Unbound (11 page)

“Annabelle—”

“Let me finish, and then you can say whatever you want.”

“Fine.” He raised his hands in defeat and waited for her to continue.

“I was going to leave when the money came through. I knew that if I stayed with you, Silvio would come looking for me and find you. I didn't want to risk your life or your safety by staying with you. Don't you understand?” she pleaded.

“You were going to leave?” His tone was barely audible; the sound of it tugged at her heart. He snapped his fingers. “Just like that?”

“It would have been for the best.” Annabelle looked away from him and the hurt look on his face. Her hand went to her wrist in search of the comforting links of silver, but her fingers searched in vain. It was gone. “My bracelet…”

Panic welled as she lifted the blankets and frantically searched the bedclothes for any sign of her beloved bracelet. Tears fell freely, and as she turned to look on the nightstand, Annabelle came face-to-face with the dangling bit of silver. Zachary stood by the bedside, with the precious piece of jewelry hanging from his hand. She laughed through her tears and captured it between her fingers.

“I took it off when they started working on you in the surgical suite.” His expression and voice had softened. “I know how much it means to you, and I didn't want it to get lost in the shuffle.”

“Thank you.” Annabelle swiped at her teary eyes and let out a sigh of relief when the cool silver hit her skin. She settled the bracelet against her wrist, and her shoulders shuddered when she let out a long, slow breath. She turned her attention back to Zachary and found his gaze had shifted back to the warm hazel eyes she so adored. The look of anger was gone and had been replaced by something that looked a lot like love. “I was wrong and didn't handle the situation very well. I should have told you who I was. I should have trusted you, and I understand that you have to send me away. But I want you to know that I do love you, Zachary. No matter where I go, or what happens, I will always love you.”

He said nothing but towered over her with an unreadable expression. His face was all sharp angles, and his body was wound tight with restraint. He reminded her of a lion ready to pounce on its prey. Zachary swore under his breath before turning around and stalking to the bank of windows. Hands on his hips, back straight, he stared out over the lush Montana landscape, and all Annabelle wanted to do was go to him, wrap her arms around his waist, and bury her face against him so she could breathe him in.

“I know you must hate me.” She pushed the covers back, and careful of her injury, she swung her legs over the side of the bed. To her surprise, the pain was already less than it had been just a few minutes ago. She braced both hands on the edge of the mattress in an attempt to anchor herself there so she didn't embarrass herself and run to him like the pathetic fool she was. “I don't know why you even bothered to save me.”

“Damn it, Annabelle.” Zachary leaned both hands on the windowsill, and the muscles of his back stretched the fabric of the T-shirt to its limit. “I don't know whether I'm coming or going with you. You infuriate me one minute and make me love you the next.”

“You
love
me?” Annabelle stilled, not quite certain she'd heard him correctly and at the same time praying she had. She tried to keep her breathing steady, despite the sudden rush of adrenaline mixed with confusion battering her. Rising to her feet, she inched tentatively closer to him. “I—I thought you wanted me to leave?”

“You are leaving.” Zach pushed himself away from the window and turned slowly to face her. “And I'm going with you.”

***

“I don't understand.” Annabelle was looking at him with absolute confusion, and her big green eyes, wide with wonder, searched his for answers. “This is your home.”

He closed the space between them, giving in to the pull of desire and the need to be near her that had haunted him from their first encounter in the dream realm. The heat of her body wafted over him, calling him closer, and when his fingertips trailed along her arms, the whisper of flesh against flesh ripped through him like a lightning bolt. His lips tilted at the dichotomy of it all. It would never cease to amaze him how such a tiny gesture could have such a significant impact, and that pretty much summed up his relationship with Annabelle.

Push and pull. Ebb and flow. Give and take.

“Not anymore. It's not my home anymore.” Zachary curled his hands around her biceps and gathered her soft womanly body against his. His thumbs rasped over her velvet-smooth skin, and he fought to keep the beast at bay. The animal inside him roared and writhed to break free and claim her in every possible way, to love her without measure or restraint.

