[Vance’s POV]I look from Allister to the man that lays in his back seat with a busted temple and blood-clotted blonde hair while my mind whirls in an attempt to figure out exactly how my brother could do such a thing. This was taking it too far, even for him, which was saying quite a bit since Allister was known for being a bit too much.Of course, I had come to the garage to catch Allister when he came back because his actions recently came across as strange. Since meeting that woman at the bar, he has stayed out all night, and when he returned, he was usually out of it. I thought it could be due to excessive drinking, but now I'm not so sure.Narrowing my gaze, I continue to take in my brother as if I'll be able to read his thoughts on his face. However, I'm left with nothing except his shocked expression over what I've just revealed.“What do you mean this isn’t him?” Allister demands, looking at me in disbelief. “He wreaks of Tabitha’s scent.”“Tabitha?” I repeat, raising a brow.
[Vance’s POV]I slowly begin to move, making my way through the club while keeping my gaze fixed on the fae man that is heading toward the bar. When he takes a seat, I take the one beside him and wait as the bartender makes his way over to me.“What’ll it be?” He asks, eyeing me curiously. “If it involves blood, I have to admit that we are fresh out.”At his words, the fae man beside me jerks, and his gaze snaps to me. Immediately, his eyes flash a dangerous ice blue as energy begins to ripple around him, but before he can actually attack, the bartender shoots him a look of warning.“I’ve told you before, Atticus,” he snaps. “This is a place of peace, and there are to be no confrontations in here. If you have a bone to pick with this gentleman, then take it outside.”Chuckling, I tear my gaze away from Atticus and turn it back to the bartender.“I’ll have a whiskey.”Nodding, the bartender turns and begins to make my drink, and when he sits it in front of me, I turn my gaze back to At
[Tabitha’s POV]I drift in and out of sleep while trying to ignore the pain that is shooting through my body. When I asked Atticus to help me forget the sadness and shock I was feeling from Anthony’s leaving, I didn’t expect him to be so rough, but in a way, I guess that I deserved it. And if I was being honest with myself, I encouraged it during.Maybe I wanted the pain to make me feel and remind me that even if the one person who I thought would always be a part of my world disappeared, I was still alive. Well, living because I honestly didn’t feel like I was alive, but I was existing, and that was something.Letting out a shuddering breath, I turn over and take in the empty space beside me where Atticus should have been, and I feel a pang of pain shoot through me.Once we finished fucking like animals, he left, and so far he hasn’t returned. And just like the pain I was currently feeling, I knew that I deserved his absence.I was such a selfish bitch, but I couldn’t stop what my bo
[Tabitha’s POV]My eyes roll into the back of my head as the woman begins to push the hard plastic dick that she wears into me. With each push, I become more and more full until I’m sure that I’m going to break, but just like my first few times with the vampire twins, I find that my body can take it, and it feels so fucking good.‘I knew it,’ Allister murmurs against my skin. ‘You’re a whore that can’t be satisfied without two dicks.’‘Mmmm.’ I moan, leaning my head onto his shoulder.‘Say it,’ he orders, grabbing my nipple and pinching it so pain and pleasure surge through me. ‘Say you’re a slut that can’t be happy without two dicks in her.’‘I’m a slut,’ I whimper, unable to resist what he wants of me. ‘I’m a slut that likes to have two dicks in me at the same time.’‘Such a good girl,’ Allister huffs, beginning his thrusts again. ‘And good girls deserve rewards.’As he speaks, he reaches around and slaps the ass of the woman who is in front of me so that she begins to move at his p
[Atticus' POV]I sit silently in the passenger seat of Tabitha’s car while she drives us to the location of the most recent murder. Where she punched me hurts something fierce, but I can’t help but smile.“How long are you going to give me the cold shoulder?” I ask, taking in her coiled demeanor. She was just waiting for me to do something perverted so that she could attack again. “I explained to you that I had no other choice.”“No choice?” She hisses, shooting me a glare. “Isn’t there plenty of other ways to wake someone?”“Not someone who seemed to be in a pretty fucking lucid wet dream,” I counter.At my words, I can feel her mood shift even more, and I half regret bringing up whatever it was that she was dreaming of, but I half don’t.Since I managed to snap her out of it, she hadn’t said a word about what happened, and even though I was aware that it wasn’t any of my business since whatever was going on between us was mainly sexual, I still wanted it to be my fucking business.“
[Vance’s POV]“Allister!” I call the minute I arrive home. “Where the hell are you?”For a moment, I’m met with silence, and I find myself wondering if he’s not home, but when I hear the sound of movement from above, I know that he is.Deciding to meet him halfway, I begin to move, making my way through the quiet mansion until I spot him coming down the stairs.His face is haggard, and he looks ready to kill someone, but aside from that, he seems okay, and my worry over whether or not he had a run-in with that damned lizard fades.Since my encounter with that creature, I have been on edge, but I couldn’t exactly explain why. Was it because I worried it would come for me now that it had a look at my face? Or was there something more sinister about it? I didn’t know, but I wasn’t just going to wait around and find out.“Why are you making so much noise?” Allister asks as he lazily makes his way down the stairs. “I was trying to sleep.”“Sleep,” I repeat, raising a brow. “It looks more l
