Chapter Five
Talia
One second I’m standing in the bathroom, and the next this giant man has me pressed against the wall as he bites down on my neck. The stinging pain fades, and an immediate euphoria sweeps over my entire body. He growls and snarls as he bites me, and I’ve never been more confused before.
I heard it the moment they broke in, and I heard them raping Ben. I wasn’t stupid enough to go watch, though. I stayed put and celebrated in silence when I heard the shot. I expected to get shot as soon as someone found me, but now I’m being chewed on by this burly man.
“He fucking marked her,” one of the men scoffs.
The man pinning me, Soren, slowly sets me on my feet. When he pulls back, my eyes widen when I see that he has notable fangs and his eyes are bright red.
“We need to go,” one of the men says. He steps closer, and Soren snaps his head toward him and snarls, and it’s unlike anything I’ve heard before.
“Hey. Chill. No one is going to touch her, but we need to go unless you plan to take Henry down in the next minute, because he and his men are in the elevator.
“Fuck. No, no, no,” I say. Soren goes to pull away, so I grab his arm. “Please, don’t leave me here. Please.”
“Come on,” he grunts, pushing me toward the door. I grab the robe on the way out of the bathroom and wrap myself up. They all walk to the balcony, and I stop.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask.
“Fucking humans,” Soren grumbles. He sweeps my feet out from under me, and we are suddenly leaping off the balcony. I scream as we plummet to the ground, but the landing isn’t what I expect. We go from falling to running, and I hardly notice the transition.
“If you call me a fucking spider monkey, I’m hitting you,” I mutter.
“Okay, Spider Bunny,” he chuckles to himself.
Fucking idiot…
I cling to him, but I’m fucking terrified at the same time.
I don’t know what the fuck I just got myself into, but I know for a fact I want nothing to do with Henry.
Not after finding out he was coming back, expecting Ben to be alive.
He was either on his way to get me or planning to kill Ben and take me.
Either way, I’m choosing between two types of evil, but I won’t survive Henry.
I get pushed into an SUV, but Soren pulls me into his lap. I don’t complain, but I’m so weirded out by him growling anytime one of the others looks at me for more than two seconds.
“Why the fuck did you mark her?” one of the men asks.
“I don’t fucking know,” Soren snaps back. “Goddamnit, Vaughn. Stop looking at her tits before I rip your fucking face off.”
I wrap the robe tighter and cover my chest, and I am so goddamn confused. I keep my head down, not wanting to piss anyone off. They jumped out of a goddamn window, and we are somehow not splattered on the fucking sidewalk. I am glued to this man, even though he bit me like some kind of…
We drive until my eyes are heavy, and I can hardly hold my head up. I try so damn hard, but I keep jerking my head back up.
“Jesus, woman. Just lay your head down before you turn into a bobble head,” Soren grunts.
I don’t say anything to him, though, because what if he is?
What does marking mean? Am I going to become a vampire?
After a while longer, my exhaustion turns into discomfort when I have to pee so badly that I can’t sit still.
Every time I shift, Soren grunts. When I do it again, he grabs my hips and holds me still. “Unless you want me to fuck you senseless, stop fucking moving around,” he growls.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“Is something wrong?” One of the other men from the front asks me.
“She’s fine, Diego,” Soren says hatefully.
“I have to pee,” I admit carefully. “But I can hold it. I’m fine. It’s okay.”
“Just pull over and let her piss,” Vaughn offers.
“So she can squat in the grass like a wild animal?” Diego asks. “There is a rest stop coming up in a few miles.”
“Thank you,” I say softly.
No one says a word, and Soren keeps a tight hold on my hips so I don’t move anymore. By the time the SUV stops, I am about to piss myself.
“Come on,” Soren huffs, getting us out of the SUV.
“I don’t think she needs help,” Diego says.
“Shut the fuck up,” Soren quips and slams the door. “Walk, woman.”
“My name is Talia,” I say as he drags me toward the bathrooms.
“Okay, Talia. Hurry the fuck up,” he corrects.
When we get to the women’s bathroom, he pushes me into a stall and pulls the door shut. He doesn’t say a word; he just stands in front of the door like some kind of fucking bodyguard… Or is he a prison guard?
When I get done peeing, I sit here for a second and close my eyes.
I am so fucking tired and confused. “If you fall asleep, I’m going to leave you here,” Soren threatens.
I actually am about to doze off, so I begrudgingly stand and flush.
When I open the door, Soren turns and frowns at me. “Hurry up.”
“Sorry,” I mutter. He steps to the side, and I go to the sink to wash my hands.
When I look up, he is standing behind me.
My eyes go from his face to my neck, and I gasp.
My hands instantly go to my neck to feel, but there’s nothing.
The bruises are gone. They were nearly black before, and my face felt swollen from being slapped so hard.
“Don’t be flattered. You weren’t part of the plan,” he says, grabbing my arm. “And stop fucking apologizing. You’re like a goddamn mockingbird.”
“Sorr… Kay…” I start to say but correct myself. When he gets back to the vehicle, he pulls me back to sit in his lap. This time, he forces my head against his shoulder. I start to sit up, and he does it again.
“Shut the fuck up and go to sleep, Talia, before I choke your little ass out and make you,” he snaps.
“I wasn’t even talking, asshole,” I mutter, but close my eyes.
It’s a mind fuck how fucking mean he is, but I’m not scared. I should be; I know that much. Maybe I’ve finally gone insane?