Enraptured, p.17
Enraptured, page 17
part #4 of Vampire Awakenings Series
She leapt over the broken railing and raced across the yard toward them. Ian threw his arm back and twisted around to clutch the woman’s broken arm. A screech escaped the woman when he twisted the dangling appendage up toward her back, bending the shattered bone in an awkward direction. Blood streaked Ian’s face and clothing, but his face was expressionless when he lifted his foot, placed it in the vampire’s stomach and shoved her away. The woman reeled backward so fast Paige barely had enough time to get out of the way before she sprawled on the ground.
Ian turned back to the man and drove his hand through the man’s chest. The sound it made reminded her of a ball hitting a bat. The man’s eyes bugged as he grabbed at Ian’s wrist, but Ian wrenched backward mercilessly. He crushed the heart in his hand as he drove his left fist into the man’s cheek. Bone caved beneath the powerful force of the blow, the man’s feet kicked on the ground before finally going still.
The woman rolled over, but she was slower than she had been. Before she could react, Ian grabbed hold of her head and twisted it around so forcefully it actually came around again. The woman’s eyes bugged from her head; stuttering sounds of anguish escaped her as her hands flailed wildly at her distorted head. Paige skidded to a halt a few feet away from them. Ian’s eyes were the same color as the blood coating him when he lifted his head to look at her.
He held his blood covered hand out to her and gestured at the makeshift stake. “Give it to me.”
Paige had come out here with the purpose of putting one of these monsters down; she realized now this wasn’t her world. She’d been deluding herself into thinking she’d be anywhere near as effective against a vampire as the hunters who had taken her in. Handing the stake out to him, a sick sensation settled in her stomach as she realized she’d been nothing but a pawn to the hunters she’d believed were trying to help her.
No normal human could hope to take on one of these creatures and survive. The woman’s freaking head was completely twisted around, and she was still moving and trying to fight! They may not all look like Ian did, with the deep reddish black swirling over his skin and turning him nearly the color of charcoal, but they were all far more lethal than she was.
Ian took the stake from her and grabbing hold of the woman, drove it deep into her heart. The woman howled and clawed at the stake; her face twisted grotesquely as she spat at him before crumpling to the ground. Ian didn’t give her another second’s worth of attention. Turning away, he frowned at Paige’s ashen skin and bloodless lips. He knew blood covered him, knew what she’d witnessed, and he would have done anything to have prevented her from seeing it, but this was the life she had chosen.
“Are you ok?” he demanded.
Taking a deep breath, Paige waved a dismissive hand at him. She was extremely proud her hand didn’t shake. “I’m fine.”
“What you just saw…”
“I’ve seen worse, well maybe not worse, but close to it. I told you I know what your kind is capable of.”
Ian’s eyes narrowed at her words. “I’m not a monster.”
“That’s not what I meant!” she gushed out. She ignored the blood coating him as she grabbed hold of his arm. What she’d seen had left her rattled, but she knew what kind of a man he was. “I know you’re not a monster, Ian.” He remained immobile, before his shoulders slumped and some of the tension eased from his body at her words. She kept hold of his arm, refusing to release him, needing the contact with his body. “Why is your skin like that?” she asked.
Ian glanced down at himself, an eyebrow shot up when he saw the reddish black color suffusing his body and pulsating through his veins. He’d only seen something like it once before, with Ethan. If he’d still needed confirmation she was his mate, that color swirling through his body would have done it. Now it only made him realize his brother wasn’t the only one who would be capable of breaking the rules governing their kind, not when it came to her. There was little he wouldn’t be able to do when it came to keeping her alive.
“It’s something that seems to happen to purebloods,” he murmured. “Or at least the only other vampire I’ve seen it happen to is Ethan.”
“What is it? What causes it?”
“I don’t know what it is,” he admitted. “But when our mate is endangered it comes out in us.”
He flexed his hands, relishing the power swirling throughout his system. He could take on ten more vampires right now, and he knew he could and would destroy anyone who looked to hurt her.
He wiped the blood away from his face with the back of his arm before gesturing toward the house. “We have to go,” he said gruffly.
“Are there more nearby?” she asked.
“No, not yet, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be, and I’m not taking any chances with you.”
She blinked at him as if she didn’t hear him before nodding. Glancing at the bodies surrounding him, his shoulders slumped. All he’d ever wanted from life was peace, yet he and his family were constantly threatened by those who had never been able to find any peace in their own lives.
Turning away, he swiftly climbed the porch to pick up the duffel bag he’d left there and to retrieve Paige’s bag. “I’m sorry you had to see that,” he told her when he rejoined her. He placed both of their bags near her feet.
Paige felt hollow when she met his gaze. It was never going to end, she knew that now, her father would hunt her until the day one of them died. “It’s my fault, they came here for me.”
“No, it’s not. I have to bury the bodies. Wait here for a few minutes.”
“You’re going to dig a grave in a few…” her question trailed off. He’d taken out three vampires on his own, could run forty miles in five minutes, of course he could dig a grave in a matter of minutes.
