Chapter 11 Broken #2
“Ari?” I shook her, holding up her entire body weight. “Really, Ari? Really, you’re gonna pass out now? We’re about to die and you pass out like that! What’s wrong with you? Aurelia!” I was shouting hysterically and the man was laughing.
“I wouldn’t say you’re about to die.” He was suddenly in my face—his speed as unnatural as Dennis. I screamed and dropped Ari. He caught her with one hand, then dumped her aside. “I haven’t decided if I’m gonna kill you yet.”
“Get off!” I kicked out as he pushed me against a wall. He seized my ankle with such force there was a sickening snap. I cried out as an excruciating pain shot up my leg. My ankle convulsed while he clenched tighter.
“You sound nice when you do that.” He nuzzled my neck, brushing his nose against my hair. “Stay still or this could get messy.”
Sharp teeth grazed my skin but before they could break flesh, he was ripped away. He flew across the alley and slammed into a wall—Dennis held him against the bricks, fingers constricting his neck.
“You know she’s bound, Kiro,” Dennis seethed. The other vampire struggled before managing to break free.
“Oh, hey D,” Kiro greeted him like they were old friends. “Is she your bind?”
“Yes, she’s my bind,” Dennis snapped. “And that girl is Sean’s.”
“Sorry.” Kiro held up his hands and took a step back. “If I knew she was yours, I would’ve left it alone.”
Dennis shoved him against the wall. “I should kill you, too.” The malice in his voice left no room for an empty threat.
“Dude, chill out.” Kiro pushed Dennis away but he was instantly back.
They went back and forth, heading for a fight when I let out a dry sob of pain.
They both turned to me as I clutched my ankle in one hand and pressed against the wall for support with the other.
I stared back like a deer in headlights; the last thing I wanted right now was to call attention to myself.
Kiro stepped away from Dennis with a joyous laugh. “Good luck with that.” He grinned. And then he was gone.
Dennis cursed and kicked the forgotten body. It crashed against the wall with such force some bricks shattered and fell. “I hate that guy. Did he kill your cousin?”
“No. She fainted.” I gasped as a spasm took hold of my ankle. “I think my foot is broken.” I slowly sank to the ground.
“Do you want me to check it?”
“Can you make sure she’s okay?” I nodded toward Ari.
He kneeled and touched her cheek, then felt for a pulse. “She’s fine. I can slap her awake, if you want.”
“No!”
“Relax, Vixen. I was kidding.” He hoisted her up and was gone.
“Dennis?” I called, then jumped when he reappeared at my side.
“I’m right here. I put her in the car.”
“When did you get a car?”
“I bought one last night. I’m gonna take your shoe off, okay?” He sat and gently placed my legs across his lap.
“How’d you find us?” I sucked in a tight breath as a bout of pain tore through my ankle.
“I was nearby getting blood. I heard some of it and felt you panicking.” He was slowly unlacing my boot, being careful not to move it more than necessary. “How long before I showed up?”
“Not long but it felt like forever. He almost drank my blood.”
Dennis looked at me. “That’s not what he was going for.”
“So he was gonna kill me?”
“It doesn’t matter. He won’t mess with you again.” He started pulling my shoe off, drawing a whimper of pain.
I squeezed my eyes shut as the boot slid past my ankle. It was taking all my strength not to cry or pass out. “I hope you’re almost done,” I managed. He didn’t respond. “Dennis?”
I opened my eyes and realized two things at once: my ankle was bleeding profusely, and Dennis was fixated on the blood that was dripping down to pool in his lap. His pitch black eyes rose to mine. My heart skipped a beat, then went twice as fast.
“Dennis?”
He didn’t answer.
“I don’t like this,” I said. He stared at my neck the same way he’d been ogling my blood. “Stop it.” I tried to smack his cheek but he caught my hand. “Stop!” I kicked with my good foot and managed to catch his ribs—he blinked and dropped my hand.
“Fuck. Sorry,” he seemed genuinely rattled, “I didn’t finish drinking.”
“It’s fine. Just keep going. Please.”
“This is broken. Also, your blood smells intoxicating. You should let me try sometime.”
Before I could respond, he was up and carrying me bridal style toward the street. I twisted to look behind us. “What about the dead guy? And my boot?”
