Marked: a Vampire Romance (6 page)

They’d made it this far, they’d gotten to Gold’s SUV, and still Wendy was going to die. And then the strangest thing happened.

Okano dropped Wendy, tilted his head back, and shrieked, his voice achingly high. Gold winced and instinctively took a step back, turning away from him and trying to block out the sound.

He took off, leaving Wendy on the ground and passing by Adam without a look. It was a godsend, a miracle that she couldn’t explain.

But she wouldn’t risk sticking around and they needed to move fast. She didn’t know what spooked Okano, but anything that scared a vampire away was too scary for her to fight while injured and defending an even more injured young woman.

Adam limped up to her as she was loading Wendy into the back seat. He clutched at his stomach, blood seeping out onto his gray t-shirt.

“We need to get out of here,” he said, climbing into the passenger seat.

Gold climbed into the SUV and took off. She was two miles down the road before she remembered that they’d come in different cars.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

Adam looked over at her, face pale and clammy, eyes stark. “The shit’s about to hit the fan.”

Adam’s mind was a jumble and his gut was on fire. He breathed shallowly, hoping the hole in his side would hurry up and close, but he wasn’t the one in the most trouble. The scent of human blood hung thick in the air, as it seeped sluggishly from the gash on Marigold’s chest and oozed out of the bite marks dotted all over Wendy Choi.

Marigold drove directly to St Mary’s Hospital in Jasperton. Without speaking, they dropped Wendy off, waiting in the shadows until they were sure that the staff had seen her.

Then it was back to the car.

Marigold had gone pale and her eyes were glassy. Her mouth pulled tight and she winced every time she turned the steering wheel.

“You need to get that wound treated,” he said. It wasn’t Adam’s place to care for her, but he didn’t like to see her hurt. Especially since she’d been injured helping him.

She kept her eyes glued to the highway in front of them. “It's not as bad as it looks,” she said, silence filling the air between them again when he didn’t respond.

After a few minutes, he realized that she was taking him back downtown. Adam hadn’t meant to get in her car back at the hotel—he hadn’t intended to see her again after tonight. But then Okano had succumbed, and nearly taken Marigold out in his madness.

He’d never seen it happen like that. Most tales of blood madness were just stories passed from vampire to vampire. They knew it existed, but to see the exact moment it took hold was rare. It had happened so fast that he’d acted on his instinct to protect both Marigold and Wendy from a dangerous threat.

Marigold pulled downtown and parked her SUV right outside of his bookshop. It was just after midnight according to the clock on the dashboard, and the town was deserted.

For the first time since they’d gotten in the car together, she turned toward him, her eyes hard, and said, “This ceasefire ends at sunup.”

Was that what this was? Merely a ceasefire?

Yes, he’d tried to feed from her, but other than that, he’d done her no harm. He hadn’t come for her people, or for anyone else in this town. And when he found a threat, he helped her to eliminate it, or at least he’d tried to. Still, she could only see him as a vampire.

“Marigold—” he began before she cut him off.

“Just Gold,” she said.

“What?”

She rolled her eyes. “Only my grandma calls me Marigold. It makes me sound like a pony or something."”

Adam smiled. “Very well,
Gold
.”

“Thank you,” she bit out. “Now go.”

Adam couldn’t leave it at that. “Would you believe that I don't kill people?" he asked. He didn’t want to act as ambassador for the ‘good vampires,’ but the thought of Gold thinking that he was a monster caused his soul to ache.

Gold narrowed her eyes and scowled. “You're Adam freaking Luther. I know what you are.”

So she knew of his exploits and of his past. Wonderful. But he was not that man any longer. Adam shook his head and said, “Not for a long time.”

She didn’t buy it. She pointed her finger toward his door. “Out. Now. I'm not going to argue with you.”

Adam didn’t want to leave. Despite the fact that she clearly hated him, despite the fact that she promised to kill him, and despite the fact that they were natural enemies, he wanted to see if he could make her smile. But that wasn’t going to happen tonight, if ever.

She’d probably call him delusional for thinking there was anything other than hatred there, but Adam could feel it. It was real, he was certain.

