Chapter 20 Sam
Sam
Well, shit. I’d stared at the four walls of this room for what felt like actual hours.
And the guard posted here with me too. I knew every pore on his face, how many breaths he took per minute, even though he didn’t need to, and exactly what he sounded like when he sighed in frustration when I asked him for the time.
He’d made that noise countless times now, and I was pretty sure it was ingrained on my eardrums.
I’d looked at the guard outside the room, too. He hadn’t endeared himself to me any more than this stern guy.
But damn, if I didn’t wish I’d had a hobby of some sort. At least then I’d be able to distract myself or something with… Hell, origami? Crochet? Cake decorating? I snorted. Like that would work, anyway.
I was way too antsy to even watch the TV anymore, even though it was droning away on the wall.
And reading wasn’t an option unless I wanted to read the same paragraph over six or seven times.
But maybe I wasn’t onto a complete loser with the cake thing.
I could totally head to the kitchen and bake something, if Sebastian kept it stocked.
And not that I wanted to eat the cake. Just keep myself busy making it.
I could gift it to some nearby humans, or something. Make nice in the neighborhood.
It didn’t really make sense, but that was okay. Keeping busy was my real objective. Anything to keep my head free from the fears of Kyle dying or getting killed in a vampire battle. Or my whole life falling apart or imploding or whatever eternal lives did.
I shook my hands, trying to get rid of the low-level of adrenaline that seemed to be flowing through me. It had kicked up an hour or so ago, and I couldn’t seem to get it to drop back off. I needed to do something. Anything at all, so baking it was.
As I moved toward the kitchen, the guards fell into step behind me. “You guys like cake?” I asked over my shoulder.
The stern one curled his lip a little, but neither replied. They were both obviously the strong silent type. Or some shit like that, anyway.
But thinking of them only took my mind back to Kyle. He was truly strong and silent and gorgeous with it. And he was mine.
And he was the whole reason I was baking a cake. Because I needed to keep my thoughts busy, so I didn’t think of him.
I scoured the small bookshelf in the kitchen.
A lot of it was Kayla’s spell books, but there was one recipe book, presumably something left over from her previous life.
I pulled it over to me and flipped it open, looking at pictures of fabulous food porn that no longer made my mouth water. That part was a little sad.
I selected a cake, an easy one, and started opening cupboards, hoping to find the ingredients I needed. But did it actually matter? If I substituted all the sugar for salt, not one person would care. I wasn’t making this cake to eat it.
I squinted at the package of flour, automatically looking for the best before date, although it didn’t matter if it was full of weevils and mites. This was all I had, and I was using it.
“Well, pet…”
I stiffened at the familiar dulcet tone, my blood suddenly shards of ice that scraped the insides of my veins. How the hell hadn’t I heard her come in?
“You’re baking now?” Esmé sounded amused, flirty almost.
I didn’t turn around. I couldn’t. Fear froze me exactly as I was, flour in one hand, the other resting on the open page of the book.
Had I heard something? I racked my brains, trying to remember.
Had there been a footstep I’d thought was a security guard?
Dammit. I’d felt too safe here. Untouchable.
But still. How the hell was she here? There was a battle going on, and she should have been with Brock. Maybe even fighting the fucking thing for him, based on what I’d seen in the past. He rarely did his own dirty work.
“What have you done, Sammy?” She lifted a lock of my hair as she spoke, and a shiver flickered across my skin. Then she inhaled, close to me, and noisily. “What have you done to my blood supply?”
I sucked in a breath, my mind racing with too many thoughts. Of course Esmé was here. And it didn’t matter how she’d gotten in or past the guards. She’d do anything at all that she needed to do so she could get to me.
I was her end game.
She’d always come after me, extract her revenge for the empty life I’d left her with, and I understood some of that now. I had a mate of my own, and I was petrified to lose him, petrified that I might be without him.
I’d condemned Esmé to this life. One of loss and grief.
For a moment, pity for her welled inside me.
Then she spoke again. “Nothing to say?”
I wasn’t her food source anymore. My blood couldn’t sustain her. But there was no telling what else she might do to me.
I still didn’t turn around, but I made my voice as hard as possible. “You need to leave, Esmé.” It came out brittle instead.
“Aww… Do I?” She sounded like a lost little girl, but her grip on my hair tightened.
I spun around, surprising her, and she let go. “Yes, you do. I don’t ever want to see you again. You don’t belong here, and I am not your pet.” Holy crap, saying these words felt good, and I couldn’t stop them coming out. “I’m Kyle’s mate, and I’m not a human any longer. I’m no use to you now.”
She laughed. “You think I didn’t know that as soon as I stepped into this fucking rat’s nest of a house?”
I stared at her, unable to put my disbelief into words. She was seriously calling this place a rat’s nest after the conditions she’d made me live in?
“Oh, I can’t leave, Sam.” She reached out and touched my hair again. “You’re mine. Mine until one of us dies, anyway.” She smiled, but it only twisted her lips. “I don’t care if you’re a vampire now or not, or you fancy yourself mated and in love. You’re mine. You’ll always be mine.”
Her words lit a spark inside me and my fury erupted. My gums burst with pain as my fangs shoved through them. Vivid red colored my vision, and my nails sharpened to claws. All of this had happened when the guys had surprised us at Kyle’s apartment before, but not quite like this.
I hadn’t a fucking clue what to do with this new power or how to fight or use my body. My brain didn’t seem to have evolved to contain the knowledge, but no way was I going back with Esmé. Or anywhere with her.
I glanced around, searching for the guards, and she shook her head.
“There’s no one left to help you. I took care of them.”
