“Let me go. If you let me go, Brandi,
I’ll be willing to pretend that none of this happened.” Not that he could have
forgotten, but he was frantic now and would say anything. “If you just tell
these nice people to let me go, you and I will—”
“She’s not going anywhere with you.” The
man, Mac, was suddenly in front of him. “And she’s not holding you. I am. And
trust me, I’m much more of a threat to you than she is. I don’t care if you
live or die. In fact, I hope you die. It would make my life so much better.”
The fist that hit him felt as if it took
his jaw off. Reggie felt the blood pour from his nose as the man hit him again.
When he was dropped to the floor he could barely stand, but Mac wasn’t
finished. He picked him up and tossed him across the other side of the room. It
was all he could do not to cry like a baby.
The fists seemed to blur as they
connected with his body. His ribs were shattered, he knew, and his arm was
broken so badly that he couldn’t have lifted it even if he had the energy. Nothing
seemed to be working. And he’d gone beyond crying; now he was begging. Not for
his life, but to be knocked out and to make the pain go away.
“Mac, don’t kill him. He’s not worth
it.”
The voice, he was sure it was his wife,
had said softly. He tried his best to open his eyes to look at her, but all he
saw was mist and blood. He didn’t want to think it was his.
“Give him your blood and send him to the
police. He’s not worth killing.”
“But he’ll live. I don’t want him to
live. He’s hurt my mate.” Mac was going to kill him. If he hadn’t already, he
thought. He was going to die because of the stupid cunt that had come with his
even stupider wife. “He will come after her again until I have to really murder
him.”
“I don’t think so.” The mist seemed to
solidify. Then suddenly she was there. Her head, bloodied and smashed, her
clothes dirty and torn. He tried his best to pull away, but she wasn’t letting
him. “You’ll leave her alone or, so help me, I’ll come for you.” Then she was
gone.
Reggie looked up at the man who’d beaten
him. He was smiling, and it wasn’t a nice one either. He tried to move, but
there was something holding him still. The big dog was leaning over him as well
and saliva was dripping from his mouth.
“We’re each going to bite you. That way,
if you ever come near what is mine, even think about coming near her, each of
us will do our worst to you. Then I’m going to heal you. When you’re all
cleaned up Brandi there is going to call the cops and they’re going to take you
away.”
He tried to speak, but all he could do
was slur his words. “Thot goin to lill me?” He’d meant to say, “not going to
kill me,” but his jaw wasn’t working. But the big man seemed to understand.
“No. Not yet at any rate.”
The pain seared through his arm.
“But he might. You hurt one of his when
you harmed my Brandi.”
The wolf seemed to be tearing his arm
off. And the longer he held his mouth over him, the dizzier Reggie got. When
Mac bit into his own arm and dropped blood into his mouth Reggie knew he was
poisoning him with some disease.
“This will make it so you live through
this. Not that I give a fuck if you do or not, but I’ve made a promise.” His
mouth was held open as warm blood filled it. Reggie tried to spit it out, but
he was suddenly unable to. “Swallow, you ass, before I have to turn you into a
vampire.”
He swallowed. And not because he wanted
to or even cared if he lived at this point, but something was making him. He
looked up at the chick with the wings and she winked at him. It was then that
he noticed that he could see her better and that the wings he’d thought he’d
imagined were real. Mac pulled his arm back and stepped away. He didn’t have a
clue why that terrified him so much. That is until the winged chick spoke.
“I’m next. I want to give him a bite
he’ll never forget.” This pain was in his arm again. Not like it was being
broken, but like she was chewing on him. When they laughed, he looked over at
the people standing ready to do to him what he was sure was going to be horrific.
His wife spoke to him again. “You’re
just lucky that they don’t change you. I’m pretty sure that changing you to a
wolf or a vampire would make you worse than you are now.” Her laughter made him
mad and he hated that he couldn’t do a damned thing about it. But he was
beginning to feel much better.
