23
Vampires’ lairs were meant to be Gothic, dark, and freaky. Not geek heaven apartments with gamer pods looped with consoles, virtual reality headsets, computer monitors, pewter Princess Leia figurines, half-empty pizza boxes, and a Lara Croft poster stuck on the steel grey bedroom wall.
I snuggled down under the soft scarlet blankets of Ash’s bed. If Ash meant to bite me, at least he’d made me comfy first. And with…everything…from the moment the Pure had swarmed around the witches’ house crashing down on me, I was too knackered to care if he did.
Maybe I wanted Ash to, or maybe I just wanted what he was offering to be real. The first slice of…normal…since Rebel had fallen from the ceiling.
I’d shucked off my jacket before climbing into bed. But I wasn’t stripping off; there was comfy and there was offering up your arse.
Ash pottered into the bedroom with a steaming mug of Earl Grey. Flushing, he kicked a dirty sock under the bed as he handed over my tea.
I arched my brow at Lara Croft. ‘I said you were a geek.’
Ash grinned, sliding out of his military jacket and lobbing it at an oak chair by the wall.
It missed.
With a shrug, Ash stretched his wide wings, before sprawling next to me on the pillows. ‘I need somewhere to relax from all the…’ His fangs shot from his teeth and he growled.
Despite myself, I jumped, spilling my tea. ‘Bastard.’
Ash laughed, before his fangs sank back into his gums. ‘No worries, I’m not the bite and fight type.’
When I studied him, brushing his tumble of jet hair away from his long olive neck, I wondered whether I could allow myself to believe that was true.
At the same time, I quivered with the coiling urge to bite…taste…him.
I slurped the hot Earl Grey: black and strong. It warmed me, when I’d been frozen for days. ‘And where are your little Fang friends?’ I asked carefully.
His smile faded. He twisted away, pulling off his boots. ‘Not here. After all, you’re a hunter. It’d be like bringing Buffy to Spike...but then they ended up screwing each other…’
I snorted.
Ash shrugged. ‘What? I can’t do ironic human pop culture?’
I struggled to hide my smile. ‘Tell me this then, do all you Fangs live in wealthy arsed apartments?’
‘Only if we work.’
When he took my empty mug and tucked the blankets around me, I tensed. Once, I’d been sick with the flu, and Gizem had tucked the covers around me in just the same way. But only when she’d reckoned I was sleeping because she had a reputation to keep.
Why did that one small gesture matter?
Ash drew back. ‘Bed? That’s yours. Couch? That’s for the sexy Fallen Angel, who’ll be whinging about a bad back in the morning.’
‘A bed without chains is a luxury.’
He shook his head. ‘I always knew it about the crazy retro bastard. Angels are kinky underneath.’
I sniggered but then clutched the blankets tighter. My mouth was dry at the memory of waking to thick blue carpet underneath my knees, the light of a chandelier and suffocating warmth. ‘The Pure didn’t even have a bed. They just got with the chopping. The only one who had my back was Anarchy.’
‘Anarchy?’ Ash towered above me, his wings like a stormy sky. ‘Where is he?’
‘One of your soldiers, Brigadier?’
Ash winced. ‘He’s my mate, Violet. Like a kid brother.’
Now it was my turn to wince. ‘You know I said got with the chopping…?’
Ash fell to his knees, his wings folded around himself like he was returning to a feathery womb. He keened.
I was a bitch. ‘Not his head, wallad, his wings.’
Ash glanced up at me through wet eyelashes. ‘They took his wings?’
‘Eden said he was a rebel,’ I smiled sadly. ‘Sorry, bro, that he’s—’
Ash bounced up, with a grin. ‘Purified? He’s Anarchy. The little bastard’ll fight them until they gank him. Except, we’ll break him out tomorrow night.’
I pushed up from the pillows. ‘We will?’
‘Sleep. Great escape to plan when you wake.’
Somehow, I’d switched gangs. Rebel wouldn’t save my new mate, but his enemy would. I forced myself not to think of the way Rebel’s wings had drooped in the cemetery when he’d stopped even defending himself against Ash.
