Sweet Cravings (19 page)

I nodded in understanding. “What about Caen?”

“Didn’t wanna come. Said he couldn’t bear to look at the guy who’d possessed him, and that he didn’t want to be a hazard as Vex could possess him again.”

“Why can Vex possess Caen but not us?”

Sang paused. “It’s because Caen saw him in person, and I guess that’s how he can possess you.”

I formed my lips into a round O.

Darius started to glide right and leave us behind. “Wait!” I hollered and jogged beside him. He had a scowl on his face, and his amber eyes were burning with a rage I could feel touching my own skin, sending jolts of electricity along my body.

Sang and Haru sped up behind us and then slowed to a casual walk. Darius took my hand in his, which was icy cold, and glanced at me with a tender yet anxious look. I grinned back at him, and he shifted his attention forward, to the unknown we were about to go into.

We halted at a door which had red paint splattered all over it, and in the middle read
Stay Out
. I sniffed the air, and then realized that it wasn’t paint on the door.

It was blood. A lot.

Darius opened the door and leisurely stepped into a huge white room. I saw tables lining the left side behind the door filled with all sorts of beakers and chemistry equipment. The sight scared me. I hated weird shit like this. Sang came up beside me and kissed my neck, and then whispered in my ear, “It’ll all be all right.”

I hoped those words were true, because sitting at the far end of the room were Nyx and her master Vex.

My breathing became ragged as I examined the two of them sitting on metal stools and staring at us. Nyx was in a long white winter dress and boots, her silver hair cascading down to her knees. She sat perfectly still. Her eyes met mine and it sent terror racing through my body. I almost fell to one knee, but Darius grabbed my arm and pulled me into his chest.

I was so frightened. I just wanted to run away, to get out of there. But I couldn’t, because I wasn’t going to abandon the men I loved and my friend, so I planted my feet firmly into the ground and mentally beat myself for giving in to the horror from my dream. This was different. So different.

This was reality.

I backed away from Darius and glanced at the man who’d tried to strangle me. Vex didn’t look exactly how he had in my dream. I could clearly see him now, and he was definitely of Asian ethnicity. His black hair was short and spiked, and his eyes were so dark I felt like I could drown in them. He wore a black trench coat with jeans and leather boots, and he looked like a shadow beside Nyx, who was an image of purity with her silver locks and clean white dress.

I bit my lower lip and stood my ground as Vex’s deep purple aura washed over us. It was filled with malice and hate, anger and frustration. I fought hard to keep it away from me. I imagined my mind as a huge bank vault and the lock was tightly sealed so no one could get inside. It worked, and the aura receded from us and instead cloaked Nyx and Vex in a dark shroud.

In a second, Vex was in front of me, and I hadn’t even seen him move. He raised one hand and was about to punch me in the stomach when Darius caught his fist and twisted it at an unpleasant angle.

Nyx flew at me, her hands changed into claws, and her emotions spilled from her like a broken faucet. I could see her rage and loathing overshadowing her other emotions, and her face was a mixture of spite and malevolence. She swiped at my face, and a gash spread on my left cheek and began to leak blood. She licked the crimson liquid from her nails and threw her head back and moaned. I didn’t understand why she did that.

She lunged at me again, her dress flaring around her legs like an umbrella, and punched me in the gut, sending me flying backward into the wall. My back collided with the wall and there was a loud
crack.
Adrenaline pulsed throughout my body.

Sang yelled, “Lily! Do you want me to help?”

I spit out some blood and ground my teeth. “No, Sang. This is my fight.”

I sprung at her, and we clashed again, but this time my hands were claws, too. Nyx growled angrily and swatted at my throat, but I blocked her hands with my own. I pushed her back about ten feet before kicking her in the shin and kneeing between her legs.

She yelped in pain and backflipped away and onto her knees, and that’s when I saw the tears. She began to cry and looked at me with such intense hatred I had to collect myself and ignore it.

“Why? Why?” She punched the wooden floor and her knuckles bled. “Why are you so strong? Why does Master want you so badly? What’s so great about
you
, huh? Why are all the vampires gossiping about
you
? Why does Master want
you
? You bitch!” The fury spiked and overflowed her and then reached toward me. I closed my eyes and imagined my own pink aura, enveloping me in a sphere, a strong protective shield.