“I don’t clean other people’s kills. Your foot is swollen, you’re not gonna be able to wear that boot anytime soon. And it’s full of blood. Do you really want it?”
“…yes. I loved that boot.”
“And I’m sure the boot loved you.” Dennis snickered. We reached his car, where Ari was slumped in the passenger seat.
“Are you sure she’s okay?” I gestured toward her as he placed me in back.
“She’ll be fine. If she doesn’t wake up soon, it’ll be time to worry.” He scooted me against the opposite door, then sat and pulled my broken foot up for inspection. “Are you wearing anything under that?” he asked offhandedly, glancing between my legs.
“Yes. Don’t be a pervert.” I pressed a hand over my skirt to cover the view I hadn’t realized was there.
“I was just wondering.” He smirked and tapped a zipper on my skirt. “Since you’re being modest today, you might wanna zip that up.”
I zipped both sides of the mostly undone skirt before shoving it down in the middle.
“Can you focus now?” I winced when he ran a hand along the bloody skin, pressing here and there before moving my ankle in different directions.
He was being gentle but even the tiniest touch was excruciating. “Are you done?” I asked breathlessly.
“Yeah,” he said. I grimaced as he licked the smeared blood from his fingers. “You taste sweet. I thought you would.” His eyes were a murky hazel, caught somewhere between their natural shade and black.
“That’s disgusting.” I shuddered. “Were you even checking anything, or did you just wanna taste my blood?”
“Yeah, I checked. You have a compound fracture.” He pointed to the source of blood and its protruding white. “You need to go to the hospital.” My stomach dropped at his words. I shook my head, fighting back a sudden urge to cry. “I’ll drive.”
“No! I don’t care if my entire foot falls off, I’m not going.
” My body was hot, head pounding and chest tightening at the mention of a hospital.
I could picture it: the spotless floors, the smell of death and sanitation, the steady beeps echoing down the hall until they became one flat line…
“I can’t go again, I can’t—” I was panicking, my chest heaving with each shallow breath.
I flinched when Dennis moved closer, then closed my eyes and leaned into the unexpected hug. It was oddly comforting.
“You really don’t want to?” he asked. I shook my head. “Fine. We’ll figure it out, I guess.”
“Okay,” my voice was barely a whisper. I took a deep breath, then another. The headache was already receding. “Sorry for freaking out.”
“What’s happening?” Ari’s groggy voice came from up front.
“You passed out.” I said. “Long enough for that vampire to break my ankle and almost bite me. Dennis came to save us and apparently they know each other? He almost strangled the guy ‘til I distracted them by almost dying of pain. Then the guy ran off and here we are. My bone’s sticking out.” I gestured to the gruesome thing when Ari twisted to see.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to help! I feel horrible.”
“It’s okay. But I have to say, I’m sick and tired of being a damsel in distress. I’ve never needed saving in my life, but after moving here it happens two days in a row. From vampires, of all things! What is happening?”
“Our system is going through a change,” Dennis said, pulling away. “We told you.”
“Well I hate it. I’m not used to being weak and it can fuck right off. I wanna be a vampire.”
Dennis seemed lost in thought. “If you turn, we’ll still be blood bound. I’m not undoing it. And you can never go back to being human.”
“I think you should.”
“Really?” I stared at Ari. I never thought she would agree.
“At this point, yeah. One of us should and it’s not gonna be me.”
“Can I?” I turned back to Dennis.
“As long as you’re sure.”
“I’m positive.” I beamed when he officially agreed. “Thanks for saving us. I’m starting to think you might actually care about me and not just annoying me.”
“That’s what binds are for.” He brushed my hair aside before getting out and walking off.
“He still creeps me out,” Ari said.
“You should trust him a little. That’s the second time he’s saved us.” I buckled my seatbelt as he returned from the alley. He tossed a bag beside me, along with my soiled boot, before rounding the car to get in front. I rifled through the bag and realized it was our snacks. “Where’s my ice cream?”
“It melted so I left it with the corpse. He might get thirsty.” Dennis’ spine chilling laugh caused Ari to shoot me an alarmed look.
“He’s kidding.”