A low growl rumbled in his throat, and his eyes shifted. “You can't stay here—
we
can't stay here. My home is with you, Annabelle, and I meant what I said. I was furious with you for lying to me, but when I saw you covered in blood—” He clenched his teeth and wrestled with the beast, the one fueled by fury and revenge, awake and riled up from seeing her in harm's way. Sucking in a deep breath, he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers, allowing their energy signatures to mix and mingle in the air around them. Her touch, her scent, the feel of her curvy form against his, all of it calmed the savage beast. “I thought I'd lost you.”

“So you don't hate me?” Annabelle's fingers curled against his chest and grabbed his T-shirt, pulling him closer still. Her flowery feminine scent filled his head and stirred his never-ending desire for her. A smile curved her lips as she peered up at him beneath a fan of dark lashes. “When did you figure this out?”

“When I spent an hour worried you were going to die.” He cradled her face in one hand and rasped his thumb over her cheek, while the other hand slid around her waist. “Funny how death has a way of putting life in perspective—and love. I don't care who your family is, because I know who
you
are. Make no mistake about it. I have fallen in love with you, Annabelle Marie Caedo, and I want to spend the rest of my life trying to figure you out.”

“I love you too,” she whispered. Annabelle linked her arms around his neck and pulled him to her, kissing him deeply. She nibbled his lower lip before breaking the kiss. “I swear to God I'll never keep anything from you again.”

“Good.” He dipped low to kiss her again but lifted his head abruptly, which elicited a frustrated growl from his mate. “However, I do have one request.”

“Anything.” She hugged him tighter and let her head fall back, making her hair spill down in tempting tendrils. “Then you better start kissing me again, because Tatiana was right about the healing thing. It hardly even hurts anymore, and I know exactly what will make me feel better.”

“Marry me and take my name. You may not be Amoveo, but you'll be mated and married to one.” He palmed her ass and pressed her hips against the hard evidence of his desire. “It's you and me, baby. Caedo and Amoveo. Lovers and fighters. Anywhere and everywhere. Forever.”

“Sounds good to me.” She tried to kiss him again, and once more he stopped her, keeping his lips from hers. “Are you trying to torture me?”

“No.” He laughed and narrowed his eyes. “Well, maybe a little.” Annabelle shot him a look that only made him laugh harder. Zachary took her hands in his and held them between their bodies as he whispered words in the ancient language. A flurry of static surrounded them before he released her hands. “I'm yours, Annabelle, and I plan on
torturing
you for the rest of your life.”

A quizzical look drifted over her face as she uncurled her fingers. Lying in the palm of her hand was the heart-shaped shell he'd given her that first morning at the house. A smile bloomed, and she wrapped her fingers around it once again before peering up at him with those gorgeous green eyes.

“It doesn't seem fair.” She arched one eyebrow at him. “You gave me a gift, but I don't have anything for you.”

“Sure you do.” Zachary waggled his eyebrows. His lips slanted over hers and swallowed her laughter. “Like I said,” he murmured against her mouth. “It's you and me, baby.”

“Forever?”

“Forever,” he growled. He swept her into his arms. “Push and pull, baby. Push and pull.”

Tomorrow they would leave the ranch and everything he'd ever known. Zachary loved his people, but he knew they must leave. It was the safest, best option for all of them. He and Annabelle would embark on their life together, toward adventure, into the unknown. Zachary didn't know what the future held for either of them. He had no idea how long he'd have his powers or what kind of effect Pete's blood was going to have on Annabelle.

However, as he carried Annabelle to the bed and tasted her sweet lips, there were three things he
was
sure of.

One: he was undeniably and irrevocably in love with Annabelle Caedo.

Two: there would
never
be any other woman for him for the rest of his existence.

Three: he wouldn't have it any other way.

Order Sara Humphreys's next book
in the Dead in the City series

Vampires Never Cry Wolf

On sale March 2015

Read on for an excerpt from the next book in the

Dead in the City series by Sara Humphreys

Vampires Never Cry Wolf

Being a responsible adult sucked ass.

