Chapter 15

Reyna walked through the hospital. It was strange to be on this side of the Visage building. She and her brothers had never had enough money to go to the hospital in the warehouses. When she got sick, she had to sweat it out in their cramped apartment with off-brand Tylenol and hope. Now the sterile environment, packed with sick people who had lost hope and turned to the vampire hospital to keep them alive, surrounded her.

As soon as they made it inside, Beckham had vanished with barely enough instructions for her to figure out how to find Everett. The receptionist directed her down the hall to a nurse. The next nurse pointed her down another hallway. After a few more twists and turns, she finally found Everett tucked up in a hospital bed with an IV attached to his arm.

The IV made her shudder, but at least he was alive.

He didn’t look pale and sickly like when she had last seen him. A white bandage was stark against his neck, and she imagined the horrifying puncture wounds underneath. They were both so lucky Beckham had found them.

She knocked on the open door lightly.

“Hey,” she whispered.

“Reyna.” His face split into a smile. “It’s so good to see you alive.”

“I could say the same for you. Can I come in?”

“Of course you can.” He patted the bed.

She walked across the small room and plopped down into a chair next to the bed. She felt sick to her stomach that they even had to be here. Of course she knew they were tremendously lucky to be alive, but it didn’t assuage the ache in the pit of her stomach. Life shouldn’t be like this. The dark shouldn’t hold these fears. Even back home where it was supposedly more dangerous, she had never feared something like this happening.

After an awkward moment, Reyna broke the silence. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have ever put us in that position.”

“No one knew the vampire was going to be there,” Everett reminded her.

“That’s true, but I didn’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Luckily, I’m safe now. All thanks to you.”

“Well, thanks to Beckham,” she told him. “He saved us both.”

She picked at the covers and kept her head bowed. After hearing his friend’s views on vampires, she didn’t know how he would react to bringing Beckham up. Even though he worked at her building, where vampires lived, it didn’t mean he liked them any more than his friends.

“Wow,” Everett said. Surprise was written on his face. “A vampire saving humans. I’d never have guessed. What was he even doing there anyway?”

“He was following me, I guess. I have a tendency to find danger…or danger has a tendency to find me.”

“Maybe you should have warned me about that ahead of time,” Everett said, but he was smiling.

She breathed out a sigh of relief that their friendship didn’t seem irrevocably broken after the traumatic experience from last night. Even though Everett had seemed interested in her and she didn’t feel the same that didn’t mean she had wanted him to die. Nor did she want to lose her only friend thus far.

Just as she was about to say as much, all of his friends bustled into the room. Mara was ahead of the pack. She rushed over to Everett, looking stricken. Her face was puffy and her eyes red as if she had been crying much of the night. Maybe she had been.

Reyna felt a pang of guilt. She had been locked away in Beckham’s apartment sharing a kiss with him while her friend was at the hospital getting a blood transfusion. His real friends had waited around for him to wake up and cried hoping he would make a quick recovery. She tried to rid herself of the guilt, but it was difficult. She felt responsible for her insensitivity.

“Hey, guys,” Everett said with a smile.

“Oh Everett,” Mara cried dramatically. She wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a big hug. He laughed at her and patted her twice on the shoulder.

“I’m okay, Mara.”

“What the hell happened to you? We thought you guys split.” She gave Reyna an accusatory look.

Reyna had a feeling this was more about the fact that she had thought Everett and Reyna had left alone together than to find out the details. It was pretty obvious that she liked him. It was strange that Mara was threatened by her. She had never been that girl before, and honestly she shouldn’t be now. She liked Everett as a friend, but that was it. Her heart was careening in a completely opposite direction. A direction she shouldn’t even be considering.

“Yeah. Are you all right?” Lauren asked, nudging Coop forward into the room.

It was starting to get very crowded. Reyna felt conscious of the fact that she was seated close to Everett in that moment.

“We’re both okay. We were attacked by a rogue vampire,” Everett explained.

Mara gasped. Her hands flew to her mouth. Everyone else looked stricken at the prospect.

“He fed from me. Drew enough blood I passed out, and if I hadn’t been immediately transported to a hospital, I would have died.”

Reyna nodded solemnly. “He came after me next. Threw me against the dumpster and I suffered a head injury, but uh…another vampire came and saved us.”

“What?” Lauren asked, confused.

“Another vamp?” Tucker asked. “A bloodsucker fending off his own kind?”

“Yeah,” she said softly.

Mara narrowed her eyes. “What the hell, Everett? Why would a vamp interfere?”

Reyna blushed and kept her eyes firmly fixed on the sheet. Everett remained silent. It would be hard to lie about this one. Lying about where she worked had been easy, but this was something else entirely. Vampires didn’t act like this without motive.

“Oh my God, I knew it!” Mara shrieked. “You’re a filthy blood whore!”

Reyna’s mouth dropped open in shock. She stood indignantly. “I am not!”

“Mara!” Everett cried. “That’s out of line.”

