by Lucinda Dark
"You took off your clothes," Maverick said.
A groan bubbled up from my throat. For fuck's sake, are you fucking kidding me? An echo of laughter was all I got in response from the bitch who'd definitely had some fun last night. "Right..." I scooted the sheets back over my bare legs. "Talking," I repeated. "Start doing it."
"Do you feel any pain?" Torin asked.
I blinked, startled by the question, but a quick run through of my body told me I wasn't. I shook my head in answer. Maverick's lips tightened. My eyebrows inched higher. "Why?"
"Because he gave you more of his blood last night and he wants to know if it's helping with your pain," Maverick answered. For the first time, he glanced at the other man. The look was anything but friendly.
My mouth dropped open. Blood. He'd given me more blood. I turned accusing eyes on Torin. "I thought we had a fucking understanding," I said through tight lips and gritted teeth.
"Not where your safety is concerned," Torin replied.
I couldn't believe his fucking audacity. There was no shame, no regret in his stance. I tilted my head to the side. "You shouldn't have made that decision without asking me," I said.
Torin's eyes met mine. "I'd do it again."
"No the fuck you will not," I growled, my fists clenching in the sheets. "My fucking body, my choice."
"But it's not your body anymore, now is it?" he shot back, scowling. "You let a demon inside and you're suffering for it. I won't have you suffer, Barbie."
"It's my choice!" I threw back the covers and stood up, storming up to him. Even if he was several inches taller and half-vampire, I'd killed actual vampires. I had no fear. I shoved against his chest and raised a finger, pointing it at him. "If you ever fucking do something like this again, I won't forgive you. I'll slice your fucking head off, do you understand?"
Steel rose from the depths of his eyes growing redder the longer he stared at me. His vampire was rising to the surface, but I didn't back down. I kept his gaze. I held it. "Do what you must," was all he said.
Maverick must have sensed the impending explosion because he chose that exact moment to step between us, cutting off our stare down. “I know you’re pissed,” he said quickly, directing my attention elsewhere, “and you have every fucking right to be.” He paused and shot another glare behind him at the man who stood as still as a statue, unrepentant. It made me want to fucking punch him in his dick. I balled my fist as if I were preparing to do just that, but once again Maverick stopped me. “We have another issue we have to talk about.”
That must have been news for Torin as well. He stepped around Maverick until we stood in a circle—two fully dressed men and one girl in nothing more than her underwear and a man’s t-shirt. I turned away and headed for my closet. As if sensing my intentions, neither of them followed or looked my way as I ducked into the small walk-in and changed out of the t-shirt and into a pair of jeans and a tank top.
When I came back out, Maverick was pulling a packet of papers out that had been folded and stuck in the flap of his back jeans pocket. He opened them and laid them on the end of the bed, spreading his fingers over them to stretch out the creases. I bypassed the tray, snatching up a roll from the plate as I looked over his shoulder. My headache was still present, though lessening even more as I focused on other things. I picked up the first page and began reading.
“What’s this?” I asked. It was a list of names, none that I recognized. Beside each name was a corresponding date. The dates were spread out at first but grew closer and closer together as I read farther down the list until there were several names with the same date.
“That’s a list of what I suspect are homeless victims of a rogue vampire about an hour or so from here.”
I looked up. “You’re sure?”
Torin stepped forward and retrieved the list. “What else do you have?” he demanded.
Maverick stiffened but reached for the other papers and began spreading them out on the end of my bed, pushing the tray farther up as I finished off my roll. “I believe the vampire is hiding out in this warehouse.” He pointed to a grainy black and white picture of a crumbling building with windows high up on the second and third floors, several broken from the looks of it. I picked it up and took a closer look. Vampires—well, vampires not like Torin—couldn’t stand sunlight. Windows would be a problem for them.
“Why do you think they’re here?” I asked.
