Scorned by Venom (Argentium Vampire Hunters Trilogy #2)

4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Winnie

We needed to go into town for food and medical supplies, and Drag tasked me with making a list of necessities. We also had to get burner phones so we could call Naomi and see what the hell she wanted. I tried not to expect anything, but a huge part of me hoped she had information on Luka. But despite that possibility, I was apprehensive of letting Sage talk to her. If Naomi didn’t have any info, Sage may shut down even more.

Lyric came out of the bedroom, bringing me from my thoughts when I noticed she was wearing my favorite blue T-shirt that said, “Old School Hacker” that had a cassette and scotch tape on it. “That’s my shirt.”

“And?” She ignored me, grabbing her white sneakers off the floor.

“You weren’t even born then. You probably don’t even know what it means.”

“It’s comfortable, though. And cute.” She slid her sneakers on, then squatted to tie them. “Oh, we need a bunch of tampons. April started her period, therefore mine came early, and so did Kimber’s. I’m sure the rest will be next.”

I lifted a brow. “Oh, shit.”

Lyric stood with tightened brows. “What? Do you have a problem buying tampons, Winston?”

“Of course not, babe. I was just concerned with all you women being together. If you ladies finally synced up periods, the wolven are gonna go nuts every damn month.”

Her cute little nose scrunched up the way it did when she was confused. “The wolven? Wouldn’t the vampires go nuts because of the blood?”

I laughed before I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her in close. “It doesn’t work that way. I’ll explain later. What size tampons do you want?”

“Get different sizes and some multi packs. I like options.” She gave me a sweet and beautiful smile, making my dick harden.

“You’re so damn sexy.” I slid my hands down to her ass and squeezed, her skin warm through her black leggings.

“Stop getting excited, Winston. I told you I’m on my period.”

“Good thing I’m a vampire. Blood doesn’t scare me.” I winked, and she pulled away with a laugh.

“Eww. Stop that.”

I sighed because I wasn’t kidding. Blood hadn’t bothered me before I became a vampire, and now it just aroused me. “What are you doing today, mama?”

“Peach and Kimber are taking me over to the other camp. One of Drag’s sisters had a baby and we want to go see it. It’s a girl!”

The look on Lyric’s face was sweet, her eyes glistening with excitement and innocence. It had been a very heart-warming moment . . . until it wasn’t.

A realization hit me, causing my chest to tighten. Since I couldn’t give her kids, she would never have a full life with me.

“Cool,” had been the only thing I could bring myself to say before I gulped back the random feelings.

She shimmied her arms into her jacket, not noticing my discomfort. “Can you get those noodles Sage likes and some soup? That’s all she eats, remember?”

“I’m not buying her any more garbage. She needs to eat something else.”

“Winston.” She glared at me, her hands going to her hips knowing damn well I wouldn’t be able to resist her cuteness.

“Fuck. Fine. I’ll get the shit.”

“Thank you.” She gave me a quick kiss before turning away, and I watched her perfect ass as she left.

Sage and her fucking soup.

I couldn’t tell if eating it was a comfort thing or because it was quick to make. Either way, it annoyed me.

Wondering if Sage needed anything else, I decided to head to her cabin and ask. If she spoke to me, that is. If not, she could do without.

Tough love was what she’d been getting from me this past week, and it was all she’d continue to get.

Grabbing my leather jacket, I tossed it on and emerged from my lodge. The night air had a chill to it when I stepped off the porch. Glancing up at the bright full moon, my mind drifted to Lyric and the feelings I had.

Did she want kids?

We hadn’t been together long, so why was I even thinking about it? About her happiness? I hadn’t ever wanted kids of my own, so if she wanted them, I didn’t know what I would do . . . especially since I couldn’t give them to her. Letting her go so she could have a normal life didn’t seem like an option, but I would do anything for Lyric. If breaking it off with her was for the best, I guess I’d have to.

“What are you doing?” Erik asked, bringing me back to reality.

