by Lucinda Dark
I looked back. Maverick stared at me like he didn’t recognize me. He even stopped a few feet away from me as if he wasn’t sure if he wanted to approach me further or not. “Why not?” I asked. “He was going to kill us.” I turned back to the vampire. “He was going to kill me and then you and he and his friends were going to drink our blood and drain us dry. Weren’t you?”
The vampire didn’t answer me this time. He did, however, try to slash out with his one arm. I stepped back quickly and the talons just barely grazed my chest—three long horizontal rips split open my shirt. I frowned down at it.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I said as I lifted my head. I stabbed him in the leg and twisted. Snarls exploded from between the vampire’s lips as the bone and flesh beneath my blade began to melt away.
Hands gripped my shoulders and pulled me back. I paused as a new sensation overcame me. Warm tingles raced from where Maverick touched me to farther south. I craned my neck back and looked at him. “Barbie, we’re not like them. We don’t do this. We don’t torture them.”
“You don’t,” I replied. “They tortured me.” I snapped my attention back to the vampire and yanked the sword out and shoved it into his other leg. Snarls continued to drip from his lips, but this time, with those snarls tears leaked from his eyes. Bloody tears. They streaked down his face, drawing long red lines that dripped from his chin onto the ash covered floor. “They killed my parents,” I continued, twisting the blade as he released an agonized cry. “They killed my brother.” I twisted the other way as numbness crept up my body. Those bloody tears didn’t sway me. In fact, they made me want a burger for some reason. Real bad. I could go for a bite after this. I looked back at Maverick once more. “Hey, do you think we could swing by a fast food place after this?” I asked. “I’m kinda hungry.”
His eyes widened. Maverick released my shoulders and reached behind him. I didn’t realize what he was going to do until it was too late. Maverick lifted his Glock and aimed it at the vampire’s head. Soft words drifted back to me just before he pulled the trigger. Words from the vampire.
“Thank you,” the vampire whispered just before Maverick’s resounding gunshot silenced him. Forever.
Twenty-Four
Maverick
It wasn’t Barbie. I didn’t know what the fuck it was, but I knew that for fucking certain. The girl in front of me wasn’t fucking Barbie—not the one I knew. She didn’t notice it, but her entire demeanor had changed. Her eyes glowed an unnatural hue. One bluer than normal and the other … golden.
I lowered the gun as the vampire withered and ashed. Barbie growled low in her throat, a deep sound that wasn’t something a human should have made. I kept the Glock in my hand instead of putting it back.
“What the fuck did you do that for?” she snapped, whirling on me.
“What you were doing was inhumane,” I said quietly. I should have truly thought this through. What had happened here at the warehouse tonight was my fault. I shouldn’t have let her absence this week push me to this. It’d fucking bothered me, yes, but I’d put the both of us in danger and now Barbie … wasn’t Barbie anymore. She was her demon, and she didn’t even fucking realize it.
“He was a vampire,” she snarled. “He wasn’t human to begin with.”
I ignored the comment and slowly reached back into my back pocket. “I’m going to pull out my phone,” I informed her. “You need to see something.”
Those unnatural eyes rolled. The person before me acted like Barbie in some ways, and she even mostly looked and sounded like her. But I had to remind myself not to let my guard down. “What are you—”
I unlocked my phone and pulled up the camera, facing the screen, and turned it around. She stopped talking. Two multi-colored eyes, illuminating out of her face, were reflected in the screen. Her hands went to her cheeks as if she wanted to touch them. Her gaze lifted and cleared.
I didn’t relax until the gold faded along with the too-bright blue and nothing but Barbie’s natural self finally stared back at me. “M-Maverick?”
I put my phone away with a sigh of relief and then holstered the Glock. Her hands began to shake and I frowned as I reached for her. “Are you—” Before I could fucking finish my damn sentence, Barbie crashed to the ground and cried out in pain. Shocked, I reached out to catch her, but the second my skin met hers, she screamed even louder and launched herself from my arms, slamming into the concrete floor without preamble. “Barbie!” I shouted her name and bit down on my tongue as I fought not to try to touch her again.