“How can you even bring her around us knowing what she is?” Mara turned her nose up at her.

Lauren took a step away as if Reyna had something contagious. Tucker and Coop were looking anywhere but at Reyna, caught in the crossfire.

“I’m not a whore,” Reyna cried. “You all are worse than the vampires with your prejudices. I’m still human. You could act like you had an ounce of humanity.”

“Fine. You’re not a whore,” Lauren said, wrinkling her nose. “You’re a fucking blood bag.”

Reyna glared at them all. She reached out and grabbed the bag on the IV that was running into Everett’s arm. “This is a blood bag!”

“Guys, stop it!” Everett yelled, silencing them all. “Leave Reyna alone.”

“How can you defend her?” Mara demanded. “She’s one of the worst parts of this godforsaken system! She lets a vampire suck her blood for money! The only thing worse is a fucking vampire.”

“That vampire saved my life,” Everett reminded them. “Maybe not all of them are bad.”

“One exception isn’t enough to undo generations of atrocities,” Mara cried fiercely.

“But it seems enough to condemn them,” Beckham said as he walked into the room.

The silence was deafening. Everyone turned and stared at his immense bulk in the doorway. The power radiating off of him was full of intensity. Tucker, Coop, and Lauren scurried to the far side of the room and huddled together. Mara stared back at Beckham defiantly, but she wasn’t immune to his power. When he turned his eyes dead set on her, Reyna could tell that it was the last place she wanted to be. She knew what it felt like to have Beckham’s attention completely focused on her. It could unnerve even the strongest person.

“What exactly is going on here?” he asked, his voice booming.

No one said a word.

“That’s what I thought.”

His eyes finally found Reyna’s across the room, and she breathed a sigh of relief that he was here. She never would have thought that she would be so happy that he was near her. But she had felt not only degraded by Everett’s friends, but also cornered like a mouse in a trap. They were the kind of people who started lynch mobs, and she didn’t want to get caught by the pitchfork.

“Let’s go, Reyna.”

She ducked her chin to her chest and hastened out of the room. She didn’t care what they said after she left. She didn’t want to stand there another minute. Not even Everett said anything at her departure.

They exited the hospital in silence. His driver was waiting for them at the guest entrance, and she slid easily into the darkened interior. Her tight skirt rode up her legs when she sat down. She was pulling the material down to attempt to cover herself up as Beckham got into the car. He took one look at her, the fact that ninety percent of her legs were clearly visible, and extracted his phone from his suit pocket.

As soon as the door shut behind them, the car started driving them back into the city. She could feel the irritation radiating off of him. She didn’t know if it was based on the conversation he had walked in on or something else.

“Where did you go?” she asked. Her eyes were locked on him tapping endlessly at that damn phone. Her own phone was tucked away in her purse, unused as usual.

Beckham didn’t say a word.

She sighed. Was he back to silence?

“I can’t believe what Everett’s friends were saying,” she whispered. She slumped back in her seat, wondering if she could get a reaction from him. The only thing he had seemed to notice were her exposed legs, but she wasn’t about to stoop to taking her clothes off for him to pay attention. “Does everyone think I’m a whore and a blood bag, like they do?”

Not one word. He didn’t even raise his head to acknowledge that she was talking. She thought about throwing her hand in between him and the damn phone, but she was worried about the consequences of her actions.

“Are you going to just keep ignoring me?”

Beckham blew out an exasperated breath. “Will you shut up if I do?”

“No,” she admitted.

Beckham shot her a dirty look and returned to whatever he was working on. He didn’t seem to be in a talkative mood. Who was she kidding? He was never in a talkative mood.

“What do you think of me? I’m clearly not your blood bag.”

He closed his eyes for a second before responding. “Prejudices run deep between our people. No one thinks kindly of anyone, because no one is kind to anyone else. One act will change no one’s opinion. You should just ignore what people think of you. You are the only one who knows whether or not it is true.”

Reyna stared at him for a long time after that. It was very insightful coming from a vampire who had just saved a human’s life. It proved over and over again that Beckham was not the bad person he wanted everyone, including her, to believe.

“You know it’s been a week and a half, Becks.”

“Have you been here irritating me for only that long? You make it seem like a lifetime, Little One.”

“I obviously can’t hang out with those people who hate me anymore. I can’t stay locked in your apartment. I think I need to do something. Anything,” she breathed.

Beckham huffed loudly. “Then use the credit card and go shopping. Buy a mountain of clothes to fill your closet. Make friends with other employees, who understand what you are doing and won’t judge you for it. Just do something that befits your new station in life.”

“My new station?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes, Reyna! I’m not sure what part of this you’re missing. You have more money than your wildest dreams could ever have imagined. Use some of it.”

Thinking of herself as wealthy, because she happened to work for Beckham and live in his penthouse, made her feel ludicrous. The only benefit of living with him was that the compensation she did receive for the job she wasn’t performing she funneled right back to her brothers. At least them receiving the money made it all worth it.