“Looking at the moon.” I grinned while showing him my fangs because I knew he hated it.

His eyes expanded before he cleared his throat. “Can you get me some things while you’re at the store?”

“Sure, bro. What do you want?”

Erik shifted uncomfortably, and I wondered what embarrassing thing he needed from the pharmacy. He cleared his throat again. “Umm, condoms.”

“Did Kimber run out?” I asked without hesitating.

“What? Why would . . ? No. I don’t know. I—”

“We all know you’re fucking.” Ready to let go of the secret I’d been holding for months, my grin broadened.

“Whatever, Winnie. You don’t know shit.”

I wanted to milk this out. Make it hurt. “We absolutely—”

“We can smell your lust,” Lynx interjected from behind me. “Every time you’re horny, we know.”

I turned toward the tawny-skinned vampire, a scowl on my face. “What the fuck! You knew I’d been dying to tell him.”

“You took too long. It was getting annoying.” She pushed her short purple hair behind her ear and gave me a sweet smile.

With a confused expression, Erik’s eyes bounced back and forth between us. “What are you talking about?”

“Erik,” Kimber called out, and his eyes darted to her. “Let’s talk.”

She strolled off toward her cabin, and Erik glared at me before following her.

I looked back at Lynx. “You’re evil.”

“I do what I can.” She winked a pretty brown eye before walking away.

With a sigh, I headed to Sage’s cabin and just as I stepped onto the porch, April stopped me.

“She’s not in there. She went for a walk when the sun started setting.”

Typically, one of the wolven would follow her discreetly, but I knew Kimber was talking to Erik, and I was about to leave with Drag, Demi, and Heston. Afraid she would go outside of the magical wards that kept us from being visible to the world, I asked, “Did someone go with her?”

“The shifters were busy, so Marcus intervened. He refused to let her go by herself, so she said he could go with her if he didn’t talk to her.”

I snickered.

Sage makes up the rules now.

“Thanks, April.” Even without Sage here, I decided I would check to see if she needed anything. I opened the door before April stopped me again.

“Hey, Winston. Can you get me some girl things from the store?”

I looked over my shoulder back at her. “I’ve got tampons on the list. Anything else?”

She crossed her arms, her eyes saddening. “I don’t know if you can get eight hundred milligram Ibuprofen, but I have endometriosis and it helps. If not, Aleve or any kind of pain reliever. The pain is almost unbearable this time of the month.”

Shortly after we arrived at this camp, I’d quickly figured out that April struggled with infertility. I didn’t know much about endometriosis, but if it’s painful, I wondered if vampire blood would be a better option.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you. Oh, and can you get honey buns? They’re Zeke’s favorite.”

“Yes, ma’am.” After unlocking my phone, I pulled up the notes app and cataloged what everyone wanted.

“What?” Erik’s voice bellowed through the night sky. You didn’t need to be a vampire to hear it coming from the cabin close by. “Everyone knows when I’m horny?”

Even if I didn’t get to tell him, that shit was still funny. I laughed as I entered Sage’s door, stopping in the living room, and scanning the area.

Everything seemed untouched. All the pillows on the couch were in perfect position and the TV remote was in the same exact spot when we first came here. An inch of dust seemed to have moved in, now living on top of everything.

Knowing how much of a clean freak Sage used to be, this wasn’t like her. She may have been staying here, but she wasn’t living here. With the way she shut down, she wasn’t living at all.

I headed into the tiny kitchen and opened the fridge and found nothing but a barren wasteland. I foraged through a bunch of cabinets and they were the same. Only one pack of noodles and a couple cans of soup laid upon the almost empty shelves. With a sigh, I slammed the last one shut.

My jaw clenched as I headed down the hallway, stopping at the bathroom first. I checked to see if she needed any toiletries and cataloged them.

Frantic meowing screeched through the cabin, getting my attention. I stepped into the hallway and followed the sound down to Sage’s bedroom. Her cat, Chewy, scratched at the door, wanting out. I opened it and he twirled between my legs while purring in victory.