She pressed her cheek to the concrete, shuddering as a wave of pain seemed to ride through her. When next she lifted her head, more dark smudges of ash stuck to the side of her face. “The demon’s power…” she gasped. “I can’t…” She grimaced, turning and shuddering away from me as I drew closer.
I didn’t touch her. It fucking hurt not to, but I kept my fisted hands at my sides. It was the worst kind of pain imaginable to fucking be so close and feel so fucking helpless as I did right in those moments. “What can I do?” I asked. “How do I help you?”
She looked back at me, her eyes clouded over with pain. Unfocused and trembling, she lay in a heap on the ground. “C-can’t,” she sputtered out, her teeth clanking horribly against each other as she continued to force the words out. “Y-you c-can’t do anything,” she said. “I-it’s the d-demon’s power. She says—she wants me t-to—” Barbie broke off and cried as her body arched and flailed.
My head snapped back as something hit my nose. A scent so beautiful, so alluring it immediately made my cock stiffen in my jeans. I cursed and bowed my head as I gripped my fists tighter at my sides.
You need to think over your own desires carefully…
Esperanza’s words echoed through my head and at the worst fucking time possible. It was obvious Barbie was in need, but she didn’t want what I could do for her, and I’d rather cut off my own fucking arm than force her to do anything she didn’t want. But Esperanza’s reminder did give me an idea.
When Barbie began retching again, I reached forward and pulled her hair back, careful to keep my skin from touching hers. She wasn’t going to like this next part, no matter how necessary it was. I took a breath and released her hair, bending down and ignoring the pounding of my dick. “I’m sorry,” I whispered a split second before I lifted her in my arms.
Fuck. I hoped I remembered how to get to the witch’s house.
Twenty-Five
Barbie
I screwed up. Holy fuck, did I screw up. And when I screwed up, I did it bad.
My stomach dropped like a motherfucking airplane and then refilled with sharp, poison tipped needles—each jabbing into the sides of my abdomen and spreading their deadly venom. Fire raced through my veins, crackling with magical heat that felt as though it were burning me alive. But it wasn’t. My skin remained intact—clammy and sweaty—but unmelted. I was still there. Alive, but dying.
I shook and trembled against the floor. My teeth ground together and anytime I tried to pry my lips apart and speak, they clattered and shook and snapped against each other, preventing me from getting a full sentence out.
I knew I was going to vomit before my body decided to alert me. I had this sickening feeling that it was only gonna get worse before my mouth began to salivate and my trembles hardened. My fingers clamped down over my abdomen and pressed a split second before I rolled onto my other side and upchucked.
My stomach was empty, so the only thing that came out was a mixture of clear liquid and bile. Regurgitated water and stomach fluid. Fucking lovely.
Fingers, not my own, whispered through my hair, pulling the strands back and away from my face and gaping mouth. My body responded by clamping down on my organs, sending another wave of pain catapulting into my intestines. Maverick was careful to keep his skin from touching mine, but even his nearness hurt. I whimpered as more bile came up. I coughed it out, leaning over and just letting it pour out of my mouth in slow, disgusting drips.
“Barbie…” Maverick’s voice sent shivers over my skin. I was awash with a cornucopia of fucking temperatures, ranging from freezing cold to blazing hot. One second, I felt as though I were entering into a frozen wasteland naked and the next, I was diving deep into an active volcano. I moaned in pain as my throat finally stopped working and my stomach realized that it had nothing left to offer up. I couldn’t speak. Even as the pain receded enough that breathing through my nose was made a bit easier, I couldn’t manage to scrounge up the energy to talk. Not—that is—until Maverick said two words that were guaranteed to piss me off. “I’m sorry.” It wasn’t the words that sent violent anger spiraling through me so much as what they meant.