[Allister’s POV]“Then we simply have to kill her before she kills us, correct?” I ask, growing annoyed with this conversation. “Are you suggesting that we are too weak to take on a single woman?”“Not a single woman,” Damien counters. “This is Evangeline, the mother of vampires. She is much stronger than all of us.”“Not yet,” I counter. “If we get rid of that lizard, then it can’t complete its task, correct?”“He’s right,” Vance agrees. “This simply means that we have to kill the lizard to make sure that Evangeline doesn’t come back to power.”It really was a simple solution, so why was Damien talking like the end of the world was coming?“Vance, you encountered that creature, correct?" He begins, narrowing his gaze. “Why didn’t you kill it?”For a moment, Vance doesn’t speak as he considers Damien’s question, and when his face falls, I know that I’m not going to like what comes next.“His body was impenetrable.”There it was, but that didn’t mean that I would accept defeat so easil
[Tabitha’s POV]A shiver rushes through me, causing my body to twitch and goosebumps to spring up on my arms.“What’s wrong?” Atticus asks, eyeing me curiously.“Just got a chill,” I admit. “Maybe someone was talking about me.”Maybe it was that, or maybe it was my body saying to take a break; either way, I gladly welcomed the sudden distraction.Since finding the latest body and getting a full description of the creature that was going around doing the killings and leaving those threatening notes, we have been staring at files. However, no amount of looking seemed to bring results.“Are you sure about this lizard thing?” I ask Atticus, closing the computer in front of me. "Because, as far as Boston’s supernatural registry is concerned, it doesn’t exist.”“I’m sure,” he responds, furrowing his brows. “Just because it doesn’t exist in the registry for Boston doesn’t mean that it doesn't exist for the rest of the world.”Frowning, I eye him in annoyance. Was he really suggesting that we
[Tabitha’s POV]“Then we have tonight.”If you asked me if this was the outcome I was expecting after taking down Titus and ending one threat, I would say no. I wasn’t an overflowing fucking optimist, but to know that in the end, the ones who stood beside me through this time would disappear one by one was a punch to the gut.Atticus would be leaving to go to the unseelie court, Vance would need time to calm his clan and gain control, and Anthony was gone and would never be back.“I think the lady wants you,” JD chuckles, breaking the silence that had fallen around us. “Why are you just standing there?”“Shut up,” Atticus growls, reaching out and grabbing me.It doesn’t take long for us to arrive back at Atticus’ home, and the minute we step in the door, my clothes are being ripped off along with his. Once they’re out of the way, Atticus is dropping to his knees and burying his face in my folds.“Atticus,” I gasp, spreading my legs wider. “The door.”“Fuck the door,” he growls, contin
[Atticus’ POV]“His help doesn’t come easy.”The words leave my lips as I take Tabitha in, waiting to see if her resolve will quake. Maybe this was the reason that I fell for her, or maybe it was the undeniable draw that I felt. Whatever it was I knew, with or without my memories, I would choose her again and again because of the strength she radiated.“I don’t care,” she says, beginning to move. “And if you’re just going to stand here and argue, you can..."“No,” I sigh, hoisting Titus as he begins to slip. “Let’s go.”I begin to move, heading into JD’s domain, and then lead the way to his room, where he should be waiting. When we arrive, the door swings open, and a broad smile rests on his face.“Did you succeed?” He asks, eyeing the wrapped-up lump on my shoulder. “Or did you bring me another gift?"“No,” I chuckle, throwing Titus on the ground. “It’s what you want.”“But before that,” Tabitha adds, making her presence known. “There are some things that we would like to ask him.”“
[Tabitha’s POV]I wait until Atticus disappears out of the room and the sound of his steps grows distant before turning my gaze to Vance, who is watching me curiously. I was sure that he was curious why I was still standing here. I wanted to speak with him alone. And probably, what the hell was I even doing?“Promise me,” I begin, deciding there was no point in beating around the bush. “That you won’t disappear.”I knew I was asking a lot, and I wouldn’t blame him for denying my request. Technically, it was because of my existence that his brother and father are now gone. And that his clan was undergoing something so serious. But I didn’t want to lose the one solid thing I had beside me.“I know I'm asking a lot and that you don’t owe me, but..."“Shut up.”Leaning forward, Vance grabs my chin and then presses his lips against mine. Immediately, the world and all the fucking problems we are facing disappear, and all I can feel is him. Is it because of his mark on me? Because of everyt
