The Sweetest Kill: A Young Adult Paranormal (27 page)

Oh, a veiled threat. How lovely.                                                                                                                                                                                    

“I-I’ll take your word for it.”

We dance in silence for a few moments before he speaks again, “Now that we’re alone I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize for Josette. Her behavior will be met with severe punishment.”

“That won’t be necessary.” I tell him quickly, shuddering at the very images that conjure, “She was wrong, yes, but I’m a forgiving person. I think she learned her place.”

“And what, pray tell, do you think is her place Miss Belle?”

“Not draped all over my… Tobias.” I quickly correct myself. I don’t know why but my mouth almost says the ‘b’ word, which seems ridiculous. Okay, maybe we agreed to something but that word bothers me probably more than it should.

Renshu’s pitch black eyes seem to turn a bit knowing, as he gazes down at me, “Your Tobias, you say? He does seem very fond you.”

“I’ll take your for it, Sir.”

“Please, Shoshanna, call me by my given name.”

“I don’t want to overstep my mark.” I mumble, feeling uneasy about being anything close to intimate terms with this guy. If the things I’ve been told are true, being close to a man that dangerous most likely end well for me.

I flinch back in surprise when Renshu’s hand comes into view out of the corner of my eye. I don’t catch myself in time and I see his hooded eyes narrow fractionally at my response. I try to stay as ridged as I can, while still dancing, as he continues to move his hand towards my face. When his fingertips brush along my cheekbone, I hold my breath and try my best not to even blink.

“You’re very warm, Shoshanna.” He says thickly, as his eyes stay trained on the trail of his own fingers, “Did you know that?”

I part my lips to speak but nothing comes out, so instead I just shake my head. His fingertips run down the length of my cheekbone and I can feel the old familiar feeling start to arise. My heart starts to beat out of my chest and my breathing starts to speed, until I’m practically panting. Bile rises in my throat and my joints all lock in place. I want to run as far away as I can, but my body won’t let me. Even it knows that we would never stand a chance if we did.

Suddenly, his eyes raise and he pulls his hand back from my skin. I can feel my brow dampen with sweat as I look up at him but he doesn’t look away from my eyes. It’s almost like he’s searching for something. I don’t know what it is, but the longing in his eyes doesn’t help my worry about what it is he thinks he’s doing. I thought Tobias said he wouldn’t allow anyone to touch me, and yet, this guy is doing it without any reprimand.

“P-Please d-don’t.” I plead as quietly as I can, not sure who can hear me in this room filled with the unnaturally gifted.

And as those words pass by my lips, his whole expression changes.

Bereavement

“What did you just say?” he asks, breathlessly.

“I-I’m sorry, I j-just...”

He shakes his head and lays his hand against my bare shoulder, “Do I make you uncomfortable, Shoshanna?”

Yes. “N-No, I just… I’m sorry, sir. I was just overwhelmed for a moment. I didn’t mean to cause offense.”

“You didn’t.” He assures me, looking at me like he’s seeing me for the first time, “You just reminded me something I thought I’d forgotten.”

I frown at his answer, but it doesn’t seem to faze him much. As he runs a pale gold hand through his long dark hair, I think I see it shake. Is he… nervous? Did I bring something up that was that bad for him? I thought he was a malevolent creature, but one pathetic plea from me and he seems completely thrown off his façade, if it is even a façade. It’s hard to tell with these folks.

The master brings me out of my thoughts and I look up at him again when he clears his throat. He’s standing very stiffly in front of me with impassive dark eyes trained on my face. The mask is now clearly up and I’m starting to question if I even saw it slip in the first place. He stiffly steps back from me and gives me a slight bow of his head before speaking.

“Thank you very much for the dance, Shoshanna but I have business to attend to. Please, enjoy the rest of your evening. I hope to speak to you again soon.”

Before I can even utter a syllable, he gives me a little bow before turning on a heel and walking away from me. A small entourage follows him as he leaves, and as soon as he is out of sight, excited chatter hums throughout the room. I sway a little at my feet and I feel Tyler grab my shoulder to keep me steady. I flinch away from him and straight into Tobias. God, can I just get a break from all these men?

“Are you alright?” Tobias whispers in my ear.

I nod and smile tightly but don’t comment. I can’t really argue about it right now. I’m playing the human arm candy to the host tonight, so appearances are everything at the moment. Tobias frowns but doesn’t say anything, though I can see by the look on his face that he’s dying to.

“You did well.” Viktor says, again getting my attention.

“He knew my name.” I breathe, more to myself but he hears me.

“Renshu knows what he needs to know.” Viktor informs me, “Some about his friends and everything about his enemies.”

“Which one am I?”

Viktor smiles, “Hard to say, but it’ll be interesting to find out.”