Before I could scrounge up the energy to fight against him, Maverick’s arms came under me and he swung me up against his chest. I arched against the wall of his muscles, but he ignored it. He cursed as he struggled to keep me in his arms and bend to grab my swords. Somehow, he managed to tuck them under his arm before he hurried across the warehouse to the exit. I slammed my eyes shut as lightning ricocheted through my skin, silently cursing him as, once again, it became difficult to breathe and I was left a panting, sweating, and gasping mess.
Maverick plowed through the open doorway and booked it across the road to the truck. It was a feat that he managed to open the passenger side door without dropping me or the swords and I wasn’t even aware enough to know how he did it. One second I was shivering in his arms, fighting off wave after wave of pure, unadulterated agony and the next I was dropped unceremoniously into the passenger side of Maverick’s truck, my swords tossed recklessly into the backseat just before he raced around to get in and start it.
The engine rumbled to life and we were back on the road by the time I managed to squeak out a few words. “Where … are … we going?”
Maverick shot me a look, one that I couldn’t interpret. “We’re going to Esperanza,” he answered. “Maybe she knows how to help you.”
“I-I don’t—” I stopped and closed my eyes as a fresh avalanche of cramping stole through my midsection. Waiting until it passed seemed to take forever, but once it had, I tried again. “I don’t think she can do anything.” This time, I managed to get the entire sentence out without chattering my teeth or stopping. It felt so wrong to be proud of that small accomplishment.
“She might be able to do something,” he insisted. I winced when he took a corner a bit too sharply and my side slammed into the car door. “Shit!” he cursed and looked over as he took his foot off the gas pedal. “I didn’t buckle you in.”
With shaking hands, I reached up and wrapped my fingers around the seatbelt and yanked it down over my chest. “I got it,” I said a bit breathlessly.
As soon as I had the buckle snapped in, he sped up again and my eyes slid closed of their own accord. My chest ached and I could literally feel my heartbeat racing, pumping fast and furious. It wasn’t normal, that much I knew.
Of course not, Satrina’s voice intruded. You’re dying because you refuse to do something so simple. It would save your damn life if you weren’t so stubborn. I could practically picture her crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance.
“It’s not simple,” I protested.
I didn’t even realize I had spoken aloud until Maverick responded. “What’s not simple?” he demanded. I huffed and shook my head, keeping my eyelids firmly shut. “Barbie?”
With a groan, I cracked them open and looked blearily towards the driver’s seat. “What?” I grumbled as I adjusted my body and then paused, waiting for more pain, but the level of discomfort remained the same. I sighed in relief.
“What does your demon say?” he asked. “Can she stop whatever is happening to you?”
No, Satrina answered him in my head. Only you can stop what’s happening to you.
I didn’t tell him that last bit, but I did shake my head before letting my eyes close once more as I sagged into the seat. It didn’t matter if I was willing to have sex right now, the only person available was Maverick and whenever he touched me, it made my whole body light up like someone had poured gasoline on my skin and lit a match against my stomach.
It’s reacting that way because you’ve used too much power without keeping a balance, Satrina said.
I thought demons didn’t have a balance, I countered weakly.
There is always a balance, Barbie, she replied. Nothing is all bad or good. Demons, too, have their light sides even if they mostly enjoy playing in the dark. You can’t have something for nothing. When Maverick touches you, your body feels more pain because all of your nerves are attuned to him. You’re attracted to him and your body feels that chemistry between you. They are crying out for help. I’m surprised he hasn’t reacted to you. You should be throwing off pheromones.
Pheromones? A zinging bolt of pain sliced up my chest and my heart squeezed in my chest.
Yes, Satrina’s voice tightened with concern. You need to hurry, Barbie. You can’t last much longer. Even the witch will only be delaying the inevitable.
I heard her, but I wasn’t able to respond. My body was failing me. I was falling. This time, when another jolt of agony rocketed through me, it shot straight up into my head, exploding into a distant white light behind my eyes.
And then there was nothing.
