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I pull my hand back as if her skin burned my fingers and shoot her a glare. “Why was one of the most important hunters in the state here with you?”
She presses her fingers to her lips, considering my question. “We have a… mutually beneficial relationship—we have for quite some time.”
Tension builds behind my eyes and my jaw aches from clenching so hard. “What kind of relationship, Selene?”
“Hmm,” she hums, slipping past me and walking toward a hallway near the massive dining table.
I follow, my footsteps loud compared to her silent ones. “Selene,” I snap.
She whirls around, her dress swaying around her, reminding me of the elegance in her I admired so long ago. “I think we could use a drink, don’t you?”
“No. Tell me what you’re talking about. Now.”
She opens her mouth to speak, and I notice her fangs have extended. Despite myself, my pulse races at the sight of them. It’s the same response Calla has had to mine.
“Very well,” she says with a sigh. “I have a little arrangement with our hunter friends here in Washington and back in New York. In exchange for immunity from them, I hand over other vampires.”
My stomach plummets, and I automatically step back, blinking at her in confusion. “Youwhat?” I shake my head. She’s turning in her own to our enemy—to protect herself. I don’t question the need to… put down the vampires who pose a threat of exposing us to the humans, but I highly doubt Selene is making that distinction. No, she’d sacrifice anyone to save her own ass.
Panic lances through me, sharp and painful. We’ve managed to evade the hunters for over a hundred years, and Selene has been turning other vampires over for potentially just as long.
The amusement in her eyes makes my stomach roil, but I refuse to look away. “I knew you were selfish,” I say in a low voice, “but this is on another level. You were born a vampire—you have a birthright duty to protect your people, and—”
“Save it,” she interrupts. “Your speech is about five decades too late, my love.”
I stare at my sire in disbelief. “If I hadn’t come, were you going to turn us over to them?”
Her eyes roam over my face before she licks her lips. “I suggest you go ahead and forget about that boys’ club and pet of yours.” She offers a victorious smile. “They won’t be around to worry about for much longer.”
Ice fills my veins, and my fangs split through my gums as I snarl at her. I advance without warning, slamming into her and taking us both to the floor. She manages to flip us mid-fall, and my back hits the hard marble, Selene landing on top of me.
“This isn’t a fight you’ll ever win,” she says, bracing herself, her hands pressed into the floor on either side of my head while she straddles me. “Where’s mymake love not warGabriel?” she taunts, and I see red.
Throwing her off me, I shoot to my feet and stalk toward her, but she moves behind me before I reach her. I whip around and growl in frustration, because she’s right. I won’t win this fight; I can’t cause her any real harm. Which means I am effectively screwed—and yet, though I’m not arrogant enough to believe I have the strength or ability to overpower the sire connection that controls me, I don’t stop. All of the pent-up anger and frustration I’ve been living with, trapped in a cage of my own making, rushes to the surface, and my control snaps.
Selene appears in front of me and doesn’t hesitate before grabbing my hair and tugging my head to the side, exposing my throat. Her fangs sink into my neck before I can move away, and a strangled sound escapes my lips.
Strength flows out of me, and my legs give out. Somehow we end up sprawled across the couch, my gaze falling on the dancing flames as it blurs. The pull of our connection fills me with a contentedness that makes my heart pound, and Selene’s lips against my skin transport me back in time to the many nights I buried myself between her legs as she drank from me.
I want to push her away, fight her off, make her stop taking from me just like she always did. Instead, I close my eyes, my limbs unable to move as her venom—and her decades-old power over me subdues my ability to resist her.
Finally, she lifts herself off me, pulling away from my neck and licking my blood from her lips. “I gave them up,” she purrs, running her finger along the puncture marks she left in my neck. She licks the blood off her finger and gazes down at me, her lips curled into a cruel smile. “The hunters know where your house is. And they know Atlas, Lex, and Kade are vampires.”
Fear cripples me as I stare at her, my heart in my throat and my vision dimming around the edges. “What the hell have you done?”
18
Calla
Iallow myself five minutes to cry and then I slip into the bathroom, splash some cold water on my face, and pull myself back together. With a deep, centering breath, I walk back into my bedroom and suck in a short breath when I find Kade sitting on the end of my bed.
“You need to come downstairs.” His voice is strained, and he keeps his back to me as I walk closer.
I run my hand over my hair in an attempt to flatten the mess I made raking my fingers through it repeatedly while I was crying. “What’s going on, Kade?”
He stands and turns to face me. “We have a guest.”
I frown, shaking my head. “What are you talking about?” I don’t want to see anyone outside of the vampires I live with right now.
