2. Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Winston
It’s weird how, in a blink of an eye, life can evolve into something you never saw coming. Only five months ago, I was just a vampire who had no plans for the future. A chill dude only seeking sex, blood, and a security system to hack . . . until my enemies killed some of my friends and imprisoned my best friend.
Not only did the internet suck out here in the middle of the woods, but Sage’s stupidity ruined my night. The last thing I expected when I woke up was having to pursue her on a motorcycle, hoping she didn’t die, while also wanting to kill her.
After seeing my wrecked Harley, I contemplated leaving her ass in the ditch on the side of the road. Good thing Marcus drove her back in the van or I might have.
Despite the horrible state my bike was in, to my surprise, it started right up. I trailed behind them on the way home, thankful for the opportunity to unwind in solitude.
When we returned, Marcus carried Sage to bed so she could sleep off the euphoria my blood gave her. An hour had passed before I heard her shifting around in her cabin. Although I knew she’d emerge soon, taking her normal spot in the woods, staring into the darkness, I wasn’t ready to deal with her yet.
The fire in my chest was still blazing, leaving me feeling like a snake ready to strike at any moment.
Luckily, Marcus had been teaching me how to channel my anger into something positive, and I was determined to do just that.
Man, have things changed.
“Harder, Winston!” Lyric yelled, bringing me out of my murderous thoughts.
I arched my brow, fighting to catch my breath. “If I go any harder, I’m gonna hurt you.”
She huffed out a sigh. “You’re being a pussy.”
Observing the dark-haired beauty in front of me, with one braid down each side of her head, I couldn’t help but grin. “You’re fucking gorgeous, you know that? Even when you’re being serious.”
“Stop messing around!” she screamed through fast breaths.
“I can’t help it, babe. You’re so damn sexy it makes my dick—” A fist slammed into my face, and to my surprise, it hurt. “Fuck!”
“Oh, my god. I’m so sorry. Let me see.” Lyric dropped her defensive stance and stepped in close. Her elegant fingers grazed across my cheek in a smooth stroke.
“You socked my ass while I admired your beauty.”
She giggled, dropping her hand from my face and placing it on her hip. “I’m polishing my moves and you keep messing around.”
“You don’t need to practice, mama. You’re already packing a mean punch.” Sliding my arms around her waist, I yanked her toward me and pressed my lips against hers.
“Are you two done flirting?” Erik shouted, causing Lyric to pull away with a blush.
My focus went to Erik and the scowl he had anytime my hands were on his sister. Even though I liked the guy, I loved torturing him, so I made sure to be extra handsy around him.
“Some of us would like to spar!”
“You and Kimber have been doing a shit ton of practicing,” I retorted, sarcasm lining my voice. “You should already be pretty damn skilled.”
Kimber’s lightly tanned cheeks turned pink when she giggled, but otherwise she stayed silent. A sweet girl and the sister of my best friend Drag, she was cute, humble, and a magnificent fighter. A few days after we arrived here, she and Erik started “secretly” seeing each other. At least in Erik’s eyes, it was hush-hush.
But the lure doesn’t keep secrets.
When humans are horny, they release an aroma which is specific to them. A biological scent that sends out a sexual beacon to anyone in the vicinity. The more attracted to a person they are, the stronger the emotional response. Since only vampires and wolven could smell the lustful scents, I swore everyone to secrecy just to mess with Erik.
His now confused glare told me he didn’t get the joke. “What are you talking about, Winnie? I spar with Marcus or Peach most of the time.”
“It’s Winston, ” I reminded him before turning back toward Lyric with raised fists. “Come on, babe. Give me all you got.”
Lyric threw out a punch and this time, I dodged it.
Despite my worry she’d get hurt during the rescue mission, she insisted on going. At least it helped to know how fast and efficient she had become.
Lifting my leg, I kicked out but in a gentle way—being my girlfriend, I couldn’t help but go easy on her.
Apparently, she had no qualms about kicking my ass. In a flash, she crouched to the ground, swung out her leg, and swiped me off my feet.
I landed on my back, and she straddled me with a quickness most humans didn’t have. Her fist came down as she attempted to stake me with an invisible weapon.
Reaching up, I caught her wrist and halted her attempt before grabbing the other one. I rolled her off me, throwing her hands above her head, and pinning her beneath me.
Her breaths were fast, her body warm as her chest rose and fell below me. A look of defeat settled on her beautiful bronze face, and I grinned.
“Don’t ever let a vampire get on top of you. Unless it’s me.”
