Lunacy (19 page)

The woman clucked her tongue reproachfully after
dodging the chair, coming to stand so close to me that I couldn’t
even get enough space between us to try and fight her off. My legs
barely budged, feeling like I was slamming them off concrete. For
being so petite, she felt like she was made of stone. “Silly girl.
Vampires, or Methuselahs in our case, are survivalists. We do what
we must to continue to see the centuries come and go. If we can
ensure that this Norse apocalypse can never come to pass, why
wouldn’t we do so to carry on indefinitely?”

This close, I noticed that she was the main source of
the blood smell I’d picked up before. Her teeth were all the fangs
of a carnivore once more, and I couldn’t fight the slight thread of
horror that crept into my voice as I spit in her face. “Your breath
reeks of blood, you bitch.” My false bravado wasn't very
convincing, even to me.

She wiped the spittle from her cheek and grinned, her
smile seeming wider than it should have, like her jaw would open
unnaturally far. “What you think of me matters not, girl. You and
the unfortunate giantess inside of you die here.”

Enoch’s arms tightened, making it hard for me to even
draw a breath. “The first taste is yours, Zillah,” his voice was
slightly deeper and I didn’t want to know what they were thinking,
but I knew it didn’t all involve my blood. I watched her drag the
tip of her tongue across her pouty lips before she stepped in too
close for me to see her face. A gasp was dragged from me as she
gripped a fistful of my hair and yanked my head to the side, baring
my neck.

No other words were needed, and the vampiress struck.
I felt her teeth sink into my throat like a thousand needles, and
everything around me was drowned out by the grotesque slurping
noises as she drank heavily of my blood. Enoch’s fingers tangled in
my hair in a much more gentle way and Zillah released her hold,
stepping forward so our bodies were flush against each other. Her
hands slid to rest on my hips and an involuntary whimper escaped
me. Even the parts of her body where a woman was supposed to be
soft felt like marble.

Enoch hushed me, pressing lingering kisses to the
other side of my throat, dragging his tongue up my pulse as he
pulled my head backward. His fangs sank into my flesh and a deep,
throaty noise almost like a purr filled the air. My brain was
getting foggy, and it took me a few seconds to realize the sound
had come from me. Something about his bite was both numbing and
exciting, all at once. His grip on me shifted slightly, his hand
roughly gripping my breast and pulling me more fully against the
front of his body. Judging from the solid curve pressed into my
lower back, the heat of my blood sliding down his gullet was making
him very happy indeed.

Tears slid unbidden down my cheeks at the thought of
what they might do to my body once they'd finished feeding. I
slightly assuaged my own fears as I realized that it wouldn't
matter, because I'd be dead and not trapped in this mortal shell
anymore.

My limbs were getting tingly, and I could feel the
beating of my heart slowing. Dark spots were filling the edges of
my vision and I did nothing. I willed my body to move, do
something, try and at least do some damage before the end, but it
refused and started going limp in the solid, crushing arms of the
vampires.

Zillah was sated first, making a show of obscenely
licking any traces of my blood from her lips. I heard a strange
grating, rattling noise that seemed far away to me. It was the
sound of me still attempting to breathe, dragging ragged snatches
of air into lungs that were quickly failing me.

It could have been a few minutes, or a few hours, I
really don’t know how much longer Enoch pulled the blood from my
veins with his insistent lips and tongue. Eventually, he’d had his
fill and simply let go of me, discarding me like the wrapper from a
quarter pounder with cheese. My body slumped in a boneless heap to
the floor, my eyes staring helplessly, lacking in the strength to
even close my eyelids. All sound around me was muffled and my
vision shifted slightly as one of them nudged me with their
foot.

I heard someone speaking, as if they were mumbling in
another room a great distance away. My view of everything changed
once more as Jamison lifted me in his arms, my body having the
rigidity of a ragdoll. “I’ll take care of it,” was all he said.

A last desperate breath rattled from my lips and
everything around me became quiet, peaceful. Darkness swallowed me,
and the last thing I felt was my soul –or was it Skadhi’s?--
slipping away from me. Then there was nothing, just an abyss of
eternal night as empty as my veins.

