Lucien glanced at the woman as he dropped the head on the bodies and turned to study the building. They couldn’t stay here. As soon as night descended, the remaining Savages would be out in full force, and the stench of the blood permeating this room would draw them here.
It would draw hisbrotherhere. Yannis was still alive. Lucien’s teeth ground together as his nails bit into his palms. Blood welled from his broken skin and pooled in his hands as he stared out the window.
He should have known Yannis would survive their battle and the sun. Cockroaches could survive a nuclear war, and Yannis was no better than that filthy insect. Once this was over, once he got her out of here and somewhere safe, he would hunt and destroy Yannis. This time, he would make sure Yannis did not survive the atonement of his sins.
“What city is this?” he demanded.
“I don’t…. I don’t know,” Callie stammered when she heard the increased hostility in his voice and sensed the rising tension in his rigid body. The veins in his arms stood starkly out against his filthy skin.
“How did you end up in those tunnels?” Lucien inquired.
“They kidnapped me off the street.”
“Where were you when that happened?”
She opened her mouth to answer him before clamping it shut again. Was it a good idea to tell a vampire where she lived?
Lucien stared expectantly at her as his fingers dug deeper into his palms. For a minute, blackness descended over his vision, and he couldn’t see anything.Feed. Eat. Eat. Eat. Feed. So hungry.
The incessant words ran on a loop through his mind, and he became so still that the first drop of his blood falling on the wooden floor sounded as loud as a gunshot in his head.
Callie stared at him as his eyes closed and blood trickled from his clenched hands. When she took a step back, his eyes flew open, and she couldn’t stop herself from emitting a small squeak when those eyes landed on her.
When his lips skimmed back to reveal his fangs, Callie froze and her heart battered her ribs. Every one of her instincts screamed at her to run, but she sensed running would trigger an explosive reaction from him. He was teetering on the edge of losing it, and she couldn’t push him over.
Instead, she released a breath and waited to see if death was about to befall her.
Chapter Eight
Lucien’s breathhissed in through his teeth as he uncurled his fingers. He had to feed soon, but no matter how tempting she was, he wouldn’t take from the woman. He’d already bit her twice; he’d starve to death before he did so again.
“Where did they take you from?” he asked again.
When she continued to stare at him like he was a monster, he bowed his head and looked down at himself. For the first time, he saw the dirt and blood caking his chest, his bare feet, and his arms.
His jeans were covered in filth and far looser on him than when they first imprisoned him. He ran a hand through his hair, only to have his fingers catch on the grime encrusting it.
He was no better than any Savage right now; in fact, he was far worse. Those things were at least in control of themselves. He didn’t feel controlled right now.
“Where?” he asked more harshly than he intended.
“New Jersey,” she said.
“Where in New Jersey?”
“I’m not telling you where I live.”
Lucien ground his teeth together. He couldn’t stop himself from baring those teeth at her. She cringed before lifting her chin. The look in her eyes was one of defiance and terror. It was a look that said she wouldn’t yield, but she also expected him to unleash the worst on her.
He tried to see himself through her eyes; when he did, he hated the monster reflected at him. “I’m not going to hurt you… again.”
“I’m still not telling you where I live.”
She was poking the vampire, but she’d rather poke him and have him kill her now than have him draw it out. After everything she’d endured, she was not in the mood for him to toy with her.
“Fine,” Lucien grated through his teeth. “Do you think we’re still in New Jersey?”
“I don’t know. It felt like I was in that van forever, but it may have only been ten minutes, or it could have been hours. It was around eleven at night when they kidnapped me.”
