Chapter 7
The inside of my mouth tasted like a dirty gym sock, and I felt like I hadn’t had a drop of water in a year. With a groan, I rolled over in the small bed that barely fit inside my studio apartment. With a muffled oof, I found myself on the floor and staring up at a ceiling I didn’t recognize. Luckily, it only took me about three seconds for my brain cells to start firing and remember the events of last night.
Instead of untangling myself from the blanket that had somehow wrapped around me like an anaconda, I continued to lay there as I replayed the conversation we’d been having before I must have passed out. Parts of it were a bit foggy, but the majority came clear enough. Humans didn’t rule the universe the way we liked to pretend. Honestly, that was probably a good thing since we were well on our way to destroying it with our antics.
I thought about all the mythological monsters I had learned about throughout my life. I wasn’t sure if the swirling in my belly meant I was giddy with excitement or if I was feeling trepidation that I might have been in contact with a Banshee or a Cthulhu.
“Are there demons who are Wendigos?” I called out, wondering if they really needed to eat human flesh because… eww. A chuckle, sounding like rocks being ground together, came from the other side of the converted warehouse.
“Perhaps.”
I let out a huff. I needed to know, damn it. What was I supposed to do if I came across one? I wasn’t going to offer up a finger or a slice of thigh to get it to go away.
I continued to stare up at the drop ceiling tiles until something else occurred to me. “What’s your name?”
Rustling of bed sheets sounded before feet hit the cold concrete floor and started walking in the general direction of the kitchen area. I was beginning to think he wasn’t going to answer me as I started to smell the rich aroma of coffee brewing. My stomach gave an unhappy gurgling sound as I hoped his hospitality would extend to offering me a cup.
His heavy footsteps began to walk in my direction until he was standing over me, wearing nothing but the pair of gray sweatpants I hadn’t been able to wear last night since the legs would have reached my armpits if it wasn’t for the crotch. Then there was the waist. I wasn’t even going to attempt to roll it enough to make them stay up. He held out a black ceramic mug and I gratefully scrambled to a sitting position, leaning my back against the sofa I had slept on.
“Thanks,” I muttered, my nose buried in the heavenly aroma wafting from the coffee. He sat down on the seat with a heavy sigh, and I tried not to think about how his thigh brushed against my shoulder.
“My name is Valen. And we need to have a talk.”
“Another one, huh? I’m Kallista, by the way. Please don’t call me Kallie.” I inwardly shivered at the memories that surfaced as I thought of the nickname my adoptive father had always called me. I once thought it was because he loved me. What a joke. I hated that nickname, and for some reason, every person I met wanted to call me that.
Before he could say anything further to start the new, ominous conversation, though, the sound of a motor came from the direction of the elevator. Valen was on his feet, and seconds later, the door next to the lift was being banged on harshly.
“Open up, Val! I know you’re in there!”
Valen let out a growl that was actually kind of adorable and held out his cup for me to hold without looking at me. As soon as I had a tight grasp on it, he stormed over to the door. I could tell it was my boss. The fact that she knew where he lived had jealousy swirling in my gut. I didn’t know how I could have forgotten she had taken him into her office last night. It was where she always took her conquests.
Valen swung open the door but didn’t back up; he just stood there glaring down at the curvy redhead bombshell with a thunderous expression. “How the fuck did you know where to find me?”
She let out a scoff. Even her scoffs sounded sexy. Damn. “I know you, Val, and I know this city. It doesn’t take much to find out information.”
“Bullshit, no one knows about my places. Who told you? If it was my assistant, I’ll kill him.”
I inhaled sharply at the conviction in his tone, at how casually he spoke of ending someone’s life.
“Don’t be so dramatic. I knew he was here for you. I followed him yesterday, knowing he was going to get your place ready.” There was a quiet shuffling of feet before Syn sounded irritated. “You’re not going to let me in? We need to finish our conversation from last night.”
I peeked over the side of the couch to see Valen standing in front of the door with his arms crossed. “I don’t think there’s anything more to say on the matter. You already told me everything there is to know.” His tone was dismissive, but she either missed it or had chosen to ignore his unspoken words.
“But I didn’t have the chance to tell you how to get out of the mate bond.”
There was a beat of silence as Valen hesitated. Grudgingly, he took her bait. “How?”
There was a sexy chuckle from Syn. “You have to kill her.”
“I’m not going to kill my mate,” Valen all but growled the words.
