“Very good,” my mother preens, stepping back and slipping her hand around my father’s elbow.
I take that as a sign I’m dismissed, so I give them a quick nod and stride away. My eyes scan the crowd around me, but there’s no sign of Raya. Alex is chatting with a few others near the hallway to the restrooms, so I veer in their direction.
“Hey, have you seen Raya come this way?” I ask.
They nod and gesture with their drink to the hallway. “Yeah, saw her head through there a while ago, not sure if she came back through yet. There might be a line at the bathroom or something.”
“Thanks.”
I’m already moving before the word fully leaves my lips. I’m pushing through the doorway in seconds, looking both directions and seeing only empty hallway. Following a calligraphy sign on the wall pointing to the restrooms, I turn right and stride down the hallway. I can still hear the music from theevent back here, and it makes it difficult to listen for anything else.
Coming to a stop outside one of the restrooms, I knock but get no reply. After twisting the knob, it opens easily, and I glance inside to see a very elegant, very empty bathroom. Pursing my lips, I turn around and knock on the next door. A feminine voice calls out “one minute” and it’s clearly not Raya, so I move on to the third, and last, restroom. As with the first, it’s empty.
My heart is pounding and I’m starting to sweat.
Where is she?
Deciding I must have missed her, or maybe she’s been waiting outside for me this whole time, I stride back down the hallway toward the event room. As I’m about to pull the door open to go back in, my ears catch a scuffle from further down the hall.
I tilt my head to listen, and there it is again. My eyebrows pull down and my heart starts to pound in my chest, my instincts hounding me to hunt.
Picking my pace up to a jog, I round the corner at the end of the hallway to see a flash of gold disappearing behind another door. With a snarl, I tap into my vampiric speed and am at the door in a flash, ripping the knob completely off and throwing the door wide as I fling it open.
The door slams into the wall and bounces back, but I’m already through, and it slams closed on the rebound. I’ve entered a meeting room with a set of chairs, a bookcase, and a desk. Scattered on the floor are two black stilettos that my eyes quickly track. Against the far wall is my little shifter, and pinning her to that wall is my cousin.
Chadwick’s hand is over Raya’s mouth and his nose is trailing up her neck. His other hand has her left wrist pinned against the wall by her head, his hips are pressed to hers, and his fangs are fully bared as he scents her skin.Her body is effectively trapped and immobilized by his much larger and stronger stature, and although her free hand is scrabbling at the one covering her mouth, it’s doing her little good.
I take in all these details in less than a second, and Raya’s eyes find me immediately. They’re filled with pain and fear, a hint of rage simmering underneath, and that’s all it takes for me to snap. My sight bleeds red and I slam into Chadwick from the side. The surroundings are a blur as I let my inner vampire take full control; I’m fairly certain I’ve never moved so fast in my life. Even at my full strength though, Chadwick isn’t easy to beat.
One of the reasons old school vampires—mainly composed of the traditionalist, old-blooded families—still choose to feed straight from the vein is because the more fresh the blood is, the more power it grants. My family, Chadwick included, adheres to the barbaric practices of old and they exclusively drink fresh blood. Whether the victim is willing or not is of no consequence to them.
I, on the other hand, have not had a drop of fresh blood since I moved out of my parent’s manor at age eighteen, and that was over a decade ago. All this to say, we’re much more evenly matched than I would prefer. Fortunately for me, my protective instincts seem to be giving me an edge.
We trade blow for blow, neither getting the upper hand until I dodge a punch aimed for my head, then use Chadwick’s momentum to fling him across the room. He flies through the air and slams into the far wall, leaving a body-sized dent and sliding to the floor. I’m on him before he can so much as twitch. My fists pound into Chadwick’s throat, face, and abdomen, then I flip him onto his stomach, wrench an arm behind his back and bare my teeth against his neck, ready to rip his throat out.
“STOP!” Raya’s scream freezes me in place as Chadwick shouts at the same time.
“I submit!”
The words are garbled. Likely his throat is crushed, and he may be missing a few teeth. My eyes find Raya’s and the red haze recedes. She’s trembling, but standing tall with her shoulders back.
My brave little shifter.
I force my fangs back and stand, hauling my cousin with me and hopefully dislocating his shoulder at the same time, if his pained yelp is anything to go by.
“Stop,” Raya says again, quieter this time, but no less determined.
32
NO MORE VAMPIRE SURPRISES PLEASE
RAYA
Navigatingthe wreckage strewn about the room, I cross to the two vampires as my eyes flit between Asher’s. I thought I lost him for a bit there; he seemed almost feral, completely lost to the fight. The predator was fully in control and he didn’t hear a word I was saying.
I can see now that he’s come back to me. His eyes are still dark, still full of rage and pain, but he’s there too.
“Stay away,” Asher growls, jerking Chadwick’s wrenched arm where it’s still clamped in his grasp.
