“Your King Street friend is up on the fifth floor, Charlotte,” she said into her smartphone as if I wasn’t three feet away from her.
The name she said stopped me in my tracks. This girl was clearly talking to my former best friend, Charlotte. The redhead pivoted before a door and completely ignored the fact that I was standing there, staring at her.
As the girl stuck her key into a door lock, she said, “Your friend looks like she’s wearing thrift store rejects. Don’t you help her with things like that?” The redhead paused. “I’m not being nice? I’m questioning if you’re a very good friend. Friends don’t let friends walk around in clothes scrounged from dumpsters, and clearly, you have.”
Without glancing my way, the redhead pushed open her door and disappeared into her room.
Great, another lovely neighbor.
That chick was a total … I didn’t use the word bitch lightly, but that was what popped into my head. And this was the kind of person Char hung out with now. It was safe to say that I’d be seeking out a different crowd.
I made it to the parking lot just as a sleek black town car arrived. A chauffeur headed around the vehicle and opened the door. She stood stiffly, and I was a little wary that I was getting into the right car, but when I got closer, I saw a familiar man waiting in the back seat, busily working on his phone.
Sebastian Holter had similar features to his brother and cousin, but Sebastian was even more massive than the pair. His features were sharper and more defined as if his face was chiseled from stone. His eyes were an ice blue, and as they cut to mine, gooseflesh spread over my arms, even though it had to be ninety degrees outside.
I didn’t want to get into the car, but I didn’t have much choice. I needed blood, and I had no way of getting it on my own without snacking on one of my friends. My more than willing donor, Justin, had vanished on me, and the Blood and Plasma drive had unceremoniously let me go as a volunteer.
Slipping into the seat beside the young billionaire, I buckled my seat belt, turned, and declared, “So, if you think that manipulating me by withholding blood is a good plan, I’d strongly reconsider. When I don’t get blood, my fangs come out whether I want them to or not — meaning, it’s going to be very hard to hide the fact I’m a dhampir. Ergo, it’s a bad method of controlling me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course, I won’t withhold blood.” His attention fell back to his screen. That was all he said, and then the chauffeur drove off down the road and through the Blackburn parking lot.
When we turned the corner onto a residential street, Sebastian glanced over again, and his mouth twisted into a scowl. “I thought that my buyer provided you new clothing. Why do you still look like you’re homeless?”
That was the second time someone said I looked homeless in this … third, if you included Dickhead. Either I looked homeless or I was surrounded by assholes… or both. I was leaning toward both.
“All right. I’ll answer one of your questions if you do me the same courtesy. I’m wearing this because I thought I was going to be moving boxes and assembling stuff. My turn. Why did you send Justin Roberts to kill me last year?”
Sebastian’s gaze slid over to mine, and he shut off his phone and slipped it into his pocket. “I thought someone explained the mix-up to you. It was an accident.”
I blinked rapidly at him. “Would you mind explaining to me how you accidentally sent someone to kill me seven days after I died?”
“You fell into a trap we set for vampires.” He shrugged.
Justin had told me that I wasn’t the first dhampir that the Hawthorn Group tracked down and killed, and I wouldn’t be the last. I couldn’t exactly say that, so I leaned back in my seat, stretched out my legs, and turned to my generous benefactor. “Thank you for all the stuff. Is it all mine, or is it on loan?”
“Yours to keep,” he said as his gaze examined my face.
When it was starting to get a little creepy, I asked, “What?”
“I’m just trying to understand what my cousin sees in you. I’m having a really hard time comprehending it.”
“In my experience, personalities leak into looks pretty quickly. I guess he likes mine,” I said, and I knew I sounded a little defensive, but come on — what a douchey thing to say to another human being.
“He must. It’s not that you’re not attractive, you’re just entirely unexceptional. Justin could have exceptional.”
