Chapter 6
LEAH
The vampire is entirely too much. Marcus. Too fucking much. He takes up all the air in my kitchen, sprawling at my dining table, looking at me with hooded eyes and an intensity that I can’t figure out. I don’t remember the last time I had a man in here.
Not a man.
But he smells like a man, and with those carved arms pulling the material of his shirt taut, he looks like a man. Just not any man I’ve met.
He looks to be about two seconds from biting me as I wrap my hand.
“Talk,” I bark. I’m unsettled and I don’t like how he looks at me. This truce will be harder than I thought. Impossible, perhaps.
He shifts on the chair, and his eyes dip to my hand, then away.
“Wrap your fucking hand,” he says tightly.
I bare my teeth and tie off the knot. “Control yourself and we won’t have a problem.”
His fangs peek out. “I don’t take orders from humans.”
“Not a human.” I toss the bandages down. I’m mortal and long-lived, but not human.
“Close enough,” he growls. “I bet you taste like a human. Worse.” He takes a short, sharp breath, nostrils flaring.
“I wouldn’t bite you if you were the last food source on planet Earth.
” His words rip at a soul-deep wound inside me, echoes of the teasing I put up with as a kid with no parents.
I should be glad he doesn’t want to bite me.
“I’m offended,” I say lightly.
I have no community of slayers. I had no one until my great-aunt took me in and I moved to Silver Falls. Even now, I am more of a guardian for this town than a member of it. Of course a vampire in my kitchen is intriguing. Anyone in my kitchen would be intriguing.
His lip curls, showing his fangs.
“Bite me, and I will stab you in the heart.” I pull the etched silver knife from my belt and set it on the table in warning.
“This truce will go swimmingly,” he drawls. “I should have known. Slayers aren’t known for their intelligent decision-making.”
The vampire is begging to be stabbed.
“You started it.” I shrug and focus on removing my teabag from my mug, but my back is tense and my gaze flicks up to his as he watches.
His pupils expand like he’s imagining biting me, and a muscle jumps low in my abdomen. I scowl. I don’t actually want it, but I have wondered.
I assume every slayer has wondered, though I personally blame Karina for planting those images in my head, for obsessing over the porn she found where the vampires do more biting than fucking. None of their partners ever seem to mind, and I found myself on edge after peeking at the link.
I take deep inhales through my nose, willing myself to keep my heartbeat slow. I might taste like dirty dishwater to him, but I also would prefer not to seem like prey.
“You’re like a twitchy little rabbit,” he says idly.
“And you’re not what I expected.”
His uncanny eyes are assessing. “Been up close with many vampires, have you?”
Starting at age eight, I want to say, but the words dry up in my throat and my gaze jerks away from him. The emotions I’ve been avoiding roll over me with the force of a crashing wave. The rawness of my soul is too exposed under his silver gaze.
I focus on bandaging my hand, wrapping the wound tightly and tying it off. I tuck in the edges across my palm, fighting the rising choking sensation in my throat. Every breath feels like nails are puncturing my lungs. My organs feel like they are too small, and I can’t fucking get this bandage—
My scissors clatter to the table. I jolt, then squeeze my eyes shut. Get over it, Leah. Keep going. I’ve made a life of that motto. I take deep inhales and exhales that make tears gather at the edges of my lashes from how my cracked ribs expand.
I blink away the pain before I push the bandages toward Marcus. He’s bleeding from the wound in his chest, a slow, sluggish stream, and he’s shifting like he aches.
It’s more peace offering than necessity.
He makes no move to take a bandage, instead watching me as I swipe at a cut on my arm.
My shoulders stiffen. I have had it. I am exhausted.
I hurt everywhere. I want to lick my wounds and process the last four hours of my life.
I want to curl up in a hot bath and then bed, not force my sleep-deprived brain into a bargain with him.
“Take a bandage.”
“I’ll heal.” He seems unconcerned by his injuries, instead watching me with the predatory intent of a hawk.
I roll my shoulders. “You make me nervous, vampire. I don’t trust you.”
“Regrettably, we will have to trust each other.” He makes the word sound like poison.
I scowl. “Let’s start with the basics. Why do you want to kill your brother?” I force my shoulders to lower. Being in his presence is deeply unsettling. I’ve invited a monster into my home, and oh look, he’s staying for tea. Right before he rips out my throat.
“He needs to die.”
He sounds heartlessly determined to murder a family member. I can’t imagine what that would be like. I’ve cherished the family members I’ve had.
“Gonna need more than that, vampire.”
He runs his tongue over one fang. “My brother is…broken.” His gaze goes over my shoulder.
“He lost his fated mate before he could complete the bond, and since then, he’s been on a killing spree the likes of which the vampire world has never known.
He is likely the vampire your parents were tracking.
