"Oh my God, I know you, I know you from that fucked-up Sanford place. Are you here to rescue me? Thank God. These guys, these fucking Russian guys just came into my house and took me. They fucking took me, man. They shoved me in a van and brought me to this factory and took a bunch of blood from me and then brought me here. I have no fucking idea who they are. They never said who they were or what they were doing or why they wanted me. I don't know what the fuck is going on, man. They just took me. What the fuck, man. They just took me from my home."

Jessie descends into pleas and swears as he squirms against his bonds. Ashen turns to me. Everything he's just tried to bury is right there at the surface. I can see it in the flame that seems both bright and black in his eyes. "I think we have everything we need to know from him," he says.

An arc of fire twists through the air. A crack splits the silence of the room. A scream fills the office as a severed hand falls free of its bonds and smacks the floor.

Ashen leans toward Jessie as he thrashes in anguish and cries to the stump he holds to his chest, his blood pulsing like a clogged fountain that spills into his lap. "That is for touching what does not belong to you."

A flash of steel, a burst of flame. Another scream. Another surge of blood pumping from a raging heart. The smell fills my nose and the back of my throat. I swallow the venom that floods my mouth as Jessie's other hand drops to his feet.

Ashen kicks Jessie's chair over and looms above the broken man as his body contorts in shock and distress. "And that is to ensure you can't touch yourself in fantasies of her. If she lets you survive, that is."

The fire dissolves as Ashen wipes his blade clean on Jessie's thrashing leg. The smell of urine mixes with the blood on the floor. Jessie wails and sobs. He kicks one of his own hands away in his desperate squirming. It flops over like a dead and slippery fish. How Jessie hasn't passed out, I just don't know, but kudos where it's deserved. Dude just had both hands cut off and he's still awake enough to snivel a string of obscenities.

Ashen rises and walks toward me. He looks a little calmer, though the dark flame still roils in his pupils. My throat feels thick with longing. The sound of Jessie's anguish seems to fade away as Ashen stops before me. "What's wrong?" he asks.

I swallow a sudden sting of tears before they can pool in my eyes. A coy grin pulls at my lips. "Ashen of House Urbigu... do you think I belong to you?"

Ashen gives a breath of a laugh. His smile fades. His eyes soften and the flame within dies to embers. He reaches up and lays his hand on the side of my face, letting his fingers trace the line of my cheekbone and the angle of my jaw. His gaze follows every movement of his slow and gentle caress. "No. You belong to you, vampire. But I will cherish any part you're willing to share with me."

I can see past every layer when I look in Ashen's eyes. Past decades of time burned to cinders in his wake. Past the souls stripped from bodies by his blade. I am witness to every moment of loneliness and rage and despair. I see the man within the empty fortress, the soul within the demon. Things that shouldn't be, but they are.

"I'll share every part that you're willing to take, and I'll take any part that you're willing to give," I say, taking a step closer and placing a hand on Ashen's heart, the other across the back of his neck to draw his lips down to mine. His kiss sets fire to my veins, lighting them like fuses. My heart detonates in my chest, an explosion of love and desire.

"Fuck you, assholes!" Jessie yells from the floor. His voice is slurred with the loss of blood. I pull away from Ashen and look over his shoulder. Jessie is struggling to his knees with the chair still strapped to his ankles.

"You might want to take care of that before there's nothing left to eat," Ashen whispers close to my ear before pressing his lips to my cheek. My eyes don't leave Jessie's sticky, writhing form. He slides in the blood that coats the floor, wailing like a lost child.

I slip away from Ashen and dance toward Jessie. I’m very excited about this one, so excited that I do a little clap. He's the meal that got away. Such a rare occurrence, and I do love a rare dish when I have the chance. I’m sure you’re not too surprised though. After all, it would be a shame if I lulled you into believing I could be something else, especially after what I told you in the beginning. We vampires adapt to what you want us to be, so we can get what we need from you, remember? But don’t worry. In this case, it’s what I need from Jessie. A long overdue lunch.

I rake my lower lip beneath the needles of my fangs and skip a little turn in Ashen's direction to find him watching me with a hooded gaze that's full of dark desire.

The rotation of my spin ends by Jessie’s side. I bend toward the desperate man. My hand slides into his hair and I pull his neck to my lips as he cries out to the indifferent walls that surround us.

"I sang you a lullaby the last time," I whisper into Jessie's ear. His feet squeak and slide through the blood that pools on the polished floor. "This time, I don't care how loud you squeal. Because if there's anyone here to listen, I'll kill them too."

With a smile of satisfaction, I crush my fangs to Jessie's throat and drink until the last beat of his heart.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 30

On the plus side, I'm no longer hungry. Or, more accurately, hangry.

On the minus side, I look like I'm cosplaying Carrie after the prom.

Jessie's lifeless body rolls from my lap as I stand and stretch my blood-soaked legs. I try to wipe my face with my sleeve but that's probably only making things worse. Ashen has the good grace to neither laugh nor grimace when I turn toward him. My fangs recede and I give a wary smile as I stop within his reach.

"It's in your hair," Ashen says, wiping a sticky strand away from my cheek.

"It can get a bit messy when I don't sing. Also when they don't have hands, apparently. That was a first."

"Well, at least you will terrify anyone we happen to find along the way." Ashen says as his eyes brighten the darkness between us. He tries to keep his worry hidden beneath the fire but it only stokes the blaze. "We should see who else we can find and get out of here."

I nod and start to move around Ashen to the door, but he grasps my upper arm and holds me in place. I glance down to his hand and back up to his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I just... I want you to be careful. If I ask you to run or to leave me behind, please just do it. Promise me."

"Does running because you told me to sound like something I would do?

"No. That's why I am asking you to promise me."

"Promises are for mortals."

"Not when they are made between you and me."

Christ. Why do his words hurt? Why does my chest feel like there's a blade in the spot where my heart should be? My breath stalls against my ribs when I search Ashen's eyes. I see now that loss is the foundation of his life, as ancient as a monument of stone. He will fight the loss of me. But he expects it. He believes it. And he thinks it's coming soon. Maybe he's right, I don't know. I've been getting away with this life for a long time and lately it feels like death is catching up with me.

So, I will give him what he wants, if that will ease his pain. Because I don't get the sense that he's let anyone share that side of him for a very long time.