Chapter 19
Lock
“No,” Sam said firmly. “Not again.”
“Just one more,” I suggested, unable to hide the way my lips curved upward.
“You’re insatiable. We can’t just fuck every second of the day, Lock.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” When I stepped toward her, she moved back, eyeing me warily. “I know how affected you are, Belladonna. I can feel it, just like you can feel me.”
“And I still think this bond shit is creepy, but it doesn’t matter. I have to train, remember?”
“To fight some big, bad mysterious being that wants you dead. I’m starting to think the fire angel is full of shit.”
She frowned, her eyes darkening in a way that made me want to kill things.
“I think he’s telling the truth,” she said softly. “There’s something in his head that has some sort of grip on him. It feels like it’s squeezing him from the inside, keeping him compliant.”
“Then he’s a liability. Let’s kill him.”
“You’re too weak and I just can’t.”
My eyes narrowed. “Would you like to say that again, Samara?”
“Thankfully, you don’t scare me anymore.”
“You were never scared of me,” I laughed, wrapping an arm around her waist and walking her toward the lake.
“You threw me out of a window.”
“Don’t start that again. You’ve nearly turned me into a popsicle multiple times now.”
She made a frustrated sound, trying to push me away. Clearly, she didn’t actually want to because she let me hold her to me. The weeks since she’d become a vampire had worn me down, fucked with my head. Now, I never wanted to let her out of my sight. If I could, I would attach her to my body. I wouldn’t mind carrying her around like a front pack for the rest of our eternity.
“Speaking of the fire angel,” I drawled. “Where is he?”
Sam looked around, then shrugged. “He hasn’t been back since he flew off yesterday. Maybe he’s pouting.”
“I don’t pity him.”
“You don’t have to, but could you at least try not to be at his throat all the time?”
“I’m not the only one,” I pointed out. “He’s pushing me.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“I’d rather you didn’t. You trust him to help us and that’s the only reason I’m even entertaining his presence here. Anything beyond that is out of the question.”
“Lock-”
“No, Sam. We can’t trust him and you know that. You can feel him in some weird, infuriating way.”
She glanced down at the ground and sighed. “I think he’s conflicted.”
“Frankly, I don’t give a fuck. Conflicted means dangerous.”
“Well, why would he be willing to train me if he still wanted me dead? It would only make his job harder.”
“I don’t know. That’s the worst part of this entire thing.”
Tapping my fingers against my thigh, I tried to come up with answers. As had been the case since I first saw him funneling energy to Sam up on that roof, I came up empty.
“I’m sending for more vampires,” I decided.
“No, you’ll just put them in danger.”
“I don’t care.”
“They’re your progeny, Lock, and now they’re my people too. I already…” She trailed off, swallowing hard. “I killed one already.”
Reluctantly, I nodded. I would probably do it anyway, but I didn’t want to upset her right now. While staying fed helped her remain controlled, it also meant she had more magic at her disposal. The last thing we needed right now was a breakdown. One thing I’d known about Sam from the moment we met was that she had a very dramatic side that rivaled my own. Combine that with unknown, deadly magic and it was likely this entire town would be obliterated from the map.
“I’ve been struck with inspiration,” I announced.
Sam looked up from where she was crouching on the dock. Her hand was hovering over the water, which was rippling as if there was something vibrating beneath it. Tethering myself to Sam had never been about me becoming more powerful on my own, but I had to admit it would be really fucking cool if she shared some of these abilities with me. I would have a blast. At least one city would be destroyed, that was for sure.
“We can test your limits in a little town in the backwoods of Alabama,” I went on, then made a gesture like an explosion, a grin erupting on my face.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’d say it’s the best idea I’ve had since I made Jones eat his toes.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You conveniently left that part out.”
“Did I?”
“What sort of shitty Karma did I earn to become mated to you?”
Appearing in front of her, I locked my hand around her throat and pulled her into a kiss. She could be sassy all she wanted. When I had her like this, she always gave herself to me.
“Let’s train,” I said, releasing her.
“But Raf’s not here.”
“He can get fucked. Come on. Attack me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Yes, you do. I threw you out of a window, remember?”
“Lock…” She bit her lip, making fists at her sides.
“What else have I done that you’d probably consider ‘bad?’” I asked, using air quotes.
“You made me kill my friend.”
“Well, friend is subjective. He was a creep, not to mention fucking annoying. It was your decision anyway.”
“You made me choose between him and Todd. That’s not much of an option. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen Todd again and you said you’d release him.”
“Hm. He must’ve moved away.”
She narrowed her eyes and a thin layer of blue smoke began to seep from her hands. I eyed it with a smile, relishing the power she now possessed. I didn’t know it was possible for me to be any more obsessed with her than I was before. Clearly, I was an idiot. Samara with the means to raze cities was breathtaking. Anyone that refused to drop to their knees before her would incur my wrath.
The woman before me wasn’t mine simply because she was my mate. She’d earned my heart, my unwavering devotion. She had a death grip on my fucking soul and if she was ever taken from me, I would burn down every city in this world, then set myself on fire to join her in the void. We would rule that plane just as we would this one because that was who we were. Motherfucking gods.
“Lock, you have that look on your face.”
