Northern Bites (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 2) (33 page)

“Aurora, what is in your hand?”

That should have been my cue to run, but I froze in place. My fist tightened. I turned around, not wanting to keep my back to Marcus. “Nothing.”

Marcus chuckled. “Why is a human’s first
reaction to lie?”

I shrugged. “Survival instinct?”

Marcus smiled. “A good instinct to have.” He nodded at my fist. “Let’s have a look.”

I fought the urge to glance at the open door. No sudden movements or visible sign
s of panic seemed like the best advice in this situation. I lifted my fist slowly, trying to buy myself time. My fingers curled back. Mike’s ring sat in my palm.

“Ah,” Marcus said.

“Why did you kill him?” I asked calmer than I thought was possible.

“I didn’t kill the boy, Aurora. You did.”

I screwed up my face. “How do you figure that?”

“You brought him here.”

“He followed me,” I said defensively, despite my predicament. Just because Marcus had me cornered didn’t mean I was going to let him pin a murder on me. Why couldn’t vampires own up to their actions? “The moment I saw him, I escorted him out. I walked him to his car. How did you get to him?”

Marcus stretched, at ease as always. His neck popped when he leaned to the side. “The boy came back for his jacket.”

“I told him I’d bring it to school.”

“He came back,” Marcus said firmly. “And because he knew you and had come here
, I thought he knew of our existence. So I invited him on a personal guided tour. I found us a cozy little room and went in for a bite. Do you know what happened, Aurora?”

I felt my throat closing. I shook my head ever so slightly. I didn’t want to hear. I closed my eyes for one brief moment.

“He started screaming.”

I opened my
eyes and looked into Marcus’s cold gaze.

“I had no choice
,” he said, devoid of emotion. “
You
left me no choice.”

I shook my head. Tonight wasn’t my night to feel guilty. It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t want Mike to like me. I didn’t want him at the palace. I didn’t want him to die. The culpability stabbed at my insides.

“And you leave me with no choice now,” Marcus said. He sighed and grabbed my arm. He was so quick he had his hand clamped over my mouth before I could scream. Mike’s ring fell from my fingers, clattering against the floor.

24

Marcus hauled me with him to the door before slamming it shut. I struggled to break free of his hold. His grip tightened and I stomped on his foot. He squeezed my arms so tightly, tears leaked from my eyes. He had the same brutal strength as Jared.

I kept waiting for him to bite me so I could put an end to this nightmare evening, but he didn’t. Naturally I’d get the gay killer vampire.

He pulled me down as he squatted in front of his dresser. My knees hit the floorboards. He pulled open the bottom dresser drawer. It was filled with leather bondage material.

My eyes widened as he pulled out a roll of duct tape, ripped a piece off with his teeth, and slipped it over my mouth, sealing my lips together.

When I squirmed, Marcus simply said, “It’s not time yet.”

He looked so determined
, and it nearly took my breath away. Not that I had any breath with my mouth taped shut.

Marcus
wrapped my wrists in duct tape, pushed me on the bed, and taped my ankles together. It reminded me of Thomas—human Thomas—the boy I’d taped to a chair in Fairbanks before Dante interrogated and killed him. Karma was one twisted bitch.

I tried to pull my wrists free while Marcus closed the door and rummaged through his closet. He returned with a stepladder and steel bar attached to chains and a snap hook.

Oh fuck.

Marcus grinned slightly as he unfolded the stepladder near the foot of the bed. He moved up the steps, reached up and attached the snap hook to a metal hook in the ceiling. My eyes expanded in my head. I would have preferred a disco ball, that’s for sure.

Once the bar was hanging in place, he stepped down. While Marcus crouched over his drawer of playthings, I rolled across the bed. I meant to stop at the edge, lift up, and hop toward the door, but in my panic I rolled right off the edge and hit the floor with a wham. Maybe someone downstairs would hear. Ha, fat chance.

The leg I landed on throbbed. Marcus didn’t bother turning from his drawer until he’d found what he wanted. He pushed the drawer closed and
stood up. He turned, holding leather wrist cuffs and a pair of scissors.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.
It was useless, I knew, but I tried to scoot away from him.

Marcus crouched beside me and began snipping away the tape around my wrists. I tried to beat him with both hands bound together. I didn’t care if he cut me. Maybe he’d see the blood and give it a lick.

Somehow, he managed to cut through the tape without cutting me. Once my hands were free, I attempted to punch him, but he caught my right fist and shoved it inside the first handcuff. Marcus tightened the strap around my wrist. All the while I struggled. Clearly he’d had practice.

He grabbed my second wrist and shoved it in.

Marcus cut the tape around my ankles then lifted me to my feet and toward the ladder. I thrashed against him. I hated the way he didn’t so much as grunt, as though dragging an unwilling victim across the room wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

He
hauled me up the steps and yanked my right arm up so hard I was afraid he’d pull it out of the socket. A chain rattled overhead as he hooked my cuffed wrist to the suspension bar. I beat his chest with my left fist, but Marcus captured it easily and hooked it to the other side of the bar. Thus secured, he stepped down, taking the ladder with him.

