I had plans to escape this monster, but right now, my past is demanding answers from him.
“Because you loved me and I loved you,” he bites out. “It’s not my fault you were too small.”
A sob escapes me. “You were supposed to protect me.”
“I gave you Mercy!” he roars. “Jesus Christ, woman, give it a rest! It’s in the past. I fucked up. Okay? You happy? Why do you think I ran off? I felt like a piece of shit for what went down.”
“What went down?” I screech. “Nothing went down. You held me down and forced yourself inside of me! I begged for you to stop! And you didn’t want to hear it because you covered my mouth with your hand!”
Someone bangs on the door.
“Griffin, open up!”
Familiar. Family. Home.
“Jude?” I cry out and then I scream, “Jude!”
Griffin stands, yanking me up from my seat as the door crashes in. Jude storms in, his face red from exertion. I pull from Griffin, but then the point of a blade presses into my neck.
“Stay back,” Griffin warns.
“Man, you can walk away from this right now,” Jude says. “All you have to do is let Casti go. In about twenty minutes, you’re going to be swarmed by some very pissed off vampires. Might as well get a head start.”
“Fuck the vampires,” Griffin growls. “And fuck you.”
“Jude,” I sob.
“It’s okay, kiddo,” Jude assures me. “I’m going to get you out of here.”
A pinch of pain makes me gasp. Griffin inhales my hair. His body trembles with fury.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Griffin says in a dark tone. “If I can’t have her, you people sure as fuck don’t get to.”
“No!” Jude barks as pain rips along my throat.
An arc of blood shoots out of my neck, splattering Jude. Griffin drops me and I collapse to the floor. A gun fires and then a loud thud beside me.
“Stay with me, baby girl,” Jude says, his voice full of pain as he covers my wound with his large palm. “Stay the fuck with me!”
My body grows cold and fast. The blackness creeps in and the sounds grow muted. I can hear Jude yelling at me. When he says something about Mercy, my eyes focus on him and the wet streaks on his cheeks that are mixed with my blood.
“There you are,” he croons. “Stay with me. Mercy is safe, you hear? I got a call from Laurent. He’s too weak to travel. They both are. But whatever they did worked. Mercy is alive and well. He called me to tell me Griffin had you. It took all motherfucking day, but I found you. You see? I’m here. I came for you. You’re going to be okay.”
I’ve never heard Jude sound afraid until now. Never heard him babble or seen him cry.
I try to speak, but my mouth won’t work. My eyes close again, but his yelling at me keeps me aware. The pain is intense and the blood is leaking too quickly from my neck despite his best efforts to hold it closed.
I’ll be gone soon.
Jude and Laurent will make sure Mercy is taken care of.
“About damn time,” Jude growls.
“Cool it with the attitude,” a familiar voice says. “Or you can kiss your little sister goodbye.”
“Oh, come the fuck on,” he snaps. “Quit with the games. She’s the best damn friend you have. Fucking heal her already.”
The beautiful blonde squats beside him, her blue eyes glinting. “She’s beyond healing.” She grins at me.
Another figure comes to squat beside her. “Not so tough now, little one.”
“Don’t make me regret calling the both of you,” Jude snaps. “Help me. I can fire your ass, Ricardo, just as quickly as I hired you.”
Ricardo shrugs. “Just stating the obvious.”
“Goddammit,” Jude barks out. “You’re wasting time. The both of you!”
Ricardo leans forward, but Loey digs her fingers into his bicep, stopping him. It feels like time pauses as they stare down at me, the sharpness of the world growing duller with each passing second.
“Look at her,” Loey says, stroking my hair. “She’s about to die.”
“So help me, Loey,” Jude snarls at her. “Do it already.”
“If she hates me for it, that’s on you.”
“I’ll deal with that shit later. For now, keep her here. Mercy needs her. I need her.”
Loey bares her fangs at me, hunger flashing in her gaze. I don’t fear my friend, though. She would never hurt me. I want to ask her where she’s been, but now’s not the time. All that matters is she’s alive and I got to see her one more time.
“This is going to hurt,” Loey warns, an evil flickering in her eyes. “Sorry in advance.”
Jude removes his hands on my throat and Loey pounces. My eyes roll back in my head when her mouth latches onto the gaping wound in my neck. Rather than lick it closed, she sucks hard, urging the rush of blood from my carotid to flow even faster, draining me of my life.