Bite, My Love (25 page)

She claps
her hands in front of my face. It hurts my ears. “Quiet. We are
deciding what to do with you.” She gives me a condescending look of
sympathy then turns her attention to her companion. “She is
unharmed physically.”

“
Has he driven her to insanity?” The male Vampire rubs his
beard. “Can we salvage this?”

Just
wow.

Daniel is a handful – dynamite on frayed nerves – but he’s
not
that bad
.
“Listen, you’ve got it wrong. I–eeek.”

I shrink
back into the mattress. I tuck my chin into my chest to hide my
neck when the Vampire thrusts her face into mine and
hisses.

She
straightens. “Her mind is closed. Bizarre for a Lycan to possess
such advanced abilities. Usually they cannot detect a mental
touch.”

“
This used to be Daniel and Anya’s room.” The male Vampire
reveals his wariness in his tense posture.

He stops
beside the female, and possessively rests a hand at the nape of her
neck. He relaxes at the contact and so does she. It’s as if his
touch is protection against anything and everything, and they trust
that absolutely.

This was Daniel and Anya’s room? That explains the coldness
that seeped into my bones before. I’m
not
jealous of a dead woman.
Intimidated is more accurate. Did he bring me here to form new
memories?

“
He has gone mad,
mein
schatz
.” The lady Vampire’s eyes flash,
and her pointed chin lifts imperiously. “I should have destroyed
him when I broke his legs. See the fruit he cultivates from Lee’s
mercy. I will correct my mistake.”

Destroyed him
.

This
conceited bitch shredded my Daniel’s legs? The wolf and I growl and
snap at her.

“
We shall find Lee. This is her mate’s home, and we cannot
dispense justice without their knowledge or permission.” The male
Vampire’s voice is firm. “They are close.”

Their
eyes shut, and their heads lift until they both face the
ceiling.

“
The roof,” the female says.

“
They are fucking. We are unwelcome, Simone. The Lycan
female?”

“
Will keep until Daniel is dead. This matter will not hold.
Lee and Ben must pass judgment.”

How dare
they think the worst of Daniel, and consider his demise so
callously.

My temper
snaps the same moment as my bindings.

Snarling
like a rabid beast, I leap off the bed and lunge at the Vampire
spitting my rage.

Simone
barely blinks as she slams her hand into my breastbone.

Pain
explodes across my torso from the contact. I tumble ass over tit in
a summersault.

Screaming, I crash into one of the bedposts. It cracks it in
the middle as my body bends backward. I shriek when my shoulder
pops out of place.

The bed
frame buckles.

Canting
to one angle, the heavy wood top thunders to the floor echoing
through Castle.

A gust of
wind blows out the candles, and extinguishes the last of the
smouldering embers in the fireplace leaving wispy smoke.

Death
creeps beside me giggling evilly.

Submerged in darkness, I roll off the ruined bed and land
head first on the cold floor. Whimpering, I blink repeatedly. My
sight is fuzzy. My left arm won’t move. Dislocated? Don’t I need
that impediment like motherfucking hole in the head? My other limbs
tense in readiness as I shake off the hard fall, and there’s a
moment of blissful relief when I feel my spine is
unharmed.

I push tangled hair out of my face to see better, and scan as
much of the room as possible. There’s no way out that doesn’t take
me past them. Terror cartwheels over my courage. The stink of my
panic is pungent, seeping from my pores in a cold sweat. I call on
my wolf. It’s difficult so far from the woods, but well within my
reach now I have accepted my place in Daniel’s life.

The musk of my skin intensifies, an earthy scent recognizable
as a shift. My nose lengthens and my spine cracks. My shoulder pops
back into place, ready to be moulded into my new frame. Panting, I
throw myself into the change, allowing it to fall on me like a hot
blanket. My magic overflows and slices throughout the
room.

With a silky hiss of outrage from one of the Vampires, the
magic I pull from the ground is dammed; the revitalizing flow
stanched by an overwhelming swell of mysterious power.

My body
shudders then shrinks back to normal form. I’m left in a bewildered
muddle. My wolf instincts are raging, but my body shape’s wrong. On
all fours I scramble away from the advancing threat, unable to
process getting up onto two Human legs and holding my
ground.

Simone
glides around to the side of the bed. Her skirt flutters around
bare feet that slap the cold floor. She grabs my neck, and moves
with ghostly speed to throw me across the room.

I connect
with the wall, my face mashed to the stone in a tooth-jarring kiss.
In an explosion of blood my nose breaks. I drag a painting down
with me and glass shatters. The bridge of my nose swelling
painfully muffles my whimpers.

I pick up a wicked sharp piece of glass then discard it for a
jagged length of broken frame. I lurch up wielding the pointed wood
like a stake. Total misinformation in common lore that a Vampire
needs a good staking to die, but this is what I’ve got. A punctured
heart is an effective method of death for most
creatures.

Transfixed by the blood streaming from my nose, the Vampire
rushes over to me. Effortlessly, she avoids the jab of my arm and
rips the wood away with an ease verging boredom.

Life is
not fair.

All
monsters are not created equal.

This lady
Vampire is kicking my ass all up and down this room.

Long
fingers wrap around my throat. Her nails dig cruelly into my
oesophagus, blocking my airway and breaking the skin. I scratch my
hands down hers; grappling for a hold, fuck it, just to make the
bitch bleed once.

Ignoring
the bloody grooves I tear into her flesh, she lifts me high into
the air.

My legs
dangle.

I’m
bleeding, bruised, and breathing funny.

She’s
calm and delicately composed. Her bearing is as regal as any queen.
Flat eyes unblinking she regards me like a bug to squash. Tongue
clicking once in uncertainty, she cocks her head, expression
preoccupied.

