Destiny (13 page)

I frowned. “For what? Ow.” I’d pricked my lower lip on my fangs. “I see talking may take some practice.” I dabbed at my lip with the bar towel.

Stella tugged the towel from my hand. “My mistress also conveys her pleasure. She says,
I wish I were there with you, my little star.
They are lovely.”

“So why are Tessa and Thomas using you two as messengers?”

Jonas cleared his throat. “We know how you feel about unsolicited mind calls. Given the circumstances, they did not wish to upset you further.”

Given the circumstances.
Such a simple way to paint the monumental betrayal by Alexander, my supposed fated soul mate. Angry tears burned my eyes.

Adrian lifted his arm, beckoning me. “Come sit with us, babe.”

I shook my head and backed toward the door, blinking fast to stop the tears from falling. In the last three months, I’d cried more than I ever had in those twelve, memory-wiped years. It was
always
because of a vampire, both the good ones and the bad.

Alexander is a bad one now.

I made a sound, part cough, part sob. All pain.
Thinking of you. Missing you.
Bloody liar.

Everybody lies.

A single tear escaped and trailed, unhindered, down my cheek.

Adrian surged to his feet, advancing on me. “I’m gonna fucking kill him,” he growled.

I waved him away. “Don’t. Just…don’t.” My voice broke. I whirled and fled the office.

I stood in the center of the dance floor, letting the crush of writhing bodies, flashing lights, and relentless pounding beat pull me deep into the club vortex. I closed my eyes and swayed, but nothing could numb the pain of my shattered heart. My mind conjured up image after image of that damn woman kissing Alexander. I didn’t even know her name. In my rage, I’d failed to ask any questions at all.

I opened my eyes to erase the unsettling images and called the only vampire I believed would give me a straight answer.
Stella.

The response was immediate.
Yes, little vampire?

Who is she?

As expected, she didn’t make me play twenty questions.
Genevieve Martine de Champagne.

I fisted my hands at my sides. My enemy had a name now.
She’s French?

I do not know. That is where my mistress found her.

I clenched my teeth to suppress an angry growl.
The Champagne region of France? Wait, what do you mean Tessa found her?

Found her, made her, there is little difference
.

My surrogate mother had also
found
and turned Alexander. That made Genevieve one of Tessa’s minions, just like Alexander and Stella.

I believe her human surname was Boucher
.

Boucher.
Butcher. The butcher’s daughter stole my man. I wanted more details, anything I could use against her.
How old is she, and what’s her rank?

Genevieve was found in the fifteenth century.

My blood boiled. Great. A cougar stole my man. A gorgeous, powerful, undead cougar.

My inner feral cavewoman growled.
And her rank?

Stella paused, the lag telling me loud and clear I wouldn’t like the answer. Stella was fourth in command, high in Tessa’s c
osca
.
Please let the cougar rank lower.

Second.

My throat clamped down on the roar of rage threatening to escape me in the middle of the human-filled dance floor. Genevieve de Champagne, second in command, answerable only to my surrogate mother, La Contessa Isabella, my Tessa.

That damn cougar could make Alexander her slave, and only Tessa could stop her.

Alexander hadn’t looked like a slave. No, he’d looked like a willing participant.

Pain seared my hands. I flared my fingers wide and stared at my palms. I’d pierced them with my fingernails. My longer, sharper nails, slightly curved, almost like mini cat claws. I gaped.

Close your mouth,
Stella shouted.
You expose yourself.

Ouch, watch the volume,
I snapped, but complied, hiding my fangs from the humans. I couldn’t stop staring at my hands.
Stella, I have claws.

Congratulations, little vampire
.

I flexed my fingers.
How do I make them go away?
The fangs too.

How did you make them appear?

I don’t know.

Jonas shoved his way into the conversation.
As we have previously witnessed, strong emotion brings great change in you. It is your catalyst for transformation.

I frowned.
Hey buddy, I didn’t invite you to this chat.

We are observing you on the dance floor. And I am asserting my influence on the dancers around you. They will see nothing. Remember nothing.

