Athan

This wasn’t a joke. No games. No playtime. The unemotional, hard-ass Athan I’d been before I ever met Ten was back.

Para sat tied to a chair in front of me, blood dripping in crimson rivulets down her chin.

I rolled one of her fangs in my fingers as she spat and sniveled from pain. Para and I were about the same age, and we’d known each other for a long time. She’d always tripped the alarm bells in my brain, but I’d never imagined she’d betray our clan.

“Let’s try this again,” I said, taking a step toward her. She flinched, but I didn’t plan to rip out any more teeth…yet. “I want to know what you were doing in that warehouse. I smelled your perfume plus two other Gregorie vampires. Who were they?”

She coughed and finally gave me a truthful answer. “Bee and Gus.”

I held out my hands and grinned, all teeth. “There! See? I’m smiling now. I like answers.”

She glared at me mutely as I crouched so that my head was level with hers. “But we’re not done yet. Because I smelled something else, too. You know what I smelled?”

She shook her head, dark hair matted with blood.

“I smelled Quellen. So I’d like to know how I smelled you and Quellen in the same place.”

“Why do you care if I was there? I’m allowed. There are no laws that say I can’t go into Mission.”

I laughed softly. “Right. But that warehouse was special. I know you know why it was special.”

She glared. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You have one fang left. You can still feed if it’s there. I pull it out, and you’re fucked. Want to change your answer?”

“Fuck you.”

“Para—”

“I was at Bite.” She spoke the words like I’d personally ripped each one out of her throat. “As soon as your little human said Sanguivita, the word spread.”

I knew it. Fuck, that had been a mess. “What happened in that warehouse, Para?”

She rolled her shoulders to test the strength of the rope around her wrists, and huffed in frustration when she couldn’t get free. “The Quellen got her, what do you think happened?”

I tried to stay calm, even as rage boiled my blood. I had to believe…I had to believe she made it out into the sun alive. “Why should I believe you?”

She turned away from me.

“You’re lying. I know it, so just tell the truth.”

“She got free,” she spat. “I don’t know how, but she did.”

I knew it. The rage was still there, though, simmering. “You have no idea what you’ve done—”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” She curled her lip. “You’re delusional if you think everyone is just going to fall in line. That we all give a shit about humans. That some of us don’t sympathize with the Valarians.”

Her betrayal gutted me. I leaned in and spoke through gritted teeth. “What did they offer you that would make you betray your own clan?”

Her chest rose and fell rapidly, and her nostrils flared. I reached out to her face, running my thumb along her lip, feeling the bump of her fang under the skin. Her bloodshot eyes watched me, and she trembled beneath my palm. Her lips moved, and then she surged forward, nearly falling out of the chair. “You think you’re so moral, but you’re just pathetic. All our lives, you’ve been perfect, dutiful Athan.” She sneered the last three words and I had to clench my fists to stop myself from lashing out. “You have no idea what’s really going on. Your father pulls your strings, and you hop.” She threw back her head and laughed, the sound chilling me. “I saw an opportunity to benefit financially and I took it. But you never will, right? Because you follow all the rules. Well, go on and deliver your precious Sanguivita. But when the Valarian defeat you, and they drain her dry along with every other human, don’t say Para didn’t warn you.”

With every word she spoke, a weight of dread settled on my shoulders until I swore I couldn’t breathe. I held my knife to her throat, pressing in until a bead of red blood dripped down the blade. “You’re a piece of shit.”

“Oh, fuck you, Athan,” she said, leaning into the blade until it dug deeper into her skin. “You can flay my skin from my bones, but I’m done talking to you. Go find your Sanguivita, dress her up real nice for your brother to spend the rest of his life sucking and fucking.”

I didn’t hesitate. I drew my knife across her throat, until a river of blood ran down her neck and chest, until her mocking eyes lost their light, and her sneering lips froze in place.

When I stood up and gazed down at her lifeless body, I didn’t feel regret. She was rotten to the core, willing to sell out our clan and the human race for money. I wiped the blade on her shoulder and slid it back into its case.

My hands were shaking, my mind racing, and I paced back and forth in the empty apartment a couple of times to get control. What was wrong with following my duty? For once in my life, doubt began to seep into the foundation on which I’d built my life. All over some sneered words from a traitor.

This was ridiculous. Of course my father made the orders. He was king. Fuck Para for making me doubt everything I knew.

Her greed had threatened the human species, the Gregorie clan, my family, and Tendra.

There was no mercy for that.

I turned away, the rank smell of vampire blood making my lips curl. I placed a call to Zeb, who arrived quickly, since he was in the area. He stopped dead in the doorway, his eyes widening as he took in the carnage behind me. I placed my hands on my hips as his eyes slowly rose to mine. “Whoa,” he said.

“She made me angry.”

