Sunset to Sunrise (7 page)

I had come to verify what I’d been told. Instead I had found more than that. There certainly was a genuine rebellion growing here. It was bigger than I’d been led to believe. And though for the most part it was made up of fools, their numbers were growing. There was danger in that.

My mind raced as I strolled through row after row of headstones, pausing to read the odd one here or there. It was unlikely Phillip would succeed in his plan. Of course, he didn’t have to be aware of it for me to play my own part.

Various scenarios played out in my head as I entertained the many ways I could lure Arys to his end. He was a powerhouse for sure, but he wasn’t invincible. Like so many others were starting to figure out, I knew his greatest weakness, for it was also my own.

Alexa. It always came back to her.

With a frustrated cry, I unleashed my fury on a defenseless tree. I pounded away at the thick trunk until my knuckles bled. I guess it wasn’t so defenseless after all.

What I needed was to beat the hell out of someone who could put up a good fight. Phillip. He would do. Not tonight though. I wanted him one on one. If I had to take out every vampire in his merry little band of rebels first, so be it.

I kicked over a pot holding dead flowers. It smashed against a headstone, littering the grass with shards of glass. I didn’t care. My mind was a mess. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to cheer Phillip on in his assassination attempt or take him out myself.

What I wanted and what I needed were different things.

I returned to The Wicked Kiss where I intended to pass the time with a warm body. A distraction would keep me occupied. It was the safest way to keep me off the streets in the mood I was in.

And what a mood it was. If someone didn’t bleed for me soon I was going to lose it.

Justin stopped me on my way in. Pulling me aside, he spoke in a rush, his eyes wide with excitement. “Kale, we had to start turning people away. Shit is getting crazy in there. We can’t keep up.”

“Close the doors for the night. We’ll start kicking people out at sunrise.”

“Have you seen the shit going down on the dance floor? Would it be so wrong to lock up and join in?” He was stone cold serious. It took me a second to realize that.

I stepped into the club to find it in worse shape than when I’d left it. A short bark of laughter burst from me. Now this was a party.

The one couple having sex on the dance floor had multiplied considerably. The dance floor had erupted into an orgy of sex and blood. Bodies slithered upon bodies in an erotic rhythm to the music. Blood perfumed the air. Much to their credit, the band kept playing. The chaos spilled over onto the couches behind the bar where two vampires were sharing the group of women I’d been eyeing up earlier. Tabletops had become makeshift beds for others.

The only place left in the club that held a semblance of normalcy was the bar where Willow sat drinking tequila. He stared straight ahead, either unfazed by the activity or unaware. It was hard to say. I was torn between speaking with him and gravitating toward the dance floor orgy.

Being surrounded by several naked and bleeding humans while I got off on the rush of so many victims sounded like my idea of paradise. I could happily bask in that until I forgot my own name. However, with a longing glance toward the bloody fun, I went in the opposite direction, toward the bar.

“Ah, you’re back.” Willow greeted me with a raised shot glass and a nod. “From the looks of things, you probably shouldn’t have left.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I mused. “I think it’s an improvement.”

Willow didn’t appear all that impressed with the activity going on around him. I got it. It wasn’t his thing.

“Better not let anymore FPA agents in here,” he warned, “or they’re going to shut you down.”

“They can try,” I said with a smirk, almost wishing Juliet would walk back through that door. I’d love to see the look on her face when she saw this. “Everyone will be back on their best behavior when Alexa gets back. It’s temporary.”

“I tried to find her,” he said, surprising me. “I couldn’t. Her room at Caesars was empty, but it seemed like someone had just been there. I think she’s ok.”

The girl with the blue hair was back. She easily captured my attention in black, thigh-high boots and a dress that was little more than a scrap of fabric. I watched her with growing excitement as she approached. Leaning on the bar next to me, she ordered a drink.

“Falon went to find her,” I said to Willow, distracted by the woman on my other side. Goddamn her legs were long. I couldn’t wait to get between them. “I looked further into that whole Arys situation. It’s looking pretty serious, actually. I hadn’t really expected that.”

