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Chapter Twenty-Eight
A sudden rush of adrenaline had me jumping to my feet. This was the visit we had been waiting for, but now that it was here, I suddenly found myself wishing I was anywhere else. I had no Supernatural powers at my command, no weapons with which to protect myself. Why hadn't I bought a gun? But then, I had never thought I would need to defend myself against my own kind. I remembered telling Rafe earlier that I had Susie to protect me, but looking at her now, even with her eyes red and glowing, she didn't seem like she would be much help. She was shorter than I was and slender as a willow. And she had been a Vampire only a couple of days. Maybe that didn't make any difference; maybe Vampires came equipped with all their powers immediately on being turned. And maybe they didn't. Why hadn't I asked Rafe about that sooner?
I froze as someone knocked on the door. There was no point in pretending we weren't home. The lights were on, smoke would be visible rising from the chimney.
“I'll get it.” Susie was moving toward the door as she spoke.
My gaze darted around the room as I searched for a weapon. When this was over, if I survived, I was buying a gun! Since I didn't have one now, I grabbed the fireplace poker and held it behind my back just as Susie opened the door.
“Susie.” Jackson's voice was filled with wry amusement. “I didn't expect to find you here, but it saves us a trip, doesn't it?”
“What do you want, Travis?” Susie asked.
“I think you know.” He looked at her a moment, his eyes narrowing. “Vampire?” he murmured, looking momentarily confused.
“We're not going back,” she said. “Your serum doesn't work.”
“That's why we need to try again.” His hand delved into his jacket pocket and reappeared with a small glass vial. “I don't want to hurt you.”
“Really? Is that why you kidnapped me, locked me in a cage, and stuck a needle in my arm?”
From where I stood, I could see his jaw tighten. “Let's do this the easy way, shall we?” he asked, and threw the contents of the bottle into her face.
Susie reeled backward, an inhuman shriek of agony hissing from her throat. I watched in horror as the skin on her face and neck began to blister. Holy water, I thought.
The two men behind Travis lunged forward. Grabbing Susie by the arms, they wrestled her to the ground, flipped her onto her stomach, and cuffed her hands behind her back.
Shouting, “Leave her alone!” I lifted the poker and slammed it across the back of the nearest man as hard as I could.
He let out a roar of pain as he rolled away from Susie.
I was lifting the poker to hit the other man when Travis came up behind me. He jerked the poker from my grasp, then backhanded me across the face. I reeled backward, my cheek burning from the force of his blow, my eyes watering.
I heard someone let out a shriek filled with pain and terror. I blinked to clear my vision, and when I looked again, I saw one of the men who had been holding Susie sprawled on his back on the floor, a bloody hole where his throat had been. The man I had hit was frantically trying to crawl toward the front door, but the angry Were-tiger biting his leg wouldn't let go.
Travis Jackson stood with his back against the far wall, his eyes wide with fear as he stared at Rafe.
I stared at him, too. This was Rafe, my Rafe, I told myself, but it was hard to believe. Clad in black from head to foot, his eyes blazing like the fires of hell, he looked like the angel of death come to call.
Travis shook his head as Rafe's hand closed around his throat. “No,” he gasped. “Please, no.”
“Only brave when you're on the winning side?” Rafe's voice was as cold and unforgiving as the grave. “You'll never hurt me or mine again.”
All the color drained from Travis Jackson's face. “Please.” His voice was little more than a hoarse whimper. A dark stain spread over the front of his trousers, filling the air with the strong scent of urine as he begged for his life. “Please.”
I must have made a noise of some kind, because Rafe turned his head to look at me, his eyes glittering. He was every inch a Vampire now, more powerful and frightening than I had ever seen him.
I looked at him, my heart pounding. Don't do this. The words rose in my mind. Please don't do this. I couldn't bear the thought of watching Rafe kill Travis Jackson. I knew Rafe wanted the man dead, and maybe Jackson deserved to die for what he'd done, but not like this.
Rafe's hand tightened around Travis Jackson's throat. I could feel Rafe's struggle as he fought down the urge to kill Jackson. Because of the blood bond between us, I knew what Rafe was thinking, feeling. The desire for vengeance, the lust for blood, and the urge to surrender to what he was burned strong within him.
And yet, for my sake, he fought it back. I saw it in the fading red glow in his eyes and in the gradual relaxing of his grip on Jackson's throat, though he didn't release him completely.
“Jackson, look at me.”
Travis lifted his fearful gaze to meet Rafe's.
“You don't deserve it, but I'm going to let you live.” Rafe's gaze locked with Jackson's. “You're going to go back to Texas. You're going to forget everything you ever knew about hunting, about Supernatural creatures, and about the formula your grandmother concocted. No matter what anyone says to you, you will never remember any of this. To try to do so will cause you unbearable pain. You will forget everyone in this room, everyone that was in the lab. When you leave here, you will forget this place. You will go home and destroy any and all records and photographs that have anything to do with the Supernatural community, and then you will destroy any and all records, correspondence, and photos held by Edna or your grandmother or the school in Texas. Do you understand?”
Travis nodded woodenly. “Yes, master.”
“If anyone mentions the word Vampire or Werewolf to you, it will make you violently ill and you will refuse to discuss it. If you ever attempt to hunt me or my kind again, I will find you, and I will kill you. Do you understand?”
Travis nodded again. “Yes, master.”
Rafe's eyes narrowed to mere slits. His power flowed through the room, making it hard to breathe. It whispered over my skin and caused the short hairs to prickle on my nape.
Travis's body tensed, then began to tremble. All the color drained from his face as he pressed the heels of his hands to his temples. “Stop,” he gasped. “Please.”
“Remember the pain,” Rafe said, his voice harsh, “And do not betray me or mine again. Now get the hell out of here.”
Moving like some kind of movie zombie, Travis left the room, one hand still pressed to the side of his head.
