Page 16

The short end of the motel is startlingly dark, illuminated only by a flickering vending machine and the sign above the icebox. I stumble into the darkness blindly. Cloth hisses against the side of the vending machine. An arm shoots out and snags me around the neck, one hand covering my mouth as the other snakes around my chest to pin my arms to my sides. I yelp hoarsely and try to kick back, but the grip becomes a steel vise around my body and cuts off my ability to breathe. My struggle is a silent, pathetic thing that does nothing but tire me out further.

Black dots dance through my vision when the kraken grip finally loosens. Lips brush lightly against the bite wounds on my neck, warm air tickles through my wet hair, and the stink of unwashed clothes, old blood, and old pain tells me all I need to know.

“Shh,” whispers Cor against my throbbing neck. The hiss draws goosebumps out of my body. I writhe a little when other parts of my body also take notice. A pocket of throbbing warmth builds in my chest as tiny shocks of adrenaline accompany each touch of his mouth against my skin. Even the painful bite wound tingles and pulses where he brushes over it, driving the cold out of my body and leaving me breathless and confused. He is dirty, dangerous, and violent. My brain knows I shouldn’t react to him that way. I’ve trained to kill creatures like him. I’m a Hunter, for god’s sake. My cock seems to have been brainwashed into thinking differently.

Cor draws me tightly against his body, molding himself to my back like a protective cocoon. The hand across my mouth kneads my cheeks for a moment, as if feeling my face. His lips stay against my neck, his chest rumbling against my spine as he growls out another word, almost unintelligible. “Listen.”

I DON’T KNOW what Cor means. I continue to writhe and shift, if only half-heartedly, until I hear the voices. They are low and hushed, and I wouldn’t have noticed the second one before, but now it’s hard to ignore them.

“I gave you valuable information, just as I promised. What is there to discuss now?”

I recognize Arzel’s voice as soon as I hear him. It’s hard to forget his simpering singsong. He sounds vaguely put out, but that cultivated lilt is still there. What is he doing here?

“You didn’t tell me the vampire was an elder! Or that he had a partner and thralls! Your ‘just a renegate’ bullshit killed my partner and almost cost me my life,” hisses Asha heatedly. She takes a sharp, shuddering breath. “I’ve got what you want, but the price just went up. The blocking charm is not enough anymore, no matter what magical wonders it allegedly can do. I’ve gotten a fucking newbie killed over some shiny metal on your word alone, for God’s sakes. You’ll have to add a bucketful of money to my fee.”

I only realize I’ve stopped struggling when Cor’s arms relax around me. He pets my ribs like I’m a nervous dog, just this side of too hard, and rubs his cheek against my jaw. He doesn’t let go of my mouth though. People just don’t trust anyone anymore these days.

Arzel giggles. He actually giggles, as if delighted by Asha’s words. “If that is what you require from us, besides your freedom, you shall get it. Name your price, and if it is not outrageous, it shall be yours. Now give me the Master key.”

Cor’s body turns into a steel wall behind me, his arms a prison for my body. His rough voice growls right into my ear, breathless. “Key,” he rumbles agitatedly, as if that should tell me something.

A moment of quiet, then Arzel screeches. “You little whore, you broke it!” The sound of a slap reverberates through the night, closely followed by the ratchet of a gun and the plink of a discarded bullet casing.

“Call me whore again, see what happens,” Asha snarls. All life has left her voice, turning it into icy steel and a promise of pain. “I got it. I made sure it didn’t get damaged. I gave it to you. That was the deal. If your precious Master key thing is broken, it was that way before I got it. Do you have any other issues you want to discuss, or are you gonna play nice now?”

The rain suddenly stops, leaving us to the chilly wind. It howls around the corners of the motel and distorts Arzel’s ugly sneer into something akin to a frustrated whine. “My master will be… unhappy with this outcome, and I am not ready to pay for your ineptitude. I am willing to keep this failure between us, though. Give you another chance to make it up to him and persuade him to give you what you want. It will not be as easy as this task was, but that is the price you pay for disappointing me. Your oh so hated leash simply stays on until you deliver.”

The shot I expect doesn’t come. Neither does she laugh or tell him to fuck off. She just harrumphs and clicks the safety back on. “Fine, but only this one more favor. And only because I can’t risk you blabbing to my bosses. If this fails too, you’re shit out of luck and I’m taking you down. What, when, and where?”