I hung suspended by the wrists
from Marcus’s ceiling, a foot off the floor.

He refolded the stepladder gently and propped it against the wall.

Marcus stood in front of me, surveying his work with a smile of satisfaction. I tried to kick at him, glaring all the while. Marcus took a step back. “Now, feel free to struggle all you want. It won’t do any good. I should know.” Marcus let out a deep throaty laugh. “I wish I could offer you a playmate, but this will have to do until my guests depart.” He looked me up and down. “I never did give you the full tour, Aurora. Once we’re alone I’ll show you my music room.”

I stopped struggling and stared wide-eyed at him. Marcus shook his head grimly. “Such a pity.”

He backed out of the room. I tried to scream his name before he walked out the door, but it was no use. The door clicked shut behind him.

I twisted from side to side. That wasn’t any use, either, but I wasn’t exactly in the mood to just hang around. The chains groaned over my he
ad. I tried swinging forward, reaching my foot out to grab the edge of the bed. The only thing I managed to do was wiggle like a worm on a hook. My nostrils flared as I inhaled and exhaled rapidly.

I needed my knife. I kicked
my feet, but the motion added extra strain on my outstretched arms. I tried bending my legs backwards. Even if I could touch the sheath around my waist with my toe, it wouldn’t do any good. There’s no way I could get under my sweater, get the knife out with my toes, and then magically lift it with my feet to my wrist and cut through the leather cuff. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it, but again, my mouth was taped shut!

Where the fuck was Fane?
How could he miss my red scarf hanging from the hook downstairs? The steel suspension bar above me creaked. Maybe I didn’t want Fane to find me this way. Talk about humiliation.

I stopped fidgeting. I needed to save my energy for Marcus. Just one bite, that’s all it took. I closed my eyes and concentrated on calm breathing through my nose. Clearly I had the disadvantage. My arm
muscles screamed with each passing second. Hopefully I wouldn’t need my arms, but who knew how long Marcus would keep the party going downstairs? I might be hanging here all night.

Oh
God, is this what the rack felt like back in the day? This was seriously fucked.

I tried to think about other things to get my mind off my aching arms.

I would not die tonight. I refused. Hell would freeze over before I allowed my last moments on earth to involve walking in on Noel and Fane’s suckfest.

That’s right, Aurora. Concentr
ate on the anger, not the pain. After a while, I didn’t have the strength to think.

By the time Marcus returned, I was happy to see him. Tears ran down my cheeks. After opening the door
, he took one look at my face and frowned. “My poor, poor pet. I tried to get them all to leave sooner, but they wanted to stay.”

He grabbed the stepladder from
against the wall. As soon as he’d unfolded it, I set my feet down and started crying anew at the relief in my arms. I held still while Marcus unhooked me, even though I hated having his body pressed against mine. Through my nose I inhaled the smell of sweat and alcohol.

Marcus helped me to the edge of the bed. It didn’t take much coaxing to get me to sit. While I did, Marcus removed the cuffs and gently massaged each wrist. He stopped, looked me in the eye, then ripped the tape off
my mouth in one swift motion.

Without warning I began crying. Even worse, M
arcus started rubbing my back. “There, there.”

I needed this moment to compose myself. My arms felt
limp and tingly. At least Marcus wasn’t in any hurry to kill me.

Once I had my sobbing under control, I glanced at the
open door. “Where’s your partner?”

“
This week it’s an art show in New York.”

“Does he know that you murder people when he’s out of town?”

“I keep Richard in the dark for his own protection. Now I’m very sorry,” Marcus said, “but it’s time we adjourned to the music room.”

I cried out when
he took me by the arm. I didn’t think he meant to be rough, not yet anyway, but it didn’t hurt any less. Once the blinding pain passed, I asked, “Why did you kill Crist?”

“Who?” He
paused with me in the doorway.

“Tall woman, dark brown shou
lder-length hair. Late twenties or early thirties. Frown on her face.”

Marcus chuckled softly. “I think I left you hanging too long.”

Understatement of the year. The only reason I let him lead me down the hall is because I didn’t want pressure or pulling of any kind on either of my arms.

“Up or down?” I asked at the landing.

Marcus studied my face. “You’re taking this rather well, pet. You always were unusual.”

“Yeah,
well, why fight the inevitable?” I answered.

“Wise beyond her time. Such a p
ity,” Marcus said again. “Ladies first.”

I took the steps one at a time. The last thing I needed was to trip and break my neck. I watched my feet the whole way down. Even though my arms were now free they felt
about as useful as spaghetti noodles. I made it down the last step and looked into the living room.

The lamps glowed eerily fr
om low bulbs. I’d never seen that area deserted. Fane really had left me here.