Lure (8 page)

“No…I don’t think so,” Marko said, walking closer. “He’s property of Tessa. Not you, Sayer. I say he stays.”

The reverberation of Sayer’s voice went through the room and his eyes turned black as he pinned Marko with a glare. “They are both my property! Mine! Not yours.”

“Wrong. He stays,” Marko ground out.

“So you can kill him before I return? He goes with me.”

Closer, Marko stepped, until he was standing but a foot away from me. “Hunter will not die at my hand. Not yet. As the leader of this community, you have my word. You can clearly show that to Axis when you meet with them.”

Heavy pants left Sayer and he shifted a few steps before he lunged. Marko was in front of me before Sayer could connect with my arm. Only inches separated their faces and Marko didn’t budge once as he glared down at my maker.

“Leave. Now. Or else I have every right to make sure you never leave again. And I don’t mean to make you a resident here. You understand me?”

Hands gripped my waist and I let Hunter draw me back against him as he led us further away from the two vampires.

“I’ll be back and when I do, I’m taking what’s mine. You might as well have Tessa and Hunter packing their bags now. They won’t be staying long.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Every step Sayer took toward the door, Marko was sure to stay even with him. The moment the barrier shut, Hunter’s face dropped into my neck. His deep exhale rushed out over my skin and Marko turned, eyeing him.

A deep silence lasted for seconds while no one moved. Finally, Hunter’s head lifted and he spun me around, hugging me tight. It was dangerous and I knew he had to have known that, but he didn’t let go or step back.

“Thank you, Marko. I…” Once again, a quietness settled around us. Hunter eased the tension in his arms and stepped back. “I couldn’t leave Tessa. I couldn’t…go with him.”

“He hurt you, too.” Marko came closer, his head cocking as he kept his attention on my human’s face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m fine.”

Marko’s head shook. “No, I don’t think so. Look at me, Hunter. Show me what he did.”

“Stay the fuck away from me,” Hunter burst out, raising the dagger. “Stay…away.”

Slowly, Marko’s hands rose, as if in surrender. “If you wish. You can say you’re fine, but I know you’re not. Whatever he did, whatever you had to go through…he’s gone now.”

“But for how long? What if this Axis thing lets him take us? What if we have to leave?” The questions dispensed at a fast pace. “Tessa can’t be hurt like that again. I can’t watch…I can’t. No.” He shook his head quickly. “You have to tell me how to kill him. You have to…I…no.” Words began jumbling together through his fear. My hand rose to my head at the pounding beginning to register again.

Marko extended his hand to me and I instinctively went to step forward. Hunter wrapped his arm around my stomach and lifted me off the ground against him. Thrashing came natural. The dagger was pointed out toward my leader, but I could feel its power so close to my face. The holiness made my skin crawl. It was hard to breathe in the closeness.

“Keep back from her. You’re not good. You may have helped us with Sayer, but that’s only because of your own agenda. You want Tessa as your own, and you’ll do anything to make that happen.”

“True,” Marko said slowly. “I do love Tessa, but I gave Sayer my word you’d live. What are you afraid of?”

“A man can have a heartbeat, he can breathe air like everyone else, but that doesn’t mean he’s alive. There are ways to kill a person and continue to let him walk through life.”

“I’m confused,” Marko said, stepping back and sitting on the edge of the bed. “Would you like to explain?”

Hunter eased me to the ground, but didn’t break our connection. I couldn’t fight anymore; I was just as perplexed.

“You can try to break me like he did. You can…kill me without ending my life.”

“I guess I could,” Marko said, nodding. “But my focus isn’t on physically hurting you, Hunter. I only want what’s mine. What you stole from me.”

“Stole? You stole her first!” Hunter’s whole body shook with anger. “And even after that, she chose me. She wanted this for her life.”

“This?” Marko asked, gesturing with his hand. “Do you seriously think she wanted this? I happen to believe this is what
you
chose and she ultimately accepted. Am I wrong?” His hands clasped between his knees as he leaned forward. Hunter didn’t say a word as he continued. “You do realize when she went to you she was under a spell from Sayer’s blood, much like the episodes that take her over now, right?
And,
even somewhat lucid after those blackouts, she still wasn’t completely in control of her mind? Let me tell you something, Hunter. Tessa loved me, regardless of what you believe. She loved me, even when I didn’t deserve her love. And I love her. I always will. I wouldn’t have chosen this life for her, but what’s done is done. There’s still no one else for me and no one better for her. You’ve seen our world. You know the evil that resides in us. She is not apart from that. Tessa will never be the woman you once knew. This is the new her. She may regain her memory, but her new personality will not change. No one is a better fit for her than me. You have to know this. You have to
see
it.”

