Chapter 12
I tucked the USB drive in my jeans pocket, slowing my pace once I’d put a little distance between the park and myself. Facing Bo wasn’t going to be fun.
People were giving me odd looks, but I didn’t pay them much attention, brushing absently at the borrowed sweater as I walked, trying to get rid of some of the clinging dirt and brush. The brick-red fabric, which clashed with my hair even without the additions of flecks of blood and mud, was pretty hopelessly stained. Hopefully Bo wouldn’t be too pissed about that, on top of my leaving him behind.
“That look really does not become you, Ms. Waynest.”
I froze, every hair on my body standing at attention as terror—and something else, something I didn’t dare name—bolted down my spine. The bones in my neck creaked with tension as I slowly turned my head.
The vampire was leaning in the shadows of a recessed doorway only a few feet away, hands pocketed, one booted foot resting on the door.
He looked the same as always, dressed casually in a loose-fitting gray fisherman sweater and designer acid-washed jeans. No doubt that outfit cost more than my car. His black, shoulder-length hair swayed idly in the wind, obscuring what the darkness wasn’t already hiding of his swarthy features. All I could make out clearly were the sharp line of his jaw and the sardonic curve of his lips, etched in stark relief by the shadows.
Someone plowed into me, knocking me aside as he bustled by. It broke my paralysis, but the guy did no more than flip me off when I cursed at him for his carelessness. Royce laughed softly, drawing my attention back, and I inched out of the way of the foot traffic to get closer despite every instinct I had screaming at me to get away.
‘Kill it,’
the belt demanded, a surge of something very much like desire radiating from it.
No,
I admonished, clenching my hands into fists at my sides so I wouldn’t succumb to the burning need to grab one of the stakes.
He’ll kill me, Isaac. Stop. Now.
The belt quieted, but my muscles still twitched with the urge to
move.
Hunt. Kill.
“What do you want?” While I managed to stand my ground and keep from running flat out to escape, I couldn’t hide the quaver in my voice. Damn it.
The vampire lifted his head, his black eyes locking onto mine, drawing me into a quiet place until I heard nothing—not the cars zipping by, the rustle of wind, or the voices of passing pedestrians—nothing but his voice. My world dissolved around me until the two of us were all that existed.
“You. I want you. Come back to me.”
That sent a jolt through me. I backed up a step. The movement was slow, jerky. Like moving through molasses. The sounds coming out of my mouth felt more like mush than words. “You—what you said... you said...”
“Yes, I know what I said. As much as I’d like to hear you make that apology, I’m not angry with you anymore.” He sighed, a breath of air so light I barely heard it. “I sense when you’re distressed, Shiarra. We’re in each other’s blood. You’ve been so afraid. Stop running, and let me take care of you. Let me put an end to this.”
He held out his hand, and I couldn’t resist the need to take it. His skin was cool against mine, like melting ice sliding along my skin, wrapping around my fingers. When he urged me closer, I went, drowning in the dark depths of his gaze.
“Tell me first—you did something with the Moonwalkers, didn’t you? Just now? What were you doing with Rohrik?”
‘Don’t! Don’t say a word,’
the voice whispered, even as my numb lips moved on their own.
“It wasn’t Rohrik.” The need to pull away was growing. In the back of my mind, the belt was clawing its way to the surface, pushing its will into my limbs. Making my words slur. “Kimberly. Kimberly was there. Chased her.”
Royce drew me closer, his hands sliding up to cup my cheeks. His eyes, framed by thick lashes, were so dark, glinting with cold red fire in their depths. Would it set me ablaze if I looked deeper?
“Did you kill her, sweet? Or did the Moonwalkers take her?”
‘Keep your mouth shut. Don’t answer him.’
I stared up at that beautiful face, into those ancient eyes that had seen the rise and fall of civilizations. He smelled of spice and mint, the scent of it drowning out the burn of the city smog in something cool and dark and wonderful. My mouth opened, but no sound came out, my vocal cords knotted tight.
Royce bent closer—his lips would brush against mine if he moved just a little more—and the red in his eyes became brighter, compelling,
demanding
an answer.
That was enough to make me instinctually balk against him. That heat burned my irises, and I closed my eyes, turning my face away.
“If you wanted information,” I said, reaching up to grab one of his wrists, “all you had to do was ask.”
Vampires as old as Royce do not startle easily, but I felt him flinch under my touch. Clearly he was not expecting me to resist his... charms.
‘Hurt it. Drive it off. Get it
away.’
He recovered quickly, once again assuming that cold mask of indifference I was so familiar with. By now I’d come to realize it meant he was hiding a great deal of emotion under the surface. A weakness he didn’t want exploited.
“You,” he said mildly, “are in a great deal of trouble.”
“No, really?” My hand tightened around his wrist, and I bared my teeth in the semblance of a grin. A rush of energy blazed into me as the belt flooded my veins with adrenaline. “Has anyone ever told you it’s rude to fuck with a girl’s mind?”
My fist flew toward his face—the strength and anger behind the punch had sufficient force to crush a human’s skull—but he caught my hand, closing his fingers around mine before the blow could land. Eyes narrowed, he examined my features and dropped his attempts to worm his way into my head. The sounds and sensations of the world abruptly starting around me again struck with all the force of a freight train. The severance was so complete, I sagged, muscles going slack from the shock.
“Perhaps, Ms. Waynest, I might have asked if you had given me any indication that I could trust you without the necessity of forcing you to divulge every ounce of information or cooperation I desire. You can hardly blame me for looking out for my own interests.”
I tugged to free my hand from his, but he held fast, grabbing my other hand in a move so deft and quick I hadn’t even noticed until I felt his fingers tightening around my wrist. He twisted my arms to trap both wrists at the small of my back with one hand and leaned in, taking a deep breath. Breathing in my scent? God, his fingers were so cold....