I glanced at the clubbers around me. No one looked my way.
Thank you. Now tell me how to put my fangs and claws back in their respective boxes.

You must find your own way, my little warrior. Try not to overthink it. You do like to think.

I pushed through the dancers, headed to the lounge.
If you say “don’t think, just do” one more time…

No reply to that empty threat, so I pushed on.
Now, everyone out of my brain pool. I need some space.
A blast of cold power struck me as I hit the lounge area. Vampire power.

Fineas.

I barely suppressed a snarl as I stalked over to him and his entourage. He leaned forward and placed his champagne glass on the cocktail table, that damn, flirty smile plastered on his face. My power smacked him right in the chest, wiping away his grin. His eyes widened as he took me in, and I knew what he saw. I could feel it, my eyes burning with power, likely black as night and filled with sparks like tiny blinking Christmas lights. I curled my upper lip in a snarl, flashing my fangs and relaxed my fingers, displaying my new claws.

Fin’s eyes gleamed, his expression bright with admiration. He rose and bowed low. “Princess.” The next instant he embraced me, vampire fast, his mouth near my ear. “You’re magnificent.”

His warm breath tickled my ear, his lips soft as he kissed my cheek. When I didn’t pull away, he grew bold and pressed his lips to my neck. Once. Twice. I slid my hands around his torso and dug my nifty new claws into his lower back, enjoying how he stiffened and gasped.

But he didn’t let me go. He smiled, exposing even white teeth. Clearly he knew how to retract
his
fangs. “I told you, I do enjoy a bit of pain with my foreplay.”

I dug my claws deeper and opened my mouth to tell him where he could stick his foreplay when Scarlet, stupid, stupid Scarlet, stumbled up to us, spitting mad and drunk. “Get your hands off him, you witch.”

Fin’s face contorted in fury but I beat him to the punch. I moved in a blur and pinned her to the couch, one hand around her throat, my knee wedged between her legs on top of her skirt, securing her in place. “Watch your step, human,” I snarled, baring my fangs.

She pawed at my hand around her throat. I eased my grip enough for her to speak.

“But, but you’re human,” she croaked.

I cocked my head. “Am I?”

You’re better than this. You’re not just vampire. You’re human too,
my human side reminded me, but the blood fury had me now. My world had cracked apart. Dixon held my friends hostage, and was forcing me to drink some blood cocktail. Alexander was cheating on me with an ancient undead hottie, his treachery eliciting a vampiric rage that had spurred my vampire genes to push me to the next level, complete with fangs and claws. This puny human with her petty jealousies would bear the brunt of my wrath.

Carina!
Jonas’s voice boomed in my head, a painful bomb shattering my concentration and my desire to harm Scarlet. I released her neck and stepped back, but if she dared dart from the couch, I’d pounce on her, sink my fangs deep, go for the kill—

You are making a scene
, Jonas growled.
How many minds do you think I can wipe at once?

“Fine,” I grumbled out loud. “Scarlet.” I captured her with my gaze and extended a hand. “Come.”

She scrambled to her feet like a good little robot and slipped her hand in mine. Ember and the guy with the Mohawk rose too, almost bouncing in their eagerness to join me.

I pointed at the ceiling and shot them a wicked smile. “Let me give you a taste of Heaven.”

~ * ~

I lost track of time in Heaven, letting the pulse of club life carry me away.

Techno issued from the sound system thanks to DJ Milo, off duty from the main dance floor but always ready to throw down some beats for me. The bartender kept the fluids flowing for the humans and vampires I’d summoned to my private party and Fin, clever Fin, remained a permanent fixture at my side, keeping sake in my glass no matter how many times I tossed back the contents. He matched me glass for glass as we reclined on the couch near the bar and watched Scarlet and her Mohawked pal Rich, Gen and Claire, and Shane and Bobby bump and grind in the space made for dancing in the middle of the room.