Her aura bounced away from me and vanished as it did. Nyx screamed in frustration, a wild, beastly sound, and then came at me again. I evaded her strikes with inhuman speed and jabbed at her with my claws, inflicting scratches and cuts on her arms and face. She truly looked like a raging wolf battling with another. And that other wolf was me.

I ducked as she kicked out with a boot and leaped back a good distance away.

I spoke in a breathy voice. “Nyx, you don’t have to do this. I have no idea why your master wants to kill me. Trust me. He tried to strangle me two days ago, and I didn’t have the slightest idea why. I’m just as confused as you are.”

She was panting heavily, blood trickling down her face and onto the floor “I don’t give a flying fuck if you don’t know anything. It’s your existence that annoys me!” She came at me, rage flaring bright red and orange, and she moved her hand in an odd manner. A gust of wind came from nowhere and crashed into me, sending me back against the wall. It really hurt this time, and I shrieked as tiny pieces of splintered wood dug into me. I landed on one knee, my back throbbing crazily, and was wet with blood.

“That’s it!” I yelled, infuriated. “I’m not gonna hold back one bit against you, crazy bitch!” I focused my aura into my hands and pictured it flowing outward. Then I imagined it morphing into a dark pink fire, a hot, burning inferno that shot toward Nyx.

She countered with a shield of wind, but the fire was so large, so hot, that it pushed through her wind and encased her body. She screamed as the flames licked at her flesh, and she fell onto her side. I walked over to her and stopped the fire. She was curled in a ball, naked from the heat incinerating her clothes. The fire had only briefly touched her skin; it was sooty and charred but not burned. Her eyes widened, terrified as I stood over her and examined her form.

She hissed, “B-bitch.”

I said, “That’s what you get when you mess with me.”

Sang came over and hugged me, and I had to sit down on one of the stools as all my energy depleted. I breathed in and out quickly and finally caught my breath. Sang pointed toward Vex and Darius, and I watched as they fought each other like feral beasts. Or at least Vex was.

Darius landed a punch in his gut and sent Vex soaring backward. Vex dug his feet into the floor and skid until he stopped completely and cringed in pain.

“You’re good, Darius. Real good. I think I’ll possess that body of yours.”

I gasped as his purple energy rushed from him to Darius and covered Darius’ black aura in a piercing veil.

He laughed maniacally as his aura seeped into Darius’, but then became silent as his aura rushed back into his own form.

“No. This is impossible.” He breathed with one hand pressing against his stomach.

Darius said, “Nothing is impossible.”

“You…why can’t I possess you?”

Darius replied, “You cannot possess me, because I am far older than you and have more power to deflect your piteous attempts. Now, I want you to stop this drug nonsense and be on your way someplace else.”

Vex’s face was the definition of confusion. He ignored Darius and ran after him.

One of Vex’s arms disappeared into nothing. There was absolutely nothing where his right arm should’ve been. He screamed and held his shoulder face twisted with agony.

Darius smirked and spoke in that velvety voice, “Now will you do as I wish?”

Blood gushed from Vex’s shoulder in a scarlet torrent. I wanted so badly to go over and devour his blood, but then I decided now wasn’t a good time to do that weird shit. So I stayed seated and continued to watch as Vex lost a massive amount of blood and bit his cheek in anguish.

“What was that? What is your power?” he seethed.

“I have no obligation to tell you.” Darius combed a hand through his thick chocolate hair and sighed.

Vex clenched his hand into a fist. “You cut my arm off and made it vanish in less than a second without even touching me. The rumors were right, Darius. You are powerful. Too powerful. I got ahead of myself and thought I could take you on, but it seems my ego got the better of me.”

“Now,” Darius began, “tell me that you’ll leave this area and never produce your filthy drug again.”

Vex laughed, and the blood poured faster from his wound. He began to take on a sickly appearance, like the drug addicts upstairs. His skin turned pale—way paler than Darius’—a milky white as the color drained from him completely. His eyes were bloodshot, and his black hair faded to a dark gray.

“I can’t make any promises.” He chuckled. “I’m not giving into the
great Darius
just yet.”

