Chapter 6
I’d spent the entirety of my life in Miancarem, so you’d have thought finding one vampire in the neighboring town wouldn’t have caused me grief. Well, you’d have been wrong.
Miancarem proper was all tree-filled hills and mountains, and I knew every square inch with my eyes closed. Kfarkattan, the closest town, the one where Miguel lived, was a two-hour walk away. It wasn’t big enough to call a city and I’d been there several times with my folks, so I should have had my bearings. But the thing was, we only ever went into town to buy supplies, and even then we barely chatted to the half-souls, never interacted with them other than to exchange money for goods. So I had no connections, no idea where anything was save for a couple of shops. Well, a couple of shops and the bar where we’d found Miguel and his coven that first night, but I’d already sought him out there and had come up empty-handed.
By the time the night was drawing to a close, I’d looked all over hell and half of Georgia and hadn’t found my vampire. Heck, I hadn’t caught whiff of any vampire. Not knowing where else to search or what else to do, I was fixin’ to call a close to my hunt for the night. I figured I’d hole up somewhere, get some rest, and then try again when the sun went down.
But then I heard a sound. Come to think of it, “heard” might not be the correct description, because it was so faint, it was more a feeling than a sound, really. Whatever it was, I heard it, felt it—a steady drumming, a comforting beat—and I followed it without thought.
Down a curving cobblestone street, past darkened buildings, through an alley, and then I was in a particularly run-down part of town, in a musky corner, staring up at a nearly windowless building. I’d seen these structures a time or two from afar and heard tell they were used by them half-souls for storing goods.
The thumping rhythm I’d followed was inside, but it was changing, getting faster, more desperate. I recognized the thought to be peculiar as soon as I had it—how could a noise be desperate? But it was.
I’d never been accused of bravery, and in that moment, I’d have given half of Texas if for once that wasn’t so, if just for once I could be someone different, someone stronger. But I couldn’t. I could only be me.
So as I approached the eerie building, I was shaking like a leaf, my heart beating so fast and strong, I swore it was fixin’ to pound itself right out of my chest. It was such a loud noise, in fact, that for a moment I thought it had drowned out the other sound, the other beat, but then I realized what I was hearing was a combination of the two thumping rhythms. They had joined together, and though everything seemed too fast, too panicked, there was also a hypnotic comfort in the duet.
I wound around the side of the building and found a door ajar.
“You have to stop, Miguel! Please, listen to me. Get ahold of yourself before it’s too late.”
I recognized the voice right away. It was that vampire, Ted. The one who had helped take the humans home. The one who had wanted to kill me. I pressed my back to the wall and tiptoed toward the voice.
“It’s already too late, Ted! He’s consumed with bloodlust, feral. Did you see the number of humans he drank tonight? I’ve never seen anything like it. Not in four decades walking the earth. Nobody needs that much blood. Nobody. And he wouldn’t stop. You saw it yourself.”
That voice was familiar too. It was Ralph, the vampire who done pinned me to the wall that first night. The one who’d been fixin’ to kill me. Huh. Seemed like a universal characteristic among them vampires. Well, all but one vampire, anyhow. Ralph was still talking.
“He wouldn’t stop. We have to put him down before he draws us any more attention. As it is, the humans are starting to notice the spike in fights and injuries, the loss of memory after a night out. It’s only a matter of time before they stop dismissing it as hangovers and illnesses. And then they’ll realize everything coincided with our arrival and they’ll be suspicious. We can’t let him take away our opportunity to populate the new city.”
I had no idea what he meant, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Because at that precise moment I heard a sound that tore me up from the inside out. It was a shriek, a growl, and a cry all mixed into one. And it was made by Miguel. My mate was hurt. I quickened my pace and came to the edge of a wide open space.
Half a dozen vampires were huddled together at one end of the room. They were looking at the crumbling brick wall in front of them. Or rather, they were looking at Miguel, who was attached to that wall.
Heavy metal chains were wrapped around both his wrists and ankles, along with his neck and belly. His gorgeous hair was damp and tangled, hanging in front of his face. His clothes were filthy and ragged. And he was yanking at the bindings, trying to break free, making noises that sounded more animal than man.
One of the vampires I didn’t recognize jumped into the conversation. “I hate to say it, but Ralph is right. Tonight isn’t the first time he’s lost control. We all know he’s always had a voracious appetite, but it’s gotten worse since we came to this town. And the past few days…” He shook his head and shuddered, letting the thought trail off. “Miguel needs to be stopped. We have no choice. He has to be put down.”
“Fine, he needs to stop,” Ted agreed. “But killing him isn’t the way. Besides, how do you propose to do it? He’s stronger than any of us, stronger than anyone I’ve met. Miguel Rodriguez isn’t easy to kill. You might have been able to combine forces and catch him off guard while he was feeding, but make no mistake, you will not be able to get close enough to take off his head or stab his heart. Not without putting yourself in grave danger.”
Miguel was screaming, his chains clanging, as the vampires argued with each other.
“There has to be a way,” Ralph insisted.
