Chapter 30 The Laundromat #2
“Is it—?” I zero in on the color and how dark it is. My initial thought is blood, or wine mixed with blood, and that’s just a guess. Amusement dances in his eyes, and I know I’m right.
“It’s exactly what you think it is,” he says.
“How do they know?” I wonder, eyeing the bartender.
Gray raises his wrist with the black wristband and gives it a shake. “Nate fibbed. Black marks us as vampires.”
So I was right.
“Ya know,” I start, turning back to the bar where my drink sits untouched, “I can hardly believe this is all real. One minute, I’m waking up in my own bed back home, taking my top off for randos, and the next, I’m hanging out at a vamp bar, top intact.”
Gray chuckles, then lowers himself to eye level with me. “I can easily remove your top, if you’d like.”
I feel myself heat at the offer, knowing full well that if we were alone, I would let him sink his teeth in me.
But, I’m not feeling brave enough to break any of Tannis’s rules.
So far, I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary to hint at the fact that we’re commingled with the undead. Their rules are absolute.
“Hey!” Emma comes rushing toward us, her face flushed from drinking. She has Nate behind her, dragging him along, though he seems happy to go wherever she plans to take him. “There you are!”
She crashes into me. “A little tipsy?”
“Duh!” She throws her arms around my neck and kisses my cheek. “I mean, have you had the cocktails? To die for! Best club ever.”
I laugh along with her, then tap at her arms to pull away. “Where’s Jill?”
Emma points up. “Taking a break upstairs.”
“Oh! I’ll go check on her.”
“You do that. I’m going back for a dance!” She and Nate are gone before we even move. I hop off the stool and feel Gray pull in beside me.
“I’ll go with you.” I’m about to tell him to wait when he points at his wristband. “Escort, remember?”
The walk seems shorter than before, and by the time we’re outside the lounge, I can barely keep Gray’s hands off of me.
He’s being particularly handsy, and I’m trying to push him off when the door flies open and we’re both falling through it in a tangled mess of limbs.
He catches me just before I hit the ground.
“Get your fucking hands off of her, you leech.” Jill’s voice rings out impossibly louder than the music downstairs.
“What?” My mind can’t catch up with what I’m hearing. “Leech?”
“Don’t play dumb, Millie. He’s a vampire.” She turns from where she’s standing at the center of the room, a hard expression on her beautiful face. With a flick of her wrist, I feel Gray move off of me, falling to the ground at my feet with a crunch.
“Holy shit!” I scream and try to reach for him, but he slides across the ground into the couch by some unseen force. “Jill! What… what the fuck?”
Gray clambers to his knees, cradling one very broken arm to his chest. He’s clearly in pain, and from where I’m standing, he’s beyond angry.
Black seeps into his eyes, encasing red jewels in total darkness.
Black veins spider web around them, sinking so low onto his cheeks they almost look like tears.
“Tell me now,” she demands, her voice tight. “Has he compelled you? Are you enthralled by him? What’s he done to you, Millie?”
Another bone cracks as Gray tries to stand, and he sinks back to his knees. Both of his arms are seemingly broken.
“Jesus fuck, Jill! Stop it, stop it now!” I try to move, but I can’t leave the spot where I’m standing. “He hasn’t done anything to me! I’m fine, I’m fine!”
Jill’s eyes flicker between the both of us, but her stance is resolute. Whatever she’s convinced herself of, I won’t be able to talk her out of it.
“If you aren’t compelled, why did you bring us here? It’s a nesting ground for these things.”
“Wait, wait!” My heart is beating so fast, so hard, I’m afraid it might burst out of my chest. “How do you know? About vampires? And what the hell are you? How did you do that?”
“She’s a witch,” Gray chokes out, a mistake. Jill squeezes her hand into a fist, and he lurches forward with a sharp cough, spewing dark blood all over the floor. He falls forward, head hitting the floor with a thunk.
I’m pretty sure I scream again.
“A what?”
“A witch,” she repeats, her face paler than ever. “I’m a witch. So is Emma.”
Blood rushes in my ears. Vampires, witches, evil exes—they’ve all got my head spinning on a very thin stick.
I cover my eyes, pressing the heels of my hands into them to try and find some semblance of focus.
However hard I try, though, I can’t seem to get my thoughts straight.
It isn’t until I hear Gray groan, as if he’s dying, that I snap to.
“Jill, you have to stop.” His head is turned, facing me. I see the pain glittering in his red eyes. He isn’t healing, so whatever she’s doing to him, it’s doing real damage. “Please, stop. He hasn’t done anything to me.”
“If I do, he’ll kill you, then me.” She sounds so certain, so convinced, I’m not sure I can stop her from hurting him more than she has. I know vampires can die from a number of things, but without a stake or sunlight, I’m not sure what she can do to end him. I definitely don’t want to find out.
“He won’t, I promise.” I don’t even recognize the sound of my voice—soft and pleading… desperate. I am desperate.
Jill grapples with herself, but the answer is clear as day.
“I’m sorry, Millie.” Her eyes leave me, zeroing in on Gray.
Seconds pass before anything happens, yet to my horror, he goes up in flames.
A string of curses flows through my mind, words pouring out of me so fast I barely understand anything I’m saying.
It all sounds muffled, buried under the sound of rushing waves, as if I’ve been pushed underwater.
All I can see is Gray, flailing on the floor.
It’s only now, with her full attention on Gray, can I finally move. She doesn’t even notice I’ve started running.
Gray.
His name is the only thought that crosses my mind when I throw my fist at Jill’s face.
It isn’t what Tannis taught me exactly, but it does the trick.
Her head goes sideways, breaking her concentration.
The flames go out and Gray collapses. Jill stumbles, trying to right herself, but I leave her there and slide to the floor beside his fallen body.
His skin is raw and red, the most damage having taken up his legs and broken arms. Though the flames were short-lived, it was enough to cause some serious damage.
“Millie, what the fuck? Get away from him!” Jill shrieks.
I’m afraid she’s going to pull us apart again when the fire alarm in the lounge blares on.
The sprinklers go off almost immediately, bathing us all in cold water.
I cast a long, hard look at Jill, who appears to waver.
She hesitates, glancing around, until finally she swipes at her hair and makes a run for the door.
The alarm must have spooked her, no doubt wanting to avoid attention from more vampires.
“Millie…” Gray groans as I try to lift him. He’s so heavy.
“You’re still not healing.” I can’t stop the panic in my chest from reaching my voice. “Why aren’t you healing?”
He uses what little strength he has and lifts himself into my lap. I get him as close as eye level, already straining to keep him there.
“Blood…” he croaks, “need…blood.”
Cold water pouring down on us, alarm still blaring, I tilt my head to the side and press his face into my neck. Fuck the rules, I think just as Gray sinks his teeth into me and drinks.