Sadie let out a beleaguered sigh and folded her arms over her breasts while surveying the crowd with her heightened senses. The lights of the club pulsed and throbbed in time with the music. Beneath it all, she could feel the thrumming heartbeats of the humans, like a swarm of butterfly wings constantly rushing around her.

As a two-century-old vampire, Sadie had done a damn fine job of avoiding major responsibility. Until a year ago, her toughest choice had been what playlist to use at the nightclub on Friday and Saturday nights. However, with all of the recent changes to their little NYC-based coven, everyone's roles had undergone serious adjustments.

Life had been simple and predictable.

That was then and this is now.

When Olivia, her maker and dearest friend, had offered to sell Sadie the nightclub, she'd thought it was a joke. Olivia loved this place and had busted her butt for twenty years to make The Coven one of the hottest dance clubs in Manhattan. Housed in an old church in Greenwich Village, The Coven had become
the
place to party for humans who liked to dress up like vampires—or what they thought vampires looked like. Little did they know the place was owned and operated by actual vampires.

Sadie had officially taken over the club about six months ago and was finally finding her groove. Olivia even admitted that Sadie was doing a hell of a job running the place. For a year, Olivia had tried to do it all—czar, nightclub owner, mother—but in the end she just couldn't. Something had to go. Olivia had said she'd have to sell the club to strangers if Sadie didn't buy it from her.

That was when shit got real.

Sadie scoffed audibly as she moved along the edge of the leather-clad crowd. No way in hell would she have let some stranger buy The Coven. Not only did the other girls in the family work here, but they all lived in apartments beneath the club. Nope. At that moment, Sadie had known it was time to nut up or shut up. She'd avoided being a real grown-up for more than two hundred years, but as with all creatures, time eventually caught up with her.

She was now an official grown-up, and as she'd suspected, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Making her way past the two VIP booths, one of which was empty for the first time in a long while, Sadie cast a look of longing at the DJ platform. At first she'd tried to manage the club and DJ, but it had simply been too much. Like Olivia, Sadie knew something had to give. Much to her chagrin, it had been the duties up on the platform.

The young vamp she'd hired from Los Angeles was one hell of a good spinner, bringing years of experience to the table. Not only that, but Justine was absolutely fucking gorgeous in a pierced-and-tattooed sort of way. The male portion of their human clientele had doubled since she took over and that, in turn, had pumped up the human female attendance. There was no denying that having a hot girl on the DJ platform helped the bottom line.

Sadie walked the floor of the busy nightclub and surveyed the writhing crowd of humans before giving Justine a nod of acknowledgment. Headphones around her neck, the DJ winked and pumped her fist in the air at the same moment the tune changed. A deep, pulsing beat rippled seductively through the club, which triggered some serious dirty dancing by the patrons. Sadie laughed and shook her head, knowing Justine loved watching the humans practically fuck each other on the dance floor.

That
girl
sure
can
spin
her
sexy
little
ass
off.
Trixie's voice touched Sadie's mind with wonderful familiarity.
I
haven't seen a vampire girl with that many awesome tattoos in a long time. Please tell me we can keep her. She's a badass.

You're supposed to be worrying about the customers and serving wicked drinks. Not inspecting the new DJ.
Sadie captured her sibling's gaze and pointed toward the end of the bar.
Meet
me
down
there.

Now, you know me better than that. I can do both, sister.
Trixie didn't miss a beat and continued pouring shots for the three patrons seated in front of her. She'd been turned at the height of the NYC punk movement, and her spiky pink hair and leather getup made her look just like one of the club-goers. Sadie had been jealous when Olivia first brought Trixie into the fold. She'd never had to share her maker with anyone before, but she didn't need long to see how awesome Trixie was. She was spunky, feisty, and swore like a sailor. Then again, so did Sadie, which was probably why they got along so well.
She's bringin' 'em in all right. We've been jammin' from open to close ever since she started.

