Page 8 of Trapped By the Blood Ruby

“I can do whatever I want. Now, sit still. This will go more smoothly if you do.”

“Kidnapping is illegal,” I bit out.

A huff left his nostrils. He reached over and grabbed the seat belt, buckling me in. “Vittorio, drive!” he barked. The car lurched into motion, locks clicking into place. I flinched at the sound of them. My opportunity to escape narrowed, then turned nonexistent as the Yoshiki mansion disappeared behind us.

“What do you want with me?”

He didn’t answer.

For years, I’d been at the mercy of others, helpless. I never thought I’d find myself here again. But…he’d saved me from Daniel, hadn’t he?

Daniel. My stomach roiled with something that felt a lot like shame.

“My friend will call the cops when she sees that I’m missing. There will be people looking for me. You can’t do this⁠—“

“Stop your incessant chatter,” he hissed. “You’re making my ears bleed.”

I turned to glare at him. And…my glare melted right off. He was… He was….

I’d been too busy freaking out to really look at him. Now I couldn’t stop staring. His features were striking, timeless. He was older than me by a decade, perhaps? Yet, his skin was absolutely flawless. His eyes, which I’d sworn were black earlier, were silver and empty. Like there was nothing there, no emotion, no warmth, no feeling.

An unsettling shiver raced down my spine.

I finally pried my gaze from his face, taking in the rest of him. His hulking form swallowed the back seat. His hair, so silky and white, like moonlight on snow. I wanted to touch it and see if it was real. His broad shoulders and chest filling out the sleeves of his T-shirt.

I frowned when his chest didn’t move. “Why aren’t you breathing?”

Those empty eyes turned to me.

“You… You aren’t breathing,” I repeated. I scooted closer to the door but my shoulder was already pressed firmly against it. I couldn’t put any more distance between us.

“I’m a vampire,” he said, his head tilting like this amused him. “I don’t need to breathe.”

A deranged laugh fell from my lips. “A vampire? Is that what they’re calling monsters these days?”

A low, grating chuckle filled the back seat. Despite everything I felt, it sent chills over my skin. Not the kind I expected, but the traitorous kind. Because I wanted to hear that sound again.

“You don’t believe me.” he pointed out. It wasn’t really a question. “No. Of course you don’t. You humans are all the same, so narrow-minded. I wouldn’t expect more from a spoiled party brat like you.”

I reared back, stung. Spoiled? Me?

“Shall I show you what I am?” He dropped my wrist and didn’t wait for an answer. The change was instant. I gasped as black returned to his eyes, then spread, dark veins racing down his face. His features grew more distinct. His skin…changed, becoming something akin to marble. He bared his teeth at me, his canines elongated to needle sharp, narrow points.

Beautiful and grotesque and frightening, all at once.

My emotions flickered between anger and fear. I braced a hand against the leather seat. Everything began spinning. This wasn’t real. He wasn’t real.

Suddenly, the nightmare before me retreated, returning to a thing of shameful fantasy. Like it had never happened. Like I’d imagined it. Except, I caught a hint of smug satisfaction in his expression. A moment later, even that disappeared, replaced with cold emptiness.

No. This—no. I was used to numbers and equations. I was trained to solve problems with neat, elegant solutions. Everything fit certain rules. Associative, communicative, distributive rules that dictated order, procedure. Rules.

There was no rule in any universe that explained this. “That… That’s impossible.”

“I assure you, Miss…?”

“Shaw,” I whispered, my tongue going dry. “Lily Shaw.”

“I assure you, Miss Shaw, this is very possible.” He lifted a hand, reaching for his hair, tucking it behind one ear—one very pointed ear.