He reached for the handle, but turned back to her before he opened the door. “Okano's gone blood mad. He'll terrorize the town,” he warned. The vampire would be motivated only by his hunger. There would be no reasoning with him, no threats. Only violence.

“We—” Gold stuttered and corrected herself, “
I
can take on a single vamp.” That “we” she’d almost said wasn’t referring to the two of them. She was protecting someone, probably multiple someones. It didn’t surprise Adam. After all, it would be suicide to hunt vampires and other monsters alone.

Still, Adam’s eyes fell to her wounded chest. He’d been trying to ignore the siren scent of her blood filling up the vehicle. His fangs ached, the pressure growing with his own need for blood to heal himself. Her blood had been so powerful the night before that he knew it would only take a couple of sips from her to sate him.

Who was he kidding? Once he sank himself deep into her, he’d never be satisfied with only a taste.

“Just go.” She sounded exhausted and her shoulders were beginning to sag.

There was nothing that he could do to help her, nothing that she would accept anyway, except for him to leave her alone. So Adam gave her the solitude that she wanted, opening the car door and stepping out onto the silent street.

He made it a few steps when her horn beeped behind him. He spun around, half worried that she had changed her mind about detente and was about to plow into him. What he saw instead made his heart stutter. Gold was draped across the front of the steering wheel, limp.

Adam crossed back to the SUV in three big steps, yanking open the driver’s door, undoing Gold’s seat belt, and pulling her out of the car. She pushed against him, not unconscious, but too weak to resist.

“I just need a minute,” she mumbled.

Of course his huntress was a hard ass. She wouldn’t have admitted that she was down for the count even if Okano had ripped an arm off. Adam just made soothing sounds at her, knowing that she wouldn’t care for anything he said. He shut the car door with his foot and carried her to the store, using the spare key hidden behind a loose brick to let himself in.

A narrow staircase behind a flimsy door in the back office led him to the basement. His emergency hideaway was behind a thick metal door. He’d built the room as a backup in case he was ever caught out before sunrise or something happened to his home. All of the employees thought it was a private maintenance room and none were allowed to go back there.

It was a simple room with a bed set up in the corner and a bookshelf pushed against the concrete wall opposite. The small bathroom only had a toilet and sink, and there wasn’t a door. Utilitarian, to say the least, but it was a place meant for survival, not leisure.

Adam pulled back the comforter and pushed it to the floor, laying the bloodied huntress down on the light green cotton sheets.

Gold rolled her eyes over toward him and mumbled, “Why are you doing this?”

“You need stitches,” he said, ignoring the question. He left her alone for a moment, confident that she wasn’t going to go anywhere.

Adam ran upstairs and grabbed the first aid kit off the wall of the employee break room. ‘Room’ was a generous term as it was just one small table tucked into the corner of the back office, surrounded by boxes and piles of books. He grabbed a bottle of water and a roll of paper towels as well.

By the time he got back to the safe room, Gold had struggled up into a sitting position and removed her leather jacket and tossed it on the floor. She’d also removed her weapons, but those she kept within reach. Her fingers brushed against the hilt of a wicked looking knife.

Maybe he really was suicidal.

Adam sat down beside her and wet a paper towel. For a moment he considered asking her to remove her shirt so that he could tend to her wound, but he quickly decided against it. There was no way that she’d agree. Besides, Okano had ripped a nasty hole in her black t-shirt. There was more than enough space to maneuver around.

He tried to gently clean up around her injury, but she hissed in pain and snatched the towel from his hand, wiping herself down with harsh efficiency. He handed her a dry piece of towel and let her pat away the water.

“Why are you doing this?” Her voice was clearer this time. Sitting still was probably doing wonders for that.

When he pulled out the gauze and surgical tape, she tried to grab for it, but Adam kept it away. “Just let me do this part.” He looked her in the eye when she said it and when their gazes locked, he felt lightning dancing across his skin.

No, Gold wasn’t his enemy. Not when just looking at her made him feel this way. Now he just had to make her see that.

Her blood dripped onto his fingers as he taped up the wound. The smell was going to his head, making him dizzy, making him yearn. He’d healed up several minutes before and his own pain was nearly gone, but he needed blood to replenish what he’d lost. Soon.

Gold smelled like a decadent feast before him.

Adam did his best to ignore it.

