LEXINE SLAMMED THE cupboard door and moved on to the next as she tried to find something to eat when her phone rang. She looked at the display and saw Lucas’s name.
Panic came over her whole body, and she lost her appetite. She hadn’t heard from any of her new friends since the night they’d drugged her, tied her up, and violated her. She’d been waiting for them to contact her, and she knew she needed them to in order for her to take them down. But part of her had been relieved at the same time. She hadn’t wanted to speak to that filthy excuse for a vampire. Just thinking about him made her skin crawl.
Lexine cautiously picked up her phone and hit answer. “Hello?”
“Lexine, baby, how are you doing? Going by your blood, I’d say you’re shitting your pants.”
Lexine stiffened. She hadn’t bothered closing the blood connection because Lucas wasn’t there. But, apparently, he was close enough to feel her. He had to be near the property. And she cursed herself for leaving her guard down. She’d foolishly thought that she was safe at home, in the compound. She immediately put up a wall.
Lucas tsked. “Now, now, is that any way to treat your former lover, baby?”
“You don’t get to call me baby,” she bit out.
“That’s not what you said when I was fucking you, doll.”
“Yeah, well, I obviously had a moment of temporary insanity.” Asshole.
“Bitch, you’re lucky that I didn’t take your blood when I had you in my bed. I should’ve done it then.”
“Yeah, and I should have taken yours.”
It would have been really nice if she had the same advantage on him that he had on her. Especially when she hadn’t fully recovered. Sterling’s donation to her had helped, but she’d need to feed again soon. She was lucky Lucas hadn’t killed her.
“Now, now, Lexine, we couldn’t risk you getting knocked up, could we? Although…that would have discredited you even more. Damn, maybe I should have let you feed from me.”
Lexine almost gagged. “If I had your spawn inside me, I would cut it from my body.”
Instead of making Lucas mad, as she’d intended, he laughed.
“Hey, Lexine?” her brother called from the hallway.
“Hold on,” she told Lucas. She set her phone against her abdomen to hopefully muffle the sound. “Yeah?” she answered her brother.
Lennox came around the corner, entering the kitchen. “Have you heard from Mom and Dad? They’re not answering the home phone or their cell phones.”
A lump formed in her throat. “Uh, no, I haven’t.” Technically, it was the truth, but she still felt like she was lying. She wanted to shout to her brother that their parents were being held prisoner. And it was all her fault. She’d really fucked up.
“If you hear from them, tell them that I want them to call me.”
“Okay.”
“Maybe I’ll drive over there today.”
That was a good idea. Maybe he would discover something. But she didn’t want Lucas to hear her encouraging Lennox.
So, she nodded enthusiastically and said, “Do what you need to.”
Lennox looked her over. “Are you okay? You’ve been acting weird for a while now.”
“I’m fine,” she said, but she really wanted to fall to his feet and tell him everything.
“You’re sure?”
“I am.”
“Okay. Well, I’d better get ready to go out. I’m meeting Saxon in a bit. Also, you might want to lay off the perfume a little.” He gave her one last look and left the room.
She slowly brought the phone back up to her ear and heard Lucas laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“Trying to cover up the scent of three guys coming on you? It’s good to know we made an impression.”
“It’s not funny.”
“Yes, it is. That, and how your brother is asking about your parents, and all the while you know where they are. It’s hilarious.”
“Technically, I don’t because you are keeping them prisoner somewhere.” And, no matter how hard she had worked to find her parents the last few nights, she’d been unsuccessful.
“Oh, that’s right. Darn,” he said with absolutely no sympathy in his voice.
She couldn’t believe she’d missed that this guy was a sociopath.
“Listen, the reason I called was that I need to know where everyone’s going to be tonight. Including brother dearest. We have some work to take care of. And, if you lie to me, your brother will get a visit. But, instead of us running away like we did with the old bat, we’re going to attack.”
Lexine gritted her teeth. “Fine. I’ll tell you what I know.”
“That’s a good girl.”
What a condescending asshole. She wanted to reach through the phone and cut his balls off.
Sterling walked into the kitchen and found Lexine staring out the window.
“Lexine?”
She jumped and turned to look at him.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said, sounding exhausted.