I grabbed Ash’s hand, before he could saunter out. ‘You can’t plan with a bad back,’ I muttered.
‘Napoleon lost the whole Russian campaign because of a dodgy back.’ Ash slunk over me, climbing under the covers without undressing.
When I turned on my side, Ash’s velvety feathers curled around me, like a second bed. He sighed, his breathing soft and safe, against my neck.
I tensed, but then relaxed. Neither halves of my nature roared danger at the closeness of his fangs. Instead, they hummed in tired contentment. Slowly, his hands settled around my waist.
‘Russian campaign? I thought you knew nothing about fighting, Brigadier?’
For a moment, Ash’s breathing hitched, before it steadied. ‘I used to,’ he murmured, ‘but not anymore. There are different ways a bloke can win a war than with a sword.’
So, this is your choice? Black, not violet? Bones, rather than feathers?
I’m not making a choice, just resting.
You better hope it’s not eternal rest. At least you could try out the whore’s dick. You don’t want to waste a Seducer—
I’m not that kind of bitch now. Not since—
A couple of hours ago with the ice angel Commander?
You saw how I hurt Drake. I’m not doing that again.
You keep telling yourself that.
And what’s so special about a Seducer?
You’ll see.
I buried into the warmth of Ash’s aromatic wings, as the dark rose and covered us, and I closed my eyes.
When I opened them, kisses were feathering along my shoulder blades, until they tingled.
I shivered. Still half-asleep, I licked my lips.
A small hand stroked my thigh through my jeans in hesitant circles. Then violet wings…
Violet?
Flames crackled in an instinctive rush of outraged fear, as I elbowed the violator.
Drake tumbled in a hissing, burned tangle onto the floor.
Suddenly wide awake, I scooted up on the bed, pulling the blankets over me.
Where the hell had I dropped Star last night?
When Drake pulled himself to his feet, holding up his indigo trousers carefully, I shot out of the bed. ‘Is this your pay back?’
Drake eyed me coldly. ‘Calm yourself. You’re still sleeping with your vampire whore.’
I whirled round.
The bed was empty.
If this was real, what had Drake done to Ash? And if it wasn’t…and Drake was messing with my mind…?
I took a step towards Drake. ‘Next time you come playing in my head, you don’t touch without permission. And you don’t turn up without an invite.’
He rolled his eyes. ‘As you wish. But I’m here because I’ve found your sister.’
My legs buckled; I slumped onto the bed. ‘Where?’
Drake smiled with sudden childish innocence. He held out his hand to me. His fingers were mangled, as if they’d been broken one at a time. I hadn’t done that. ‘If you come with me now to Angel World, I’ll take you to her.’
I let out a shaky breath. ‘Please…’
It’d been so many weeks since Jade had disappeared. Every day I’d imagined finding her, and the way she’d flick her pink-and-black fringe as she beamed. I battled not to think about what was happening to her. Only that one moment when she saw me…saving her.
I reached out to take Drake’s hand.
But then I noticed his broken hand was shaking.
I drew back. ‘I’ll pass on the poisoned apple, cheers.’
Drake stared at me, before tossing his golden curls. ‘I assure you, what happens next...? I didn’t choose it. Watch.’
Suddenly, Ash was sprawled across the bed.
But his wings…
I gasped.
Blood dripped onto the blankets. Scarlet from the sodden outstretched wings stained the floor. Mutilated, the feathers had been plucked or carved out.
I clutched Ash’s maimed shoulders, but my fingers clawed through air.
I blinked at the bed that was unexpectedly empty again.
Drake shrugged one lash streaked shoulder. ‘I’m only playing, am I not? I apologise for the lack of invitation.’
Rebel, his fiery head bowed, prostrated himself before me. And his wings were nothing but burnt stumps.
I twirled to Drake. ‘Stop your little show of horrors. This bitch doesn’t do threats.’
‘This isn’t a threat,’ Drake waved his broken hand, and Rebel vanished. ‘This is a possible future path if you don’t come with me now.’
