Page 7 of To Crave Darkly
“Can you put the radio on? I’d do it but...” I trailed off, jangling my handcuffs.
Jasper switched the radio on and music filled the void that lingered between us. I listened to the song on the radio and tried to focus on it, letting the haunting melody sweep over me and calm my tumultuous thoughts. But instead of distracting me it just made my mind relive everything.
Visions of the men who attacked me swam before my eyes in rapid succession. The greasy hair, the evil eyes. The dead look in that man’s head at my feet. I remembered the coppery smell of all the blood. God, there was so much blood.
And how did I explain the jolts of electricity? What the hell was that about? I still had no idea how to explain that. Perhaps it was something to do with being kidnapped?
As my mind sorted through what was real and what it refused to believe it hit me all at once. My body went into shock, my mind snapped, and I panicked.
I full blown panicked.
I didn’t want to be stuck here. I wanted to go home. Would anyone notice I was missing? There was only really Rae who would care; I didn’t really have anyone else in my life. I pulled at the handcuffs. I knew they weren’t going to budge but I just kept pulling and pulling. My heart raced painfully in my chest. Haziness crept into the edge of my vision. The cuffs bit sharply into my wrists, and they were turning raw as I kept trying to break free, but I didn’t care. I was going to break the door handle. I was determined to do it. Tears of impotence burnt my eyes and I started screaming.
“Lori!” I heard Jasper shout, but I wasn’t paying attention. My world was collapsing around me, and my mind was falling with it. Everything I’d been through in the last twenty-four hours was finally catching up to me. I didn’t even register the fact the car had stopped until Jasper’s hands framed my face and he commanded me to look at him. My breathing stopped as I gazed straight into his eyes. Locked in his stare, I felt a calmness invade my mind and instantly I started to relax.
“Lori, I’ll remove the handcuffs, but you have to promise me that you won’t run away.” Jasper wiped my tears away with the pads of his thumbs. His tone was soft and its rich melodious sound was a soothing balm to my frazzled nerves. The gentle brush of his fingers calmed my rapid heartbeat and my breathing slowed to match the rhythm of his thumbs across my skin. His face was so close to mine. His thick lashes framed his magnificent eyes, casting shadows across his sharp cheekbones. He sucked a breath through his teeth, his pupils dilating as his gaze dropped to my lips. I wet them in anticipation. He leaned towards me and I closed my eyes.
Click.
What was that?
I heard another one. I opened my eyes and saw Jasper leaning back in his seat with the handcuffs. Embarrassment unfurled in my chest and my face flushed under Jasper’s gaze. Wow, I felt like an idiot.
I flexed my wrists and winced at my self-inflicted wounds. They were raw and I scolded myself for letting my emotions get the better of me.
“Thank you,” I said to Jasper. I rubbed my wrists absent mindedly, glad to be able to feel comfortable again. “Where are we going?” I asked as he started the car again.
Jasper sighed, clearly exasperated with me, "Somewhere safe.Please, just trust me."
“Sure, because that's really easy to do,” I replied sarcastically.Did he really expect me to just sit back and let him do what he wanted with me? If he thinks that, he's got another thing coming. There was no way I was going to make this easy for him.
Chapter 5
JASPER
I sighed, resigning myself to the fact that Lori wasn’t going to make this a piece of fucking cake. I was going to have some serious fucking words with de Santis when I got back. This was not the simple collection job he promised. She was supposed to come willingly. Not fight me at every goddamn turn. What woman didn’t want saving when she had just been told she was in danger? Someone with a skewed sense of self-preservation. This woman had done nothing but put herself in dangerous situations, from last night at the bar with the drunk to spitting in the face of her attacker in the alleyway. And now she was trying to deliberately put herself in harm’s way by trying to escape me. If I wasn’t so pissed off at her, I’d find that trait admirable. It certainly took courage to stand up to someone who was about to threaten you.
I glanced over at her and it hit me again how striking she was to look at. She had a mass of glorious brown hair, the colour of rich chocolate which contrasted remarkably against her pale skin. I bet if I curled it round my fingers it would feel as soft and silky as it looked. She was quite small, maybe only about five foot three, but what she lacked in height she certainly made up for with feistiness. Just thinking about how she tried to take on those idiots who attacked her made mechuckle. She certainly had gumption and I liked that about her, even if it was pretty stupid to have taken on those guys on her own.
