Void(4)

What the fuck was my mother doing sending a godsdamn vampire?

I finally lifted my head. “Looking for this?” I asked while holding my hand up. The blood was still freshly flowing from my palm, coating my skin with sticky warmth. This was a risk, testing his ability to hold back despite the treat I offered. There weren’t many vampires that could restrain themselves. It would make any vampire instantly hungry. I understood hunger all too well. I was constantly starving. But unlike vampires, it wasn’t blood that my immortality craved. It was power.

“You like tempting vampires?” he asked while eyeing my hand. I recognized his disgust at his own cravings, had even felt the guilty hatred within myself more times than I could count. I didn’t like that my hunger took over my better judgment. I craved control, and the darkness was something uncontrollable. “Too bad you’re just a dirty Void,” he sneered before grabbing my wrist and flicking his tongue out to lick the wound. Vampires had healing properties in their saliva. It allowed them to drink from humans without leaving a mark. Their venom had other abilities...like the ability to induce mind-numbing lust and pleasure.

“Can’t handle the temptation?” I grimaced as his tongue traveled over my skin.

“You don’t tempt me,” he replied, as I watched the puncture in my palm seal shut. He quickly pulled away and wiped his mouth with his hand, like he wanted to erase the taste from his lips. I’d never been tasted by a vampire before. Even though he hadn’t used any venom on me, the sight of him licking my palm had been almost sensual.

I swiped my hand on my sweats, trying to act nonplussed. He made his way across the room to the roaring fireplace which was crackling with warmth. He wanted more, I could tell. But to him and every other supe, I was like a disease. He wanted nothing to do with me. He fought his basic instinct to sink his fangs into me and drink more of my blood because of what I was—deadly.

My eyes moved to take in his appearance, and I looked at his angular face. He was about my age, maybe a bit older, with a sharp nose and steely eyes filled with loathing. Thick eyelashes cast shadows along his hard cheeks and dark scruff covered his jaw. He was taller than I was. The cloak he wore hid his body, but I sensed he was just as chiseled as every other vampire in existence. They were always painfully strong. A perk of their power. The man was hot and dangerous. I could feel his power in the room like a heavy blanket over my shoulders.

“Who are you?” I asked, reaching up to grab my amulet.

“Render Tillson, Vampire Paragon for the council and now, your babysitter,” he said with a frown while looking me over. He ran a hand through his dark hair before casting his gaze on the amulet perched between my breasts.

My blonde brows shot up in surprise. There are only four paragons in all of America, chosen by the council leaders, one of each: vampire, shifter, elemental, and necromancer. The four most powerful supernatural breeds. As a paragon, he was being groomed at Thibault Academy to one day take over as a council member and lead the other vampires. The fact that he was even here was a big deal, and dread filled me like a boiling pot of water.

Now that the temptation of blood was gone, he was taking me in. Hot brown eyes lingered on my bare stomach and fluttered up to my chest where dried blood sat on my cleavage. For a moment, he looked like he wanted to come back over and lick that too, and that image set fire in my body. My desire for power wasn’t limited to the Void apparently. My libido craved it too.

“Why are you here?” I asked.

“Your particular skills are required. There’s a vampire in my community that got cursed with bloodlust. She killed forty people. The council has ordered for you to take her vampirism away.”

I frowned while clutching the necklace around my neck even tighter. Render eyed the large piece of jewelry with disdain and distrust, his grayish eyes growing dark at the spelled orange gem nestled in an ornate silver design. My father found it the year after my Void powers came out. It kept away my urge to feed, but every time I took it off, the hunger came back with a vengeance. Last time, the pain of it had nearly knocked me out. Suppressing my shadowed powers had consequences, but not wearing the necklace was worse. I was a danger to any supe I came across. One brush of my skin and I could ruin them, suck them dry of their powers and leave them as empty husks. Last time I just had to stand near my victim. My powers were growing more difficult to contain, and I didn’t like to test its boundaries.

“You heard what happened the last time, right? I stripped a shifter of his feral wolf and nearly killed him. What you’re asking could potentially kill her too.”

“I don’t like it any more than you do. I don’t want to let you anywhere near my people, but she’s important to the council, and they don’t want to put her down.”

I rolled my eyes. “Important to the council” probably meant she was fucking someone important.

“And what if I refuse?” I asked before crossing my arms over my chest.

Render surged forward with his super-speed and wrapped his hands around my neck, shoving me against the wall. My eyes widened in surprise at the contact, my head smarting where I’d hit. His muscular body pressed against mine, and I shivered as his hot air feathered down my neck. Being told I was the most powerful supernatural in existence didn’t eradicate my fears. Unless I ripped off my necklace and drained him dry—which I did not want to do—I was helpless against him.