I caught Stella watching me from her chair on the other side of the dancers. I raised my glass. She raised her bottle of grappa. We toasted and drank in silent understanding—men suck.

As did beautiful, ancient vampires from Champagne, France.

I whooshed to the overlook, sinking into the puffy, swivel chair next to hers. Through the glass wall the lights of the club strobed over the crowd on the dance floor, their movements out of sync with the beats from our private party room. Not a single speck of club noise penetrated our VIP lounge. We’d built our club well. Too bad I hadn’t succeeded as well at building a solid relationship.

Alexander’s smiling face flashed in my mind, that killer mouth of his nearing mine to take my lips in a possessive kiss, his tongue sweeping inside, owning me. I’d let him in. Everywhere. My heart, my body, my mind, my soul. I’d trusted him.

Stupid, stupid me.

Fin sank in the chair next to mine and refilled my sake glass. “Thirsty for something else, yet, Princess?”

I made short work of the liquid and waved the glass for more. “Stop calling me princess.”

“As you wish, Carina.”

My heart took a hit at the sound of my name. “No, call me Rina.”
Alexander calls me by my full name.
I emptied my glass, let the alcohol numb me.

Fin topped up my glass. “Rina. I can think of many more pleasant distractions for you this evening. In addition to the sake you seem to enjoy so much.”

Stella snorted. “Tread carefully, minion.”

I gave her the stink eye. “I don’t need a babysitter.” To prove my point, I abandoned my chair, pulled Fin from his, and took us two steps to the nearby couch.

I snagged the bottle from his hand. “Sit.”

He complied, his dark eyes gleaming with curiosity and heat. I sat sideways on his lap, legs stretched on the seat. My booted foot bumped Primo’s. That seven-foot and then some badass vampire warrior dominated the rest of the couch. A tiny wisp of a human woman in a barely there silver dress draped herself on top of him, one of her slender tan arms lifted over her head, her wrist trapped against his mouth by his enormous hand. He drew lazy circles with the other on her flat belly. He caught my gaze, vampire black eyes glowing with power as he fed from his willing donor. My fangs burned. A sudden thirst for more than sake gripped me.

Ember knelt on the ground in front of me. “May I serve you?”

Fin handed her the sake bottle and my glass. “Dispose of these and return.” He curled an arm around me, his hand resting on my hip, a firm weight. No groping, though. His restraint impressed me.

He leaned in, his breath a caress on my neck. “She’s sweet like the honey she smothers on her toast every morning. Salty too. She snacks on beef jerky, of all things.”

I laughed. “Thanks for the food report.”

“It’s in her blood. She also drinks heavily creamed coffee with an appalling amount of sugar.”

I shrugged. “Well, I’m not drinking her, so TMI, dude. TMI.”

Ember returned, and Primo shifted, making room for her next to me. She reclined against the seat back and swept her black hair off her neck, exposing that tempting column. My mouth watered.

Fin shifted me off his lap so I sat next to him, his torso a firm weight against my back. “Taste her. You’ll like it. Trust me.”

My head spun from the sake I consumed while my fangs ached for me to pounce on her offering. I trailed a finger along the pulsing blue vein in her neck. “You sound like a drug dealer.”

“If the proverbial shoe fits.” He massaged my shoulders, making me feel like a boxer prepping to step into the ring for the first time. “You can do this.”

I sensed everyone watching me. My friends dancing nearby, Stella, Milo, Primo, and worst of all Ren. He slouched against the door, arms folded over his muscular chest, glaring a hole in my forehead. Guilt attempted to trample over my blood thirst. This differed from drinking from Jonas. Ember was human. Vulnerable. I could easily kill her if I lost control. But the pulse under my fingertip, the burn in my body quashed the worry and hunger took over.

I cuddled against her, slid my fingers through her silky hair and took what she offered.

Holy hell on a chopstick. Best blood ever. I’d enjoyed blood from cold storage, microwaved to room temperature. I’d even partaken of blood from a fresh kill, my enemy’s blood served to me in a glass by yet another enemy. But this—fresh from the source—heaven.