerous items?
Rather than ask, I lowered my gaze again and contemplated this newfound power in my spirit. I didn’t want to bow or submit. I wanted to rise and fight. I wanted to do what Ryder had just done to that room of monsters.
He was like a god among vampires, old and powerful.
I peeked up at him, noting the handsome cheekbones and square jawline of his profile. Typical vampiric traits, yet they appeared even more masculine and lethal now. Because I knew what he could do.
His gaze slid to mine, his lips curling up at one corner. He should be reprimanding me for daring to look at him. Punishing me for fighting that vampire. Slaughtering me for breaking the molds of my society programming.
However, he did none of those things.
He just… smiled.
A ding sounded, alerting us that the elevator had arrived. He guided me inside with his palm against my back. Damien followed and dropped his bag on the floor.
“This is where you need the first code,” Damien explained, uttering the numbers. He began to type them as the doors closed. “That’s the one for the floor the guest suite is on. There’s a second set for the penthouse.”
“And how do you pause the elevator?” Ryder asked.
“Pause it?” Damien replied, glancing back at him. “Why?”
“Because I have one more lesson to dispense tonight.” His eyes went to mine. “Willow misbehaved, and I want to ensure that never happens again.”
13
Willow
My heart stopped.
What?
But he had grinned when I met his gaze, almost as if he were proud of me for disobeying the society rules. He’d also asked me to do that when we were alone. Yet now he wanted to punish me for it?
Were we not alone when I met his gaze?
Did he know I scanned the room when I should have been submitting?
Had I completely misread his cues?
The elevator car came to a halt, scattering goose bumps along my exposed arms. What’s he going to do to me?
I didn’t dare meet his gaze now, my shoulders caving in a way that made me feel small. A memory began to surface, something involving claws and tee—
“Willow.” Ryder grabbed my chin and tilted my head to the side, forcing me to look at him. His dark eyes searched mine. “What do you call me if I push too far?”
My brow furrowed. “What?”
“Were you not paying attention on the plane?” he asked, tsking. “Then I guess we’ll review it thoroughly now.”
His palm drifted from my lower back to my hip as he stepped in front of me with his back facing the elevator door. He kept his other hand on my chin, forcing me to maintain eye contact with him.
“You call me by my given name when we’re around others. You call me by my title when it’s just you and me. Damien doesn’t count as ‘others.’ Nod so I know you understand.”
Was he implying that I could stop whatever was about to happen by uttering his name? Wait, no, it was his title in private that would cause him to stop. But would he really? It seemed unlikely considering he wanted to punish me for defying him.
“Hmm. That’s not a nod.” He started walking me backward until my shoulder blades hit a hard chest behind me. Damien. I hadn’t even felt him move, my attention on Ryder.
“Perhaps she doesn’t understand the purpose of a safe word,” Damien suggested.
“Yes, nor does she appear to believe me when I say I don’t share.” His hand on my hip drifted to the slit in my gown, thus allowing his fingertips to brush my skin
. Goose bumps cascaded down my limbs from his teasing touch.
What is this man doing to me?
His nearness stirred an intoxicating mix of hot and cold sensations deep inside me. How did he plan to punish me? What had I done wrong? Why does he smell so damn good?
I inhaled his minty essence, my tongue parched for a taste. His scent, combined with the cinnamon and spice of the male behind me, and I forgot how to utter my own name.
Two powerful vampires, caging me between their hard, lethal bodies.
Oh, Goddess…
“Your heart’s racing, Willow,” Ryder murmured, his nose going to my neck. “I can practically feel it in my mouth, pulsing madly. Are you afraid? Or is it something else?”
I couldn’t answer him because I didn’t know. My legs began to shake, my chest throbbing from the impulse of an unknown desire laced with darkness and intrigue.
His presence was hypnotizing me.
No, their presence was the cause. Two deadly vampires, trapping their prey and using their alluring wills to lull me into a pliant state.
There was no fighting this.
They were too masculine, too predatory, for me to resist.
Ryder hummed against my throat as his fingers drifted across my thigh to find the damp apex between my legs. He drew a finger through my slit, his touch like liquid fire. I jolted against him, then gasped as Damien captured my hips with his palms to hold me in place.
“I don’t share, Willow,” Ryder whispered, his lips tracing a path up the column of my neck to my ear. “I told you that on the plane, yet your reactions tonight suggested you don’t believe me. So I’m going to teach you a lesson, sweet pet. Ready?”
No, I wanted to say. But I found myself nodding, almost as if he were my master and pulling my puppet strings. Perhaps he was. Vampires could control minds to an extent. Was he in mine right now? Conducting my actions?
His fingertip brushed my clit, causing me to groan and forget my own thoughts.
Ryder chuckled against my ear. “I’m accepting that sound as an affirmative.” His teeth skimmed my jaw, stirring a tingling sensation inside, then his mouth captured mine in a kiss that was borderline harsh. I panted against him, my lungs burning for a deeper breath. But I couldn’t pull in enough oxygen, my mind lost to his claim.
