Blood Hunger (An Adult Paranormal Romance) (Deathless Night Series #1) Page 6

  Chapter Eight

  Nik heaved a sigh as he watched her walk away. She was proving to be more of a challenge than he’d anticipated. Somehow, he’d let himself get the impression that she was but a meek little thing.

  However, he now knew he’d grossly underestimated her. Unfortunately, for her, that only piqued his interest more.

  He set out after her again, the enticing sway of her hips a lure he couldn’t resist, making him hard all over again. What the hell was wrong with him? He hadn’t been this intrigued by a human female since Eliana.

  Eliana.

  God, he’d loved her all those years ago. But, it hadn’t been enough to keep him from killing her, had it?

  Nik stopped walking again, pain washing over him at the memory. What would Emma think of him if she knew?

  Why did he even care?

  Suddenly, he heard her footsteps approaching, instead of receding, and Nik’s head snapped up. The sympathetic expression on her face surprising him.

  Why was she looking at him like that? Did he look that pathetic? Was that pity on her face? Wtf? Embarrassed, he scrubbed at his face with his hands.

  “So,” he had to clear his throat before continuing, “Yeah, we should really get off this road and go talk. What do you say?” Trying to look as harmless as he could, he shoved his hands into his front pockets as he waited for her to decide what she wanted to do.

  He again watched as conflicting emotions crossed her face while she decided whether or not to trust him. Little did she know that she was coming with him tonight, whether she wanted to or not.

  ***

  Emma didn’t know what it was that made her stop and turn around, and now she wished she hadn’t. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have seen the pain and sadness overwhelm his usual cockiness. She wouldn’t have wondered what caused it. And she would never have felt the need to go to him, and offer what comfort she could.

  A sound in the brush a few feet away whipped Emma’s head around, her heart hammering in her chest.

  What the hell am I doing?

  She was walking home down a little used, back road, in the dark, surrounded by dense forest. There were no streetlights, no light of any kind. The moon wasn’t even out.

  She looked left in the direction of her car, then right in the direction of her house. Finally, she looked back at Nik, and deciding he was the lesser of evils, for now, she told him, “Alright.” Her desperate yearning for something, anything, he could tell her about her sister overshadowing her normally cautious nature.

  “Ok? We’ll go talk?” At her tentative nod, he glanced around.

  Gesturing to a fallen log just off the road, he told her, “If you give me your keys, I can run up and get your car real quick while you wait here, and come back and pick you up.”

  “No!”

  A surprised eyebrow lifted at her outburst.

  Emma took a deep breath to calm herself, explaining, “I’d just rather stay with you.”

  He turned around to lead the way without another word, though she thought she saw a glimmer of male satisfaction flash briefly across his face. Not wanting him to get even more full of himself, she clarified, “I don’t like the dark is all.”

  She didn’t see the softening of his gaze, or hear his barely whispered, “I know.”

  Chapter Nine

  Ducking his head, Dante stepped through the doorway, and kicked the door shut behind him with a thud. He didn’t come any farther inside, but leaned back against the wall, deceptively casual, crossing his arms over his muscular chest.

  He felt too exposed here, in this high-rise apartment, with all of its windows and airiness. It made him edgy.

  If he thought they’d do it, he’d make Shea and Christian meet him on his own turf, in the underground below the city. The parts the tourists weren’t allowed to see.

  No one could sneak up on him down there. And no one could hear the screams with the city bustling above.

  “Ok. We’re all here.” Shea stood up from the couch and joined Christian at the kitchen counter.

  “Have you heard from Aiden?” she asked Dante.

  “Yeah. Just got off the phone with him.” His deep voice was gravelly and harsh from lack of use. Dante only spoke when he had to.

  “Well? What did he say? Do they have the witch?” Christian’s impatience was obvious.

  Dante didn’t acknowledge his impertinence, directing his answer to Shea. “Leeha’s back in town. We’re meeting them tomorrow night. The usual spot.”

  Shea nodded. “Ok. Good. So, we’ll meet back here tomorrow at sundown then?”

  Christian slapped his hands down on the counter. “Awesome. Good meeting. You two can work out the details. I’m out. See you tomorrow.”

  Shea watched him fly out of the apartment, and Dante frowned as her forehead creased with concern.

  “Don’t,” Dante told her. “There’s nothing you can do. He is what he is.”

  Shea gave her commander a sideways glance, and sighed with resignation. “I know.”

  “I need you to get our vehicle ready for tomorrow. Check the weapons and ammo. We’ll get a plan together when we meet Nik and Aiden.” As an afterthought, he added, “And feed, Shea. I need you at full strength tomorrow.”

  “I will.” She paused. “I wish you’d let me share some of these duties with Christian, instead of letting him run off all the time.”

  He clenched his jaw at her petulant tone. She was questioning him?

  She immediately dropped her gaze to her hands, which she’d folded on the counter. “I apologize. That was uncalled for. I shouldn’t question you.”

  Dante eyed her bowed head. Though normally outspoken, he couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a bad attitude. But lately…yeah…she really hasn’t been herself. Maybe she needed someone to talk to.

  He was not that person.

