CHAPTER 39
WREN
∞
I never thought I would ever hear her say she’s thankful that I’m King. She made it blatantly obvious on multiple occasion how irritated she was with my title. The more she opens up to me, the more I feel myself falling under her spell. I don’t think that was ever her intention. It’s not like she showed any interest in me from the start, but something changed. Something shifted within the dynamics we had between us, and I feel for this girl.
“How have you not even started on breakfast yet? I’m starving,”
Alex grumbles as he walks through the door with a carton of cream gripped in his hand.
I smirk at Chess and turn to grab it from him. “I got a bit distracted. It’s not like it'll take long to make.”
He rolls his eyes and heads off to the office to grab the laptops. I turn back to Chess and she’s smirking up at me. “What?”
“You’re such an asshole,”
she snorts, pushing away from the counter.
“You’ve made that perfectly obvious on multiple occasions, but what did I do now?”
“Don’t call me a distraction,”
she pouts, stepping closer to me. She drags her hand down my chest and looks up at me in the sexiest fucking way. She bites her lip and darts her eyes to my mouth.
“If it’s any consolation, you’re a good distraction at least.”
She props herself up on her toes and grips into my shirt as she presses her lips to mine. Her tongue slides into my mouth and the soft moan vibrating in her throat makes my cock twitch.
“Fucking hell.”
We pull away from each other at Alex’s exasperated voice. He’s shaking his head and glaring at me as he sets the computers down on the table. “Since when do you make out with anyone?”
He seems completely thrown off by the fact I was kissing Chess, and for good reason. He knows I don’t kiss anyone. There are too many emotional attachments with it in my opinion, and I completely threw away that mental rule with her.
“He kisses me plenty and he’s actually really fucking good at it,”
Chess says quietly. I stare at her until she finally looks up at me. I can’t help but look at her with surprise clear on my face. “What? It’s true. Kissing you is nice. It makes me feel wanted.”
My heart feels likes it’s going to explode out of my chest at the simple statement. I wish I had the fucking balls to admit that myself. I feel the same way about her. I feel like she’s making me feel wanted as well and needed in a completely different way from all the blood whores. They seek payment and pleasure in a different form. Their need is for the drug my venom provides them. They wish for my blood as well, but I deny them. Chess is the first human I’ve let taste me in a long time, but she didn’t do it for the high. It’s the last thing she wants…all she wants is to be seen.
“You’re both idiots. Getting involved with each other like this was probably the dumbest thing either of you have done,”
Alex says harshly.
“What is your problem?”
I snarl, turning my attention back to him. He’s starting to piss me off as he glares at me. Chess places her hand on my arm, holding me back as I subconsciously take a step towards him.
“You’re going to get hurt, Wren. You too, Frankie. You both know this will never work between you. Adrian owns her, Wren, and he’s not going to just let her go. The only way to release her would be to buy her yourself or turn her, and I know neither of those are viable options.”
“No one is turning me,”
Chess snaps. “I lost my brothers to your so-called program, Alex. I know I’m not compatible, just like they weren’t, and I never want to be a vampire. I rather fucking die.”
The hatred dripping from her words rips through my body. She’s trying with me, but she still hates vampires as a whole. The idea of becoming one shouldn’t illicit such animosity, but I understand her mentality. I didn’t want this life either. I hate the thought that if I can make this work with her, that I’ll lose her someday to old age.
“Can we please just drop this? I’m getting a headache and irritated, and it’s too early for this shit.”
I can hear the anger in my own voice.
“Fine,”
Alex grumbles, flopping down in his chair.
“I’m going to go grab my files,”
Chess mumbles. She doesn’t even look at me or Alex as she stomps off towards the door.
“Why are you trying to piss me off, Alex?”
I murmur once she closes the door.
“I’m not,”
he snaps out.
“Well, you’re doing a shitty job of that.”
I just think you’re falling into a situation where infatuation is overruling your rational brain.”
“It’s not an infatuation,”
I say bluntly.
“No? I don’t think you would be this interested in her if she didn’t hate you. It feels like you’re just trying to play a game here, Wren. She’s not some conquest for you to take advantage of.”
“You think I’m taking advantage of her?”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.”
“This isn’t healthy for either of you.”
“You don’t even know what either of us are feeling!”
I scream. “Why can’t you just be happy that I finally have something else to focus on instead of my own self-hatred?! I’m fucking miserable, Alex. I fucking hate my life, and for once in this wretched life, I feel like I can actually do something for someone else.”
His eyes widen in panic, and he shifts in his chair uncomfortably. “Wren, it’s not that I’m not happy, but it’s hard to be happy about something like this. From the outside, it just looks like you’re both forcing it.”
“We’re not. I like her and she seems to tolerate me more than I expected her to.”
