Chapter 11 Dagon
Dagon
The feeder building is doing its best to look like anything but a feeder building—three stories packed with rooms occupied by humans who volunteer their necks or wrists for the vampires who live on the adjacent island.
Cassandra’s family has the kind of wealth I immediately distrust. Luckily for us, Cassandra is now family, mated to Talon, so there’s nothing to be wary of.
Still, it’s hard to wrap my mind around this place, despite seeing several of them since awakening.
We didn’t have these establishments back in my day. Sure, there was the occasional volunteer, but mostly we had to feed and erase memories—one of Saint’s many talents. I don’t miss those days. At least in these modern times, these people are consenting and getting compensated.
I keep a watchful eye on Saint from where I stand across one of the lush rooms, this one decorated in rich red brocade and gold details.
I don’t know if it’s the volunteers’ style or if Cassandra’s ancestors designed the space and never allowed any changes to be done, but either way, it’s better than the sometimes sterile, hospital-like feeder rooms in Edgemont.
I never thought I was an ambiance kind of guy, but the low lighting in here at least lets me blend into the shadows a little.
“You don’t have to watch me,” Saint grumbles as he jerks his head away from the volunteer—a man in his late forties who consented to a bit of mental numbing before the exchange.
“The day I don’t have to watch you feed is the day you’re mated,” I counter with an apologetic look.
I don’t like watching him feed. I don’t mind it, but I know it annoys the fuck out of him.
But, with what happened before we went into statis, and after everything that happened to him when Samuel held him captive…
it’s a safety precaution. The only way to ensure he’d never slip into bloodmadness again is for him to find his mate and be sustained from her alone.
Saint narrows his gaze, heading toward the door. “That’ll never happen.”
I fall into step with him, following him into the long, heavily decorated corridor. The smell of freshly picked flowers and sea flow through the hallway, most of the doors firmly closed. I can’t help but wonder where Annika is and who she’s feeding from.
My vision bolts to thermal for an instant, causing me to halt my steps.
What the fuck?
I clear my throat, clenching my eyes shut for a moment as I pull my shit together. Just because I’m fucking the luscious vampire doesn’t mean I need to get territorial over who she feeds from. It’s not like I’ve offered her my blood.
Her fangs sinking into my flesh, my blood spilling hot and thick into her mouth—
Fuck me. I’m hard as granite thinking about it.
“You good?” Saint asks.
I snap my eyes open, thankful to see him clearly where he waits for me at the end of the hall.
“Fine,” I grumble, hurrying after him.
He cocks a brow at me, the thin ring of red circling his dark eyes more vibrant now that he’s fed. “Looks like you might be the one who needs supervision while feeding.” His eyes drop to my mouth.
Damn. My fangs are out. When did that happen?
I’m a fucking mess.
I shake my head. “I’m not hungry.”
Saint tips his chin. “You didn’t feed the last time we were here either.”
I shrug. “I’ve had some canned.”
He looks like he’s about to press the issue, and I send him a silent look so he doesn’t.
I don’t have answers regarding my appetite. It’s probably nothing more than the canned shit filling me up more than necessary, making even these willing necks unappealing.
Annika’s face fills my vision, the way she arches off the bed when I touch her, her neck exposed, the veins thrumming beneath her delicate skin.
Fuck. My mouth waters at the thought of tasting her blood.
“Where’s your student?” Saint asks, jerking me out of the fantasy.
“I’m not her keeper,” I snap.
The barest of grins shapes his lips. It’s a terrifying thing. I’ve seen him smile like that right before he cuts into someone. Few people can talk to Saint like I just did and live to tell about it.
I clear my throat. “I don’t know where she is,” I say, a little more composed as we continue our trek toward the main lobby of the building to wait for Talon, Cassandra, and Annika.
Saint settles against a smooth stone wall near the doors, studying me. “Don’t you, though?”
I furrow my brow. “She doesn’t tell me every detail about her tastes,” I explain. “I have no idea what kind of volunteer she’d go for.”
“That’s not what I meant.” He eyes me, and I hate that my instincts prickle at his silent urging.
I take a deep breath and focus. I could be imagining it, but lately, I feel Annika before I see her. Maybe it’s nothing more than me catching her scent or our powers calling to each other because they’re so similar, but if I think on it long enough…
She’s on the main floor, down the left hallway, third door on the right.
My eyes widen at the certainty I feel in this assessment.
Saint pushes off the wall, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “You’re not breathing.”