“Your back!” she gasped when he turned away from her. His shirt had been shredded along his side and multiple times across his back. His blood had turned the blue material a deep maroon color. A jagged piece of wood from the window was still embedded near his shoulder blade.
He absently glanced at it over his shoulder before grabbing a shovel from the shed. “It’s fine.”
Paige remained immobile as she watched him walk to the edge of the woods. She stood in awed silence as he rapidly sliced through the earth to dig a grave large enough to store the three bodies. Breaking free of her strange paralysis and shock, she grabbed their bags and walked over to toss their bags into the back of the truck.
She realized now the hunters had lied to her; she could never be the vampire killer they’d told her she could be. The events that had unfolded here had finally jarred free her memories of the night she’d been attacked in the alley. Nabel had been with her, but he’d sent her into that alley alone as bait to lure in a vampire he’d sensed nearby. So excited by the possibility that vampire just may be her father, she’d gone willingly, but she’d believed she’d stand a chance against him in a fight. She knew now she never would have; Nabel would have realized that too. She’d been the bait, and thankfully Ian had come along to save her.
She’d been deluding herself by thinking she could take a vampire one-on-one and win. Maybe a massive group of people could take one down, but there would be many casualties. Nabel had led her to believe she wouldn’t need a group of people or a hunter’s aid. She couldn’t stand here and wallow in her realization or the sense of betrayal it caused to twist in her stomach, there was work to be done here. She walked across the lawn as Ian bent and lifted the body of the headless corpse.
“I’ll help you.” Her voice came out quieter than she’d expected, but he looked up at her.
“No.”
“Ian…”
“I don’t want you touching them. Please Paige, go over and wait for me.”
Her gaze slid over him as his skin began to return to the golden tone she’d come to know so well. She may not have been able to do much for him against those vampires, but she wasn’t about to leave him to deal with this alone. Nor would she be thought of as weak and incapable in front of him.
She walked over to the porch and climbed the stairs; her fingers slid into the brown and bloodied hair of the head lying on the porch, she lifted it up. As soon as she turned around Ian, standing directly behind her, brought her up short. He held his hand out to her, but she shook her head no. “I’m going to help.”
Ian took a deep breath before gently taking hold of her hand. “I don’t think you’re weak, Paige. I know you’re strong. There’s no reason for you to have to deal with this when I can take care of it. You’ve had enough death and destruction in your life.”
Paige reluctantly released the head to him. “How do you know I’m strong? I was useless against them.”
He gave her a halfhearted smile as the last of the reddish black color faded from his magnificent face. The red veins streaking through the whites of his eyes vanished, his eyes returned to their sky color. “I know you better than you think Paige, and you weren’t useless, there’s more to you than you realize.”
Ian fought the urge to bend and place a kiss against her forehead, but he refused to get any more of the blood coating him on her. Turning away, he walked over and dumped the head in with the body. He gathered the other two bodies and tossed them into the grave. He rapidly filled it in again, tossed the shovel into the shed, and turned toward her.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.”
She walked over to join him by the pickup. He grabbed a shirt from his bag, pulled off his ruined one and tugged the new one on. She went to grab the handle of the truck, but his hand shot out before she could grasp it, and he pulled the door open for her. He didn’t say a word as he waited for her to settle inside before closing the door behind her.
He moved so fast around the front of the truck that she lost sight of him. She didn’t see him again until he pulled the driver’s side door open and climbed in beside her. Without thinking, she reached out and placed her hand against his on the wheel. He glanced at her and gave her a smile before starting the truck. A spray of dirt and rocks pinged against the undercarriage when he pulled out of the drive.
CHAPTER 16
“You’ll have to get the room,” Ian said and glanced pointedly down at the blood that had seeped through his shirt and coated his jeans. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his wallet and handed her a wad of cash. “I’ll be right here.”
“Ok.” It took all of her energy to walk into the small office and ring the bell on the counter. A portly, middle-aged man chomping on the end of his cigar stepped through the doorway behind the counter. She could hear the low murmur of the TV drifting from the backroom. Paige’s nose wrinkled as the smell of the cigar drifted to her; she ignored the curling tendrils of smoke while she filled out the card the man gave her.
The motel was the land technology forgot, she realized. She didn’t see a computer, only stacks of paper scattered across the desk. Or maybe this was normally a pay by the hour kind of place, either way, she just wanted the key and a bed. She handed him back the card and paid with the cash Ian had given her.
The man’s eyes raked over her as he handed out the keys. She glanced down at her rumpled sweater. She hadn’t realized the sleeves of it were torn, and she’d lay money that if she looked close enough she would be able to find blood splattered on the red material. “I don’t want no funny business here.”
“There won’t be,” she assured him as she took the key from his hand.
The bell on the door rang as she stepped outside and searched for Ian. She spotted him standing amongst the shadows by the corner of the building. The dim light illuminated the golden color of his hair and emphasized the aura of power emanating from him. His gaze scanned the night, she could sense the murderous impulse radiating from him in waves. He’d most likely frightened off every vampire within a ten mile radius, but for some reason he didn’t frighten her as she descended the stairs toward him.