They continued to take turns at him. He
was bitten in more places than he would have thought he had places for. Finally,
Mac was standing over him again.
“You’re going to live, more’s the pity. The
police have been called, but before they get here, Brandi is going to explain
to you what we’ve done.”
Reggie was helped up and sat in a chair.
Everything and everyone looked…normal, he thought.
“Then you’re going to be a good boy and
never come here again.”
Sure he wasn’t. Just as soon as he
talked his way out of this, he was coming for them all. He watched his
stepdaughter come toward him. She looked different. He wasn’t sure, but she
looked very healthy, strong, and almost surreal. But he knew better. She was probably
drinking that man’s blood and… He frowned. And what? Drinking blood? That only
happened in movies. Right?
“You’re thinking too hard, Reggie. You
should be worrying about the people who now have a connection to you. Like
Bradley. Did you know now that he’s tasted your blood, he’ll be able to find
you no matter where you hide? Even in the deepest pits of hell.” She laughed.
“That won’t be hard to imagine when you get there, I’m sure. And Tess. She’s a fae,
warrior fae, and can kill you without even being in the same realm as you. The
king, Shamus? He’ll know your every thought. Whenever you think of coming for
me, you’ll suffer so much you’ll wish to die.”
“You think this is all real? You’re
dumber than your mother. She was the stupidest woman that I ever came across.”
The searing pain in his head made him grab at his forehead. When it passed, he
glared around the room. “What the fuck did you do to me? Spike that sandwich?
I’ll sue you all for what you’ve done here.”
“Oh, Reggie. You’re not going to live
long if you continue talking like that.” Brandi looked up at Mac when he moved
behind her. “This is my mate. He’s also a vampire. If you don’t believe me,
watch.”
Mac pulled back her head and Brandi
smiled. When he licked along her throat, Reggie squirmed in the chair. Suddenly,
Mac opened his mouth wide and then sank those vicious-looking fangs deep into
his stepdaughter’s throat. This close, he could hear the man moan. He really
was drinking from her neck. Reggie started screaming. He was still screaming
when the police came.
“He drank her blood. He even gave it to
me. Now I’m going to be one of those bloodsuckers you see on television. Ain’t
there a law about that? I know that you can’t spit on people, especially cops. What
are you going to do about this? I’m telling you, he gave me his blood and now
I’m going to be a bloodsucker like him. And my wife was here. How the hell did
they manage that?
Reggie didn’t fight when the handcuffs
were put around his wrists. He was afraid if he stayed they’d drink him all up
too. He wanted justice, but not at the cost of being here with all these
creatures. “You have to listen to me. They ain’t right in the head. And look at
those teeth. They have fangs. That man over there? He bit me too. He was a big
dog, and that chick over there? She was a fucking fairy.”
“Sure she was. And that man over there?
I’m betting that he is a horse.”
Reggie was too afraid to be upset about
the cops tone.
“And that man? Could he be the king of
the castle?”
“Oh no, sire. I’m merely the houseman. Master
MacManus is the master here. His lovely mate is only the cousin of Mel. Master
Shamus here is the king,” the dapper little man said with all seriousness as he
handed around that big fucking tray again.
“He did something to those sandwiches. He…he
put some drugs in them. That’s why you have to take me to have my stomach
pumped out.” Reggie flinched away when Mac walked toward him smiling. “Keep him
away from me. He’s going to kill me. He’s going to drink all my blood.”
“My wife told you this man has been
ranting since he got here, did she not?”
The cop nodded and glared at Reggie,
like he had anything to do with this crap.
“I don’t believe he’s stable. And hasn’t
been for some time. I do hope you don’t believe anything he is saying.”
“That man tried to turn me into a
vampire.” Reggie was beyond caring if he sounded insane or not. He wanted them
all arrested. “He told me that he’d kill me if I came near his wife again. I
didn’t hurt her yet. She has to sign over the property her stupid cunt of a
mother didn’t tell me about before I murder her.”
