I used my power to turn Bruiser around. The first set of automatic doors to outside opened. As he walked through, he began to bellow out curses. The master pushed back, hard. Searing pain pressed into me as I refused to let him go. I dropped to one knee, feeling the weight of a hundred bricks pressing down on me. Something dripped from my nose. Crimson droplets now decorated the tile floor.
Bruiser halted. Another step and the second set of doors would open. There was just enough daylight left to smoke his ass.
Let him go.The voice instructed, shock and disappointment brimming under the surface.
You first,I shot back in my head this time.
Bruiser lifted a foot, then set it back down where it started.
Blood bags.
I was tiring. The master was winning. I wanted to tell Miranda to get away from me. The open wound on her neck, coupled with her pounding heart, drew me in like a magnet. It siphoned my focus away from Bruiser.
Then Grim’s power was there. It whipped out and gave Bruiser a “push.” The doors opened and Bruiser flew into the sunshine. His scream stopped short as his body caught fire instantly. The drumming in my ears drowned out the cries of people panicking.
I needed blood. The hunger gripped me so hard, I was glad I was already on the floor. Yet I could not tear my eyes away from the flaming mass of a being.
My throat dried up as I watched. If I walked out into the sun, the same would happen to me. Not that I couldn’t die. I knew I could, but seeing it made things so much more real. I didn’t want to die like that. Screaming in fire.
Finally, Bruiser’s body fell to the ground, a smoking charred mass.
Timothy was suddenly on the scene along with several of the hotel staff, directing people and trying to control the situation.
Then I was dangling in the air. At first, I thought the master had managed to scramble my brains, or maybe the hunger left me lightheaded. But with a quick glance down, I confirmed I was several feet off the ground.
“You are the master,” Grim snarled in my face. His eyes shone gold. Maybe it was because I exhausted myself trying to control Bruiser, but I found myself thinking there was an elegant beauty to Grim’s fierce expression. I wanted to touch the flexing muscles at his jawline and run my hand through his dark hair. A few locks now dipped over his forehead.
Was this the part where he ripped my head off? Would that be better than burning to death? Quicker, probably.
His accusation penetrated my fuzzy brain. “I’m not the master.”
Over his shoulder, I spotted Bradley’s body on the ground. His face was a frozen homage to the horror of his last terrifying moments.
“Oh really?” Disgust shone in Grim’s eyes. “Then how did you control that sekhor’s mind? Only a master can do that. You are slipping out during the day somehow and turning people, aren’t you? You are the one responsible for all this.”
I didn’t have the energy to fight Grim’s rage. Miranda stood off to the side, her hand clapped over her neck. If she removed her hand, allowing her blood to hit the air, I was likely to turn into a shivering mass of want. I was already so cold. My teeth were chattering. With my fangs out, I was liable to accidently chew my lip off.
“Sire,” Timothy’s voice broke in. “Perhaps we’d better take this scene to a more discreet location.”
Grim didn’t respond, only continued to stare at me with burning hatred and…betrayal?
It stung. Worse than I thought it would. Grim’s opinion of me mattered. I yanked his chain and worked to raise his blood pressure, but I was hurt he thought I lied to him. I wasn’t a liar.
Timothy’s voice snapped like a whip this time. “I’ve already got my work cut out cleaning up this mess. If you wish to dispose of the sekhor, I beg you to do it in another location.”
Next thing I knew, Grim was dragging me behind him.
“Ms. West, it’s best you come along too,” I heard Timothy say to her.
Grim directed us to a wall of mirrors. I caught sight of my blood-red eyes, and sallow, pale face. I really did look pathetic.
The Master of the Dead revealed a secret door in the wall of mirrors. We entered a private gambling room that was empty. Cigar smoke, expensive scotch, along with sweat, power, and fear lingered here. Fortunes had been made and lost in this room.
After forcibly throwing me into a chair, Grim paced in front of me. “You thought you could make a fool of me? You think I don’t know the master can control minds? Well, think again.” He leaned in close, fangs elongated in his mouth, as his eyes glowed as bright as the sun. Looking into them burned. Goosebumps stiffened all along my body so hard, I wanted to run a hand over my arms. But I got the sense if I made any sudden movements, he would end me right there.
“I don’t know what you are talking about. I only learned I could control someone’s mind at the care facility. That’s how I got us in. I put a whammy on Kabir I didn’t know I possessed. I haven’t used it again until just now to save Miranda.”
The master made it clear he wanted me, but now he was trying to sever any other ties I had. The patent characteristic of an obsessive psychopath. Getting Miranda out of the way meant I was more likely to go to him. He was willing to do anything necessary to isolate and corner me. I shivered, my stomach performing flip-flops.
