Lies in Blood (78 page)

I stood up and headed for the door. There was one surefire way to make sure she never disobeyed me again.

The blues and whites of my old baseball team jacket had recently been swapped for the reds and dark blues of the football team. When Emily peered out her second floor window onto the dark, quiet street, she’d know instantly that it was me and, judging from her past reactions when I wore this jacket, merriment would be her first reaction. Not the fear she should rightly feel.

I gently flicked another stone at the glass, using a hell of a lot more care than I would’ve done had I been human. One misdirected toss and that glass would smash all over her bedroom floor, and probably all over her, too.

The blinds went up and the window followed, a confused Emily leaning out into the night a second later. She frowned, her eyes narrowing to search the darkness.

Realising she was human, suffering the human disadvantages, I stepped into the white glow of streetlight just near her mom’s burgundy sedan. “Hey,” I whispered, waving up at her.

She flicked her hair back, trying to appear indifferent. But she was glad to see me. “What’re you doing here, David? I have nothing to say to you.”

“
I came to apologise,” I lied. “Can I come up?”

“
Um—” After glancing over her shoulder, she looked back down at me and curled her fingertips inward. “Quick. Before my mom sees you.”

I ran toward the trellis attached to the gutter, making it look as if I climbed it, taking a swift leap instead and grabbing her windowsill. She reached out and cupped my wrist, pulling to help me in. And we landed in a heap on the floor, Emily forgetting she was mad for a second long enough to laugh at me.

“
Where’s your mom?” I asked, searching the house with keen ears.

“
She’s watching TV.”

“
And your dad?”

“
Away on business, remember?” she said, and the mood changed. She had told me that, but I hadn’t been listening.

“
Right. Sorry.”

“
You never listen to me.” She stood up.

I stayed on the floor for a second, lowering my head remorsefully. “I just forgot, Em.”

“
You seem to forget a lot of what I tell you.”

“
Not always.” I flashed my irresistible grin.

Her shoulders sunk. She sat down on her bed and rested both hands on her knees. It surprised me a little to see red sheets under her—a much sexier and more mature kind of setting than I’d imagined for this young girl. But when I looked up on her wall to the triangle flag behind the shelf of stuffed teddies and books, I was no longer surprised. The sheets weren't sexy; they matched the school’s team quilt she’d had made. And that made her seem rather pathetic and, at the same time, made the reason I came here harder to bear. How was I going to get it up if I had to feel the gazes of her stuffed animals over my shoulder—watching on as I defile her and steal her innocence?

I may not have a conscience to answer to, but the dark, shiny eyes of those stuffed toys might be enough to sway my decision.

On the back of her door, as I got to my feet and checked to see if there was a lock, I noticed a hook with a dozen or so handbags and, on top of them all, Mr Thompson's brown coat—the one he wrapped around her the day she was nearly raped. “You still have the coat.”

She jumped up and hid it under the bags. “I just forgot to give it back.”

I turned away and winced, shaking my head. That girl’s crush on Mr T went beyond obsession. “I can return it for you, if you like?”

“
No. It’s fine. I’ll do it.”

A chime of gentle laughter rang through the house then, and I suddenly located her mother downstairs, pinpointing her brainwaves and reading them quickly. She was settled in for a while. I had at least twenty minutes before I needed to make myself scarce.

I walked slowly around Emily’s room, touching trinkets and hairbrushes, pretending to check my reflection in the mirror above the small brass dresser, gauging the distance from her bed to the back of her door instead, just in case I needed to chase her. The bed sat right behind the door, room only enough to open it inward. If she tried to run, she wouldn't make it far before I grabbed her. But, as long as she didn’t anger me, she wouldn't have need to run. I didn’t come here to eat her, after all, just . . . bind her.

“
So?” she said, taking a seat on the end of her bed. “What did you come here for?”

“
To tell you you’re right,” I said, moving over quickly and taking to one knee, cradling her face in the cup of my palm. And she fell for it. All her romance-novel dreams were coming true. All I had to do was just play this game a little longer, and she would feel the full weight of my revenge. “I was mean to you, Emily, and I’m sorry.”

In her thoughts, she rolled her cheek into my hand, holding it there while we looked into each other’s souls. But experience and heartache taught her well. She averted her eyes, not sure what to say.

“
You know I care for you, Em.” I moved my other hand onto her face, and she melted a little. “I was so worried when you didn’t call.”

“
I know,” she said, and I just wanted to slap her and lick the blood off her lip after. Insubordinate little cow. “I wanted you to suffer, David,” she added, confirming what I just had.

“
Suffer? Why would you be so spiteful, Em? You’re not that kind of girl.”

“
Because . . . I thought, maybe, if you stopped for one second to think how it would be if I wasn’t around, you might appreciate me.”

“
It worked.” I laughed, lowering my brow to hers as if that were true. “I was so worried, Em. Please don’t ever do that again.”

She smiled, not realising I could see it. “Only if you promise to stop yelling at me all the time.”

