Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
~Harlow~
I stand by the gate, and at this point, the waiting isn't just getting on my nerves. No, it's so much worse—I'm literally freezing my ass off, the brewing storm giving the wind a harsh bite.
The bag with Thane's dry cleaning hangs folded over my arm, and its weight is slowly getting to me, but thank god, I hear the buzz of the electronic gates. As the gates swing open, I can't wait any longer, so I quickly slide through the gap and walk up the long driveway toward the house.
It's actually not a house. It's a goddamn mansion—a little too fancy for someone like Thane if anyone asks me, but so be it. As I walk closer, the surrounding lights make the building look like some fairytale fantasy. Too bad the only fantasy I expect to be greeted by is the angry troll.
I'm about a quarter of the way up when I stop. Leon appears ahead of me. He stands on the concrete path, breathing so heavily that it makes him look like he's in pain.
"Leon?" I call out to him, a little confused about why he's outside, not inside the house with the rest of the assholes.
He tilts his head to the side and the moon reflects off his face, revealing his sharp, pointed fangs.
I gasp at the view before me. One minute he stands at least twenty yards ahead of me, and the next, he appears right in front of me after a blur of motion.
Leon grabs me so suddenly that I drop my bag and Thane's dry cleaning.
His fangs pierce my skin and sink into my neck as a feral snarl leaves his lips. The scream that escapes my mouth is so loud that it could deafen, but I can vaguely hear someone else screaming his name.
My attempts to struggle against him are futile as Leon's fingers press into the flesh on my arms with so much strength, I'm sure he will leave ugly bruises all over my skin. My scream dies out once I feel someone rip Leon off me, sending my body sprawling on the hard, concrete driveway.
An unbearable wave of pain shoots throughout my whole body as I land on the concrete, hip first. With a loud groan, I struggle to roll over and sit up, but more pain shoots through my body with every move I make. My elbow is badly grazed and my neck throbs as if it has a heartbeat of its own.
I look up, just as Rhen stalks toward me and Raidon walks over to help subdue Leon, who is currently fighting Thane, screaming at him to let him get to me.
I have never seen a crazed vampire before, let alone this dangerously close to me. Leon is terrifying and acts like an absolute savage until Thane punches him. I cringe at the thud as I watch Raidon catch Leon before his body hits the concrete.
Fingers aggressively lock around my arm and pull me to my feet. I turn my head in a daze to face Rhen's furious expression. He glares at me as if it is my fault that his mate just attacked me out of the blue.
Oh, no, sir, it's all Leon; I didn't do a thing to get stuck in this mess.
If they need someone to paint as a bad guy, they are welcome to blame Leon, who is the actual villain in this situation.
Or, blame Thane, because that asshole had the brilliant idea of getting me this close to his stupid packhouse.
"Dare to report this to the media, and I will bury you alive! Do you understand me? You won't risk my mate!" Rhen snaps at me, shaking me.
Now it's absolutely clear that they blame me, but for what? For doing my job and fulfilling their stupid wishes? Wow, this is some twisted way to thank the employee of the month, which I should be, because who else has enough patience to put up with their mess?
"Leave her, Rhen. I will command her to keep quiet, just get her back to the packhouse and clean her up. We can't chuck her in a taxi like that," Thane snaps at Rhen.
A menacing growl leaves Rhen as he drags me toward the mansion. My heart thumps painfully in my chest as I glance behind me to see Thane toss Leon over his shoulder and follow us.
I stumble over my own feet as I try to keep up with Rhen, while he all but drags me closer to the massive building.
He stops at the mansion's open door and glares down at me.
"No snooping around, and don't fucking touch anything!
" he screams and leads me down a corridor beside a set of double marble stairs.
My eyes burn with hot tears that I refuse to let out. My entire body trembles under Rhen's potent aura. He shoves me into a bathroom and looks at me like I'm a dirty animal. I stumble once he pushes me but manage to catch and steady myself by grabbing onto the edge of the huge clawfoot bathtub.
"Shower and meet us in the living room as soon as you're done here. I’ll send Tania in. She will bring you some fucking clothes!" Rhen snarls at me as I swallow down the lump forming in my throat.
He slams the bathroom door shut with so much force that I wince. After sucking in a few deep breaths, I look around.
The bathroom is massive. It has double sink basins and a huge shower, and in the center stands the huge clawfoot tub that I'm using to hold my balance.
As much as the thought of a hot bath tempts me, and I would love to sink into the hot water to forget all my worries for a moment, I know that I can't. Even if I think back, I can't remember the last time I had a bath. Probably at the Omega facility, but it has been so long since then.
Despite the temptation, I'm able to pull my gaze away from the tub. It takes me a few seconds for my eyes to focus on the image in the mirror, and once they have settled on it, I gasp.
Blood has soaked into the fabric of my shirt and blazer; I am bleeding all over my clothes. I sniffle as I reach for the hand towel and wet it to dab it on my neck, which has thankfully stopped bleeding.
However, I can't help but cringe at the view—Leon's bite is as savage as he acted, and now, the bite marks look like someone pierced my skin with a rusty can opener.
I can barely hold back tears as I clean off the remaining blood.
The mental image of Leon's terrifying, animalistic facial expression overwhelms me.
There's no way I will ever forget that sight.
While dabbing at my neck and checking that I don't miss even a spot of blood, an older woman slips into the bathroom.
Silently, without glancing at me, she places some clothes on the bathtub.
She is silent and keeps her gaze on the floor the entire time, slipping back out of the bathroom just the way she entered.
I try my best not to let that get to me, but the way she slips in and out like a thief in the night makes me feel as if I have, in fact, done something wrong.
As a result, I perceive myself as an invader, unworthy of kind words.
As I hear Thane, Rhen and Raidon argue somewhere in the distance, the tears well up in my eyes, and I try to hold them back, their cruel words not helping my situation either.