Willow glanced past me to the woman dominating my focus and shook his head. “I imagine that kind of thing won’t end here. Alexa and Arys will always be in danger. So, what are you going to do about it?”

That snapped my gaze back to him. I studied him, searching his pensive green eyes. “What the hell do you mean by that?”

“You know exactly what I mean. Are you going to let it happen? Or are you going to do the right thing?” His gaze was unflinching. Despite the amount of liquor he consumed, he was as sharp as ever.

I broke eye contact; Willow was too damn intuitive. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he could see into parts of me I no longer even saw myself.

The knockout next to me smiled. It reminded me what my current priority was. I told the bartender that her drinks were on the house and received a dazzling white smile. With a flirtatious wink, she sauntered away, leaving me staring after her.

Willow was still staring at me, awaiting my response. So I decided to be honest. “I want to let it happen.”

He seemed to weigh my words, considering them carefully. “But you won’t.”

Or maybe not so carefully. “I might.”

He turned back to his booze then, a chuckle shook his shoulders. “Who are you trying to convince? I’ve been where you are. I know the hell of forbidden love. The urge to take the selfish route, it’s just a way to cover the pain. Beneath it all, you know you’d do anything for her, no matter what it cost you.” Well that explained why Willow spent night after night in a desperate attempt to numb out.

I wasn’t ready to have this conversation with him or anyone else. Escaping between the legs of the blue haired vixen was all I wanted to do. “Discussing my forbidden feelings for Alexa doesn’t strike me as a great way to end the night.” Something about Willow encouraged me to talk, to spill everything that had been building up inside me over the past year. “The only time I’m free of her is when I kill. And even then, she’s not far from my mind. It’s driving me mad, and I can’t take it anymore.”

I don’t know why I said that. It had been my intent to end the conversation and walk away. Still, when Willow nodded as if he understood in his own way, I felt a little less alone.

“She cares so much for you,” he said. “Alexa is so young yet and dealing with so much. She’s going to need you.”

So much for making me feel better. That was my cue to leave. “And I need a shot of that sexy thing over there. So I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Hey, Kale, let me know if you need a hand with those vampires. I’d be happy to back you up. You know, when you decide to do the right thing.” Willow smirked and turned his back on me, leaving me to mull that over. Cheeky bastard.

There was just one thing on my mind. The hunt. I glided through the sex-charged room with my sights set on my prey. In her I would find freedom… for a little while.

Chapter Five

She said her name was Lily. It sounded fake to me, but what did I care? In a liquored haze, she slipped into my arms and laughed. Lily wasn’t new here. She knew how this worked. That made my job much easier.

We blended in with the rest of the crowd, becoming just one more couple caught in the throes of passion and pleasure. With a playful glint in her eyes, she backed me up against the wall and descended to her knees before me.

I groaned when she took me into her mouth. Running my hands through her hair, I watched the brilliant blue strands slide between my fingers. She was skilled, working me with her mouth until I thought I might crumble.

A wicked chuckle racked me as I surveyed the room. The scent of blood joined with the musky aromas of sweat and sex, creating a smell that would drive even the most tightly restrained vampire wild. I basked in the freely exuded energies of those around us, both human and vampire. It was reaching a dangerous level. The lesser vampires would be feeling this high for days.

I took a few minutes to enjoy watching Lily’s pretty mouth on me. It took great strength to keep from climaxing. I wasn’t ready for that yet. First, she had to bleed.

“Come on,” I said, pulling her up. “Let’s go to my room.”

She squealed girlishly and protested, wanting to stay at the party with everyone else. For what I wanted to do with her, I preferred to have no witnesses. I pulled her along, through the club to the back hall where we seemed to step from one world to another. The loud music and noise became muffled. The hall itself was relatively quiet though it burned with hunger and desire. Every room was occupied. The occasional shout or scream rang out, and my impatience grew.

No sooner had I closed the door to my room behind us than she was getting naked. I removed my jacket and shirt before pushing her down on the edge of the bed. I knelt before her and sought out the warm place between her thighs. It was ridiculously easy to please her. In no time, she was mewling like a cat in heat.