Chapter 18

The screech of my alarm clock made my eyes snap open
and I instantly regretted it. I closed them again and curled up
into a ball under the covers, a pulsing migraine making me feel
like I had the worst hangover ever. I whimpered and opened my eyes
in the muted darkness, feeling the throb abate enough for me to not
want to shoot myself to take away the pain. A glutton for
punishment, I slowly peeked over the edge of the comforter,
satisfied when I wasn’t rewarded with a lance of agony through my
eyeballs like I was expecting from the light of the rising sun
creeping through my curtains.

I dragged myself from bed with a reluctant sigh,
grabbing the clothes I’d laid out the night before and shuffling my
feet across the floor to my bathroom. For some reason, I had a
feeling this Wednesday was going to be rotten like a Monday. I
didn’t even bother with my happy wake up music, merely standing
under the fall of water in the shower and soaking up the
serenity.

I wasn’t looking forward to the lessons Jynxx and I
were undergoing after school with his pack and Elomina. All the
politics and courtly posturing bullshit was tedious, and I hated
formalities. It was part of the reason I’d fought so hard to keep
my parents from putting me into Savage Academy. Judging from my
headache, it was all more taxing than I’d originally thought it
would be. It was making homework a total chore. However, I was
grateful that today wasn’t a day where I had gym class. Always
looking on the bright side of things, that’s me!

I shut off the water and got dressed, putting my hair
into a loose braid and not bothering with any makeup. Today, I was
just not about looking flawless.

Bag over my shoulder, I kissed Mom and Dad goodbye
and plodded outside to wait for Jynxx to roll up. We’d decided to
switch days driving, since we ended up at the same place after
school anyway. With the exorbitant price of gasoline, it was the
smartest thing to do.

Less than a minute of me walking down our huge
driveway later, Jynxx pulled in with his little gunmetal grey
Nissan 300ZX, a cute car that nearly put my Stratus to shame. I
climbed in and he turned the car around, sparing a second to give
me a worried glance. “You okay, Kitten? You look tired.”

I nodded, settling back into the seat with a soft
sigh. “I guess I just slept like hell last night. Woke up with a
migraine bad enough to almost knock me back out this morning.”

“Ouch,” he sympathized, shifting the car smoothly
into drive. Manual transmissions were so much sexier. “We’ll make
sure to grab you something for breakfast once we get to school,
then. Knowing you, you probably popped a few of those migraine meds
on an empty stomach.”

Blushing a little, I purposely turned my gaze out the
window. “Perhaps,” I muttered. “When did you become the expert on
me, anyway?”

He smirked, looking at me from the corner of his eye
for a second. “We’ve been in classes together since grade school,
Kaysh. You think I’ve never paid attention to you before? The smart
and too proud to try to hide it rich girl with a loud mouth… Do you
really think I never noticed you?” I frowned a bit at the loud
mouthed comment, and he went on. “Now, did I ever think I had a
chance before? Not so much.”

I laughed, unable to stay in a totally downtrodden
mood in the light of his good humor this morning. “What makes you
think you have one now, peasant?”

Jynxx snorted at that and we pulled out onto the long
strip of back road that was Maple Lane. “I know I have a chance
now,” he began, the timbre of his voice sending a shiver up my
spine. “It’s just a matter of waiting until the right moment to
take it.” He rapidly double shifted with the skill of a NASCAR
driver, going from fifteen to about seventy in seconds. The
transition was totally smooth and it pressed the back of his hand
firmly against my thigh; the heat, even through my jeans, warmed me
all the way down to my toes. My heart was racing faster than the
pistons in the engine, and it took everything I had in me not to
sigh aloud at his touch.

Oh, yeah… He definitely had a chance.

Jynxx down-shifted at the end of the road and we
slowed back down to normal New York speed: fifty-five. Energy
thrummed in the air between us, but the inside of the car didn’t
light up like the Fourth of July this time around. We’d been
fighting hard to maintain that sort of control the last few days.
We couldn’t have our eyes going all super nova in the middle of
class, or in front of anyone not part of the Clan. There were
enough issues between the two of us without having to worry about
becoming government lab rats.

