Predatory

Cassie stared at him and swallowed hard. Don’t scream. Prey screamed. Prey ran. Prey died.



He leaned close and smiled. “It will get worse before it gets better.”



She couldn’t look away, a bird caught by a raptor’s stare. He looked bigger, harder. He’d split Len’s shirt, exposing a broad expanse of muscled chest and abs. Cassie was tempted to continue staring at his chest, because the rest of him was . . .



“Look at me.”



The voice in her head was warm and rough and an absolute compulsion. Slowly, reluctantly, she lifted her gaze to his face.



Cassie now knew the true meaning of terrifying beauty. His hair had become a silken fall so black that it shone with blue highlights. And his face . . . What was happening to his face? His eyes seemed larger, and they now had the same tilt as Zareb’s eyes. They were green with no white showing and vertical slits for pupils. Cat eyes.



She pushed words past lips that felt frozen. “Will they be yellow like Zareb’s?”



He nodded. “Blue and yellow make green. In two hours they’ll be pure yellow.”



His voice was darkness, leading to places she feared but would explore if he beckoned. No. She wouldn’t explore anywhere with him. His eyes probably had the same power that Zareb’s had. Even as she pummeled herself for her momentary weakness, she reached out to run her fingers lightly along his jaw and watched it clench.



“Is this the Second One you’ve been talking about?” If so, he was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Words couldn’t describe him, so she didn’t try. Cassie only knew his beauty hurt, a deep hungry hurt that made her yearn. . . .



Cassie yanked her hand away from his face. She knew her eyes were wide. “You’re doing the same thing that Zareb was doing.”



He didn’t look away. “Not yet. Even Zareb wasn’t showing you the full power of the Second One.”



“Explain.” She was tired of not knowing, not understanding. Cassie had been lost since the moment she’d walked into Eternal Rest Funeral Home.



Ethan finally moved. He stood and then paced over to the fireplace. “The ones who wrote the vampire legends were wrong.” He stood with his back to the flames. “It was never about bloodlust. We can feed whenever we want. We’re no more ruled by our hunger than you are.” He turned his back to the fire and stared at her. “It was always about the kill.”



“Zareb said he knew you’d killed because the Second One was rising. Who or what is the Second One?” Fascinated, she watched his face changing in small increments even as they talked—lower lip growing fuller, lashes lengthening, each change making him more breathtaking. Then she looked away. Beauty that hurt to look at couldn’t be good.



“The First One is our humanity. Even as vampire it’s dominant unless we kill. The act of killing wakens the Second One.”



“You make it sound as though the Second One is a separate entity.” Trying to keep from staring at him became harder with every passing moment.



“It is. The Second One is an elemental consciousness passed on in the blood my maker used to create me. It lies dormant until it senses a kill. It doesn’t care about conscience or human emotions. Its primal drive is to destroy.”



“After what I saw today, I don’t think you need any help in the killing department.” Fear coated Cassie’s thoughts, making it tough for her to concentrate. He’s turning into this thing. I’m alone with him, alone with him, alone with—She shook her head to clear it.



“What I did today is my particular vampire talent, not attached to the Second One. I have control of when and how I use it.”



“Meaning you don’t have control of the Second One.” She stared down at her hands. Blood. Her hands were covered with dried blood. So were the rest of her clothes, even her shoes. How had she not noticed before this? His voice dragged her back.



“I can’t stop the change. It’s not that it makes me lose control, it’s . . .” For the first time he seemed lost for words.



“Yes?” No matter what he said, it wouldn’t matter, because Cassie had reached her limit for shocking disclosures. Her mind was beginning to shut down, refusing to react emotionally, trying to protect itself. A little too late.



“Scientists are finding out more things about the brain every day.”



She blinked. What the hell did that have to do with anything?



“Some believe that beauty stimulates primal brain circuits. It’s not a response anyone can control any more than they can control their reaction to cocaine.” He shrugged. “And if the beauty is extreme, it acts as an overdose and—”



“People die.” She remembered the feeling of her heart slowing, faltering, almost stopping. “I can’t believe it.” But she did.



