Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
VAL
My body thrummed with energy as Samara slid off me, the warmth of her skin lingering. She gathered her scattered clothes, her eyes avoiding mine. The silence between us expanded, growing heavier with each passing second.
She was quiet. Too quiet. And not the comfortable silence we’d sometimes fallen into a long time ago, but something impenetrable.
I watched the sway of her hips as she went to find a bathroom, purple hair tumbling across her shoulders, and felt an unexpected tightness in my chest. I couldn’t decipher whether we were moving toward or away from what I wanted—whatever the hell that was.
I ran a shaking hand over my face and stood, looking around for my pants. It had been so long since I’d buried myself in a woman that I didn’t know if I should be concerned about the buzz coursing through me.
Maybe it was because she had royal blood. Or because we were on Earth.
“Was her blood as you imagined?” Amari’s gruff voice made me jump.
He was still facing the window but hadn’t moved. A pang of guilt swirled in my gut as I put on my clothes and walked toward him.
“It was.” I ran my hand down the smooth surface of his arm and grabbed his hand.
When I craved his touch most, he was stone, unyielding and cold. It was a unique form of torture, having him present yet periodically untouchable, especially now when my nerves still sang from Samara’s touch and craved more.
“You aren’t angry, are you?” I pressed my lips to his arm.
His head turned slightly, and I looked up to meet his eyes, which never failed to send my heartbeat fluttering.
“Sad I missed out. Need all the energy I can get.”
“You’re worried.” I rested my cheek against his arm, the cool surface soothing my skin. It was almost healed thanks to Samara’s blood.
“The sun turned me solid.” He grunted, which usually meant it was becoming harder for him to speak in his half-set state. “You burned. Are you not?”
I turned my head and looked out at the world through the slats of the gate the woman had closed. The second my feet touched down, I knew where we were. There was no mistaking it.
The sounds, the scents, and the sun all hit me at once.
Then, when we stepped into the shop, I was overcome with the need to sink my fangs into the woman’s throat. I had never once felt so much power over a helpless being.
On Earth, I felt stronger. Invincible even. Except for the sun.
So, was I worried? Absolutely. It was in every vampire’s DNA to seek power. I understood why vampires had long sought ways to get to Earth.
I licked my lips, thinking about how the human woman would have tasted on my tongue. She would have let me take willingly, too. The bloodlust clawed at me with unprecedented strength. The woman’s pulse had called to me like a siren’s song.
“Why are you growling?” Amari chuckled. “I guess it really was as good as it sounded.”
I didn’t respond and instead focused on the passing cars on the street. They were even more amazing than I’d heard and read about.
“We could stay here,” Amari whispered, and at first, I thought I had heard him wrong. “Leave all the cutthroat, power-seeking behind.”
I sighed and patted his arm. “This isn’t our home, and you’d be miserable if you had to be stone more often.”
And I’d probably fall right into bloodlust.
Samara walked out, pulling my attention from potential disaster to her in only her pants and bra. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her, and neither could Amari, who shuffled his feet to see her.
The way Samara moved with cautious wonder in this strange place fascinated me. Despite her bra and pants combination being far from the most provocative outfit I’d seen her in, something about her half-dressed state made my fangs throb with renewed hunger.
She held up a white shirt to her chest. “Is this too bright?”
I joined her quest for a new shirt, grateful for the distraction. “I think it’s perfect, but it has no sleeves.” My fingers brushed against the thin fabric, feeling the strange texture. It was softer than I expected.
She pulled the shirt over her head, the material stretching across her curves as if it had been made specifically for her body. My mouth went dry as she adjusted it, completely unaware of how captivating she looked.
Amari let out an appreciative grunt from his position by the window.
“Like what you see, panther?” Samara twirled once, a hint of her old playfulness breaking through the tension.
“Always.” Amari’s voice rumbled with obvious desire.
I circled her, inspecting the outfit with exaggerated scrutiny. “The white makes your skin glow, but you’ll freeze your ass off here. Inferna’s constant heat has made you soft.”
“My ass is many things, but soft isn’t one of them.” She raised an eyebrow, challenging me. “And we don’t know how long we’ll be stuck here. Might as well blend in.”
“We’re not staying long enough to need to blend in.” I couldn’t keep the edge out of my voice. The pull of Earth was already dangerous with the bloodlust, the power surge, the possibilities. If we lingered...