And I had no doubt she had. She’d always been a good fighter, and…
Quicker than I could complete my thought, Esmé was on me.
She was fast and moved almost faster than I could see her.
She grabbed my neck and lifted me, proving her dominance, as her fingers flexed and tightened around my throat, pressing uncomfortably against the muscles as she squeezed.
I strained to suck in a breath in a reflex I couldn’t control.
I clawed at her hands but my attempts to free myself were useless.
She was strong, even when I shredded her skin and blood pretty much flowed from her wrists to drip on Sebastian’s pristine tile floor, she didn’t flinch or relax.
I kicked out with my feet, trying to connect with Esmé, trying to find a foothold against something so I could do more than hang. Nothing, just dead air, and I tried again, desperation giving me more energy.
My toe caught the end of Sebastian’s kitchen island, and I tried again, stretching farther than I thought possible, pushing us both back against the fridge.
Esmé stumbled at the sudden movement and released me. I crashed against the counter and grabbed at the first thing I saw — the knife block. I yanked out the biggest, meanest-looking knife I’d seen and stabbed Esmé with it, plunging it between her ribs under her shoulder.
But it scraped against bone and my forward momentum ground to a stop. I backed away. The wound wasn’t enough to stop a vampire. I hadn’t hit her heart, so I wouldn’t even render her incapable of movement for any time.
I grabbed another knife from the block, this one not as big but easier to handle and direct, and I stood looking at Esmé, waiting.
She gripped the handle of the knife that I’d left in her, and she extracted the blade slowly, smiling at me the whole time like she couldn’t believe I’d been so stupid, like I’d just signed my own death warrant all over again.
Maybe I fucking had. Esmé’s wound was already healing, her flesh and skin knitting back into place like it had never been torn apart.
She looked down at the knife and laughed, a little high-pitched, a little off balance. “Wasn’t good enough, Sammy. You’re not good enough. You’ll never be able to kill me. You haven’t got the balls and you’re not good enough. Had any training yet? Or has your mate neglected you?”
“It doesn’t matter, Esmé. I know why you came here, and I’d rather die than go anywhere with you.
” Then my self-control snapped, and my next words were almost a scream as years of frustration and hurt came rushing out.
“This has all been a nightmare. Losing Sean, saving you. I never should have saved you. I wish I’d let you die that night.
Saving you was the biggest mistake of my life.
” The windows rattled at the volume of my voice, and Esmé stilled in the way only a vampire could.
She was a predator now. Stealthy and deadly. And she was locked in on killing me.
I might have blinked. Maybe. Because suddenly she’d rushed toward me and I held out my little knife to hold her off, slicing across her arm. Bright red blood welled up, but the shallow cut healed quickly, leaving only the wet blood as evidence that it had ever been there at all.
We circled each other, although she had the obvious upper hand. She had the power and the strength. It was a game, and she was enjoying this. We were circling because she was allowing me a chance to fight back.
She launched herself toward me and grabbed my knife before throwing it carelessly to the side. There was a clinking noise as it hit the tile floor and bounced.
Anxiety was a sharp prickle along my nerves, and adrenaline focused my vision and movements. Everything I did was desperate. I wouldn’t let Esmé take me from Kyle or end this life I’d only just found.
I kicked out and I hit. I would have head-butted her if she’d been close enough, but everything I did only served to make me more tired as she darted closer and away, making herself a target then retreating out of even touching distance.
My strength was waning fast, and Esmé knew it. I swung for her one last time, but she was ready, and she took hold of my arm, whipping me around as she yanked me against her.
She pressed her mouth against my neck, and I screamed as the familiar slice of her fangs tore at my skin. I went limp, muscle memory taking over as my body remembered what to do under Esmé’s attack.
I didn’t even scream again.
My vision started to dim. I’d always thought Esmé would kill me, but not like this. Not now that I was a vampire.
But suddenly her weight lifted. She was there one moment, gone the next, and I clutched my throat, blood gushing between my fingers from the hole she’d gnawed there.
Kyle roared, the sound ferocious. But it was also a sound that was familiar and comforting, and I relaxed as he did it again. He was here now, and I’d be safe. I slumped to the floor, too weak to stand.
He attacked Esmé, shaking her by her shoulders until her teeth rattled and the bones in her neck snapped and popped like someone was letting off firecrackers.
Then he reached out and her head was on the floor and rolling away with a quick flick of his wrist. I watched her face as it appeared then disappeared with each rotation, her pale blue eyes wide in death, her impossibly blonde hair now ombre with blood.
I panted, heaving in giant, ridiculous breaths like my life depended on the oxygen, and a small pool of blood congealed around me.
Kyle rushed toward me before kneeling at my side and gathering me in his arms, cradling me against him.
He tore at the inside of his wrist until it bled and held it against my mouth. “Drink, Sam,” he murmured. “Everything will be all right now. She’s gone.” He reached out his leg and nudged Esmé’s head farther away with his boot. “Brock’s under control. Nic has him.”
The hole in my neck started to heal. It prickled as it repaired itself, and I touched it, running my fingers over the sensitive skin.
“It’s okay,” Kyle said again, and I leaned my weight against him as I leeched security from him and breathed in his familiar spicy scent.
It warmed me, and for the first time in a very long time, the safety and security surrounding me didn’t feel temporary. Esmé was gone. Dead. Truly dead. She couldn’t get to me anymore.
She was at peace.
I glanced at Kyle, taking in the line of his jaw. Finally, I was at peace too. I couldn’t think of anywhere else I wanted to be. In his arms was perfect. The ultimate place. Where I belonged.
And now everything would be truly okay — whatever the future brought us.