CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Something was wrong.
Gabby felt it deep in her bones, a sinking feeling that had her eyes snapping open and her body out of bed before she could even try to make sense of it. Instinct was a part of her survival skill, and despite the fact that it often was a false alarm, there were also plenty of times when it helped her avoid situations that could cause her danger. She trusted that now as she donned on some clothes and tried to ignore the tingling feeling in her body that reminded her of what exactly happened between her and Jake earlier.
Or rather, how loudly she’d screamed.
The thought alone had Gabby’s cheeks turning hot as she slipped out of the bedroom and into the hallway, which was as quiet as a tomb. She tried not to dwell over the fact that she had the best orgasm of her life, as well as the certainty that the man who gave it to her was the one who made her blood sing and pound and would continue to do so for many years to come.
Mating was a headache in that aspect because you didn’t get to choose who your animal side wanted to be with—it just happened, and you had no choice but to go along with the flow or fight it tooth and nail every step of the way.
Now she just had to decide which one she wanted to do.
Because the hallway was empty, Gabby did her best to be extra quiet as she toured Raz’s mansion and tried not to be intimidated. The vampire’s wealth being this stupendous wasn’t something that fazed her, considering her family was just as filthy rich and thriving. But while her home’s halls and rooms were warm; Raz’s were full of coldness and uniformity, giving off an eerie feeling without meaning to—or maybe the second-in-line meant it so as to intimidate whoever he invited in.
She was about to round the corner when she felt it more than heard it—footsteps and a strong presence. Gabby didn’t shift, but she braced herself all the same, ready to attack if need be. There was no one around, so she made a run for it to yet another corner, trying to calculate in her mind how she was going to handle facing—
“Hello.”
—a strong vampire.
This vampire wasn’t Raz, and he had stronger aristocratic features and a harder expression. Unlike Raz’s easy charm, this man oozed none as he stared at her with two bottomless pits for eyes. They were so black, they might as well have been staring into her soul.
She’d never met Vladimir until now—had only heard of his reputation as the first-in-line with no mercy. The thought made her shudder, but she stifled it and tried to nod at his greeting.
“Good evening,” she murmured politely. “Vladimir, is it? I didn’t realize you would be here.”
Vladimir kept looking at her, never blinking. She realized that he didn’t make any unnecessary movements, and that made it harder to predict when he was going to attack. She tried to get a feel for him but found only an endless void. Dimly, she realized that whatever wrong thing she was feeling wasn’t coming from him.
But that didn’t make him any less sinister.
“We’re waiting for Lucinda,” he intoned, his voice cold but not unfriendly. Just impersonal. “I believe there’s a matter to be discussed about some dead vampires.”
Gabby nodded. The sinking feeling in her stomach grew, but instincts screamed that it didn’t involve the vampire standing in front of her. She excused herself right away at the pretense of wanting to get some water, not in the mood to make small talk. She searched the mansion, trying to find Jake and tell him that they needed to stick together. But how was she going to find him?
The answer came to her almost immediately, and Gabby used her senses. Disregarding any kind of poise at the moment, she crouched on the floor right before dropping on all fours as quietly as she could. Then she began sniffing, placing her nose inches away from the tiles until she finally detected it—a whiff of Jake’s earthy, male scent, faint but there.
She followed it, praying she wouldn’t bump into any vampire and suffer some kind of humiliation. She detected another scent, one that wasn’t vampire but still familiar. She smelled this before. The scent led her to the kitchen, which she found empty save for some coffee and…the smell of poison.
Gabby stood up, blood rushing through her brain.
It was the same poison smell used in her kidnapping last year.
Panic hit her, realizing that Jake must have encountered it. She followed the scent as it led to the southern part of the mansion, where everything was still so quiet. The poison triggered dizziness, and she had to get Jake before it was too late, and he became a dead weight.
Gabby stopped when the scent suddenly disappeared at the very end, where she was surrounded by more hallways and no door. Frustration hit her at the abrupt halt, right before an idea popped into her head. She felt around the walls twice, felt behind some of Raz’s expensive paintings, then tilted a large vase to the side—
A secret compartment opened. Without hesitation, Gabby slipped into darkness.
There were brick stairs leading downstairs, and she stuck to the side and followed it, careful to not even breathe unevenly. A few minutes later, she smelled the poison again. Then she heard voices—Jake’s muffled one, along with a familiar female voice talking to him.
“I’m sorry, Jake. You seem like a great person, and I have nothing against you personally. But you’re strong and powerful, so you can’t understand my plight. I’m a pawn in this supernatural-ridden world, and I’m tired of it. Your master’s blood will help me come to my full potential—and she’ll also be a great experimental body before I find the perfect mix of blood and magic to help me stop being this…weak.”
Gabby’s eyes widened as she crouched down. Now she remembered that voice—it was the woman who accompanied Raz to the business event. Her eyes still couldn’t see anything, but her ears strained as Jake’s muffled voice spoke out.
“I will…tear…Raz…pieces…”
The words had the woman laughing. “Oh, I already told you. He’s innocent. But he’s going to be framed sooner or later, so he might as well be guilty. I need a scapegoat, after all. Like you. Hold still, please.”
There was the sound of something clanking, then a heavy thump. Gabby’s vision finally adjusted, and she took a peek to the center of what looked like a dungeon. There, she found Jake lying unconscious, blood pooling from his head in a steady flow.
Her heart stopped.
In an instant, she was lunging for the woman, who had her back turned. The woman heard the noise and turned in her direction, metal pipe in hand. There was still blood there from Jake’s hit, and the sight had rage exploding out of Gabby. The woman’s eyes widened, and she backed off, raising the makeshift weapon.
In no less than two seconds, Gabby shifted. Then she was jumping on the woman and tearing her apart, feeling the hot blood on her tongue and spitting it out. She clawed and tore, the monster inside her whispering that this woman deserved it.
The darkness within her was egging her on.
The wolf and fox in her protested and screamed at her to get back to her senses. The fight had her body straining, and she snarled against it and went still, feeling her bones and muscles crunch at the exertion. Finally, she shifted back to her human form, feeling her energy drain away faster than she wanted.
Gabby stared at the mess she made of the woman—entrails everywhere, skull crushed, eyes ripped out. The sight had bile rising from her throat, but she pushed it back down and crawled over to where Jake was. Her leg was dislocated due to the monster and shifter in her fighting each other, and she tried gritting her teeth against the pain as she checked on Jake.
He had no pulse.
Panic hit her. She tried to stand up, stifling the scream of pain and intent on heading back up the stairs to get help. She turned around—
And found Vladimir staring at the scene, then at her in quiet, cold judgment.
“It’s not what you…think,” she gurgled out, blood coming out of her cut lip.
But the first-in-line was shaking his head. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to report this murderous scene, Miss Montgomery.”
She felt a hand press against her neck’s pressure point.
Then she saw darkness.