Chapter 6
Six
Damien
The ride home is really uncomfortable. I’d love to fill the silence with as much nonsense as I can come up with, but Killien isn’t in the mood.
His eyes are fixed on the road, still filled with that ugly rage that makes it seem like he’s about to snap.
His long fingers are curling around the steering wheel a bit too tightly, turning his knuckles white.
What the fuck do I do to fix him? I hate to admit it, but all of this might be my fault.
Sometimes, I get reckless. My mentality is to reach out and take whatever I want in life.
It’s what I’ve been doing since I became immortal.
Okay, maybe I was already doing it before.
I don’t understand the concept of delayed gratification, really.
Maybe I should learn a bit more about that. Fucking hell.
“Did you fuck him?” Killien’s voice breaks the silence, low and maybe even threatening.
Oh . . . You jealous, Killi?
“What?” I look at him, even if he avoids my gaze. “No, of course not. We’ve been flirting for a while, but nothing has happened yet.”
At least I don’t have to lie. If I did, I’d probably lose him for good. That’s not what I want. I need to keep my dick in its place and not listen to it. At least until Killien calms down.
“Be careful, Damien. Maybe we can’t trust anyone at this point.”
“You mean because of the whole drinking vampire blood thing?”
“Yeah—” His voice finally starts to soften after he takes a deep breath. “I’m not surprised that Ledger hid something important from us. We were his secret; he didn’t introduce us to other vamps. He basically kept us as slaves and fled with most of the money we made for him, anyway.”
“Why do you think he left? I believe Jacob when he says he didn’t see it coming. He seemed genuinely surprised to me.”
Killien rolls his shoulders and relaxes them. His grip on the wheel loosens a little bit. “I believe him too, but I don’t want to be wrong.”
I’m glad to feel him winding down and becoming himself again. That usually happens when it’s just the two of us. Honestly, I only feel at peace when I’m with him. Just like it’s always been. We have each other, above all.
“You’re never wrong,” I say, because he’s always been good at warning me about other people’s intentions.
Finally, his gaze meets mine. The right side of his lips curls up in a half smile. “I make mistakes too, Damien. You’re just too impulsive sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” I laugh.
“Maybe always.”
Jeez, I’ve missed his normal self. It’s been a few days since we’ve had a simple conversation like this one. Killien has been tense after our last hunt. The Clara thing has hit him hard—which is what I wanted, but I didn’t expect him to shut himself off. It’s almost like he built a wall between us.
We remain quiet for a few minutes. It’s a comfortable kind of silence, though.
Killien’s face relaxes, returning to his usual angelic expression.
His full lips are my disgrace; I can’t stop thinking about kissing them.
I love that he has a masculine body, but some of his features are soft.
I love the contrast between his ginger hair and his darker eyebrows.
He’s so enticing I always struggle to keep my eyes away from him.
“Are you going to take Jacob’s offer?” Killien interrupts my thoughts with a question I didn’t think he’d ask.
I stare at him, startled. “Well—I want to.” Lying is not a good idea right now, so I don’t.
“Maybe we should do that instead of hunting.” He turns his head to face me briefly, his expression completely serious.
Fuck. He’s not joking. I can’t believe it.
“Really?”
“I could be wrong, but he’s been good to us so far. And we won’t know until we try. Who else could we possibly drink from otherwise? We don’t know anyone that can make us stronger. Plus, we still have the cash Ledger left behind, so we don’t need to hunt for that either.”
That’s a typical Killien reasoning right there.
Logical, simple. He’s capable of thinking clearly, even in a moment like this, when he’s about to snap.
I’m far too complicated. As much as I like being the way I am, it tends to get me in trouble.
My brother is good at keeping himself out of drama.
Unless I pull him into it, which is exactly what I do best. My angel can’t stop saving me from myself, and I’m addicted to it.
“I’ll text him.” I smile.
“But you won’t make it weird.” Killien’s tone is definitely a threat, his eyes hardening on mine when he stops at the traffic lights. “If you step out of line, I’ll leave. You hear me?”
“What do you mean by stepping out of line?” I might need clarification, because I really wanna end up in a threesome with both of them.