Twenty-Six
Maverick
“Barbie?” I called her name into the silent car and when she didn’t even twitch, I cursed and punched the steering wheel. “Fuck. Fuck!” I looked over. No response. I pushed the gas pedal to the floor and prayed like fucking hell I didn’t get pulled over. We had driven a little over an hour to get to the warehouse. I was shocked I could even recall where Esperanza lived, but hope rose to life within me when my headlights washed over the front of her shabby, old Victorian house.
I slammed out the driver’s side door and rounded the vehicle, grabbing Barbie from the front seat and bounding up the front porch two steps at a time. I anchored Barbie’s limp body against my chest and punched at the door as hard as I could while keeping my arm up high so that she didn’t fall from my grip. Two long and excruciating minutes went by before I heard a telltale shuffling on the other side of the door and it cracked open.
“Who is it?” I opened my mouth as Esperanza’s little form appeared in the doorway, but before I could say my name she waved her hand. “Oh dear, I can smell her, boy, bring her in.”
Smell her? What the fuck did that mean? I shook my head. It’d have to be a question for later. I rushed Barbie inside and kicked the door shut behind me.
“Upstairs, same room,” Esperanza ordered. “I’ll get more of the potion. She’s lucky I kept an extra vial.”
I did what she said, once again taking the stairs two at a time until I got up to the second floor as she headed for the kitchen, her cane making soft thuds against the wood flooring as she hurried away. I followed the hallway and took Barbie back to the same room as before. As I laid her out on the quilted bed, I glanced over her pale face. Dark circles deepened the lower curves of her eyes. The bones of her face seemed to throw a skeletal shadow over her features. I smoothed a finger down her cheek. Her skin was cold. Not just cold, but icy.
My eyes widened and I bent down farther, pressing my ear to her chest. Earlier, her heart had been racing with a constant overpowered beat. I’d felt it even as I carried her from the warehouse to the truck, but now … now it was sluggish. I could count the beats they were so slow.
There was a noise at the doorway and I abruptly stood up and faced the old woman that entered. “There’s something wrong,” I said as Esperanza shuffled with her cane to the bedside.
“Well, that’s quite obvious to me, boy,” Esperanza huffed, setting her cane to the side as she sat on the bed. “Open her mouth and tilt her head back.”
I paused, narrowing my eyes on the old woman. “She’s unconscious,” I snapped. “What if she chokes on it.”
“Do you have a better idea then?” she asked. “We have
to get it in her system right away and this ain’t a hospital. I don’t have an IV.”
I swallowed my immediate response which would have been to curse some more. I needed to fucking think. I turned away from Barbie and Esperanza, pacing across the room before turning and pacing back. Think. Think. Think. Fuck!
I stopped by the bed, reached for the vial—snatching it from the witch’s hand before I uncorked it and dumped it in my own mouth before she could stop me. The contents were foul, searing across my tongue with a disgusting taste I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to wash out. But it was too late. The deed was done. I slid my hand beneath Barbie’s head and hoped like fuck she wouldn’t hate me later. I pressed my lips to hers and urged them slightly open, letting the potion dribble slowly between her lips.
“You should really ask before putting strange potions in your body,” Esperanza said with a grunt as she got off the bed and reached for her cane.
My mouth was otherwise occupied so I didn’t reply. Reaching up, I smoothed my fingers down Barbie’s throat and if I could’ve sighed in relief when she seemed to be swallowing it, I would have. After a moment more, I lifted my head away from hers and stared down as I pressed a hand to her chest, feeling her heartbeat. Already, it was growing stronger. Her cheeks were gaining more color. She didn’t wake, but it was enough for me.
I leaned back and wiped across my mouth with the back of my hand. “That was fucking disgusting,” I commented.
Esperanza shrugged. “No one said you had to give it to her like that.”
“It had to be done,” I argued, frowning. “How the fuck else was she going to get it?”
“We would have done the same thing had we poured it down her throat,” Esperanza said.
I growled. “It’s fucking over. It’s done with,” I said. “Just tell me if she’s going to be alright.”
