Sweet Cravings (8 page)

A hand shot out and grabbed me against him. He stood, and I did too. Caen’s one arm held me against his chest, and the other drew his sword. I could feel something different about him. The air surrounding Caen was thick with malice and haziness.

Sang and Hira snapped out of their trances and both shouted at the same time, “Lily!”

I struggled against him, but his grip was too strong. I bit his arm, and he didn’t even flinch. What was with him?

Caen raised his sword and an inferno of fire blasted toward Sang and Hira. In that instant, Sang ducked to the ground, and Hira shifted into a swallow and flew above the flames.

“Sang! Hira!” I shouted in worry. Caen sheathed his sword and placed his left hand over my mouth, and I wasn’t stupid enough to make muffled cries like girls do on those cheesy TV horror movies. I wasn’t an idiot.

Sang’s crimson eyes burned like Caen’s fire, and he rushed forward, dodging the flames with precise accuracy, and right before he was going to punch the man in the face, Caen held me up as a protective shield, and Sang had to quit.

I thought about how helpless I was, and how I didn’t want to be the stereotypical girl who had to be saved from the big bad wolf. I concentrated my energy into my muscles, saw a bright pink aura surround me, and broke free of Caen’s grasp. I sprinted to Sang and Hira, and we jumped into the car.

“Going so soon?” Caen smirked and jumped onto the hood.

I heard the wrinkling of leather and looked to my left and saw a woman in a black suit. She had white skin, dark almond eyes, and ruby red lips, and as I stared at her, she hissed and showed her fangs.

In a flash, she disappeared and when I blinked, she was at the car door. She wrapped a thick chain around Hira’s neck before he could do anything. The breath was knocked out of him as she pulled him up into the air and flew—yes, apparently, some vampires can fly—by the hood of the car and laughed wickedly.

“Hira!” Sang reached for him, but he was too far away.

“These chains were made specifically for shifters,” Caen said. “It makes it so they can’t shift and cannot break them. So, we’ll be happy to take your shifter friend with us and kill him, or you can surrender and all of you can be together.”

Sang’s head slumped on the steering wheel, and he punched the dashboard. “Damn!”

My eyes were trained on Hira, his legs dangling in the air, breath short and shallow.

Sang and I did not want to see Hira killed. “All right,” Sang said in a shaky voice, “We’ll do as you want, but please, let Hira go.”

The woman and Caen exchanged glances, and she dropped the shifter onto the hood with a loud
thump
as he crashed onto the silver metal.

“Stay still and drink this,” Caen said. “Tara, help me out.” They went to Hira first and poured a green liquid down his throat, and he swallowed reluctantly. Sang’s eyes were tired, like his will was crushed. I could see it in his wavering scarlet aura. It was so natural, so raw, but so stunning.

It swirled and misted around him. I could see it so clearly, so easily. It was strange, but I wasn’t surprised in the least. Sang had told me about auras before, and I hadn’t thought much of it at the time. Now that I actually saw it—it was beautiful and mesmerizing, and not what I’d expected.

Wonderful.

Sang had no qualms about drinking the strange liquid. He actually snatched the bottle from Tara and drank it all himself.

I did
not
want to drink that shit, so I hid my face under my dress and sealed my mouth tightly, as if I were a child again refusing to eat broccoli. Tara held me still as I kicked and thrashed against her, while Caen pinched my cheeks and got the liquid inside me.

I felt light-headed and the sky swirled into a creamy Popsicle above me, and everything turned to a blurry mess and morphed with each other. I lolled my head back and relaxed, and I floated away into a colorful dreamland.

I woke up on a hard, uncomfortable floor. It was dark and damp, but with my new paranormal abilities, I could see in the dark like a cat. It was a bit blurry, but what the hell. I was trapped in a small gray room with nothing but myself, the floor, and the cold metal chains binding my arms and legs. If I tried to stand, my bonds would bite into my flesh and hurt like a bitch, so I decided to lie low. The part about no windows freaked me out a bit, because I hated enclosed spaces without any means of seeing the outside world. I shuddered, and my teeth chattered from the chilly atmosphere, and I sneezed.

“Sang!” I yelled. “Hira!”

“Lily!” Sang shouted in reply.

“Sang! Oh, thank the heavens. How are you?”

