Page 16 of To Crave Darkly
“Nope, not even close,” I replied back.
“You know, I was just going to hand little Miss Monroe over, but after seeing her in the flesh, I think I might have some fun with her first.” His face contorted into an evil smile and I was reminded again at how malevolent he really was. No way was he going to lay a finger on her. She was mine to protect and there was no chance in hell he would ever get near her.
I let out a growl as I attacked him with a newfound ferocity. I pummelled my fists into him wherever I got a chance. I was relentless in my attack, determined to protect Lori at all costs. I was so focused on attacking him, I didn’t notice the whisper of a blade until Quinn impaled my side. Pain sliced through me and I realised it was no ordinary blade. Slimy bastard, he’d used a silver tipped knife. I wouldn’t be able to heal that wound; silver was one of the only things that was lethal to vampires. Dread clawed my insides and the beast howled in pain.
I staggered backwards and Quinn laughed maliciously. I fell to my knees as the agony ripped through me like a fire, scorching every inch of me, burning me from the inside out. It robbed me of my breath and white spots danced across my vision. Quinn walked over to me and I could still hear him laughing. He placed his hands either side of my face and forced me to look at him.
“Oh, Jasper, I expected so much more. Look at little Miss Monroe,” he turned my head towards the carand I saw Lori. She stared straight back at me, panic and fear flooding her eyes. I’d never felt so helpless in my entire life. I should have known Quinn would fight dirty. I should have anticipated something like this, and now Lori was going to suffer because of me.Because of my arrogance. I had never needed to protect anyone like I needed to protect Lori. I didn’t understand it, I barely knew the girl. And now, I guess I never would. Somehow, that hurt more than the pain currently searing my veins. That I would never get the chance to…
My thoughts stopped abruptly. Pain exploded through me as Quinn brought my forehead down against his knee. Lori screamed my name as I fell to the ground, but she sounded a million miles away. This was it. I was actually going to die. Why didn’t I feel ready? I thought I was ready for this.
Quinn knelt next to me, bringing his face down to my ear.
“I’m going to have so much fun playing with her,” he whispered. “I can see how much she means to you, which will just make it all so much sweeter.”
I saw red. No fucking way would he lay a hand on her. I grabbed the back of his neck, holding him in place and plunged my other hand straight through his ribcage. The bones crunched beneath my fist and Marcus gasped in surprise. My fingers curled round the wet, sticky flesh of his heart and I took great delight in squeezing that muscle. I felt his heart try to pump blood. It strained against my fingers as it tried to keep Marcus alive. I literally felt Quinn dying and it was terrifyingly beautiful.
“No one touches her,” I growled, trying to stay alive long enough to enjoy the satisfaction of killing him. The pain from the silver blurred my vision, and with the last bit of strength I could muster, I pulled his heart from his chest. My elbow shattered as it collided with the ground, breaking into pieces from the force I used to pull the life-giving organ from Marcus’s chest. Quinn crumpled to the ground; his eyes still as soulless as they were in life.
Somewhere in the distance, I registered Lori shouting, but as I lay there dying, I wondered if death was truly what I wanted in the first place.
Chapter 10
LORI
Shit, shit, shit. He wasn’t moving. I managed to scramble out of the crumpled remains of the car and hobbled over to Jasper. My leg was a mangled mess. I didn’t think anything was broken but there were some seriously nasty cuts along my thigh and my jeans were soaked in blood. Urgh, that definitely wouldn’t come out in the wash. I could see why Jasper found black so useful.
I got down on the ground, not an easy feat given the state of my leg, and placed my head on his chest, trying to hear a heartbeat. Tenuous moments passed before I heard a very soft, very faint beat. Thank God.
“Jasper,” I called, tapping the side of his face, hoping the sensation would snap him out of it. I thought vampires were invincible, but I watched Jasper literally fall to the ground and get his arse kicked. I didn’t understand what that other guy did to make Jasper so easy to take down. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t fighting fair. Jasper was totally owning that guy until he did something that caused Jasper to collapse in a heap.
I looked over to the dead guy, shock etched into every line of his face and a gaping hole in the middle of his chest where his heart should be. I located the absent organ on the ground next to Jasper. It didn’t look like a heart anymore; it was disfigured and out of shape and it sent a shiver up my spine as I lookedat it. I retched at the sight of it. No one should have to see such a disgusting disfigured heart, left in the mud like trash.
I turned my attention back to Jasper. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to fix him or what he needed.
“Come on, Jasper, give me a clue,” I asked, hoping he’d give me some indication of what he needed. Ever so faintly, I saw his lips move but I couldn't hear anything. I leaned closer so my ear was hovering right over his lips and I heard him mutter one word.
“Blood.”
He said it so quietly I almost didn’t hear it, but that one word had the power to make my blood run cold. He needed blood; of course he needed blood. He was a vampire. I sat up and looked around. Nope, no other people who might volunteer blood, just me. Crap. If I didn’t offer him my blood I was pretty certain he’d die but what would happen to me? He barely had a drop from me last night and he went crazy, not to mention how I reacted. Sweet Jesus, this was a pickle.
How was this even supposed to work? Did it matter where he fed from? Would he just bite me, or did I need to slice my own neck open? Double crap. I was so out of my depth here, but I knew if I didn’t try and save him I would hate myself forever.Besides, I still didn’t have the first clue about where I was, what I was doing or what the hell was going on. I know it sounded a little bit selfish but I wanted to save him so I could get the answers I needed.
I patted Jasper’s body, hoping to find something to cut myself with. I tried to ignore the fact that I could feel all the ridges of his torso beneath my fingertips but damn the guy was solid. I came up lucky when I reached his waistband. Tucked into his utility belt was a wickedly sharp looking little blade.
How the hell was I supposed to do this? I sat astride his lap and had the thought that under different circumstances this would be quite sexy but as I looked down at his pale face I knew I needed to try and save this man. Jasper had put himself in harm’s way to keep me safe for the second time and I felt like I owed it to him to at least try. With grim determination I placed the blade of the knife against the column of my neck and felt a sharp sting as I sliced my skin. The blood began to trickle past my collar bone, so I reached down for Jasper pulling his torso up towards me. His head fell to my shoulder and I wrapped my legs around his waist to hold him in place against me, wincing as the pain in my leg became worse. I placed one hand behind his head and with my other hand I guided his lips to the cut on my neck.
“Come on Jasper,” I pleaded, “drink from me.” I silently willed him to move and for the first time in a long time I sent up a prayer. “Let him live.”
After what felt like hours, I sensed a slight fluttering against my neck, soft at first but the movement grew firmer with each pass of his lips against my skin. I felt Jasper touch his tongue to the cut I had made, lapping at my blood like an animal. But nothing prepared me for the moment his fangs pierced my flesh.
I let out a scream that was part surprise, part pain, but also part pleasure. Jasper brought one of his hands around to cradle my head and the other went around my waist, holding me firm against his chest. It was such an odd sensation, feeling the suction from his lips but also the feather-light licks of his tongue. I closed my eyes as I let Jasper take what he needed. I was saving him. At least, I hoped I was.
I started to feel a bit drowsy and my arms fell from him. Huh. That’s odd, why did my limbs feel heavy? It suddenly crossed my mind that Jasper was probably draining me dry, but it was too late for me to do anything about it. I had enjoyed the sensation of him feeding from me so much I hadn’t realised he was taking far more of my blood than he probably should.
“Jasper, stop,” I said with the last bit of strength I could muster. It was all I could manage to say beforesuccumbing to the encroaching blackness. I just hoped I got through to him in time.
***