“Not at all,” he said cheerfully. The engine roared to life and we pulled away from the curb.
“Where’re we going?” Ari nervously shifted beside him.
“Your place. If we’re changing Vixen, we should do it soon. She’ll need to stay with us for a couple days to make sure her thirst stays under control. I’m assuming you’ll insist on staying with us if she is, and you’ll both want some of your stuff?”
“Yes, please.” Ari paused before adding, “Thanks for everything.”
I didn’t pay attention to his response. I was losing focus as the pain in my foot came back.
It had subsided during my hospital freakout, or at least my mind had managed to block it out, but the adrenaline was gone and the pain was returning in a wave like no other.
I closed my eyes to fight the growing nausea.
“Emy, what do you want?”
“Huh?” I opened my eyes to a surge of dizziness.
“I’m going inside to get things. What do you want?”
“I don’t care.” I gritted my teeth as another bout of nausea hit.
“I’ll just grab some stuff.” Ari shut the door and walked away.
I took a minute to gather composure before asking, “So we’re really going to stay with you guys?”
“If you really wanna change.”
“Of course I do. Where do you live?”
“A few minutes away.” Dennis waved a hand in the general direction. “Mateo and Sean and I rent a condo. It’s fancy. Pool and all.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you guys serve each other blood in silver goblets on a gold platter?”
He laughed and twisted to look at me. “How’d you know?” He glanced at the house, where Ari was presumably packing. “You need some painkillers. Your ankle is killing me.”
“How is it killing you? I’m the one attached to it, if anyone complains it should be me.”
“I can feel it, like everything else you feel. I only agreed not to drag you to the hospital because it’ll heal when you change tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” My eyes widened. It was sooner than I’d expected. Although I didn’t really know what to expect.
“It’s what you want, right?”
“Yeah,” I quickly agreed. I didn’t want him to change his mind.
Ari emerged a moment later, lugging two large bags to the car. She put them in the trunk before getting back in. “I packed enough for a few days,” she said.
“Thanks. You got my hair stuff, right?”
“Yup. And multiple pairs of boots and your fifty bottles of medication.” She strapped her seatbelt as Dennis backed into the street. “Where are we going now?”
“I’m dropping you guys off. Can you tell Sean what happened?”
“Sure.” She reached for her phone but Dennis stopped her.
“Don’t be so human. Think about him and play it through in your mind. He’ll hear.”
“How’d he not hear me before?” she asked. “When it was happening. You felt Emy panicking. Why didn’t he?”
“He would’ve, if you thought of him in the moment. But you passed out immediately, so that would be why.” Dennis shrugged and motioned for her to tell him again.
She nodded and went silent for the one-way conversation with Sean. Dennis sped to almost twice the legal limit as my ankle seared with pain—it was almost unbearable. I blinked rapidly, barely holding back tears.
“You can get out now.” He unlocked the doors as we stopped outside a large complex. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Ari unhooked her seatbelt and I did the same, though I couldn’t get out as easily as her. I couldn’t get out at all, actually. I pouted and looked around, then jumped when my door opened and Sean came into view.
“Hey, Emy.” He smiled and I halfheartedly returned it.
“I got it,” Mateo said, taking both bags from Ari.
“Take her upstairs while I get some first aid stuff.” Dennis glanced back as Sean slid me from the seat. He nodded and scooped me up bridal style.
“I feel so helpless. I hate being carried like this.” I wiggled to get more comfortable, then let out a surprised squeak when Sean rearranged me without warning, making sure my bloody ankle was angled away from his clothes.
“Better?”
I could hear the smile in his voice as he lifted me higher. “Way better!” I draped my arms over his shoulders. I always preferred a piggyback ride over being carried bridal style. Except one thing…
“I told you not to wear that skirt,” Ari said as I tried to pull it down. “Your zippers are useless, by the way. They’re completely undone.” She laughed and gave one a tug before following Mateo upstairs.
“Try not to get her blood on anything.” Dennis reached back and tossed Sean the bag of snacks.
“I thought you weren’t grossed out by blood?” I asked.
“I’m not. That’s the problem.”
I cocked my head as he drove away. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Sean didn’t answer, just laughed at my confusion and started walking.