Her disappointed look turned sensual, her eyes darkened as the smell of sweet lilacs lit my senses on fire, the lustful aroma sending pulses of blood straight to my cock. If our friends weren’t surrounding us, I would have fucked her right there in the dirt.
“Knee him in the dick!” Erik yelled, and I jerked my knees close—just in case.
Kimber giggled. “Don’t do that. You’re gonna need it.”
“You most definitely will,” I assured Lyric before leaning in and pressing my lips against her soft, full ones.
“For fuck’s sake!” Erik yelled, making me want to punch him in his junk. “Can you violate my sister somewhere else?”
Lyric giggled in my mouth, so I pulled back with a fanged grin. “If a vampire gets on top of you, and it’s not me, knee him in the dick.”
I hopped up and pulled Lyric from the ground.
“What if it’s a lady vampire?” she asked, dusting her butt off.
“You know what, I don’t know.” I clenched my brows, contemplating my answer when Kimber interjected.
“Punch her in the tit!”
Lyric laughed, strolling out of the ring. She took a seat on a log surrounding the fire pit, but facing away from it so we could still see the fighting ring, before peering up at me with her beautiful golden-brown eyes. “I may need to spar with someone else, Winston. You’re too distracting.”
I pointed at my chest. “I’m too distracting? You’re the one in a tank top and yoga pants. You look hella sexy, by the way.”
“They’re leggings.”
After I ran my fingers through my dark hair, making sure it wasn’t messy, I took the spot next to her and slid my hand between her thighs. Her sweet smelling lure once again filled my senses. Taking a deep breath, I savored it, barely able to contain myself, knowing I’d get her naked later.
“I’m sick of the scents.” Heston’s spontaneous confession brought me out of the dirty visions of what I would be doing to Lyric.
Fuck.
If he didn’t shut his mouth, he would ruin my secret.
“Her lilacs,” the ebony-skinned wolven pointed to Lyric, “her gardenias,” then to April, “and his pine trees!” then Erik before he threw his hands out in exasperation. “That’s all we ever smell anymore!”
Drag grinned, running fingers through his long, dark beard. “You’re just jealous you don’t have anyone to smell.”
“What are you talking about?” Erik asked, yanking his water bottle off the ground and twisting the cap off. “I don’t smell like pine. That’s the damn woods.”
Drag barked out with a laugh. “Definitely not the woods. Maybe morning wood.”
Kimber giggled, tying up her dark hair but still not saying anything. It surprised me when she agreed to keep the secret from her man, but I had a feeling she was also getting amusement from it.
Awaiting the perfect moment to tell Erik we knew when he was horny, I needed to change this conversation fast.
He bent over to set his water bottle back down and I whistled loudly, attempting to distract everyone from the scent topic. “Erik, your ass looks good in those jeans!”
Everyone laughed, and his head whipped toward me before scrubbing his hand across his forehead. “Someone kill me.”
Vivi jumped to her feet, shoving her arm in the air like an honor-roll student. Her dimples were prominent as a cheeky grin engulfed her face. “I volunteer!”
Erik glanced over his shoulder with slanted eyes. “Why do I believe you?”
“Because my sister will,” I chimed in with a grin.
Erik’s face paled before he turned away.
To tell the truth, Viviana didn’t despise Erik, she merely wanted to give the impression that she did. Not that she wasn’t fierce. She’d killed people with far less motivation than most of us, but I’m assuming she had her reasons . . . most of the time. Although she wanted to appear tough and mean, I knew how kind and sweet she had been before the trauma.
Unfortunately, she had a lenxus—a supernatural bond between a vampire and another person—and had spent over twenty years with him.
When Venom took Strike from her, she changed, building an emotional wall to block herself off from people, much like Sage. But instead of hiding in a cabin, not speaking to people, and stealing motorcycles like Sage, Vivi kept her emotions veiled under a standing smirk, a snappy mouth, and a need to kill.
Once, Vivi informed me she knew Strike was still alive because she felt the pull of the bond. Despite receiving that constant validation, she experienced intense anxiety due to her inability to be with her bond-mate.
And that’s why she’s the person everyone else knew.
Since she was my sister, Vivi had always been a pain in my ass, but her heart was usually in the right place for the right people. She was just another anti-hero . . . like the rest of our camp.
Except for Lyric. In my eyes, she was perfect and nothing less than an angel.
“I know you don’t like my brother,” Lyric whispered, bringing me back to reality, “but you don’t have to be mean to him.”
“Why would you think I don’t like him? I think he’s cool.”