“Did she accidentally lock you up, buddy?” Reaching down, I stroked my hand down his soft fur before he took off.

When I went to shut the bedroom door, an orange medicine bottle on the dresser caught my attention. Deciding to investigate, I headed toward it and yanked it up.

Marie Adams. Serovenomine. Take one tablet daily.

“What the fuck?”

I knew Sage’s alias for Venom had been Marie, so that hadn’t concerned me. But with the bottle being empty and weeks overdue on refill, I worried it might be something she needed but had run out of. I pulled out my phone and did a Google search and got no results.

The wood planks on the front porch creaked, alerting me someone was about to enter the cabin. I stuck the bottle in my pocket and headed out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I turned into the kitchen moments before the front door opened.

“Thanks for letting me walk with you, Sage,” Marcus said, and she didn’t respond.

The front door shut and she let out an exhausted sigh. Her footsteps made the floors of the cabin creak as she headed toward me.

“Hey,” I said when she came around the corner, startling her.

“What the fuck, Winnie! You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry.” I shut a cabinet door and finished pretending to log items in my notes.

“What are you doing here?”

I held up my phone for her to see. “Taking inventory. We’re heading into town for supplies.”

“Oh.” She trudged past me and grabbed a cup from the strainer, filling it with water from the faucet.

“Do you need anything?” I asked, getting her to engage in conversation.

“Chewy needs food.” She sipped her water while staring out the window framed by pale blue curtains that hung above the kitchen sink.

Even though I already knew why Luka’s dog didn’t stay here, I figured it would be a way to get her to converse. “Where’s Annie?”

She downed the rest of her water and set her cup back in the strainer. “Peach has him. He doesn’t get along with Chewy.”

“That sucks. Anything you need from town? Food, drinks, meds?” A swift kick in the ass.

“I need soup and noodles.”

My jaw clenched more as I attempted to keep a calm demeanor. “That shit will kill you.”

“Good.”

It was like red hot lava burned through me when she silently strolled out of the kitchen. Needing to get her to talk, I shoved my phone in my pocket and headed down the hall after her.

“Hold up.”

Sage stopped by the bedroom door and turned toward me. “I don’t feel like talk—”

“I don’t care what you feel like!” I shouted, causing her to scowl at me.

“Did you come here to be an asshole?”

“No. I needed to take inventory and ask you a question.” I let the anger drop from my face, hoping to get through to her with kindness, at least for this next request. “It’s kind of important.”

She sighed and then shook her head. “Hurry. I have things to do.”

What the hell can she possibly have to do? Hide?

With a deep breath, I finally asked what I knew would either piss her off or motivate her. Hopefully, the latter of the two. “Ollie called yesterday to alert us that Venom was searching for you at the bar.”

“I don’t give a shit about them anymore.” Pushing the bedroom door open, she entered and I followed.

“There’s more.”

“Of course there is.” Sage plopped down on the bed, and with the look she had on her face, I realized she was going to shut me out soon, so I decided to rip the bandaid off.

“It was Naomi.”

Her eyes darted to me in anger, which I was grateful for. I would take that emotion over none.

“That bitch took Luka!”

“She wanted something and I’m not sure you’ll want to do it.”

Sage glared at me with tightened brows. “Like what?”

“Don’t freak out but . . . she wanted you to call her and—”

“Not fucking happening.”

“She may have information on where VRC is located. It could help us finally find Luka.”

She hopped up from the bed and started yanking clothes out of the closet. “I have to shower.”

“Seriously, it’s one fucking phone call.”

“I said I’m not doing it.”

She threw some clothes on the bed and headed out of the room with me right on her ass.

“This could be the best lead we—”

“I said no!”

Sage slammed the bathroom door in my face, and a low growl left me.

My heart sped up as pure heat coursed through me, making tiny veins scatter across my cheeks and forehead. I had to resist the urge to kick the door down and threaten her until she gave in.

