Page 13 of Undying
“Kill me,” she whispers again, almost desperately, the dark pools of her eyes reflecting only pain.
A howl of protest echoes in my head as my wolf thrashes to be set free, the need to help her like a compulsion. I take a step toward her, reaching for her, needing to feel her in my arms. “Come here, kitten. Let’s get you out of here.”
“No.” A cute little scowl darkens her face, a furrow forming between her brows, and she shakes her head almost frantically. “I can’t leave here. I can never leave here,” she mutters, more to herself than to me.
She must be delirious.
My gut clenches in worry, the urgency to get her somewhere safe ratcheting up. I’m just taking a step toward her, ready to grab her, when Stanton drops into the hole next to me.
And I nearly tumble on my ass when my cute little kitten lets out a fierce snarl and launches herself across the space, moving so fast that she’s merely a blur. My heart drops to my feet, my gut clenching when the horrible truth crashes over me.
She’s a fucking vampire!
I should hate her on sight, but I’m suddenly terrified Stanton might harm her.
* * *
JOLIE
I’m so focused on the stranger that I let down my guard.
So when another man drops down next to him, I’m startled.
Suddenly cautious, I go to step back when I catch the new smell and freeze.
The soothing mint scent almost fools me.
I’m so distracted by the way my body craves his nearness that it takes precious seconds for me to realize the truth—vampire.
I hiss, hatred obliterating all rational thought, and I launch myself across the space, torn between hunger and the need to kill. The two urges are so twisted together that I can’t tell them apart. Before I can get close, he spins and knocks me out of the air.
I drag myself to my feet, my starved body struggling to obey my commands. Just as I take a staggering step toward him, two more figures drop into the pit. The sensory overload is too much. The room spins, and I shake my head to clear it, desperate to stay awake.
“Did you do that?” The vampire speaks with a faint British accent that does something funny to my stomach. I cock my head until he points to the far wall, directly toward my collection, where the now deceased members of House Dafoe are pinned against the far wall like macabre trophies.
I purse my lips for a moment, then I shrug and decide to tell them the truth, hoping it will force them to kill me even faster. “They killed me, took my blood without permission. I took back what belonged to me.”
Dizziness sweeps through me, and I sway, darkness threatening to swallow me whole. I lift my chin, then lick my cracked lips, but I have no moisture left in my mouth to ease the ache. “Will you kill me now?”
He takes a step toward me when a big mountain of a man with long white hair blocks his way. A large axe gleams in his hands, and I smile in relief at the Viking. I close my eyes, waiting to feel the bite of pain as he takes my head, waiting for the beautiful darkness of death to take me.
Instead, I find myself being lifted, but I’m too tired to fight anymore.
“Come,sæta. Your job is done now. Rest.”
I sigh, resting my head against his chest, feeling the low rumble of his voice more than hearing it. The foreign word is a soothing balm on my soul, and I know he’ll take care of me.
He’ll make my death swift.
ChapterFive
CASTLE
Icradle the girl in my arms, her slight weight barely more than a feather. The others stare at me like I’m wearing the yellow polka-dot bikini from that damned song Milo listens to nonstop when he’s working on a problem on his computer that he can’t figure out, but I ignore them.
Like the fuckers aren’t jealous.
I bare my fangs at them. The thought of someone trying to take her from me has my skin rippling with the need to shift and spill blood.
