Chapter 24
Jase
I t was midnight when we pulled into the small gas station on the outskirts of Fermo. It was tucked away in a wooded area just down the road from a car dealership. The lot was empty except for our car, and the attendants had gone home for the day so we could pump gas without interacting with anyone. Once Tony stepped out to fill the tank with gas and grab snacks for him and Rachel, I rolled down the window to let the night breeze brush over my skin.
A group of human teenagers emerged, walking down the sidewalk past the gas station. I made eye contact with a scrawny male, offered a smile, and perhaps let a little of my fangs show. When he realized what I was, he urged his friends to walk faster and quickly disappeared up the road.
“That’s a dick move. Stop scaring kids,” Rachel said, and I turned to look at her. She huddled against the car door with her leather jacket draped over her left shoulder and across her chest. “You must be getting hungry if you’re harassing a small fry.”
The taunting tone of her voice grated on my nerves. She was testing me, seeing if I was no longer the monster she met in Boston. Of course, she’d be wrong to assume I had changed in the slightest.
“Oh? Are you offering?” I replied, enjoying seeing her shift uncomfortably. Her eyes didn’t break their gaze with me, though, challenging me more. “I mean, it’s only fair since you drank from me. ”
Rachel’s eyes narrowed, and the blue color took on an icy glint. She didn’t like that comment, and Lucy’s shoulders visibly tensed..
“Naw, I’m good. I’ve already had one Dimitriou brother drink from me. I think I’m set for life.”
Sudden annoyance hit me, and I did my best to not clench my jaw. I knew he drank from her, but being reminded of it made my spine lock up.
I barked out a laugh to hide my irritation. “Dimitriou is not my last name.”
“Ooh, that’s right, you have a stage name. Andrei said you guys changed your surname years ago. What was it, anyway? He never told me.”
The thought of Andrei drinking from her, let alone Rachel mentioning his name, sent another wave of irritation crawling up my neck. Now I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I hated how much that fucking bothered me.
“Our real family name was Bakirtzis.”
“Hmm, what does that mean in Greek?”
I smiled. “Coppersmith.”
“Huh, that’s not very fitting. Your father was a fisherman,” she said, curiosity getting the better of her.
“Ironically, my grandfather was a coppersmith, but Papá wanted to take a different path. Mamá loved our last name since she worked with copper pots to make healing potions. It actually did fit perfectly.”
“Hmm,” Rachel hummed but then pressed her lips together, contemplating my answer. “So, why pick ‘Halpert’ as a last name?”
“I used to fuck a woman back in the States with that last name before I joined the coven. I thought it flowed nicely with Jasen,” I said, watching her shift uncomfortably at my brazen remark, and I did my best to read her from that response. “Eventually, we went our separate ways, but after I became a vampire, I paid her a visit. She was furious as hell and fought me, of course, but in the end, I gave her a sort of parting gift. If she couldn’t have my dick anymore, she would have eternal life.”
Her lips parted, and judgment took over her features. Rachel wanted to snap back, but she just glared at me instead. My intention to get a reaction out of her had worked.
Two can play at this game, angel.
But that look on her face bothered me to no end. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. An educated guess would be that she wanted to gouge my eyes out.
“Damn. You really are a dick,” Lucy quipped, turning around to face us. When she saw the look on Rachel’s face, Lucy smiled. “I’d be careful if I were you. I honestly think she will kill you when you’re not looking.”
I cocked my head and leaned against my door, the breeze ruffling my dark hair. My gaze burned into Rachel’s glowering eyes. “If you have something to say, angel. Then say it.”
Rachel bit the inside of her lip before sitting up to better stare at me. “You’re such a lonely bullshitter, you know that? You steal someone’s name and humanity and call it a ‘gift.’ Then you fuck one of my best friends to pass the time until the Hades Blood Moon, which you failed royally, by the way. You claimed it was all for obtaining my mother’s power, but I’m not buying it. All you do is use people and discard them like they’re trash. If you’re trying to get anyone to feel sorry for you, you’re wasting your time.”
She raised a brow at me, her smirk sharp enough to cut through me.
“And let me guess. You think that casually dropping your past conquests and brutal violence would get under my skin? No, all it did was reveal more and more about your intentions.”
“Holy shit,” Lucy laughed. “You really shouldn’t have said anything to her, dude. Rachel is notorious for calling out bullshit.”
I didn’t even glance in Lucy’s direction, not with Rachel’s beautiful eyes burning me to the core.
“I bet you’ve spent the last two centuries filling that yawning void in your chest with one meaningless hookup after another,” Rachel pressed on, trying to provoke me.
It was working, goddammit.
“Are you afraid that no one will pay attention to you if you don’t brag about it?” she asked contemptuously. “You keep everyone at arm’s length because you’re afraid they’ll see you for who you are.” Rachel crossed her arms over her chest, the jacket falling from her shoulders. She spoke with mocking pity in her tone. “All that charm and immortality, yet trying to convince me or yourself that you’re not completely alone.”
“Watch it,” I seethed through my teeth, not even realizing I had drawn out my fangs as anger burned into my chest.
“Are you exhausted yet, pretending that you don’t care about how you hurt people or care about them in general?” she continued. “Naw, I think you do , somewhere deep in that soulless pit in your chest. You’re dying for someone to see you and extend a loving hand to you. If the meaningless sex with anything with a hole gives you comfort, so be it.”
