On the Prowl (Bad Things #2)(41)

He thought about cutting off Leo’s head. A fast slice of his claws and—

“It wouldn’t work,” Leo said, as if he’d read Rayce’s mind. “You’d be dead before you even tried.”

Some risks were worth taking…

“I think she’ll live.” Leo’s gaze gleamed. “This time.”

The guy was such a dick.

“But if she bites me again, no one can help her.”

“You threatening the vamp?” Julian would peel Leo’s skin from his body, and Rayce would help him.

“Unfortunately, no, I’m just making a promise.”

***

He should stop her. Julian’s head sagged forward. The water pounded on him, and he felt himself shiver.

Rose was still drinking from him. He wasn’t sure just how long they’d been in the shower. Minutes? Hours? He’d let her feed and feed, and her body wasn’t blazing hot any longer.

But he…he was cold.

He should stop her. Take her out of the shower. Run a towel over her delicate skin. He should…and he would…

In a minute. He’d just give her a little more blood first.

He’d give her everything.

Only fair, wasn’t it? Since he’d taken everything away from her. All in one blink. Gone, gone, gone… “S-sorry,” he stuttered to her. He’d wanted to tell her before. That terrible night when the bullets had torn into her. But there had been no time for apologies. There had been no time for anything but a deal that changed both of their lives. And the damn thing was, even knowing how wrong it had been, he still thought he’d do the exact same thing.

Her tongue licked over his neck. “What for?” Her voice—it was husky and sensual. Not weak at all.

He forced his head to lift. Forced his gaze up. She wasn’t pale any longer. Her eyes were bright. Her lips were red and plump and he knew she wasn’t in danger. She wasn’t going to die.

He pushed away from the wall. She caught his hand—the hand that he’d driven into the tile again and again, sending chunks of marble raining into the shower as he tried to hold back his dark need for her. She lifted his hand to her mouth. Licked the blood away.

His beautiful Rose. She’d chained his beast. She’d never meant to do it. She didn’t even know she had.

His eyes started to close. His body slumped.

“Julian?” Alarm sharpened her voice. “Julian!”

He was going to pass out. Maybe he’d even die. He’d given her all that he had, given so much that his body was dangerously weak now, but Julian had no regrets. She’d survive—survive whatever hell Leo’s blood had put her through. It was a fair exchange, Julian figured, considering what he’d done to her.

“No, no, no! What did I do? What did I do?” She held him tightly. “I took too much…you should have stopped me! Julian, why didn’t you stop me?”

Didn’t she know? Did she truly not understand? He tried to keep his eyes open just a moment longer.

If he was headed to hell, he wanted to take a memory of heaven with him.

“Julian?”

He tried to smile but it was too late.





Chapter Twelve


“Hey, angel…”

Lila was sitting on the floor of her cell. Her wings had wrapped around her body. She was so cold. Her shivers wouldn’t stop.

“What does it feel like…” The muse stood near the bars of her cell. “When he takes your feathers?”

Lila glanced at her wings. “Pain.”

“Yeah, okay, I guessed that…but…what exactly, is the pain like?”

Lila hadn’t known any pain, not until a few months ago. Now it was all she knew. The first thing she’d ever felt—pain. The thing that would forever mark her now. “For you, I imagine…it would probably be like getting chunks of your skin cut away.”

“Oh, hell.” The witch scrambled toward the bars of her cell. “That bad? But… you don’t make a sound when he takes them.”

No, she didn’t. “Am I…supposed to make a sound?” She rose and moved closer to her own bars so that she could better see the other women.

The witch’s voice gentled as she said, “When it hurts, it’s okay to cry out.”

“No!” The muse made a sharp denial. “Don’t give him the satisfaction, you hear me, angel? You keep that pain inside. You don’t let him hear your pain. Freaks like him get off on that. They like making others hurt.”

She touched her wing. “Is that why he’s doing all of this? Because he…likes pain?”

The muse pressed her forehead to the bars. “No. No, as crazy as this may seem, he believes what he’s doing is for love.”

Lila shook her head. “This is love?”

“It’s not.” The witch’s voice seemed to echo around them. “I know love. Love is good and strong and it doesn’t hurt. It makes you better. It makes everything in your whole world better.”

Now the muse sighed. “Are we going to hear about your husband again?” She was mocking. She often seemed mocking. Not cruel but…not exactly kind.

The witch didn’t speak.

Lila sank down onto the floor once more.