“No sexual stuff in front of me. It will be a transaction, that’s all. If you want to, you can get freaky with him when I’m not around.”
Well, fuck.
“Fine.” I nod, repressing the long sigh I wanna let out because I’m a brat.
There’s a short, uncomfortable silence, filled by the playlist we made of the best songs from his favorite band: A Day To Remember. I keep my eyes busy, staring at the sunset on the Phoenix skyline beside us.
“You’re my brother, and I’ll always be here for you.
” His words force my attention back to him, his eyes now sweet and soft, like his voice.
It makes my heart skip a beat, and the butterflies in my stomach flutter.
“Whatever is happening in your devious mind needs sorting, Damien. You’re not a kid anymore. ”
And he says that staring at me with those loving eyes . . . He’s destroying me. Everything in me is screaming to either punch him or force my lips on his. But I keep my poker face up. I have to.
“Whatever, Killi. You don’t understand shit.” My words are bitter, but I can’t mask that as well.
At least I used the nickname I know makes his heart warm up. The one I gave him when I was just a child and he was my entire world.
Which he still is.
Motherfucker.
Killien doesn’t say anything; he remains focused on the road.
I press my back against the leather seat and turn my face away from him.
Maybe I’ll have to give him the cold shoulder from now on.
I’ll get really freaky with Jacob and make him raging jealous.
He’ll regret it in the end. I can learn to wait for my rewards.
Jacob agreed to come over as soon as I texted him. He’s eager to get bitten, apparently. Not that I’m not eager to get a taste of him. I might or might not be getting hard just thinking about it. What’s it gonna be like? Drinking from someone as hot as Jacob must be one hell of a ride.
The last time I had vampire blood was when Ledger turned us.
It was really confusing at the time; I had no idea what was happening.
I still remember seeing Ledger walking around the popular bars, where Killien and I used to hang out.
It was also how I met my boyfriends and sugar daddies, as well as people to steal from.
I was particularly good at distracting my victims while I slid my hand in a pocket or purse.
Killien only had to watch over me while I worked my magic.
He hated doing it, but ended up helping me anyway.
Just to make sure I didn’t fuck up, I guess.
It’s how I made a few extra bucks, since I refused to get a regular job.
Killien did that for us since we ran away from home while I stuck to being a full-time sugar baby and making guys pay for my stuff. It was way too easy. Making someone bend and break to my will might as well be my biggest talent. I know how to use my tools and wield my weapons to get what I want.
Seducing people is fun, but fighting someone with my pointy knife in a dark alley is just as exciting.
It helped me hone my skills with my handy folding knife, the one I always carry with me.
A present from Killien, naturally. He bought it so that I could defend myself if I got in trouble, but I used it more for mischief than anything else.
That’s exactly how we met Ledger. He was walking down the street with a cigarette in his hand.
A skinny blonde guy that I thought I could seduce and distract, and that I could also fight with my tiny blade if I had to.
An easy target. Plus, even if I failed, Killien would be right behind me. So, I followed him into an alley.
Looking back, it was kinda foolish of me to think it would be so simple.
I found him throwing up in a dark corner, looking completely defenseless.
And yet, when I tried to reach for his pocket, he grabbed me by the neck and slammed me against the wall.
My knife was completely useless, since he snapped it from my hand before I could defend myself.
His response was too fast; I should have been able to dodge him.
But I wasn’t. Ledger simply didn’t look as strong as he was.
Killien tried to free me from his grip, but ended up in the exact same position.
We were crowded by the smell of cigarettes and alcohol and of something sweet I couldn’t quite point out.
Finally, his green eyes glowed as he smiled at us like he’d just won the lottery, and that’s when I knew I’d fucked up.
I’ve never been one to get easily scared.
I could put up a decent fight with my beloved knife, because I was always fast given my size.
However, that night, I thought my heart was gonna jump out of my chest. My blood went cold as I tried to free my throat from his constricting hand, but it was pointless.
I wanted to cry and reach out to Killien, but couldn’t.
We both passed out from the lack of oxygen in that damn alley.