On the Prowl (Bad Things #2)(62)

“She’ll be leaving with me.” Leo rushed toward the angel with a burst of speed. His hand reached out to grab her, but a giant white wolf appeared in his path.

And that wolf snapped at Leo’s hand.

Leo yelled and jerked back, narrowly avoiding those razor-sharp teeth.

The wolf stood guard in front of the angel.

“Angel!” Leo bellowed.

The whir of the helicopter blades was even louder. Rose felt the rush of air against her back. The chopper was landing.

“Angel, come to me!” Leo ordered.

Lila took a wrenching step forward, as if she were a puppet, being pulled on a string.

Luke said he had no dominion over her. Leo controls her. She has to do what he says.

The wolf whined and bumped against her, but the angel kept walking with those hard, lurching steps.

“You tricked me,” Luke said to his brother, and his voice crackled with anger. “You knew that Rose didn’t want to go back, didn’t you? But you couldn’t find the angel. You had to get her close enough to hear your voice so you could control her. You used me.” His eyes didn’t just glow now. They blazed.

Leo opened his hand to Lila.

She shook her head, but her hand rose, as if she’d take his. As soon as they touched, Rose knew Leo would spirit the angel away.

It’s not right. It’s not what she wants.

The wolf howled as he shifted back into the form of a man. “Let her go, you bastard!” Rayce demanded and then he was flying across the sand.

The wind pounded into Rose’s back. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Julian bounding from the helicopter. “Rose!” Julian screamed. “No, you can’t take her!”

But Leo wasn’t there to take her. He was about to take the angel who shook as she reached for his hand. The angel who wasn’t being given the choice she wanted.

Screw this.

Leo was worried about the threat coming from Rayce, but Rose was the one standing closest to him. And had he learned nothing from their last little episode? She shoved the angel to the ground and Rose was the one who grabbed Leo’s hand. She jerked his wrist forward and her teeth sank into him. His blood pulsed into her mouth, hot and powerful, just like before.

“No!” Julian bellowed. “Rose, please, no!”

It was too late. She’d attacked. Leo yanked back beneath her touch but she didn’t let him go.

“Angel, get out of here!” Rayce yelled. “Fly away—now!”

Now…while Leo was distracted.

Now…while Leo was weak.

But…oddly…she was the one who felt weak.

Rose and Leo both fell to the ground, their knees hitting the sand. She still didn’t let him go.

She heard the rush of wings. That would be the angel, flying to safety. Getting far enough away from Leo that he couldn’t control her. And then she felt hands on her. Strong, warm hands that were tipped with claws. Those hands pulled her away from Leo. She blinked and found herself staring up at Julian. She tried to smile for him.

Fear had deepened the lines on his face. “Oh, love, what did you do?”

She’d…helped.

“You’re dead,” Leo rasped.

Julian lifted her into his arms. “Watch your f*cking mouth, bastard.” Julian’s hold tightened on her.

Leo surged to his feet. His blood dripped into the sand. “That vamp is dead!” He lunged for her and Julian, but Luke blocked him.

The twins faced off.

“I think you’re mistaken,” Luke murmured, his voice as gentle as a breeze. “You see…Rose is a vampire. That means she’s under my dominion. A creature of the dark. You have no say about what happens to her. And if you so much as twitch in her direction…we’ll finally have that battle that has been prophesized for centuries.”

The waves crashed onto the shore.

Fire began to burn inside of Rose’s body. Just like before…just like when she’d had Leo’s blood in her and it had started to burn her up, from the inside out. “J-Julian?” Now she was the one afraid.

He stared down at her, and his bright eyes were all she could see. Everything else was getting too dark.

“She wasn’t supposed to have my blood!” Leo yelled. “It is poison! She barely survived once—it will hit her even harder this time. She’s dying! I wasn’t threatening her—I was telling you what’s happening. She’s dead—and there is nothing either of us can do for her now!”

Julian’s hold tightened on her.

She wanted to smile for him.

She couldn’t.

“Love…don’t go,” he whispered.

“I…choose…” She had to say this. He needed to always know. “You.”

***

Her fangs were gone.

“Why doesn’t the vamp have fangs anymore?” Rayce muttered.

Because something was f*cking wrong.

Julian lowered Rose onto his bed. She’d been drifting in and out of consciousness while he carried her to the house. He’d begged her to drink from him, pushing her mouth to his throat as he hauled ass to get her to a safe place but…

Her fangs hadn’t come out.

“It’s okay, love,” he said, hating the fact that his voice came out so rough and ragged, as if everything was very much not okay. “I’ll take care of you.” He slashed open his wrist and forced her to take his blood. It had worked before. It would work again.