Bitter Blood (Blood and Moonlight Book 3)(65)

Drew’s gaze fired fury at the vamp.

Lena just watched them.

Annette found her gaze dipping to the bracelets around Lena’s wrists. There was something familiar to her about those golden bangles. Something that nagged at her mind.

“You won’t be a threat to Jane any longer,” Vincent assured Drew. “You won’t be a threat to anyone.” He bared his fangs and Annette knew he was about to rip out the human’s throat.

“Stop it!” Annette yelled. “He’s her brother!”

“A murdering bastard of a brother.” Vincent glanced over at Annette. “You do realize, of course, that he came to this town with the express purpose of killing paranormals?”

Annette hesitated.

“Think about it,” Vincent said. “When he shot Jane at that college campus, he was armed with a gun that contained silver bullets. Humans don’t just pack silver bullets by chance. He knew what Aidan Locke was. He knew about werewolves. He was here to kill them. And to wipe out any vamps who got in his way.”

“How would he have known?” Annette asked.

“Because he had hired a man to follow Jane around town. A bastard named Roth Sly.” Vincent paced closer to her. “That’s what I’ve been able to learn so far. Drew hired Roth to watch and to report back on everything that he learned. Roth was his eyes and ears but…” His shoulders slumped. “He killed Roth tonight. That’s where Lena and I found this bastard…at Roth’s apartment. The whole building reeked of blood and death.”

Her heart thudded too fast and hard in her chest. Annette inched back another step. “Drew Hart hasn’t said a word.”

Vincent lifted one perfect brow. Such a handsome face. So charming.

“You had Lena stop him from talking earlier. His lips…they’re still sealed together.” She could see it. Drew was straining hard to talk but it was as if his mouth had been glued shut.

Vincent shrugged. “He was talking a moment ago, I assure you. Just ask Lena. Lena…” He threw a quick glance her way. “Tell the voodoo queen that Drew was talking.”

“If that’s what you wish…” Lena’s voice was mild, but there was just the faintest emphasis on that last word.

Wish…

Annette’s stare jerked to the gold bracelets. Oh, shit. We are all so screwed.

“He was talking plenty,” Lena murmured. “Telling us how he hated paranormals. How he wanted us all to die. He came to New Orleans with those silver bullets to take out paranormals. He won’t stop until we’re all dead.”

Vincent nodded, looking satisfied. “See? That’s why it just makes sense for me to kill the bastard right now.”

Drew frantically shook his head. More grunts and moans came from behind his sealed lips.

“After all…if I don’t end him, he’ll just attack Jane and Aidan again. They’re your friends.” Vincent appeared pained. “You don’t want your friends to die, do you?”

Her throat had gone desert dry. “No, no, I don’t want them to die.”

And she didn’t want to die, either. So Annette was going to have to play these next few moments very, very carefully…

Because she’d just realized she was standing in the room with a devil.

***

Darkness was choking him. His head throbbed, his heart raced, and a ravenous hunger for blood had his whole body aching.

She was in front of him. The beautiful woman with the dark hair and the deep eyes. The one that he looked at and just knew…

She’s mine.

She was crying and that was wrong. His hand lifted and he caught one of her tears on his claw.

“Aidan, come back to me.”

He was Aidan. He had trouble thinking. Everything was slow and muddied by the dark. And by his hunger. He wanted to attack. To rage. To destroy.

But the woman was there.

And she was his.

The scent of her fear was still heavy in the air. But there was something more there, too. Apples. Lavender.

Those light scents were familiar, just as she was familiar to him. He wanted to pull her close. To hold her. To kill her.

And he wanted to f*ck her. Hard and deep. Endlessly. Until she submitted to him, completely, totally.

He wanted to drink her blood and gorge on it. He wanted…

I want to get away from the darkness.

“How can I reach you?” She put her hand on his chest. “You’re not just a wolf. You’re not just a vamp. You’re a man. A good man. That part of you has just been pushed down, deep inside. You weren’t born to the bloodlust.” She rose onto her toes, staring up at him. “I want you back. I’ll have you back.”

Then she was pulling his head down toward her. Her mouth took his in a kiss that was soft and sweet, gentle and searching.

It was all wrong. He didn’t want soft. Didn’t want sweet.

He wanted rough and wild and consuming. That was what his beast demanded. Her sex. Her blood.

Her…life?

No, not her. She’s mine.

She’s…

Jane?

The name was there, whispering through the chaos of his mind. He tried to grab it and hold on to it, hold on to her, but in the next instant, it was gone.

He was gone.

“No.” Her hands clamped tightly around his shoulders, her nails biting into his skin. “I felt you. You were back, just for a moment. You were with me.”