I twisted around the corner, and Miguel froze, tilting his nose up and darting his face all about. The sudden quiet seemed to perplex the other bloodsuckers. They stilled and stared at their captive. Fear poured off them, which was peculiar as all get out, considering they were free and he was restrained.
“What’s going on?” one of the vampires asked. “Why is he being quiet all of a sudden? Why did he stop moving?” They began talking all at once, trying to agree on a plan, urging each other forward to kill him. All except Ted, who looked more sad than scared. Or maybe it was regretful.
I was rooted in place, not sure what to do, not sure how to help. Then, just as fast as it had started, the silence was gone, replaced by what I could only describe as a roar. Miguel struggled against the chains, more riled up than he’d been prior, moving so fast it was difficult for me to track what he was doing.
The voices got louder as the vampires realized they were in a heap of trouble. Suddenly, Miguel got one arm free. They were eat up with fear by then, turning on each other, shoving whoever was near toward the threat while trying to back away.
But it was too late. After his first hand was free, Miguel kicked his foot loose and yanked the rest of the chains off like they were made of string. Then all hell broke loose.
Miguel stood in place, gasping for air, a few links still hanging off one ankle, as he glared through the strands of his hair. Surprisingly, he wasn’t staring at the vampires in front of him, the ones who had been planning his demise but were now screaming and tripping over themselves and each other trying to escape right quick. No. Somehow, even though I was shadowed in darkness and almost completely hidden by the wall, Miguel must have known I was there. Because the distance wasn’t stopping him from landing his piercing gaze straight on me.
Somebody with any sort of sense would have turned and run for the hills. I wasn’t that somebody. Instead of fleeing from danger, I stepped forward, leaving my makeshift hiding spot and revealing myself to a room full of vampires. I was as nervous as a rooster in a henhouse, but I hoped it didn’t show. Or at least not much.
“Blood,” Miguel growled.
“You see?” Ralph shouted. “Even now he wants to feed. It’s bloodlust like I to—”
“Look,” one of the other vampires said, interrupting him. He’d been watching Miguel, had followed my mate’s line of sight as he made his way toward me, so he was the first to realize I had entered the room. “Who is that?”
The vampires moved aside, giving Miguel a wide berth as he stalked me. The chain still attached to his ankle dragged on the ground, making a loud scraping sound. He huffed out loud breaths, his chest heaving. The other vampires whimpered and gasped, terrified he’d come after them.
They needn’t have worried. My mate had eyes only for me. But not in the way you’d think. Or at least not how I would’ve thought. Not that I’d ever had cause to consider how my mate would look at me, mostly because I’d never reckoned I’d have me one. Anyhow, if I would have imagined how a reunion between mates would go, it wouldn’t have been all ominous sounds, fearful cries, and glaring killers.
So, yeah, the situation was lacking in the romance department. Also, there was a real upsetting degree of homicidal overtones. But by now, it should be clear how I chose to deal with those problems—I put one foot in front of the other and walked toward my destiny. Whether I was slated for imminent death or a great love was anybody’s guess at that point. I reckoned either option was a real possibility. Didn’t matter none. I refused to run from my mate, come what may.
“That’s… Is that…?” Ralph squinted at me as he stammered. “It’s that shifter.” He turned his gaze to the other vampires. “That’s him, right? The one from the other night?”
“Blood,” Miguel growled again. “Your blood. I smell it. Why?”
He seemed to be doing better, if the length of his sentences was any indication. Not that he was writing sonnets or anything, but he’d moved past grunting.
“Shit!” Ted said. “Miguel scented his blood and now he’s going to feed from him.”
I heard several gasps.
“He can’t,” one of the vampires said.
“They’re poison,” another added. “Feeding from a shifter is a death sentence.”
Ted took a step toward us, though it seemed fruitless at that point because Miguel had near about reached me and everybody else was too far away to stop him. And from what I’d just overheard, distance wasn’t the only thing that would prevent Ted, or the other vampires, from getting in Miguel’s way. He was stronger than the rest—the strongest. I was right when I’d pegged him as Alpha.
“Ted, don’t get in his way,” Ralph said. “This is perfect.”
“Perfect?” Ted asked, his tone making clear he figured Ralph was more than a couple sandwiches short of a picnic.
“Yes. You asked how we could stop him. You said he was too strong for any of us to get close enough to deliver the deathblow. Well, we don’t have to do a thing. Miguel’s bloodlust is going to take care of the problem for us.”
“No.” Ted sounded stricken. “We can’t let him do that. It’s a horrible way to go.”
“There’s nothing we can do,” a vampire said.
“At least it’s fast,” another added.
After that, I tuned them out because Miguel was within arm’s reach. I had been walking toward him, but stopped, letting him take the final steps, bracing myself for whatever was to come. I heard shuffling, noticed movement in my peripheral vision as the vampires skedaddled toward an exit lickety-split, and then there was silence. Well, other than Miguel’s heavy breathing. And the dragging chain. And our pounding hearts. But other than that, silence.
My mate didn’t stop until he was inches from me. I looked up and met his gaze, felt his breath on my face. It was coming out too quickly. His forehead was creased and his eyebrows scrunched, as if he was in pain.