She grabbed my hair, pulling just enough to hurt. I didn’t let up, even when she begged me to. I forced her to orgasm, stopping only when I felt her body convulse. The sensual energy was delicious, but it wasn’t enough for me. I craved more. I craved fear.

Without waiting for her to come down from the climactic moment, I bit hard and fast into her inner thigh. A fount of blood emerged from her creamy white skin to stain the bedding.

I sucked hard on the wound, reveling in her shocked gasp. To encourage the unease I sensed in her, I bit her again, this time targeting the other thigh.

“What the fuck?” She slurred drunkenly. “I wasn’t ready for that. I only do wrists.”

Grasping her hand, I bit her wrist, watching the blood well from the vein. “You’ll do whatever the hell I want you to do.”

That was all it took. She began to struggle then. Confused and uncoordinated, Lily lashed out. She managed to slap me a few times before I caught her wrists. Forcing her back down on the bed, I hovered over her wearing a smile so wide it almost hurt my face.

“Please, stop,” Lily shrieked. “I change my mind. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Her fear fed my greatest hunger. I needed my victims to fear me. Even those I left alive. Their terror brought me the greatest joy.

“Too late. You’re mine now.” I straddled her as she flung herself around in a vain attempt to escape. Pinned to the bed with my weight atop her, she screamed. It was a delightful sound. I felt it in my bones. Lily fought and cried, begging and pleading, promising she wouldn’t tell anyone. They always said shit like that. It was comical really. Who the hell did they think they could tell anyway?

“Kale, please,” she screamed. “Don’t do this.”

Those words echoed inside my mind. I had heard them before, uttered with the same terror, the night I had tried to kill Alexa in the FPA basement. It became her voice I heard instead of Lily’s. It was suddenly Alexa I heard begging me to stop.

I flung myself backwards, landing haphazardly on the floor. I couldn’t allow that to happen again, not to her. Confusion muddied my brain as I struggled to make sense of what was real and what was just a horrifying memory.

Lily scrambled off the bed, tripping as she went for the door. I lunged after her, catching her ankle. Jerking her off balance, she fell in a heap of blood-smeared limbs. She kicked and hit, anything to keep me away.

I dragged her closer, crawling up over her. The screams that drove my hunger were now feeding my madness. I couldn’t stand to hear that sound another moment. Clapping a hand over her mouth, I jerked her head to the side and buried my fangs deep in her throat.

Somehow I managed to stop short of killing her. I left her laying there, sprawled unconscious on the floor. That had not gone according to plan.

I sat on the end of the bed, staring at Lily’s naked, bloody body. I had to get her out of here. Letting her sleep it off for a while seemed like a good plan. Then I’d toss her in the shower and send her on her way. With the right kind of persuasion, I might be able to convince her that none of it had happened. Glamour wasn’t my strongest trait, but it was worth a shot.

It was early morning. I could feel it. Fetching my phone from my jacket, I was unnerved to find no return call from Alexa. What I should have done was try to get some sleep. What I did was dial her number. Much to my absolute surprise, she answered. The sound of her voice momentarily stole my words.

“You really know how to make a guy crazy, don’t you?” I greeted her, hoping she wouldn’t hear the utter relief in my voice. “I must have called you a dozen times.”

“More than that actually,” she said with a light laugh.

It was so good to hear her voice. A huge weight had been lifted from me. “Obviously, you’re still alive. Is everything ok? I knew you wouldn’t want me to send Falon, but the only way to find you was through Shya’s demon mark.”

I settled back on the bed against the headboard while she retold the events of her night. Hearing about the wolf fight and the vampire theatrics filled me with rage. Arys had allowed it all to happen. On his watch, Alexa had been endangered and exploited. He deserved to die. Every word she said convinced me of it.

Her voice shook when she told me Shaz had been nabbed by the bad guys. She was blaming herself. I could hear it in the words she didn’t say.

“You’re strong. You’ll play the heroine and save Shaz. No worries.” I wanted to reassure her but didn’t know how. Things had changed between us. She no longer found comfort in me.