Wanted: A Blood Courtesans Novel (8 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Corynne

No.

This had to be a horrible, awful nightmare, but that didn’t make anything any better. Nightmares were worse than the truth.

Nash rushed to Sierra, who’d fallen in a screaming, sobbing heap on the floor. Other vampires had come out of their apartments to see what was wrong, and panic swept through the building. Sweet, gentle Sabrina had lost her head in the forest. ‘Lost’ made it sound like she got distracted and left it behind. Someone brutally separated it from her body, that’s what really happened.

And it was all my fault.

“Do you have her head?” one of them asked. The room swam around me like I was drowning—between the screaming, the blood, the exhaustion of being glamoured by two powerful vampires in one night, and the absolute finality of Sabrina being gone when she was meant to live forever.

“I looked everywhere,” Pierce said, his voice flat. “The older ones stayed in the forest, since they can handle sunlight. They won’t leave until they have her head or know that they can’t get it back.”

A chance. Something to hang on to.

I concentrated hard on picturing Sabrina’s beautiful face, her gray eyes and cotton candy lips that always had a smile for me, hoping that I’d see it one more time.

“Put her on ice,” someone suggested. “It will keep the body intact until we can put her back together.”

Sierra collapsed beside the bathtub, clutching the hand of her best friend, her companion, her everything. Tears streamed down her face, and she sang softly, as if she could will Sabrina back to life.

“I did this.” I fell against Nash when we got back to his apartment. The sun would shatter the night any minute. I wanted to stay with him, even though everything had changed. I didn’t think he wanted me anymore, and now I doubted he ever wanted me in the first place. The effect of Oscar’s glamour lingered like I was getting over the flu. It could make me sick at any minute.

“Yes, you did.” Nash did nothing to cushion the blow. “You should’ve never left her side.”

“But the police—“

“Did you ever stop to think that you were with a vampire who could cast a spell over a group of humans like you’d order a pizza? Or that maybe someone had just wanted you to
think
you saw the police, knowing you’d act like a complete fool?”

It would’ve felt better if he slapped me in the face with every bit of his vampire strength. “You should’ve turned me already. Taught me how to harness my power.”

Nash scoffed. “Ah, a little bit of Oscar lingers inside you.” He approached me, so close I hoped he’d kiss me and make everything go away. Nope. “You deserve that, for what you did. Now you understand why I don’t turn people without really knowing who they are. And someone who abandons a coven mate—“

“I’d never do anything to hurt her!” I screamed, but no one came running for me. The tears finally broke through, the gravity of what I’d done pulling them out of me. “I didn’t know what would happen. I need your help. This is what happens when people are close to me. I hurt them, and I can’t fix it anymore.”

He didn’t comfort me, but he let me cry against his shoulder. The power had become pure evil, whatever was inside of me had lashed out at someone I cared about.

“I’d planned to punish Sabrina for leaving you unprotected in the forest, because she was smarter than that. But now I think
you
should serve that punishment, so you’ll understand when you’re given an order, you need to obey it. If you have a prayer of becoming a part of this coven, you’ll learn to do that.”

Whatever it took. I could handle it. I’d happily trade places with Sabrina if it made things better. I nodded.

“Look at me, Corynne.” Nash stepped away from me and I almost fell. “For Sabrina, Hell on earth was to be alone. She loved to care for people, to make them feel good--” I choked back a sob. I hated the way her referred to her in past tense, but Nash didn’t care. “—Instead, I’ll have you attend to Sierra as she mourns, and your task is to make her understand why she can’t spend forever with her beloved.”

I gasped, and he nodded. There was more. “If I were you, I’d be thinking of nothing but where to find that head.” Like I could think of anything else. “Desiree will ask for retribution if she thinks you caused this.”

My days at the coven were numbered. I understood, more than I ever wanted to. “Please.” I could barely speak. “Teach me how to use my power. Or kill me. For real. I can’t live if this is what I do to people.”

“I’ll think about it. Get some rest. You’ll need it.” He walked away from me and closed the door to his bedroom.

He’d left me with nothing. I couldn’t lay in these blood-splattered, filthy clothes. I stripped them off and turned the fire on. I lay on the couch, naked and shivering, wishing I could fix everything. Something. Anything.

At the beginning of the night Nash wanted to keep me forever. He’d been willing to help me rescue Olivia, who I couldn’t even be happy about finding anymore. I’d throw her back to the forest if it meant one more day with Sabrina.

No, I couldn’t think that, either. I’d go mad unless someone helped me, and I just alienated the only people willing to do that.

Sometimes, the visions came in the form of a riddle. I wondered if that’s what Oscar had been. A fortune teller.

