Chapter 22 – Lily #2
He grins. “Positive. Trust me on this one.”
I shift my focus, but I can’t get through. I push gently, but there’s definitely something blocking me. The sounds filter in, but they’re faded, clipped and crackling with static. Like a car radio trying to tune itself in a dead zone. Only picking up the occasional word.
Cunt
Dumb
Blood
I drop my head in defeat. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I think I need a break or something. There’s just too many voices in here, and none of them feel clear enough to follow. I’m only getting single words like puzzle pieces.”
Somewhere in my crown, a deep pain hits. The first headache I’ve had in days, and it’s a punishing thunderclap. I squeeze my eyes together and wince as the wave of agony crashes over me.
He reaches across the table and lays his hand on top of mine, dwarfing it. “Try for me, fiore? Please?” he says as he strokes my hand. “Just a little more for me, okay? You’re doing so well, my darling. Good girl. You can do it.”
A film of tears forming as I bite back the growing ache at the base of my skull. I nod and suck in a breath, squeezing my eyes together,
I can do this. I just need to focus.
The window calls out to me again, and I edge toward the swarm of voices clamoring for my attention. I push against the pane, and it widens a few more inches, loosening the barrier between the living and the dead.
Paloma warned me about taking it easy at first, protecting myself whilst I learn, so I need to be cautious. Slowly and steadily the volume turns up, and the crackle of static fades.
This time when I try to spy on the huddle of middle managers at the bar, I get a few more clear snippets of their thoughts. They all have such different voices, and when I block out all the other noise of the bar, I can pick them out of the crowd.
The chubby guy in a navy sweater vest thinks only of women. Endless parades of naked women. His lazy southern drawl dripping with predacious intent. His mind is filled with redheads, brunettes, and blondes. Gushing femoral arteries and blood-soaked tongues invading the most intimate places.
Gross.
I shudder and turn my attention to the little guy with an outdated crew cut. His thoughts are far more chaotic. They run into each other and suddenly change direction without warning. Spiraling and bouncing through my head. He’s a tweaker. Desperate for more meth-laced blood.
Nothing interesting there.
I’m bordering on boredom when I tap into the tall man in the beige pinstripe shirt and tortoiseshell glasses.
He looms over the others by a good six inches, a sick smirk fixed on his face.
His thoughts are like enmeshed serpentine hisses, quiet and sinister.
When I follow his threads, I get only images of violence.
I’ve had this happen before in tiny flashes.
I’ll get the occasional image pop into my head like a single frame of a film reel before it’s swiftly whipped away.
But with this guy, the images linger. Bloodied, terrified women, with bottomless eyes and pleading expressions.
Even a split second of it is too much, and I lurch forward and gag at the sight of a chained and panic-stricken girl begging for her life.
“I can’t do this anymore,” I say, surging up from the table and knocking a glass to the ground.
“Just a little—”
I grab my purse from the table, tears streaming down my face as I wipe them away with the back of my hand. “No,” I say, my voice cracking. “That’s enough. I told you I needed a break.”
The nausea sloshes up in me, sudden and sour, like the floor just tilted, rising from the pit of my stomach and sending a wave of saliva pooling in my mouth. I’m going to be sick.
Cassini reaches out to steady me, but I jerk away from his touch.
“Stop it!” I snap, already backing toward the exit. “I’m not a fucking sideshow attraction. I can’t do tricks on command. I’m a human being—human—and I need a minute.”
His face crumples with shame. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you. It’s not fair.”
But I’m already moving, the bile rising in my throat.
Cass calls out behind me, but I ignore him as I bolt for the bathroom, nearly bowling over a group of girls in my desperation to reach the door before I lose it completely.
I splash cold water on my face and grip the cool edge of the porcelain, waiting for my hands to stop shaking.
The fluorescent light above the mirror flickers erratically, casting sickly shadows across my pale reflection.
My hair is a mess, mascara smudged beneath red-rimmed eyes.
I look like I’ve been through hell—which isn’t far from the truth.
The images from that vampire’s mind still cling to me like smoke. Broken bodies. Terrified screams cut short. Women who looked just like me, reduced to nothing but prey in his twisted fantasies. I shudder and splash more water on my face, trying to wash away the psychic residue of his depravity.
I shouldn’t have reacted like that. I know I hurt Cassini’s feelings, but it was all too much.
Get it together, Lily. Cass is waiting.
I take a steadying breath and move towards the door. The bass from the music thumps through the walls, but in here it’s muffled, distant. Almost peaceful.
That’s when I see him.
The tall man from the bar is leaning against the sticker-covered wall, waiting. Up close, he’s even more unsettling—unnaturally pale skin stretched over sharp cheekbones, thin lips that disappear when he moves his mouth. When he sees me, his smile widens to reveal gleaming white fangs.
“Hello there,” he says with a sickening hiss.
I freeze, every instinct screaming at me to leave.
To run, but my legs feel like they’re made of cinder blocks, and my voice is trapped in my throat.
I’ve seen what this sadist is capable of, and I dare not give him the satisfaction of seeing my fear.
I square my shoulders and force myself to stand up straight.
“You’re in my way,” I say, but my voice wavers and cuts through my false bravado.
“Who left such a pretty girl unattended?” he muses, pushing off the wall and taking a step toward me.
“You should be more careful. There are all sorts of nasty things hiding in the shadows.” He inhales deeply through his nose, his eyes rolling back slightly in ecstasy.
“Oh, you smell exquisite. Like springtime and murder. Such a beautiful combination.”
The moment he gets close enough, the images slam into my mind with brutal force.
But these aren’t his memories—they’re visions of what he wants to do.
To me. My own face, bloodied and broken, stares back at me from behind my eyelids.
My throat torn open, eyes wide with terror.
My exsanguinated body discarded like trash in some dark alley.
“No,” I whisper, stumbling backward until my spine hits the wall.
“Oh, yes,” he purrs, reaching out to stroke my cheek with one pale finger. His touch is ice-cold and makes my skin crawl. “I think I’m going to take my time with you, blondie. Draw it out and make it last. Make it hurt.”
More snapshots flood in—his hands around my throat, the life draining from my eyes as he feeds. The sound of my own screaming echoing in my ears. I can’t tell what’s real and what’s his sadistic fantasy anymore.
“Please,” I gasp, but he’s already moving closer, backing me further into the corner.
His hand shoots out and wraps around my throat, fingers pressing into the delicate skin. Not enough to kill—not yet—but enough to make breathing difficult. Enough to show me exactly how powerless I am.
“You little cunt,” he whispers, his face inches from mine and his eyes burning red. “Do you know how delicious you are? Maybe I’ll keep you for a while. Bring you to Nocturne and share you with some friends.”
Black spots dance at the edges of my vision as his grip tightens. The bathroom tiles spin, and my legs give way as I slide down the wall. Somewhere in the distance, I can hear the muffled sounds of the bar—laughter, music, conversations—but it all feels like it’s happening in another reality.
He claws his long, sharp fingernails into me, piercing my skin and drawing blood that slowly snakes down my chest, hot and sticky.
A roar echoes through the hallway—inhuman, primal, and furiously racing toward us.
The vampire’s head snaps up, his grip on my throat loosening.
Through my fading vision, I see Cassini burst through the door, and for the first time, I’m truly afraid of him. His glowing eyes find me, but his face is twisted with a rage so violent it makes the air crackle with malice.
Then there’s nothing but darkness.