Charming the Beast (Purgatory 3)

She wouldn’t rush after him, but Connor would be coming back to her.

“Connor!”

***

Keegan stretched lightly on the ground. “It’s a pity,” he said, shaking his head. “That you’re both just vampires now…”

The other agents had been scouting the woods, but they hadn’t found his men. Not yet.

“Pity,” he said again.

His men—his werewolves—would have heard his voice right then. They would know…Vampires…

The shots rang out. Shane tried to jump in front of Olivia. He took the bullets meant for her. As he watched, Keegan knew at least one of the bullets slammed into Shane’s heart.

And, just like that, he went down, frozen. As still as the dead.

More wooden bullets flew, but Keegan didn’t wait to see if they were hitting Olivia. He was running and shifting. Before this night was done, he would kill his brothers. He would have Chloe. He would have all the power that was his due. The moon shone down on him, and the beast inside of him clawed for his freedom.

***

“Gunfire!” Eric shouted. “Agents, watch your backs!”

And his hold eased on Chloe. That little slip was all she needed. She lunged out of his arms and ran toward the building and the fire.

“Help me!”

She could hear that call. Coming from downstairs. She rushed inside and tried to stay as low as she could. Just because she came back from death, that didn’t mean that she wanted to actually die again. She wanted—

“Hello, sweetheart.”

Hard hands grabbed her and yanked Chloe up against Keegan.

“So much smoke…they didn’t see me come in…I’m too fast for them.”

And he was strong. Too strong. As if he’d never been drugged at all.

“Let’s have that taste. I’ll make you like it.”

His teeth sank into her throat. And, damn him, he was making his bite pleasurable. That drugging, addictive pleasure that could come from a vampire’s bite. She tried to fight him, punching and clawing, but he kept drinking her blood. Taking and taking…

No! Stop!

He wasn’t.

And she…she couldn’t even cry out.

That’s part of a vampire’s power. He makes you want the bite. Makes you want it more than anything else.

But she didn’t want his bite. She didn’t want him. She wanted Connor.

“Now…” Keegan lifted his head and stared into her eyes. “Aren’t you delicious?”

She couldn’t move.

“I want you to scream for me, Chloe. Scream for Connor…”

No, she wouldn’t listen to his compulsion. She wouldn’t…

Connor!

***

The stairs were burning. The fire had licked over his arm and the side of his face. Connor burst into the basement, his gaze frantically flying to the left and the right.

He saw the woman, huddled on the ground. The fire hadn’t reached her, not yet.

When he took a step toward her, her head whipped up, and she bared her fangs at him.

Vampire.

Long chains circled her wrists and ankles.

She was so thin, her hair tumbled down her back in lank tangles, and her eyes reflected hell.

She’s the reason Keegan is a cross-over.

“I’m here to help you,” Connor told her as he advanced on her slowly. A vampire would normally be able to break free of chains like that, no problem, but the woman before him looked as if she’d been starved. How long had it been since she’d had blood?

“Wolf…wolf…just like him.” The woman shook her head. “Not help, hurt.”

“Yeah, well, I might look a little like the bastard, but I’m not him.” He broke the manacle that circled her right wrist. Shattered the manacle that bound her left wrist. “And you can—”

She rushed away from him, running up the stairs faster than he could blink.

“Thank me later,” Connor muttered. He hefted the chains in his arms. He held them and—

“Connor!”

Chloe’s voice. But Chloe shouldn’t be in the building. Eric had her outside. Eric would be keeping her safe.

Still holding those chains, he ran for the stairs. He climbed them even as fire rolled across the walls. Then he was back on the main level of the building.

“She’s mine, brother.”

And Chloe was there. So was Keegan.

Her neck was bleeding. Fire was all around her. And Keegan was behind her.

“Chloe is mine now. She’ll do anything for me. Always…me.” Keegan’s claws were at her throat.

“Chloe, baby, are you okay?” He could swing those chains and hit Keegan. Maybe that would free Chloe and she could run out of the inferno.

“Tell him that you’re mine, Chloe,” Keegan ordered.

Chloe’s gaze met Connor’s. “I’m his.”

Connor shook his head.

Keegan’s eyes gleamed with madness and power. Just like our father’s had. “Want to watch her burn in front of you?” Keegan asked him.

His teeth clenched. “You won’t…do that…” Talking was getting hard. His beast wanted out and that fire was choking him. The flames were so hot. If they didn’t all get out of there soon, they’d be dead.

If we were humans, we’d already be dead.

The air was too hot. Humans couldn’t breathe it and live.

Chloe swayed in Keegan’s grasp.

“You’re going to die here, Connor,” Keegan said. “I’m going to watch you. You’re going to stand right there and burn. Because if you move, if you take one step, I’ll kill Chloe.”

And Chloe…

Smiled?

“I’ll kill you…” Keegan coughed a bit on the smoke. “Then I’ll kill Duncan. I’ll take out the whole Para Unit—”

Chloe’s hand was rising. Had Keegan not even noticed that movement? Her hand was rising and her claws had come out. She stared at Connor and said, “I love you.”

Fuck. Eric’s idea had actually worked. Connor’s compulsion was holding for her. Keegan couldn’t control her. He couldn’t—

Chloe spun in Keegan’s grasp and she drove her claws right into his eyes. He howled and blood flowed and Chloe kicked him, sending him stumbling back into the flames.

Connor rushed forward. He swung out with the chains, slamming them into the side of Keegan’s head. Keegan crashed into the floor. The floor gave way beneath him and he fell, going down in a ball of flames as he crashed into the basement.