Chapter 19
At the sound of my voice, Ted jerked his head up and seemed to realize that Ralph was either aiming at him or at the wounded vampires he was tending. He gathered the men together as tight as he could and covered their bodies with his own in a defensive posture.
Thankfully, Ralph was no longer focusing on Ted, but instead was back to sneering at me. The way the man’s head kept turning from one of us to the other made it seem as if we were playing a to-the-death version of Ping-Pong. Not nearly as safe, but endlessly more entertaining.
“So the dog finally speaks,” he said to me, staying consistent with the line of insults he’d started the moment we met. Well, he meant them to be insulting, but, honestly, I liked dogs. They were smart, loyal, and brave, and, frankly, I could do much worse than to be compared to those particular animals.
“Let’s see how well Miguel trained his little pet.” Ralph stepped toward me, and because we were standing on the mattress, we both jiggled a tad. “Sit,” he said, pointing at his feet.
I didn’t move. Well, I didn’t move into a sitting position. I did move, though, because he was walking, which caused the mattress to bounce all over.
“No? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like the illustrious Miguel Rodriguez isn’t a very good pet owner. Okay, how about this one?” He took another step toward me and almost lost his balance so he had to throw his arms out to his sides. “Beg,” he said.
His steps were harder now. I flattened my palm on the wall so I wouldn’t fall over.
“Can’t get that one right either?” He shook his head disapprovingly. “Looks like I won’t be able to keep you, pet. Nobody wants a dog who can’t follow basic commands. I’ll give you one last chance.” He squinted and curled his lips just enough for his fangs to point out, then he lifted his hand in the air and showed me his claws. “Die.”
Having already felt those particular sharp points digging into my flesh during our first meeting, I wasn’t keen to repeat the experience, so I ducked and jumped under his flailing arm.
He did a slow turn and patted his knee. “Here, puppy, puppy, puppy. Here, puppy.”
I didn’t know whether he was aiming for insane or terrifying, but either way his goal was thwarted because I jumped out of reach, which made the springs contract and release in short order and took his feet out from under him.
“Argh!” he shouted in frustration and tried to rise up on his feet.
I say “tried” because I kept running in circles, so the mattress kept bouncing and he couldn’t stay steady enough to hold his balance. Eventually, he put his hands on the mattress and pushed himself up onto all fours before slowly straightening his legs and then standing up. I hadn’t forgotten that I was dealing with a bloodthirsty vampire, but, truly, in that moment, he more closely resembled an uncoordinated toddler.
While Ralph and I had been doing our little dance of imminent death, or humiliating sprawl, depending on your perspective, Ted seemed to have taken advantage of the distraction and dragged Anthony out the door and then returned to do the same with Pedro. There was no way for me to escape from the room short of shoving them out of the way, which I wouldn’t do, even if I’d been strong enough.
I plastered myself to the wall and tried to inch away from the angry vampire stalking me. He threw his head back and cackled, which, let’s face it, was pretty ridiculous. I mean, the man was a vampire, not a witch in a children’s tale. Anyway, he cackled and raised his clawed hand in the air, ready to eviscerate me, when his gaze zeroed in on my neck.
He froze.
“Are those…” He squinted and stepped closer. “They are,” he said. “Those are teeth marks.” He snapped his head up and looked at me in surprise. “He’s been feeding from you.”
“What?” Ted was halfway out the door, but he stopped and looked back at us when he heard Ralph’s accusation.
Ralph darted his gaze all over my body and furrowed his brow. “I thought we couldn’t do that. You’re a shifter.” He tipped his head forward and sniffed a few times. “Yeah, I can smell it. You’re carrying Miguel’s scent, but there’s that rotten shifter scent there too. So how is it that he can feed from you?”
Like the other questions the vampire had thrown my way, I didn’t reckon that one required a response. Besides, I didn’t have one, or at least not one he’d have been able to understand. I somehow doubted we had enough time before the imminently scheduled killing to discuss true mates and the fact that I wasn’t so much carrying Miguel’s scent as it was now braided with mine.
“It’s all a lie, isn’t it?” he said excitedly, sounding like he’d solved some great mystery. “I bet shifters aren’t poisonous at all. He made it all up to keep the rest of us on human blood so he could have the shifter blood to himself, didn’t he?”
Honestly, there was a tree stump in a Louisiana swamp with a higher IQ.
“Why would Miguel do that, Ralph?” Ted snapped. “Listen to yourself! You’re not making any sense.”
Ted was right. Ralph wasn’t making sense. I mean, sure Miguel had told me he’d felt stronger, warmer, better after drinking from me, but that was because we were true mates. I knew it. And, besides, I’d heard many a tale of pack members who’d been in fights with vampires and gotten out alive only because the vampires ingested their blood and died. The idea that one lone vampire could perpetuate a lie that big and get away with it only made sense in Ralph’s miniature world of logic.
Unfortunately for Ralph, and fortunately for me, Ted’s accusation seemed to inflame Ralph further rather than calm him down.