The likelihood of Nash wanting anything to do with me after tonight…I didn’t want to think about my odds. They sucked. I’d have nowhere to turn but the forest, and Oscar would be too happy to have me on my hands and knees, covered with blood…

No.
This was it. A one-way train to crazy town, and it had no brakes. I drifted in and out of consciousness, picturing Sabrina in the sunlight, and snapping awake at the reality of her lying headless in that tub of ice.

I had to take a chance. There was no place else to run. Nash didn’t answer the door when I knocked, so I held my breath and pushed it open. I’d never seen a sleeping vampire, and had no idea what to expect when I picked up the blanket and crawled under it.

His body shifted. “Corynne?” he mumbled, having no trouble sleeping.

“Please let me stay with you,” I whispered. Maybe in his dreams I wasn’t a monster. “I’m scared to be alone.”

He put his arm around me and pulled me into his still chest. For once, I believed that everything could be okay.

**

“We have the head!” My eyes snapped open as soon as I heard the chaos in the hall. “Who’s awake? We need you! We have the head!”

“Nash.” I pushed at him, having no idea what time it was, or if I’d be able to wake him. I hadn’t stayed with the vampires all that long, but some basic knowledge of how things worked would’ve have been priceless. I was too chicken shit to go out there alone, in case anyone wanted to exact some instant justice. After last night, I was pretty sure this crowd was into that sort of thing. Nash might still protect me, even if it was only to make me suffer on his own terms.

One more hard shove. “Nash! Wake up. They found Sabrina.”

His eyes opened and he mumbled something unintelligible. I shook him again. “They have her head?” he finally said.

“Yes! They’re calling for help. You’re the oldest. They need you.” I jumped out of bed, remembering I was naked. I almost asked Nash to borrow some clothes, but that would’ve made things even more disrespectful, like I’d spent the night my friend was murdered getting my brains fucked out. And there was no way I’d ask him for anything. Back to last night’s clothes that stunk of Oscar’s glamour and my fatal mistake.

Nash made the sign of the cross before leaving the apartment. He hadn’t lost his faith.

Mayhem filled the dressing room as the vampires frantically worked to save Sabrina. Sierra stood alone, motionless, clutching the wall. Her eyes were huge and unblinking, her face so pale she almost blended into the paint. However much my heart had healed as I rested, it crumbled once I saw her.

The room fell silent when I appeared behind Nash. My beating heart must’ve alerted them to danger like a ticking time bomb. Nash grabbed my arm; he could read my mind, and he knew I’d run if given a chance. “Go to her,” he commanded, his voice low in my ear.

Nash forgot about me, joining the group of vampires attending to Sabrina. My rubbery legs barely carried me to Sierra. I had absolutely no idea what to say to her, which was fine, because she didn’t acknowledge me. There was nothing else in her world but Sabrina’s lifeless body in that tub.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I wanted to reach for her, offer her some comfort, but I’d taken everything away from her. She didn’t acknowledge me, lost in her own world.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” I added, more to assure myself. I needed her to agree with me, if there was any chance of me forgiving myself for what I’d done. Her eyes caught mine, full of desperation and despair, and she shook her head so slightly that I wasn’t sure that it happened.

I leaned against the wall next to her, hoping she could read my mind, too. Then she’d know it was all a horrible mistake, and I’d change everything if I had the chance.

The group at the table seemed confused, frustrated, and exhausted. Theoretically, Sabrina’s skin should’ve knitted itself back together, protecting her inner organs while they healed. The problem was while everyone knew it was possible, none of them had ever done it. Some vocalized the fear that Sabrina had been in pieces too long and she wasn’t capable of the regeneration. Sierra’s fingers slipped between mine and I squeezed them.

They worked so long my legs had gone numb, but I didn’t dare move, or let go of Sierra. I tried my damnedest to keep positive, thinking of Sabrina alive and whole, but exhaustion was getting the best of me.

“It’s not working,” Pierce said, stepping away from the table. “It’s been almost twenty-four hours. The healing should’ve taken hold by now.”

“No!” Lady Desiree cried. She’d been in the thick of things, working to save her courtesan.

“What else do we do?” one of the other vampires asked, completely bewildered.

Nash wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “We say goodbye.”

Sierra slid down the wall, dragging me with her. I put my arms around her, but she shook away from me, crawling toward the table, but she couldn’t make it. She lay in the middle of the floor and sobbed. Two vampires picked her up and brought her to the tub. Lady Desiree held her upright as she said goodbye to Sabrina.

They carried Sierra out of the room. It didn’t do her any good to be in here. One by one, the vampires murmured their goodbyes and left. Only Sabrina, Nash, and I remained. He bowed his head and prayed softly in French, guiding her on her journey.