He laughed and responded, “Not too good. Head hurts. Been awake for a while now. I’m chained to a wall spread-eagle, and I really want to sit. And I have to pee.”

I giggled. “You silly vampire. Any word from Hira?”

“No. He must still be sleeping. My cell is on top of yours.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Anyway,” Sang started, “I wonder what they want us for. Caen…he definitely wasn’t himself. He was so different. Like a completely new person.”

“Hey, how do you know him? Isn’t he part of the Paranormal Police or some shit like that?”

“Yeah, he is. Caen is my friend. We’ve been through a lot together.”

I was interested. “And?”

He sighed. “We were both changed by Annabelle, my blood queen. Vamps changed by her get red eyes. She loved my red eyes—said they were the prettiest shade of all. Anyway, Caen was unlucky and only one of his eyes changed to red, so she beat him a lot. She’s known as the Sadistic Seducer. If she was not pleased, she would torture her blood children and get a thrill from it. Caen and I used to share the same bedchambers, and we talked a lot about escaping and our old lives. He used to be a knight of the King’s Army until she found him and changed him for his prowess with the sword and his good looks. When his one blue eye didn’t change red I thought she had killed him, but instead, she brought him to my chambers where I was ordered to nurse him back to health. It took four months, but he finally got better, and ever since we became buddies. When a vampire turns two hundred, they can leave their master and wander off. We did it together, and he found a promising career in the Paranormal Police. I, though, I was recaptured by Annabelle and severely punished.”

“What did they do to you?”

His voice became shaky. “I…I can’t tell you right now, Lily. I’m sorry. It brings back very haunting memories.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Do you know how long we’ve been here?” I asked.

“Dunno. But I sure hope it’s not three days. You, a fledgling, need to feed at least every day—three days at the most—so if it’s been three days, you’re going to be starving for blood.”

“Well, I feel fine…” My fangs suddenly slid out, and I felt a burning dryness in my throat. “Spoke too soon.”

“Just calm down and don’t think about it too much. It’s what helped me.”

I coughed and sneezed and was instantly shaken by the pain which started in my gut and then spread throughout my whole body. My lips, mouth, and throat were as dry as the Sahara Desert, and I writhed on the floor as the hunger surged through me and pounded me with pain.

Why now? Why now of all times?

I kicked out and slammed my feet against the floor, tried to pry the chains off, but I sensed them suck at my energy, my aura, like a car guzzling gas. I stuck my fingers inside the tiny space on the collar around my neck, which I just realized was there, and pushed and pushed but my efforts amounted to nothing. My throat throbbed and my body convulsed. I rolled my head right to left, right to left. My fangs dug into my lower lip and blood trickled out. I could feel my eyes pulsing with need, glowing crimson with desire.

Just then, as I was thrashing on the ground, a door creaked ajar and light spilled into the room. Caen stepped in and chuckled. “I see the three days has taken its toll on you, Lily.” He said my name softly, almost with admiration, but with a hint of hatred as well.

I reached a hand toward him. “Thirsty…” I choked.

“Now this will work better on you,” he said as he took out a long needle from his vest pocket. I flailed and rolled around at the sight of the abomination—needles were my worst enemy.

“No!” I screamed. “No!” He neared me and bent down, not worried by my wild movements. He grabbed my right arm and lifted the needle.

“No! No! No!” I shrieked in horror. It was too late. He plunged the needle in and injected me, and then wiped the sweat from his brow.

“There. That’ll have a very strong narcotic effect, so you won’t be able to move.”

I swallowed and ceased my lashing. I couldn’t move. I was immobilized, as if I were hit by a tranquilizer gun. My mouth hung open, and my eyes watered. Caen unlocked my bindings, lifted me up, and held me bridal-style—which I had been going through a lot recently—and strode out the door.

I felt like I did when Darius first met me—some limp thing, like some baby doll hanging from a little girl’s hand.

He went down a flight of blue-carpeted stairs and into a room, where he locked the door and gently sat me up on a black velvet chair. I groaned as the tingly feeling consumed my body, the kind that made you feel good, real good, but I couldn’t move a muscle. I sat on the chair with my head resting against the top with my arms folded. I was still in the pink attire I’d come in wearing, and I was grateful for that.