“I’ll wear another shirt over it.” She turned back to the clothing racks, fingers trailing over unfamiliar fabrics until she held up a flimsy thing covered in sequins that caught the light. “How about this?”
I snorted. “Do you want to look like a chandelier?”
Her laughter filled the space between us, easing some of my tension. “I’ll save it for my triumphant return to the council. They’d love it.”
We searched through more racks, and I enjoyed the mundane activity more than I should. It felt almost normal, as if we weren’t fugitives from another world. As if there wasn’t a gnawing ache in my gums.
“What about this?” Samara pulled out a black jacket with a zipper running down the front.
“Practical.” I nodded approvingly. “And it matches your general doom-and-gloom aesthetic.”
“Says the vampire who mostly wears black.” She rolled her eyes, shrugging into the jacket.
It hugged her frame perfectly, the cut accentuating her curves. I whistled. “You wear Earth clothes well.”
“Too well.” Amari tracked her every movement.
Samara zipped the jacket halfway, examining herself in a nearby mirror. “How do people move in these things? It’s so restrictive.”
I moved behind her, adjusting the collar of her jacket. Our eyes met in the mirror, and for a moment, I glimpsed the princess who’d once looked at me with fascination and love.
“I doubt I’ll keep it once we’re back in Inferna.” She turned to face me, close enough that I could feel her breath on my chin.
“A shame.” My fingers lingered on the zipper. “I was looking forward to removing it later.”
Before she could respond, Amari’s growl reminded us we weren’t alone. “If you two are done playing dress-up, we need a plan. It’s getting darker.”
I should have been happy about that, but as I caught my reflection in the mirror behind Samara, I noticed my eyes were darker than usual, my pupils blown wide.
Dangerous. This place made me dangerous in ways Inferna never did.
My body tensed as we stood at the back door of the shop. It was dark now, but I still had the prickling feeling from the sun on my skin.
Or was that my senses readying for a hunt?
Amari was standing outside the door, his hands on his hips. “You said we’d walk straight out of here. There’s a wall, and none of us are house mages.”
Samara rubbed her index finger over her lips in thought and stopped to glare at him. “I can see the wall, Amari. We’ll have to go around.” She adjusted the straps of the bag on her shoulders.
She’d put the sparkling pink one into a duller brown bag; once we got back to Inferna, we did not need to attract any attention.
We took off down the pathway toward the street where cars were zooming past. We would need to be careful because the last thing we needed was for one of us to get hit.
Amari and Samara were both silent as we rounded a corner onto the sidewalk and made our way in the direction we needed to go. I wasn’t as shocked as they were, but still in awe of what I was seeing.
Samara slipped her hand into mine. “There’s so much light and noise.”
And scents.
The scents were overwhelming as we walked past a crowd that waited outside what looked like a tavern. I instantly regretted breathing, as more than just food scents filled my nose.
I squeezed Samara’s hand tightly and glanced at Amari, who was watching me closely. If I snapped, he’d stop me.
We walked for what felt like an hour, though I couldn’t be certain.
The streets had grown darker and more crowded, and the scents remained suffocating.
Every time a human passed too close, my fangs ached, and I had to focus on keeping my breathing even.
Samara must have felt my tension because her grip tightened on my hand.
Amari walked a few paces behind us, his gargoyle senses working overtime. His shoulders were tight, and his muscles were coiled like he was ready to spring into action at any moment.
I understood the feeling.
There was much blood pumping through these humans, and none of them had any idea how vulnerable they were. My mouth watered as a woman in a tight red dress stumbled past, her pulse visibly throbbing in her neck.
Focus.
I forced my gaze forward, counting the lights as we passed them. One, two, three...
“Are you okay?” Samara whispered, tilting her head up toward me.
I grunted in response, which seemed to satisfy her. Or she didn’t want to push me further.
A man stepped out of a doorway we’d been about to pass, blocking our path with a cocky smile. He was young, with messy hair and a leather jacket. His eyes slid over Samara with an appreciation that made my blood boil.
“Hey, beautiful. What’s a girl like you doing walking with these losers? Why don’t you give me your number and let me show you a good time?”
My lips pulled back, revealing the barest hint of fangs. “Walk away.”
The man’s smile faltered for a moment, then he laughed nervously. “Man, doing that to your teeth is hardcore. I’m just trying to—”