Standing by the end of the mahogany bar, Sadie kept her sights on the two bartenders. A sense of pride filled her. Maya's blond, innocent look was the perfect complement to Trixie's punk-rock chic, and they were really good at keeping the drinks flowing. Sadie's smile faltered when Maya caught her staring and then immediately made a beeline for her. Another sign of the times. Maya could no longer telepath with the rest of the coven.

Like Olivia, Maya had found her bloodmate and become a daywalker. Sadie didn't begrudge her sibling the joy of feeling the sun on her skin or finding true love with Shane. But all of the bloodmate stuff would have been easier on the rest of the coven if they hadn't lost the ability to telepath with each other.

All vampires could telepath with their siblings, maker, and progeny—unless they found a bloodmate. Then they could only telepath with their mate. There were pros and cons to everything, and the lack of telepathy was one of the cons.

Big time.

Sadie's non-beating heart clenched in her chest and she looked away, worried her emotions were written all over her face. She desperately missed the intimate mental connections with Maya and Olivia—but especially Olivia. Not hearing Olivia's voice in her mind crushed her soul a little bit every day. The deafening silence made Sadie feel alone for the first time in two hundred years.

She could still telepath with Trixie, Damien, and Suzie, the other members of the coven, but for how long? How long until the rest of them found bloodmates and Sadie was left alone?

“Hey.” Maya leaned both elbows on the bar and kept her voice low, pulling Sadie from her thoughts. Maya tucked one long strand of platinum-blond hair behind her ear. “Since it's kind of quiet tonight, would it be okay if I split a little early? I'll come back later and clean up so Trixie doesn't have to do it all.”

“Let me guess,” Sadie said with a knowing look. “Shane wants you to go out on the end of his patrol with him tonight.”

Shane Quesada was Maya's bloodmate and a sentry for the Presidium, the vampire government. He and two other sentries kept watch over the NYC area and reported directly to the czars. It was a sentry's job to ensure the safety and good behavior of all supernatural citizens. Which, until about a year ago, had pretty much only meant vampires.

“Maybe.” Maya's eyes twinkled. She gave a noncommittal shrug before glancing over her shoulder to the door, likely keeping an eye out for her man. She locked her blue eyes onto Sadie's and put her hands together as if in prayer. “Pleeeeeeazzzee?”

“Oh, fine.” Sadie rolled her eyes and suppressed the laugh that threatened to bubble up. Since hooking up with Shane, Maya had gone from spoiled brat to thoughtful professional in the blink of an eye. She was settled and at peace in a way that Sadie both admired and envied. Sadie smoothed the lapels of her jacket and adjusted the lacy cuffs of her long white shirt, trying to look like a hard-ass. Wearing a suit was awful, but it was important to at least try to look like a grown-up. The lace shirt was her way of rebelling. How pathetic.

“But you better get back here after closing and help Trixie clean up the bar. I have a new cleaning crew coming at six in the morning to take care of the club and the bathrooms, but you know that the bar area is all you and Trixie.”

“Thank you so much.” Maya squealed with delight and clapped her hands. “You're the best, Sadie.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sadie shook her head and jutted both thumbs at her chest. “That's me.”

You're a sucker,
that's what you are
. Trixie's voice shot into her mind with a curt laugh. Cleaning glasses in the sink, Trixie looked at Sadie through the mirror above the bar.
You're the boss now, and you gotta learn to say no sometimes.

Really? I'll remember that when you ask me for something.
Sadie winked at her sibling, but when she looked back at Maya, her smile was gone. If the look on Maya's face hadn't been enough of a clue, the tingling from the scar on Sadie's shoulder would have been. Oh fuck.

Aside from finding her bloodmate last year, Maya had discovered her gypsy heritage and a rather unique power. In addition to detecting the presence of wolves in the area, Maya had the innate ability to turn a werewolf into a human.

King Heinrich, the werewolf king, and pretty much everyone else had believed that Maya's power to render a werewolf mortal lay in the emerald necklace that King Heinrich destroyed. They had all assumed that once the necklace was gone, so was the power to take the wolf.