The best thing she could do was catch the next bus out of here and away from him. She had no idea where she would go or what she would do, but if she stayed she would continue to put Ian in danger. Her father had found her again. He may even be out there somewhere, watching her now. She doubted it with Ian so close, and emitting an, I’ll rip your head off, vibe but there was no way for her to know for sure.
She glanced nervously around the gloomy parking lot. Nothing unusual stirred within the shadows. That didn’t mean he wasn’t there, watching her, waiting for his opportunity to pounce on her. Being here with him put Ian’s life at risk too. She’d never be able to live with herself if something happened to him because of her.
She felt as alone now as she had four years ago when her entire life had been turned upside down and ripped apart. No, she was more alone now. Then, she’d had a mission, rage, and revenge driving her. Now she still had all three of those things, but she also had the knowledge she would never win. Not against a creature like her father.
Ian may have taken on those three vampires today, but he’d been injured, and she couldn’t expect him to keep putting his life at risk for her. No matter what he believed her to be, she’d never allow his life to become the battle hers had become.
She walked to the middle of the building, slid the key into the lock and opened the door. Her hand felt around for the light switch inside; she flicked it on just as Ian materialized at her backside. The flickering light on the bed table between the two full size beds revealed the dingy yellow walls, faded orange and brown bedspreads, and industrial brown carpet. The room looked like it had stepped out of nineteen eighty something, but it smelled of vanilla and she didn’t see a speck of dust on any of the scratched and lopsided furniture.
Ian closed the door and placed both of their bags on the first bed. He strode past her toward the mirror and sink across the way. She didn’t know what he planned until he tugged his shirt off over his head. She gawked at the broad expanse of his back. Blood stuck to his skin as he dropped the shirt on the floor. His head turned as he tried to inspect his back. There was no way he could see the piece of wood embedded beneath his shoulder blade or the pieces of glass still digging into his flesh.
“I’ll take it out,” she whispered.
He glanced over his shoulder at her before giving a brisk nod of his head. His body would eventually push it out, but the wound would heal much faster if she removed it now. She patted the bed closest to him and stepped back as he approached her. Settling on the edge of the bed, his shoulders hunched up when her hands rested upon them.
“This is going to hurt,” she murmured.
“I can take it.”
Her fingers wrapped around the piece of wood. From his angle, he could see her in the mirror as she inspected the injury. Her curly hair tumbled around her shoulders, her blue-green eyes were shadowed, but they gleamed with determination. Her chin jutted out, she took a deep breath before jerking it from his body.
A low groan escaped him; he flinched briefly, but showed no other sign that a six inch long piece of wood had just been torn out of his back. Paige lifted it up before her; her eyes nearly crossing as she took it in. “Could you get that away from me,” he said with a grim smile.
“Oh, ah, yeah.” Walking over, she tossed it into the trashcan beneath the sink. Paige returned to him with the trashcan in hand. “There are a few pieces of glass still in your back. I’ll pull them out too if you’d like.”
“Yes.” In the mirror he saw her gaping at his back. He could already feel the flesh on his back closing, the blood ceasing its flow out of him as the hole closed. Lifting her head, she met his eyes in the mirror and held them.
Something more than pain and anger sizzled over his skin as he held her turquoise gaze. His body heated at the touch of her fingers upon his shoulders; his blood flowed into his cock, causing it to jump when her tongue slid out to wet her lips. She nervously looked away from him and focused on his back, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her as she began to tenderly pick the shards of glass from his flesh.
Paige forced herself to focus on the task at hand instead of on the eyes she could sense watching her in the mirror. Her fingers trembled as his skin rapidly knitted back together. With a rattling ting, she tossed the last piece of glass into the trash and lifted her head to meet his relentless gaze in the mirror.
“They used me, didn’t they?” she inquired.
His brow furrowed. “Who used you, Paige?”
“The hunters. I remember what happened now, with Nabel in the alley. One minute he was behind me, and the next he was gone. He left me there, with my…” she broke off before the word father slipped out. She trusted him more now than she’d ever believed possible, but she wasn’t ready to dig into that horror from her past, not after everything that had just happened. “Enemy. I was bait to them, something to lure the vampires in, and nothing more.”
“I don’t know the answer to that.”
“But you think they used me, don’t you?” she pressed. “You said as much before.”
He rolled his shoulders back and heaved a sigh. “Yes, I do.”
Something inside of her broke; she’d already known the answer, already known what he’d believed, but to hear it confirmed again just made her feel more lost and confused. “I really believed they were the good guys.”
“Not everything is as black and white as you believe.” He rose to his feet and stretched his back. “Yes, there is good and evil in this world. But people and vampires are also so many other colors that you can’t even begin to imagine. It’s what makes this ride called life so fantastic.”
“I think we’ve taken a really strange ride so far.”
“Sometimes those are the best.”
“What color would you be?” she inquired.
“Well, dear girl, I’m all red of course.”
“Oh, of course,” she muttered. The smile he shot her caused her stomach to flutter. “Why didn’t you let those vampires take me? You didn’t have to protect me.”
