02 Blood Roses - Blackthorn (10 page)

She glowered at him. ‘Victim? He ripped my mother’s throat out after leading her down a dark alley with the faked cry of a child.’

‘Which you would have had to have been there to know, right?’

The pause was painful. Her escalating heartbeat thrummed in her ears as she broke from his intrusive gaze to stare down at the floorboards.

‘Your sisters didn’t even know you were there when she died, otherwise Sophie wouldn’t have had to research it herself,’ he added. ‘You covered it up. Just as you covered up that you’re a serryn. Quite the closed book, aren’t you, fledgling?’

She snatched a glance back at him, the triumph in his eyes calling her to retaliate. Instead she tightened her grip on the shelf, her toes curling against the wood.

He leaned slightly closer, his lips only inches from hers, causing every nerve ending in her to spark. ‘Only not quite as closed as you’d like to be. You haven’t opted out of being a serryn by some moral choice; you’re just too scared to face up to it, which is probably the real truth why you don’t want your sisters to know. You’re ashamed. You don’t want them to know how you’ve abandoned all the potential to avenge your mother because you’re scared.’ He almost smiled again. ‘It must be tough knowing if you’d told your sisters the truth about killing that vampire the same night, Sophie would most likely still be safe at home. I see more and more why you don’t want Alisha to find out, especially as she’s all you’ve got left.’

She should have pushed him away, but she couldn’t – not only because she knew it would be futile, but because something else was stirring inside her. That same alien something that had stirred the first time she’d laid eyes on him. Something unsettling. Something she knew, for her and her sister’s sake, she had to suppress.

‘I think I’ve got about as up close and personal with you as I want to for one night,’ she said, hating the hint of a tremor in her voice.

‘I’m right, aren’t I? That was your first experience of a vampire. Nine years old, down a dark alley with him slaughtering your mother right in front of you.’

She inhaled sharply in an attempt to calm herself as her gaze remained locked on his.

‘You’re scared of me,’ he said, the goading clear in his eyes. ‘A serryn scared of a vampire. Have you any idea how pathetic that is?’

The distaste in his eyes made her stomach clench. He almost hated her more for not acting on what she was than acting upon it. It was cruel. Unfair. Damned if she did and damned if she didn’t. But as he stood there in judgement of her, her indignation simmered to barely tempered rates.

Refusing to be intimidated, she forced herself with every iota of willpower to look him squarely in the eyes. ‘Have you any idea how pathetic it is punishing someone for something they haven’t done, just because of their DNA?’

‘I’m not punishing you.’

‘No?’

‘No. You’d know if I was. Trust me.’

Her stomach flipped at something that seemed to be somewhere between a promise and a threat. ‘I don’t know what’s evoked this inherent hatred of my kind, but you need to learn to deal with it for the time I’m here because I will not be threatened. Do you understand me?’

He leaned closer again, his lips less than a couple of inches from hers. ‘Now try saying it without trembling,’ he coaxed, his smirk infuriating her further.

‘I’m trembling because I’m angry.’

‘And insuppressibly turned on, right? Your resolve isn’t quite so cut and dry when you’re up against the real thing, is it? Not quite so easy to maintain when you’re not safely tucked away in vampire-free Summerton.’

‘You see me as nothing more than something to be tortured, slain or sold off as a commodity. That’s hardly the most seductive of traits.’

‘Tell your eyes that.’

‘Don’t flatter yourself.’

‘I’m not. I just know that serryn inside of you is just scratching to get out.’

‘And if you bite, I’m not getting out of here. So I’d rather you not be this close to me.’

‘Now who’s flattering themselves?’ His gaze didn’t flinch. ‘Do you know this is what they used to do with you rare reluctants? Your own kind used to lock you in a room with one of mine to battle it out until only one survived. How long do you think you’re going to last, fledgling, with all that suppression simmering inside?’

Leila held her breath as she lingered too long in those penetrating green eyes. ‘You want to keep this civilised, so do I. All four of us can get out of this alive and unscathed but that is only going to happen by us co-operating with each other. Mistakes happen. For all our sakes you need to back off because if you bite me, it will kill you. You’ve seen it for yourself, what I’m capable of.’

‘I’m not going to bite you, fledgling. But I should warn you how intoxicating the mingled scents of fear and arousal are to us. And they are both coming hard and fast from you whether you want to admit it or not.’

‘Or maybe it’s all part of my lure,’ she said, her petulance hard to suppress. ‘So I’d be careful if I were you.’

His lips curved into a hint of a smile, disarming her and knocking her confidence even more. ‘Very clever,’ he said softly.