I am honor-bound to dispatch him. He needs to die after the pain he’s caused.
” The final words are growled. Marcus’s eerie eyes flicker silver-gray to black and back again.
I shiver. Killing spree. The words remind me of the blood-drenched days of my childhood. “I want the kill.”
Marcus raises a single brow. “No.”
I press my palms to the table and lean forward. I’m nearly trembling. “You owe me the kill. I want it.”
“I owe you nothing,” he growls. “You risked my life with an unknown spell. You stabbed me. You are a distraction.” His fangs flash.
My fingers tense, ready to grab my blade. I am eager to make something of the emotion roiling inside me. “They were my family. They died in front of me.” I snap my mouth shut before more of my messy feelings can escape.
His gaze tracks over my face, down to where the bones stand out against my skin. I hate him so much it steals my breath. He is so much stronger, so much more experienced. And now he has the one thing I want more than anything—the key to avenging my parents.
“You cannot kill him alone.” He holds up a hand. “He is mad, you reckless slayer. He drains humans to the point of death. He is stronger than I am. He can daywalk. You risk your life.”
I shrug. My life isn’t that exciting.
His pupils expand by a fraction. “We will kill him together.”
It’s possible the vampire is more stubborn than I am. “Fine.”
“And then you remove this hellish spell.” He rolls his shoulders and shakes his head, like a dog shaking off cold water. “I want you out of my head.”
“Charming. I don’t particularly want you in mine either.”
He glowers at me. “We will track him down as soon as possible.”
I shake my head. “I’m stronger here. The house has spells I can activate to contain him when he attacks. It can withstand a siege between the wards and the defenses.” I don’t care to reveal the full extent of my weakness to Marcus, but I suspect he realizes since he nearly snapped my neck.
He nods tightly. “He has been hunting me, as I hunt him. The bond will draw him to us soon.”
“What bond?” I narrow my eyes, certain he is tricking me. Karina found this old spell in a book in her aunt’s library. The warnings were dire, and I’m not entirely sure where it came from. I’m even less sure of how to remove it. But it didn’t say anything about a bond.
The skin around his eyes tightens. “The spell, I mean. He will sense it, like he senses me. He will come to investigate. He will think it’s a mate bond.”
My lips part. “No.” I can barely keep the horror from my voice. “Then he would think I’m—”
“My greatest weakness,” Marcus confirms. He shifts forward. “You’d know all about that, slayer, wouldn’t you?”
“I’ve never killed a vampire’s mate just to get to them.
I’m not cruel.” I shift on the chair, feeling all too exposed under his gaze, confronted with the kills I’ve made.
“I do my research,” I add firmly. “I only kill evil creatures. Vampires that kill humans or other supernaturals unnecessarily. I make it quick.”
Marcus watches me with eerie stillness before he nods. “Then you know that a breakable mate paints a target on her back.” His tone makes me shiver. His gaze skates over my face before it shutters. “Bonded, we cannot feed from anyone else. My brother will assume that killing you means my death.”
I suppress a shudder. This is worse than I anticipated. “Does it feel like a mate bond to you?”
His lip curls, showing a hint of fang. He never seems to put them away, which is odd, since vampires only fang out when feeding, fighting, or fucking. “Yes.” His attention dips to my body. “It feels very much like a mate bond.” His voice is husky now. With irritation, I suspect.
“Don’t fucking bite me.” I have no desire to be savaged or turned.
“Don’t look so horrified. Humans have wanted it before, slayer. Many find me attractive.”
“Can’t imagine why.” I force myself to take a sip of tea.
He is devilishly attractive, from his heartbreaking eyes and his pouty mouth to the breadth of his chest and the sinew of his arms. Be honest, Leah, he’s the most attractive male specimen you’ve ever seen.
His lip curls. “You have nothing to worry about with me.” His words are cool and certain, and they make something violent rise in my chest.
I shove it away. “Fine. We lay in wait. We kill him. What do we do until then?”
He slices me a look. “I will fortify the house. You will do whatever you do in your free time.” His eyes narrow. “Though you should consider bathing. I can smell you from here.”
I make a small, strangled sound. “I don’t trust you.”
His smile is a baring of teeth. “How convenient that we finally agree on something.”
My teeth grind together before I unclench my jaw. “I don’t want you stealing my kill. Or escaping while I sleep and leaving me to fight your brother alone.”
The myths about vampires being comatose while the sun is up are not true.
The very old vampires can withstand a cloudy day with enough layers of clothing, and they might be sluggish during daytime, but they are far from powerless.
Keeping him close is a risk, but I don’t think he’ll kill me.
Not when he needs me to remove the spell.
His eyes narrow. “What do you suggest?”
He’s going to hate this. I probably will too. But I can guarantee he’ll hate it more.