My heart beats hard and fast.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he says, his once immaculate suit a mess of blood and tears, “and you can’t get past me. Even as you are now, I’m too fast, too strong. You won’t be able to overpower me. You’re in here for your own protection.”
And to think, at one time I thought this man, this vampire, felt something for me. Cared for me in some way. And now he has me confined to a padded cell.
I was an idiot.
He pauses for a moment, just staring at me. He wants to say something more, but he’s rethinking it. How do I know this? I’m not sure. He used to be mostly unreadable to me, but now it’s like I can sense his thoughts as he thinks them. Maybe it’s his blood flowing through me.
The hesitation is brief, though. He walks up to me until he’s towering over me, looking down and then reaching out his hand to slide a slender finger under something on my throat.
I reach up and feel it, a cool metal necklace that’s tight against my neck. At some point, while he had me out of it, he must’ve put it on me.
“It’s a pure silver choker. You’re so new, precious metals like this will sap your energy, make the power less intense. But you should know that you can try to run, but with my blood pulsing through your veins, I’ll always know where you are. I’ll be able to track you.”
I won’t be able to ever escape him? That’s horrifying.
“What if I kill you?”
He smiles. Slowly. “You can try.”
His arrogance makes me want to lash out right now and show him that he underestimates me. He always has, even when I was human. And now, with so much strength and energy flowing through me, I can make it a mistake he’ll regret.
As if he can read my thoughts, he goes on. “Right now, you’re overloaded with new lifeblood, my blood to be exact, and I’m old. Very old. Very powerful. It can destroy you if you’re not careful, so you need to be alone for a while until your body adjusts to things.”
I tug at the metal collar and grumble when it doesn’t just snap off. This is ridiculous. I’m not a dog. I’m not his to control and own. “Scared?”
“Of you?” He laughs and shakes his head. “You’re nothing but a kitten with brand new claws.”
Anger flashes. Hissing, I leap up, nails out, but he captures me easily and pushes me back until I hit the wall.
“Calm the fuck down, Elliot,” he commands with fangs bared.
I show him mine right back. “Let me go?—”
“No. Not until you relax. I’m not kidding when I say my blood can destroy you.”
I dig my nails into his arms, trying with all my strength to rip his grip off me. “Then let it. You should’ve let me die anyway.”
He stares at me, sorrow tilting his mouth down at the corners. But he doesn’t say anything and that only fuels my rage more.
“I didn’t want this!” I scream. “I never would’ve chosen this!”
Again, he doesn’t reply. His fangs slowly start to retract into his gums. His midnight-blue eyes move over me like ice. “I know.”
Heknows? And still he changed me?
“You didn’t give me a choice,” I say, almost a whimper. “Not like you gave Nell.”
Using his grip on me, he turns me in his arms and holds me close to his chest. With my back flush against him, he presses his mouth into my hair, and a jolt shoots through me, like my body is a live wire.
“Oh, Monty…” he whispers into my hair. There’s a silent apology hidden in his tone, and a great sadness stretches over me. I suddenly want to get closer to the strange heat that comes from him because as much as I hate to admit it, being this close to him soothes me.
My shoulders sag, and for a few moments I just breathe him in. Let my eyes drift closed as the anger seems to drain from me and turns into something else. I’m not sure what, but my heartbeat steadies, my entire body relaxing for once, and it feels good. Normal.
Meant to be.
But still…