Not so much.

As fate would have it, the power was inside Maya. Necklace or no necklace, the girl could turn the most ferocious of werewolves into mortal men if she so desired. The only reason the wolves hadn't hunted Maya down and destroyed her was because one man—one wolf—kept her secret.

And at the moment,
that
wolf stood in the doorway of
her
club.

“It's them.” Maya's voice shook. Based on the tense vibe she was sending out, Sadie knew it could only be one thing. Maya's violet-blue eyes were wide and fixed on the massive double doors of the club. “The wolves are—”

“Here,” Sadie said in a barely audible tone. “Damn it all. One of the things I used to love about New York City was its lack of werewolves. Truce or no truce, they make me nervous.”

“Well, our kind and theirs never have gotten along,” Maya said quietly. “You're not the only vampire in the city who's upset they're setting up house here.”

Sadie rolled her left shoulder in an attempt to ease the weird tingling sensation she got every time Killian and his pack came around. The dark, circular scar on her left shoulder blade was left over from the night Olivia turned her, a memento from the attack that left her an orphan and a vivid reminder of all she had lost. She figured the tingling in the scar was her body's way of telling her something—or someone—dangerous was in the area.

Someone like Killian Bane.

Killian, the werewolf prince and heir apparent, was the newest supernatural resident on the island of Manhattan. He was also the thorn in Sadie's side, now standing in the vestibule like he owned the place. The guy had been making a habit of bringing his little pack to The Coven, and it was starting to grate on Sadie's nerves. She'd never been a fan of wolves, due to an encounter right after she was turned, but this guy irked her more than most.

Vamps and werewolves had maintained a delicate peace for about two hundred years, and Sadie felt uncomfortable as hell that this guy—this
wolf
—knew Maya's secret. With one word, he could bring a world of shit down on Maya and the entire coven—not to mention blow up the treaty. It almost felt like Killian was blackmailing them or something when he showed up every night at the club. Passive-aggressively reminding them,
You'd better play nicely, or I'm telling my daddy what your little friend can do.

“But seriously? They're here again?” Sadie gritted her teeth and glanced at the empty VIP booths. “You know, ever since these guys started coming to the club, the few vamp clients we had have stopped coming around. Darius and his crew haven't been here for weeks.”

“Ah, those assholes hardly spent any money anyway,” Trixie said with a snort of derision. “I mean, they'd get maybe three bottles of blood between them. Not only that, but they don't tip worth a shit, and if I had to get Darius's hand off my ass one more time, I was gonna bite his ugly face off.” Trixie wiggled her eyebrows. “At least the wolf boy is hot.”

“Yeah, well, he still bugs me.” Sade fought the urge to bare her fangs and instead plastered on the biggest, fakest smile she could muster. Killian's sharp, brown-eyed gaze captured hers from across the club. He tilted his head in deference but made no move to come farther into the club. To her dismay, the instant those eyes met hers, her stomach flip-flopped as though a fucking nest of butterflies resided there. “I definitely need to go for a swim. It's been too long and I need to blow off some steam.”

“Oh man.” Trixie shook her head and laughed while wiping a glass dry. “Are you still squatting at that rooftop pool on the west side? You better watch your ass, girl, or you're gonna get busted and give some poor human a fucking heart attack. Finding a naked woman skinny-dipping is enough to send most folks over the edge.”

“Yeah,” Sadie said absently. “Swimming is the only thing that seems to calm my nerves lately. Besides, if anyone sees me, I'll just glamour them and they won't remember a thing.” She latched eyes with Killian again. “Jeez. After hanging around all these freaking werewolves, I'll need to do about a hundred laps to relax.”

Killian's grin widened and he leveled a challenging stare in her direction.
Damn
it.
It was like the big jerk
knew
the effect he had on her. Sadie narrowed her eyes and clenched her teeth against the sensation. Holding his gaze, she barely noticed that Maya had moved next to her at the end of the bar.