“According to the blueprints I looked up, there’s a basement.” Maverick reached for the pile of papers and filed through them until he found one with a black and white blueprint and held it out. I took it, casting him a curious look.
“How’d you get all this?” I asked.
Maverick pressed his lips together, but I caught the curling at the edges. Was he … smiling? No. Maverick McKnight didn’t fucking smile, but he was certainly smirking. “Most of it was public knowledge, the names, however … those were records from the police department of that area. I managed to hack into their database and download that,” he said.
Damn, I thought. Color me surprised and impressed. I glanced at the blueprints. He was right, according to these, there was a fairly large basement just beneath the warehouse probably used for boiler rooms and storage. It would be well protected from any sunlight.
“I suppose this warehouse was a known place for the homeless to congregate?” Torin inquired as he, too, sifted through the pages.
Maverick nodded.
“Then we should check it out,” I said, laying the pages in my hand down.
Torin lifted his head and stared at me. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” he said. “I think I can check it out myself and—”
“No one goes alone,” Maverick snapped.
“With Barbie’s,”—I narrowed my gaze on Torin, daring him silently to finish that sentence— “condition,” he continued, “I don’t think we should take on anything like this until we figure that out first. And I think you need more training.”
“What?” Maverick’s tone could have frozen hellfire. I darted a look between them. Maverick’s attention left the pages on the bed as he turned the full force of his anger on Torin. “I’ve been going on these fucking missions since before you left for fucking England. What the fuck do you mean you think I need more training?”
“It’s dangerous and while Barbie has years of experience and training, you’re human and—”
“She’s fucking human too,” Maverick argued.
“Not anymore.” Torin said the words so softly that it took a moment for my hungover brain to concentrate enough to digest them. But once I did, the truth of those two simple fucking words hit me with the weight of a bulldozer. It knocked the air from my chest.
Not. Human. At least, not completely. For months now, I’d walked around with the knowledge that a demon resided within my soul and not just any demon, but an old powerful one. I’d traded my body for her assistance, for her power. My parents had taken such pride in being human. To vampires, humans were weak. They were prey. But my parents had said “fuck that” and they’d trained and studied their asses off to overcome the result of their biology. They’d forced Brandon and me to do the same. What would they think if they knew their daughter had turned her back on humanity?
It was all done in the name of vengeance, but as I thought about it, what had I done thus far except track down blood-consumed vampires and exterminate them? I hadn’t yet started looking for the one responsible. All I had was a name. A single name. Arrius. I lifted my head and met Torin’s gaze. Would he know that name? I wasn’t so naive as to think he would know all of the vampires in the world, especially considering that he wasn’t exactly a full-fledged creature of the night. He had agreed to help me, though, surely he or someone he knew could gather information on the man.
I resolved to make the inquiry at another time, however, as—at that very moment—Maverick launched himself at Torin, punching him in the face.
“Hey!” I yelle
d, stepping between them and drawing Maverick to a chest-heaving, panting halt. “Not in my fucking room,” I growled.
Maverick hesitated, glaring over my shoulder at Torin, but after a moment he relaxed. Turning, he snatched up the papers and stormed out of the room. I sighed, releasing a breath of air I hadn’t realized I’d been holding in before pivoting slowly to look at Torin. He didn’t even look fazed by Maverick’s outburst. I frowned.
“Torin?”
Gradually, his head tipped down as he looked at me. I bit the edge of my lip, ignoring how his gaze zeroed in on it. I was still pissed at him. Pain or no pain, he shouldn’t have given me more of his blood. It certainly wasn’t something I would have wanted. We stood there quietly, each assessing the other. Something was off about him. Something was wrong. He was far too reserved lately, obstinate. Out of both he and Maverick, I would have said Mav was the bigger asshole, but something had changed in Torin since he’d been back. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
He didn’t speak. The silence drifted between us, hanging in the air, invisible. Silence was a strange thing. It could be comforting or terrifying. Safe or threatening. Here, between us now, it felt like neither of those things. The silence stretched, instead, like a great vast distance separating us though physically we were close.