“Fine. I won’t bring it up again, but don’t say I didn’t warn you when shit hits the fan.”
I’m just plating the food when Chess walks back in. She’s changed into some shorts and a tank top, and I’m thankful she’s not completely pissed off to still dress casually. She sets down the files we gave her as well as her notepad. She gives me a tight-lipped smile before settling into her chair.
Fuck, she’s upset.
I set the food on the table and sit into my chair. I reach towards her hand, and she pulls away. I see her looking at me from the corner of her eye quickly before turning her attention to her notes.
It hurts. The feeling of being rejected just now, fucking hurts. I feel like my lungs are being crushed. Did Alex’s comments push her far enough to no longer want me near her?
She pulls a couple of pieces of toast onto her plate and bites into it as she flips pages. I peek over at Alex and he’s watching her with a guarded expression. I wonder if he caught her pulling away from me as well.
“So, I’m not sure if either of you noticed this, since it wasn’t in the initial files as any type of lead, but I think I found some type of commonality between the victims. Well, more on the pureblood victims anyways.”
She looks up at me and I motion for her to continue. “They’re sort of all related. Not directly, but it just seems odd to me. This one, and this one,”
she says, pushing two files towards me. “These two have the same sire. Keegan Little. These three were sired by Nadine Cross.”
I pull the files towards me to try and figure out what she’s getting at, but I’m coming up empty.
“I did some digging last night and if I trace it back, there’s a pattern. Keegan and Nadine were also killed two months ago in Cameron. Their sire is Drake Campeau…who was killed six months ago in Juniper. I don’t know how the regular vamps come into play in this, and I haven’t dug as far into them yet because I was caught off guard by what I was finding with the purebloods.”
“Did you find out who Sired Drake?”
She nods her head and the wrinkle in her forehead deepens as confusion crosses her features. “Charlotte McCoy. I can’t find any information on her, and there’s nothing on whether she’s dead or not.”
My entire body feels like I just got dropped in ice water. Charlotte McCoy. I never thought I would hear that name being brought up in conversation. Alex’s head whips to look at me and I let out a harsh breath. “Are you sure about this?” I murmur.
“Pretty sure. I checked everything a few times, but these purebloods were all somehow tied to her line.”
I’m trying to keep my breathing under control. I feel like I’m drowning in my own thoughts, and I startle when I feel Chess’s fingers brush against mine. “What’s wrong?”
I swallow around the dryness in my throat and my voice shakes as I speak. “Charlotte was the one who turned me.”
Her eyes widen, and she curls her fingers into my palm. “Wren...”
I shake my head, trying to shake the hatred at hearing her name again from my head. She squeezes my hand tighter. “Do you think she’s doing this?”
“For what reason?”
I practically spit out. “She doesn’t give a shit about anyone or anything. This makes no fucking sense.”
“These purebloods all had their own established dens by the sounds of it. Do you think, whoever is doing this, is trying for some sort of powerplay?”
“It doesn’t explain the murders on the normal vampires!” I scream.
“It’s probably a cover,”
Alex mutters quietly. “They’re trying to cover their tracks to draw our attention away from what’s actually happening. It’s not a completely impossible theory, and it’s all we have to work with right now.”
“This is fucking bullshit.”
The anger I feel right now is blanketing me, and I can feel the familiar haze settle across my vision. I pull my hand away from Chess’s grip and shove my chair back. I can’t catch my breath. The last thing I wanted was to think that the stupid cunt was involved in this. I haven’t seen her or heard about her in over four hundred years. I lean my hands into the counter in the kitchen as I drag in harsh breaths.
I’m losing it. I’m losing the small control I reestablished overnight. “Get out,”
I hiss out through clenched teeth. “Both of you! Get the fuck out now!”
I hear their chairs scrape back at my anger and I’m thankful they both have at least that amount of common sense. I panic when I feel a hand grip my arm, and before I realize it, I’m whipping around to push them away.
My eyes widen in panic as Chess goes flying back, slamming into the ground hard. I catch Alex moving out of the corner of my eye and look over at him to see him glaring at me as he moves closer to Chess. I know what he sees right now. A savage fucking beast, losing the battle against the insanity as it tears through my mind.
Chess pulls herself up to her feet, cradling a hand against her rib cage.
Fuck, I hurt her.
“Chess---”
My mouth snaps closed as she slowly lifts her face to look at me. The anger oozing from her is mixed with the confusion on her face as she gets a good look at me. I can feel myself slipping further and further.
“Your eyes,”
she mumbles, pulling herself to her feet.
“Frankie, back away,”
Alex urges.
“Fuck that. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but if you want a fight…”
She shifts a dagger from behind her back and holds it out in front of her towards me. “I’ll give you a fucking fight.”