The room seemed to still at his words,
but he was beyond caring. He wanted these people to pay. Especially his
stepdaughter. She should have had more respect for him.
“Are you saying that you killed your
wife?” The cop looked at him finally and Reggie nodded. “Is that so? And you
planned to kill this young lady after she signed over the deed to you as well?”
“Well of course I did. What the hell am
I supposed to do with her after I get what I want?” He jerked on the handcuffs
again. “Are you going to arrest these lunatics or not?”
When the cop reached for Mac he nearly
sighed with relief. Finally, someone was going to listen to him. But when he
only shook his hand and turned back to him, Reggie snarled. This was not
supposed to go this way. “I’m a cop. Don’t you have any respect for the uniform,
you moron? Get these things off me and let’s go and get us a big stake. I’ll
show you that what I’m trying to tell you is true. These people aren’t human. Are
you listening to me?”
Chapter 20
Mac watched them drive away. He was
smiling when he turned back to the people behind him. This was the most fun
he’d had in a very long time. But he didn’t see Andi. He needed her beyond all
reason right now.
“She’s gone to the kitchen. I’d like to
have a word with you before you do anything stupid.” He raised a brow at his
dad as he continued. “If you go to her now, she’s going to be upset. She’s only
just realized that that man really did kill her mother.”
Mac looked toward the kitchen then back
at his dad. “And I shouldn’t go to her now why? I didn’t kill her.”
“No, you didn’t. But the man that did is
going to live for a while thanks to your blood. She’s terrified that he’ll get
free and come to her. I would be if I were her.”
Mac shook his head at Tess.
“Reach for her, Mac, and see. She’s not
just afraid for you, but for the child she carries. He killed her mother; there
isn’t really any reason for her to believe that she won’t be next.”
He reached for her and found that what
Tess was saying was true. She was sad, broken hearted over her mother, but not
like he’d thought. He found in her memories that her mother had never believed
her when she’d told her about Reggie and had ignored the bruises that he’d
given her. Then he found the fear. And her love for the child she carried. He
moved toward the kitchen door and stopped before going through it to turn to
the others.
“What you did for us today is beyond
what I could ever repay you for. You’ve taken on a monster and helped me rid
our lives of him. Andi and I will be grateful for you for all of our lives.”
“Andi?” his father asked. “I thought you
were set on calling her Brandi. And don’t worry about thanking us, son. Just
bring my grandbaby around a great deal. All of us are looking forward to
telling him what a rotten kid you were.”
Mac took his father into his arms and
embraced him tightly. He loved this man more than he could ever say. Then he
looked at the others he’d known his entire life. This was his family. All of
them. He was glad now that he’d never met the sun.
He went to the kitchen to get his mate. They
had a great deal of things to talk about and a lot of things to plan. He found
her alone and sitting at the table looking at about a dozen glasses of water.
“Andi?” She looked up at him as if she
didn’t know who he was for several seconds. “Are you all right?”
“I was thirsty.” She looked at the
glasses as if she’d never seen them before then up at him. “Do you think you
could take me somewhere and make love to me? I really need for you to take me
away.”
He didn’t answer her, but picked her up.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled her nose into his throat. He
had to stop moving toward the lower levels when she kissed him along his
pounding pulse.
“You keep that up and we’ll never make
it downstairs.” He moaned when she licked his vein. “Andi, you’re playing with
fire.”
He was suddenly standing in his bedroom.
She smiled up at him then pressed her mouth gently to his. “You were taking too
long. And thanks to some of the things I got from your friends, I can move
quickly too.”
He dropped her onto the bed and stood
over her as he took off his shirt. “As much as I’d like to continue with your
learning, I’m finding that I need to be inside of you. Deep, hard, and quick.” He
tossed his shirt to the floor and then unbuckled his belt. This he laid on the
bed.