Unseen, Page 8

  “My new what? And why the hell is there blood all over me?”

  Doug sighed. This part was never fun. He’d never felt the need to turn anyone else into the creature he was forced to be, so he’d rarely had to explain the ropes before. To become as disciplined and levelheaded as he was had taken a lot of work. There had been many years of isolation and starvation before he could control his inner vampire and live his life as he dictated it, not as the condition demanded.

  “You were attacked the other night.”

  “I was?” Zeke looked at his hands as if they belonged to someone else. “Is that why I feel different?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t remember . . .”

  When his voice trailed off, Doug asked, “What’s the last thing you do remember?”

  Zeke looked thoughtful for a while. “Uh, I remember going to work. Then hanging out with Millie, and . . . Trina. Oh, my God, they’re both okay, aren’t they?”

  “Yes, they’re fine,” Doug assured him. “You weren’t so lucky. There’s no easy way to say this, so welcome to the night. You’re now a vampire.”

  Zeke burst out laughing, but when Doug didn’t laugh with him, he stopped and frowned. “You’re bloody kidding, right? This is a joke and someone poured tomato sauce all over me, right?”

  “I’m afraid not. You were attacked and made into a vampire. Touch your neck and feel the bite marks. Your maker wasn’t any kinder than mine was.” Doug flashed the wounds he’d carried for centuries. His own had never healed because some makers were selfish that way. They liked to leave their permanent marks so others of their kind would know who’d made them.

  Luis can be such a bastard. He loves to mark us all.

  Zeke collapsed back on the bed. His fingers reached for his neck, but as soon as he touched the twin wounds, he removed them. “I can’t believe this. It can’t be real.”

  “First, it is real. Second, I don’t have much time, but if you hope to survive, I need to give you the basics, okay?”

  “The basics?” the other man whispered, looking vacantly into space.

  “Yes, the basics. The first thing you need to know is that you can never, ever see Trina again. Actually, it’s best if you find a new place to live, but it’s imperative that you don’t get her attention.”

  Zeke looked up and met his gaze. “Why?”

  “Because if she sees what you’ve become, she’ll kill you before you have a chance to realize what’s happening,” he said impatiently. He had a lot to teach this newbie, and the clock was ticking. “Now, I need you to shut up and listen to everything I’ve got to say. Otherwise, time will run out and we’ll both be screwed.”

  Zeke regarded him with a confused expression. “I don’t understand any of this.”

  “I know you don’t, but if you shut up and listen to everything I’ve got to say, I’ll give you some of my blood afterwards.”

  Zeke’s dark eyes suddenly glistened with hunger, and he nodded.

  I knew that would get his attention.

  Doug quickly started lecturing on Vampire 101, hoping this would allow Zeke to live. He was sick and tired of his maker stealing so many lives.

  Chapter Twelve

  Trina’s legs pumped beneath her. The thump of her boots against the pavement echoed around her. The old bastard had ducked between another row of apartment blocks. It was like a concrete city in here. Wherever she turned, a new orange building appeared. If she hadn’t been able to hear the echo of the vamp’s every step ahead of her, she would’ve already lost him.

  Instead, she followed his elongated shadow at every turn and let her instincts lead the way. These vamps were all the same—pathetic to the very end. They thought they could outwit anyone, but she loved the fact they always underestimated her. It gave her a greater degree of satisfaction when she was able to take them out with a smile on her face.

  A moment later she realized that while she’d been busy thinking about other people’s cocky attitude, she should’ve paid some attention to hers as well, because, just as she rounded the next corner, something struck the back of her head.

  Instead of ending up in a submissive position by falling to her knees, she stumbled. The momentum helped Trina keep her balance long enough to push off the brick wall.

  She swung around. When a fist came from out of nowhere and impacted with her cheek, she ducked to miss the second strike. Then she threw herself against the vampire’s back when he turned to run away. She piggybacked him, holding on tightly to his rigid shoulders, refusing to let go for even a moment.