If she didn’t want to call, I figured it would be worth a try if I did it myself. One way or another, I needed to save Luka and no one, not even Sage, would get in my fucking way. With a few deep breaths, I calmed my rage, and the veins subsided.

Once outside, I glanced around and my eyes landed on Stephanie. Remembering she used to be Sage’s therapist at Venom, I headed toward her, hoping she would know about the medicine.

“Can I talk to you?”

The tall, brown-haired woman turned toward me with a smile. “Of course, Winston.”

I pulled the medicine bottle out of my pocket, handing it to her. “Do you know what this is? I Googled it but couldn’t find anything.”

She squinted, reading it. “Serovenomine is used for multiple things. Mostly anxiety and depression. You won’t find anything online because it’s made by the Vampire Research Center.”

My brows shot up my forehead. “VRC makes antidepressants?”

“They do, amongst other things.” She handed me the bottle back and narrowed her curious gaze on me. “Why are you asking?”

“I was worried it might be something Sage needed.”

Steph let out a hard breath, a look of defeat plastered her face. “I already brought it up to her months ago because I knew she would need a refill way before now. She said she was fine. I respectfully disagreed with her and she kicked me out of her house.”

I rolled my eyes, contemplating heading back into Sage’s cabin and kicking her ass. “Of course she did. Where can I get more?”

“You can’t, Winston. Not unless you have access to a high security pharmacy run by Venom. But if you want to help Sage, there are other medications you can get which are comparable. They won’t contain the same ingredients as Serovenomine but people have been surviving for centuries without vampire blood.”

My eyes bulged, a sudden coldness hitting my core. “Those pills have blood in them?”

“Well, yes. The Vampire Research Center makes a few different products that contain vampire blood to help out the Venom members.”

I immediately wondered if Sage would benefit from vampire blood straight from the vein, which was more potent than anything VRC could extract. But quickly discarded the thought since I gave her blood last night and she was still in a mood.

“But there are pills that will help Sage?”

She nodded. “You’ll need a prescription, though.”

“Drag has a deal with a pharmacy. We can get whatever we need without one.”

“Oh! Let me get a pen then and I’ll write some names down.”

“A pen?” I chuckled, handing her my phone. “Type them in my notes.”

While I watched her fair-skinned fingers slowly hit each letter, I started to wonder if she actually was a vampire. Good thing I don’t age. It seemed like a lifetime passed before she handed my phone back.

“There you go.”

“Thanks, Steph.”

I let out a couple of piercing whistles to signal my friends it was time to leave. A minute later, Drag, Demetrius, and Heston appeared.

“Let’s go.” Drag headed toward the parking lot and we followed.

Since I was going to be with my friends for a while, I decided to put Sage out of my head for now and enjoy the evening.

We approached a new black F-150 Raptor that Drag had bought. With pure excitement and a hint of jealousy, I smacked the ass end of the truck. “This is much nicer than your beat up one.”

His old truck still worked after the battle, despite being dented to shit from the Venom crew crashing into it repeatedly. We now used the beater to haul stuff.

“I figured it was overdue.” Drag slid into the driver’s seat and Demetrius hopped in the back.

As I made my way to the passenger side, Heston slung the door open. “Shotgun!”

“Fuck, bro.” I hated sitting in the back.

I opened the rear passenger door and Demi patted the seat. “You wanna cuddle?” he asked in a thick Irish accent.

“Only if you’re in wolf form. I like my men furry.”

Demi laughed at my sarcasm, then I jumped in.

“Do you think we have enough room in the bed?” Heston asked. Or I should say, the Seat Stealer. I had half a thought to flick him in the back of the head.

Drag pointed out the window and my eyes followed. “We got them.”

Marcus, his brother Zeke, and Peach were in one of the vans Venom had left behind. Figuring they might come in handy, we had brought most of the vehicles back here after I removed all the tracking devices on them.

“Sweet!” I drummed on the back of Heston’s seat, making him let out a grunt of annoyance. Since he stole the front, I was gonna bother him the whole ride. “Let’s get this show on the road.”