She glared like she didn’t believe me before shaking her head. Movement caught my eye, bringing my gaze back to Erik as he sauntered to the other side of the circle so his back wasn’t to Vivi.
I chuckled, and Lyric swatted my knee. “That’s why. Stop laughing.”
My grin stayed put as I watched Peach enter the dirt circle we used for a makeshift fighting ring.
“I’m the next trainer. Who’s my student?” Being an extremely old vampire, Peach was fast. She wouldn’t tell me her age, but I had a feeling she was at least five hundred, maybe even a thousand years old.
Marcus had a severe attraction to Peach from the day they met, but she had remained closed off to his handsomeness.
Initially, I assumed playing hard to get had been a game of hers, but it eventually became clear something else was going on. I had my money on a possible past relationship trauma.
He stepped into the ring with a huge grin. “Me!”
Being a petite woman, around five foot three, when Peach stared up at the six-foot-four, mahogany-skinned human, it appeared she was admiring the moon.
“Marcus, you possess unparalleled skills and dare I say, you’re the most impressive person I’ve ever encountered who is not supernatural. You clearly know you don’t need training from me, yet every night, you persist.”
Marcus’s face gleamed, gazing down at her with pure adoration. “All I heard is you think I’m a god.”
Peach’s big blue eyes fluttered, unfazed. “Definitely not what I said.”
Since the Venom society took Luka, Marcus and I had become close. He wasn’t a stand in for the best friend I missed, but had become a person I looked up to. He was intelligent and a phenomenal fighter, and either of those attributes would’ve made me respect the shit out of him.
“Hey, Marcus!” I yelled, and his head whipped toward me. “I think you’re a god.”
He winked a brown eye at me. “Thanks, Winnie.”
Peach ran a hand across her short hair. “I hate you both.”
Marcus smirked. “Hate sex is hot, Peaches and Cream.”
Because Peach had cream-colored skin with matching hair, Peaches and Cream became Marcus’s new nickname for her. From my perspective, her hair appeared to be more sandy-blonde, but I’m just a hacker, not a hair specialist.
Peach ignored him and turned toward the half a dozen other people who were standing around watching, excitingly rubbing her hands together. “Who’s sparring with me?”
No one moved or spoke, each of them avoiding her eyes.
Drag’s gaze bounced from person to person before he finally cut in. “Nobody wants to fight you because you’re too old and too fast.”
“So, me again.” Marcus grinned in triumph, and a large sigh left Peach before she finally relented.
“Whatever. Come on.”
Since I’d watched these two lethal beings spar many nights, I turned my attention toward Lyric. She had been silent for the last few minutes and I wondered why until I noticed she had fixed her gaze on Sage’s cabin.
Like Lyric and some other humans staying here, Sage was born into the Vampire Eradicating National Organization of Malice—also known as Venom. She worked for them, capturing vampires to send to the Vampire Research Center for testing.
We didn’t know what they did with the specimens at VRC, we only knew the stories we were told from the two vampires who escaped from there—Viktor and Finneas.
Those two brothers also lead a group called Save—Supernaturals Against Venom Elitists.
Sage ended up here because she betrayed Venom—at least in her father’s eyes since he was the president of the society. After a large battle between Venom and Save, all of us ended up moving to Drag’s land.
Well, almost all of us.
My best friend Luka had sacrificed himself to save Sage and ended up being taken by Venom. If he had a chance to change the outcome, I knew he wouldn’t have done it differently because love changes people.
Unfortunately, his capture sent Sage on a downward spiral. She shut herself off to everyone in the world, including Lyric.
Other than the stunt she pulled earlier tonight, she only came out of the house to stand in the woods and stare into the darkness. She also wouldn’t speak to anyone for more than a minute.
Even though we knew how sad she had become, she wasn’t realizing the hurt she caused her best friends.
Deep down, I knew Luka would want me to get Sage out of her current state of depression, then we could move on with the plans of saving him and his brother Strike. Maybe that would get shit back to at least a semi-normal state.
But perhaps such a useless word like “maybe” can’t realign the world.
Turning her attention toward the firepit, Lyric inhaled deeply before letting out a long sigh. The light from the fire danced across her face, causing the sadness in her eyes to sparkle.
“Sage is fine. I gave her blood, and I’m sure her euphoria has worn off by now because I heard her moving around.”
She crossed her arms, running her hands up and down them, then plastered on a fake smile before turning her head toward me. “I’m just tired and a little cold.”
“I got you.” Jogging up to the steps of our shared cabin, I retrieved the hoodie she had taken off before we started sparring and brought it back to her. “Here, babe.”