  But he supposed he could give her an explanation, if it would get her ass in gear. “I give all these tasks to you, Shea, because I know I can depend on you. Not Christian. Not Aiden. You. Christian is a good Hunter, but these days he’s more interested in where his dick is going to land next. Aiden is a good Hunter, but he doesn’t have your mastery of weapons. It’s good to have them at my back. But you, you are different. I trust you with my life.”

  She looked up at him in surprise. “Thank you, for telling me that, Dante. It means a lot to me.”

  He watched her a moment, then gave her a single nod. Pushing himself off the wall, he followed Christian out the door before she got all mushy on him or something, leaving Shea to prepare their equipment for tomorrow. He had no time for that shit.

  ***

  Nik and Emma spent the walk back to her car and the short ride to her house each in thoughtful silence, other than a brief “who is driving” debate, which Emma won. Because, dammit, it was her car.

  Nik gave in only because they were burning moonlight. He needed Emma packed and with him and Aiden by dawn, and he still had a lot of convincing to do if he wanted her to come of her own accord. And for some reason he couldn’t explain, he found that he did.

  Pulling up to her house, Emma parked and quickly jumped out. Nik followed her at a more leisurely pace, locking up her car for her when she forgot to.

  As they climbed the stairs up to her front porch, she suggested, “How about we just talk out here?” Without waiting for an answer, she set her bag down by the door, and sat down in one of the old, wooden chairs.

  “Sure, ok.” She looked nervous, probably wondering if it had been a good idea to bring him here, where they’d be alone. Not wanting to alarm her more by arguing, Nik took the matching chair, slouching down and stretching his long legs out in front of him.

  Leaning back, he gazed up at the clear sky, still amazed at how clearer the stars were to him now. He almost felt sorry for humans, that they didn’t have the capability to appreciate this.

  “Are you just going to sit there staring at the sky,” she grumbled, “or do you th
ink maybe you could go ahead and tell me whatever the hell it is that’s so damn important, it brought you all the way out here to harass me?”

  Nik smirked to himself. Apparently, being nervous made her grumpy.

  He gave her the same look he would give a kitten who was misbehaving, but was so still so darn cute you couldn’t be angry at them. That seemed to piss her off even more.

  “Well?” she gritted out.

  “Yes, I will tell you.” He had rethought his approach, again, on the drive over. Maybe if he appealed to her sympathetic side…“I need your help, Emma,” he beseeched her.

  Standing up, he picked up his chair by the arms and angled it towards her, sitting back down again. “I know you keep trying to avoid the subject, but I really need you to tell me what happened that night.”

  He could practically see the wall slam down.

  “I’ve already told you. I really don’t remember very much.”

  She was lying again. There was more to her story than she was telling him. But why would she lie? “Are you absolutely positive there’s nothing else you remember? Nothing else you haven’t told me?”

  She sat silently a moment, and he swore he could hear her brain buzzing as she debated whether or not to trust him.

  Finally, she mumbled, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

  “I might believe more than you think, sweetheart.” The endearment rolled off of his tongue without thought.

  He waited for her to snap at him again, but she must have been too preoccupied with what was going on in her lovely head to notice the slip.

  She shook her head stubbornly, “I don’t remember anything else.”

  Nik took a deep breath, and then took a huge chance. “Emma, I’m going to tell you something, and I need you to not freak out. Ok?”

  Her forehead wrinkled up adorably. “Ok.”

  “I think that maybe you’ve seen some things, things that other people wouldn’t believe, but I will. And the reason I will, Emma, is because I am something different myself.”

  She looked him over. “What do you mean?” Her voice rang with skepticism.

  “I’ll show you, but first I need you to believe me when I say that I would never hurt you.” He looked at her intently, willing her to believe him.

  Emma was starting to look anxious. “You’re scaring me here, Nik. Why don’t you just spit it out?”

  “Yeah, alright.” He agreed, and hoped he wasn’t making the biggest mistake of his life.

  Using his previously learned reaction to this particular female, he rose from his chair and squatted down in front of her. Leaning in until his senses were filled with nothing but Emma, he inhaled her sweet scent.

  Instantly, he felt his gums burning as his fangs shot out. His mouth watered, and his muscles hardened, including his now painfully swollen erection.

  Sitting back down, he opened his mouth, drawing his lips back, and showed her his fangs.

  ***

  At first, Emma didn’t understanding why he was just sitting there with his mouth hanging open. Then she looked closer.

  Are those…? Noooo, it can’t be. That’s impossible.

  Until they lengthened even more as she stared, even as she shook her head in denial.

  She watched as he slowly lifted his hands up in front of him, palms out. “I’m a vampire, Emma.”

  Holy mother of God. Emma sat, frozen to the chair, and stared at his mouth…at his fangs. She thought about the eerie glow his eyes had when he walked into the bar, of how he had appeared out of nowhere when she about to get into her car.

  Her heart sped up, and sweat started leaking out her pores as the adrenaline kicked in.

  VAMPIRE.

  The word echoed around and around in her head.

  Terrifying images from the past suddenly crashed into her head, the sight of Nik’s fangs releasing them from where they’d been firmly locked away.

