Cruel Stakes: Vampires & Vices No. 2, page 10
He steps closer, his warm scent surrounding me. “Are you sure you have to leave?”
“Don’t you have to get to class?”
“Not for another hour,” he says. “Maybe we could hang out? Talk about things?”
He hasn’t brought up the breakup since that first day, but it all comes flooding back now. Most of all, I’m overcome by the feelings I’ve had for him for so many years. They’re so layered that I have a hard time sorting through them. Which ones are old? Which ones are new? Which ones are real?
“I don’t want to hurt Ayla,” I blurt out.
“Ayla is going through some tough stuff,” he says, “and you and I both know it doesn’t really have anything to do with us.”
I don’t know if that’s true, but I desperately want to believe it. He leans in closer, trapping me against the car. I like it. A thrill of electricity races up my spine. “And what about the danger? What about the risks?” I whisper.
“We’re already putting our lives on the line,” he leans in, whispering against my ear, “shouldn’t we be allowed to have some fun?”
I don’t know if I’ve ever prioritized fun in my entire life. But I do deserve to have fun. I also need to get rid of my virginity so the vampires stop pestering me about it. Kelly’s words float through my head again, and then I remember she’s dead, that Cameron’s dead, that any of us could go at any time.
Life is short––kiss the boy.
And so I do.
His body presses against mine, his arms wrapping around me, his mouth warm and soft. We kiss for a while, the tension between us growing. For once, I let myself have exactly what I want. I hope Ayla will forgive me and that this choice won’t put anyone in danger, but it feels right, and I haven’t felt right about anything in so, so long.
This is it.
When we break for a second, I whisper against his soft lips. “Take me upstairs.” There’s a huskiness to my voice and no doubts about my intentions.
“Are you sure?” he asks.
“Yes.”
He peels us apart. “I may sound like I’m an asshole, but I’m trying not to be one for once,” he says sheepishly, and I think he’s rejecting me. “But I think we should take a little bit of time. I want you to be sure.”
Oh.
My cheeks burn. “I said I was sure. I know how I feel.”
“But you’ve had weeks of indecision about us.” He wraps me back into a hug and kisses me on the top of the head. “Trust me, this is what I want too. Why don’t we meet later tonight after you’ve had a little more time to think about it? Are you working?”
I shake my head. I guess a few hours isn’t the worst thing. “It’s my night off.”
“Great, tomorrow night we will take down a coven. And tonight, that’s for you and me. I promise, okay?”
I’m equal parts annoyed and excited––but I am sure about him, I really am. A couple hours, a couple days, months, or even years won’t change my mind about this man. Even if Felix and I don’t work out in the end, he’s the guy I’ve been waiting for and the one I want to be my first. I’m not going to let this go. “I’ll be back tonight then.”
Famous last words . . .
Chapter 16
The best way to save my friends is to stop this coven meeting from happening. If they show up to ambush the vampires and there’s nobody there to fight with, then hopefully they can walk out of there alive. I may be making a horrible mistake, but once again, I find myself going to Adrian’s casino uninvited. When I walk from the sunny outside world and through the double vestibules, the energy shifts. It’s opulent inside the casino lobby and I’m used to that. But I’m not used to seeing someone else behind Kelly’s desk.
I walk up to the young man and offer a winning smile. “I’m here to meet with Adrian. I’m Evangeline Blackwood.” The young man stares at me with a blank expression. He’s a vampire alright, and thoroughly creepy. His blond hair is slicked back, and his eyes assess me with dark intentions.
“You don’t have an appointment,” he says coolly.
“I don’t need one,” I respond, “I’m his fledgling.”
He scoffs. “Honey, all of us were fledglings once upon a time. You think that makes you special? I have news, it doesn’t.”
I fold my arms over my chest and glare. “Maybe that was your experience, but Adrian treats his fledglings much differently. Do I need to show you my brand new Porsche?”