  “Get off me, bitch!” he ordered

  She couldn’t help snickering. He’d struck out of nowhere, forcing her to lose her concentration, yet now he was resorting to insults because she’d just stolen the upper hand. Typical.

  “Is that the best you can come up with?” she goaded.

  “The best is yet to come,” Luis spat. “You have no idea what kind of legendary status I’m going to establish for myself when everyone finds out I turned the vampire bogeyman into one of us.”

  “I don’t think you’re going to get the chance.”

  Luis spun around, making her lose her bearings. It wasn’t until her spine was shoved against the brick wall that she realized what he’d done. He had her pinned and was squashing the air out of her. At the end of the day, she might not be entirely human, but unlike vamps, she needed to breathe. Right now she had a hard time gulping in one breath.

  “I can stand here all night, waiting for your last breath,” he told her, pressing back even harder against her.

  Yes, he could, but she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction. While she tried to come up with a plan, she sucked in a shallow breath, and her lungs burned from the effort, causing black spots to dance in front of her eyes.

  Trina sucked in another painful breath, while summoning as much strength as she could. Then she head-butted the back of his skull. It hurt like hell and blood instantly dribbled from both her nose and mouth, but it had the desired effect. Luis stumbled forward just enough for her to slide off his back and regain her footing.

  She bent over, sucking in as many rapid breaths as she could through her ruined nose.

  Luis turned to face her. “You’re like a cockroach, aren’t you?” His eyes were shiny in the dark. “I’ve heard that you’re really hard to kill, but I’m not going to let you get away from me.”

  “What makes you think you’re better than all the others who’ve tried before you?” She grinned at him. This moron wasn’t the first one to think he was stronger and smarter than all the other vampires. Sometimes it felt as if they all wanted a piece of her just so they could get the bragging rights. She didn’t mind because such stupidity usually became their undoing, and she’d use it against him, just like she’d done a thousand times before.

  Luis stood very still, considering her, as if he was trying to come up with a response to her question.

  She took the opportunity to rush him and had her foot in the air before he knew what was coming. The crunch of his cheekbone echoed around the walls of the looming buildings. She quickly followed up the kick with another to his right knee. He tumbled forward, landing on the knee she’d just managed to snap.

  “You’re going to regret that, bitch,” he said through gritted teeth, obviously pissed. He pushed off the ground and leapt up into the air before she had a chance to react.

  Trina held up her left forearm to protect her already injured face, and Luis sank his teeth into her skin. Not just his fangs, though they were deeply embedded into her flesh, but all of his teeth. She fought to push him off, but no matter how much she squirmed and hit him wherever she could, she couldn’t dislodge him. He was like a lock-jawed, feral animal.

  She drew in a deep breath, trying to calm herself long enough to figure out a way to get him off her without having to amputate her own arm. In the end, she gritted her teeth and forcibly ripped it away from his mouth. Burning pain raced up her arm, numbing
it. Blood splattered all over his face, and he licked his lips, smiling.

  “Now I’ve got you.” Luis advanced, but she tripped him by sweeping a foot beneath both of his. She moved out of his way as he lost his balance and fell back against the wall. He might have a ruined leg, but he was still strong and wouldn’t give up. She knew that.

  Trina grabbed hold of his right arm, swiveled him around and lifted it against his back. Holding him steady, with her injured arm, she grabbed her wooden stake and pulled it from the small of her back with her other shaky and bloody hand. Her arm hurt like hell, and a bit of flesh flapped to and fro, even beneath the long sleeves of her top and jacket because he’d managed to tear them off too, but she still managed to hold him in place as she raised the stake into the air. She didn’t have a choice.

  “You’re not going to get the chance to tell this story,” she said, striking him with her weapon.