He thought about pressing, but the more he pushed Lexine, the more she closed herself off, so he kept his mouth shut. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah,” she said again.
He pulled his car keys from his jeans. “I’ll drive tonight. That okay with you?”
“Sure.”
They went out to the large garage and got into his vehicle. Lexine seemed almost like she was on autopilot.
It wasn’t until they were on the street that he spoke to her again, “Say, I know you need to feed again.”
“Hmm?” She turned from looking out the window. “Oh, yeah, I do.”
“I’m going to take you somewhere to do that.”
“Whatever,” she said. She turned her gaze back to watching the scenery go by.
Less than ten minutes later, they pulled up to an estate and rang the buzzer at the gate. A light shone in his face, and he flashed his fangs in the camera mounted there. The doors opened, and Sterling drove through to the front of the large mansion.
He parked among the row of other vehicles on the side. He got out and started heading to the front door before he realized Lexine was still sitting in his SUV. He turned around and opened the passenger door. “Come on, Lexine.”
“What? Oh, I’m going in with you?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” She stepped out of the car and followed him inside.
Not once did she ask him what they were doing there, which was very unusual for Lexine. Maybe she needed to feed more than he’d originally assumed.
After they walked into the mansion, a beautiful woman dressed in an evening gown came up to them with a clipboard. “Hello, Sterling,” she said. She air-kissed him on both cheeks.
“Hello, Francesca.”
“Who do you have with you tonight?”
Lexine was finally looking around the room and seemed somewhat intimidated, so he put his arm around her.
“This is Lexine. She works with me.”
“Oh. It is nice to meet you, Lexine,” Francesca said with a single nod.
“Um…you, too,” Lexine said. Then, out of the side of her mouth and in a hushed voice, she said to Sterling, “What are we doing here?”
Of course, Francesca heard her, so she answered, “We are an all-inclusive feeding facility. And, since Sterling brought you here, I’m assuming you need to feed. What is your pleasure? Male or female?”
“I-I don’t know,” Lexine said, shock all over her face.
“What about you, Sterling? Do you want one of your usuals? Jacinta is with someone, but Kimberly and Amber are both free.”
Before Sterling could answer, Lexine said, “Excuse me. Francesca, was it? I need a minute alone with Sterling.”
“Of course,” Francesca answered with a slight bow. “I will be right over there when you need me.”
Lexine finally looked like her regular self and appeared to have snapped out of the trance she’d been in earlier. “What kind of place did you bring me to?” she said with a low voice. She stepped closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Did you bring me to some sort of fancy whorehouse?”
Sterling took a step back. “What?” he said a little too loudly. “What are you talking about?” he asked in a lower voice.
“This is an ‘all-inclusive facility,’” she said, using air quotes.
“It is,” he said, now a little irritated. He would never bring a woman to a place like a brothel. “There is absolutely no sex. In fact, the only touching is done with mouth, fangs, and the area being fed from.”
She sensed his anger because she put her hands up. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed. I’ve never been to a place like this. I’ve only heard rumors of their existence.”
He was about to ask how she’d never been to one when he remembered that she was a female vampire. Even though there was nothing sexual going on here, the Vampire Council still frowned on feeding facilities.
“Look,” he told her, “I know you need to feed, and you don’t want to ask your brother or anyone else. I can’t feed you again without feeding myself. So, I brought you here.”
He hadn’t realized that he’d raised his voice back to a normal level until Francesca stepped forward.
“Listen, we understand how awkward this is, Lexine. Why don’t you go with Sterling and watch him feed, and then you can feed from him? If we need to repeat the process, then we will.” She turned her gaze to Sterling. “Sometimes, it’s easier on girlfriends this way.”
“Oh, no, she’s not—”
“You have a deal,” Lexine said.
Francesca smiled, pleased with herself for finding a solution. “This way, please,” she said as she turned around to head for the grand staircase.
Once she was a couple of steps away, Sterling said, “This will only slow us down tonight.”
“I know, but I’m not feeding from anyone but you,” she said adamantly.
He must have given her some sort of look because she sighed.
“Don’t read too much into it, Sterling. It’s just the way I feel, okay?”
“Whatever you say, Lexine.” Whatever you say.