That was probably the wrong choice of words because the guy’s face turns sour. “If you don’t have an appointment, then you don’t get to demand one without notice. I can fit you in next week, assuming Adrian agrees to take it.”
I tap my foot on the tile, growing impatient. “I can’t wait until next week.”
“That’s not my problem.”
I grumble and sit down on one of the couches, my eyes trained on the elevator bay. He has to come down eventually, right? Well, that’s assuming he’s even up there. Hanging out in a vampire’s den is not the best idea I’ve had in a while, but I’m not sure what else to do. So I wait and wait and wait, and the afternoon fades into evening. I’m supposed to go to Felix’s place soon, and I need to go home and shower first. But that date seems so unimportant compared to this. I’ve got to get the vampires to call off their coven meeting tomorrow.
What if I’m making a mistake? What if Adrian uses this information against the hunters? Would he do that? Asked this question a month ago and I would’ve said yes without a moment’s hesitation. But the same question now, and I don’t think so. He’s not interested in killing the hunters if he can’t get to Tate.
And Tate’s little plan?
He wants us to kill Adrian without his help. As per the little email that went out, Tate’s not even planning to come tomorrow night. So essentially, he’s sending the hunters in as sacrificial lambs. I don’t know if he cares about our lives, but I kind of doubt it.
Screw this.
I rummage through my wallet, finding the metal key, and smirk. I shoot the executive assistant a dirty glare as I head for the elevators. Assuming he hasn’t changed the locks, I still have what I need to get myself into Adrian’s penthouse. The ride isn’t solo. A human woman gets in with me. She’s wearing the tiniest dress I’ve ever seen. The fabric is a little sheer and I can see her black undergarments.
“Oh, hey,” her eyes narrow on me, “aren’t you Adrian’s fledgling?”
“Yup. I’m Eva.”
She extends her hand firmly, and I shake it. “I’m Fiona. I’m Sebastian’s fledgling this year. I travel with him wherever he goes.”
“Very cool.”
Though I don’t think it’s cool, and the more time I spend around these types of humans, the less I like or understand them. They’re not doing this because they think it’s right or because they want to help anyone. They’re doing it because they have a sick fascination with vampires and want power. Maybe they want to feel safe, too, but even that is no excuse for signing up and jumping through hoops to impress these suckers.
We make it to the top floor. She goes to the door on the right, and I go left; Sebastian must have taken over Hugo’s penthouse. He’s a prince, it makes sense. I don’t know what to think of Sebastian. Hugo was obviously creepy. Sebastian has charisma for days, but he’s kind of like a slimy politician. She knocks softly, and I find it interesting that she doesn’t have a key.
When I slide my key into Adrian’s lock and turn it easily, I give her a parting goodbye. She doesn’t say anything at first, but she does give me a curious look. “You know,” she adds, her voice low. “It’s weird that Adrian doesn’t have a prodigy anymore. Kelly was his only one for years. It’s good he has you. People talk.”
I scrunch my face up at her, as if anything about that is okay. Like Adrian is so bad because he doesn’t turn a human into a monster every chance he can get.
“Let them talk,” Adrian’s voice cuts sharply from the crack in the door.
The woman freezes.
Adrian snatches me from the hallway, tugging me into the penthouse so fast that my head spins. He slams the door and presses me back against it. “You shouldn’t have come here,” he hisses.
It’s dark inside the room. The shades are drawn over the thick UV-proof windows, and the lights are all off. I can barely see the whites of his eyes, but his presence surrounds me––commanding me to take notice.
“And why’s that?”
“Because I’m hungry,” he growls under his breath.
“Then eat something.” I know he keeps blood stocked in his fridge, and he lives above a blood bank. It’s not like he’s without food.
He disappears.
Okay, not really, but he flies away so fast that I can’t see him do it at all. Then he’s in his room, shutting the door and shutting me out. So is this how grief looks in vampires? Shouldn’t they be used to death by now? But Kelly was his only “child,” and now she’s dead. I can’t judge him for locking himself in his penthouse, assuming that’s what he’s doing here.