“What look, darling?”
“You’re either fantasizing about sex or murder.”
“Both, my love. Always both.”
“Alright, well, back to the previous conversation. You let me think you died that one time.”
“It wasn’t as if I could let you in on the plan and if it failed, your hope would have only made it worse.”
“I hate you.”
“Good. Use that. Attack me.”
“Fine,” she grumbled.
Despite her acquiescence, nothing happened. She opened her palms, her face scrunching up like she was straining.
“Come on,” I taunted, shifting my weight from one foot to the other, readying myself. “Aren’t you some powerful little witch or something?”
“You’re not helping.”
With a shrug, I shot forward, grabbing her waist and flinging her toward the cabin. She screamed, flailing in the air for a moment before shifting into smoke. Her flight was choppy and I couldn’t help but laugh.
When she materialized on the deck, she leapt toward me. I easily dodged her by stepping to the side. Even though she was a vampire now, she hadn’t learned how to think like one. Her mind was capable of processing things much quicker than before, but moving from thought to action took practice.
“You’re slow,” I drawled. “Good thing we’re the only ones out here. I’m embarrassed.”
“Embarrassed?” she scoffed.
“Yes. I’m, well, me. My mate is supposed to be impressive.”
“I am fucking impressive.”
“Prove it, darling.”
With an adorable growl, she ran toward me again. I simply jumped over her, landing at the far end of the dock. Catching her dagger out of the air, I sent it back to her. She swore just before the scent of her blood reached me.
“Where’s the fiery little demon that was ready to beat me with a baseball bat the first time we met?”
Three knives came at me in quick succession. I caught one and evaded the others, hearing them plop into the lake. Suddenly, her body slammed into mine, making me lose my footing. I landed on my back, staring up into very angry, foxlike eyes.
“Well, hello there,” I said with a wink.
She planted her hands on my chest, the simple touch making me arch my hips. She wasn’t wrong when she said I was insatiable, but I knew she felt the same way. This mate bond was no joke and no amount of research could have prepared me for the power of it.
“Don’t distract me,” I groaned, even as I moved my hands under her shirt.
“But you look so delicious, baby.”
She rolled her hips, making me gasp. “Fuck, Samara.”
When she smirked, I knew I was fucked. Her eyes closed and I was suddenly enveloped in a thin mist. The cold made my joints feel stiff, as if it was penetrating straight through my tissues.
Her weight disappeared and I got to my feet, trying to see through the blue smoke. Temperature never affected a vampire, but whatever magic she was using had my teeth chattering. When I was human, I hated the cold. I was decidedly not happy to be experiencing it again.
When I shifted, the feeling was more intense. I flew into the trees, perching on a branch and staring down at the dock. She wasn’t there and the smoke was dissipating. Everything was silent in this area, the only sounds coming from some houses across the lake.
Most people were spooked and going home after a few handfuls of people disappeared from their beds the other night. It was a mystery for the ages and this place would probably use it to bring in more tourists, perhaps by spinning some ghost story. The way I saw it, I’d done the town a favor.
“Hey,” Sam’s voice seemed to drift in on the wind. Just as I started to turn around, her foot connected with my back, sending me flying off the branch.
After depositing myself safely on the ground, I laughed. “Look at you. I’m almost impressed.”
She landed in front of me with a grin. “Almost? That was dope.”
“How’d you figure it out?”
“I didn’t,” she admitted. “It kind of started happening when you pissed me off and I just let it do its thing.”
“If your magic is connected to your anger, I won’t last the week.”
“Shut up,” she laughed. “I just need to learn how to feel it. If I focus, I think I can, but I’m pretty sure each type is separate and I don’t know how to move them from inside to outside.”
“If your so-called Nexus member was doing his job, maybe we could figure it out.”
“I am doing my job,” a familiar, aggravating voice chimed in.
“Well, if it isn’t Raffy Taffy,” I drawled dramatically, turning to where he was leaning against a tree. “Can we enact a new rule? No weird fire mirage. We need to know when you’re around.”
“I don’t accommodate for other’s weaknesses.”
And there it was again. The rage that my mate thought I should just push aside, as if that was at all possible. She theorized that since the bond had made me feel a larger range of emotions, I could manage my bloodlust and the urge to send the living to the next phase in their existence. I disagreed.
Sure, I might be able to attempt empathy when it came to Sam, but aside from her, I couldn’t care less about life. I’d blow up an orphanage if it sounded like a good end to my weekend. Had I given her the impression that I was going soft? Maybe I needed to change that, but those were thoughts for another day.
“Where have you been?” Sam asked, darting over to him.
His scowl softened as he watched her approach. Maybe Sam wasn’t crazy when she suggested that he was conflicted. He couldn’t hide that this thing affected him and I didn’t think he disliked Sam. They actually seemed like they could get along well if they were friends.
The thought nearly made me vomit. Yeah, I was going to find a way to kill this man.
“Busy,” he said simply. “Come on. You’re already doing better than yesterday, so let’s see if you can use that same energy against mine.”
“Oh, god,” she groaned. “Are you going to set me on fire again?”
“It’s very likely.”
Rage rippled outward from my chest. Not if I had anything to say about it.