Seeming to sense this, Lucien sighed and trudged toward her. She almost felt sorry for him as his head bowed and his shoulders hunched up. He’d spent a month in captivity with those things torturing him. And from what she could see, they’d done an excellent job with that torture as she seriously doubted he looked this awful before they got their hands on him.
When he stopped before her and held out the key, her hands trembled as she took it, but she slid it into the lock. Neither of them breathed as she twisted it to the side.
Something clicked, and the manacles gave way with a rattling clink as they hit the floor. Callie didn’t look at the metal. Instead, her gaze remained riveted on his wrists. The flesh had peeled away to reveal the muscle and bone beneath.
Despite this bastard having inflicted a great deal of pain on her, her heart went out to him. She was a healer at heart; usually, it was animals she healed, but she hated seeing anyone suffering.
She started to reach for him but pulled her hands back when she recalled he could kill her with a flick of his wrist. She clasped her hands before her. When she lifted her head, she found his vivid red eyes studying her.
“We should clean those wounds, or they’ll get infected,” she said.
“Things like that don’t concern me. Once I feed, they’ll heal.”
Callie cringed, and the reminder of his penchant for blood made her glad she hadn’t touched him.
Chapter Nine
Lucien wasconfident in his ability to steal a car. It would be easy to walk up to someone and talk them into handing over their keys.
They were back on the street for less than five minutes before encountering a man who was exiting a car that had started rusting during OJ’s murder trial. When the man saw Lucien approaching, he scrambled into the car, slammed the door, and locked the vehicle. Lucien stepped up to the driver’s side with its cracked-open window and started speaking to the man.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said in a soothing tone and hoped he was right. The frantic beat of the man’s heart caused saliva to pool in his mouth. “Get out of the car.”
“Fuck you,” the man replied as he shoved a key in the ignition.
“Look at me,” Lucien commanded as he strained to gain control over the man’s mind.
However, the man didn’t look at him as he started the car and stomped on the gas. Lucien jumped back to avoid having his feet run over as the man squealed out of his parking spot. Before he took the corner on two wheels, the man’s middle finger emerged out the window.
Lucien seethed as he watched the car vanish. His ability to bend another’s will to his wasn’t working. It was because he was weak and starved, but it was the worst possible time to lose the ability he required the most to get them out of this mess.
“Was that your big car-stealing plan?” Callie asked. “Because it didn’t work.”
He shifted his attention to where she stood on the sidewalk with an almost amused look on her face. The sun streaming over her illuminated her striking eyes and delicate beauty.
The depth of that beauty slapped him in the face. In the tunnel, he was motivated by an incessant compulsion to keep her safe. That compulsion continued to thrum through his veins; he didn’t understand it, but he couldn’t deny it.
He’d taken note of her appearance too, but it didn’t really sink in… until now. With her full lips, oval face, and straight-edge nose, she was lovely. A thick fringe of black lashes framed her large, almond-shaped eyes. He didn’t detect a hint of a blemish on her smooth, olive skin.
He guessed her to be about seven inches shorter than his six-foot-two height. Her jeans and formfitting, short-sleeved, maroon shirt emphasized her curvy, hourglass figure. For the first time since his captivity, a new hunger woke inside him, and his deadened cock stirred.
His new desire didn’t last long as the burning in his veins returned and his parched guts twisted into knots. However, he couldn’t remain unaware of her beauty.
“It should have,” he said. “But I was too weak to take control of his mind; I’ll have to take the next one by force.”
Callie’s jaw fell open at this revelation. “Control his mind?”
“Yes, it was a talent of mine, but it’s not working right now. Once I feed, I’ll be more capable of protecting us and getting us out of this city.”
“You can control minds?” she practically squeaked.
“When I’m stronger, yes. All vampires possess the ability.”
Holy shit.Callie’s mind spun as she tried to process this information.
Her eyes flew around the quiet street. Some kids were hanging out on a porch at the end of the road, and a man was passed out on a set of stairs, or maybe he was dead. Shereallyhoped he wasn’t dead, but she wasn’t going any closer to find out.
She was sure the guy in the beater car had come here for drugs, but she didn’t know where his supply was located. However, just because she didn’t see many people didn’t mean they weren’t there.