After he spoke he turned to me and fixed his gaze on mine. I stepped back and shivered in fear. His killing intent was like a hundred jabbing knives coming at me. I imagined my protective shield, but his energy clashed with mine and soon shattered my shield. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for it to penetrate me, but when nothing happened, I opened them and saw Darius’ pitch-black aura surrounding mine and strengthening its power.

Vex said, “Oh, so you knew I was going to attack her, huh?”

Darius looked at him with anger, deeper than the one Nyx had for me. His amber eyes glowed and became deep, deep pools of rage and fury.

“Oh, did I hit a weak spot there?” Vex cooed.

“You can attack me,” Darius said. “But you do not attack my Lily.” He let his aura whirl around Vex’s body and trapped him in an impenetrable black vortex. Vex cried out as the maelstrom of darkness sapped all the energy from him, not leaving a single strain left. The whirlwind disappeared and his eyes were in the back of his head. He swayed and almost fell, but then he leaned against the wall to regain his composure.

Darius was by me in a heartbeat and embraced me in his arms. “I’m so happy you’re safe, my dear. So, so happy.” He let his forehead touch mine and sparks surged through my body.

“Today you die,” growled a familiar voice from the end of the room. I focused my line of vision and saw Caen dashing toward Vex, his sword held outward in a killing stance.

Before Vex could react to Caen’s sudden onslaught, Nyx hurried in front of him, and the sword pierced straight through her heart.

Caen pulled his sword out and blood spurted from Nyx’s mouth, and she instantly collapsed to the ground. Caen jumped back, and Vex stepped over her as if she were in the way; a disposable tool.

“Aren’t you going to help her?” Sang asked, perplexed.

“She served her purpose, which was to protect her master. She’s already almost dead, anyway.”

“How corrupted can you be?” Sang whispered and balled his hands into fists.

Vex sneered, “Corrupt? I prefer the term productive.”

Sang was enraged. “You fucker!” He rushed to Vex and punched him in the side. Vex coughed and leaped back. Sang followed him and began a barrage of furious punches. One—no, two—hit, and Vex was steadily being pushed back until he was against the wall.

“You scum! You fucking scum!” Tears dripped quickly from Sang’s eyes as he punched Vex faster and faster. The other vampire caught the blows, his body pressed to the wall. Sang kept going and going until Vex was so bruised he slumped down.

“You trash,” Sang spat and strode to where I was.

Vex began to laugh and, wobbly, he stood up. He rubbed the blood from his face and spread his arms as if to say,
keep on coming
.

I ran to Nyx and held her hand in mine. It was becoming cold, so, so cold, and her eyes were fading to a dull gray color. She coughed and screamed, and I took her other hand in mine and placed them together. I used my fiery pink aura and tried to warm hers with it, but hers just wouldn’t stop fading to gray.

“I’m sorry,” she choked, face contorting with pain.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” I uttered. “You were diligent to your master and willing to risk your life for him. To me, you’re a hero, a very brave person.”

She moved her lips but no sound came. Her hands clasped mine tighter, and I saw visions in my head. Images of Nyx’s life; how she went from a little girl with nothing to a woman with power and prestige, all thanks to Vex. The fun times she had with him, following him wherever he went, laughing and smiling with him. The past few years he had begun to grow cold and uncaring, but her love for him never faltered. She had always been in love with him, from the moment she met him that harsh wintry night. She was proud to have saved him and hoped that we could lift the darkness from his soul.

Her hand went limp and her eyes glazed over into soulless orbs. I crossed her hands on her chest and got up, angry that Vex hadn’t shown any compassion for her, his blood-child.

I was about to go over and pummel the shit out of the fucking asshole, but a person in a cloak appeared in front of me. Before I knew it, they had injected a needle into my arm and drew blood.

I became dizzy and nauseated, and I tried to get a good look at their face, but it was blurred.

Darius swiftly came to my side and cursed the person who’d stolen my blood. As he examined the tiny hole where the needle had pierced, the sound of people moaning could be heard and my stomach quivered at what the hell it could be.

I looked past Darius, and Vex was gone, replaced with a pack of hungry zombies shambling toward us.