Page 95 of Taste of Death

“Pick up, akra. Come on.” I paced around the office, nearly tearing my hair out as I listened to it ring. She had to be a safe distance away by now.

The call went to voicemail, so I dialed again. This time, I got her voicemail after two rings. So I called a third time, and then a fourth.

On the fifth attempt, she picked up.

“Amy.” I breathed out her name on a huge sigh of relief. “Listen, I?—”

“Stop fucking calling, asshole,” Tavia growled into the phone and hung up.

When I tried to call again, it went straight to voicemail.

I thought back to the entire exchange between me, Amy, and Baros. There was no time to come up with a plan, no way to give her a signal that she needed to get away for her own safety. I just needed her gone before Baros figured out she meant something to me.

I knew it looked bad, that my actions would hurt her, but once I got the chance to explain, she’d understand. There was just no time.

But thinking from her perspective, she saw a naked woman standing in front of me, touching me, and I had dismissed her so callously. I drank another woman’s blood, right in front of her.

I did more than just hurt her.

I confirmed her worst fears and all her deepest insecurities.

“Oh, fuck.” I brought my fists to my temples, the full weight of what I’d done hitting me like a brick building. “Oh no, no, no. Oh… fuck! What have I done?”

Dawn was approaching but this couldn’t wait. I raced back down the stairs, shoved my feet into the first pair of shoes I found and popped the door to my garage. Within another minute, I was on my motorcycle and speeding toward the Blood ‘til Dawn compound.

The building was closedup when I arrived, all doors shut and security lights on. I parked in front of their warehouse door and left my bike running as I walked up and pounded on the metal door with my fist.

“Yeah, I know you can see me,” I said, making eye contact with the camera lens fixed to the corner of the building. “Come on out.”

Nothing happened for several minutes, but I refused to be ignored. I circled the large square building, pounding on every outside door that I passed. The eastern sky was lightening and I felt the first prickle of warning instincts on my skin. Were they waiting to see if I’d stay out past dawn? I wouldn’t put it past them.

“I just want to talk to Amy,” I said to yet another camera lens. “Please.”

A side door opened after another long minute and two vampires emerged, one that could have been from my bloodline with pale blond hair, and another with the typical darker complexion of Blood ‘til Dawn. They stood in front of the door, arms crossed and looking pissed off. Not a great sign for me.

“Learn to take a hint, for Temkra’s sake,” the blond said.

“I only need a few minutes to talk to Amy, please.” Neither of their expressions changed, so I elaborated. “The brusang, Tavia’s friend.”

“We know who Amy is, Rathka’s Bastard,” spat the other one, revealing one blunt fang when he snarled. “She’s one of ours, and she doesn’t want to talk to you.”

Fuck, I’d misstepped badly and assumed Blood ‘til Dawn, like my clan and Carpe Noctem, did not see brusang as full-on clan members.

“I just want to apologize.” Desperation crept into my voice, just like the creeping heat on my skin as the sky lightened with dawn’s approach. “Please. I only wanted to protect her. I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard it all from you.” The blond stared at me coldly. “Every word from a Rathka’s Order mouth is bullshit. It’s too bad Amy had to learn the hard way.”

“I’m fucking serious!” My composure was slipping, desperation taking over in full force. “This isn’t clan shit, this is just between me and her. Please, I only need a few minutes to talk to her.”

“You’re not getting it, fancy pants.” The blunt-fanged vampire looked seconds away from swinging at me. “Shewants zero minutes withyou. If she’s really that important to you, you’d respect her wishes.”

“But it wasn’t like what she saw! I didn’t mean what I said… ”

My hope dwindled. There was no chance they’d let me see her, no chance for me to explain. That was my whole justification for sending her away like I did. I’d assumed I’d be able to set things right once Baros had left. Now I was robbed of that opportunity and Amy truly believed she meant nothing to me, when it was the exact opposite.

“Go home and cry into your silk sheets about it,” the blond sneered. “You’ve done enough already.”

“Or you could stay here and wait for the sun to take you,” the other suggested. “That would do us a huge favor.”

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