My lips parted, a question forming on my tongue. Before it could escape, though, he turned and left the room. Well, that told me absolutely nothing, I thought. I had a feeling, though. I wasn’t sure if it was something that was truly my own or perhaps a gift from Satrina’s power, but it was a cautious alarm, alerting me to a change coming. What the warning was about, though, still remained a mystery. That, more than anything else, scared me.
If Maverick and Torin—the two I’d come to rely on so greatly—couldn’t handle the impending storm, then what the hell was I going to do when I had to enter it alone?
Nineteen
Barbie
Rich, warm, sunlight drifted over my skin. I turned my face up to it, relishing in the heated rays as I leaned against the passenger door of my car. The sound of clicking heels drew my head back down as the girl I’d been waiting for approached.
“Hey!” Olivia bounced up to my side, turning and leaning against the door next to me.
“Hey,” I replied with a grimace as I prepared my apology for how I’d acted at her birthday party. “Listen, about your party, I’m sorry that I—”
“Oh, stop it,” Olivia interrupted, waving a perfectly manicured hand in front of me. “It happens to everyone,” she said with a laugh. “I’m actually kinda glad you got drunk.”
“You are?” I frowned.
She giggled. “Oh hells yeah. It tells me you’re actually human.”
I stiffened. Human. Not anymore. I forced a smile on my face despite my internal struggle. “What do you mean?” I asked lightly.
She rolled her eyes and turned, snagging my hand as she dragged me off the car and towards the school entrance. I hit the button to lock the vehicle and followed her. “You’re so tough and all ‘grrr, I’m badass Barbie. Don’t fuck with me or I’ll fuck you up’ all the time. It was a riot to see you so different. It’s like you had finally let go of whatever baggage you carry around. You just had fun for a change.”
“Hey, I have fun,” I protested.
She quirked a brow at me. “Oh really?” Both her expression and her tone suggested doubt.
“Yeah…” I squinted at her. “Wait, what’s up with that description of me? I don’t go around saying that shit.”
We reached the doors and pushed through into the main hallway. “No, you don’t actually say that,” Olivia consented. “But it’s how you act. And seriously, when was the last time you actually let go and had fun before my birthday?”
“Well, I … um…” I thought about it. “How would you describe fun?” I winced as I asked the question. I was sure she probably wouldn’t include hunting vampires or training to hunt vampires or researching ways to kill them as “fun” activities.
“My point exactly,” Olivia said. “You’re a stick in the mud, babe.” She sighed loudly as if saying the words pained her. I pursed my lips. “Face it, you’re like an eighty year old woman in a teenager’s body.”
“I think that’s going a bit overboard,” I argued as we came to a stop alongside her locker and she opened it to retrieve her books for the day.
“Oh, you think so, do you?” She shook her head. “Regardless, I’m hoping that you’ll show more of that fun Barbie on the upcoming senior trip.”
“Yeah, Italy,” I said with a sigh, turning my back and shoving it against the lockers. Was it really a good idea to go to Italy when I really needed to be tracking down the mysterious Arrius?
“Oh no.” Olivia snapped her locker shut, making me jump. She shoved a finger at my face. “You are not backing out of the trip, you bitch.”
I blinked in surprise at her ferociousness. “Uh … I wasn’t—”
“Oh, come on, I know I’m not a freakin’ genius,” she snapped. “But I’m not an idiot either. I can read your expressions. You were thinking about backing out, weren’t you?”
I put my hands up placatingly. “There’s just a lot going on right now,” I said. “I’m not sure if Italy is really the best idea.”
“Well, it’s too late,” she said. “The deposits have been paid for and since I’m one of the students helping with the itinerary, I’ve seen a list of everyone who’s paid and Mrs. McKnight went ahead and put the rest of the money down. You’re going. Unless you want to waste several thousands of dollars.”