“That new guy you have sitting in Kelly’s desk down there is a real prick,” I call out.
“Good,” his voice is muffled through the door, “I told him to field all my calls for a few weeks while I grieve.”
I don’t know why I’m surprised, but I am. I guess I expected Adrian to carry on like business as usual. He’s always so in control, so dark and stoic and impenetrable. I never expected him to grieve as humans do, or to call it that. He seems so cold, like nothing could hurt him. Do vampires have therapists?
I flip on the lights.
The place is clean, but it’s stuffy as hell. So I turn up the air conditioner since I can’t crack a window. Then I rummage through the kitchen drawers until I find some air freshener and spray it around. I go to the fridge where rows of blood bags are stacked inside and plop one in the microwave. Vampires can drink it cold, but I know from observing Adrian that he prefers his warm or room temperature.
Super gross, but here we are.
I try not to think about it when it’s done heating, and I pour it into a large glass. I pretend that the coppery scent is actually sea salt and that the red is tomato juice. It does not work. I hold my breath and go knock on Adrian’s door. He doesn’t answer, but he left it unlocked, so I push it open and tiptoe inside. The lamp is on and he’s laying on the bed, his eyes trained on the ceiling. He’s wearing nothing but basketball shorts. I’ve only ever seen him in dress clothes, and it’s hard not to stare at his body. His muscles are lean and strong, his shoulders are broad, and his skin is perfect without a single blemish. His golden locks are curlier than normal, like he’s run his hands through them a million times. Those bright blue eyes track me as I walk in and set the glass on the nightstand.
He doesn’t look at it, he looks at me.
“I’m sorry about Kelly,” I say at last.
He sighs. “Do you know why I chose her?”
I shake my head.
“I rarely turn anyone into a vampire.” His voice is faraway. “It’s not a life I would condemn to anyone, despite what you might think.”
“I don’t know what I think anymore.”
He’s quiet for a while and then picks the conversation back up. “I met Kelly after she’d been attacked by one of my brothers. He left her for dead. I was going to end it for her, put her out of her misery. She begged me not to.”
“So you turned her?”
“Not right away. Plenty of people beg for death, for life, or to make it stop. I was used to that.”
“So what was different about her?”
“I knew her,” he says simply, “she’d been someone else’s fledgling for years, trying to get turned. I despised her for it, as I do all of them. I only take a child when my queen demands it.”
“So Brisa demanded you take her?”
“Not that time. I did it to spite the brother who’d promised to turn her only to leave her for dead.” He laughs bitterly. “Don’t pretend to be surprised. You know how much I hated Hugo. I’ve had several enemies over the years, but he was perhaps my least favorite.”
I don’t expect this. I assumed he picked her because he liked her, not because he wanted to spite the brother who meant to kill her, to spite Hugo. “So I bit her, making sure my venom was strongest, and then I buried her and made her mine. The next time I saw him and she was on my arm, the look on his face was worth the effort.”
My stomach sours, and I sit down on the edge of the bed. “You like to play games with people, don’t you?”
He shrugs. “Sometimes. But I’m glad I turned Kelly. She proved her loyalty and became my closest friend over the years. I could trust her with anything. And when we were assigned to New Orleans, she offered to be my assistant. She didn’t have to. I could’ve gotten almost anyone for that job, but I trusted her the most with the inner-workings of my day, so I was grateful she offered.” His voice goes ragged. “She deserved better.”
“I’m sorry.”
He sits up and takes the glass of blood in his hands, scowling down at it. “Sometimes, when I’m angry with myself, I don’t eat.”
Well, damn. There’s some serious self-loathing going on here. I never expected it from Adrian of all people. And I never expected to feel bad for a vampire, but I do. I reach over and place my hand on his back. It’s cold, but I don’t flinch. “It doesn’t do you any good to starve yourself. If anything, it makes you more dangerous to innocent people.”
He doesn’t respond, but he drinks, downing the glass in one go.