There was a thick bandage on her arm, right where he’d bitten her the night before. He pushed away the memory of her taste and rejected any thoughts of the dream he’d had.

The bandage was wet with fresh blood, probably from her chest, but he needed to make certain. He reached for the small pair of scissors in the first aid kit and cut off the gauze. Gold jerked her arm back and held it close to her chest, wincing when she thumped it against her fresh bandage.

“What is that?” he asked. Her arm bore markings strikingly similar to the ones on his own. She must have seen that they bore matching magical tattoos—Adam hadn’t tried to hide his, but she’d said nothing.

Gold spread her fingers wide, trying to cover up the black lines. “Don't worry about it,” she said in dismissal.

Magic was always worth worrying about. “It's weird.”

“It's temporary,” she assured him. But she wasn’t saying something important. Adam reached over, wanting to pull her arm close to get a better look.

When his arm brushed against hers, the marks both glowed, a hazy light of shining obsidian. “Are you human?” It slipped out before he could think better of it, accidentally accusatory, but Gold was remarkable. And humans didn’t have glowing skin.

Neither did vampires, usually.

“Yes.” She sounded so offended that he almost laughed. “What kind of question is that?”

Maybe she thought she was human, but there was something extra in there. Not vampire, but something from some magical ancestor generations ago. “Okano didn't kill you.” Adam talked it out. “He was moving fast enough that he could have. That means you're tougher than a human. Faster too. And your blood…” With her blood still wet on his hands and her injury so fresh, he knew he needed to stop before he said something that made her reach for her knife.

But Gold wasn’t going to let it drop. “What about my blood?”

Adam swallowed hard. Thinking about her blood was becoming almost sexual. He needed to change the subject quick. “It's… ahem… very good. Powerful.”

“Are you saying I’m delicious?” There was a glint in those blue eyes of hers.

Her hair had fallen across her face. Adam reached up and tugged it back behind her ear. When he touched her, they both froze. Gold gulped.

Adam pulled back and lifted up his hand. A few drops of fresh blood coated his index finger. He put it in his mouth and licked it clean. “You’re intoxicating, Marigold Jones.”

Gold got out of there. If she didn’t, she was going to do something stupid. Like fight him.

Or fuck him.

Luther didn’t try to stop her, and she didn’t know what she would have done if he had. The half-hour or so of rest was enough for her to recuperate enough to drive. She made it home without incident and for the second night in a row went to bed in her hunting clothes, covered in blood.

The next day, Gold couldn’t hide her injuries from her sister or her cousin. They saw it in her stiffness long before they glimpsed the thick bandage under her t-shirt. But it was a school day, so Lily didn’t have a long time to get on Gold’s case before she had to catch the bus.

Gold dealt with Charlie’s questions and glares until he left for his own classes around ten.

Since she only went to school part time, her schedule wasn’t nearly as dense as that of the kids. Still, the temptation to remain home and just lay in her bed for the entire day was great. It felt like she had a thousand-pound weight strapped to her back, and doing the tiniest things left her tired. And none of that stacked up against the pain she felt when she tried to lift anything heavier than a feather. But Gold sucked it up and went to class in the afternoon, wearing bulky clothes to disguise her injuries.

She kept her arm wrapped up as well.

The next few days went on like that, with her stumbling through classes, sleeping a lot, and keeping off the streets. She didn’t explain it all to Charlie and Lily, other than to tell them that there was still a dangerous vampire out there. One who had gone mad and monstrous.

She didn’t give them more information about Luther either. Things between them were too weird to explain. Though she knew there wasn’t
actually
anything between them.

Sure, they’d saved a girl’s life together. And sure, he’d tended her wounds and said she tasted intoxicating. Gold shivered even thinking of it before pushing the thought away. It meant nothing.

She was wearing long sleeves despite the late spring heat, keeping the mark on her arm covered. Over three days, it had grown darker and longer, lines stretching closer to her elbow.

She wasn’t ignoring it, not really. Gold told herself that she needed to tend to her injuries before she could even think of facing Adam Luther as an enemy. That was just common sense. But she hadn’t quite explained to herself why she was keeping the mark a secret from her family.

