AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Over half a dozen other faces cram into the room when they hear us talking. Wulf, my best friend Oliver, Nick Gorgeous, Parker, Cecile, two unfamiliar men, and Terrance all crowd into the small room, hovering behind Enzo with worried expressions.
Terrance pushes everyone out of the way and crashes to his knees beside my bed with a thump that rattles the room. “Hey,” I say softly, recognizing that while he might not still be lost to his rage, he’s not entirely calm yet, either. “You saved my life. Thanks, T-man.”
Terrance grumbles something unintelligible while he rakes his thick fingers through my hair.
“I’m okay now, Terrance. Promise.”
He grunts and walks out of the room to resume his furious pacing in the hall. So…he’s going to brood a while, then. “All right. Where am I?” I ask everyone else in the room. “Whose clothes are these? Please tell me Cecile changed me. And what are you all doing here?”
Cecile flashes me a smile. “You’re still in the club. This is my private suite. Those are my clothes, and don’t worry, I cleaned you up and changed you. I even kicked all the men out first—Terrance excluded. I couldn’t get him to go anywhere, but he turned his back.”
I let out a breath of relief. “Thanks.” Again, my gaze circles the room. “And you guys?”
Oliver makes a face likeduh.“I was worried about you. I left work as soon as I heard what happened.”
I give him a smile to let him know I’m grateful.
“I’m just checking in on my favorite human,” Nick says. His favorite human? I’m probably his only human. Not that I’m his. You know what I mean. As if he can tell what I’m thinking, he flashes me a grin that could light up a room and shows me his badge. “I’m also here on official business. When stuff happens between the different factions, they send in the FUA. I’ll need to get a statement from you.” He points a thumb at Parker and the two strangers. “Since the vamp was a member of Henry’s clan, his enforcers were also called in as a courtesy to him.”
My blood turns cold in my veins, and my stomach churns. I may trust Parker some, but I don’t like that those other guys are vampires. And enforcers from Henry’s clan, no less. I wish they would leave. Hell, after tonight, I wish even Parker would leave. I could go forever never seeing another vampire again, and it would be too soon.
As if he can read my thoughts, Parker’s face crumples. He steps toward me, longing in his expression. My heart speeds up as he comes closer, only it’s not stemmed from my fear of vampires. There’s a physical connection between us that ignites like wildfire when we get close.
“It’s good to finally see you again, Nora,” he murmurs. “I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
He takes my hand in his and softly rubs his thumb over the back of it. I shiver at the contact, and heat flares in his eyes. I get caught in his gaze and can’t look away. My mouth dries up, and I swallow thickly.
I focus on his thoughts in an attempt to get my body under control. Parker’s relieved that I still react this way to him. I’ve been avoiding him since the Henry thing a month ago. He thinks it’s because I fear his kind. I do fear vampires, but that’s not why I’ve been ignoring his calls. I’m afraid of my attraction to him. The feelings he stirs in me are intense and dangerous, and I’m not ready to feel those things.
“Nora, this wasn’t Henry’s fault,” he says, loyal to his master to a fault. “He didn’t know about Josephine’s instability. In fact, if she weren’t already dead, he’d have killed her himself for this. He’s devastated that you were hurt because of him. Our whole clan is upset.”
He’s not going to convince me that his clan is full of wonderful people tonight. I pull my hand from his, because he’s making it hard for me to think straight. “Just forget it, Parker. Damage done.”
Parker steps back, disappointment bleeding from his eyes. I look away, hating that I’m hurting him. If I knew how to give him what he wants, I would.
I try to sit up again, and this time I almost succeed. Oliver moves forward and puts a few pillows behind my back to help me stay sitting up. After I’m situated, I look to Nick. “Is Terrance going to get into trouble for killing her?”
“Nah. She had it coming.”
I smirk. Justice in the underworld takes some getting used to.
“Do you know why Josephine attacked you?” one of the nameless enforcers asks.
I flinch at the sound of his voice and give Nick a pleading glance. I may not fear Parker, but I want the other vampires out of this room and far away from me. Both Nick and the vampire who spoke frown.
“I understand your history with vampires isn’t pleasant,” Enforcer Dude says, “but you need to overcome your fear of us. We can sense it, and it sets off all of our instincts. Perhaps that’s why Josephine lost control and attacked you tonight.”
I scoff. “Seriously? You think she lost control? No way. She came here for no other reason than to kill me tonight. She even said so. She monologued as she tortured me. She kept ranting about how she used to be Henry’s favorite and how he didn’t pay her any attention anymore because of me. She thought he’d love her again if I were dead, or something like that. Real nice lady. A lot in common with Henry, actually. They both broke my face.”
Enforcer Dude sighs but doesn’t argue. He doesn’t really look surprised, either. I bet poor, jilted Josephine complained a lot before she went off the deep end of the crazy pool tonight.
“Still,” the other enforcer says, his voice haughty as if I’ve insulted him, “I’m sorry about Josephine, but you can’t be so afraid of us. We are predators. You are tempting to us for many reasons.”
Parker places a hand on the guy’s shoulder when I glare at him. “We aren’t all monsters, Nora,” Parker murmurs.
“So you keep telling me. And yet…your kind keep hurting me. Over and over again.” I sigh. “Look, I don’t have the energy for this conversation. The bitch was jealous of Henry’s obsession with me and wanted me out of the picture, so she tried to drain me. End of story. Can we be done now?”
“I’ve got what I need,” Nick says. He glances at Parker and his cronies. “You?”