‘Just a civilised warning.’

The seconds that passed felt like agonising minutes as Caleb appeared to be cruelly making the most of her fear. His mouth lingered within touching distance of hers, their breathing intermingling in the passing moments – hers slightly erratic, his noticeably less frequent, calm and controlled.

Her heart pounded at the thought of kissing him and how easy it would be. That was the darkness that terrified her. The darkness she fought to suppress for fear of it taking over. She would prove that she was in control, if not of anything else, at least of her own actions. She was not a serryn in anything but name. She was not going to be a serryn. She could control it, just like she’d always controlled it – something that had always been so easy, so straightforward.
Until
she was face-to-face with him.

The closer she got to him, the more she felt it. But she wouldn’t let it be triggered. She wouldn’t let the slippery slope take her.

Someone had to care for Alisha. Someone had to find Sophie. Someone had to protect her grandfather’s books. Someone had to stop the facts falling into the vampires’ hands. They were her responsibility. It was all her responsibility.

‘You do know I can make you fledge, don’t you?’ he said. ‘I don’t even need your consent. In fact, you’re more likely to spread those wings without it.’

A cold panic consumed her, but
something
else
was underlying it – something that curbed outright fear. ‘Force yourself on all your serryn victims, do you? How disappointing.’

‘Oh, they were all willing. And far from disappointed.’

The rain beat heavily against the windowpane, tapping like tiny frantic fingernails in warning. A gust of wind smashed another collection against the glass.

Her heart pounded uncomfortably. ‘And is that before or after you kill them?’

He almost smiled. ‘Now don’t go giving me those thoughts.’

‘Like you haven’t already planned what you’re going to do with me.’

‘I don’t think that far ahead.’

‘You strike me as someone who plans everything that far ahead.’

‘I’m flattered you’ve paid that much attention.’

‘What have I ever done except save the most precious thing to you?’

‘
If
you saved him. Remember the jury is still out on that one. But by dawn it will be irrelevant anyway. I’m going to initiate you by then,’ he said. ‘I want you to know that. Because I will not and cannot let you go.’

She glowered back at him. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn’t like it, but she refused to break first despite the ache in her gut. Her pride compelled her to double bluff him, despite her instincts telling her to the contrary.

‘Then do it,’ she said, more calmly than she could believe she was capable of in spite of the tension accumulating in the back of her throat. ‘Do whatever you’re going to do and unleash the serryn. And I’ll watch you choke on my blood. Because you will. I can guarantee it.’ She stunned herself with her boldness, a shot of pride sweeping through her despite the pounding behind her ribs that told her she’d just made a huge mistake.

Her heart leapt, her stomach flipped, as he brushed her hair back from her neck, glanced at the exposed flesh before looking back into her eyes – his surprisingly and terrifyingly composed.

‘The trick, fledgling, when you want to tempt a vampire to bite, is to mean it in your eyes, not just in angry words,’ he said. ‘Better luck next time.’

He pulled away, picked up his glass from the table and crossed the room.

She watched him open the door and disappear out into the hallway, Leila staring into the void he left behind, her nails leaving grooves in her palms.

❄ ❄ ❄

Caleb slammed his empty glass down on the bar and braced his arms across the surface.

The temptation to prove the sanctimonious witch wrong had been overwhelming, something deep inside urging him to overpower her. He should have made the most of the opportunity. He should have got it over with and proved his point – pinned her down and taken her to the brink of her survival instincts until the serryn in her had no option but to be unearthed.

And he might have if it hadn’t been for those telling dilated pupils staring back at him as he’d trapped her against the bookcase. A serryn’s pupils always
constricted
when they were cornered. And she could only hold his gaze in anger or fear; any other time it was just too intimate for her – another trait he’d never come across in a serryn. The seduction of their gaze was one of their most powerful tools. But this one had no idea how to use it and certainly took no pleasure in it. In fact, the closer he got to her, the more intimate the questioning, the more she shied away.

More intriguingly, it wasn’t out of repulsion – not by the way she had responded to him. She had actually blushed at his advance. He’d seen the appreciation in her eyes. He’d heard the subtle increase in her breath as she tried to avert from temptation. Because she had been tempted.

He’d been right when he’d sat next to her on the terrace, when he’d pulled her close between his legs just before he stuck the needle in her. Just as he’d seen when she looked up at him from the dungeon floor in fear masking a suppressed attraction – something she was clearly fighting.

And it wasn’t only
her
attraction to
him
that troubled him. The serryn most definitely had an allure all of her own – a deadly allure. Even more deadly after her reticence had almost made him explode.

