Page 6 of The Monster and the Last Blood Match

Her eyes lifted to meet his, and all she could do was stare into the endless dark depths. For a second, she saw something flicker in his eyes, something that spoke of need, but then it was gone. Replaced by nothingness. His features were chiseled out of stone. His cheekbones were sharp and defined, hollowing out his cheeks. His jaw was strong and pronounced. Even his dark hair was precisely cut and maintained. He wore a crisp black suit with a bloodred tie.

He was plainly terrifying to behold, but also gorgeous. Horrifyingly beautiful.

“Reyna, allow me to introduce you to your Sponsor,” Dr. Washington said. “This is Beckham Anderson, senior vice president of Visage Incorporated.”

She locked eyes with Beckham, and she refused to look away. If he was trying to intimidate her with his lethal stare, it was working, but she would never let him know that.

Here she was in tattered jeans, a plain gray T-shirt, black Converse sneakers, and a maroon baseball cap stuffed in her back pocket. Her hair was in a high ponytail. She wore not an ounce of makeup. And she was in a standoff against a man who was on all counts perfect. But she wouldn’t look away. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

When she didn’t say anything, Dr. Washington cleared his throat and continued. “Mr. Anderson, your new subject, Miss Reyna Carpenter.”

No one spoke.

All the times she had thought about coming to Visage and becoming a blood escort, she had never truly known what to expect. She had never considered the vampire that she would have to live with. This man made her want to run as fast and as far away from him as possible. This man was a thing of nightmares.How the hell am I supposed to live with him?

“Well,” Dr. Washington said uncomfortably, “what do you think?”

Beckham broke her gaze to turn to the doctor. “Yes. Fine. She’ll do. I have a car waiting and a meeting to attend. Get her ready to leave immediately.”

Reyna raised her eyebrows. That was nothing more than a short perusal. The paperwork had already been squared away, but she thought that he would want to ask her a few questions to get to know her. Shewas, after all, going to be living with him indefinitely. She guessed this was what an arranged marriage felt like.

“I believe she is ready to leave,” the doctor said without acknowledging her. “We need your approval signature, and then she can be discharged.”

The doctor handed over the last piece of paper she had signed, and Beckham scrawled his name across the line with a flourish.

“Great. She’s mine. Can we go now?” Beckham asked sharply.

“Yes. Yes, of course. Reyna, come along.”

Reyna forced herself to put one foot in front of the other. She could do this. She could leave behind everything she had ever known to go live with this strange man…vampire. To live with a strange vampire who was going to suck her blood on a regular basis. She swallowed hard and held her chin up. She was doing this for Brian and Drew, but also for herself. She wanted to make something of herself. One day, she would.

Every journey begins with one step. Hers began with this one.

She moved over to the doctor, feeling marginally more comfortable with him. Her Sponsor was already busy checking his phone. He wasn’t paying attention to her at all.

“He’s not going to hurt me, right?” she whispered, never taking her eyes off of Mr. Anderson.

Beckham’s nostrils flared, and his eyes darted to hers. “I am not here to hurt you. You are my employee. I will treat you like an employee. And as my employee, we are in a bit of a hurry, so anything else you might wish to discuss with the doctor will have to wait. If everything is in order, we will leave.”

Reyna stared up into the black pools of his eyes and realized she was drowning. She was floundering through an empty abyss with no way to escape. If she had once known how to swim, the ability had fled her mind. There was only her and this monster and her inability to say something to tamp down his ever-increasing anger. Very little was clear about what would follow once she walked through that door.

The only thing that was reallyveryclear was that Beckham Anderson was a complete and total asshole.

Chapter Three

Silence.

Apparently that was Beckham’s MO. He was silent. He liked her silent. His phone was silent. Even the town car, the unbelievably sleek, beautiful, shouldn’t-even-touch-it-was-so-shiny town car, was silent.

They drove out of the Visage facilities and then headed east toward the coastline. The town car zoomed at unbelievable speeds, driving away from her shitty home, away from her brothers, away from her life.

Reyna glanced over her shoulder and back through the rear window. Her pulse raced with regret at leaving everything she knew behind, and yet she wouldn’t have changed her decision. They needed the money. This was the perfect opportunity. Though it wasn’t what her brothers would have chosen for her. Few hard choices in life were ever what you wanted to take.

When she didn’t show up at home tonight, Brian and Drew were going to have a panic attack. She wished she had gotten to say goodbye. Since they didn’t have a phone, she had no means of contacting them, and she couldn’t reach their employer without risking backlash at the factory. Maybe she should have left a note letting them know where she was going. They probably would have been just as panicked when they found the note. No matter what, she would have to find a way to let her brothers know she was okay.

With a heavy sigh, she sat back in the seat, leaving her world behind her.

Then the city came into view. She had always found it hideous, cold and disgusting. When she had been forced to move in with her uncle for those few horrible years, she had learned to hate the city. Dirty and unforgiving. And filled with people neglectful and careless of their neighbors. Everyone trapped like rats.

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