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That was Hunter. Another of Lazarus’s vampire elite. He was the youngest by far, and also the tallest of the group. His wild, unpredictable moods made as many feeders like me avoid him as much as possible. But he currently had two in his lap doing their best to pretend they weren’t fans of the things Hunter was known to enjoy from his feeders.
My skin crawled. Everything about this place for the past ten years made my insides churn. But this was life. For the moment, anyway.
I longed for the surface. To return to my life and family before. But family had sold me into this place, and now I was a captive. I had no idea how I’d even start a life again at this point, even if I could.
“I am not paranoid,” Lazarus said as he stood, which I only noticed with my back turned because of the way the leather squeaked as his body left it. “And I will be ready to prove you all wrong, when the only thing that will protect you from those demons are the weapons made here by my forger.”
Lazarus’s footsteps got closer. Before I knew it, his hand wrapped around the side of my neck, holding me in place. I withdrew the blade I was working on from the forge just to be safe. “You are special.”
A quick nod was my only response. I’d learned long ago that speaking led to punishments.
Lazarus leaned down and whispered in my ear. “I love the sound of your pulse pounding as you work. You love the fire. The exertion.” He lapped up a bead of sweat dripping down my neck. I no longer retreated when his tongue brushed my skin, but bile slicked my throat nonetheless. “And so do I.”
I met Willa’s gaze again. She couldn’t save me, but pleas for help between feeders weren’t uncommon regardless. Empathy shone in her eyes, but then her eyelids closed and her jaw slipped open, a silent moan on her lips as vampire venom filled her veins. Ecstasy. It was a cruel trick. Vampires got to cause pain and feed from you, only to give your body a burst of pleasure and get you addicted to the way that pain and pleasure felt.
It wasn’t fair. But that was why they were predators, and we were nothing but prey.
Lazarus’s hands dropped to my waist and he gently pulled me toward the couches. I set down the blade I was working on and followed his lead. He retook his seat and had me stand beside him as he glanced up at me with pride in his eyes. “Because of her work and dedication, we’ve a small stock of weapons at the ready for the demonic incursion.”
“Should it occur,” Val said with disbelief in her eyes—and disgust toward me. I was disgusted by me, too, and the way Lazarus had painted my forging work as something I enjoyed doing versus something I’d needed for survival.
Ididlike creating, the act of using fire and my own hands to make weapons. But that was where the enjoyment ended.
“Itwillhappen,” Lazarus argued. “And soon. We need to be ready.”
“And we will be,” Hunter said as he waved away the feeders sitting on his lap, apparently finished with them for now. They skittered away quickly. “Except that when it doesn’t happen, you’ll look like a fool.”
Lazarus cut Hunter a glare—and the fact that he did so spoke volumes. That any of them were discussing demons as possible fact was terrifying enough. Let alone that Lazarus apparently really believed there might be some sort of demonic incursion. As far as I knew, demons weren’t really a thing. But here they were, not only discussing them, but Lazarus was, apparently, afraid of them enough to call demons a threat.
Thatwas utterly terrifying.
Two hands grabbed my waist and yanked me sideways, away from Lazarus. I teetered off balance and tumbled into Cassius’s lap. The dress I wore hiked up far, but I managed to press it down before too much of my fair skin made an appearance or slid across Cassius’s leather pants.
“What about you has Lazarus so enamored?” Cassius asked as one hand held me in place and the other brushed my hair away from my neck. “Hmm? The taste of your blood, perhaps?”
A flash of Jackie’s wide eyes, her panic, moments before her death careened through my mind. Her body going limp in Cassius’s arms. Him tossing her off of him like a doll.
My pulse sped, my breath coming in sharp gasps—made all the more terrifying because I knew Cassius could sense my fear. Hear my heart pounding. My blood coursing. All of these vampires could.
I flashed a glance at Lazarus, hoping he’d stop Cassius. Instead, he smiled and chuckled lightly in dark amusement. Unwilling entertainment, food, and labor—that’s all we were to these awful, disgusting creatures.
Between Jackie’s death today, the years of abuse, and nowthis—being physically inspected like a show pony—I’d had enough. “Get off of me.”
Cassius barked a sharp laugh. “She speaks!” Both of his hands ran up my arms now. One grabbed my shoulder, the other my head, and before I knew it, he had my neck bared and his fangs brushed my skin. “Will she moan just as loud?”
The tips of his fangs began to pierce my skin as my stomach churned—and this time, I was pretty sure I was going to vomit all over him.
“No!” I screamed as his fangs sunk in. I swung backward with one elbow, jabbing him in his side. He tore away from my neck cursing, and I took the opportunity to rise up just enough to slam my other elbow into his nuts.
“Bitch!” he cried out—though he let his grip loosen.
I tore away from him, scrambling back toward the forge. I expected Lazarus to lose his shit. For him to grab me and force me into submission so Cassius could keep feeding from me.
Instead, Lazarus continued to laugh darkly. “Only the spunkiest feeders forge like she does.”
I inhaled sharply. I hated him. I hated all of them. With one last glance at Willa, who was still in her vampire’s arms, I stormed across the lounge to one of the side doors. Still, Lazarus did not chase me, but I heard him utter, “Fine, go, have her,” as I left.
I didn’t need to stay to know what that meant. Heavy footsteps—the kind belonging to a large man like Cassius—echoed in my wake. He charged behind me, his red eyes raging. I took off in a sprint, running as fast as I could through the busy, pain-filled halls of Lazarus’s feeder community. Even here, benches were laid out for vampires to sit on and drink from their feeders. I passed by without them paying me mind, until Cassius stormed behind and drew their attention with his bellows.