It felt like she dug her claws deep into my insides and twisted them into a whirlpool of ice and blood. My hands balled into fists as my temper simmered to a near-boil under my skin.
“Pretty hypocritical of you,” I bit back. If she wanted to pick a fight, I’d give her one. “You forgot I watched you for four years … haunted every step you took, not like some damn puppy on the streets. No, I was inside that hotel, watching you work … following you home, and watching you sleep. Loneliness is a cold bedfellow, angel. I’ve seen you touch yourself on those nights, slipping your fingers into your wet pussy until you came. And if you weren’t doing that, you were fucking some stranger the exact same way you accuse me of doing. Don’t claim I do anything for attention because I know you’re the same as me.”
“Oh my God,” Lucy whispered, her eyes now on Rachel, as if anxiously waiting to see how she’d respond.
Rachel’s jaw dropped like I had slapped her. Her eyes glistened, and I thought she’d start crying from how angry she looked. “You were watching me in my home?” Her heartbeat picked up until it was pounding against her ribs. I was sure that even Lucy heard it.
“It’s not important anymore. At least I didn’t kill you in your sleep or when you were preoccupied with a toy.” I smiled. “But yes, I watched you sleep, dress, eat, and fuck. If you think I feel bad about that, guess again.”
Rachel twisted toward me faster than I could blink, her fist aimed at my jaw. I seized her wrist mere inches from my face. My other hand shot out and grabbed her left hip, yanking hard enough that she slid on the leather seats onto her back. I pounced on her, my body pinning her down while my right hand gripped her throat. Lucy snarled and lunged over her seat, but I held her off with my left hand. “Hijo de puta!” Lucy shouted, trying to pry my fingers off her wrist so she could hit me.
The tiny car rocked violently with our collective struggle, and if anyone were to walk by and see it, they’d assume something lecherous was happening. The sound of Tony’s footsteps approached the back door.
“Let them go!” Tony growled through his teeth over the commotion. I looked up to see the gun he brought from his apartment drawn from his holster and pointed at my chest. “These bullets are wooden. Don’t force me to go back on my word and shoot you in the heart. Let them fucking go.”
Lucy’s sharp nails dug into my skin as she hissed, fangs out. Rachel’s eyes widened as she thrashed beneath me. The friction was maddening, and my mind wandered into dangerous territory.
Rachel was daring me to call Tony’s bluff. He wouldn’t shoot me, not when Rachel’s life was on the line.
I released my hold on them and carefully leaned back, easing the pressure on Rachel’s hips. I took a few breaths to settle my rattled nerves. “Don’t ever, ever try to strike me again, angel,” I warned, folding my arms over my chest.
Tony remained outside the car, gun lowered slightly, and watched us carefully.
Smart move.
Lucy took a breath as well, sliding back into her seat. There was a slight rasp, and Rachel immediately sat up. “Lucy? Did that wear you out? Jase has enhanced strength, so it’s almost impossible to kick his ass properly. Here, you need blood.”
Goddamn, woman . I knew what she was doing. She didn’t have to strike me to inflict pain. Rachel knew she had another more effective weapon in her arsenal.
Her fangs emerged as she sank her teeth into her wrist, dark blood dripping from the wound. The scent hit me—so fucking divine. The veins under my eyes pulsed with hunger, aching to lunge forward and taste it for myself.
She then held her arm up toward the front of the car. “Drink up.”
It wasn’t her fist to my face I would lose control over ... it was this.
When Lucy saw the blood, her eyes burned crimson, and she sank her fangs into Rachel’s wrist.
Well, fuck. While Rachel’s body relaxed and she closed her eyes, my dick stirred to life. The hardened flesh pressed achingly against my jeans as I watched her friend feed. Jesus. The scent alone pushed me into a new level of frenzy that I had to force down.
“Okay, are we good now?” Tony asked. I nodded, and he holstered his gun and opened the driver’s side door.
No, Tony, we’re not fucking good.
My stomach twisted suddenly, sending a lick of burning pain up my throat. The hunger I’ve kept at bay reminded me that it was still there, waiting. If I didn’t feed soon, I was going to murder someone.
Lucy’s eyes opened and landed on my face, almost like she was rubbing it in. After a few moments, she pulled her mouth from Rachel’s wrist. “We need to find a place for Jase to feed, too,” Lucy said, giving me a stern, judgy glare. “All that power from Valentina, centuries of living, and you’re a tantrum away from proving everyone right.” While Rachel’s wrist healed, Lucy licked a smear of blood from the corner of her mouth.
“He’s not drinking from an innocent human,” Rachel growled, glaring at me.
I’m getting the goddamn third-degree from everyone here.
“And I’m not letting him drink from you, either,” Tony said, turning around while pulling up his sleeve. He held his wrist toward me.
I didn’t want Tony’s blood, but after that scuffle where I had Rachel pinned down, he wasn’t about to let me touch her again.
“I’ll drive once you’re finished. You can give me directions while you rest,” Lucy said. “Rachel will manage him.”
Tony nodded.
“You take more than necessary, and I will drown you with my mists before ripping your head off,” Rachel warned, but I only smiled at the threat.
Tony shoved his wrist closer to my face. “Drink, asshole.”
Sighing in resignation, I leaned forward and sank my fangs into Tony’s wrist. While his blood tasted fine, it wasn’t what I wanted. The scent of Rachel’s blood took over my mind, as well as the visual of Lucy feeding from her. I knew it was only a matter of time before I took her blood for myself, even if she fought against me.