Fingers pushed into my stomach and Hunter shifted. “Tessa will come back. She’ll remember what we shared. She loves me.”

“She loves both of us,” Marko said angrily, “but she will not return to you. The day her human body died, the woman you knew died, too. I’m not saying this to you as some form of manipulation. I’m telling you this from experience. Your Tessa is dead. This one belongs to me.”

“No!”

“Yes,” Marko said forcefully. “
You
killed her just as much as Sayer did. Tessa is gone, Hunter. Accept it. I have. What’s left is the version meant for
me
. The vampire. Not for Hunter, the human or slave. You fear being dead while alive. What do you think you’ll be if she bonds you? You’ll love her, yes, but do you think she’ll love you as you’re meant to be loved? You’re a human. You’re food! Just as I viewed her up until her death. Why do you think it was so hard for me to grasp? I loved her, but I knew it was wrong for my kind. It doesn’t fit into our personality to love that way, Hunter. It just doesn’t. I can promise you one thing. As you sit there and you hold her, she may be allowing it, but do you know the main focus in her mind? It’s not the comfort or affection she’s receiving from you…she wants your blood! Tell him, Tessa. Tell him what I speak is the truth.”

My lips parted as I looked from Marko and then back at Hunter. The words processed and I didn’t feel Hunter’s pain or Marko’s anger. I knew sadness existed within my human, but all that revolved around that was the worry and the question why. “Truth. I know nothing of…love. Protection…yes. But love, no. Not…for you…” I turned back to Marko to say the same for him, but nothing came. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t lie.

Chapter 12

Hunter

I was lost, spiraling down some vortex of right and wrong. It was pulling at my psyche, twisting and morphing what I felt I should and shouldn’t do. I couldn’t deny the relief I felt with Marko free of his cell, but I wasn’t naïve to the fact that he was still the enemy. He just wasn’t the one raping me on a nightly basis.

With Sayer gone, I found myself sleeping like the dead. But it didn’t keep me safe from the nightmares. They haunted my mind with visions of dead soldiers, ones who now looked up with Sayer’s face. Suddenly, I realized they weren’t dead at all. Not only did I endure the violations during consciousness, he stole my sanity in my dreams as well. I woke up sick, rushing to the restroom. And Tessa was witnessing it all. She flew forward in an attempt to sit, pulling at the cuffs like the savage creature she truly was. My flight had jolted her vampire awake and the first thing she’d tried to do was attack. I heard the growls as I slammed the door shut and I thanked God Marko had checked on her earlier and restrained her before he left.

I flushed the toilet, making my way to the sink. The toothbrush I’d been provided sat in a pale blue plastic holder and I took it out, trying to block Sayer’s bared fangs from my mind as I began to brush. Nothing I did or thought could make what I’d been through go away. I was still sore. Still healing from his last rape, which was sometime in the middle of the night a few days ago. I hadn’t even heard or felt him make his way to the couch where I was sleeping. I thought by regaining my rosary and dagger I’d be safe. Now I knew why he didn’t mind me having them. Unaware, he easily caught me off-guard, catching me with his eyes.

I was powerless.
Prey.
Yes, that’s what Tessa had once called herself, and she was right. And so was Marko, whether I wanted to admit it or not. Food. That’s all I was to these vampires. And Tessa…her admitting the truth just wouldn’t leave me. My faith kept me hoping she would pull through and eventually remember who she was and what we shared, but I was starting to think it was impossible. Maybe Marko was right. Maybe I had killed her the day I convinced her to change.

Tears streamed down my cheeks and I wiped them away, not caring anymore if it made me appear weak. In this moment, I was…lost.

I opened the door, watching Tessa pull against the cuffs. She wasn’t herself right now, if I could say she even had a sense of self, which she really didn’t—not one that stuck around anyway. It broke my heart, just like it did every day. How much of this could I endure?

“You…come.”

She’d spoken more, but it was in French. I didn’t have the brainpower to decipher it at the moment. I always knew when she was more vampire than anything else. She always spoke French. It was only when she spoke in English I knew she was having to actually use thoughts. She was thinking, then. Not…being what she naturally was: a cold-blooded killer.

“Go to bed, Tessa.” I looked at the bedside light I’d left on because I couldn’t stand to be in the dark. If I couldn’t see, then Sayer might be there. I used to fear death the most. Now, it was the undead. God, he’d fucked me up. And here I thought I couldn’t get any worse than I’d been from war.

