Saved By Your Hot Book Boyfriend

50. The Hot Guy Breaks Down the Door

50

The Hot Guy Breaks Down the Door

You

You shut your eyes, bracing for the worst as the blond vampire leans in, his fangs pressing against the sensitive skin at the base of your neck.

You’re doing this.

You’re really doing this.

You’re going to let someone who very much isn’t Ziros bite you.

And you feel oddly guilty about it, remembering what Malcolm said about a blood bond and all.

But you can’t help it.

You’ve already agreed to it.

The blond vampire surely paid good money to bite you, and it would be rude to back out now.

“ Stand ,” he commands, and there’s a strange darkness to his voice you don’t remember hearing at his rooftop party.

He seemed…different then, though you can’t place what’s changed.

Every nerve in your body is alert, every muscle tense.

You can barely move, suddenly terrified.

What have you done?

You agreed to this, you keep reminding yourself.

You’re going to get paid.

That’s all.

This is just a job.

There’s nothing wrong with it.

Right?

But the guilty feeling keeps growing inside under the fear as the blond vampire leans closer, taking a deep breath, like he’s savoring your scent.

The points of his fangs scrape your skin, and a strange, sharp pain sizzles where they brush your neck.

You let out an involuntary whimper, and the blond vampire laughs. “Don’t you like it?” he asks, his eyes flashing bright red, fingers digging into your neck so hard, you can barely breathe as you stare up at him.

It’s then that you notice the blond in his hair is flickering, a blue tone washing over his skin.

His nails lengthen into claws, and he throws his head back with a cold laugh as his fangs elongate, all his teeth growing sharp and pointed, a pair of horns sprouting from his suddenly-bald head.

“ Vincentius ,” you whisper, voice hoarse as terror grips your heart.

No. No! This can’t be happening.

The rich playboy blond from the penthouse party didn’t seem dangerous, but Vincentius is an entirely different matter.

You lunge out of his grasp, trying to escape, but the scaled, blue demon-vampire-whatever-he-is merely laughs.

He grabs you, shoving you back against the wall so hard, white-hot pain blossoms at the back of your head as you whimper.

How did it come to this?

He must be a shapeshifter, and he must have used the blond vampire’s appearance as a way to get past Malcolm.

“ Vin —” you try, but he squeezes your neck, making you choke.

If you could just say his name again—if you could push your magic into it this time, maybe you could throw him off.

You open your mouth to try, but the big blue demon squeezes your throat until you gasp, your head throbbing.

“Don’t even think about using magic, little sorceress,” he growls, sharp teeth barred as he leans down so close, his acrid breath clouds over your skin.

You can’t move.

Can barely think.

Your head throbs from the pressure and the pain, spots glowing behind your eyes.

Is this it?

Is this how you die?

You’re going to die.

He used his shapeshifting illusion skills to impersonate the blond vampire and get into the club. And now he’s going to kill you.

Hell, you don’t even know if he really paid.

“You’re mine now, sorceress,” Vincentius growls, and before you can brace yourself, he bites down.

You scream, but all that comes out is a strangled gasp as blinding pain explodes through you, sharp and hot and terrible.

It was supposed to feel good.

But not this way.

Not with him.

Nothing about this is how it was supposed to be, and you’re dimly aware of tears running down your face as he laughs, biting harder.

And then—just when you’re certain this must be the end—

When it hurts so bad you almost want it to be the end, just so the pain will stop—

The door splinters open, smashing into the wall so hard, pieces rain down around you.

“You bastard ,” growls a low voice, though you can barely hear it over the roaring behind your ears.

Is that the sound of your blood being pulled from your body, the sound of being strangled?

Or is it the wind?

How strange—a wind inside a building, but you’re so far out of it, you can’t focus on anything but the blinding pain shooting through your entire body.

One moment Vincentius is biting you, hand clamped around your neck as he strangles you.

The next, he goes flying, slamming into the wall across the room so hard, the floor shakes. A stream of dark blood gushes down from the back of his head as he pushes off the wall, stumbling to his feet.

Before he can stand, a dark shadow you can’t quite blink into focus storms across the room, smashing him into the wall again.

And again.

What’s this?

Is this Malcolm’s security staff?

Have they discovered there’s a problem and come to save you?

Your eyes drift closed, a strange heaviness dragging you down.

Something about that bite…it wasn’t normal.

And now you can’t stay awake.

*

*

*

How much time has passed?

Seconds?

Minutes?

Hours?