He thought back to the hues of the flames bringing out the subtle copper in her hair and the paleness of her flawless skin; the inward curve of her waist that eventuated the subtle feminine sway of her hips as she’d padded silently around the library. And he hated how he throbbed and ached with the frustration of her reticence. An ache in his groin that had only intensified as he’d gazed into resilient hazel eyes far more toxic than her body. There
was
something different about her – something transfixing about her, drawing him in more than she should have.

He unscrewed the cap off the nearest bottle and poured himself a shot, knocking it back in one before he poured himself another.

Her willpower was immense. Her self-control was proving impressive; her ability to suppress her instincts remarkable. Either that or her terror of vampires was entrenched too paralysingly deep for anything but denial.

It only added weight to his theory about what had happened in that alley. Whether she knew she was a serryn before then or not, it was a hell of an experience for a nine-year-old kid. And a hell of an experience for the son of a bitch who thought it acceptable to attack a mother and her little girl. He hoped it had been excruciating for the gutless bastard.

But he couldn’t allow himself to believe the mirage he was seeing, no matter how plausible. Too many decades of experience told him it was just one manipulative game after another. He felt the irritation tightening its hold on his chest. Because if she kept her resilience up, if she proved herself to have saved Jake come dawn, he was going to have to let her go despite it going against everything he believed in, every instinct.

And he wouldn’t let that happen.
Couldn’t
let that happen.

He had to get her to unleash her true nature. She was there for the breaking, and breaking her he clearly was because he
was
a temptation to her. He pulled at her resolve. He made her doubt herself.

He poured himself another shot and knocked it back.

If she was inactive –
if
– he
would
initiate her, because all he needed was one sign of her true nature to do what was necessary. He just needed to be damned sure, if she was already powerful enough to be inciting him that much as a latent, that he could contain both himself and her in the aftermath if he unleashed her fully.

And then, come dawn, she’d be his to do with as he wanted.

Chapter Ten

L
eila stared into the burning embers, in the same position she’d sat for the past couple of hours, the same thoughts running through her head over and over again.

Like the predator he was, Caleb had sensed her fear and he’d thrived on it. He’d been toying with her, the glimmer in his eyes making it clear he’d liked the way he’d made her suffer under the intensity.

But more disturbing than the sadistic game-player he’d revealed himself to be was
her
arousal from his enjoyment.

She shouldn’t have felt like that – the superficiality of her attraction to him splintering her integrity. Butterflies flitted in her stomach at the thought of how much she had wanted those vampire lips against hers; how she’d wanted him to push that one step further.

She couldn’t lie to herself and excuse it as merely a moment of weakness, a response to a stressful and exhausting night. She knew what she had felt amidst her fear was excitement – excitement at how lethal he was, how shameless, how self-assured. He evoked something in her – something alien, something liberating.

She needed to get a grip and fast.

Caleb was used to dancing near the edge. He’d been there and survived with a hell of a lot more proficient and experienced serryns than her. And he was openly and unashamedly planning to bring the serryn out of her, his blatancy in his intentions adding to the insult.

And because of that, instead of adhering to the warning signals, she was incited to challenge him, to ignore the sensible option in keeping her mouth shut and her head down. If it hadn’t been for the embarrassment, the prospect of him laughing in her face, she would have just come out with the truth of
just
how latent she was, if only to wipe the condemnatory look off his face.

She stood from the sofa. Hiding in that room any longer, despite it being the sensible thing to do, grated on her pride too much.

His walking away had been all the evidence she’d needed that he’d equally had to temper himself. That in itself had proven he really did believe in the possibility of the holding spell or, as every instinct told her, she wouldn’t have been standing after challenging him the way she had.

She may have been at risk, but so was he and she had to remember that. The fact he was playing for dominance was proof that part of him had to be intimidated by her. In his territory he wanted her to know who was in charge. And using his sexual self-assurance was one far too obvious way.

But her thighs still trembled as she stepped out into the hallway. Her heart still pounded painfully as she headed down to the lounge to follow the sound of the TV. And her pulse raced as she saw him.

On the sofa nearest the terrace, Caleb sat with his back to her, facing the TV. Legs stretched out along the length of the sofa, he held a glass in the hand of the arm that rested on the back of it whilst he flicked through a book with the other.

She stepped closer, all the hairs on her arms standing on end. But she knew it was from more than the temperature of the late-night breeze drifting through the open doors.

He didn’t look up from her purification book as she sat on the sofa opposite him.