His lips are stained red when he turns to me. I drop my hand and take a deep breath. “There’s something I need to talk to you about . . . Is there a coven meeting tomorrow?”
His eyes narrow, and he nods. “How did you know that? It’s not for fledglings.”
“You must have a spy somewhere in your organization because I didn’t know that, Tate knew it.”
His mouth curls and his eyes brighten, as if lights are being turned on in his head.
“What is Tate?” I ask, growing desperate.
He doesn’t answer. He sets the glass down and goes to his bathroom. He keeps the door open and turns on the shower.
“Come talk to me while I get ready,” he says, “it sounds like we have a lot to discuss.”
Okay, I’ve never seen a man shower before, and he probably knows that. But he’s acting like he’s back to business as usual.
“Don’t get any ideas.” I fold my arms over my chest.
“Oh please, Angel. I can get willing partners anytime I want and I’ve never been a prude about nudity. I am Greek, remember? But if you’re uncomfortable, we can discuss this later. It’s no problem.”
I don’t have time for later. I want to do this now. “Fine.” I go sit on the bathroom counter and close my eyes. “But I’m not peeking.”
He chuckles, and a few seconds later I can hear the shower door open and shut.
“So, tell me what Tate is?” I say, “And why are you enemies with him?”
“I cannot speak about what he is as my master has expressly forbidden it.” His silky voice mixes with the steam. “But I will say that he and his kind are my enemy.”
“They take energy from humans. That I do know.” He doesn’t reply. Maybe he can’t. “Okay, so he’s got this plan to send the hunters to ambush you at your coven meeting. His number one goal is to have you killed. I don’t think he really cares all that much about what happens to the hunters.”
“He’s been after me for years,” Adrian says. “He can’t compel people, but if he could, I’d be fighting off humans every day.”
I’d wondered about that with Cameron. I guess I know my answer.
“Don’t worry, Angel. He won’t succeed. If he wants me dead, he’ll have to face me himself.”
“So why doesn’t he?”
“Because he knows he can’t defeat a vampire with skills such as mine.”
Adrian can levitate, aka fly, and has telekinesis, plus he’s able to compel humans. He may have other abilities, too.
“So call off the coven meeting,” I say. The room is thick with steam now; it coats me like a second skin. I carefully open my eyes, looking at my feet. My curious eyes want to travel to the glass shower, but I don’t let them. Why does Adrian have to be so distracting? This would be easier if he were hideous.
“Why would I call off the meeting?” His voice grows angry. “Thanks to this insider information, I can kill the hunters. This is a good thing for my coven, not a bad one.”
I stand, my hands fisting. “That’s not why I told you this and you know it.”
“So?” He steps from the shower, completely naked and dripping wet. I don’t look down nor do I blush. I glare at him, keeping my eyes on his, and he glares right back. “Your hunter killed Kelly.”
“Cameron killed Kelly because he was confused.”
“How was he confused?” Adrian seethes. “He used her to get closer to me. He failed to kill me, but managed to kill her. That’s what happened.”
“Cameron hated Tate,” I shoot back, “but Tate messed with his mind and made him forget all about that.”
“More reason to kill Tate’s little hunters.”
“So he can just make more of them? Because he will. You’re not mad at the hunters. They’re humans trying to protect their families. You’re mad at Tate. Go after Tate.”
“Maybe I’ll use one of the hunters to get to Tate.”
“How? They’re all too young to be compelled.”
He growls a little and grabs a towel, storming from the bathroom. I’m assuming he’s going to his closet to get changed. I stay behind to cool off, even though the bathroom is sticky hot with condensation. I lean over the bathroom sink and wipe away at the mirror, staring at myself. I look tired. I look angry. Defeated.
No.
I won’t let this defeat me. I can’t give up. If this is how it’s going to be, if he’s going to turn into the monster he is, then I have to warn my friends.
I make for the exit, power walking through the suite. But when I pull open the door, Adrian’s hand slams it closed. “You’re not going anywhere, Angel,” he growls against my ear. “You’re mine.”