“Oh yeah?” he said. “I’ll prove it to you.” He jumped forward and pinned me to the wall. I tried to wiggle free, but he shoved his knee into my groin and clasped my hands in his. “Quit moving!” he shouted as he tried to wedge my head back and get at my throat.
“What are you doing?” Ted asked. “Are you… You’re not going to feed from him, are you?” Ralph couldn’t answer because he was too busy wrestling with me. “You know what?” Ted finally said in frustration. “Go ahead.” He let go of Pedro’s still unconscious body, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared at us.
I was surprised enough by that permission to snap my focus to Ted, which moved my attention away from Ralph for just a second. That was all he needed to strike. He rushed forward and clamped his jaw on my neck, breaking the skin with his fangs and releasing a current of blood into his mouth.
That felt nothing like Miguel’s bite. It made my skin crawl and it hurt like all get-out. I was ready to kick and claw my way out of that mess, but then Ralph pulled his head back and looked at me wide-eyed before he started convulsing madly. He collapsed to the floor within seconds, shaking and wetting himself, and then he let out a final, pained wail and went limp.
I pressed my hand up against my bleeding neck and applied pressure, trying to speed up my already fast clotting process. A few seconds ticked by and Ralph didn’t move so much as an inch, so I reached my foot out and poked his body. He didn’t budge, just lay there in his own filth. Well, his own and that of the other two vampires who’d bled all over the floor. Dirt on the mattress or no, I wasn’t sleeping in that room ever again.
“Well, there you have it,” Ted said. I tore my gaze over to him. “Seems he proved a point after all.” He shook his head. “Some people really are too stupid to live.”
We stood in silence for a few minutes, both of us looking at Ralph’s body. Then Ted sighed, heaved Pedro back into his arms, and continued dragging him out of the room, and I moved my hand from my no-longer-bleeding neck.
“Need some help?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he grunted. “That’d be great. He’s heavy as hell, and after carrying Anthony out of here, I’m worn out.”
Ted had his arms curled under Pedro’s armpits and he was supporting Pedro’s back on his chest. I stepped between the vampire’s legs, squatted down, and put his knees over my elbows before standing back up.
“You got him?” Ted asked.
I nodded and we slowly made our way out of the room.
“Where are we taking him?” I asked.
“Uh, so far my plan was just to get as far away as possible from Miguel’s sleeping quarters so he doesn’t finish what he started with these two when he comes back.”
I growled deep in my chest and bared my teeth at the vampire. “Miguel didn’t start nothing!” I barked. “He was defending himself.”
Ted jerked his head up and looked taken aback by my reaction. Fair enough. I supposed I hadn’t been all that angry about Ralph’s shenanigans, but then again, he hadn’t been insulting my mate. To his credit, though, Ted recovered quickly. “I’m sorry,” he said. “That was a poor choice of words. I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that they attacked him and got away. That’s not the kind of thing Miguel is going to let pass easily, and finding them in his space is just going to make it worse.”
I grunted as an acceptance of his apology, and we kept walking until we reached the stairs. Anthony was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall next to the staircase and dragging what looked to be painful breaths into his lungs. We propped Pedro up next to him.
“Are they going to be okay?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Ted said. “I did the best I could for them, but I’m not a healer.”
“Well, then it’s a good thing I’m here,” a female voice said from the top of the staircase.
Ted and I both jerked our heads up. “Katherine?” he said. “Is that you?”
“Get out of my way, Katie, or you’re going to need a healer yourself.” Oh, Lord, Miguel. The sound of my mate’s voice made my knees go weak. His rapid footsteps sounded on the stairs. “Ethan!” he shouted. “Ethan!”
“I’m here.” My voice cracked, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “I’m here!”
Moments later I was swept into strong arms and cradled against a broad chest. I clung to Miguel’s shirt and buried my face against his shoulder. He cupped the back of my head with one big hand and palmed my lower back with the other.
“Where’s Ralph?” he asked as he darted his gaze around the room.
“Dead,” I told him.
He sighed in relief and some of the tension left his body. “Good,” he said. “He didn’t hurt you, did he? Tell me you’re okay.”
“Miguel,” Ted said as he stepped toward us. “Nothing—”
“Don’t!” Miguel growled and turned around, shielding me from the other vampire’s view. It didn’t make much sense because Ted and I had been alone together just moments prior, but I wasn’t going to argue. I was much too busy climbing my mate like a tree. “You’re lucky to be breathing after bringing that fucking waste of air into our lives,” Miguel said to Ted. I wrapped my legs around his waist, which seemed to distract him because he stopped yelling and moved his hand down to cup my backside.
“Ted,” the female said, garnering my attention just long enough for me to identify her by scent as a vampire. “Be grateful that little wolf is here, because he’s the only reason Miguel hasn’t taken your head off. Your friends here don’t seem to have been as lucky, so get over here and help me try to save them.”
Figuring they had the situation under control and we were out of danger, I nuzzled and licked at Miguel’s neck. “So glad you’re here,” I said, my voice shaky.