[Tabitha’s POV]I stand up and take in the room in front of me. Atticus and Vance are both here, staring at me as if they’re looking at a ghost, and laying on the ground is Titus, and someone clearly beat the shit out of him.“Good job,” I say slowly, nodding toward the bastard on the ground. “I’m glad the two of you managed to take care of him.”It was probably ridiculous to say this after dying and then coming back, but the awkwardness was beginning to get to me.“How?” Vance rasps, moving forward.Reaching out, he attempts to touch me, but lets out a hiss when his fingers touch the sunlight and begin to burn.“Dammit,” he growls.“Here,” I say, climbing through the hole that was made in my cage while I was out of it. When I’m out of the sunlight and standing in front of Vance, I grab his wrist and bring his hand to my face so that he can feel it. “Better?”Growing quiet, I wait as he processes what is happening, and when understanding finally seems to dawn in him, he is reaching ou
[Tabitha’s POV]I feel like I’m floating. In the blissful darkness that surrounds me, I’m weightless. My body drifts in and out of what I can only assume is oblivion. Did this mean that I died? If I did, I could only hope by this point that Vance and Atticus would be able to defeat Titus, and if not... Well, there was nothing I could do at this point.Letting out a sigh, I try to drift away again so that the worry I’m beginning to feel doesn’t continue to haunt me. However, with each passing minute, I can feel my consciousness becoming clearer and clearer until I can’t remain oblivious, and it’s frustrating.Slowly, I begin to open my eyes, but I have to close them again as dazzling light attacks them, and when I open them again, I have to squint.Frowning, I begin to take in the area around me, trying to determine exactly what was happening and where I was. Was this the afterlife? But how could it be? As a sinner and a member of the undead, wouldn’t hell be the place to which I belon
[Vance’s POV]Shouts and snarls erupt around me as I burst into the mansion ahead and begin to look around. Why the fuck would Tabitha be stupid enough to go in alone when she knew that my father was most likely waiting for her?As this thought hits, two of my father’s men rush toward me. Growling, I lift my hands and connect with them. Once I’ve got control, I liff and throw them into the next line of men that are making their way toward me.Behind me, I can hear Atticus, and when icy bullets begin to erupt around me, I extend my senses until I feel Tabitha.“I’m heading up!” I announce, taking in the scene around me. “Can you handle it here?”“Yeah,” Atticus puffs, switching out the weaponry on his arms for something stronger. “Just don’t forget; I need that heart.”Nodding, I begin to move, only stopping long enough to dodge a sneak attack.“Nice try,” I grin, kicking out and sending the man crashing into the wall and then moving forward so that I can grab his head and twist until
[Tabitha’s POV]I keep my gaze fixed on the hole where the slowly-lightening sky can be seen. I had maybe twenty minutes at most before the sun was high enough to shine down on me. Shit, what the hell was I going to do?“Don’t look so afraid, my pet,” Titus murmurs. “This was always your fate from the moment you came into existence.”“Wouldn’t that mean it was the same fate for you?” I ask."No, because I wasn’t born a monster, I was turned, and in finally getting rid of you, my true love will forgive me and bring me and my people out of the shadows.”“Your true love?” I repeat as I feel my consciousness being tugged on.Gasping, I feel my eyes roll into the back of my head as images of a beautiful field with white flowers swaying in the breeze appear. Standing in the field are Titus and a woman with flowing blonde hair and bright golden eyes. She wears a white gown that is almost transparent, allowing the perfect view of her body beneath.Instantly, I feel a sense of familiarity and
[Tabitha’s POV]I can feel Vance’s hesitation as he tries to make sense of my plan. I knew that it was a suicide mission, but to see Allister suffering so fucking much because of his own father, I couldn’t stop the burning desire I felt to kill Titus.“You don’t have to join us,” Atticus offers, breaking the silence that was settling around us. “We don’t need you anyway.”“Do you really think you stand a chance against them?” Vance counters.“I wager I have a good chance at surviving,” Atticus chuckles. “I would just have to breakout the heavy ammo.”As he speaks, ice starts to wrap around his muscular arms and form into what looks like machine guns. Damn, he really was capable, wasn’t he? With his ice magic, Vance’s blood magic, and my combat skills, I was sure that we would be okay.“Fine,” Vance huffs. “But remember, my father is mine.”“I need his heart,” Atticus counters. "Therefore, I should be..."“He’s mine,” Vance repeats more firmly. “I’ll give you his fucking heart before i
[Vance’s POV]My gaze stays fixed on Tabitha as she stares in the direction that ice fae bastard disappeared in. As much as I tried to tell myself that I didn’t give two shits if they had something, seeing her so fucking hurt over his leaving left a bad taste in my mouth.“Are you just going to sit there?” I ask, unable to continue to watch her misery. “Don’t you think we should get out of here too before someone finds this?"As I speak, I motion to the pile of ice, flesh, and bone that covers the floor. It was only a matter of time before someone realized that August’s remains were up here, and I didn’t want to be present when that happened.The fae stuck together through most things, and to kill one of their own would make you all of their enemy. I couldn’t wait to see how things would work out for Atticus due to what he did, but for now, the repercussions would have to wait.“No,” Tabitha says softly, finally snapping out of her daze. “I’m not.”“Then let’s go.” I huff, pulling up