I couldn’t breathe as he approached me. There was nothing else we could do for Sabrina, and I had no idea what that meant for me.

Nash held his hand out, but I didn’t take it. His skin was gray with reddish purple smudges under his eyes.

“Come,” he commanded. “I need to feed.”

Chapter Fourteen

Corynne

“Take it all.” I tore the neck of my shirt when the door closed behind me. “Don’t bother being gentle.”

Nash looked like shit, starvation taking root deep inside him. He could be close to death himself for all I knew. He cocked his eyebrow at me. “I won’t do that.”

“Of course not.” I sighed, landing on the couch hard. My body hurt. My own hunger, exhaustion, and grief pulled me down to earth. “You’d rather torture me. Kill me, Nash. That way Sabrina won’t be alone anymore.”

He lifted me from the couch. My body trembled under his grip. “Sabrina’s at peace now.” I cringed when he raised his hand, and swallowed my scream when he smoothed my matted hair away from my face. “As long as we live, it’s something we know we can never have, unless we meet the final death. It’s the one thing that gives me comfort when I lose a friend.”

Something flashed in his eyes that cut way deeper than losing Sabrina. “Is that what happened to Alexandra?”

“I wish I could say so.” Emotion frayed the edge of each word. “Then her death would’ve have come quickly. She was captured by the Nazis before the Second World War. I did everything I could to rescue her, but all I had to track her with was her thoughts. We also shared that bond. They denied her blood and performed experiments on her. She went mad as I searched for her, then her information became too unreliable. Eventually, it stopped coming.”

He bowed his head, like he did when he said goodbye to Sabrina. I put my hand over his heart, wishing I could feel it beat. “I’m so sorry.”

Nash nodded. I couldn’t see his eyes, his hair cast them in dark shadows. “Being in there with Sabrina, hoping there was some way to save her when I knew we didn’t have a chance, and praying by some miracle I could make it better, I realized how my mistakes could destroy the coven. I could’ve lost you to Oscar, after you put all your trust in me. If he could turn you against me, what about the rest of the coven? He’s been waiting for an opportunity to come back to the council and take my place. After losing Alexandra, I stopped caring what happened to me. But I have to protect those who put their faith in me. Especially you. I had no business bringing you to the forest tonight. It was too much of a risk.”

Pain had replaced his anger when he met my gaze. “I wish I could make it better for you.” I shook my head, my own pain overflowing. “It makes me think of my little sister, who can’t possibly understand why I haven’t come home, when my face is all over TV and the police are looking for me. She’s mourning a loss that hasn’t happened. I wish I could tell her that I’m okay. I bet Alexandra would’ve done the same thing for you if she could have, just to make your suffering go away. It must’ve brought back all those feelings, seeing Sierra tonight. Knowing that she’s got to go through that alone. You won’t ever have to go through that again.”

Everyone in the coven looked to Nash for guidance without regard for how much he’d lost. All of their losses resonated with him because he was the one they expected to make it better. Nash needed someone to lean on, too.

Nash crashed against my lips in a kiss. He needed every single thing I had to give him, and I was thankful for the chance to help someone heal instead of breaking them all over again. We were opposites—a man of God and a child of the devil, an immortal and a girl whose days on earth were numbered—that came together in darkness to complete one another.

Where that path led us, I had no idea.

I gasped for air when the kiss was over. Nash traced his finger along my bottom lip, slipping it into my open mouth. I was too stunned to react.

“It reminded me of what drew me to you in the first place,” he said softly. “Your power. The raw, untamed energy that flows from you. It’s unfair for me to punish you for the very reason I kept you here. And even more so when you have no idea how to defend yourself from a vampire attack.”

“Half the time I’m not sure if what I see in my head is really happening until someone else sees it, too.” Something else I’d never told anyone. I would’ve been committed for sure. But now wasn’t the time for secrets. If I’d only asked Sabrina if she saw the police flashlights, heard their barking dogs…

“You cared for Sabrina. Desiree was exasperated when you amended my contract to include people who helped you that first night. I angered her even more when I signed it without countering your offer, or offering you less money. I knew I’d made the right decision.”

“I wanted friends.” Now I knew I didn’t deserve them. “And I wish I could make you want me for me.”

Nash had the nerve to laugh. “Don’t you see? I do. When I talk about your power and your energy, it’s everything about you, Corynne. The fact that you stood up to those awful bitches that made your life miserable. You didn’t let them win, even when it meant you had to leave everything you loved behind. You came here, of all places, because you wanted a second chance. Not knowing what you’d get. That’s bravery. So many courtesans turn to putty in my hands. If you’d done that, you’d be gone by now, and you’d probably be in a jail cell. But you had the nerve to challenge me, and I wanted more. This is the beginning of a beautiful partnership.”