Caen was cross-legged on a matching chair. He snapped his fingers and a variety of wall candles lit up one after the other in a blazing line. “You can sit there for a while. Enjoy the burning candles. I love to watch them melt. Just like anyone who gets in my way, I melt them down.” He snickered.

I attempted to lift a hand, but nothing.

The aura surrounding him was dark now, a deep blue-black with an outer layer of an orange corona. I wondered what it meant. What it all meant. I’d have to ask Darius when I got back.

If
I got back.

Caen hummed a song to himself while reading a book. I felt like the woman in
Kill Bill,
trying to move her big toe after being comatose for four years. I may be in a different situation, but now I became helpless and kind of scared, and Lily didn’t like feeling helpless and scared. It brought back evil memories.

He glanced at me from atop the pages. “Well, this is becoming rather boring. Guess I’ll drink your blood now.”

He stepped over to me, grabbed me by the hair, which hurt like a bitch, slammed me against the wall, and pinned my hands on top of my head with one palm.

I would’ve struggled like a madwoman had I not been drugged.

His breath was hot, and I mean
hot
on my neck. I wanted to turn my head in disgust and spit in his face, but that wasn’t an option right now. I just had to wait until the drug wore off.

He nuzzled his face in the crook of my neck and goose bumps rippled across my skin. He smelled me and ran his hand through my hair, and then patted it down. He’d created a rat’s nest after gripping it so roughly.

“I’m going to take you as mine and hurt that Darius. Do you know how vampires can steal another's blood-child? The bond isn’t as strong, but you’ll belong to me nonetheless. That’s what Darius did to Sang to take him from the claws of Annabelle.”

I was horrified. I could be free of Darius…but at the same time, be bound to this nut job. I wanted to get away from Darius so much, but some strange string tugged at my heart and whispered softly,
no
. I had to be with Darius. I didn’t know why, but I had to.

“All I have to do,” Caen said joyfully, “is drink your blood, give you my blood, and then perform a short ritual which will make you mine.”

As his mouth went higher to my throat and opened, I could feel energy pump inside me, my blood boil. I was frightened, so frightened, and the power surged through me like an electrical line, poured through me, and strengthened my body. As his fangs barely grazed my skin, I went under him and clamped my mouth onto his neck.

His eyes widened in disbelief, and his body froze.

I got this instinctual feeling that as my fangs sank into him I was spreading the drug he had injected me with into his body, and I focused on making him as immobile as I was. Make him fear—the fear I felt.

I was myself, but not, as if I were a different person. The power was so good, so great, and I was drunk on it, this new energy inside me, and forgot about the other presence that was entwined in my aura.

I dug deeper into his flesh, made sure it fucking hurt like a bitch, and I pulled his blood in quick movements—hard, harsh movements. I sucked and sucked, but I couldn’t be satisfied. I wanted more. So much more. He had to pay. He had to suffer.

I snatched his hands, and in an instant snapped his wrists and arms, punched him in the gut, all while I was still attached to his neck, drawing his precious life energy. I could see his aura empty into me, merge with mine and build onto it.

Yes. More! More! I can’t stop! Must have more! Put him in misery, in complete pain and suffering!

“Lily!”

Sang’s voice reached my ears and penetrated my power high. I stopped and let Caen fall to the floor with a loud
thump
and stared at the other vampire gazing back at me.

Then I realized what I’d just done. I just hoped the
real
Caen wasn’t gone.

Please.

“Sang!” I had woken up from a dream and the details were fuzzy. He was staring at me, eyes watering, and then lowered his gaze below me. I looked, too, and saw a bloody Caen by my feet.

“I did…who did…” I asked, perplexed.

“Lily.” Sang took in a deep breath and scratched his head. “You did this.”

“Me?” I took a better look at Caen, who was a bloody mess and bruised all over. His one arm was bent in an…awkward position. “I don’t remember.”

The raven-haired vampire told me to stay still, and he rushed to Caen. I saw a black, misty energy leaving his body as “Caen” spat out blood. “I wasn’t expecting that from
you
,” he growled to me. “You broke that body really bad. Too bad it wasn’t my real body. Well, I can’t stick around much longer in this body. It’s too damaged. Oh, and by the way, my name is Del. Ta-ta for now.” The mist completely gushed from Caen’s body and then out into nowhere. Caen’s energy became stable, yet wavered from the wounds he’d suffered.