“
How ‘bout I do better than that?” I said, standing up. “How ‘bout I make sure you’re never
bothered
by another nasty thing I do—ever again?”

She frowned, a little confused about how that could be a positive. “What do you mean?”

I rolled my shoulders back, giving her the smile that made her blood run warm. And she was mine. She didn’t even know how badly she wanted it, but the sudden rush of liquid between her thighs as I issued a knowing glare gave me everything I needed. “Lock your door,” I said.

She didn’t even hesitate, and I waited until her back was turned before I quietly praised this unnatural attraction her kind had to mine. Getting laid was never a challenge.

The lock clicked into place, but I didn’t give her a chance to turn around. I didn’t want to see her face as I fucked her. It would be enough to make me sick.

“
David?” She gasped my name out as I reached up her skirt and yanked her underwear down to her ankles. “What are you doing?”

“
Shh. I don’t like girls that talk during sex.”

She nodded, resting her forearm on the door, her head against it. And a few little thoughts sent shivers through her; she was afraid, but the fear in her only fuelled the monster in me. I wasn’t sure I had the strength to leave her alive after I had my way with her.

“
David?” She turned slightly. “What’re you waiting for?”

I shook it off—the feeling of dread. I couldn’t kill her. I
had
to stay here—in this town. I wasn’t ready to move on just yet, not after everything I’d been through this year. I just needed a place to call home.

“
David?” She turned around completely.

I laid my hand to the hollow just below her throat and pressed her spine gently to the door. She’d bleed if I fucked her. Virgins always did. I could control the hunger right now, but could I control it when I caught the scent of her life force?

“
If you’re not ready, David—” She braved the risk of her flesh touching mine, cupping her fingertips around my wrist. “We can wait.”

“
Wait?” I turned my murderous gaze on her; she recoiled, her eyes going wide. There was no turning back now. Either I bound her to me, or I’d be forced kill her for the sake of my own sanity. “We do this now, Emily.”

She searched my eyes for the human emotions that would quench her fears, and for the sake of her virgin little body, I showed her a gentle smile. The truth of it was, I liked Emily, as far as humans went. And I’d never stayed on in a town after mating with one. Emily would be my first, just as I would be her first ever love.

I smiled to myself as I stepped closer and lifted her skirt, revealing the small patch of dark hair between her legs. I would not only be her first, I would also be her last.

She tightened all over, tucking her hands behind her back as my finger went high up into the wet cleft under her skirt. But the tension made me want her more, and the smell of her—the smell of sweet, human things: human scents and cleansers and sweat—made my mouth water, hungry for the kill, but more, strangely, for the lust.

“
I’m going to enjoy you.” I leaned close to whisper against the side of her face. “And if you satisfy my needs, I will leave you alive.”

Her eyes flew open. “Alive?”

I drew away slightly, extracting my hand. “Lay down on the bed.”

She looked at the bed, then back at me, watching my jeans come undone.

“
I said lay down.”

With knees wobbling, she walked over and sat for a second, her mind focusing on the coolness where the air brushed her nakedness. But she obeyed, laying down, drawing her skirt down as she shuffled back.

“
Spread your legs.” I stood at the edge of the bed, waiting for the bitch to open her knees. When she refused to show herself to me, I grabbed her ankles and forced them apart, pushing her hands away as they came down to cover her pubic hair. “Do not hide from me, Emily. If you want to be mine, you need to do as I say.”

She laid her hands down by her sides one, then the other, and looked at the roof while I studied her where no boy ever had. Her hair wasn’t as dark as I first thought, but more of a sandy-blond colour, like the roots of her hair. It was longer than I was used to—untrimmed but not overgrown. She’d clearly never been shown how to groom herself, and I found it unnervingly arousing.

“
Take off your sweater,” I ordered.

“
Can’t we—” She bit her lip. “Shouldn’t we maybe kiss first?”

I laughed, lowering my body on top of hers, keeping my jeans, my shirt and even my socks and shoes on. Last thing I wanted was for any inch of my flesh to touch this pathetic little human. I almost hated her more than my victims. “I have no desire to kiss you, Emily.”

“
Then—” Her hand landed on my chest; I stopped just before entering her. “Why are we doing this—if you don’t even like me?”

“
I like you.” I leaned back a little and smiled down at her, but my charm wasn’t working. She’d changed her mind. “Em?”

She looked away, a line of tears falling over the side her face and down her temples.

I climbed off her and lowered her skirt. “Emily?”

“
Just go.” She rolled onto her side and curled up into a ball facing away from me, and for the first time in my entire existence, that small twinge of sympathy I’d felt for her when the student body shunned her repeated itself. I’d only felt pity like that once in my life for a human, and it had no place in me now.

But no one would know, I told myself. My biannual leave had began months ago. I wasn’t in the castle with my uncle and High Councillors breathing down my neck, telling me to harden up. I didn’t have to torture anyone or watch children die to feed the twisted souls of some of the vampires in my community. Emily cared for me, that much I knew, and as I sat and watched her cry, a small part of me cared enough to at least comfort her.