It sickened her to see her grandfather’s precious book in a vampire’s hands – all the secrets it contained, secrets that should never fall to the attention of one of his kind.

She tucked her hands under her thighs as she furtively watched him. But he didn’t flinch other than to take a mouthful of amber liquid.

She lingered on his strong jaw, his masculine lips, the pensive look in his beautiful green eyes. She’d go as far as to say perfect if it hadn’t been for the darkness inside of him. If it hadn’t been for him being a vampire.

On the TV, the voice-over drowned out the heated background discussion outside the Global Council office. The well-dressed woman stood with authority and composure amidst the crowds, the microphone curled discreetly around her ear. ‘Speculation as to whether Nathaniel Amilek will indeed run for a political place has sparked debate across the globe tonight. Of course, this isn’t the first we have heard of these rumours but, though as yet unconfirmed, the reluctance of Amilek’s representation to substantiate to the contrary when queried directly tonight has evoked discussion as to whether they may be on the brink of an emerging political statement. If this is the case, we could see an unprecedented campaign dominating the globe within days.’

The shot switched to Amilek nodding politely at the cameras, his head bowed, his mass of grey hair flopping over his aged face as he faced the interviewer. The poster-boy for the consang movement towards political equality made her skin crawl with resentment.

‘You’ve been told you cannot possibly be considered for a seat on the Global Council due to regulations in the Fourteenth Constitution, which clearly states that those of shadow origin cannot be selected to preside over the laws of humankind,’ the interviewer declared.

‘We’ve come so far in so many ways,’ Amilek responded. ‘We just want to have the same rights – for housing, for education, for jobs. This old constitutional law only proves how much of a division there still is. Progression is needed. Either we contribute or we don’t.’

Leila glanced back at Caleb to see that even this statement hadn’t averted his attention from her book.

The news broadcast switched to one that had become familiar territory over the past two weeks. The Vampire Control Unit had been brought into disrepute by revelations of corruption at the top of the establishment. Both the head of the VCU and the head of the entire Third Species Control Division had been brought into custody and charged along with another counterpart who had left the VCU some years before. One of their own had come to the witness stand, the stepdaughter of the boss of the VCU and one of their best agents – Caitlin Parish. She hadn’t been seen since appearing in court and many suspected she had gone into hiding until things settled down.

The speculation was that she’d gone into hiding with Kane Malloy – the very vampire whose sister had been murdered by those who had been prosecuted. It was claimed she had been having an illicit affair with him, evoking the scorn of her colleagues more than her whistle-blowing on corruption in the agency.

Whatever her motivation, Leila didn’t doubt it took guts to do what Caitlin did. She had proven that not all agents were corrupt – even if she had got embroiled with Kane Malloy. She’d at least managed some damage control following the outcry in Blackthorn when the news had emerged. Others claimed her statement had been part of the TSCD covering their tracks for that very reason, so fearful were they of the news leaking out another way.

Whether she was involved with Kane was still clouded with a huge question mark.

Leila’s grandfather had spoken a lot of Kane Malloy. He was a law unto himself – anti-establishment and even anti his own Higher Order. Rumour was he was one of the rare master vampires. She didn’t care what his status was – Kane had been the stuff of nightmares for her growing up, and more than enough reason to stay as far away from Blackthorn as possible.

The image of the handsome vampire flashed up on the screen – because handsome he was, not even she could deny that. And unfortunately, so was the one laid out in front of her. Only no one had warned her about Caleb. No one had warned her there were vampires as bad as, if not potentially worse than, the notorious Kane Malloy.

‘Do you know him?’ she asked, needing to break Caleb’s silence, to at least get him to acknowledge her – to do something to distract him from her book. ‘Kane Malloy.’

‘We’ve never met,’ Caleb said, his attention unflinching from the page he was reading.

‘He practically rules this district, doesn’t he?’

‘Not every patch.’

‘Not yours, you mean.’

‘He stays out of my business, I stay out of his,’ he said, turning the page. ‘That way there’s no need for complications.’

‘So is he as bad as they say?’

He glanced across at her, before looking back down at her book. ‘As who says?’

‘Everyone.’

‘Reputation goes a long way in this place.’

‘Which is why that scandal isn’t going to do the TSCD much good. Do you think he made it up, as some people have said?’

‘I doubt it. It’s about time the TSCD had what’s coming.’

‘Needless to say you don’t approve of them.’

‘That’s the polite way to put it.’

‘And what about the Higher Order? Do you have much to do with them?’

He turned over another page. ‘You suddenly have a lot of questions.’

‘Alisha always tells me I should try to understand more.’