Unable to stand the smug smirk on his face after a
few moments of silence, I finally found my voice again. “If I
didn’t have a test today—“

Jynxx’s large hand settled on top of my thigh, his
skin hot enough to scald, and my words died on my lips. “Don’t
worry, brainiac. I’ll make sure you get to class on time.”

Beyond flustered, I crossed my arms over my chest and
let the color flooding my face speak for me. I felt like a total
fool for saying anything at all. Now he'd never take me
seriously...

"Jynxx... Pull the car over." My voice didn't really
sound like me. It was distant, deeper than it should have been.
Darker in a way that I could see affected him.

He let out a nervous chuckle. "We'll be at school in
about fifteen minutes, Kaysh. Are you sure you want me to do that?"
I had to hand it to him, he was giving me every opportunity to
chicken out, and he was being a perfect gentleman about the whole
ordeal.

After what seemed to be an eternity, as his car
gobbled up the road between indecision and finality, I spoke one
word. "Yes."

He glanced around to see where we were, making sure
no cars were coming in either direction, and headed off onto a
little back dirt road, finally parking well out of sight of any
passersby. He turned to look at me and I met his gaze steadily.
"So, what exactly is on your agenda today, kitten?"

"Mainly for you to stop talking," I said with a smirk
of my own, leaning in close to the lips I'd been wanting to taste
for years. His breath was warm, and he waited, like he needed to be
absolutely certain that this was what I wanted. So close, but still
I hesitated. What if I sucked at kissing? What if my breath was
bad, or I was too aggressive? Too submissive?

Jynxx cupped my face in his hand, sliding his thumb
across my lower lip and resting his forehead to mine. "Your control
is slipping, Kaysh. You're projecting. Hard." His words were soft,
but they totally threw me and I tried to back away, my bravado
fading like a campfire during a rainstorm.

His grip tightened ever so slightly, not enough to
hurt me, but enough so I couldn't pull away from him. "Please," he
breathed. "Don't take this away from me, now." I could almost feel
him tremble, and I knew then that I couldn't let this moment slip
away from either of us.

I closed my eyes and sealed the deal, pressing my
slightly parted lips to his in the first kiss that had ever really
meant anything to me. His mouth was soft, warm, and tentative in
his exploration as he deepened the kiss. A soft moan rose from my
lips and was drowned out by a deeper growl from his, the energy
rising between us covering my flesh in goose bumps. The feel of his
tongue wrapping around mine sped my pulse and tightened muscles low
in my abdomen. I had the undeniable urge to touch him, to feel his
flesh bare beneath my fingers.

His hand slid down the curve of my neck, traveling
across my shoulder and down my arm, covering my hand with his and
twining our fingers together. My heart skipped a beat at the tender
gesture, but there'd be time for that later. I leaned in closer to
him, reaching across his lap to the other side of his seat, my
fingers finally closing around the lever to drop his seat back. It
did so with a lurch that startled him slightly, but I was on top of
him before he had time to protest, claiming his mouth with a fervor
that surprised us both. My hands slid over the hard planes of his
chest and abdomen, my fingertips committing every piece of him to
memory in case I never got another chance to hold on to such
perfection.

He groaned into my lips and I could tell from where I
was seated that he was happy to have me right where I was. I slid
my fingers up under his shirt, toying with his belt buckle, wanting
him to be totally exposed to me. His big hands closed around mine,
stopping my exploration. A small sound of frustration crawled from
me and he pushed me back enough to look up into my eyes. His irises
were drowned in amber, but my own glow hadn't risen to meet
his.

"Kacea..." His breathing was quick, but mine was
absolutely ragged, so I sat back, his eyelids fluttering for a
moment as our hips were fully pressed together. I was silent,
waiting for him to say something profound and Earth shattering.
Instead, his lips twisted into a smirk and he said, "I told you I
had a chance."

My eye twitched and I punched him right in the navel.
"You're a dick, Jynxx!"

He laughed at that, and ran his fingers through my
hair, hooking it back behind my ear. His face and voice softened a
bit and the usual black of his eyes bled back into his irises.
"Seriously though, kitten... You don't want your first time to be
in a car."