“Yeah, no. I’ll be asserting my boundaries right here and now, thank you, sir. So …” I paused to lift my brows, “You’re twenty, right? And I’m almost eighteen, so age-wise we’re pretty close, but this isn’t a social thing between us. You’re the one who’s offering me my scholarship. Therefore, talking about my attractive quotient, even in a negative way, isn’t cool.”
Sebastian continued like he hadn’t heard me. “Then again, I guess you are exceptional in other ways, aren’t you? Did my cousin ever ask to drink from you?”
“No to your question and a big fat no to continuing this conversation.” I clenched my jaw. This line of questioning was going to a place I refused to venture.
“You came in here looking for a fight, and here I thought I had bought your friendship,” Sebastian mused as he pulled his phone back out of his pocket and turned on the screen. Absently, he said, “We’re going to my penthouse. We have a lot to discuss and settle before this year. Obviously, I had a reason to offer to pay for you out of my own personal bank account —”
“Something that was unnecessary as I was already going to receive a scholarship. Don’t expect me to grovel.”
His glacial eyes cut to mine. “I don’t expect groveling, but I do have expectations. Let me rephrase my statement. No matter what scholarship you received, there would have been expectations of you. Today, you learn what they are. Obviously, I’m going beyond the standard scholarship. Can you please calm down and shut up until we get to my house? You’re giving me a pounding headache.”
“I have a bad feeling that we’ll hate each other. Is it too late to pawn me off on another family?” I asked.
“No. I hate everyone. Why should you be the exception? Now, if you’ll shut up, I’d like to finish these emails before we get to my house.”
CHAPTER THREE
As the sun ducked behind the rolling peaks of the Diablo Range, I crossed my arms over my chest and peered down at the darkening streets of Brightside. I’d expected Sebastian to live on the outskirts of the almost-metropolis where large mansions sprawled over private, secluded suburban quarters. Instead, we were eight stories up, city center, above the Hawthorn Group headquarters.
Nighttime was falling outside, and the small urban area around us ignited with twinkling lights. Brightside was an urban island in a sea of California farmland. I'd never seen the streets of Brightside from the top before. It looked a lot nicer.
"January, I really don't want to be here all night."
I spun to find that Sebastian had emerged from his phone and was now glowering at me. He wore jeans and a cowboy button-up shirt. Leaning against the wall of his living room, he watched me like I was a stray dog that wandered into his penthouse. "Don't steal anything," he said after a moment.
I looked around at the room, which had zero personality, just the standard bachelor pad leather couches, glass tables, and metal lamps. There were a couple of black and white abstract paintings that looked expensive and soulless. He had a huge television I doubted would even fit into his elevator. "I think that even people who are inclined to burglary, which I definitely am not one of, would skip this dreary place. Have you ever once used anything in here?"
"I could care less about anything here. I just don't like the idea of you stealing it."
“Lovely. Well, at least we know where we stand with each other.” I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. "All right, as much fun as I'm having, can you just say why you brought me here and give me my blood?"
He nodded back into his apartment. "Follow me."
&n
bsp; I stayed put. "Um, no thanks. I’ll stay in the public areas of your apartment."
"We’re going to my personal gym where your blood is." He straightened from the wall and walked away down the hall. The house was all matte gray walls and dark marble floors and counters. I didn't see a single color in sight; I followed Sebastian to a larger room where gray floor mats spanned the floor, walls, and ceiling. Weightlifting machines and weights lined up against one wall. There were straps and other contraptions hanging from the ceiling, as well as a punching bag.
I halted in the doorway. "What's this?"
"This is where you’ll be spending your evenings." Sebastian gestured out in a broad sweep, "You're an asset to me, and I'm personally financing your education, as you already know. Dhampirs are supposed to be the ultimate vampire-killing weapons. I want to understand how you and your abilities work. I want to know every aspect of your powers and their limits. I'm going to push you until your breaking point, here and at the Academy, so we can find out exactly what a dhampir is capable of."
