The pizza had arrived and I had nearly the whole thing to myself. I had also had some of the tea that Red gave to me to hide my scent. I never was a fan of herbal tea, but it wasn’t all that bad. After I drank my first cup, Jay remarked that my scent had gotten a little bit better. Felix didn’t comment. He was still in a sulky mood and frankly, I didn’t care. I was tired of feeling guilty of the fact that he was helping me out. I didn’t ask for his help. He offered it. Since the vampires would be awake for the rest of the night, I went ahead and decided to sleep. I asked them where I could rest, interrupting their conversation, and Vanessa told me that I could use the third room on my right. It was a small but cozy room. The bed was a double and the sheets were white with baby green trimmings. I parted the windows and saw how the windows had this almost black film covering it. They were all drilled shut. I couldn’t open them even if I tried. I was grateful for the electricity at
I woke up extra drowsy, for some reason. I didn’t know what the time was but I guessed that it was around ten. A quick glance around the room actually confirmed this. There was a clock in the room that I didn’t notice last night. It was twenty minutes past ten. The apartment was silent. I didn’t see a reason to leave the room because I wasn’t hungry and anyway, I was still tired. I felt like I could sleep for longer. I hated what my life had been reduced to but in all honesty, I was to blame for where my life was at. I made all the decisions and so, I’d have to face the consequences. By the way, I didn’t think it was all that bad. I missed the stability most of all. I missed my routine. Waking up in the morning, having whatever I wished to eat because food was never an issue, and then I’d have the day to myself because Garrett worked. He told me he worked at a firm. Was he lying? I had no idea. I didn’t have a reason to doubt him before because he had money. Where would it come fr
It was around six PM when I heard them wake up. By then, I was wide awake. I felt like I had slept the entire day and would surely stay up at night. I had slept all the exhaustion away and the sense of not knowing what to do haunted me now. It was easier when I was always tired. Now that I was wide awake, I realized that things would be more boring for me. What was I supposed to do all night while they were busy drinking blood in the living room?I didn’t want to know but I was tired of staying in the room. Would it always be like this for me now that I was with them? It wasn’t that I was complaining because I knew I didn’t have another choice, but I didn’t have to be entirely satisfied with it either. I was now almost always surrounded by strangers and I didn’t get along with the one I was better acquainted with. Speaking of Felix, I wouldn’t even go there. I wouldn’t say that we had reached an agreement. My guess was that he was messing with my mind, mostly because he could hear
Nothing else was said about me by the time we reached the car, which was surprisingly a minivan. If there was one thing that shocked me, it was how ‘normal’ their lives were. They lived in an ordinary apartment in the worst possible neighborhood and they drove a minivan. The SUV Felix drove the other day made more sense—I didn’t question it. I guessed I associated vampires with wealth. It wasn’t the case although Felix’s apartment could be considered luxurious. I sat beside the tall vampire. Jay was in the passenger’s seat and Vanessa was driving. They weren’t saying much. What Jay said about me being ‘precious’ to Felix darkened the mood. I noticed the subtle change instantly, which only made me more curious as to why they were acting this way. What was there to be so upset about?I was embarrassed by what he had said but I didn’t think it warranted this sudden silence and tension. It always made me feel like I was two steps behind them, and that there was something going on that
Sven was the first to speak. “Don’t even start. She’s with Felix.”“Russell?” He arched a brow. “Was that supposed to intimidate me?”“You haven’t changed at all, Eriksson,” Vanessa remarked. She actually sounded disappointed. “I thought you’d be changed. You insist on being an asshole for almost a millennium?”This made him smirk. “Why not? What else is there to be?”She rolled her eyes and sighed. Leon shifted his eyes to me briefly before directing his gaze to Sven. I didn’t know what to make of this. I didn’t want to take what they said seriously so I played it cool. There was no reason to worry. Everything would be alright. “My little brother,” he said before kissing Sven’s cheeks. I hid my shock well. Brothers? It was almost impossible to believe. They looked nothing alike, and one was blonde and the other brunette. Their personalities were also miles apart. “I haven’t seen you in a hundred years. I felt your absence deeply.”Sven was stiff about it. He handed him the box and
My mind was relatively empty as I went arm-in-arm with Leon through the house. We took the left staircase to the first floor, which wasn't as packed with people, so it was easy to walk. My emotions were building inside of me and influencing all my decisions. Somewhere far away, I knew this was a terrible decision I was making but I ignored all the alarms blaring in my mind. All that mattered was my curiosity. When we reached the second floor, I was surprised to see that it was empty. I could still hear the music, though. We kept walking until he opened a door to my left and gestured for me to walk inside. My eyes widened when I saw two women naked on his bed. They were lying close to each other and they were beautiful. They had these magnetic eyes that pulled me in, and I found myself taking a step toward the bed. Leon was behind me, closing the door. He then placed his hands on my shoulders and said, "I want you to meet my friends."They went on staring at me with disinterest bu
