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Renegades
“WAKE UP, MY showgirl. Knox ordered that you eat some donor food before we meet Monroe in the gym. He wants us to join him for training.” Cooper nudges me with the back of his hand.
I snap my eyes open and stare at Cooper’s smiling face. “Monroe was supposed to wake me up. What time is it?”
“Eightish. He tried to wake you, but he said you got all cuddly, and he wasn’t going to risk waking a sleeping dhampir. So, we switched places, though your cute ass started biting the damn pillow.” He scoops up a handful of feathers and sprinkles them over me.
Heat burns my cheeks as I sit up and peer around. The bed is a mess of torn fabric, stuffing, and feathers. “Whoa.”
“Right? I’d have let you devour me, but Monroe would’ve beat my ass for waking you.” His grin widens. “It might’ve been worth it, though.”
I rub the heels of my hands into my eyes. “Next time wake me, okay? It’s taking everything in me not to attack you.” My voice softens with my tease.
Cooper swallows, the hunger in his gaze sharpening his features. “Careful, Hayley. Playfulness can turn into a couple of things you might not want. It’s been a while since you’ve had blood.”
Just the mention of blood-drinking twists my stomach in starvation. I jerk my hand out and grab his arm, pulling it to my mouth. He intakes a soft breath, his whole body preparing for my bite. But I don’t. I won’t unless he offers.
I lick his arm, smiling at his reaction. He wants me to bite him. We both know it. The growing attraction between us is obvious, and Monroe has pointed it out a dozen times. Sawyer and Knox just shrug their shoulders, and I think they’re waiting for Cooper to be brave enough. He doesn’t think he’s worthy of me yet.
His fangs peek from beneath his lips. “If you’re that famished and can’t wait...”
Someone taps their hand against the door, startling me, and Cooper vanishes from my side and looks through the peephole. He doesn’t hesitate before he swings the door open, and Mya stands beside Pearl in the hallway. They both look from Cooper to me and back to him. No one has told them about me yet, but I know it’s coming. I know that the Bella Crew is waiting for me to gather my nerve.
“Hey, Hayley, we were just heading down for breakfast. Do you want to join us? I’m sure that the cooks in the dining hall are a bit more capable than your boys. I know Govan can’t cook for shit.” Mya wags her eyebrows. “But that doesn’t matter when there are so many other things he’s quite talented at.”
Pearl giggles from next to her, bumping her shoulder without saying anything.
I nod my head and slide from the bed despite Cooper’s now pouty face. I know it’s not his intention to make me feel bad, but now I do kind of wish I had denied my friends. But I miss them. I want to ensure that they’re okay as much as I can.
I turn the Cooper. “Come join us. I’m sure you could use some blood. I don’t mind.”
Mya claps her hands. “You should totally come. All the vampires around here stay far away from us as if we are contagious or some bullshit.”
Cooper gets to his feet and shoves his hands into his pockets. “That’s because you’ve been claimed, and these assholes know better than to interact with you without permission. It’s for safety too.”
Mya’s mouth forms an O. “That’s weird, but I’m perfectly fine with that. Some of these guys are a bit scary.”
“Like Mr. Face Tat,” Pearl murmurs, not realizing that I can hear her words.
I smirk and offer my hand to Cooper, tugging him along with me. “They are, aren’t they? A lot of them are harmless to donors though. It’s the vampires that should be afraid of them.”
“Damn straight.” Cooper widens the door and holds it open for me to exit into the hallway. Mya swings her arm over my shoulder and tugs me ahead. Pearl rushes to keep up, and she does her running split jump, showing off her moves as if she misses the stage. I realize that I miss it too.
I join her and Mya, and the three of us do an altered floor routine, flipping and doing cartwheels, creating more noise than we were ever allowed to do at the Aris hotel.
I don’t see the vampire emerge from the room until it’s too late. Cooper hollers, and blood squirts from his neck as the vampire slices a blade across his throat and kicks him forward, sending him to his knees.
Mya and Pearl scream, and my body kicks into action. My hunger takes control of me and pushes me forward. I yell as I leap at the vampire, dying to bury my teeth into his neck to show him that he can’t fuck around with us.
He snatches me by my hair and throws me against the wall, pinning me in place. Our eyes meet, and I realize my mistake immediately. I don’t have blood in my system. It’s been too long since I’ve drunk any.
My body slackens and fear devours me.
“Don’t fight. Don’t scream or make a sound. I will not hurt you. I’ve been sent by the renegades to bring you in for a meeting.” The vampire searches my eyes with his mind manipulation.
Two donor men come from the hotel room, training their guns on Cooper. His injury has left him immobile, and it’ll take him longer to heal because I’m nearly certain he was waiting for me to drink blood before consuming it himself.
“Grab those two donors. We need to alter their minds.” The vampire motions at Mya and Pearl.