“And you want me to go shopping on the black credit card? The unlimited credit card?”

“It’s unlimited for a reason,” he said dryly.

“You know I have more clothes than I could ever want in my closet, and absolutely nothing comfortable to wear.”

Beckham slapped his phone down in his lap and glared at her. “I am trying to work. What do you want from me, Reyna?”

Well, that was a loaded question if she had ever heard one. The list of things she wanted from him that she couldn’t possibly utter grew daily. Her eyes unconsciously dropped down to his lips and then back into those endlessly dark eyes. He clenched his jaw.

Yeah. Out of the question.

“I just need to do something. Maybe get a job?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head.

“What? Why?”

“You have a job already.”

Reyna laughed in his face. “Right now I’m getting paid to sit around in your penthouse all day and deal with your attitude and obsession with your cellphone. That’s not a job. I can’t live cooped up with you with nothing to do. I’m restless.”

“Everyone else would die for the opportunity I’m providing. Why must you be so difficult?”

“I’m obviously not everyone else.”

“Obviously.”

She sighed and felt the space between them heavily. “I didn’t bargain for never leaving or doing anything or seeing my brothers!”

Beckham shook his head incredulously. “Do you not understand the danger? Did last night reveal nothing to you?”

She lifted her chin. She knew he was talking about the attack, but all she could think about was the feel of his lips on hers. As she fell asleep last night, she had replayed that moment over and over again in her mind. She had been even more restless afterward. One taste was not enough. Could never be enough.

“Last night simply showed me what I already knew. Some people are good and some are bad. Some vampires are bad and some…” Reyna reached out and touched his hand across the car. “Some are good.”

Beckham pulled his hand back as if he had been burned. “That’s where you’re wrong. Everyone is bad. You just don’t know it yet.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Then allow me to give you perspective.”

Beckham leaned forward and spoke softly to the driver. The car swung around. She sat up curiously, wondering where he was taking her. The longer they drove, the worse the neighborhoods got in the city. The area where Beckham lived had seemed better than where she lived at home…safe almost. The streets were clear and people walked to and from buildings during the day with their heads up as if they knew that no one would bother them.

Here…that was not the case.

The streets were filthy. Covered with debris and garbage and even sewage in some places. Graffiti was spray-painted across the brick walls in various colors and schemes. A cursive L in a circle was repeated over and over again. People huddled together in ragged clothing that seemed haphazardly thrown together in an attempt to cover them. The few people who walked the streets were hunched over, holding their sparse belongings, as if it were life or death. Beggars were on every corner. Though there was no one to beg from. They were all wasting away—stomachs sunk in, ribs protruding, teeth missing. There were no children playing on the sidewalks. There was just grime and more grime.

She had thought that the warehouses had been bad. At least the people there had suitable jobs albeit with horrible hours. All she saw here was despair.

“Hey, baby, want something nice,” a girl called from the street.

Reyna saw three young girls wearing scantily clad outfits, their necks were raw, and they did nothing to hide the fact. They couldn’t have been older than her. Some of them didn’t even look fully grown.

“What the…”

“Those are blood whores, Reyna,” he said. “They’re addicted to the rush. Prostitute their blood and their bodies for the fix.”

Reyna looked up at him, horrified. She was certainly not anything like those women. How could anyone call her a blood whore just because she worked for Visage?

A fight broke out in front of their car. Two people clawed at each other’s faces.

“Don’t stop,” Beckham told his driver.

“What? Do you mean to run them over?” she snapped.

“If we stop, they will attack the car. It is dangerous to be in these parts…even for me. I cannot overthrow a mob, and my first priority is your safety.”

Her breath caught at the conviction in his words. It was in that moment that there was no pretense behind Beckham. He was taking control of a situation. Maybe he hadn’t even realized what he had said.

The driver started to pull around the fighting pair, when three more people moved into the streets. “Shit!” he growled. “Move.”

He revved the engine, forcing the people out of his way, but one caught Reyna’s door handle and held on. Reyna screamed and lurched toward Beckham. He wrapped an arm protectively around her shoulder and drew her close to him.

“Let me in, bloodsucker. I know you’re in there. You hoard your riches and leave us out here to starve!” the man yelled.

The driver took a sharp turn and the guy lost his grip, flew off of the car, and then rolled two or three times. She heard his screams and turned in her seat to see a rogue vampire feasting on him. No one moved to help him. No one moved to stop him.

She tore her eyes away from what was happening on the street behind her and buried her head in Beckham’s shoulder. “Oh my God,” she whispered, her body shaking from horror.

His hand trailed lightly up and down her arm until her fear subsided. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to show you. The good isn’t out there, Reyna. Everyone is corrupt. Everyone is broken.”

“I’m not,” she whispered.

“Oh Little One, this world will kill the goodness left within your beating heart.”

“But it will not break me.”

“No,” he agreed. He leaned his head into her hair and drew a deep breath. “I will do that.”