‘The Higher Order only ever grace this district with their presence when they want something or have some punishment to inflict that they think will earn them points with the Global Council – anything that will maintain their luxury and privileges in Midtown. They can go fuck themselves as far as most of this district is concerned.’

‘Not quite the unified front they like to display then?’

‘If you’re talking about Amilek, he’s a waste of space. He’s just a puppet whose strings are being pulled.’

‘So you’re not backing him?’

Finally he looked across at her. ‘
Now
you want to talk politics?’

‘It’s just a question.’

He held her gaze for a moment before turning a couple more pages.

‘You must be supporting his fight for equal rights,’ she added. ‘Isn’t that what you all want?’

‘We’re not equal to you. We’re superior to you.’ He glanced across at her again, a glimmer of playful challenge in his eyes. ‘Whatever pecking order you prefer to believe in.’

‘If you’re so superior, why aren’t you already in charge? How come you’re still confined?’

‘Humans have let the Third Species down big time. One day that’ll be rectified.’

‘You think so?’

‘I know so. There’s only one way we’re getting into power and it sure as hell isn’t through him and his policies.’ He closed her book and placed it next to him before turning to face her square-on. ‘But you already know that, if you’re anywhere near as knowledgeable as your sister makes out. And she makes you out to be a very smart little librarian indeed.’ He leaned back, rested his feet on the table, his legs slightly bent, one arm draped across the back of the sofa. ‘And it’s going to be lethal for you again if the prophecies do come into fruition in your lifetime. You’ll be in a very precarious position if vampires rule. You won’t have the luxury of being able to hide in the safety of Summerton then, will you? You’ll be forced out of that shell whether you like it or not.’

‘That’s not going to happen.’

‘Why – because the Global Council put all these borders in place to guarantee that? Hiding behind their claims of working towards equal rights when all they wanted to do was have contingencies in place to minimise risk if the chosen one ever
does
appear? Are you still going to stand by and hide in your library then, hoping it’ll all go away?’

His mention of the chosen one knotted her stomach, a conversation she couldn’t afford to develop. ‘I have the right to choose what I do.’

‘And why
are
you so against what you are? Why, when you could make quite a killing? Literally. A girl as pretty and sexy as you, you’d have no problem reeling us in.’

She felt a flutter in her chest at his compliment as much as the once-over he gave her with those seductive eyes. ‘For what? To become something I’m not? I know how addictive it gets – how serryns who have done it for long enough forget who they are, lose all sense of themselves. I don’t want that kind of life.’

‘So it’s the loss of control that scares you.’

‘I just don’t want to have my throat bitten into by vampires every night. Let alone everything else that comes with the job.’

‘You’re almost convincing.’

‘Believe what you want. Just at least admit you have no intention of letting me go even when I do prove you wrong.’

‘So if I did let you out of here, then what? You’ll walk away and forget about all of this?’

‘I’m more than capable of pretending none of this ever happened,’ she said, her pulse racing in hope.

‘But what if I don’t want to let you go? What if I want to keep you here for my own amusement? For my own pleasure.’

Her heart skipped a beat. ‘You know that would be a mistake.’

‘Maybe I think it’s worth the risk. Maybe I think you’re worth the risk.’

She frowned at the remorseless self-assurance in his eyes. ‘Are you just incapable of guilt?’

‘For what? Getting to your kind before they get to mine?’

‘At least I’m trying to understand you. But your mind is already made up. The truth is you
want
me to be like the others. You need me to be like them. You can’t handle the fact that I’m different. I think that says more about you than me.’

He finished the remains of his drink. ‘Is that what you keep telling yourself, to ease those feelings of inadequacy?’

‘I have nothing to feel inadequate about.’

‘You can’t even look me in the eye for any sustained time.’

‘I know what I’m capable of.
That’s
why I don’t look you in the eye.’

‘So you do accept that this is out of your control? That the serryn will out whether you choose it to or not.’

‘That’s not what I’m saying.’

‘Sounds like it to me.’

‘Don’t put words in my mouth.’

‘So you’re no threat to me or my brother or any other vampire for that matter.’

She frowned. ‘I’m telling you, you don’t know me.’

‘I know exactly what you are and what you’re capable of. I knew everything about your kind even before your grandparents were born. You’re all the same. Deceit and manipulation become second nature until they’re your only truths as you revel in your debasement, itching for your next conquest. You reel us in and then you spit us out, and that’s all there is to it. It’s what you were created for. And there’s no exception.’

‘Which has justified every single slaughter, right? Have you never felt remorse?’

‘For protecting my own?’