‘I’m not buying what you sell.’
‘Your choice,’ Drake draped himself over the bed, like a cherub sacrificial on a vampire’s altar. ‘But you only have two nights. After that?’ His violet eyes were ice cold. I remembered the cruel way I’d shattered him. Shanking an angel Commander was a dangerous move. ‘I kill your sister.’
I froze.
The image of Jade appeared: her pale face on the pillow, with her pink streaked hair framing it in an Emo riot. Her eyes were closed, as if she was sleeping. She wore one of my baggy black t-shirts and a pair of shorts that matched her hair.
Drake kissed her.
I slammed forward, wringing the blanket like it was Drake’s neck.
Not real, not real, not real…
Drake wound his hand into Jade’s hair, watching me over her head, waiting for the fireworks. ‘Your sister believes I can kiss,’ he said quietly.
‘You didn’t even wake her, Prince Charming. And if you ever touch her for real…? I’ll rip off your bollocks.’
‘Yet you chose not to save her.’ He shoved Jade out of the bed at my feet.
Not real…not real…just playing with my mind…
I couldn’t stop myself. I crouched over Jade.
Scarlet.
It burst from Jade’s guts.
Trembling, I pressed my hands over the knife wound. When I pulled back my bloody hands, I sobbed.
Jade’s murder stained me, and it was my fault
Death swallowed me. Blood, bones, and feathers.
My sister was the sacrifice.
‘Two nights,’ Drake skulked at my shoulder, whispering his poison into my ear. ‘Call me and I am yours. We can’t all choose our path, but you are fortunate. Is a human sister not worth more to you than a Fallen or an Addict?’
Then I startled awake. To a silent room, sheltered in the arms of a sleeping vampire.
A vampire Spike doll — complete with black coat and bleached blond hair — guarded the computer monitor opposite a pewter princess Leia. Ash had a sense of irony about his vampiric heritage.
He didn’t have a Buffy doll, but then I couldn’t blame Ash for not welcoming a vampire slayer into his home.
Yet I was here — a huntress — spinning on Ash’s leather computer chair.
I adjusted my earpiece and then snatched the Spike doll, stroking it like a stress toy as I peered at the monitor.
A marble lobby, with a silver and blue mural of the heavens on both floor and ceiling, leapt up and down in jerky movements at each step Ash took.
The camera and sound worked.
Now time for Ash to put on a bitch of a performance.
I grinned, bouncing in my seat.
‘You’re gorgeous, Violet, but can I just say, one more time, you’re an evil bitch,’ Ash murmured into the earpiece.
‘You don’t like the escape plan?’ I smirked. ‘Get in to Perfection hotel. Place the bugs, so we know what Eden is planning. Then rescue your mate. What’s the problem, Brigadier? Too hard for you?’
Ash snorted. ‘You’re hot when you’re all commanding. If I escape with my wings, let’s play dress ups.’
My grin died. ‘Just escape with your wings.’
The feathers carved out of Ash’s wings… Rebel’s bloody stumps... Scarlet seeping from Jade…
Blood on my hands.
Crack — Spike’s head hung backwards from his body.
I’d decapitated him.
I always wondered what it’d be like when you met a guy who was as big a geek as you.
I didn’t meet a guy: I’m working with a Fang.
Keep telling yourself that Miss Vampire Lover. But seduction works in rainbow pretty ways. And you could end up seducing him.
Not listening…
But he’s no slave like Rebel. If you try to tame him, you’ll destroy him.
I shoved the broken doll behind the computer desk.
The camera, which we’d hidden in the button of Ash’s military coat, projected the curve of the marble counter in the hotel’s lobby. Ash’s strong fingers drummed on the counter top.
‘I’d like to see Eden, please.’ Ash sounded shy and awe-struck (we’d worked on that). ‘I…I don’t know if I’m in the right place but…this is so hard… The others…the way they treat me…I feel—’
‘Dirty?’ I jumped at the sound of Eden’s voice. Ash spun. Eden swanned towards Ash. His gaze was calculating. ‘Seducer, you were once a soldier up on a hill, but then down you came tumbling onto your knees.’ When Eden kissed Ash’s lips softly, I growled. ‘Whore, whore, three in a bed, bad little boy, will soon be dead.’