Three nights after her encounter with both vampires, Gold found herself walking into Lot’s O’ Lit. This time, she was there on official business. Well, official
school
business.

When Gold left the house, Lily had rushed into the garage and threatened to call their mom if Gold even thought of going on patrol. When Gold explained that she was just going to get a book for class, Lily had relented. And then she’d asked to come with. At that point, Gold put her foot down. The kids were still under curfew and she wasn’t going to let either one of them go out after dark until Okano was dealt with.

Besides, she really did need a book for one of her classes, and Lot’s O’ Lit had been the first place to pop into her mind. Sure, she could have gone to the Barnes and Noble over in Naperville, but something was pushing her to support local businesses.

And it had nothing to do with Adam Luther. It was merely a coincidence that she didn’t get to the bookshop until nearly an hour after sunset. Yeah, right. Even at her most delusional, she didn’t believe that.

The bell rang when Gold pushed open the door. Soft music piped through the speakers and a few patrons stalked the shelves. It was nearly dark, but it wasn’t too late. A kid who was probably around Charlie’s age sat at the register reading a magazine.

Now that she was inside the store, doubt assailed her. She was still injured and couldn’t take on a vampire in her condition. It would be at least a week until she felt strong enough to hunt again. She’d only given Adam a one-day truce. Coming to his place of business was an act of aggression. She needed to leave before he saw her. What if he wanted a fight?

Still, she did need her book. This was madness. She was going crazy. That was the only way to explain it.

Rather than stalk the aisles, she walked up to the register and asked the kid working there if they had what she needed. He shrugged and said he’d go check.

Minutes ticked by. Gold looked around, her eyes falling on a table of gift books next to the register. She picked up one and started paging through while waiting for the kid to come back. A few minutes later, she saw someone approaching out of the corner of her eye.

Adam.

“He doesn't know,” he said, instead of hello.

He sounded pissed, on edge, and ready to fight. Under normal circumstances, that would have ratcheted up Gold’s heartbeat and had her reaching for a weapon. For some reason, Adam didn’t trigger that instinct within her.

“Doesn't know what?” she asked. They’d started the conversation in the middle and she wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

“Don't threaten my people.” Adam growled. It did something to her stomach, made it tighten in the strangest way. If he’d been human… but he wasn’t, and it didn’t matter what she felt. His eyes were dark, brows drawn down as he loomed over her.

“I just came to shop.” Every second she spent around Adam threw her into a tailspin of confusion. He was a vampire! A bloodsucker! She needed to either stake him or run the hell away.

But what kind of vampire tended a huntress’s wounds? What kind of vampire defended humans he wasn’t using?

He still wasn’t convinced. “This is between us.”

“What is
this
?” There wasn’t anything for there to be a ‘this.’ Nothing except a one-night-stand—one-night-team-up, she corrected—and some weird dreams. Sexual dreams that wouldn’t let up, making her hot and confused.

“You said the ceasefire is over. I'm only protecting what is mine.” He was full of righteous anger, and it was magnificent. If he had been anyone else, she would have reached up and kissed him right there.

No. If he’d been human, she would have done it. She didn’t want just anyone. She only wanted the version of him that she didn’t need to kill.

“I'm not coming for you tonight.” At least, she wasn’t going to kill him. Those dreams, and what those dreams made her do when she woke up, were another matter altogether.

Adam placed a brown paper bag on the counter. “Here’s what you came for then.” He held up a hand when she reached for her wallet. “I don't want your money.”

“Then what do you want?” She didn’t mean it as any great statement, but now her heartbeat picked up and adrenaline started to flow. This time it had nothing to do with violence.

Adam sucked in a deep breath. “I don't know,” he admitted. He stared into her eyes and she could feel herself sinking, focus narrowing until there was nothing but him and her.

“Oh.” She breathed it out, unsure of how to really respond. Then reality reasserted itself. This wasn’t happening. “I've got to go.” She snatched the bag up from the counter and fled. Again. Running away from Adam Luther was becoming a bad habit.

Once she got to the car, she spilled the bag over and saw that Adam had given her two books in addition to what she’d asked for. The first one was The Art of War, the second Pride & Prejudice. On the cover of the Austen novel, there was a sticky note with Adam’s handwriting.

Your choice, huntress.