"That sounds awesome.” I saluted him with my middle finger. “But I’m going to have to say no thank you."
"Then you can leave. No one else will offer you a scholarship to Blackburn Academy. That ship sailed the moment I walked onto the stage.”
“Got it. But one thing, you can’t withdraw a scholarship after you’ve issued it. I checked.”
He smirked at me, his gaze clearly communicating that he could do whatever he wanted. “You have two choices, participate in this study, or take your housekeeper grandmother and head out into the streets. The Hawthorn Group will collect your corpses in a day or two when the vampires find you, and we’ll see what we can discover when we study your cadaver."
A shiver ran through me. "How about I announce to all of the students of Blackburn that the Hawthorn Group is killing dhampirs."
"You think I care about the discipline problems at Blackburn Academy?" A smile spread across Sebastian's face, and in that smile, I saw that demonic glimmer in his gaze. It was just for a second before I questioned if I was just a bit paranoid. Sebastian continued, "I'm interested in you and what benefit you'll serve to the Hawthorn Group. Dead or alive, you’re going to help the company. If you choose death, feel free to do whatever damage you can on the way out the door."
I clenched my jaw until it hurt. If it was just me, I might take my chances and slip into the night. The vampires could only kill me if they caught me. But it wasn’t just my life that I’d be risking. Even though she didn’t know it, my nana depended on my cooperation to keep her alive. Right now, she was safe and protected.
"What exactly do you want me to do?" I asked.
"A series of tests," he said. "First, I’ll measure your abilities with no blood in your system. Then, you'll feed on bagged blood, and we’ll retest. Last, we’ll measure your capabilities with fresh blood in your system. We will do this every day, testing different abilities."
"I'm not drinking your blood," I said, flatly.
"Why?" he asked.
"It’s non-negotiable."
"My blood is clean, but even if it wasn't, dhampirs are immune to human diseases."
That was news, but it didn’t change my answer. "I'm not biting you … ever. Get the idea out of your head."
His lips pressed together into a thin line, but after a second, he nodded. "You'll be required to come here every evening from six to nine and weekend mornings until I'm satisfied with the data. Your test will be filmed from all angles in this room, and while we work, you’ll wear several monitors that will track your internal and external functions. You will be doing all of your blood drinking here, and I will monitor every ounce you consume. This is the most important aspect of this. Do not drink outside blood. And, I'd also like to get regular blood and tissue samples."
"Blood and tissue samples? Dream the fuck on," I said. "The answer is no. I'll be your little experiment, but only on my terms. You're acting like I'm completely under your power, but obviously, you want to study me so much that you're willing to spend every single day of your precious time and hundreds of thousands of your precious dollars to do it. I'm the only known dhampir left alive, and I could walk out that door at any time."
He worked his jaw back and forth. “No blood and tissue samples. But you might end up leaving DNA behind on the mats here. If that DNA ends up in a lab, I’m not going to be in breach of any agreement we made here today.”
“Define DNA,” I said because I did not like the sound of his promise. “I am not doing anything whatsoever sexual with you.”
“Don’t insult me. Of course not. I was referring to blood, sweat, and judging by your looks, probably a lot of tears.”
Gulp.
“Are you planning to injure me?” I asked. “Break my bones to make your bread?”
His nostrils flared, and a spark of annoyance lit in his eyes. “How are we going to learn the extent of your powers if you’re injured?”
“That’s a question, not an answer.”
“This conversation is going nowhere, and it’s trying my patience. You need to cooperate here. The vampires are organizing to kill you. Already there have been three coordinated attempts on your life in the last seven days, so I would say the likelihood of your death is very high.”
“What?” I demanded. “No, there weren’t.”