I grimace as I watch him walk away, a little skip in his step. I’m going to need a bath to wash all this bullshit off me later. Tobias runs the tips of his fingers along the length of my spine in a soothing gesture and I close my eyes at the feeling.

“As much as it pains me to leave you when you’re obviously upset, I have to go.” He whispers in my ear.

“Conclave?”

Tobias gives me a single nod as his crimson eyes search my face.

“It’s fine.” I mutter before pushing away from Tobias. Looking at him over my shoulder I try to keep my expression placid, “I’ll see you after right?”

He frowns a little but answers, “Of course.”

Turning away from him, I try to focus on not falling apart in his presence. My brain, treacherous as ever, pushes images of Renshu’s touch into my thoughts. My skin claws at the very memory. Again, it’s nothing against him, no matter how creepy he could be perceived. I just really don’t like being touched like that. It seems so… intimate. I can just withstand it when Tobias does it, but this… it’s just too much. Speaking of which…

Tobias’s hand grabs my bare shoulder, the same one Renshu touched, as he buries his nose in my hair. He inhales my scent deeply, before kissing me behind my ear, making me shiver. I can feel his lips at my ear and I peek over at him as his low voice speaks.

“You look beautiful tonight. You know that?”

I roll my eyes, despite my nausea, “I think you said that before.”

“Seemed important enough to merit a second reminder.”

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” I hiss at him, a small smile coming to my lips.

“I’d rather be here. I’d always rather be here,” he murmurs in my ear before nipping the ear lobe, making me jump, “Behave yourself and I’ll see you soon, wallflower.”

As he moves away from me, I turn around in time to hiss back at him, “Behave yourself!”

He only laughs before shoving his hands into the front pockets of his dress pants. He starts to walk backwards and when I start to scowl at him, he winks at me. I purse my lips at him but it only makes him laugh again. When he turns his back to me, I feel myself get very cold and when he’s finally out of sight, I feel panic come over me like a tidal wave. It’s completely unexpected and it knocks the breath right out of my lungs.

“Shoshanna?” Tyler asks faintly from somewhere near me.

“I need to use the bathroom.” I mutter, clutching my head, “I just need a minute.”

“Okay…” He trails before clearing his throat, “It’s, uh, on the third door to the left and at the end of the hallway. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yes.” I snap and quickly make my escape.

Without another word and holding one gloved hand against my stomach, I speed walk towards the heavy embellished door and swing it open. The hallway is dark and when I find an empty doorway, I decide this is good enough. My body is covered in a thin sheet of sweat, as I inhale sharply but uneven gasps of air. On one inhale, I dry heave and fall to my knees, as I try to stop the painful retching. Once I manage to stop myself, I sit back against the wall and try to calm myself down.

“It’s all in your head.” I tell myself in a barely audible voice, “It’s all in your head.”

I clutch my head and start to rock a little in my spot. I shiver in disgust, as I remember how Renshu’s hand felt on my skin. I manage to stop another dry heave and my makeup is now surely running down my face. I must look like a horrible raccoon creature, but as of the moment, I guess I’m more concerned about my sanity. A small, perhaps irrational part me, wishes that Tobias would find me. He has such an uncanny ability to calm me that I think I may be desperate enough to call on him at this point.

“How unusual.” An aristocratic British accent says from somewhere in the darkness, “I knew Josette had the gift for exaggeration but it seems this time she’s gotten it right. You are terribly pathetic.”

I nearly groan out loud. Can I not get a fucking break around here?

Stepping into the limited amount of light, I see a pair of glowing light blue eyes in the darkness and a pristine white suit. Well, mostly pristine. I see a little blood on the lapel of his jacket, which reveals to me exactly what he is. He crouches in front of me and reaches towards me, but I move back as far as I can from his touch. He smiles widely, showing blood-stained fangs.

“You’re exotic, though.” The vampire comments, “I’ll give the git that.”

“What do you want?” I snap, sick of his insistent talking.

He runs a hand through his thick blonde hair and chuckles deeply, “I was just curious about Van Garrett’s new pet. We all are. Not often you see a born blood drinker lowering himself to picking a permanent donor. Tell me, love, do you crave the bite yet?”

“Fuck off,” I hiss at him.

He laughs again and reaches out to caress my bruised cheek, “Do you need me to take the edge off for you, love? You aren’t looking too well.”

“I think I’d rather drink poison,” I snap.

The handsome blonde makes a face, “Nasty way to go. I wouldn’t recommend it. Perhaps, if you’re so keen on dying though, I can be of service.”

“Is there a reason you’re touching something that isn’t yours, Henry?”

I let out a sigh of relief at the sound of Tyler’s voice. Henry hangs his head and laughs a little before lifting his head to grin at me. He runs his tongue over his sharp teeth and with one fluid movement rises to his feet. I stay on the floor. I’m not sure I could even stay on my feet right now, if I tried. I still feel way too dizzy.

