Page 3 of You Only Die Twice

“Katrina. God help me, but I can’t resist you for long. This will hurt, but I will make it as easy on you as possible.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Luka interjects. “It’s fucking lunch, not foreplay. Bite the girl, or I’ll do far worse.” His hands grab my hips, yanking me back until I feel the hard steel of his erection against my ass. I groan, rocking back against him even as my mind demands I jerk away.

That’s what’s so crazy about all of this. The harder I resist, the more my body demands I give in. Insidious whispers claw at my skull, insisting I relax. It’s a mental tug of war, and the end result leaves me fatigued and shaky.

He knows this. I know he knows this. I can feel it in the smug, rigid stance as he holds me close to him. I don’t know why I can’t resist, but what’s scarier is knowing that no matter what, I’ll eventually have to give in.

Jackson stares at us, pain etched into his features. It mirrors my own, and I wonder if he’s facing the same battle I am…but that’s absurd.

“What’s the matter, Katrina,” my name drips off Luka’s tongue like honey. It’s far more erotic than it should be, and I shudder at the sound. “Don’t want me anymore? I rescued you, and this is how you greet me? With disdain? I expected more from you.”

Once more, memories of that night flood my brain. The ship’s sinking, Lizzy with blood dripping down her neck. Could it have all been real? I can’t let my brain believe it.

To do so would be to confirm my greatest fears. Not only would that make Luka a monster in the physical and visceral sense, but a monster of a supernatural nature as well.

Though it would make it easier to not fight him, I still can’t process what he seems to be implying. It’s impossible. Pure and simple. The voices beating at my head demand otherwise.

They sound like his voice, all venom, malice, and lust, swirling about like a thick fog.

“I thought you’d be down on your hands and knees begging me to make you into my image, but still, you fight. Ahhh. Simple human. You may keep your frail physicality for now. But someday soon, I will come to collect your soul, whether you’re ready or not.”

He lets me go, and I nearly fall to my knees. The pressure in my skull is so intense. It’s like thousands of needles jabbing at me. Internally, I know if I submitted, it would stop. It would all go away. But then what? What happens after I give the monster what he craves most?

Luka turns to me, pausing as he walks away, and smirks, answering my inner thoughts. “You get your chance at a fucked up ever after. Not that I really care if that appeals to you. You will be under me, under us, soon enough. Whether you enjoy it or not, that is entirely your choice.”

As if this is a film, Luka bows and disappears into the shadows. If my stomach wasn’t still clenched and my body on the verge of heaving, I’d think I dreamt all this again. Deep down, I know it’s all too real.

Once I take a moment to just breathe, I look back at Jackson. He’s so pale, so thin, much thinner than I remember him being. Again, that icy fear drips down my spine until my back almost bows up against it.

“Tell me. Now. What the fuck is wrong with you? Where are we?”

CHAPTER TWO

Jackson

Emotion clogs my throat as I stare at the human in front of me. We’ve been trapped down here together for only two days, and somehow, within that time, she’s gone from Katrina to human. I’ve reduced her to the sum of her parts -blood, nourishment, pussy, human, and in that order.

Even now, as her naive eyes stare up at me, I’m distracted by the rhythmic pulsing in her neck. Her blood calls to me like an addict going back to the needle, only she would be my first. I’d have nothing to compare it to.

Deep inside, I know I’ve taken in Luka’s blood. I can feel it slithering through my veins, whispering in my ear. The difference is I have no recollection of the taste. All I have is a gut feeling and the unmistakable aftertaste of rusted metal tainting every swallow.

Perhaps drinking from Katrina will take that vile taste away and fill me with something good, something pure. Then again, the little minx is anything but pure. The screams of her pleasure as I forced her to my will on the ship still ring out in my mind.

She liked me wild, ferocious. Her body responded to that in a primal way of a prey finally submitting to their predatory monster. I was her predator. The thought fills my brain, nearly driving me feral with lust. Now, I’m just her monster - an apex predator in human skin.

The thought is not my own, at least not entirely. It sounds too sinister, too much like Luka. Yet, underneath his influence is a small thread that’s all my own.

Groaning, I pull my gaze away from the innocent eyes. I can’t stand to look at her right now, not with the war raging inside of me. Even as weak as I am, I can still harm her, and that’s a thing I vowed never to do.

I’m lost within myself, with this internal battle. Never had I ever wanted to just devour someone before. The need churns my gut, sending debilitating cramps through my body. It’s almost as bad as the night I turned.

Closing my eyes, I shove that memory out of my brain. The pain was unreal. Even now, phantom tendrils reach out, touching every nerve of my body. If I think too hard about it, I’m sure I will collapse once more, spasming about until I’m writhing on the floor.

But I can’t give in.

I have to be strong for this wide-eyed human, looking at me as if I have all the answers in the world…but I don’t. Only Luka has that, and he isn’t revealing anything.

“Please. Just give me something. Anything to quiet at least one of these questions so I can have peace.”