Maybe Nash was just old-fashioned, or used to being in control with all his talk of power and partnership. But I finally got it. He wanted me, not
despite
the fact I was a complete fuck up, because of it. He saw it as a strength.

Little by little I began to understand him, the differences between us. And how we were so very much alike. He didn’t understand why he’d been turned, what made him worthy of living forever, but I did.

I went up on my tiptoes and brushed my lips against his. I had no place to initiate anything—Nash owned me, and right now, he was as confused as I was. He could’ve pushed me away, but instead he grasped my torn shirt, finishing the job, and ripped it off me as he claimed my mouth with absolute authority. There was no question what he wanted—me.

Nash backed me up to the couch, our feet moving in time, dancing to music that no one could hear but us. He guided me down onto the arm, only letting go of me to unbutton his shirt. I don’t think I’d ever get tired of watching him undress. Usually he was immaculately groomed, but tonight the emergency left him disheveled. He considered me before touching me again, all business. He pushed my hair off my shoulder, then slipped his hands around my waist before sinking his fangs into my neck.

I loved the way it felt—the sting of impact, the warmth of his lips against my skin, and most of all, the freedom it gave me. A brand new start. My eyes grew heavy, and I wanted to tell him so many things. How I wanted everything to turn out. With me, with him, us together. Sabrina, Olivia, everyone we cared about. But as all I could manage were moans and cries.

His grip intensified as he drank greedily. My eyelids fluttered; it was impossible to keep them open. Everything I saw was rimmed in that familiar, fuzzy black anyway.
No.
I grasped his shoulders, tamping down the panic. The night had already dealt us the worst of its hand. Pleasure and pain mingled somewhere deep inside me. I slumped against him, and he pulled away from me.

Nash’s lips and chin were slick with my blood. He held me tightly as my body swayed, threatening to fall. A butterfly kiss landed on my lips. He tasted so sweet. Letting out a sigh, he trailed down my neck, to my chest, lavishing my breasts with nips and bloody kisses. His hand firmly on my back, he led me down to the cushion, curving my body over the arm of the couch.

He ran his thumb down the middle of my stomach. I writhed, the sensation sent electricity surging through my veins in the absence of my blood. Stopping at the button of my jeans, he moved his fingers under the waistband, and I moaned, willing him to rip them off like he did my shirt. This time Nash was gentle, lowering the zipper, lifting my body so he could strip them away from me.

At this angle, it was hard to see his face. It was better this way—watching him ravish my body through soot-tinted lenses would’ve made me doubt this was really happening. It was still too easy to believe Oscar, because he echoed the sentiment of everyone I’d ever met.

But Nash didn’t believe it. He slipped his fingers between my legs, moving along my wet folds. Time was a wasted concept to him, and he was in no hurry. The pulsing began low in my belly and fire spread across my skin as he circled my clit with his thumb. I kicked him, not meaning to, but right now, I was owned and operated by Nash.

One finger slipped up inside me, thrusting back and forth, soon joined by another. He curled them forward, and I jumped.

Nash chuckled. “You like that, don’t you?”

“Less talking, more doing that,” I moaned.

“You wondered if I liked you for you, Corynne. That’s it, right there. I have my fingers curled inside you.” He did that amazing thing again, like he had to prove his point. “And you still think you’re in control.”

I picked my head up so I could see him. Just as I expected, he wore my favorite crooked grin. “Sabrina told me the first night I came here, before I even went on stage, that I had what you wanted. And I had no idea what she was talking about.”

“Let me give you an idea. Lay back down, love.” With those words, I turned into the putty that Nash claimed to hate. He slid his fingers out of me and pushed my legs wide open. The first kisses that landed on my inner thigh were gentle, lulling me into a dreamlike state.

I never expected him to bite me again.

That pressure in my belly erupted, throbbing uncontrollably. He didn’t drink much, thankfully, because I didn’t know how much I had left to give him. As much as I wanted him to turn me, tonight was not that night. I screamed when his tongue hit my clit, knowing how close his fangs were. He was just as ruthless as he was with his bite, swirling, sucking, and nipping ever so lightly. The black faded from my vision, replaced with white light. That had never happened before, I didn’t know what that meant. Nash had exactly what he wanted and he was going to take his time coaxing every last drop of it out of me.

“Do you think that was what she was talking about?” he asked.

I nodded.

“I won’t believe it unless I hear you say it.”

“Yes.” I forced the word out.

“Every time I look at you, that’s what I’m thinking of—the next time I can do that to you. You have exactly what I want.” His pants and belt landed on the floor with a thud. He pushed his cock inside me. “And I plan to make you mine.”