Forever Claimed. Rachel Lee
What was going on? In the past all humans had struck him as equally edible. It was, after all, only their blood he wanted, and very little of it, actually. Some were certainly more attractive than others and made better playmates, but this response was different.
He didn’t like it.
He desperately wanted to walk away now, to escape from the enticing scent that filled this room, but he couldn’t. Jude’s office provided a likely target if the rogues decided on a frontal assault.
Some remnant of honor and integrity held him rooted.
Just then, reaction hit Dani. The air was suddenly tinged with terror—another enticing scent to his kind—and he looked at her. She had begun to shake, and her eyes were almost wild.
“Chloe,” he said. “Get a blanket or something. She’s feeling the shock.”
Chloe leaped up and headed to a small room. When she opened the door he could see a bed and some other creature comforts. She returned swiftly with a thick down-filled duvet and draped it over Dani.
“You’re safe now,” Chloe murmured. “It’s all over.”
Perhaps, but she hadn’t processed it yet. Luc watched as her head swiveled, then shook back and forth as if she were denying something.
“I can’t … I can’t breathe.”
“Yes, you can,” Luc said. “Force yourself. Deep, slow breaths.”
Dani tried, and after a few minutes her breathing achieved a more normal pattern. Then tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Do you know what they did to me?” she said. “Do you have any idea what it was like to be attacked that way? There were four of them. Four. I couldn’t fight them off. Why would they do that to anyone?”
“Because they’re sick and twisted,” Chloe answered sharply. “Reason enough. At least you survived. An ordinary human would have died.”
Dani didn’t seem to hear. “They were so strong. How could anything be that strong? They didn’t need four of them. One could have done it. But they all took part and laughed.”
Luc swore and sprang to his feet. He began to pace at a furious speed, not caring if he made Chloe dizzy, or if they couldn’t see him at all. He tried to exist above it all, but the simple fact was sometimes his own kind sickened him. Some vestige of his human existence, he supposed.
Regardless, right now he wanted to rip the heads off a few vampires.
He stopped pacing and looked at her. “Did you hear any names? See anything that would help me identify them?”
“I don’t think so. Why?”
“Because I’d like to visit the wrath of hell on them.”
Her eyes widened again, and he could see she didn’t doubt him one bit.
“There are four of them,” she whispered.
“Three now, remember. I executed one of them when he came back for you, and frankly, I would like to do the same to all the rest. If you remember anything, tell me.” It was not a request.
She gave a tiny nod. He could see the shock on her face, her difficulty in believing he had killed one of his own kind to protect her. Of course she would find that hard to believe.
“I saw what they did to you,” he said. “I saw it when I found you. I know what they are and they deserve punishment. I’d have hunted them then, but I couldn’t leave you. So I will hunt them tomorrow night. Or the next night. But I will hunt them and find them.”
A little shudder passed through her.
“That’s what they intend for others in this city,” Luc went on. “It cannot be allowed.”
“My, my,” said Chloe. “Luc the Avenger. Who would have thought?”
“You don’t know me,” he said shortly.
He wasn’t sure he knew himself anymore. Since Natasha’s death he had changed, and now it was as if a veil lifted and he truly saw what he had become. Jude was right: he was wallowing.
How revolting.
He sank back into the chair, although he felt like going out to run as fast as the wind, climb walls and execute vampires. He could barely restrain himself.
But restraint was essential, he reminded himself. Restraint because he had to guard these women, restraint because if he let his self-control crack even one bit he might do exactly the wrong thing, like pounce on Dani.
God, why did she call to him so?
Chloe sat beside her, rubbing her shoulder, passing her tissues, occasionally hugging her while she cried.
There was a time he would have done that, but not since his change. Now it was too dangerous.
Just what the devil had he become in order to save himself from the guillotine?
Dani calmed down eventually. Crying had exhausted her. But the earthquake she had sensed in the offing had arrived.
She was afraid. How could she look at a vampire as a savior? But she did, and it filled her with fear.
She’d never been afraid like this in her life. Her pack had always protected her. Now she was alone—like most humans, she admitted—and she had fears such as she had never known before. Fear of the night. Fear of being attacked. Fear that her life could be ripped from her by these rogues gearing up for war.
War against a single vampire. Four of them had attacked her, and however strong vampires might be, she was quite certain that one couldn’t stand against three or possibly more. Maybe Luc would help them, but even then the odds didn’t look good.
She reminded herself that she wasn’t really involved. She’d just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It might have happened to anyone who had been in the park at that time. Apparently from the way Terri had hurried out, it may have happened to any number of others already.
But the earth-shattering thing was that it had happened to her. What’s more, now that she understood what was going on, she knew that it could happen again.
Maybe she should catch the first morning bus home and just get out of here. Go back to the safety of the pack.
But then another thought occurred to her. Would her pack even be safe if the rogue vampires took over? It didn’t look like an immediate threat, but somewhere in the future it could become one. Because despite Luc’s announced indifference to her kind, she knew all vampires didn’t feel the same.
Her kind? Oh, God, she wasn’t her pack’s kind. That much was obvious. She belonged nowhere at all.
Finally she looked at Chloe and admitted the most obvious thing. “I’m afraid to go home now.”
“You’re safe in the daylight.”
“I know. But what about when it becomes dark again?”
Chloe said nothing.
“Here is not a safe place,” Luc said heavily. “As well guarded as Jude keeps it, it’s not totally impermeable to vampires. Little is.”
“The protection was mainly designed to keep humans out while he sleeps,” Chloe said.
“Exactly.”
Chloe looked at Dani. “What are we going to do for you?”
“Most especially if they somehow find out that she survived the attack.”
Dani’s mouth dried. Her palms grew damp and she wiped them on the too-tight borrowed jeans. “How would they learn that?”
Luc shrugged. “Perhaps they will find the one I killed before dawn removes his carcass. Perhaps because your body is gone? Because you are not listed among the