“Thanks.” She slid it on with another sigh before glancing back at Sage’s cabin.
My eyes unfocused, my thoughts wandering off on a trip of their own as I thought about the plan again.
The details we laid out were as close to perfect as they could be. Absolutely solid. We had everything we needed: vehicles, blood, weapons, and a group of people who were willing to fight. We were only missing the most important thing . . . the location. Unfortunately, none of us, not even the ex-Venom members staying here, knew where the Vampire Research Center was located.
We had been prepared for weeks, doing everything in our power to find information. The Winter Solstice party came and Drag didn’t want to go. He felt it wouldn’t be right to look for a mate while other people were missing theirs. Christmas and New Year’s had also come and gone, and now it was already April with no leads.
Dead. End.
As the night went on, Marcus grilled some food, and everyone joined us around the firepit. We had a blend of people in our group now. Vampires, wolven, and humans had banded together with one common goal: fighting for what’s right.
We had another common component I realized as I watched everyone take their seats. Hope. The group possessed a formidable strength because of it.
Even though I could see the pain in Vivi’s eyes, she still had hope that one day we would find her bondmate. She laughed at something Kimber said, showing her dimples before passing a bottle of whiskey to her.
A natural pink eyeliner lined the light skin around April’s eyes, and even though she’d been crying all night, hope to one day have a family filled her. She wiped away a runaway tear, and her husband Zeke wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, comforting her.
Lyric’s hope wasn’t a secret. She told me every day how much she missed Sage and hoped she would get better soon.
Though it may sound sentimental, our collective hope was for peace. We just wanted to be happy with the ones we loved.
The wood planks on Sage’s porch creaked when she finally stepped out of her cabin.
Her hope vanished several weeks ago. The strong, snarky, kind, yet stubborn as hell woman I once knew had been slowly fading away. She strolled past wearing the T-shirt and sweatpants she’d almost killed herself to steal from Luka’s house and headed to the edge of the woods without making eye contact.
Lyric shifted, looking down at the ground, and I squeezed her hand, letting her know I would always be there for her.
Gazing past my girlfriend, I locked eyes on Sage as she took her normal standing spot, once again closing herself off from the world.
The way she had given up hope pissed me off. She had become family to me, and that was the only reason I held my tongue for the longest time. But not anymore. Even though she had given up on life, and on Luka coming back, I’d be damned if I gave up on her.
I needed to make her understand that we’d find where they were being held, and she needed to get her head out of her ass and get ready for this mission. Even if it meant hurting her feelings and jeopardizing our friendship.
Marcus and Drag appeared with handfuls of wood, laying them close to the fire pit. Nighttime in New Mexico brought in an icy chill, even colder deep in the woods.
Being the alpha of a wolven pack, Drag owned the small camp we stayed at, but few people outside of his pack knew about his leadership status. Most of his pack members stayed four miles away at the main camp, filled with mated couples and children. Drag went back and forth constantly between the two, but slept here since he was unmated. That’s also why Kimber and a few other wolven stayed here. Camp Singleton, I liked to call it, though most of us were fucking somebody.
“We need to get a group together and head into town,” Drag said, getting my attention. “We have more people than ever and we’re running low on supplies.”
“I need to go into town too,” Peach added, strolling up with Marcus. “I still haven’t paid Eddie.”
“How much is he charging?” Marcus asked, perching himself on a wood log across from me.
Peach took the seat next to him, and my brows rose. She seemed to be growing to like him. “He said to throw him twenty, but it doesn’t seem like enough. I have fifty to go toward it.”
“It’s definitely not enough,” Ravage said. He was an older vampire, and Luka’s origin, which means he turned him. “I’ll add fifty to that, Peach.”
He held his cup out and Lynx filled it with whiskey. She was his tattoo apprentice, a vampire, and cool as shit.
“I think I’ve got a couple of twenties in my wallet,” Jimmy added, an ex-Venom member we obtained. Of course, I took a huge liking to him since he was a genius with computers. I’d been teaching him my knowledge on hacking. “I may be able to get money out of my bank, but I’m uncertain if Venom has frozen our accounts.”
Ravage chuckled, appearing amused. “We appreciate the gesture, but I think adding fifty thousand to the fifty Peach has will be enough.”
Jimmy’s brown eyes enlarged under the thick lenses of his glasses. “Fif . . . fifty thousand?”
“He deserves it. Do you know how long it took to burn thirty-six bodies?” Peach asked, causing Sage to suck in a gasp.
Fuck.
Sage asked me one time how many people died and I told her I didn’t know because I knew she would dwell on it.