“Miguel?” I said as I reached a trembling hand out and rested it on his hard chest. “Are you all right?”
“I can smell your blood,” he said and wrapped his long fingers around my wrist, flipping my arm so the underside was showing. That was where I’d cut myself that morning, and though the wounds were healing well, certainly faster than they would if I wasn’t a shifter, the marks were still clear. But they were no longer bleeding, so he shouldn’t have been able to smell my blood.
“I’m fine,” I said, instinctively trying to keep my voice soothing. It was only after the words came out that I realized what I was doing. I wasn’t scared. Some part of me had already decided that Miguel didn’t pose a danger, that his question was based on concern for my well-being rather than the bloodlust the other vampires had mentioned.
He traced the fading scars on my arm with one finger and the brown in his eyes bled until it was all I could see. “Who hurt you?” he asked through clenched teeth, his fangs slipping over his lower lip. It should have terrified me, but instead I found it exciting, arousing. I wanted those fangs on my flesh, in my flesh.
“Is it true what they said?” I asked. “Is it true that you’ll be hurt or…or worse if you feed from me?”
I already knew the answer to the question. Shifter blood was deadly poisonous to vampires. That was a given. But something inside me balked at the idea, refusing to accept it. At least not when it came to this particular vampire.
As I stood in front of Miguel, I could feel my veins thickening, feel more and more blood flood my system. It was like my body was reacting to his presence. First, by sending blood south so I had a raging erection—a peculiar reaction, sure enough, but it felt good. And also by producing more blood in general—peculiar and painful. I’d need to release it soon, or my organs would ache and then start shutting down right quick.
“Who hurt you?” he repeated. His nose twitched, and he dipped down, running it against both of my arms, my neck, across my chest, until he was squatting before me, moving his face over my legs. “Here,” he said and looked up at me. His face was smack dab in front of my groin. “There’s blood here.” His hand was on my right thigh, where I’d wiped my knife. I dressed to the right, so his fingers were close to my swollen prick. I moaned. “Who hurt you?” he asked again, his voice louder, angrier. Then he reached down to his foot and yanked on the metal chains, snapping them like they were twigs.
“Nobody,” I panted, arousal flooding me. His presence was all it took to get me going. It was incredible and terrifying all at once.
He bowed up, jumped to his feet, and, in one swift motion, he clasped my wrist and lifted it so the marks were right in front of my face. “Don’t lie to me, Ethan. I smell your blood. These are new marks.” He was fit to be tied. “Who. Hurt. You?”
“I’m not lying, honest. I made those marks. I drew the blood.”
“Why?” Miguel sounded genuinely concerned, near about torn up. He wrapped one arm around my waist, drawing me close, and cupped my cheek with his free hand. “Why would you hurt yourself, wolf?” His voice was softer, gentler. Lord, I wanted him.
“I didn’t… I wasn’t…”
It was nigh on impossible to concentrate with my mate so close, with his hands on me. I wanted to feel his bare skin against mine, wanted to taste his lips, wanted to mate. So much. But before I could have any of those things, I needed to address his concerns. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm my frazzled nerves.
“I didn’t want to hurt myself, but I had to let the blood out. There was too much, and I couldn’t shift. I could barely breathe,” I said, my air coming out in short gasps once again. “Like now.”
“You’re having trouble breathing?”
He eased closer, as if he was trying to feel the breaths leaving my body, measure them. His mouth, so close to my neck, captured my entire focus. Vampires fed from the jugular. It wasn’t the only place, but it struck me as one of the most intimate. I trembled and whimpered with need.
My hand was in my pocket before I could think about what I was doing. I pulled out my pocketknife and took a step back, trying to make my fingers work enough to get the blade open.
“What are you doing?” Miguel asked. He covered my hands with his larger ones. I tried to shake him free. “Stop, wolf. Stop!”
I raised my gaze to meet his and wondered if it looked as frantic as I felt. It was too much. Everything inside me was too much. My heart was working so hard it felt as if I was being stabbed in the chest. My lungs had no room to expand. Even my stomach was cramping up.
I licked my lips and opened my mouth, but I couldn’t get my tongue to work. “Hurts,” I finally managed to gasp out.
It didn’t seem like enough of an explanation, but Miguel somehow understood. He kept his gaze locked on mine as he lifted my arms until my wrists were in front of his face, then he dipped forward and pressed his lips to my pulse point. “I can hear it,” he said. “It’s so loud.” Then he looked down at my skin and his gaze flicked back to mine, his eyes wide. “Your veins,” he gasped. “They’re huge. Are they always—”
My wail interrupted his sentence. My knees buckled and the pocketknife clattered against the floor. It was the end, I was sure, and though it was coming earlier than I had hoped, at least I’d get to die in my mate’s arms, for which I was thankful beyond measure. I rested against his hard body and closed my eyes.
“Ethan?”
I heard the concern in his voice, but there was nothing I could say to comfort him, nothing I could do. As the blackness enfolded me, I had only one thought: Mate.