  It grazed his cheek and clothes on the way down but she hadn’t used enough strength, or maybe he was just too fast. Before Trina knew what was happening, Luis slipped out of her grasp and disappeared. The wooden stake clattered as it landed on the concrete. The only thing left to show that he’d been here at all were his limping, retreating footsteps.

  “Fuck!” This is all I need, to have this freak out there stalking me in the shadows for another night. This was supposed to be over. Maybe if she’d had the backup she’d headed out with, they might have achieved that goal together. Not that Trina needed help, but she had to admit it would’ve come in handy. Besides, after Doug turned up at her place, and then walked down the street holding her hand, she’d started to feel an inkling of camaraderie toward him. She had enjoyed his company—something she wasn’t supposed to enjoy from anyone. Caring about people only made her weaker, provided for a distraction she didn’t want or need. A distraction that nearly got her killed tonight.

  So where was Doug now? she wondered as she stood there, breathing heavily and sucking in as much of the cold air as she could, all the while listening, smelling and allowing her senses to feel their way around the vibrations surrounding her. She needed to make sure Luis wasn’t just playing around and would jump out to attack her when she least expected it.

  Seconds ticked over into minutes, and still she felt and heard nothing. She was totally alone. He’d done the runner, and there was nothing she could do about it. For now.

  Trina lifted her arm and inspected the bite wound. Blood had seeped through the fabric of her top and jacket, but now they flapped in the wind with her torn skin. She needed to clean it, bandage it up nice and tight so it would set into another scar and not get infected.

  Just another one to add to the collection, I suppose. But she didn’t have the time to do that right now. Instead took off her jacket and tore several strips from it that were long enough to use as makeshift bandages.

  She might heal a hell of a lot quicker than the average human, but if she didn’t position this flap of skin back into place soon, it wouldn’t set properly.

  She tossed the rest of her jacket aside, rolled up her shirtsleeve and pressed the skin firmly back into place. She inhaled sharply and winced at the discomfort. When everything was back where it was supposed to go, she wound fabric strips around her arm as tightly as she could. It would have to do for now.

  She leaned over and picked up the remainder of her jacket, as well as the wooden stake, tucking it into the waistband of her jeans as she walked away.

  Sighing, she threw the torn jacket into the nearest trash can and continued back the way she’d come, hoping to find Doug along the way.

  A shiver raced down her spine at the thought of Doug. It made her entire body tremble as she walked. What was it about him that roused such a strange reaction? Maybe she just wasn’t listening to her instincts like she should. But as she passed the spot where she’d left him earlier and didn’t see any sign of him, Trina couldn’t pretend anymore. Something really strange was going on with Doug and she had to stop denying it.

  Stop pretending you don’t know what he is. It’s time for you to face the truth.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “What a bust!” Trina stormed into her apartment, locked the door, and made her way toward the couch. She didn’t get a chance to plop onto it, though. First, the phone rang, making her jump and head for the light switch. Then someone grabbed hold of her upper arms so hard she cried out before she was tossed across the living room and her spine smacked against the front door. Someone was also knocking on the glass sliding door. “What the fuck?”

  “You didn’t think I’d let you get away from me, did you?” Luis’s cunning voice echoed inside her living room.

  “Is that all you know how to say?” she taunted as she forced herself to ignore all the different flares of pain spiking through her body and got to her feet. She switched the light on.

  Luis flashed his bloodstained teeth and paced from one side of the living room to the other. Every now and then, he glanced towards the closed sliding door. She already knew who was standing out there all antsy and wanting to get inside. Doug.

  Who’d handed out invitations to a party at her place and forgot to send her one? At least she now knew the welcome mat with the vamp message worked.

  Trina didn’t move from her spot. She had a good view of both men. Doug was waiting for her to let him in, and Luis paced in front of her like the predator he wanted to believe he was.