“ Stay with me, human ,” growls a low voice at your ear, and strong arms lift you from the floor.

You’re vaguely aware of the sound of distant voices, and of a familiar scent, familiar and comforting and yet so unplaceable, a comfort that wraps around you as you’re carried from the room.

The voices rise, but whoever’s holding you pushes past, carrying you out into the chilly, dark night beyond.

You shiver, and he lifts you higher against the heat of his chest.

“What the hell were you thinking, coming to a place like this?”

You whimper in response, still unable to form actual words. Unable to open your eyes.

Are you dying? It still feels like you’re dying.

The pain is fading, replaced with only a dull ache, but you can barely move, can’t speak.

It’s like you’ve been drugged.

But that can’t be.

You were bitten, not drugged.

“Just hang on, human,” growls the familiar voice. The voice that you’d longed to hear since he left.

“ Ziros ,” you whisper, voice cracking and hoarse as the darkness pulls you under.

When you blink again, you’re lying on something soft.

Your bed.

Somehow, you’re in your room.

You’re not even sure how Ziros got you inside, but that’s where you are. You’re in your apartment.

“Don’t move,” he growls when you try to sit up. “I’m going to suck the poison out.”

“ Poison? ” you whisper, finally finding the strength to speak again.

“Yes. That bastard was trying to knock you out. It’s a drug. Won’t hurt demons like him, but nobody else is immune.”

Nobody?

You want to ask, but you can’t seem to find the strength.

Your head is heavy, neck and throat aching as you lie back against your pillows, trying to stay awake as Ziros leans over you.

Is this a dream?

Is it a dream, the wonderful, safe feeling of his hand sliding behind your head, lifting it slightly, the other tilting your jaw.

“Stay with me, human. Don’t give into it. I need you to stay with me.”

“ Mmm-hmmm ,” you mumble, drifting back into the darkness that’s tugging you down.

But before it can pull you under, you feel a strange, strangely pleasant sensation drawing against your neck as Ziros sucks the poison out.

With one hand behind your head, he holds you against him, his mouth pressed to your neck, fangs buried deep.

It feels good.

Good, like it always has when he bites you, and you moan in spite of yourself.

He growls against you, pressing his mouth harder to your neck.

“ Human ,” he mutters as he pulls away, propping himself up on one hand. His voice is low and rough as he swears, “Dammit, human. I’m trying to save your damn life, and now all I want is to do more dirty things to you—”

“You did. You saved me ,” you whisper, the heavy darkness still pulling you back.

He laughs again, but it’s a cold, angry sound. “That bastard. If he wasn’t already dead, I’d hunt him down and kill him again.”

Dead?

Vincentius is dead?

You feel numb, that darkness still dulling your senses, though now it feels different. Less dangerous.

Now you’re only tired.

Like you could sleep for a week.

“I was…I was trying to pay my rent,” you whisper weakly as your head drifts back into the pillow.

That’s the last thing you remember before a heavy sleep pulls you under.

Ziros

Damn poison.

It’s making my head spin, and I grip the mattress above her head, breathing hard.

What the hell is she saying?

She went to that damn hellhole because she wanted to pay her rent?

Are things that dire in the modern era?

Maybe they’ve always been that dire, and I’m just an idiot.

I feel like the biggest idiot in the world.

I thought leaving would protect her.

I thought I needed to be far away.

And I do.

I’m still unstable.

But she needed me, and I was gone, and I almost didn’t make it back in time.

I want to punch something.

This is all my fault.

All my damn fault.

“ Human ,” I growl against her ear, but she’s already fast asleep, her breathing steady and rhythmic. “Don’t you dare do something so dangerous ever again.” I pause, knowing I shouldn’t. Knowing I left her. But the poison is making me drunk, and I can’t help it.

I need her.

I want her.

But I don’t dare take more of her blood.

Not when she’s already so drained.

“Human,” I whisper again in her ear, breathing in the intoxicating scent of her magic.

Now that I’ve sucked out the poison, she smells good again, the revolting taste of that bastard finally off her skin.

I should have killed him when I had the chance the last time we met.

At least now he won’t bother her again.

“Human,” I say, leaning over her on the bed. Listening to her breathing. “ You’re mine . So don’t you dare do anything like that again.”

She stirs in response, mumbling in her sleep, and I can’t help but crack a half-smile.

“You wild, crazy sorceress,” I whisper, tilting her jaw with two fingers.

And gently, I press a kiss against her lips.