"It was the Collector"s mistake. He didn"t know he was s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with a panther." He knew Julian wouldn"t give the guy a chance to make many more mistakes. And since he was thinking about Julian and just how much his buddy loved a good turn at vengeance... "Just what did you do to the vamp?"
"I didn"t do anything. She"s the one who bit me."
She bit-His eyes widened.
"She already had an...unorthodox creation. Now she has my blood in her." His gaze slid toward the door. "Maybe she"ll survive."
Had he just said maybe? Rayce bounded across the room. His hand-with claws now at the ready-flew toward Leo"s throat.
Leo didn"t even flinch.
And the claws stopped less than a centimeter from Leo"s jugular.
"Rose doesn"t die," Rayce rasped. "Julian has already given too much to keep her in this world. So whatever s.h.i.t your blood did to her, you fix it."
"Sounds as if you care about her..."
"Only met her recently. He"s my friend." Mostly. "So fix her."
"Some broken things can"t be fixed. I"ve told that to Julian more than once."
Rayce growled. "She"s not a "broken thing" but you are, a.s.shole. What is your blood doing to her?"
"It"s changing her...maybe it will make her stronger. Maybe it will make her weaker. Maybe it will kill her." He shrugged and when he moved, his throat pressed to Rayce"s claws. "That"s why I told Julian to give her blood so that it could dilute what she"d taken from me. I am helping. Why is everyone so ungrateful when I do a good thing?"
He thought about cutting off Leo"s head. A fast slice of his claws and- "It wouldn"t work," Leo said, as if he"d read Rayce"s mind. "You"d be dead before you even tried."
Some risks were worth taking...
"I think she"ll live." Leo"s gaze gleamed. "This time."
The guy was such a d.i.c.k.
"But if she bites me again, no one can help her."
"You threatening the vamp?" Julian would peel Leo"s skin from his body, and Rayce would help him.
"Unfortunately, no, I"m just making a promise."
He should stop her. Julian"s head sagged forward. The water pounded on him, and he felt himself shiver.
Rose was still drinking from him. He wasn"t sure just how long they"d been in the shower. Minutes? Hours? He"d let her feed and feed, and her body wasn"t blazing hot any longer.
But he...he was cold.
He should stop her. Take her out of the shower. Run a towel over her delicate skin. He should...and he would...
In a minute. He"d just give her a little more blood first.
He"d give her everything.
Only fair, wasn"t it? Since he"d taken everything away from her. All in one blink. Gone, gone, gone... "S-sorry," he stuttered to her. He"d wanted to tell her before. That terrible night when the bullets had torn into her. But there had been no time for apologies. There had been no time for anything but a deal that changed both of their lives. And the d.a.m.n thing was, even knowing how wrong it had been, he still thought he"d do the exact same thing.
Her tongue licked over his neck. "What for?" Her voice-it was husky and sensual. Not weak at all.
He forced his head to lift. Forced his gaze up. She wasn"t pale any longer. Her eyes were bright. Her lips were red and plump and he knew she wasn"t in danger. She wasn"t going to die.
He pushed away from the wall. She caught his hand-the hand that he"d driven into the tile again and again, sending chunks of marble raining into the shower as he tried to hold back his dark need for her. She lifted his hand to her mouth. Licked the blood away.
His beautiful Rose. She"d chained his beast. She"d never meant to do it. She didn"t even know she had.
His eyes started to close. His body slumped.
"Julian?" Alarm sharpened her voice. "Julian!"
He was going to pa.s.s out. Maybe he"d even die. He"d given her all that he had, given so much that his body was dangerously weak now, but Julian had no regrets. She"d survive-survive whatever h.e.l.l Leo"s blood had put her through. It was a fair exchange, Julian figured, considering what he"d done to her.
"No, no, no! What did I do? What did I do?" She held him tightly. "I took too much...you should have stopped me! Julian, why didn"t you stop me?"
Didn"t she know? Did she truly not understand? He tried to keep his eyes open just a moment longer.
If he was headed to h.e.l.l, he wanted to take a memory of heaven with him.
"Julian?"
He tried to smile but it was too late.
Chapter Twelve.
"Hey, angel..."
Lila was sitting on the floor of her cell. Her wings had wrapped around her body. She was so cold. Her shivers wouldn"t stop.
"What does it feel like..." The muse stood near the bars of her cell. "When he takes your feathers?"
Lila glanced at her wings. "Pain."
"Yeah, okay, I guessed that...but...what exactly, is the pain like?"