Syn sighed. “It’s the only way to break the bond. Until you do, you won’t want to be with anyone else. You can choose to, of course, but your mate will always be there, in the back of your mind, like a shadow. The only way to allow yourself to love another is to get rid of her. Permanently.”
I watched from my position on the floor as Valen ran his fingers through his long black hair. “Thanks for letting me know. Now, tell me what was going on with those vamps last night, and why you wouldn’t let me kill them?”
“Valen, your mate…”
“Leave it, Syn. Tell me about the vamps.”
She let out a frustrated sound. “Fine, but this isn’t over. Their Master is Powerful. He told me a few months ago that he would protect my club in exchange for allowing them to feed from my girls.”
“And if you don’t let them?”
The silence was heavy between them as I stared in horror. She was letting those monsters take blood from her employees? Did anyone even know? Did they agree to it?
“Look, Valen, it’s a good deal. He’s not someone I wish to get into a battle with, and it’s not hurting anybody.”
“If that’s true, then why did you call me, telling me you needed my help? I rode across the country for no reason?”
There was the briefest of hesitations before she spoke. I immediately sensed that whatever she was going to say was going to be a lie or half-truth. “He has been pushing for more, and I panicked. But it’s really not that big of a deal. Now that you’re here, though, we can spend more time together. Like old times.” I couldn’t see her face, but I could imagine the seductive smile she must have been wearing based on the tone she was using. She was trying to seduce him.
I started putting the pieces together as I turned to look into Valen’s coffee cup, then gave in to temptation and took a big swallow. Syn was in love with Valen, and he only thought of them as friends. It would have been tragic if she weren’t encouraging him to kill some woman who was apparently standing in her way. A woman whom Valen wasn’t convinced he wanted to keep or not. Poor girl.
“Sure, we can have lunch sometime.” It sounded like a brush-off to me, but Syn clapped her hands in excitement.
“Wonderful! Let’s make it tomorrow. I can see you’re not in the mood for company right now, so I guess I’ll go…” Her voice trailed off as if waiting for Valen to change his mind and welcome her inside. When he didn’t, she let out a low hum. “Oh! Before I go, I need to know what you did with the girl last night. I went by her shitty little apartment this morning, but she wasn’t there. I need to turn her over to the Master.”
Valen let out a menacing sound that even had me cowering back, and I wasn’t even in front of him. “Why the fuck would you do that, Syn?”
“Because I had to make amends for what you did to his second in command, Valen,” she snapped back. “You don’t fuck around with this guy. He wants the girl, so he’s going to get the girl.”
As quietly as possible, I set the coffee down on the floor, then I scouted around to the end of the couch furthest from the doorway, hoping that Syn wouldn’t look in and see me lurking in his home. I wrapped my arms around my knees and buried my face against my legs. No matter what I did or how far I ran, I could never get away from people trying to hurt me or give me away to someone I didn’t want. I sat quietly, with tears burning hotly behind my eyelids as I waited for Valen to give me up.
“This isn’t you, Syn. The woman I knew would never sacrifice a young woman to protect herself. I don’t know where the Syn I knew went, but she sure as fuck isn’t here. Go back to the vamp Master and tell him to fuck right the hell off. He’s getting no one.” With those parting words, Valen slammed and locked the door. Syn banged on the door once, pleading with Valen to open back up and listen to her before I could hear the elevator motor start to run as the lift lowered back down to the ground level.
I didn’t move from my spot as I heard the heavy footsteps come towards me and stop right in front of where I had curled into myself. I took several deep breaths until I was sure the tears that threatened to fall had dried up. My face was probably a blotchy red from being so upset, but at least I wasn’t crying.
I brought my head up to face Valen, surprised to see that he was hunched in front of me. “Hi,” I said weakly, attempting to smile but failing miserably.
“Hey,” Valen rumbled, studying me as if attempting to figure out a complex puzzle. “I’m guessing you heard all that?”
I could only nod, still a part of me expecting him to walk me to the door and send me on my way with Syn to an unknown future where I became vampire chow, or worse. It was the second time in twenty-four hours I was beginning to think that perhaps I should have stayed with my parents instead of running away.
“I’m not going to let the vamps get you, okay? I’ll protect you from everyone, even Syn. I swear it.”
I blinked up at him, my eyes suddenly watering all over again. “Why?” I swallowed through the lump in my throat. “Why would you protect me?”
I watched as he carefully withdrew my arm from the tight grip I had on my legs and straightened it. With confusion, I stared down as he held his own next to mine. With the two wrists held side by side, there was no mistaking that the symbol branding both of us was identical.
“Because you are my fated mate, Kallista.”