  She snuck a glance at the Allure Urn and felt a deep tug inside her gut. The proximity of Luis was driving the urn insane, and that, in turn, made her nuts with the need to end this. But he didn’t even spare one glance at the urn. As much as she hated to admit, it reminded her of Doug’s reaction. The revelation stabbed into her heart and she closed her eyes for a second to force it away. It was getting harder to deny what she suspected—or already knew—about Doug, and it hurt like hell.

  I can’t deal with this at the moment.

  First, she had to finish off this old bastard. The sooner Luis was gone, the sooner she’d be able to steal his vampiric power. Then she’d settle down on the couch with a nice cup of hot chocolate and a packet of Tim Tams on the side. Yeah, that sounded like a lot more fun than what she now faced. As for Doug . . . well, she’d handle him after she had some downtime.

  Luis sneered, his upper lip curling as he glared at her with shiny eyes full of hunger. “Come here, little girl.”

  The phone stopped ringing. One less thing to worry about.

  “You know, just because you keep calling me that doesn’t make it true.” Trina straightened, rolling her shoulders. “Actually, it sounds as if you haven’t heard the truth about me at all. Otherwise, you’d know better than to charge into my territory like this.”

  Luis actually threw his head back and laughed. His oily, curly hair looked knotted and bloody. “It’s a shame I’ll have to hurt you before making you one of my vamps.”

  “That’s not going to happen and you know it.” Trina took a step forward, ignoring the pain in her shoulder blades and back. “I am, however, curious. Why did you do it? Why bother turning people into monsters, if you’re just going to dump them?”

  He shrugged, taking a single stride. “I did it because I can.”

  “But you didn’t give a shit about any of them.”

  “I still don’t.” His thin-lipped smile returned.

  It was Trina who laughed now. “You’re a heartless fuck, aren’t you?”

  She shot a sidelong look at Doug. He was positioned on the balcony, waiting on the other side of the glass. Judging by his posture and the way he seemed to be bouncing on his feet, he couldn’t wait to get inside. If she raced over and unlocked the door, he could get in. But would he help her? All of the short-lived faith she’d put in him had faded into oblivion. She didn’t understand why she’d bothered to listen to a word he’d said, or agreed to help him, for that matter.

  Oh, right, she’d done it because the promise of old ash was too much to ignore, even on a subcons
cious level.

  Once again her stupid instincts had landed her in a mess. And now the only way out was via a struggle inside her home. What would the neighbors think? Well, if she was honest, she didn’t give a crap. If it wasn’t for her, several of them might be just like the monster she now faced.

  “Are we going to dance all night, or are you going to bite me?” she taunted with a grin.

  Luis literally jumped at the chance, but she anticipated his move and crossed the room before he could grab her. He swung around, fangs at the ready and actually hissed like some rabid animal.

  “I think you’re getting a little slow there.” She didn’t wait for his response, but raced toward the sliding door. She might not know whose side Doug was on, but she saw no point in leaving him out in the cold all night.

  As she reached for the lock, Luis sprang out of nowhere and grabbed her from behind. He wrapped an arm around her front. Then, pressing his forearm under her chin—like she’d done to Millie only days ago—he lifted her feet off the ground.

  “Now I’ve got you,” he growled in her ear, his cold breath making her skin crawl.

  The toes of her boots skimmed the floor. “But can you . . . keep me?”

  “Of course I can.”

  She slammed the back of her head against his. His grip instantly loosened, and she stomped on his left foot with the heel of her boot. Not wasting another moment, she unlocked both the sliding and the screen doors in front of her. Doug rushed inside before Luis removed his hand from his bleeding nose.

  She watched him, grinning. They always, always, underestimated her as smaller and weaker. It never failed to both amaze and amuse her. It also made taking them down that much sweeter.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Luis managed to snarl at Doug while wiping his bleeding nose on his sleeve. “She’s mine. You can’t have her.”

  Trina’s stomach dropped at his words. Everything she’d been ignoring suddenly came to the forefront of her brain, and she couldn’t deny it any longer.