Lila hadn"t known any pain, not until a few months ago. Now it was all she knew. The first thing she"d ever felt-pain. The thing that would forever mark her now. "For you, I imagine...it would probably be like getting chunks of your skin cut away."
"Oh, h.e.l.l." The witch scrambled toward the bars of her cell. "That bad? But... you don"t make a sound when he takes them."
No, she didn"t. "Am I...supposed to make a sound?" She rose and moved closer to her own bars so that she could better see the other women.
The witch"s voice gentled as she said, "When it hurts, it"s okay to cry out."
"No!" The muse made a sharp denial. "Don"t give him the satisfaction, you hear me, angel? You keep that pain inside. You don"t let him hear your pain. Freaks like him get off on that. They like making others hurt."
She touched her wing. "Is that why he"s doing all of this? Because he...likes pain?"
The muse pressed her forehead to the bars. "No. No, as crazy as this may seem, he believes what he"s doing is for love."
Lila shook her head. "This is love?"
"It"s not." The witch"s voice seemed to echo around them. "I know love. Love is good and strong and it doesn"t hurt. It makes you better. It makes everything in your whole world better."
Now the muse sighed. "Are we going to hear about your husband again?" She was mocking. She often seemed mocking. Not cruel but...not exactly kind.
The witch didn"t speak.
Lila sank down onto the floor once more.
"Because I want to hear about him," the muse continued quietly. "Tell me again how your Thomas convinced you to marry him. Tell me about him again...so that before I die, I can know that at least someone was happy, once."
"You aren"t going to die," the witch told her.
The muse laughed. "What else would he do with us? For his love to come back, you know we have to die."
They both knew more than she did. They"d been in their cells when she was first brought to the facility. She should question them but...she didn"t want to know if death was all that waited. Not right then. "I"d like to hear more about Thomas," Lila whispered.
How long had it been since they"d had food? None of the guards ever came in to check their cells. The Collector had left strict orders that no one was to enter this domain. He"d been gone for days. If he didn"t come back soon...
He will, though. He"ll come back and the pain will just start again.
Her head lowered. "Tell me about love."
Because all I know is pain.
"I met Thomas when I was sixteen..." the witch began, her voice soft. "And the first thing I did was curse him."
Chapter Thirteen.
Leo pressed his hand to the human"s forehead. Instantly, she awoke, jerking upright and gasping.
"Nice trick," Rayce muttered, and he actually meant that.
Leo didn"t look back at him. His eyes were focused on the woman-the woman who appeared increasingly terrified as her frantic stare flew around the room.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "Where am I? What"s happening?"
Leo touched her forehead again. "Your name."
Rayce rocked forward on the b.a.l.l.s of his feet. "Yeah, so, the last human that Simon got-he"s still locked up in a cell, by the way-we needed vamp blood to break the compulsion that controlled him. So you might just want to hold off on the question and answer session until Rose is back in fighting form."
"I don"t need Rose. Humans are under my dominion." Then Leo muttered something low-something that sure sounded like some kind of spell. Mind be free, respond only to me.
Rayce"s eyes narrowed.
"Tell me your name," Leo ordered.
The terror vanished from the woman"s face. "Keri."
"Keri, what were you supposed to do when you reached the island?"
"Shoot anyone who wasn"t Rose."
"And just who gave you that order?"
"Simon. Simon says...find the vampire. Shoot the others..."
Rayce was getting real sick of old Simon. "How"d she know what Rose even looked like?"
Keri blinked. "I saw her picture. He showed me, on his phone."
Rayce"s hand raked over his face. "Right. Of course. His freaking phone."
"I was supposed to call him if she"s here." Her words tumbled out quickly, easily, as if she had to speak them. "Simon says he"ll fly in. Simon says they won"t hurt me. I"m human... They won"t hurt me."
"See?" Leo glanced back at Rayce, smirking. "I told you, she"s under my dominion. I can control-"
"Simon says death." And the little human had just yanked a knife from her boot. "Simon says kill if anyone gets in my way." She drove the knife straight at Leo. Blood flew from his neck, but when she came at him again, he knocked the knife from her hand.
It clattered across the floor.
"Sonofab.i.t.c.h." Leo glared at the woman.
Her face was slack once more. "Simon says kill."
Rayce wouldn"t let himself smile. Oh, h.e.l.l, why not? It was his turn to smirk as he said, "You should really consider waiting on Rose. That vamp blood might come in handy after all."