Hissing sounded from behind me but I ignored it as I made my way to the couch. I grabbed the blanket, pausing before I laid back down. Slowly, I turned toward Tessa’s nearly sitting frame and walked back toward her.

“You need to feed.”

Her blank expression turned to confusion before she nodded. A small sense of humanity entered her, but I knew I couldn’t trust it. I walked around to the other side of the bed, lowering down at the foot. She couldn’t get me here. I’d be safe. As a test, I reached forward, grabbing one of the pillows. Almost faster than I could process, her head shot toward me and she missed latching onto my arm by mere inches.

“No,” I snapped. “You are not allowed to do that to me. Manners, Tessa. You are not a animal.” I felt like I was trying to train a pet. Yet, what I was telling her was pointless. She didn’t understand right now, nor would she until time brought her back. She was hungry. Ready to feed again. When she got this bad, no one was safe. “You need blood.” I sighed, glancing toward the door. “I guess I should go try to find a supplier. Not like they’re going to want to come,” I mumbled under my breath. “Tessa, I need you to listen to me.”

Dark eyes narrowed and again, she nodded.

“I want you to try something for me. When you feed, I want you to try not to kill this one, okay? It’ll probably be hard for you, but will you at least try? For me?” I needed to see if she’d try to obey. I needed…hope. Hope that she was redeemable, because at this point, I didn’t think she was.

Silence. She was always so damn quiet.

A groan tried to escape as I stood and walked toward the door. I had no idea where the suppliers were held or where I had to go to find one. Sayer—or now, Marko—always took care of that.

The weight of my belt was a relief as I walked through the door and pulled out my flashlight. My feet didn’t want to move through the darkness. I hated it. If I ever made it back above ground, I’d probably never sleep in the dark again. I couldn’t stand that I’d come to this. I’d never been a coward. I shouldn’t be now. The rapes were just something I’d have to overcome, and the only way that was going to happen was if I killed the vampire to blame.

My footsteps were soft and fast, maintaining a steady pace to the end of the hall. Sounds from the heart of the city grew louder and I put my flashlight back in my belt as I broke through to the large room. It was busier than I’d previously seen and I couldn’t stop the increase in my pulse. I didn’t like this place. I trusted no one.

A few heads turned my way, but the humans continued toward their tunnels.
Slaves.
I knew what they were. But they didn’t scare me. It was the creatures they served that had me holding my dagger the entire time. The vampires seemed disinterested in me, but that didn’t make me safe.

“You’re getting braver, coming out here.” Marko’s voice suddenly behind me had me spinning around. I never heard him. Never even saw how he managed to slip behind me. He was wearing an expensive looking suit, like he did every time he came to our room since his release. He’d worn them before, too, but now there was just something different about him. Maybe it was his aura. He was the leader now. He just appeared so much more…threatening. Scary—even if he was calmer than I’d ever seen him.

“Tessa needs…she’s hungry.” I kept my eyes on his chest, refusing to look at his face.

“So, feed her. You’re still going to be her slave, correct?”

I did steal a glimpse of his face at that. “She’s too far gone. She’ll kill me. Call one of the suppliers. They can feed her.”

A small laugh came from the vampire as he moved even closer to me. “What the hero you are. You’ll sacrifice another human life for your own? I thought you had honor.”

“Fuck you,” I snapped. “They chose this life. To do this and feed vampires.”

“So did you,” Marko growled, his voice deepening. “Or did you forget why you’re here? You took her from me. Now do your duty.
Feed
her.”

My fist clenched and I stepped back, shaking my head. This was too much. I couldn’t take it right now. “I knew you weren’t going to be any better than
him
. All of you vampires are fucking evil. You’ll have her kill me so you can have her yourself.”

A smile came to his face and he shrugged. “Fine. You don’t want to take care of her needs, I will. Gladly.” Marko turned, heading toward our tunnel. I quickened my step, keeping up with his long strides.

“You did that on purpose. You wanted to gauge my reaction so you could sweep in and do the one thing you wanted most. You don’t fool me. Tessa should have been fed earlier but you prolonged it for your own greedy reasons.”

Marko paused and turned toward me slowly, narrowing his eyes. “You’re right. I did prolong her feeding. But not for me. Not like you think. It’s more than that, Hunter. I want to show you what you’re getting into. Tonight, I let Tessa hunt on her own. You’re going to see firsthand who she really is now.
What
she is.”

