Vengeance (Night Roamers) Book Three (14 page)

Just then, Jordan
’s cell phone rang.

“
Hi, Victor,” he said. Victor spoke for a few minutes and Jordan grinned. “Okay, thanks, man. I’ll catch you back in Minnesota.”

Then he hung up.

“Good news,” he said, setting his phone down on the steps. “Victor has another project he’s working on and won’t be joining us tonight. He said to take care of business and report to him when we’re finished.”

Rory smiled
in anticipation. “Well shit, let’s get this show on the road.”

“Wait a minute,” replied Celeste. “I
need to speak with Victor. Call him back.”

“No, sorry
, Red,” replied Jordan, unbuttoning his shirt as he walked towards her. “He left me in charge now and doesn’t want to be disturbed.”

Her eyes narrowed. “C
all me ‘Red’ one more time, and I’ll rip out your vocal cords.”

“
You don’t frighten me in the least,” he answered. “Red.”

Her eyes turned crimson
.

“What the hell?” whispered Nath
an in shock.

Rory sighed.
“May I remind you that you’re surrounded by Lycans. You touch Jordan, and that’s it. You’re dead.”

“
You’re a fool if you think that scares me,” she growled.

Nathan took a step back. “What’s going on around here?”

I moved closer to him. “It’s what I’ve been telling you for the past few months, Nathan. Wake up.”

“Oh, come on
.”

“But
–”

“
Just stop. Now, let’s get out of here,” said Nathan, grabbing my arm. “We’re not that far out of town. If these guys are going to be difficult, I’m not sticking around.”

Jordan laughed.
“You’re not leaving. In fact, I think we should stop wasting time.” He then leaped towards the ground, and before I could blink, morphed into a Lycan, one that was much larger than Frankie.

“What the fuck?!” sc
reamed Nathan as he stared at the hideous creature now standing proudly before us. Just like Frankie, he was furry, had elongated ears, and jaws that could definitely tear through metal like butter.    

“
Hell yeah, baby, let the games begin!” shouted Rory, throwing himself towards the cement.

“
Ahhhh!!!” hollered Nathan, backing away as Rory’s snout pushed forward and his clothing ripped away from the sheer force of his transformation.

The next thing I knew, Celeste flew towards Nathan, grabbing him around the waist
, and then shot up into the sky. 

Rory
began to growl and I rushed behind the picnic table, separating myself from the two of them. “Please! This is madness!” I shouted.

Jordan
leaped onto the picnic table and bared his teeth, almost smiling, as if mocking me. He then opened his mouth and in a hoarse voice, growled, “Run!”

Nikki

I ran, but only because I didn’t have quite enough energy needed to fly.

With a burst of
adrenaline that surprised even me, I tore off into the desert, putting what I thought was a considerable amount of distance between us. But I’d underestimated the speed of the Lycans. Just when I thought things were going my way, one of them slammed into me from behind, and I went flying face-first into the sand. When I looked up, however, I was alone.

Asshole
.

I brushed the sand
from my palms and stood on shaky legs, wondering when they were going to strike next. It was obvious that they were toying with me and to them, it was all a game.

Wary and exhausted,
I turned and began moving towards the city lights, wishing that I had enough strength to launch myself into the sky, like Celeste. But as it was, especially after that initial burst of speed, I was having problems even running. Eventually, I lost all energy and was reduced to a slow trot.

This is it,
I thought.
I’m a goner.

As if to reiterate that
depressing fact, howls erupted all around me in the darkness.

They’d circled me.

Trembling, I crouched down, and scurried over to a nestle of tall shrubs for coverage. It was then that I noticed a group of large sandstones about two hundred yards away, and felt a new flicker of hope.

If I could just mak
e it to the safety of the rocks, maybe I could somehow lose them?

I looked ar
ound warily. As silent as it was, I knew they were out there somewhere, watching and waiting. Taking a deep breath, I decided to make a run for it. Crouching down, I moved across the desert, waiting for one of them to pounce at any second. When I made it to the cover of the large rocks without incident, I sighed in relief. At least I wasn’t out in the open anymore. I had a chance.

Licking my
lips, I moved around the rocks until miraculously, I found a suitable shelter, where I could hide and rest. It was tucked away and small, but almost totally obscure in the darkness. Getting down on my knees, I crawled into the small crevice, which was between two large sandstones, and brought my knees to my chest. 

Silence.

Closing my eyes, I released a shaky sigh, grateful for finding a place to catch my breath. Within seconds, however, I nodded off.

“
Looky here! I caught myself a little rabbit,” chuckled Jordan, reaching for me through the crevice.

My eyes popped open
and I found him staring at me through the opening, a triumphant smile plastered across his face.

I backed up as far as I could.
“No.”

“Yes.”

“Please, don’t do this.”

Hi
s long arm reached in further, and grabbed my wrist, digging his nails into my skin. “Let’s get you out of your hole, little bunny.”

“Please, just leave me alone!” I
begged as he jerked me through the opening, scraping my skin.

“I love it when you beg,”
he said. “It’s like music to my ears.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Like a fox,” he giggled eerily, shoving me towards the ground. “Or a wolf.”