I thought back to what de Santis said about her when he gave me the mission. He said that she would be the key to saving our world, but I didn’t see a saviour before me. All I saw was a little girl who looked powerless to do anything. De Santis had charged our Elite to bring this woman in. He believed that she was part of an age-old prophecy that would bring about the end of the world as we know it. She certainly had some sort of power judging by what I saw last night but I wasn’t close enough to see what it was. It could have been magic or an energy pulse. Whatever it was, I didn’t think she had any idea she had powers. It was clear she thought she was human, and I had no idea how to tell her she wasn’t. Then again, I wasn’t made aware of all the details of this woman; it was a need to know thing and clearly, I didn’t need-to-know everything. So perhaps I would leave it up to someone else to tell her. It’s not like I fucking cared; I only had to deliver her to the Conclave. One thing I did know was that, if we were hunting her down because of the links she may have to the prophecy, it was entirely possible that we weren’t the only faction to do so. Those three fools I got rid of earlier were proof of that. I would need to keep an eye out for anyone else following her.
I have never believed in the prophecy, not like de Santis and the older vampires, but I suppose they actually met that old witch. If any of the stories were true Mistress Blackwood would certainly be a fearsome creature to behold, but she was before my time and I never had the misfortune to meet her.
But it wasn’t going to matter. Lori, the prophecy, any of it. Well, not to me anyway. I had been granted the True Death and it was to be my reward for getting Lori to the Conclave. The True Death had been something I had yearned for a long time, but I had always been denied. I was the best mercenary in the Elite. I was in command and vicious to the core. Maybe I was too good at taking lives to be granted the wish to take my own. That thought made me scoff. Fucking Circle, thinking they ruled the world. They pissed me off. I couldn’t stand the jumped-up egotistical wankers, parading their might over everyone. The Alpha lines were worse than the Elders; they thought they were better than everyone just because they were born vampire and not turned.
There were only three Alpha lines left: House De Santis, House Durand and House Everleigh but I despised the lot of them. There used to be 10 lines who made the original Circle to govern our kind but as the lines died out they replaced them with Elders who were vampires over 200 years old. About 300 years ago, war broke out between the three dark clans (vampires, demons and mages) and the Elite were created to bring peace. We now have a treaty in place but there are still people from all three clans who seek to rule the Dark World. Perhaps that was where Lori and this prophecy came in? Would this woman I had rescued really make the world burn?
It seemed impossible to me. She looked fragile and something in me wanted to protect her, despite her annoying habit of pushing my buttons. If she carried on like this she was going to end up in the boot where I wouldn’t be able to hear her complain or look into those eyes.
Those eyes of hers were goddamn lethal. Especially when they were full of tears. Just thinking about the fear and panic I saw there made my heart lurch in my chest.
Was that pity I felt? Whatever it was, it was an unwelcome emotion and it needed to fuck off.
I had even been tempted to taste her lips. The moment her tongue had darted across her plump bottom lip I had almost lost control. I took a deep breath which in itself was odd. I didn’t really need to breathe that often; I did it more out of habit than necessity. I was heading into some deep shit if I needed to take a deep breath to calm down.
I needed to get a handle on things. She was not the sort of woman for me; she was delicate and sweet. The kind of girl looking for romance and a happily ever after. That was not me. At all. I didn't make love, not even remotely. I was a “no strings” kind of guy and that worked perfectly for me. It wasn’t like my line of work left me the room to form meaningful connections with people anyway.
I glanced over at Lori and found she still had her head resting on the window. She looked sad and lost, like she was watching the world go by without understanding why it was moving past her. A part of me felt guilty for treating her the way I was, but I couldn't risk her running off. The people chasing her would stop at nothing to get her and use her to gain their own ends. I just wish I knew who was behind it all. I had my suspicions but nothing concrete. Some members of the Circle were more vocal about deposing de Santis but I couldn’t see any of them pulling this off. At least it wasn’t much further to the Conclave now. We needed to stop for the night, lie low for a few hours then head north to the hidden city.
