Page 43 of Blood Submission

Chapter19

The following dawn,Dante made his way over the pile of rubble that blocked intruders from finding his home. After bringing Laney some food and water during the night, he’d left her alone. His plan had been to check in with the Hunters and then spend the rest of the night lurking in the shadows of the city. He needed something to keep his mind occupied.

Instead, he’d found himself in the passageway on the other side of the cave-in within the hour. He hadn’t been able to face her again just yet, though, so he’d taken a seat on the rotting wooden planks that made up the old walkway and kept watch. Nothing would be able to get to her, his hideout was the safest place she could be, but it still soothed him to be near her. He’d stayed there the entire night.

Once, he’d heard her footsteps on the other side of the makeshift wall. She’d called out to him softly. He’d stood up and opened his mouth to respond, but nothing had come out. A few seconds later, she’d gone back to the room, and he’d sat backdown.

To pass the time, Dante worked on hardening his heart toward the female. The heart he hadn’t realized he still possessed until she’d thrown herself into his arms of her own free will as he tried to drag her to his feeding room. Or maybe that had been nothing more than a desperate act of self-preservation. He wasn’t sure which idea made him feel worse.

Occasionally, as he kept his vigil throughout the night, his mind would drift, and the memory of Laney’s nude form—haunting in its perfection—would come to him. He allowed himself a moment or two to enjoy it, however, before firmly shoving the recall away. He couldn’t think about her like that right now. Perfect though she might be, the marks on her belly were but a reminder of what he’d once had, and what he’d so violentlylost.

Dante tried to remember if he’d ever come across a female with those marks before. Surely, he had. Yet, not one came to mind. Of course, he hadn’t paid that much attention to a woman’s body in a long time. Even if he fucked them, he barely looked at them. The blood lust would often blind him to their appearance.

When he sensed the rising sun, he stood and stretched. He’d come to a decision during the long night hours. A simple decision, but one he did not make lightly. Scaling the wall, he crawled across the top and dropped down to the otherside.

Laney was awake and waiting for him when he reached her. She didn’t greet him, just stood waiting expectantly.

He held out a hand to her. “Come.”

Surprise shot across her features, but she didn’t stop to question him. Hurrying over to her backpack, she picked it up and took his hand, allowing him to lead her out of theroom.

Part of him was disgusted at the weakness he was showing, but the other part of him could no longer ignore the fact that he did care somewhat about this particular human’s comfort. Therefore, while the others were all sleeping, he was taking her to his apartment to see her pet, and get a shower and somefood.

But he was staying with her the entire time, and then he was bringing herback.

Laney was unusually quiet as she hurried to keep up with him. She still didn’t ask what was going on or where they were going. But when they got into the elevator and he lit up the button for his floor, her hand tightened on his. He looked down at her. She barely came to his shoulder. Glancing up at him, her expression was cautiously hopeful.

The doors opened and he led her to the apartment Luukas had allotted to him when Dante had agreed to join his Hunters. He’d stayed there for a total of three painstaking days and nights, then he’d burrowed out his own lair below the building. It was too exposed upstairs, too open, too high off the ground. He didn’t trust it. It made him twitchy, in spite of Luuk’s assurances that it was completely safe for them and the building was secure. The windows even had a special gas between the panes to protect them from its rays, just in case the blackout blinds and curtains weren’t enough. In their homes, he’d told Dante, they could enjoy the daylight if they so chose. However, most of them still slept throughout the day, not waking until the sun went down. All except Dante. He rarely slept anymore.

Punching in the code to get into the apartment, he pushed open the door and ushered her in before one of the others on his floor saw them. The animals came running to greet them from where they’d been sunning themselves on the rug in front of the large window, enjoying the warmth.

Laney took one step inside, sucked in a quick breath, and turned and pushed him back out the door. It closed in the dog’s face with a soft click. “It’s day,” she exclaimed. “You can’t go in there! Thesun—”

“Can’t hurt me here,” he finished. A peculiar warmth filled him that had nothing to do with the sun flooding the apartment, making his throat swell and cutting off anything more he was about to say. He must be thirsty. Punching in the code again, he re-opened the door and pulled her inside.

She stalled out in the foyer, just outside the ring of sunshine, her hand on his arm. “Dante.” The worry in her tone was obvious, in spite of his assurance.

It occurred to him for the first time that she was familiar with vampires. Now that he thought about it, though she was frightened of him at times, she’d never been particularly surprised. He shook off her hand and steeled himself. Though his limbs suddenly felt like they were weighted down with lead, he forced himself to walk over to the window. The dog followed happily on his heels, tail wagging with excitement. Standing directly in the pool of weak morning sunlight, Dante turned to her and spread out hisarms.

See?

She took a panicked step toward him and stopped, watching. Once she had assured herself that he wasn’t about to burst into flame, she bent down and picked up the cat that was winding in and out of her legs. Holding him close as he purred with contentment and rubbed his nose on her chin, she came inside.

Dante stepped out of the ring of light, lightheaded with relief. He would never get fucking used tothat.

She kept her face carefully blank as she looked around. As he followed her gaze, he could imagine why: the apartment was completely devoid of furniture or decoration. The only room he’d furnished was the bedroom. There was no point in doing the rest of it, as he was rarely there. Not even during those first three days. The place didn’t even have barstools.

An unreasonable anger filled him at her continued timidity. “Come,” he ordered, and headed to the bedroom. Going into the closet, he found some clean clothes that would fit her—a heavy T-shirt and sweatpants with a string tie. “I don’t have any underthings for you,” he said over his shoulder when he heard her follow him into the room. “But these are at least clean until we can wash your clothes.”

“I have some in my backpack,” she said quietly. “Clothes, that is. I just didn’t want to change until I could shower.”

He put his things back without a word, and tried not to show the disappointment he felt at her refusal of his offer. There was no reason for it. Stepping out of the closet, he pointed to the other door. “The bathroom is there. You should find everything youneed.”

Laney stared at him in disbelief, but only for a second, and then she set the cat on the bed and went in and closed the door. He heard the lock click, and couldn’t help but smile. She knew a lock wouldn’t keep him out, but her point had been made. Dante traded looks with the dog, and they headed back out to the other room and gave her some privacy. Careful to avoid the direct light, he hit the button on the wall and kept off to the side as the small motor began to hum, drawing dark curtains across the large wall of windows. It only made him feel mildly more secure.

He pulled out the rest of the sandwiches he’d stashed in the fridge and put them on the counter with a glass of water, then he fed and watered the pets. After that, there was nothing to do but wait. Dante leaned against the kitchen counter and amused himself by watching the cat trying to instigate a wrestling match with his canine friend by batting at the dog’snose.

He remained far away from the windows, even with the curtains closed. His skin was still prickling with unease from the first time. He was too old to ever feel comfortable with the modern conveniences younger vampires enjoyed. Even if the entire apartment was walled in and sun proof, he wouldn’t feel safe. It was too far up off the ground. Too dangerous. There was no way out if the elevator stopped and the stairway got blocked somehow. Dante paced the length of the kitchen. He felt trapped.

---