“I don’t remember.” She sighs with a shrug of her bony shoulders. “I was really emotional at the time, and it was more like a feeling of wanting you back.”
Everything dies inside of me, any last remaining hope I had crumbling. Numb and resigned to my fate, I command her to continue.
She confesses to all the people she used magic to ruin in some way—many I didn’t even know about, the individuals subjected to her torment for the smallest infraction. If she was having a particularly nasty day, any girl who was remotely friendly when asking me a question had her life destroyed. She was brutal to anyone that I fed and fooled around with. Like a cat playing with a mouse, Gina would pull apart their lives, isolating them, whispering their most private secrets in others’ ears, and doing everything she could to humiliate them. And they would suffer in silence, because it could possibly anger me if I found out what she was up to. If I could feel anything, it would be guilt. Those souls didn’t deserve to be used and tossed aside, even if they were willing participants, and they certainly didn’t deserve Gina’s wrath afterward.
Maybe Callie can help them after I’m gone.
Simply the thought of her name brings part of me back to life, which makes what I must do next all the more painful.
After Gina finishes her confession, ending with the assault that happened a month ago, I stop the recording.
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” she cries, her body jerking side to side, but she can’t fight the compulsion to stay on the bed with her hands firmly against the headboard.
With a promise of death in my eyes, I tsk. “But we’ve finally reached the part you’ve always wanted. I hope it’s everything you wished it to be.”
My mouth pulls back into a vicious grin, while my fangs slide down my incisors. With all of my vampire speed, I commence biting her over and over again. Her blood tastes like rot, and it’s not long before each bite is matched with me vomiting it all back up. On the floor. The bed. Splattered against the walls. Her blood paints the room.
I laugh as Gina’s moans of pleasure turn to the excruciating screams of living nightmares.
Chapter 20
Donovan
"God damn, that baseball game was a shit show,” I exclaim, walking into Nolan’s suite without knocking. “You’re lucky you weren’t there.”
After untying my boots, I drop them next to the door and make my way to the kitchenette, looking for anything to drown out this nightmare of an evening. “You know, most of the time I like that Callie can be a royal pain in the ass, but tonight…” I sigh. “Truth is, tonight was torture.”
Getting on my knees, I dig into the back of the far left cabinet where Nolan hides his stash of good liquor. He stocks it by swiping bottles every time the Campbells have a big party at the house. I’m surprised that it’s so bare, finding only one bottle of Gran Patrón Platinum Tequila. It’s fucking good-ass tequila, but it usually has at least a couple of vodka friends. Occasionally, also a smooth whiskey.
“Dude, your stash is running low,” I shout, knocking over a couple of boxes of cereal as I drag the bottle out. I’m too tired to put it back, and since there’s no booze to hide, I leave it for later.
Sighing, I get up, find a couple of shot glasses, and plod toward the stairs to the loft bedroom. “She put herself through hell tonight, and for what? To watch Kaleb and Felix play a shitty high school game? It’s bullshit.”
I shake my head as I walk up the stairs. “Even Kaleb tried to talk her out of it, and you know how weird he’s fuckin’ been.” Laughing, I add, “Though watching Callie chew him out was a thing of beauty. Something about facing fears for the people you love. I dunno. The words were sappy, but the delivery was perfect.”
When I reach the top of the stairs, I find a neatly made bed and no Nolan.
“You fucking lied about being too sick to get out of tonight, didn’t you?” I grumble, then mutter under my breath, “Damn it, why didn’t I think of that?”
There’s no response, but the light is on in the bathroom and the vent is blowing. Maybe he can’t hear me?There’s no sound of running water, but it’s entirely possible he’s taking a bath in the jacuzzi tub. Maybe he really is sick.
“One funny thing happened tonight,” I yell loudly enough to be heard over the fans while I set the tequila and glasses on the closest nightstand. “Kaleb won the game by doing a nephilim strength swing that shattered the bat and sent the ball flying into overflow parking. The damn ball went straight through someone’s windshield.”
I knock on the partially open door, and it swings in. Doing a full sweep of the bathroom, I find a towel on the floor and too many hair products on the counter next to the makeup he got for his Lestat costume.
“Now Iknowyou didn’t get pretty for me,” I mumble, striding back into the bedroom. “What the hell are you up to? Aren’t we too old for fucking hide-and-seek?” I shout, sticking my head out onto the veranda. No Nolan. “I know you have to be here somewhere.” I search the closet. “All your friends are busy. Felix and Kaleb are stuck at a victory party, Connor kidnapped Callie back to his wolf cave, and I’m here.”
That’s when I notice his bracelet on the dresser. Even when he was terrified of Callie, he never took that bracelet off.
“Shit.”
I pull out my phone and start calling his cell. No answer. I ransack the rest of his suite, looking for clues to where he might be. I’m about to start a search party, pulling up the group text that includes Callie and the guys, when I walk into the study. My heart stops, and all the blood drains from my head when I see the six letters placed side by side on his desk.
“No you fucking didn’t,” I growl, stomping over to pick up the envelope with my name on it.
Refusing to believe he’s already dead, I rip the letter open and scan it for anything that can tell me where he’s gone or what he’s planning. My gaze jumps to Gina’s name three-quarters down the page. He talks about fulfilling his promise and how he will make her confess. He makes a big deal about his phone, and that he’ll have done at least one thing right before he goes.
“I swear, asshole, if you’re still alive when I find you, I might just kill you myself for being a fucking moron,” I growl at the offending pages, but I have what I need.