“The beauty of the Second One’s face attracts its victims, its eyes hold them captive while it kills.” He turned to face the fireplace, his back straight, tension radiating from him. “In two hours you won’t be able to look at me. If you try, the Second One will kill you. I’ll be Medusa in reverse.”



She swallowed her fear as she stood. “Then I won’t look at you.” Even though I want to so badly it hurts. “I . . . I have to take a shower, change clothes.” She raked her fingers through her tangled hair. She couldn’t think. Clothes. She didn’t have any, and she couldn’t see herself returning to Felicity’s condo anytime soon.



“The bathroom is down the hall to the right. There’s a lock on the door.”



Left unsaid was that a lock probably wouldn’t stop a determined vampire. But Cassie was too desperate to shed her bloody clothes, to scrub the blood from her body to care. “Clothes?”



“The closet across from the bathroom. Zareb . . . entertains a lot. You should find something to fit you.”



Cassie nodded even though he still faced the fireplace. She grabbed her purse and scurried down the hallway. From the closet she grabbed a top, pants, and a pair of shoes that looked as though they’d fit, then locked herself in the bathroom.



A little of her tension eased away as the hot water sluiced over her body. Cassie scrubbed until her skin felt raw, until not a speck of blood remained. And she thought about Ethan.



What she’d felt when she looked at him, the yearning, wasn’t the same as what she’d felt for Zareb. Yes, she understood that in both cases she was reacting to the Second One in them, but still, it had felt different with Ethan—more personal, more . . . something.



Once out of the shower, she used the dryer lying on the counter for her hair and then pulled her makeup bag from her purse. The makeup, the hair, they were important. They gave her confidence, and confidence along with a few weapons would be all she’d have tonight. And Ethan. A vampire. Funny, just when she’d thought she had life figured out, it had given her a swift kick in the behind.



Cassie was still thinking about her reaction to Ethan as she dressed in her borrowed clothes and then returned to the living room. Head down, lost in thought, she had almost reached the couch before the complete silence hit her—no greeting from Ethan, no hisses from the cat, not even the crackling of the fire. She looked up.



Vampires, lots of them, stood in the shadows at the edges of the room. Motionless, silent, they watched her from gleaming eyes, hungry eyes. Except for one. He wore sunglasses and had a hoodie that hid most of his face. Which was scarier, what she could or couldn’t see? Her breath caught in her throat.



Zareb broke the silence. “Ethan told me what happened to both of you.” He pointed to a bag he’d set on the coffee table. “I stopped at McDonald’s. Ethan already ate.” He didn’t offer to explain.



A vampire stopping at McDonald’s. That should make her laugh, but all Cassie could do was shudder at the thought of all those silent killers listening as the water ran—imagining, hungering.



“My children and I will be paying a visit to Eternal Rest as soon as Ethan’s change is complete.” The predator lived in Zareb’s voice, his gaze. “You’ll stay here with the cat.”



Cassie opened her mouth and said what was probably the most stupid thing she’d ever uttered.



“No.”



Chapter Five



“Did she just defy you, Zareb?” Darren’s voice was quietly mocking.



Ethan frowned. Darren wasn’t one of his favorite vampire brothers. He’d killed too often with too much enjoyment, and now the Second One was close to claiming him permanently. It made him eager for violence wherever he could find it. At least he’d had the sense to wear his sunglasses and hoodie.



“Can you allow that to go unpunished?” Darren injected a fake note of concern into his voice.



Ethan ground his teeth. He’d gladly separate Darren’s useless head from his shoulders. The jerk wanted to see Zareb hurt Cassie. He lived for causing pain.



One glance at Cassie assured Ethan that she recognized the danger too. He crouched. When had his mind made the decision to defend her against his maker?



Zareb didn’t even glance at Darren. “Your need to see blood flow is much too obvious. Do you really think you can manipulate me, Darren?”