Ash’s arms clasped around Eden’s neck. ‘Help me?’
Silence.
My nails sliced into my palm.
This was the hard part. Whether Eden would believe Ash a willing convert.
Sitting there — remote and helpless — was more difficult than I’d ever imagined.
Eden delicately pushed Ash away, before stroking down his cheek. ‘You want to be clean?’
‘Yes.’ Ash’s voice was tight with tears. Hell, even I could believe he meant it.
‘You need to be purified?’
‘Yes, sir.’
Eden twirled around the lobby, his arms out in an elegant waltz, before gripping Ash around the neck, as he whispered, ‘I will train, save, and then free you of your wings.’ I shuddered. ‘You will be my solider, whore, and toy.’
I pressed my nose to the monitor, as if that could transport me closer to Ash.
Eden hauled Ash by the arm through the lobby and into a plush bronze lift. When the doors shut, with Eden’s sky-blue chest pushed against the camera, I snarled.
My plan…this was my plan…
Ash was wrong: I wasn’t a bitch, I was a monster.
A ping of the lift, lush blue carpeted hallway, and then mahogany door.
‘The entrance to your new life. Walk the path of the pure,’ Eden turned a key and thrust Ash into the gloomy room, before locking him in.
I squinted at the outline of the blue-and-white striped bedroom: wood-carved silver bed, Victorian desk and…
Anarchy kneeling in the corner.
Anarchy’s head was bowed to the carpet, in the same way Rebel’s had been in my vision from Drake, his back blistered between the cauterised stumps of his wings.
He didn’t even look up.
‘Are you seeing this?’ Ash muttered furiously. He sank down next to his friend, running his hand through Anarchy’s curls. ‘Hey, menace, I should kick your arse for dragging me into trouble again.’ Anarchy flinched but didn’t look up. ‘But not until we’re safe in my place, with a tub of chocolate fudge ice-cream and…don’t tell me that only works on girls.’
For a moment, Anarchy’s gaze flickered to Ash’s, as his mouth curled into a smile, but then he quickly looked down again.
‘Tell him my blokes never give up,’ I insisted into the earpiece.
‘Violet, demanding so-and-so that she is, says her blokes never give up.’
Anarchy’s head shot up. ‘You bloody wanker. The princess escaped. If you—’
When Ash hauled Anarchy to his feet by his neck, crushing him against the wall, Anarchy yelped. ‘You get yourself captured, and I risk…everything…to rescue your ungrateful arse, so don’t…’
They collapsed to the floor together, Anarchy clutching around Ash. ‘I’m sorry… I lost… I couldn’t stop them…’
‘How adorable, my two darlings know each other.’ Stephanie stood framed in the door, holding her short silver staff. ‘Training will be much more fun. Eden called and told me about your conversion, Seducer. He doesn’t believe you need restraining. But boys who don’t behave are chained. So, be good.’
Violet snaked sickly in my stomach, as Stephanie prowled towards the two vampires on the screen. I growled, ‘Don’t touch my fam, bitch.’
‘The Fallen are your fam now, princess? So, it was just my brother who wasn’t good enough?’ Rebel leant against the steel back wall of the bedroom, but his eyes sparked pure fire.
I startled, tumbling off the computer chair onto my arse. Only now I wasn’t transfixed by the danger on screen, I was flooded by the scent of sugary copper. I ripped out my earpiece. ‘How did you…?’
‘Hunter.’ Rebel shrugged, although he was shaking. ‘Tracked you. Found you. Booted in the door. I may have made an arse of being your Custodian, but I won’t let these gits seduce you. Even if it hurts both of us.’
Rebel’s wings spread like a threat as he straightened. He was awe-inspiring in his righteousness. Then he stalked towards me, drawing Eclipse’s flaming blade.