“You’re letting her go above ground?” My question was breathless as scenarios burst through my mind. What the fuck was he wanting? A massacre? Tessa couldn’t control herself and he was going to let her loose with unsuspecting humans? She was going to kill someone. Humans above ground were different. Here, suppliers knew the risk, but up there…
my home
, they’d be unsuspecting. It really would be murder. Did he have no regard for life? Of course he didn’t, he was a vampire. To him, we were nothing but a walking buffet.

“Don’t do it,” I said through clenched teeth. “Don’t you dare fucking let her free up there. What if she kills someone’s husband, wife, or kid? I will not let her be responsible for something like that. Do you know how long I served protecting this country? Protecting every person walking those streets? I can’t allow you to let the woman I love go against everything I’ve fought for. Not to mention what that will do to
her
. When she comes to, she’s already going to hate herself for what she’s done.”

Marko laughed, rolling his eyes. “No, she won’t. You have no idea what
you’ve done
by allowing her to become one of us. Stupid, stupid human. She’s going to have the time of her life tonight while I assess her skills and you’re just going to have to get over it. It’s the least I could do for not protecting her from what she’s been through. As for your...honor, I can’t help you there. You chose this life, Hunter. You chose for her to live as she is. You’re just going to have to accept this as part of it. Stay or go, it’s irrelevant to me, but Tessa will be heading to the top.”

Marko stepped in closer, lowering his voice. A softening of his tone had my anger fading and something entirely different taking over. “You need to let go of the person you used to be if you want a future here. And I’m not talking about Tessa. I’m talking in general. This is your home now, regardless of whether you want it or not. You carry many burdens. I feel your sorrow like a deadly poison seeping from your skin. It’s almost unbearable. It concerns me. Would you like to show me what you’ve been through? Perhaps…I can try to find a way to ease your troubles, too.” His hand lifted toward my shoulder and I slapped it away from me. I saw how genuine he was being and I wasn’t sure how to react to it. I didn’t recognize this version of Marko. This leader, who I felt deep down just wanted to offer some sort of assistance.

“Stop fucking with me. You don’t want to help me. Besides, you’re wrong. I’m fine. The only trouble I have is you letting Tessa murder someone tonight.”

“Murder? I’d like to think of it as survival. You won’t let her feed from you. Maybe you should view it in that light, too. If you can’t, you’re going to have a very long road ahead of you here.”

Before I could say anything else, he turned, heading back to our room. His words tugged at the overwhelming conflict within. My head stayed down and I was so consumed, I didn’t even bother to pull my flashlight out. What met us as we entered had me coming to an abrupt stop just behind him.

“Ma minette, how did you get free of those cuffs?” There was amusement in Marko’s voice as he let a smile come to his face. The surprise Tessa held quickly melted and her expression began to mirror his own. She took one step forward and his hand rose. My lips parted in shock as she actually obeyed and waited for him to speak. “I have a surprise for you. If you want it, come to me.”

Marko stayed perfectly still while Tessa looked from him to me. Although she began to come our way, her eyes never left me. I swallowed hard, too afraid to let my guard down. She’d already tried to attack me tonight, I didn’t trust her not to try again. And I hated that.

“Mon chaton, look at me.” Tessa stumbled over her feet and jerked to a stop, glaring at Marko. French poured from her mouth, but I understood enough to know what she was saying.

“You call me an animal? Is that what you think of me?” The hurt on her face was evident as she stared up at him.

“Not at all,” he said quietly. “Mon chaton was a pet name. One you used to love. I’m just testing your memory,” Marko answered. “Think about it. You’re missing a lot of things, aren’t you?” At her silence, he continued, “You used to like mon chaton over ma minette. You don’t remember that though, and it’s okay. Your past will return with time. I promise. Now, why don’t you come to me and let me take you to get ready. I have a surprise for you, remember?”

Multiple expressions flashed across her face, but she started toward us again. By the time she arrived and Marko wrapped his arm over her shoulder, my lungs burned from holding my breath. I let the tension ease as they walked away and headed to the closet. I almost couldn’t believe the difference in her at his arrival. His presence changed her. Maybe it was the authority he held, but I wasn’t sure. And I didn’t want to think about it. My suspicions were just too much to bear over what was already worrying me.

Minutes went by before they exited, but I barely noticed. My mind was racing. Marko’s concern was getting to me. The need to open up and confess everything, to rid myself of the guilt and pain plaguing me, was beyond tempting. I was drowning here and maybe if I told him, I’d be able to breathe again—at least, in the moment. At this point, I was almost willing to take the small relief. It might help me to move on and focus on other things…like how the fuck I was going to continue this life without losing it.