Jimmy shook his head, then pushed his glasses back up his nose. “Wow. That’s too many people to go randomly missing. Are the police looking for anyone?”
Heston busted out a laugh and squatted at the edge of the circle. “Of course not,” the young wolven said. He plucked a stick from the ground before drawing in the dirt with it. “Venom has the police on payroll.”
“More like the government,” Ravage corrected. “They pay for Venom, the research, and the cover-ups.”
Jimmy furrowed his brow. “It’s weird knowing everything I’ve been taught is a lie.”
Erik handed him a beer before twisting the top off of one for himself. “Welcome to the club.”
Even though I knew they were better off without Venom, it didn’t stop them from hurting. Everyone involved lost things they loved when they left the society. Houses, cars, family, friends, pets. The hard reality hit when it ripped away the life they once knew.
After numerous conversations with the now exiled members, I realized they truly believed in the validity of their actions. Their society had convinced them they were doing the right thing, and they regretted not seeing the truth sooner. If the ex-Venom members were willing to change and fight against the system, I welcomed them.
Knowing Lyric was one of the people screwed over by Venom, I trailed my fingers up and down her back, comforting her.
She turned toward me, her hazel eyes glazed over. “If you keep treating me so well, I might accidentally fall in love with you.”
I took one of her dark brown braids between my fingers, slightly tugging her face closer to mine. “Maybe that’s my plan.”
“My grandson is such a romantic,” Ravage interrupted, bringing chuckles from some and gasps from others.
“Grandson?” April’s brows shot up before confusion settled on her face. Being Marcus’s sister-in-law and a human, she ended up here after the war by proxy. She pushed some blonde locks off her shoulder. “How is that possible?”
“Don’t get him started.” I shook my head, and Ravage laughed.
Of course, he wasn’t my real grandfather, but since he turned Luka into a vampire and Luka turned me, the jokes had been going for years.
My phone rang, interrupting our conversation. Ollie’s name flashed on the screen, causing me to shift my gaze to Drag. “Dude, it’s your dad.”
He shot to his feet with a concerned expression, and I did the same, immediately heading away from the circle of people before answering the phone.
“What’s up, Ollie?”
“Is my son around? I called him but no one answered.”
I tipped the phone so it wasn’t next to my mouth. “Where’s your cell, bro?”
“At my cabin at the other camp. I didn’t want to run the four miles to get it.”
“Lazy ass.” I laughed and turned my attention back to Ollie. “He’s right here. Do you want to talk to him?”
“Put me on speaker, since it concerns you all.”
I clicked the button and held the phone between us.
“Everything okay?” Drag asked, and Ollie sighed.
“Not really. There was a woman here. Venom.”
Drag’s panicked face told me he was ready to drive into town and take his father for a prisoner, but I knew Ollie would give him a run for his money—a match I would pay to watch. I’d throw a hundred bucks on Ollie.
“Damn it, Dad. That’s why I said you need to come here.”
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I ain’t ever gonna leave here, goddammit. Now stop asking me!”
I snickered at the feisty old wolven before getting us back on topic. “Do you know who it was?”
“Her name’s Naomi. She said it was urgent for her to talk to Sage. She left a card with her number.”
Since I’d heard her name being mentioned multiple times around the campfire, I went on red alert. Sage had killed Naomi’s brother Sorin during the war. Unfortunately, not until after he had Luka taken.
“Naomi? What the fuck could she want?”
Drag shrugged at my question.
“Can you text me a picture of the card?” I asked Ollie and he huffed.
“You know damn well I don’t know how to use that cellphone my son gave me.”
Drag released a hard breath. “Can you just tell me the number, Dad?”
“Shit, son. Let me get my glasses.”
“Wait, is Libby working?” I asked. I sure as hell didn’t want to wait the ten minutes it would’ve taken him to find his glasses.
“She’s right here, doing prep work.”
“Can you put her on?”
Ollie mumbled something, then shuffling sounds came through the phone before Libby’s tender voice said, “Hello?”
“Hey. Can you text Winnie a pic of the card my dad has, please?”
“Of course, Drag.”
“Thanks, sweetie.”
“You’re welcome. Here’s Ollie.”
The phone shuffled again before the call ended.
“I guess he was done talking.” I laughed, and Drag’s face told me he was unamused.
A minute later, my phone beeped with a text from Libby.
“We can’t call Naomi until we get more burner phones.”
Drag nodded, agreeing. “Another reason to head into town tomorrow.”
We strolled back to the campfire and filled the others in on the news.