Page 56 of Wicked Bite
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
PIPER
Light flashed behind my eyes and pain exploded across my body. Distant screaming echoed in my head, and I flinched away from it. Everything was too loud, and the thoughts were coming too fast. Voices filled my mind, and I didn’t know what they were all saying, nor did I want to. But it was a rush of sensory overload. I felt everything, heard everything, smelled everything. My skin was too sensitive and so very cold. My body was ever so still. I was cemented in place on a cold metal slab that didn’t feel right under my skin. The tips of my fingers rested on the cold metal beneath me.
Burning pain filled my throat and tightened around my stomach. My eyes flicked open and blinding light filled them. I quickly shut them tight. The sound of music drifted on the air, along with the smell of something vile. I wrinkled my nose and let my eyes open once more. A single white sheet lay over my naked body, and bright light shined down on me. I could feel every fiber in that sheet and the warmth from the light. My body was smooth and clean, and my hair fell back from my face onto the table.
When the door creaked open, I kicked my legs and rolled off the table entirely too fast, and my mind had to catch up with where my body had gone. The sheet fell to the floor, and I stood there naked in the middle of a square room. The walls were made of cinderblocks that were painted a pale green color. The floor was freezing but it didn’t seem to bother me, and three more metal tables were lined up next to the one I stood at. Another woman lay on the table beside mine. A little white dress lay on a rolling cart next to her. I grabbed it and shoved my arms in. It fell off my shoulders and opened all the way down from my chest.
Across from me was a silver wall filled with square doors. The word coroner ran through my mind, and I knew something had happened. I didn’t know what or who I was, but I knew this place meant death. I smelled it in the air and lingering on my skin.
I walked to the desk at the front of the room and stared down at the papers there. That burning pain lanced through my chest and up my throat once more, forcing me to double over and hold onto my stomach. I reached for the half-drunk bottle of water on the desk and chugged it down. For a moment, it eased the intense burning that started to cloud my mind. Before I could take another step, the water shot out of my stomach and from my mouth like a hose, soaking everything. I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth and sucked in a breath. The burn came back. More intense than before. It was boiling like nothing I’d ever felt before. Blisters had to be filling my throat and mouth. When I darted my tongue over my lips, it felt like sandpaper.
The door banged open and a chubby bald man in a white coat strolled in. He had a set of headphones wrapped around his neck and a bag of something greasy in his hand. “What the fuck?”
It was the smell that hit me first. Something warm and divine that would soothe the blistering pain in my body. I turned toward him and tilted my head to the side, studying him. Suddenly, I knew without a doubt he was easy prey. I didn’t say anything, just took a step toward him. My body moved with a catlike ease it never had before. Two little fangs popped from my teeth and stabbed my bottom lip, giving me a hit of my own blood. The burning cooled for barely a second.
“You-you’re supposed to be dead.” His body quaked, and his skin turned a pale shade of yellow.
I took another step toward him. Every muscle was ready to pounce on him and take what the burning in my throat so desperately needed. The sound of his heartbeat intensified and drove me into a frenzy. Blood pumped through his veins, and I licked my lips, just tasting it on the air between us. Sweat broke out over his body and he backed away and slammed into the wall behind him. He dropped the bag, and food exploded at his feet and scattered across the floor. A whimper slipped from his lips, and he took a step to the side as if debating whether to run. My instincts screamed at me to take what my body needed, to grab him and sink my fangs into his neck. The little voice in my head liked it. Liked the smell of fear and the hunt.
I licked my lips. “Run.”
His eyes widened and he turned to the side. His muscles tensed and I felt a smile spread across my face. It was like watching him move in slow motion. He darted down the hall, and the predator in me purred with pleasure. I was out the door and on him within seconds. I grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. This close, he was so much bigger than me. At least a foot taller but I didn’t care. I shoved him against the wall and leapt. My fangs sank into his neck like a hot knife through butter. Warm coppery liquid flooded my mouth and down my throat. The burning eased and I sighed with the next sucking pull I took from him. It went down my throat and filled my muscles. The haze of thirst receded, and flashes of a blond girl and a beautiful guy with dark chocolate hair filled my mind.
The pain doubled feeling like lava down my throat. I choked on my next sip. I extracted my fangs and shoved the guy away from me. He smacked into the wall and fell to the ground. I backed away from him and kept on walking toward the exit sign down the hall. Pain shot from my stomach and up my throat. Dizziness exploded behind my eyes, and I forgot everything else. Acid shot from my mouth, and I hunched over, vomiting up what little I had drunk. It burned like a hot poker had been shoved down my throat. I couldn’t breathe. Every muscle in my chest and back was pulled so tight it felt as though my own heart might shoot from my chest. I let it go, splashing the hallways with bloody vomit until I could stand and breathe again.
I grabbed the edge of the dress and swiped it across my mouth. I took another step and the thick metal door under the exit sign was there. I shoved it hard, and it flew off the hinges and out into the dark parking lot. The sound of metal scraping across asphalt echoed through the parking lot. I ran out into the night, feeling the cool air on my skin and the icy ground under my bare feet. I sucked in sharp breaths, trying to cool my ever-burning tongue. It didn’t help. My thoughts turned to only one thing . . . thirst.
Thirsty.
Hunt.
Kill.
Drink.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
DICE
“You sit down right there.” Sergeant Larceny pointed to the chair at a table in the interrogation room.
“What happened? Did you find who did this to her?”
It’d only been one night since I’d found Piper, and I still couldn’t explain how to the police. I told them about Maze and Tilly, but when they went to find the tent it was gone, and no one had heard of them. My eyes were dry, red, and puffy from the number of tears that’d I’d shed for my friend. My throat was raw and still hurt from the uncontrollable sobs. If Piper was alive, I would have killed her for making me cry. I hated crying.
He stood in the doorway and glared at me. “Did this to her? You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”
“What are you talking about?” I sat up straight in the chair and realized it was bolted to the ground and couldn’t be moved away from the single metal table.
“Yeah. You don’t know what I’m talkin’ about, my ass.” His Boston accent was never so thick as it was right now. He jabbed his finger at me. “Don’t you move.”
“Masshole,” I muttered to myself as he slammed the door.
When I looked up at the two-way mirror, I was a complete mess. “Oh, shit.”
I tried to finger comb my hair down instead of standing up straight. I wore a ripped sweatshirt, and equally crappy sweatpants. Black makeup was smeared around my eyes and down my cheeks. I tried to wipe it away with my fingers but all that did was smear it even more. It had been a long night and it showed, but what could I do? I’d lost the only person in the world who I loved and who loved me in return. My bottom lip started to quiver, and I felt the tears threaten to spill over once more. But I sucked in a sniffling breath and forced myself to get control. I’d be damned if I let any of these cops see me cry.