When I saw
that he wasn’t wearing any clothing, my jaw dropped.

H
e looked down at his pelvis and smiled lewdly. “What did you expect? We lose our clothing as soon as we change.”

“Stay
the hell away from me!” I replied, trying to crawl away from him.

He
grabbed my ankles, pulled me back, and flipped me over. “Time to do some collecting.”

“
No, we had no deal!” I cried as he got on his knees and straddled me with his legs.

“Oh, but we
did,” he said, grabbing my wrists. “You think Celeste got out of there because she’s quicker than us? She’s fast, but not
that
fast.”

I paused.
“So, he’s safe?”

“
Safe? Well, from us.” His eyes stared at my chest. “I’ve often wondered what the blood of a vampire tasted like. I guess I’ll get the chance to find out now.”

Talk of blood made m
y own stomach rumble in hunger. I stared at Jordan’s neck, wondering what would happen if I drank from it. Although, at this point, I almost didn’t care, as the hollowness in my stomach was killing me. “Wait… how can I trust you?”

His hand
slid around the base of my throat and he applied pressure. “Who said anything about trust?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but
he tightened his fingers, smirking at my discomfort. “Now, I’ve sent the others away and it’s just you and me, kitten. If you play nicely, I
might
let you live. If you resist and give me a hard time, death will seem merciful. Got that?”

Crap.

He squeezed harder. “Just blink twice.”

Tears slipped out of my eyes as I
did just that.

He snorted
and released my throat. “You know, you’re not very powerful for a vampire, are you?”

Coughing,
I turned my head away to catch my breath.

“
Now, we’re going to play a little game,” he said. “It’s called ‘
Jordan Says’
. It’s similar to a game you probably played growing up, so I’m sure you already know the rules. But, in case you’ve forgotten, we’re going to have a practice round. Sound like fun?”

I
turned and glared up at him.

He
reached over and slapped my cheek with the palm of his hand. “I didn’t say ‘
Jordan Says
give me a dirty look’, now did I?”

“No,” I mumbled.

He slapped my other cheek. “I didn’t say ‘
Jordan Says
speak’, did I?”

I wasn’t sure how to respond so I just stared at him
, both of my cheeks on fire.

He grinned. “
See, you’re already learning.”

I remained silent.

“Now,” he said, getting off of me. “Stand up.”

I didn’t move.

“I said, stand the fuck up!” he growled.

I got up quickly and stood before him.

With a maniacal smile on his face, his closed fist met with my cheekbone.

I
screamed in pain and doubled over.

“
Jordan
Says
stand up straight!”

Vowing to drain him of all his blood as soon as
the opportunity presented itself, I stood up straight.

He nodded.
“Good. Now you’re catching on. This is fun, isn’t it?”

I stared at him, trying to hide my
disgust. “Having the time of my life…”

He smirked
. “You’d never make it gambling in this town, kitten.”

As I fought to hold back a retort, I saw a something out of the corner of my eye.
A whirlwind of movement.

Ethan?

“Okay, practice is over. Let’s get this show on the road!
Jordan Says
run for your life.”

I stared past him, looking for more signs of movement
, hoping that I was finally catching a break.

Jordan
growled in the back of his throat, and I thought for a second he was going to stomp his foot like a petulant child. “JORDAN SAYS RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!” 

I turned and started running
. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it ten steps before he had me by the hair and was yanking me backwards.

“
Hell, you’re either a pathetic excuse for a vampire, or your kind isn’t as powerful as I thought.”

I winced as his fingers tightened
on my hair.

He brought my face close to his and smiled evilly.
“
Jordan Says
kiss me.”

I stared at him incredulously. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

He punched me in the face and when his knuckles connected with my nose, I could hear a crunching sound.

“Stupid bitch,” he growled. “Can’t even follow the simplest of directions?”

Blood gushed from my nose and down my chin. “Fuck you,” I
cried, trying to break free from his grasp.

“We’ll get to that,” he said with a sneer. He then lowered his mouth to
mine and I recoiled in horror.

“
Jordan Says
kiss me back,” he whispered against my lips.

I
nstead, I bit down on his lower lip. Hard.

“Dammit!” he hollered
, pulling his red mouth from mine.

I licked the blood from my lips. “Not bad.”

The next thing I knew I was flying backwards from the force of his fist connecting with my stomach. I landed on the ground and began coughing up my own blood.

“
How did that feel?” he snarled, jumping on top of me. He grabbed my tank top in his fist and ripped it away.

“
I’m going to kill you,” I said, glaring at him.

“Damn, you’re a cold bitch,” he
growled, touching me.

I
tried wiggling away from his heavy weight, but it did nothing but excite him further. When his erection brushed against me, I wanted rip it off.

“
Hell, why keep prolonging the inevitable. I certainly can’t wait any longer,” he said, and then raised his hand to show that his Lycan claws were indeed out. “I’ll bet you want to skip foreplay this time though, huh?”

I opened my mouth and hissed, surprising both of us.

He reached down and ripped the buttons from my shorts. “Never been with a Lycan, you say? Let’s pop that cherry of yours, kitten.” He licked his lips. “Has anyone ever told you that your breasts are perfect? I think we need to do something about that.”