Sebastian leaned against the padded wall and glared. “Three attempts and two scouting parties. I said that I’m going to push you to your breaking point, but if you break, you’re useless to me. If you become useless to me, I’ll stop protecting you. If I stop protecting you —”
“I’m dead.” I fisted my hands at my sides, and my nails bit into my palms, but I ignored the pain. “There will be no bone breaking, no cutting, stabbing, knocking me unconscious, or choking me.”
He rolled his eyes and sighed. “I already covered that.”
“Nope.” I crossed my arms. “I want it specifically stated.”
“I will not break your bones, cut, stab, choke, or hit you with objects that would knock you out. I won’t tie you up or lock you in confined spaces. I won’t permanently disfigure you.” He continued to list off brutal things he wouldn’t do to me, including several ways he wouldn’t burn me, and I somehow felt worse instead of reassured. The guy was creative; I’d give him that.
“And, what do I tell everyone I’m doing here every day?” I asked.
“Tell them that you have an internship with the Hawthorn Group as part of your scholarship. You won’t be the only one with an internship. Most of the Elites and Legacy students do. That includes your boyfriend.”
“Justin has been working here?”
“He has aspirations of becoming a field medic, it seems. Justin ended his internship on the day he met you and returned to the Hawthorn Group on the day you took your trials. You might not see much of him this upcoming year.”
A queasy feeling churned in my stomach. I couldn’t help but think that was my fault. Justin despised the Hawthorn Group, and now they’d roped him back in again.
“Okay, you’ve convinced me. I’ll do your fake internship.”
“Oh, there’s nothing fake about this internship. The Hawthorn Group is interested in you to one purpose, and that’s defeating the vampires and winning this war. Your abilities will be instrumental in this purpose.” Sebastian paused and then called up, “Lights out!”
The room plunged into darkness, but as soon as the lights went out, my dhampir vision came alive. I could see every detail of the room as it glowed with a soft, navy and violet radiance. Nothing lit up so much as Sebastian Holter. His glow was yellow around the outside and crimson in his chest. Places on him were blue and green as well, likely from his clothing.
I had a theory that my dhampir vision was some sort of thermal vision as I could see when it was pitch black, impossible for regular night vision. I was a creature of the deep darkness. Here, I was home, and the tension that had been constricting my breathing eased.
/>
“Try to get past me,” he said with mocking in his tone.
Immediately, I kicked off my shoes. In the obstacle course Fitness Trial that I underwent to get into Blackburn Academy, I slipped past hundreds of alumni with night goggles. They were much older and more experienced than Sebastian.
For a second, I considered slipping up next to him to blow on his neck as I moved silently past. Then my brain got a whole lot fucking smarter, so I gave the guy a wide berth and inched along the far side of the room, taking each step with care across the mats. I watched him out of the corner of my eye. He remained motionless.
Three feet from the wall, I reached out, and my fingers just barely brushed against the mats there when a breeze whisked past me. An arm wrapped around my shoulders from the front and yanked me off my feet. My stomach flipped, and I just had time to gasp in alarm, when my back smacked into the mat, and the air whooshed out of my lungs.
Sebastian’s glowing red figure knelt over me, and his hand came down and wrapped around my neck.
“You said you wouldn’t choke me,” I said through a gasp.
“Do you feel my fingers squeezing?” They weren’t squeezing, but I could feel his skin hovering over my throat. He leaned in so close that I could smell his spicy breath. “You really thought that you could pull the same trick as you did in front of half of the Hawthorn Group? This is your first lesson, January, never try to hide your abilities from me.”
I swallowed hard, which I’m sure he could feel against his fingers. Looking up to where I was pretty sure his eyes were, I asked him, “Is that a threat? Am I supposed to be afraid of what you’ll do to me if I keep secrets from you?”
“Take from it what you want.” He pulled his hand away slowly and stepped back. “Lights on.”
Light flooded the room, blinding my eyes for a second before my surroundings came into focus.
“Are you really so out of shape that you can’t even fight back or sit up on your own?” he asked.
Hunter Trials (The Vampire Legacy Book 2) Page 3