He blinked at me, then snorted. “Understatement.” He glanced around. “Wait, where’s Ten?”

Her absence was a constant gnaw in my gut. I was hungry, but I was also pretty sure I’d vomit up anything I tried to ingest right now. I needed Ten back. “I went street-side to get supplies. I thought she’d be fine, but Para”—I gestured behind me—“sold her out.”

Zeb’s mouth opened, but I cut him off. “Well, she tried to. Evidence showed she escaped, and Para confirmed it. Tendra knows where to meet me at dusk if we got separated, so all I can hope is she’s basking in the sun and will be at our meeting spot.” Fuck, I felt sick.

Zeb’s face fell. “Shit, A.”

I rolled my lips between my teeth. “I shouldn’t have left her. But I never thought my own clan would do this.”

“How’d Para know who she was?”

I told him about the incident at the club. “As much as I tried to squash it, you know how word spreads.”

“All vampires are gossips,” he muttered as he brushed past me. He grabbed Para’s body and slung it over his shoulder. “Let’s go barbecue her.”

I followed Zeb as we made our way street-side. The good thing about vampire bodies was that cleanup was a breeze. Toss them outside, and they burned into ash.

There were a couple of places in the city that weren’t easily accessible to humans, which was where we tossed Para’s body.

As the last flame from her body fluttered out, a breeze came and blew away the pile of ash.

Done. I didn’t even feel remorse, not really. There was nothing good about vampires who were willing to sell out their clan for money. I turned to Zeb. “She was working with Gus and Bee.”

Zeb nodded solemnly. “I’ll deal with them.”

“I’m worried, man. Some of the things she said…she acted like war with the Valarians was a foregone conclusion. And that they’d win.”

Zeb closed the port behind us as we descended back underground. “She didn’t give more details?”

“She was angry, spitting mad. When she wouldn’t talk anymore and threatened Tendra, I ended it.”

“I’ll have a chat with Gus and Bee.”

Zeb’s chat would be anything but pleasant. I glanced at my watch. “I have to meet Ten in an hour or I’d come with you.”

“Leave it up to me. If they say anything, I’ll call you.”

I rubbed my forehead. “Right.” Para’s words wouldn’t stop swirling around my brain like a tornado. Something was underfoot, and I didn’t have time to figure it all out. My duty was keeping Tendra alive. Which apparently I was failing at.

Zeb clapped me on the shoulder, startling me. “Come grab a drink with me. There’s a blood bar close by. You look a little pale.”

I wasn’t feeling all that well, and I wasn’t sure when I’d get to eat again, so he had a point. “Sure.”

The blood bar was owned by a female vampire named Quinn. She smiled as she placed pints of warmed blood in front of us. “Anything else?”

I shook my head while Zeb grinned at her. “Nah, we’re all good, sweetheart.”

I rolled my eyes as she walked away, hips swaying. “Do you flirt with everyone?”

“Do you flirt with anyone?” he shot back.

Sure, Ten. And it was wrong.

Instead of saying that, I gulped half of my drink. It tasted delicious, but didn’t settle well in my upset stomach. Fuck, I needed her back. “What if she’s not there, Zeb?” I said quietly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him set the glass down gently. “She’ll be there.”

“But what if she’s not? I believe she’s alive, but what if…she decides not to do this? What if she takes off, gets a new identity, decides being a blood bank for a vampire isn’t what she wants out of her life?”

“She won’t,” he insisted.

I looked up at him, an odd feeling licking up my spine. “This feels like treason, but part of me hopes she’s not there.”

Zeb’s eyebrows dipped. “Why?”

I licked my lips. “Because she’ll probably be happier. As much as I love my brother, I’m not sure how he’ll treat her. I’m sure it’ll be more like a blood source than a partner. I worry she’ll be miserable, all shut up in a room and only trotted out when her blood is needed.” I slammed a hand down on the table. “Fuck. Because we need her. And I’m not sure how anyone will understand what she’s sacrificing.”

“You will,” Zeb said. “You’ll understand, and you’ll be there for her, even if Idris isn’t. You’ll be her friend.”

“Friend.” That word felt like a stab in the heart. “Yeah.”

He drained his glass, then sighed as he placed it on the bar. “She’ll be there. And you’ll be happy she’s there, and you’ll both do your duty you were born to do. Got it?”

I upended my glass and licked the rim when it was empty. I had to get my shit together, because once we made it outside these walls, the real test began. I cracked my neck. “Got it.”

He smiled a bloody smile.

I stayed hidden in a nearby abandoned building. The good thing about Mission for vampires was that the city was full of places to hide. Still, I crouched, my jacket brushing the floor, while I peered through strands of my hair at the base of the Mission Clock.

The sun was setting, the last of the golden light disappearing over the horizon. I kept my eyes on the commuters who were hurrying home. No one volunteered to walk around Mission after dark if they could help it. At least no one good.