  Images of putrid grey skin, with rotting patches hanging off, exposing raw muscle underneath. Bulging red eyes glaring at her heinously, and razor sharp fangs…fangs dripping blood. Her blood.

  In her mind, she heard herself screaming in terror. Heard the monster hissing and grunting on top of her as pain ripped through her, the others screeching as they watched and waited their turn.

  Emma wanted to jump up and run, but she couldn’t seem to get enough air. She blinked as her vision started wavering. “Oh God….” She couldn’t even scream.

  “Emma? Sweetheart?” His husky voice was filled with concern. “Are you alright?”

  Emma felt lightheaded, and gripped the arms of her chair with both hands until her knuckles turned white. Don’t pass out. Don’t pass out. She started seeing spots in front of her eyes, and her stomach felt nauseous.

  She was going to pass out.

  Just as her vision went dark, he grabbed her by the back of the neck, bending her over and shoving her head between her legs. “Breathe, Emma. Just breathe. It’s all right. Nothing is going to hurt you.”

  As the blood rushed to her head, her breathing calmed down and her vision gradually cleared up. She took a moment to enjoy drawing air into her lungs, before knocking his arm away and cautiously sitting up to study him.

  He gave her a full-fang smile.

  Her entire body started to shake uncontrollably, and she scooted a little farther away from him. Tears unexpectedly filled her eyes, coming out of nowhere.

  She frantically wondered if there was any chance at all of her outrunning him.

  Her eyes darted over to her car, judging the distance. She might make it, if she ran faster than she ever had in her life. She could swipe up her bag on the way. She didn’t even need to find her key. Her Prius started with a power button.

  Would she be able to get a head start on him if she took him by surprise?

  But what if he was faster than humans? She thought back to the event in the parking lot again, of how she slammed into his wall of a body. Was he really that fast?

  Nervously glancing over at him, he seemed unsure as he watched her.

  “I’m not going to hurt you Emma. See? All gone.” His smile returned, showing his pearly whites, not a fang in sight.

  “I’m sorry to shock you like that. I didn’t know how else to tell you without sounding like a crazy person, so I thought I’d just show you. I don’t even drink from humans,” he reassured her. “See? Harmless.”

  That got her attention.

  “You d-don’t d-drink blood? But, you said…you said…you’re a…vampire…” she stammered.

  Her focus drifted as she tried to reconcile the resurrected memories that were banging around in her skull to what she was seeing right in front of her. But they didn’t add up. Nikulas was nothing like the monsters from her nightmares.

  “Emma. Emma. Look at me.”

  Clenching her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering, she slowly raised her eyes to his.

  “Sweetheart, it’s ok. I swear,” he told her gently.

  After several minutes, and several more furtive glances at him, she managed to get out, “W-What exactly do you drink if not blood?”

  “Oh, I do drink blood,” he clarified. “Just out of a bag, not a body.”

  “A b-bag?” She looked genuinely confused.

  “Yeah. A blood bag. I have a friend who works at a blood bank. I get my nutritional requirements from people who donate it willingly.” He gave her a big, fang-free, smile.

  “Are there more like you? So…so…human-like?” She was almost afraid to hear the answer.

  His forehead wrinkled up briefly in confusion as he confessed, “Yes. There are a lot of us Emma. All over the place.” Then he added, “You can ask me anything you’d like. I’ll answer anything you’d like to know, and I won’t lie to you.”

  “Do they all drink from blood bags?” It was a silly question. She knew from experience that they didn’t. But, stupidly, she dared to hope. It was dashed with his honest answer.

  “No. Actually, I t
hink I may be the only one.”

  “Why do you do it?” she asked.

  “I have my reasons.” Judging by his tone, he was not going to elaborate.

  “The others? Do they kill people?” she asked.

  “Some of them,” he said softly. “But I’m not one of those.” He opened his mouth like he was about to say more, but then changed his mind.

  After a moment of silence, he told her reverently, “I swear to you, you have nothing to fear from me.”

  Could she believe him? Emma mulled it over. Now that the shock was wearing off, and the nerves were calming down, she found she could think somewhat rationally again.

  She was sitting on her porch, in the middle of the woods, with a…vampire. There. See? She could say it without passing out. “I guess if you were going to kill me, you would’ve done it by now.”

  Amusement passed over his face at her blunt comment. “Is there anything else you’d like to know?”

  She thought it over. “Can you go out in the sunlight?”

  “No.”

  Morbid curiosity getting the better of her, she asked, “What would happen if you did?”

  Grimacing slightly, Nik told her, “I would catch on fire and burn until I was nothing but a pile of ashes.”

  “Can you change form?”

  “Like into a bat?” he laughed. “No.”

  “Is it true about the garlic and crosses? And holy water?”

  “No, although I’d rather not eat garlic and I’m not big on religious decor. The only thing that can harm me besides the sun is a debilitating injury to the heart or being beheaded. That part of the lore is true.”

  Another question popped into her head, and she opened her mouth to ask, but thought better of it and snapped it shut.

  “Is there something else you wanted to know?”

  Her face and neck were swiftly turning a bright red, giving her thoughts away. She quickly looked away in an attempt to hide it. “No.”