Felix and I got into his car and left the party venue. I felt somewhat weak, like I caught something back there. Having my thoughts and emotions and invaded wasn't a pleasant thing to experience. At the moment, I didn't even realize it but now that his influence was gone, I felt it more than ever. If Felix hadn't come for me, I would have done something really stupid. He drove away from the mansion. I didn't know where we were headed and now that I knew that he never had a concrete plan, I was starting to understand him more. I didn't have a clue either, so why should someone else know? It was comforting to know that I wasn't alone in feeling this sense of being completely lost and surrounded by dangers I didn't quite understand. We were driving through the city now. The familiar places only made me feel worse. I was a stranger driving through a forgotten time. I didn't belong in this place anymore. I was assaulted by such thoughts and feelings. From the corner of my eye, I saw
For some reason, the tea made me feel sleepy. I literally collapsed on the bed as soon as I reached the room. I hadn’t said a word to Felix as he watched me drink it all up, I just turned on my heel and stalked out of the kitchen. I couldn’t keep my eyes open but I couldn’t fall asleep either. My mind was racing and no matter how hard I tried to shut these thoughts out, I couldn’t. Was this a side-effect from the medication? Was it something else? I didn’t like it. I felt like my body wasn’t quite touching the bed; like I was floating atop it. It was then that the nightmares and the sleep paralysis started. I hadn’t had sleep paralysis since I was a little girl and so this was a strange experience for me. My body felt heavy and not being to move plunged me into a pool of panic. A figure materialized by the door. I was sure that I had closed it, so seeing it there unsettled me. It took several steps toward me. My movements became even more frantic and then I felt my throat working
Xander brushed my hair away from my shoulders, leaving my neck bare. His pupils dilated. To be fair, I was more nervous than he was, but that was only because of the last time that we bonded. I was in pain for the longest time, and about half of the bond ended up being consumed by my blood. I didn’t want to go through that again, but if we didn’t try again, I would never know if trying to mark me a second time would work. “You never know,” he said like he read my thoughts. “Second time might be the charm.”“Isn’t it usually the third time?”“Let’s hope it won’t come to that.” He massaged the spot with his thumb, spreading heat in the area. I shuddered a little, and my nipples hardened against the soft material of my nightgown. He lowered his head and kissed the spot he caressed, ripping a soft moan from me. If there was one thing that Xander knew how to do, it was turn me on. While he kissed my neck, his hands began exploring. He placed them over my breasts, which were so taut th
A few minutes passed by in absolute silence. Konstantin was dead. Cassian was dead. I guessed that the others were dead, too. Felix stared at his brother’s body unwaveringly. I wanted to go to him and offer him some kind of comfort. He’d tried to find a way out for him for centuries. And now that he was out, he was forced to kill him himself. Xander looked at me and said, “Jade, let’s go. Let’s get out of here.”I looked back and forth between him and Felix. I didn’t want to leave him; I didn’t come all the way here just to free him and then walk out of his life like nothing happened. I didn’t want things between us to end so abruptly. “Jade,” he said again, this time more firmly. I glanced over at him, then raised a hand, gesturing for him to wait for a bit. I went down the front steps and then slowly approached Felix, who was too busy looking down at his dead brother. He didn’t look up, even when I was just a few feet away from him.“Felix?” I said. Only then did he meet my g
“Felix?”He was in disbelief. “What are you doing here? What did Cassian do to you?”I couldn’t see anything, but still tried to stand up. I held out my hands in front of me as I tried to find out where he was. “There’s a light pull switch somewhere around here. Try to find it.”I didn’t stop until I grabbed the cord. Light flooded the room, and I had to shield my eyes from the glare. I heard him say, “How did you end up here? What happened?”“I came to save you,” I explained. He said, “What?”“I knew that you were in danger, and so I came to find you.” I opened my eyes and took a good look at him. My heart broke in two when I saw that he was locked in a narrow cage, completely naked and bound. There were deep cuts in his chest, one of the cuts being suspiciously close to the heart. It was like he was being drained. “You shouldn’t have come here,” he spat. His eyes were bluer than usual, but perhaps that was only because of how pale his skin was compared to before. “Why would you