Ten minutes passed. The sun was gone now, only a dim illumination proved it’d ever been around.

This was dusk. Well, a little past dusk. Ten would either be here or she wouldn’t. I’d thought a lot about what I’d do if she didn’t show. And I’d decided I’d tear apart the city looking for her, mainly because I needed to know she was alive. And if she chose to leave once I found her…I’d have to make another decision then. But she had to tell me to my face.

Five more minutes passed, the darkness descending over the city like a black cloak. My eyes adjusted, and I continued to wait. Anxious sweat beaded on my forehead and dripped down my hair into my eyes. I blinked it away, and wiped my forearm across my face.

When I focused back on the base of the clock, I saw a slight movement.

I crept forward, closer to the grimy window. There, a petite figure. Hood up. Duffel slung over her shoulder I looked for her blond hair, and only saw short, dark strands sticking out from under the hood.

Fuck. Not her.

Then the face tilted up, just a little into the dim light put off by the clock, and my heart seized in my chest. It was her. That determined mouth, that slim nose. Those eyes.

I dashed out the door and raced toward her. She didn’t make a sound when I grabbed her and threw her over my shoulder, then raced back to the warehouse. Her warm weight coated my shoulder, and her harsh pants echoed in my ears. Jesus Christ, she was alive. She’d come. I opened the port, leaped inside, and closed it behind us.

I placed her on the ground, and she stared up at me with wide eyes as I gripped her face. A cocktail of pleasure and pain swirled in my chest as I stared at her lips, the ones I’d dreamed of kissing for days. I reached up and pushed back her hood. She’d dyed her hair black and chopped it off. Her beautiful light hair was gone, and I actually mourned it a little. I rubbed the dark strands between my fingers.

“Athan,” she choked out.

I closed my eyes and dropped my forehead to hers. “Tendra.”

Her fingers tangled in my hair, nails digging into my scalp. Something soft brushed my lips, a whisper of a touch, and I thought I imagined it. Then lips pressed against mine. My eyes flew open, and there was Tendra, kissing me while tears slid down her cheeks.

I told myself to pull away, but I couldn’t. Not with the way she was pressing her little body into me, not with the way her warm breath was mixing with mine. I opened my mouth, our tongues met, and the kiss went from zero to sixty. I clutched her face, needing her, inhaling her, as she held on and gave back as good as she got. I might have mumbled into her mouth that I missed her, that I was sorry, that I’d never let her out of my sight again.

And she might have mumbled back that she missed me, too, that I’d better never leave her again.

Then she made a small squeak, like a cry, and a flavor hit my tongue.

Iron.

I reared back, crashing into the wall behind me, clutching my mouth as my fangs ached and my stomach clenched, that single drop of blood from her lips sending fire through my veins. I shook my head as I stared at Ten, whose hand was clapped over her mouth.

“Tell me,” I said. “Tell me that didn’t happen.”

She drew her hand away, and we both stared at her forefinger, which held a tiny smear of blood. I lifted my gaze to her face to see a small drop of blood on her upper lip.

“What…” Her voice shook. “What does this mean?”

“Nothing,” I said firmly, but my voice wasn’t right, because my body, everything inside me that made me not human and all vampire, was raging to slice into her neck and keep taking and taking.

“Why is your voice—?”

“Tendra!” I barked the garbled word. “Just…give me a minute.” I closed my eyes, calling on all my training, all my willpower. I had to calm down. One drop meant nothing. Nothing. I hadn’t fed from her. And her blood wouldn’t affect me anyway. She was still a blood virgin. She was still Sanguivita. And I was her blood guard. Not the future king.

I thought of Idris. My father. I mentally took a tour of the Gregorie compound, all of it combining to remind me why I was fighting my feelings for Tendra so hard.

She wasn’t meant for me. She’d never be for me.

When I opened my eyes, Tendra had wrapped her arms around herself. She’d wiped away the blood from her lip, and although I could still smell it, I was thankful I didn’t have to see it.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I must have nicked you with my fangs. I— That shouldn’t have happened.”

Her eyes were huge in her pale face. “What shouldn’t have happened?”

“The kiss. That was out of line.”

“Right.” Her voice was hollow.

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry,” she echoed.

I didn’t know how to make this better, how to tell her she’d done nothing wrong. “This was my fault.”

She closed her eyes. “Please stop talking, Athan.”

I clamped my mouth shut.

She blew out a breath. “Can we go now?”

“Do you need to sleep, or—”

“No, I want to go. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can forget what it feels like to have a Quellen fist my hair.”

The rage was swift. “Ten—”

“I’ll tell you later. For now, I had a nap, and I hope you have a plan to get us the hell out of this city.”

I nodded. “I do.”

She shouldered her bag. “Great, then let’s go.” She trotted down the stairs, and I had no choice but to follow her.