A rush of air shoves from my lungs at his mentioning it.
“Tired,” I lie. “That’s all.”
Saint scans my face, waiting. He’s not the most conversative, but he’s an exceptional listener.
If I wanted, if I needed, I could spill all my inner battle shit right here and he’d hear me out.
Hear me go off about Annika, how infuriating she is, how delectable, how addictive, how I can’t stop thinking about her even when I’m asleep.
He’d listen to me write it off as nothing more than good, old-fashioned chemistry.
I clamp my lips shut. The last thing I want to do is unpack this. I don’t even understand it myself.
Saint releases my shoulder, dipping his head in a nod to someone behind me.
It’s Talon, not Annika.
She’s not finished yet.
I don’t know how I know that or why the idea of some other male feeding her has my powers on alert and ready to crush someone.
“Alek is on the line,” Talon says once he’s reached us, waving his phone and motioning toward the doors.
My eyes immediately dart toward the hallway where I think Annika is.
“I’ll wait here for Annika,” Cassandra says, almost like she could read the worry on my face. Fuck, is it that obvious? And why am I worried? There’s no threat here. Absolutely zero.
I seriously need to get my shit together. I flash Cassandra a smile before I follow Saint and Talon out of the building, heading down the stone steps and across a wooden path and onto the white sandy beach, tall palms swaying softly in the night’s breeze.
“Where is the button again?” Talon fiddles with the phone, the screen black despite us clearly hearing Alek’s voice through the speaker.
“Fuck if I know.” Saint shrugs.
“Why did we send you three old fucks down there by yourselves without any tech support?” Alek heaves a sigh through the speaker.
I roll my eyes, plucking the phone from Talon’s grasp. “Because your number one tech guy is about to have a baby,” I say, easily drawing up the camera.
Alek’s face fills the screen. “She’s two days overdue,” he says, eyes drawn with worry.
“You know these pregnancies are never routine by any standard,” I assure him. “Human or vampire.”
Alek nods. “Progress?”
I straighten up at his question. “Much,” I answer. “Annika is almost in full control of her powers now.”
The king’s eyebrows raise. “Truly?”
I nod. “She’s excelling faster than I did.”
“Maybe it’s because she has you as a teacher,” Talon says from where he crowds me enough for Alek to see him. “They’re rarely separated.”
I glare at him. Saint snorts in the darkness of the palm trees.
“Interesting,” Alek says.
“Not really,” I blurt out. I’m not sure why, but I don’t like the idea of anyone, even the king I trust, hearing how much Annika has come to mean to me. If any of my enemies knew…
Anxiety tightens my skin, some feral thing clawing at my chest.
“Anything happening there?” Talon asks, grounding me.
“Nothing,” Alek says, leaning back in his seat. He’s in his study, and he keeps glancing to the right of the camera, no doubt to his queen nearby. “It’s gone quiet. No attacks. No missing reports. Nothing.”
“Maybe the blow we delivered was enough to make them give up,” Talon offers, but even I can tell he doesn’t fully believe that.
“It’s the calm before the storm,” Saint says with absolute confidence. “I know my brother. He won’t stop until I’ve put him in the ground.”
An icy chill sweeps through our group in a way talk of killing a brother only can.
I give him a sympathetic look, but I can’t argue with him.
He’s right. I hate it, but Samuel is far beyond any of our help.
He almost killed Saint. He tortured poor Aurora into near madness.
And he almost did unspeakable things to our princess.
He’s dead, he just doesn’t know it yet.
I’m terrified of what it will do to Saint, when the time comes, but I can only hope me and Talon and Zachariah and Ajax will be able to hold him together.
“How much more time do you need?” Alek asks. “How is Aurora fairing?”
“She’s better,” Saint answers the second part of the question. “Little pieces of herself are coming back.”
“Good,” Alek says.
“Annika is perfect,” I say, then quickly continue. “With her powers. We can return…soon.” I don’t give a specific time frame on purpose. I know the king notices. It’s a kindness when no one points that out or asks why I’m being vague.
I can’t help it.
I don’t want to leave.
I do, but I don’t. I know we have pressing matters in Edgemont.
I know the hunt for Samuel must continue.
But…I want to stay here as long as possible.
I want to lose myself in whatever is happening between Annika and I, because I’m certain when we get back, we can’t continue.
Not when there are so many more enemies in that territory.
Here, we’re secluded. Safe to behave this way. Back home?