The house where Linda and Benjamin lived with Landon was hard to find. We spent almost the whole night looking for it. I was sure that Konstantin probably found it by now, but we had no way of communicating and anyway, he never said that he’d take care of the situation tonight. We’d probably have to spend a day spying in order to get acquainted with the area. We successfully tracked their home thanks to one of the werewolves who were with Xander. He had a particularly sensitive nose, and he was a shifter, which meant that he could become a werewolf at any moment, unlike Xander, who had to wait for the full moon. Shifters were different kinds of werewolves. More powerful. Things between Xander and I weren’t as tense anymore. We were actually talking to each other now; granted, we never mentioned our relationship or any of the risks involved, but we were saying something to each other, which was a significant improvement to whatever was happening between us earlier on. “Your fathe
Konstantin’s house was as terrifying as it was the first time I saw it. The shutters made it seem like there was never anyone home, and I wondered if any curious soul ever tried to break in and found themselves standing face-to-face with a monster. A blood-sucking one at that. I took a deep and steadying breath. Now that I was here, I couldn’t turn back. I’d come too far. I crossed the unkempt lawn, and onto stopped when I reached the front door. I raised my fist and knocked. At first, there was no reply. I had a moment of derealization. I was having them more frequently. I felt dizziness and an intense disbelief for a handful of moments, and then there was nothing. I heard his voice from within. It was tinged with curiosity. “Who dares to knock on Konstantin’s door? Do you willingly seek death? If so, you’re in the right place.”I lamely said, “It’s me. Jade.” “Jade?” he asked, sounding confused. “I was here with Felix.”He opened the door right away. I heard him unlock it,
Xander still hadn’t said a word to me, and it was starting to make me feel really uneasy. I wished he’d say something. Then again, maybe I deserved the silence. I was taking him to a dangerous place all because I felt the need to save Felix (even when I’d been told that he didn’t want to be helped). He was risking his life here.We rode the subway to reach Konstantin’s neighborhood. I still recalled where it was, but honestly, I was starting to seriously doubt my plan. There was more than enough time to turn back, but something wouldn’t let me. Gratitude, perhaps. He’d saved me many times when I was in danger, and it only felt right to do the same thing for him. Besides, Cassian had to be stopped. Was I supposed to live my life looking over my shoulder for him? I would prefer it if we got rid of him permanently. And because only a vampire could kill another vampire (successfully), I’d need a vampire’s help. And Sven suggested Konstantin, so that was that. As we sat side by side,
Our first stop was their apartment. Since it was daylight, there wasn't much that we could do, so we had to kill time by paying for a room in a shitty hotel room nearby. It was five buildings away—we wouldn't be able to keep an eye on their building and monitor movements—but it was the best thing we could do. Although we kissed right when we left his new pack, I wasn't sure where we stood. It wasn't like we'd completely reconciled, and right now, my thoughts were on Felix. But I was grateful that he came with me, and his gesture spoke volumes. He sat on the edge of the bed while I stared out the window. "So, what now? What's your plan exactly?""I'll ask them where Felix is, and then I'll go to him.""Just like that?"I cut him a look. "It's the only plan I have.""It's not the best plan, Jade," Xander said with a hint with impatience. "You're running back to the very people who wanted to use you as a weapon without a plan. What if they don't let you walk away? What if that Cassian
I must have fallen asleep because I woke up on the bed.I sat up, alarmed. My heart started racing as fear clawed at me. I hated that I'd fallen asleep in a territory that I wasn't familiar with. Where was Xander?I allowed myself to relax when I realized that I wasn't in immediate danger. The bedroom door was closed, so I had no idea what was going on outside. I had to go check. I climbed out of bed and peered outside. I didn't see anything of notable significance. The corridor was dark and empty. It was also impossible to tell whether it was day or night, which meant that I had no idea how long I'd been out for. I was disoriented. Did I want to risk going downstairs and looking for Xander? What did I even want? I didn't know what I wanted to do. What was my plan here? Felix said I had to stay here because it was safer. I wouldn't doubt him because I now knew that he had the best intentions with me. He wouldn't have said that if he didn't actually believe that I was safe here. B
Cassian was enraged. “Brother?” he asked, tilting his head. He touched the side of his head, which was bleeding, and then wiped his blood on his pants. “I told you to stop,” Felix said, using the same voice he’d used earlier. “This isn’t going to continue. I’ve had enough.”“You’ve had enough?” Cassian asked in disbelief. “What about me, who spent centuries rotting inside a cage, starving to death? Do you think there’s such a thing as ‘enough’?”“I won’t let you use Jade,” he stated. “Our plan was different before. This would have all been done with her consent. But now, it’s done. It didn’t work. We should all move on.”Cassian paced back and forth, pointing a finger at Felix and then putting it back down. He was still holding me, and I had to admit that I felt very much safe standing next to him, and I knew that he wouldn’t let his brother put his hands on me again. He’d stopped it, and that was what mattered to me. “You’re choosing this whore over me?” he asked. “Is that what t