A low growl started in the back of his throat and his mouth left mine. He lifted his head briefly so that he could look down into my eyes. I had to wonder why, but when I saw his face, I knew. He wanted me to see him—to see what he’d become, to see what he was going to do, to see what my fate was going to be. He wanted me to see it coming.
His lips curled back from his four razor sharp canines in a devilish sneer. He didn’t bother to hide the delight, the malicious pleasure he was feeling. He had no qualms about taking anything he wanted from me whether I wanted to give it or not.
I closed my eyes against the unavoidable, wishing that I had the strength to fend him off, or that Bo would somehow choose this very minute to come to my window. But when I felt Drew’s lips at my neck and the sharp pinch of his teeth, I knew that no one was going to save me. I was going to die all alone at the hands of a spiteful ex-boyfriend who’d become a monster.
As I was staring down the sullen face of inevitability, a thought occurred to me. It was both promising and troubling. I remembered Bo telling me that the young vampires couldn’t control their venom as well as the older ones. What if he failed to kill me dead? What if Drew accidentally turned me?
I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be a vampire. I mean, the thought of spending eternity with Bo was euphoric, even if it entailed being trapped inside a traitorous body that was possessed of an unquenchable thirst for blood. But what would I do when Bo found his true mate, the one who was destined to save him? I’d be stuck with that misery forever. Sometimes I wondered if I could make it through lunch without Bo. How could I manage that pain forever?
My rising panic triggered a surge of adrenaline and an insanely frantic need to get away. It was that adrenaline that gave my arms a little extra umph when I pushed against Drew’s chest in a last-ditch effort to regain freedom. It was just enough to force Drew back a tad and dislodge his teeth from my neck, albeit painfully. It felt as though he tore out a big chunk of flesh when he stumbled back.
At first, I think Drew was surprised. Actually, I was, too. I hadn’t really expected to be able to move him at all. Thankfully, I’d caught him off guard.
We stood facing each other for only a fraction of a second, though it felt much longer, as if time had somehow been suspended.
I bolted for the door, but Drew was already grabbing me and hauling me back against his chest. I could see our reflection in the mirror, me facing it and him standing behind me. I saw the hunk of flesh hanging down beneath my ear, flesh he’d torn away when I’d moved. Blood had soaked my sweatshirt on one side and the sheer amount caused me a bit of alarm.
I kept thinking I need to put pressure on that. I need to put pressure on that.
But then I looked up at Drew’s face and my mind instantly and sharply focused on him.
I saw the anger in his expression, something close to blind rage. I saw hunger as well, a hunger that I knew wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d drained me dry.
All other thoughts abandoned me as I watched him bare his teeth and drive them into the other side of my neck. I wanted to struggle, but he held me so tightly, I couldn’t.
I tried to kick back at him, but he didn’t even appear to feel it. I started to scream once, but he only lifted his head and bit down harder in a different spot, eliciting a gasp that pulled my scream right out of the air.
My heart was beating so fast it felt like nothing more than a quick flutter in my chest. It was getting harder and harder to stand in Drew’s arms. I found myself relying less on my legs to support me and more on his vise grip.
An annoying buzz started to ring in my ears, becoming louder and louder as my vision began to swim. I heard noises off in the distance, so far away that they had to be at the neighbor’s house. Strangely, though, they seemed to coincide with things taking place in my room.
In the mirror, I saw Bo literally jump through the window behind us. I felt like smiling, but I couldn’t muster one. At the moment, I was having trouble just keeping my lids open.
When he straightened, his face contorted into a stricken mask of fear and rage. I heard a voice say, You’re killing her, and though the voice was unmistakably Bo’s and it matched the movement of his glorious lips, it sounded too far away to be happening so close to me.
Right before my eyes, Bo’s face transformed into the monster I’d first thought him to be. His milky eyes matched Drew’s and he roared, baring four glittering fangs. His face and neck were covered with veins clearly visible beneath his uber pale skin, veins pulsing with a need that I couldn’t fathom.
I knew that Bo’s need wasn’t just his normal physical requirement of blood.
This was a need for the blood of reckoning, blood that would come from Drew and could end up costing him his life.
Drew’s face registered no change at first, but then when Bo came for him, he seemed to snap out of the hunger that had been driving him. A fraction of a second before Bo reached him, Drew lifted his head and his opaque green eyes met mine in the mirror. In them, I saw shock.
Bo grabbed him by the throat and lofted him high into the air, where Drew dangled impotently. Drew struggled, but he couldn’t move Bo. Drew brought his hands down to Bo’s wrist, trying to loosen Bo’s fingers, to pry them away from his neck, but his efforts made no impact. Drew raised his legs and kicked at Bo’s chest.
Bo’s flinch was nearly imperceptible.
Like tossing a small boy, Bo threw Drew up against the wall beside my bed and then rushed forward in attack, burying his teeth deep in the soft tissue of Drew’s neck. Drew leaned helplessly against the wall, stunned and unable to move inside the iron grip of Bo’s arms.
“Bo, no,” I mumbled, unable to garner the strength to shout.
Drew’s eyes dropped to mine where I sat crumpled in the floor with barely enough energy to remain upright. As I watched, the shock drifted away from his now-blue eyes, replaced by the passive tides of resignation. But there was something else there, too, something that looked an awful lot like regret.
“Bo, don’t.” I tried again, but I was just too weak.
I didn’t think Bo heard me, but when he lifted his head and turned to look at me, I knew he had. I could see the blood lust all over his face. I’d seen that look before. It was a thirst for revenge, and last time, it had nearly killed him.
As Bo and I stared at each other, a quiet voice pierced the stillness.
“Kill me,” it said.
It was Drew.
Bo and I both looked to him, but Drew was watching only me.