Arzel sniffs high-handedly. “I will call on you as soon as it is necessary. For now, leave the amulet with me and go about your business. And don’t make a face; if I have to wait a little longer, you will gladly suffer with me.”

Asha’s muttered “fucker” mingles with Arzel’s quick steps. He’s coming towards us. I squirm and mutter against Cor’s hand, but I don’t get far; he flips us, pushes me into the corner between the vending machine and the wall, and simply hides my glaringly white and bloody-red shirt with his dirty, scantily clad body. I freeze and hold my breath as Arzel wanders by, my pulse thrumming through my body until I hear my heartbeat, but he doesn’t stop. Doesn’t notice us at all. Thank you, lord, for minor miracles.

I take a little while to notice Cor hasn’t let go of me yet. When I mumble a protest against his palm, he takes his hand off my lips, only to grab my throat and pet it languidly. My venom-spiked skin reacts with a heat that is almost painful, each nerve coming to life and driving out the cold. A low, satisfied rumble vibrates against my back as he shuffles closer, pushing all that is him against me. Letting me feel his mind has wandered into decidedly more unsavory territory.

“Uh, Cor?” I whisper, keeping my voice low. He answers with an annoyed growl and otherwise doesn’t react.

For a moment I’m at a loss on what to do now. I haven’t paid attention to Asha’s movements since Arzel passed by, and I absolutely cannot risk her finding me in a situation like this. But I can’t risk Cor getting frisky with me either, and by the way his rumble turns into a full-on purr, I’ll have to act fast if I don’t want to end up in a round of fisticuffs I will most definitely lose.

His hand swipes down my chest, tangling with the shirt buttons a few times before his fingers touch the waistband of my pants.

“Cor!” I buck him off, barely able to keep my voice down. He stumbles back half a step, bobbing back and forth like a dashboard toy, grinning unrepentantly. Wolfishly. A shudder rushes through his body, and he closes his solid black eyes, grin widening into something grotesque as he scents the air. For a moment I’m sure he will be on me again.

He stays put, barely. Half a step away from me, hovering as he shivers with restraint. Close enough to smell the wet dog scent clinging to him. Close enough to hear his powerful breaths, to feel the thrumming heat his body is giving off. A small part of me knows he let me break free, that I wouldn’t have a sliver of a chance against him if he forced me, but I’m not worried about that. I don’t know why, but I’m not afraid of him that way. Yes, I am afraid of his strength and how he doesn’t seem to be all here, mentally speaking. He could crush me by accident, or push me too hard and send me flying, or strangle me by gripping me too hard; that’s all true.

But I am more afraid of the strange, oozy, sickeningly sweet flutter in my chest. Of the cold-hot tingling in my crotch whenever his black eyes wander over my body. That’s not normal. No way is that normal, no matter what my dick thinks. It’s his venom, has to be. Vampire venom has been known to have lingering or even permanent effects, although that last one is a very rare strain that hasn’t been documented very well. This is a physical thing and I don’t have control over it. He basically roofied me, and I just keep forgetting. The thought makes my lust wilt instantly.

Cor glances down at my crotch, then back up to my face. He tilts his head as if he’s trying to decide on what to do next, but there is a proprietary glimmer in his eyes that I don’t like at all. I have to distract him. Now.

“What did you mean by ‘key’?” I ask hoarsely and lean against the wall to keep my legs from buckling.

The leer disappears, and Cor’s face turns solemn and sad. He takes a hesitating breath, raises his chin and points at his neck, where the devastating burn wounds still heal much slower than they should. Half of his chest is a crater of pain. The other half is splattered with the crusty remains of his prison guard. “Key,” he says.

I can’t remember if the amulet I tore off his neck had a lock or not, but maybe that’s not what he means. I turn my head towards Asha’s room and nod pointedly. “The amulet Arzel mentioned, that’s a key? To your, eh, chain?”

A grunt followed by a nod and a sly grin. Damn, he’s really pretty beneath that caked layer of grime. Why did he have to make me notice that?

“Okay. So this Arzel cultist guy said it was broken. Which is good, because you were about to become a puddle of Oz-style goo back there.” A tiny army of ice-cold shudders marches up my back, and I frown. “But why did he want it, anyway? And how did he even know about you, or it? What does it do?”