“Shiarra.” He said my name in a voice dark and husky, sending an altogether different kind of shiver tracing its way over my skin as he nipped at my earlobe. “You don’t know what you do to me. Feeling you day and night, tearing yourself apart. And for what? What are you seeking? Revenge? What good will it do? Come home with me.”
Oh, my God, he could sense my emotions? Even after this long, though I hadn’t had more than a few drops of his blood? Was that how he found me? His touch—oh,
God,
it made every joint in my body go liquid. If he hadn’t been supporting me—trapping me—I would have sunk to my knees. He held me so tightly, I knew he’d never let me fall.
‘Don’t.
Don’t.’ The belt beat at my consciousness, tearing away the layers of hunger and need Royce was making me feel to instead imbue me with a sense of purpose that felt too forced, too fake, to really impinge.
‘You can’t. You know you can’t. He’s using you.
Again. Don’t let him.’
The mixed feelings clawing at my insides were becoming painful. It was getting hard to tell which thoughts were the belt’s and which were mine.
“I can’t,” I mouthed. Not sure why. Not really meaning it.
“Tell me,” he said, cool lips traveling down my jaw and sending tremors through what little of my muscles was left to respond. “Tell me why it would be so terrible. Tell me why you can’t.”
‘Don’t forget your promise. Don’t you dare.’
That was enough of a reminder for strength to come back to me. Filled with a heavy sense of regret, I tilted my head just enough to meet Royce’s lips with mine, my tongue flickering out to taste the hints of smoke and brandy and mint lingering there. He stilled, frozen, as if either shocked or afraid of driving me away if he returned the gesture. My heart seized up in my chest as the belt protested, but it was far away, somewhere else.
Slowly, carefully, Royce released my hands to slide his own around my waist, cradling me to him. If I’d ever doubted his need for me, it was all washed away in that moment, in the feel of every contour and hard angle of his body meeting mine as he angled his head to deepen the kiss. Despite the chill in the air, and his cold touch, I was aflame, wanting more than anything in that moment to let him take me away from everything.
With a parting nip, I turned my head away, breaking the kiss and closing my eyes against the burning desire to weep into his sweater.
He didn’t press me to continue, though I felt his hunger—a kind that had nothing to do with blood—as acutely as my own. “You don’t have to do this alone. You don’t have to push me away.”
‘Yes, you do. The vampire can’t help you now.’
I pulled back, sliding out of his grip. Despite his words, he didn’t try to stop me.
“I feel how torn you are inside over this—let me do something about it. Come with me.”
I backed up another step. Another.
“Please, Shiarra.”
I raised my eyes to his, meeting his gaze with difficulty. The words were forced, and they hurt, but they were mine. “No, Royce. No.”
I took another step back. It wasn’t getting any easier.
“At least tell me why. What you’re looking for.”
I bit my lower lip, tasting the remnants of him there, a ghost of him left behind on my skin. “Redemption. I won’t find it with you.”
He said nothing.
“If I live ... I promise, if I survive this, I’ll come back. I swear it.”
‘You won’t. You’re only making that promise because you know you can’t keep it.’
What the belt said might have been true, but my words seemed to satisfy Royce anyway. He nodded, melting back into the shadows. “I’ll wait for you, Ms. Waynest. But my patience isn’t endless.”
Whether that was a threat or a simple word of caution, I didn’t feel up to analyzing it any more deeply. He’d said it before, and I had no doubt I’d give him reason to say it again before this was all over. Without another word, I spun on my heel and took off, running the rest of the way through a blurred haze of shame and regret.
Bo was waiting by the car, as I’d thought, and furious with me when I returned.
“Where the hell did you go? What were you thinking?”
I flushed as he glared at me, feeling more like an errant kid than a grown woman. The belt chattered mocking laughter and insults in the back of my mind, not helping matters. With a few hissing breaths taken between my teeth to collect myself, I affected a much lighter demeanor than I was feeling.
“Sorry, Bo,” I said, flinching when he reached for me. His expression hardened. Jesus, I hoped he couldn’t smell the vampire on me.
I forced myself to stillness as he pulled a twig complete with attached sugar maple leaf from my hair. The heat in my cheeks grew with the mounting disapproval in his eyes. Were my lips still red from the kiss?
“That was the girl who Chaz was boinking on the side,” I chattered lamely, rubbing the back of my neck. Could he tell what else I’d been doing? “She’s a Sunstriker. I didn’t want to let her get away. ”
He frowned at me. “Did she hurt you? What happened?”
“No. We did fight a little. I’m fine, but she escaped.” That nagging pang of hunger reared its head again, and I gave him a hopeful look. “Hey, you don’t have any chocolate in the car, do you?”
Some of his anger and tension melted away. He put an arm around my shoulder, hugging me to him. The belt made a gagging sound that made me heartily wish it had some kind of physical form so I could forcibly shut it up.
“No, I don’t have any sweets with me. Look, kiddo, I’m supposed to be your bodyguard when you’re out on the town. I can’t do much for you if you run off like that. Stay close next time, okay?”
As much as I hated being called “kiddo,” I didn’t want to antagonize Bo any more than I already had. “I will. Really, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” I held up the USB drive. “Hey, at least I’ve got something to show for it. Let’s head back so Keith can find out what’s on this thing.”
He gave the flash drive a dismissive glance. Clearly he wasn’t well versed in electronic devices or their uses. The tiny piece of plastic and metal might not look like much, but it could potentially have hundreds or even thousands of files on it that could help in my search for the Sunstrikers. Since Chaz hadn’t shown up to retrieve it himself, presumably sending Kimberly in his stead, I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high—but there was still a chance it contained something useful.