Guilt curdled in my gut. Shit, I hadn’t known she’d already paid for me. “You’re an heiress,” I replied defensively. “That’s nothing to you. You wear freaking designer shoes for the love of fuck.”
Olivia pulled her finger back and flipped a strand of red hair over her shoulder. “Doesn’t matter, I know it bothers you and I’ll use anything in my arsenal to get you to go.”
I groaned. Loudly.
“Uhh … Barbie?” Olivia pointed over my shoulder. I turned and winced. Ben stood there, his eyes wide as he stared with both eyebrows up near his hairline. I rolled my eyes, pivoting to face him. “I’ll see ya later,” Olivia said, heading off.
“Yeah,” I replied absently as I gave the rest of my attention to Ben. “What’s up?” Ben’s eyebrows lowered and his gaze centered on Olivia as she trailed away. I frowned and glanced back. Nothing. She was just walking. I looked back to Ben. “You good?”
“H-huh? What? Yeah, I’m fine,” he stuttered, yanking his gaze away. “I, um…”
Patience was not one of my virtues. I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “Ben? Come on, focus, buddy.”
He blinked and stared down at me before inhaling sharply. “You’re friends with Olivia Jones,” he blurted.
I pressed my lips into a flat line and lifted both brows. Blinking back rapidly, I deadpanned, “Really? What would give you that idea?”
Instead of taking a moment to appreciate my sarcastic wit—a crime, really—he plowed forward as if he hadn’t even heard. “Do you know if she’s dating anyone?” he asked, his cheeks reddening. “I mean, I knew she was with that guy Ryan from the art studio classes, but I heard he transferred. So, I was wondering … I mean … would you know if she’s—”
I held up a hand. Well. That wasn’t what I’d expected. “No,” I said. “She’s not dating anyone to my knowledge.” Fucking was a different matter, right? I had no clue what she’d done after I’d left her birthday, but I couldn’t imagine that Olivia had gone to bed alone.
“Do you think that she’d—I don’t know—maybe … that she’d…”
“Why don’t you ask her?” I interrupted him, tilting my head to the side.
His cheeks brightened even further. Ben reached up and slid his palm behind his neck, craning it back as he grimaced. “We’ve never really talked,” he admitted. “I mean, we talk in class and stuff and I think she’s really pretty, but I
don’t know if she’d go for a guy like me.”
I sighed. “You won’t know until you try, now will you?” I pointed out.
He looked down. “No, I guess not,” he admitted. “I just don’t know what to talk to her about or how to ask her out.”
I pursed my lips and huffed, deciding to give him a break. “She’s going on that senior spring break trip,” I said. “Why don’t you ask her about that? She’s one of the students in charge of the itinerary and if you go, you’d probably get more opportunities to be alone with her.”
Ben brightened. “That’s a great idea!”
I nodded. “Yeah, I have those every once in a while.”
“I—” Before Ben could finish whatever he was saying, a shadow fell over my back and I felt an electric tingle of heat rocket through me. Ben looked over my shoulder, blanching and backing up. “I … um…”
My eyebrows arched up. Torin stood behind me, his face a stone mask. He appeared to swell even larger than he already was, his natural height somehow bigger and more threatening, though he remained quiet.
“Thanks for the advice…” Ben said, bringing my attention back to him as he backed up, keeping his gaze on Torin. “I’ll … ah … see ya.”
I was, by no means, a genius. But then again, it didn’t take a fucking genius to figure out why Ben suddenly whipped around and strode away. It was clear that he was trying to appear casual about it, but he was in fact, sweating profusely and walking as though he was subtly trying to get out of the way of a firing squad.
I turned back to Torin and took a good look at him, automatically taking a step back when the full force of his intensity hit me. He was so close that I could smell the scent of his shampoo. Or maybe that was just my new heightened senses. Whatever it was, it made my blood catch fire.
