7. Chapter 7
Thecrackacrossmy face stuns me. I had a feeling this one might be feisty, but I wasn”t expecting her anger to come forward so soon. When she shoves me back, I let her. She needs to feel like she”s in control. Having had so much ripped away from her already, it”s the least I can do for her.
The snarl coming from Bane has my eyes cutting to his. The red ring around his pupils is slowly taking over. If he loses it right now, he could easily rip me apart. Bane wraps an arm around Demetria, pulling her against his body. She”s shivering in his arms, but I”m not sure if it”s from fear or anger.
”I apologize, Demetria. I needed you to calm down, and it worked, didn”t it?” She continues to glare at me. ”I meant nothing by it.”
”I don”t want you touching me. I don”t trust you. You”re a vampire. And it’s Demi!” She snaps, scowling at me as she repeats the shortened version of her name, but I much prefer Demetria. I’m old fashioned, and Demetria is such a pretty name, a reminder of bygone days.
”You seem to be fine letting him hold you though.” I nod my head toward Bane.
”He feels safe.” A pleased rumble comes from Bane”s chest at her words.
”I wouldn”t be so sure.” Diego snarks from behind me, letting out a low chuckle.
I take a step back; I don”t want her to fear me, or any of us. There is a chance the wolves that attacked her and her friend last night will be back. They really do enjoy the hunt, and now they know the scent of her blood, they”ll come for her. Even when she leaves, I”ll be making sure one of us is monitoring her at all times.
I”m not sure why I”m thinking of doing this for her. I wouldn”t do it for anyone else. Humans are our food, and my mother always told me not to play with my food. Though by the way my cock is twitching, it clearly hasn”t gotten the memo. There’s only been one other human I have cared about since I was turned. I”ve had sex with multiple humans and vampires alike, but that was to scratch an itch and nothing else. But there”s something odd about this one, the scent of her blood calls to me.
Casting a glance at Bane, I see he still hasn”t loosened his grip on her. She seems calm enough, leaning back against him. The whole situation seems bizarre.
”I know you”ve been through a lot, Demetria. But you are still covered in blood. Can I suggest a shower? Then after that, maybe we can talk.”
At that comment, she looks down at herself, only just realizing she”s covered in blood. It”s everywhere. The wounds inflicted on her bled for a while before Diego found her. She nods weakly, looking utterly defeated.
”Bane, could you please escort our guest to the bedroom at the end of the hall on the left? I”ll grab you some towels and something to change into.”
Bane slides around to her front. She looks up at him and steps back a little. He guides her down the hall. She doesn”t let him get ahead of her but instead quickens her steps and places her hand on his arm. For someone who doesn”t seem to like vampires, she sure has taken a liking to Bane.
”We really need to find out what happened, Jax.” Diego throws my way. ”I need to know who to kill for her.”
”You”re going to kill someone for a human, Diego? I understand wanting to end them for being on our territory, but to kill them because they touched her? It”s very unlike you.”
”Shut the hell up, Jax. Just because you have no feelings doesn”t mean I don”t. That poor girl has been through hell. Whoever it was raped her friend, more than one person from the scents on her body, then murdered her. I”m surprised she isn”t catatonic.”
A growl rumbles through his chest as he speaks, before he moves to the fridge and pulls out a sachet of blood. He rips his fangs into the bag and gulps it down cold. Even though we all let her drink from us, Diego insisted on giving her the most when she was conscious enough, to help heal her wounds. Not that she seems to remember those moments. The lack of blood must be getting to him, maybe that”s why he”s acting so strange.
”What”s going on with Bane? He”s usually all grrr.” Diego lifts his hands up, hooking his fingers into claws, doing an impression of a bear. ”And other than the fact he wanted to rip your head off, he”s being... gentle? With her at least.”
Diego”sbehavior is odd, but Bane’s is even more so and I”m glad I”m not the only one who has noticed it. He”s the muscle around here, not the careful, gentle type. Usually, he’s more of a bash skulls in first, ask questions later, except you can’t ‘cause they”re already dead type.
I shrug. The only way we”ll find out what is happening with Bane is if he decides he wants us to know. Chances are we won”t get much out of him. For now, I need to know everything Demetria knows. If she knows the wolves that attacked her, or if she can at least describe them to us.