“Shhh. It’s all okay now.” Miguel peppered kisses along my jawline and over to my ear. “You didn’t have to worry. I promised I wouldn’t leave you, and a certain someone taught me that it was very important to keep my word.”
I laughed around the tears now welling up in my eyes. “I know.” I sniffled. “I knew you’d be back. I did. Ralph said…” I gulped. “Well, he said he’d killed you, but I wasn’t worried none because I knew it weren’t true.”
Miguel tangled his fingers in my hair and tugged just enough to make me raise my face and look into his eyes. His hair was a bit matted, some blood streaked his cheek, dirt was smeared across his forehead, and he looked even more beautiful than I remembered.
“You knew it wasn’t true, did you?” He grinned at me. “And just how did you know that?”
“Because I’d have felt it if you’d passed.” I met his gaze. “We’re connected at the soul, remember?”
He swallowed loudly. “I do,” he said. “Now, do you care to tell me why I walked in here and found you naked with another man?” He raised one eyebrow and looked at me expectantly.
“Oh, for crying out loud!” I said in amusement. “Don’t you choose this here moment to start getting jealous, now. I didn’t have time to get my clothes on because I was running for my life on your unusually bouncy mattress.” Seriously. Where had he gotten that thing?
Miguel’s expression darkened right quick and he furrowed his brow. “Running for your life?” He held me tighter and slowly panned around to look at Ted. “Who exactly was threatening your life?”
Ted must have heard our conversation because, though he’d been helping the female vampire, Katherine, tend to Pedro, his hands quickly flew in the air in a defensive posture and his face flushed.
“Ralph,” I said quickly, not wanting Miguel to confuse my new sort-of-friend as my attacker. “It was just Ralph.”
I heard a rumbling deep in his chest and his nostrils flared. “And he’s dead?” he asked.
“Yes,” I assured him.
“Where’s his body?”
“Uh.” I gulped. “It’s by our bed.”
Miguel marched straight back to our room. I dropped my forehead down onto his wide shoulder and squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see the destruction again. Even without my vision, I knew the second we stepped into that room. The stench of urine and blood was overpowering.
A grunt of approval from Miguel told me he’d seen Ralph’s body. “Who killed him?” he asked. Suddenly, Miguel pushed my head back and started sniffing at my neck. I reckoned he’d finally calmed down enough about my well-being to start registering more details about his surroundings. He was not going to be happy about the destruction of his extra-bouncy mattress. “He bit you!” he roared.
His body jerked and then I heard a loud thump. It took me a moment to realize Miguel had kicked Ralph’s body across the room.
“I’m okay,” I said soothingly. “He didn’t hurt me none.”
“He bit you,” Miguel said again, sounding pained, and then he started sniffing at the spot on my neck where Ralph had violated me with his fangs.
“Yes, he did,” I admitted. “But, hey, I had the last laugh, right?” I chuckled uncomfortably. “I mean, it was his last bite. Ever.” Even as I said it, I felt sick at the realization. I’d killed a man.
“Ethan?” Miguel said. “You’re trembling. Why are you trembling?”
“I…I killed him. I didn’t mean to do it and he was trying to hurt me, but still. I killed him.”
“Oh, baby.” Miguel sighed. “Let me get our things and get you out of here. I think we could both use a bath.”
I tightened my legs around his waist and fisted his shirt in both hands. “Don’t you let me go,” I begged. “Please.”
Thankfully, he gave heed to my words. He walked around the room, gathering our belongings and stuffing them into both our bags with one hand while he continued to hang onto me with the other. Because neither of us had much, it didn’t take long before Miguel draped a long shirt over my nude body and we left the room.
Ted and Katherine were still next to the stairs, caring for Pedro and Anthony, both of whom were now awake and looking like they might survive. They cringed and whimpered when they caught sight of Miguel approaching them.
“He won’t hurt you,” Katherine said. “Relax.”
“I already hurt them,” Miguel reminded the vampires. “And I might do it again. More thoroughly. Like I did to their dead friends. I haven’t decided.”
Katherine glared up at my mate. “Miguel!” she shouted. “Don’t tease them. They’re in no condition for your humor.”
Miguel flashed his fangs at her. “I’m not teasing, Katie, and I could give a fuck about their condition. They tried to keep me away from my mate!”
I gasped. It was the first time he’d acknowledged the nature of our connection out loud, and the joy it brought nearly took my breath away. It also made my pecker stand up and take notice, which was a miracle considering the current situation.
“Miguel,” I whispered. “Can we have that bath now?”
“Sure we can, baby,” he said tenderly. “Ted,” he snapped.
“Yes.” Ted’s anxiety was apparent from just that word.
“You brought the trash in here and you’ll see to it that it’s cleared out of my room, won’t you?”
“I will,” Ted answered, and then he sighed in relief at what I reckoned was Miguel’s display of forgiveness for his part in that day’s fiasco. “Thank you.”