“She isn’t yours, Beaufort. You know the rules.”

“Much better than you, I’m sure. Besides, if she comes to me of her own free will, what fault of that is mine?”

“Leave. Now.” Tyler bites out, “Or I will have to remove you.”

Henry sticks his hands in the air in surrender, “Very well. Don’t want to have my face turn that way of the last vampire you attacked. Master Renshu is still out of sorts with you about your last outburst.”

“That doesn’t concern you, Henry. Now, leave.”

“Very well.” Henry sighs before glancing back at me, “Wasn’t worth the effort anyway. I would have hardly enjoyed it.”

Tyler is a blur of movement, as he pins Henry against the wall by his throat. He doesn’t look scared. But  instead, he looks smug, like this was exactly what he wanted to happen. Tyler snarls loudly in his face as he slowly morphs into a more animalistic form. His teeth elongate into a row of razor sharp teeth, and his lips recede back as his nose turns more into a muzzle than anything human. His eyes even flash a bright yellow color with large black pupils. His hand, the one wrapped around Henry’s neck, is longer with thick black claws where short nails once were.

I’m as horrified at the scene as I am fascinated. It’s easy to see where the comparison of a monster comes from. Like this, in this half form, Tyler looks like one. He’s not human but nor is he animal. He is something in between. Something unnatural. Oddly enough though, it doesn’t bother me. In fact I find my fear to be secondary to my concern.

Getting to my feet, I inch towards Tyler and clear my throat as I try to sound strong, “T-Tyler, release him.”

Tyler turns to me, flashing yellow eyes at me and growling. It’s a clear warning to stay away, but no one ever accused me of being smart. Clearing my throat, I try again.

“Tyler,” I tell him, sternly, “Release him. Now.”

Tyler growls at me before turning back to Henry. Letting out one more snarl in his face, Tyler roughly releases him. Henry rubs his neck, but he still has a smirk on his face.

“Good Doggie.” Henry coos.

Tyler growls and takes a step towards him, but I catch his arm.

“Tyler.” I snap and his still yellow and black eyes move back to me. I see them flicker brown again but I keep my tone hard, “I think it’s time you escort me back to my room now.”

Tyler sneers, but out of ingrained civility, offers me his arm. We start moving away from Henry and my courage raises up to make me foolish. Stopping, I turn to look over at Henry and glare at him as best I can. He looks amused, but I don’t let that get to me as I issue a little warning of my own.

“Just so you know, next time I may not be here to stop him. And when he rips your head off, it’ll be his right.”

“Is that a threat?” Henry asks sounding impressed.

“It’s a promise.”

Henry whistles lowly before clicking his tongue, “We’ll see, love. We’ll see.”

I wrap my arm around Tyler’s, and I lean on him a little as we make our way back to the ballroom. I’m sure I look a mess, but it doesn’t particularly matter. I’m starting to think that nowhere in this house can I be left in peace. Not with all these predators stalking prey in my very own home.

“Do you still need that minute?” Tyler asks, as we slip into the ballroom, thankfully unnoticed.

I glance up at him, “Frankly, Tyler, I think we both need that minute.”

Tyler tilts his head a little, “Good point.”

Tyler escorts me towards across the ballroom and down a hallway around a corner. Pushing a door open, Tyler leads me into a dark room. I hear a click from across the room and within seconds the whole place lights up.

It appears to be a storage area. Lots of sheets covering various shapes fill the room and make it more of an obstacle course than anything close to the glamour outside of its walls. I find myself relaxing at that realization, and look around curiously. What does a vampire keep in his storage room, anyways?

Lifting up the edge of one sheet I see a marble statue hidden underneath. Pulling the sheet completely off if it, I lift an eyebrow as I take in the face of the stone bust before me. If I didn’t think the man could get anymore full of himself, this just made it worse. It’s Tobias, in the flesh, or I guess stone. He looks like something straight out of a Jane Austen styled nightmare.

“Wow.” I breathe in disbelief as I take in Tobias’s impressive mutton chops.

Tyler comes up around my side and laughs when he sees what I’m looking at, “Why do you think it’s in this whole in the wall room? Not exactly something you’d want to see every day is it?”

“He said he was old, but it’s strange to see the evidence right in front of you.” I mumble, still staring at the statue in disbelief.

“Makes him seem like more of a nasty old pervert, doesn’t it?” He asks with a grin.

I give him a flat look, “Well, when you put it that way, sort of.”

“Only sort of?”

I push on his shoulder and he leans away from me with a laugh. With a sigh, I look at the statue again and bite my lower lip. Tearing away a bit of flesh I taste just a bead of blood and consider asking Tyler what I really want to know. I want to know a lot, but this question has been looming in mind since Tobias first brought it up.