We will be able to smell them again if they are close, but unlike wolves, we can”t track by scent alone. By the time we know they”re here, it might already be too late. Leaving Diego to drink his blood, I make my way back to my bedroom. It”s the room she woke up in and her scent still lingers in the air.
Moving into the bathroom, I grab two of the plushest towels I can find before heading back into my room. Opening the drawers, I grab some boxers, sweatpants, and a t-shirt. They”ll probably drown her, but it”s better than nothing.
Heading to the end of the hall, Bane is standing outside the door. His thick arms are tight across his chest. He”s protecting her like he protects the club. As I get closer, he looks me up and down before stepping to the side. I knock on the door gently, but I can already hear the shower running.
Opening the door, I walk inside. The bloody dress she was wearing is thrown haphazardly on the floor outside the door to the en-suite. Leaving the clothing on the bed, I move to the bathroom door. My hand poised to knock, I pause a few inches away from it.
I pick up on muffled sobs beneath the sound of running water. I”m surprised it took this long for her to break down, but I don”t want to interrupt her. She needs to get it out, all the pain and the anger that is brewing just below the surface of her skin.
I place the towels on the set of drawers to the side of the en-suite. They should be easy for her to reach without having to leave the bathroom. Turning to step away, I pause briefly. A strange part of me wants to go in there and comfort her, but I don”t think she will appreciate my intrusion. She needs to feel safe. By entering the bathroom, I”d be taking that safety away.
I start walking again, grabbing her discarded and ruined clothing from the floor on the way past. The best thing to do is to dispose of what she was wearing. I”m sure she won”t want to see it again. Leaving the bedroom, I close the door quietly behind me. I look up at Bane as he takes his position back in front of it.
”What”s going on with you, Bane?”
”She needs protecting. I”ll keep her safe.”
”You know she”s safe here. No one will harm her whilst she”s within these walls.” He nods, and I guess that”s the end of the conversation.
Heading back into the kitchen, Diego is nowhere to be found. Throwing her bloody clothing in the trash, I think back to my dance with Demetria. I couldn”t resist approaching her. Something drew me towards her. I”ve not felt a connection like that with anyone since I died, apart from Bane and Diego.
When I was first turned, I stayed with the nest my sire had built, but after two centuries together, they became dull. Throwing lavish parties night after night and tormenting humans as they drained their blood became repetitive. I grew bored.
This was long before the supernaturals took over. There was no Council back then to stop them. When I contemplated leaving, my sire gifted me with a human lover, but I didn”t feel the connection I feel to Demetria. My lover had asked me to turn her. I didn’t want to be alone, so I approached my sire to ask for his permission.
We planned to leave together and start our own nest. I may not have loved her, but she was my companion and certainly kept my bed warm. But asking was where I went wrong. I shouldn”t have asked and just done it instead.
When I returned to my room that night, I found her dead on my bed. Her naked body was covered in bite marks and her blood had been drained. He”d given her to me, expecting her to keep me with him, but as soon as he found out we planned to leave, he murdered her. I stayed for a little while after, but really I was plotting his demise.
I joined him for an orgy one evening with his blood slaves, and as one girl rode him, I slit his throat. I smiled as his blood soaked into the bedsheets. In the chaos caused by his death, I slipped out of the mansion and never looked back. I ended up leaving Louisiana and heading for California instead.
I was alone for a long time before they appeared in my life. After being turned in the early sixties, Diego moved up from Mexico to California. His sire had abandoned him, and at this point, the vampires already ruled here. He figured his best plan was to leave and go to where his own kind lived. Bane had appeared sometime in the eighties.
Since then we”ve stuck together. It wasn”t until the early nineties we felt compelled to move North. Now here we are, in Portland, Oregon. After drifting for a while, we opened Dark Desires, a place where humans could feel safe, and where vampires could mingle with them without being brought up before the Council for drinking from the vein. We may not be the first here, but we plan to be the best.
We”ve put a lot of time and effort into getting this place started. Making rules we expect all patrons to follow, whether human or vampire. If they don”t, the police arrest the humans and the vampires... well, we take care of them ourselves. Usually with a visit to the basement where Bane relieves them of their fangs.