Grim was still tangoing with the twins who’d gotten smarter about staying out of his reach, so I’d have to finish big boy off on my own. Stilettos had proven to be a detriment in a smackdown. I needed to ditch the footwear. I kicked one off, then the other.
Not realizing my own strength, the shoes didn’t just somersault into the air, they careened like missiles. The first one ended up embedded in the far wall, and the second one landed heel first, right in Bruiser’s eye socket.
Whoopsie doodle.
With an enraged scream, Bruiser grabbed the shoe and ripped it out of his eye socket with a wet sucking sound. Blood gushed down from his now mangled eye socket. Murderous rage flamed in his good eye as he stalked toward me. While I wasn’t a girl to back down from a fight, murderous rage came off Bruiser in white-hot waves. I’d bet my left boob Bruiser juiced, explaining the throbbing veins on his bald head. Not my right boob. That one was my favorite and I’d never put her on the line.
I backed up, wondering did vampires get ‘roid rage? I couldn’t decide if it was the perfect time to ask or not.
Then, like the last time I encountered Bruiser, his face drained of all expression despite the near-black blood still oozing from his eye hole. It was as if both times he crossed a violent threshold that was too much for his tiny brain to compute, which tripped a switch that turned him off before he exploded. Bruiser turned and hightailed it out of the club.
“Oh no, you don’t,” I said, sprinting after the surprisingly fast vampire. I’d seen this bastard twice now, and while I didn’t fancy him dragging me to the master, I intended to tie Bruiser down and demand some answers of my own.
Keeping up with the lunkhead wasn’t the problem, but the streets were teeming with humans, making for a crappy obstacle course. Content to smash his way through the crowd, Bruiser barreled through like a wrecking ball. I wasn’t as willing to throw people into oncoming traffic and was therefore losing ground.
At least I didn’t tire or lose breath as I chased him. I could keep this up all night. Would I be able to stay on his ass until dawn? We’d already passed by four hotels when I heard it.
Come to me.
It was a thread of a thought, barely perceptible, yet it stuck out like a nun in a whorehouse, because the words came through in a man’s voice.
Bruiser had gotten some distance on me and cut left.
I missed you.
The voice was louder, clearer.
Now, now,I told myself. This was a bad time to go insane.We are very busy, Vivien. No time for mental breakdowns.I turned the corner down a less crowded street. Bruiser was nowhere in sight, but I kept running.
Something pulled at me, urging me on.
I slowed my sprint to a jog.
No, you must come to me.
“Yeah, no, I think I’ll pass,” I said out loud, although there was no one but me.
The schizophrenic voice in my head did not get the memo I was not interested.
You’ll come when called. I made you.
The magnetic pull doubled, almost yanking me off my feet. I stopped altogether, digging my heels in. I focused on the scrape of asphalt against my bare feet. Bruiser gave good chase, but I suspected he was leading me somewhere specific.
“I’m not your damn dog, and my mama made me, wherever she may be,” I said through clenched teeth. My muscles tensed, fighting the invisible force that urged me to continue. I stepped back and gripped a railing to a staircase that led to an underground bar and grill.
No one told me where to go. No one would make me do anything I didn’t want to do.
No? Then perhaps you’d rather feed?
A couple of laughing girls passed by. I could tell they’d been dancing and drinking vodka, and a thin sheen of sweat still covered their skin. A heady mixture of perfume, excitement, and adrenaline wafted into my nostrils.
The thirst hit me full force, and I doubled over with a gasp. It was as bad as when I’d jolted awake in the morgue. Every part of me screamed to close the short distance and rip out their jugulars, spill their fresh blood into my mouth. Need demanded I fill the empty, cold expanse inside me.
Checking my torso for the rabid dog that was trying to chew his way out of my body, every atom of my being insisted if I didn’t feed now, I would die. My body would eat itself from the inside out. I didn’t know if that was true, but reality was fast slipping away.
The satisfied smugness of the master resonated through my mind, infuriating me. It was almost as if I could feel his hands puppeteering me from wherever he was. He squeezed and pressed, stoking the thirst inside me until I thought I would lose all control.
I stilled, afraid a single movement would trigger me to bound across the space between me and the girls who were fast putting distance between us.That’s it, run away, girls. Get far away from here.