Wondering
if her inclination to rip my head off is amoral,
perhaps?

Her hand
flexes, penultimate, terrifying.

‘
Daniel,’
I
think sluggishly. I send all my love and shattered hope into the
calling of his name.

Simone
hesitates. Her face twists in confusion. “You call to your captor.”
Her painful grip on my throat eases. “This close I sense our
curse.”

“
Something strange happens.” The barbarian is uneasy. “I smell
our blood in her.”

Simone’s
face is stark white. Her pupils shrink until they’re vertical slits
glowing eerily. “What are you?”

An
ear-splitting roar sounds from the doorway. The sound of bodies
colliding is like a deafening crash of boulders.

Black spots scatter across my vision going dark at the edges.
My lungs burn, contracting tightly as they force me to drag down a
breath.

Daniel evades the male Vampire blocking his path with
herculean leaps into the air. Twisting his body, he lands in a
crouch. The next instant he’s airborne and hurling his body at the
woman strangling me.

Dragging me with her, she skips then spins back to dodge
him.

The barbarian Vampire body-slams Daniel into the wall. The
room shakes. Dust and plaster falls from the ceiling.

“
You expected the outcome of this folly to be different,
Danielius?” Simone lifts her chin. “You have killed yourself and
this poor creature.”

Our eyes
connect, and I see the guilt. This is his worst fear realised, that
I’m be punished by his people for his crimes.

“
She is mine,” Daniel gasps.

“
Pathetic. You restrain this beast to your bed and call her
yours?”

“
My Bride
.”

“
YOU LIE.”

Simone
rattles me like a rag doll and slams me into the wall.

The knock
to the back of my head stuns me. The force of the blow has the room
receding to black. My dangling legs thrash, and my neck muscles
cramp. Fighting to stay conscious, I sob as the pain blooming
across my scalp intensifies.

Daniel’s pleading groan is choked by horror.
“
Stop hurt
–”

Wrenching
her arm back, Simone slams me back into the wall.

I black
out, and come to screaming.

Jaws
snapping, Daniel’s warning hiss carries a menace that frightens the
hell out of me.

Simone
blanches chalk-white.

Blue eyes will never look the same. Daniel’s irises smoulder.
Transform into grotesquely sadistic pools of death. They’re
blisteringly vivid, and shooting balefire. “
Strike her again and I’ll rip out your spine through
your
–”

“
Enough
.”
The male Vampire’s eyes ping between Daniel and I. An immense
mental presence probes my mind, cold fingers burrowing
deep.

‘
Please.’
I
don’t resist him.
‘Don’t let her hurt my
mate.’

His hold
on Daniel loosens as he rummages through my memories. Images
flicker in my mind’s eye of Daniel rocking me to sleep in his arms.
I see us fighting, me crying, him shaking me in anger. There are
memories of Daniel grinning as he beats me at chess, and laughing
as I say something rude and inappropriate. I relive each of his
kisses, and enjoy recalling the scorching passion he tortures my
willing body with. Lastly, most importantly, I remember how
Daniel’s eyes softened and shimmered with affection when he tied me
to his bed and refused to let me go.

“
Release Harmony, my heart.” The barbarian lets my mate go.
“For the first time, Daniel speaks nothing but truth.”

Simone
obeys the male Vampire without a moments pause. She flings me to
the floor.

Curled on
my side, I clasp my bruised throat coughing and gasping. Hot tears
blur my already foggy vision. I keep my eyes on Daniel. The bitch
is vicious, and I’m terrified she’ll hurt him too.

Her hate
towards my mate spreads from her in sonic booms of revulsion. The
intensity of her emotion funnelled into her power makes my stomach
knot and my chest squeeze.

Screaming her rage, she rushes forward and slaps him across
the face. The crack of sound is loud. The blow leaves her handprint
on his cheek – snaps his head to the side.

Daniel
doesn’t flinch.

He doesn’t back down, and he doesn’t say a word. My mate
stares, his rigid jaw clenching rhythmically.

Simone’s
energy spits and sparks dangerously. “You disgrace Anya’s memory
with this perversion.”

Daniel
hisses. “You know nothing of it.”

Simone
shakes her head so fast her features bleed into a warped mask of
grief. Shrieking angrily she becomes Vampire rigid. “You are bad,
and need to be put down.”

I expect
an eruption of apocalyptic proportions from my mate. That’s simply
his way, but with all that’s inside me, I pray he’ll hold back so
we might live.

“
Before my betrayal of Ben you respected me. Fallen from
grace, I did not know how to claim back my place in our
world.”
Daniel lowers to one knee and bows
his head. “
I suppose this is as good a
start as any.
I offer an
apology.”

The
Vampires stumble standing still.

“
Nein.”
Simone is utterly shaken.
“
I will not forgive.
I will not
.”

Staggered, the giant stands behind his woman and sets his
enormous hands on her shoulders. “Listen,” he commands, voice
soft-as-ash. “Hear from the one who should be like a
son.”

Daniel
holds out his palm to me.

I ache
all over, but I stagger up and collapse at his side. I take his
hand in mine and hold it over my heart. Overwhelmed and relieved I
get to touch him again.

Fortified, he turns to Simone. “You were good to me and I
shamed you. I let the darkness of my grief consume me. I treated
you with less respect than you deserved.” He looks straight at the
giant and winces. His fangs peek between his lips. “You are a
better lover for her than I ever was. It eases my heart to know she
has the strongest of us to care for her.”

I swallow
a growl. My suspicion Daniel hurt Anya by sleeping with her Sire is
confirmed.