Once Bitten Read online

“What?” I mumbled; I glanced around anxiously for whatever was out of place. My poor attempt at casual had bombed, but I forced myself to maintain eye contact. “I was never going to take the job.”

  “Don’t even try it. If we weren’t facing a shit load of trouble right now, I wouldn’t hesitate to take a bite out of you. But, that will have to wait.”

  I was constantly finding myself thankful for the noisy din of the bar. Music, laughter and conversation created the perfect lull of background noise.

  Before I could ask what he meant by trouble, my sense of unease grew as an angry energy swirled all around us. I felt vampiric energy approach me from behind and whirled to find Catherine descending the steps. She glowered at us with more hate than I’d had directed at me in a while.

  “Alexa!” She was all too happy to see me. “I thought I sensed your presence. Good. Now I can kill the both of you, which only seems fitting considering the circumstances.”

  “Cat, please. We can discuss this rationally.” I kicked myself for the remaining humanity that enabled me to feel compassion for a vampire that I seriously suspected of mental illness. “It’s not what you think.”

  Her dark eyes narrowed on me, and I felt my chest tighten under the pressure of her fury. How I became “the other woman” was beyond me. I studied Catherine’s absolutely evil stare and felt ashamed; I’d worn a similar expression no more than an hour previous.

  A shiver tore down my spine.

  “Don’t try reasoning with her,” Arys said as he grabbed my hand. He yanked me behind him, away from the crazed vampiress.

  His touch caused a visible spark of sudden power between us. It looked like an extreme static zap but much brighter and stronger.

  “Whoa,” I gasped, jerking my hand out of his grasp. Was he absolutely insane? This wasn’t getting any better.

  I couldn’t tell if Catherine had even seen the spark. She was now staring so hard at Arys that I was glad to be the other woman rather than him.

  “Cat, honey,” Arys purred, and I couldn’t help but look at him in surprise. “Let’s not be irrational, my dear. We are in public.”

  Her glare grew in its intensity, and it took all I had to keep my eyes on her. Only a woman truly in love could exude so much pure venom. Either that or she was insanely obsessed.

  I wanted to just let fly with a good smack up side Arys’ head, but that wasn’t going to discourage Catherine. Though, it might have changed me from foe to friend in her eyes.

  “Don’t waste your pathetic charm on me. I’ve come a long way since I was your play thing.” A slow grin played about her ruby red lips.

  “We’re going outside, Catherine. Whatever you want to do, you can do there. I won’t let you endanger innocent people in here.” Arys’ voice was low and firm, but she heard him as well as I did.

  If looks could kill, he would have fallen into ash at my feet. She glared daggers that even made me want to squirm.

  “How dare you speak to me as if you place such value on life? You’re the devil who taught me to take it, ruthless and without mercy.”

  “That was a long time ago.” Arys’ voice was soft, persuasive. He was full of shit, and all three of us knew it, yet the pull to believe him was strong. The bastard was good.

  “Things have changed since those days. It’s time to move on.”

  That was clearly the wrong line. Catherine’s eyes seemed to sparkle suddenly, and she was alive with power, but not her natural vampire power. No, this was foreign magic, borrowed rather than owned. Where was she getting it?

  “This has been a long time coming, my dear Sindarys.” I saw him visibly flinch at her use of the name. “I cannot wait to watch you turn to dust.”

  Every part of me braced for the vampiress’ blow, knowing it was coming. We had to get outside. I began inching away from the bottom of the staircase, toward the rear exit.

  Instinctively, I wanted to lock eyes with Shaz across the bar but didn’t dare. Like any supernatural, Catherine would be aware of every Were in the building. She had no beef with him, and I had no good reason to involve him.

  “You don’t think you’re going to get away, do you?” Catherine turned on me. “You, who let me confess my heartbreak to you about the very man you, yourself, are bedding,” she declared dramatically before holding a dainty hand to her mouth.

  Passers by glanced briefly at the love triangle gone wrong. As a regular patron of the club, I was embarrassed to be involved in the dramatics. Of course, if I could escape the obsessive, manic vampiress unscathed, I could handle the judgmental humans.

  “Hold on a minute, lady.” I held my hands up defensively and took an involuntary step forward. Damn my indignant nature. “Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions. I never had any intention of taking the job, and I tried to refuse your money.”

  “But, you already had my man. Why ever would you also need my money?” She crossed her arms and tossed her layered locks. “Tell me, Alexa, what would a magically enhanced wolf like yourself want with a womanizing pig like him?”

  Catherine didn’t wait for me to answer. Instead, she sauntered down the remaining stairs until she stood directly in front of Arys. I was slightly envious of the five inches she had on me.

  “I’ll go outside with you, lover, but don’t try anything funny. I’m not as unprepared as you might think.” Her black eyes scanned the both of us. “Underestimating me would be a big mistake.”

  Arys looked pointedly at me, and I realized that he expected me to lead the way.

  That meant trusting him at my back with Catherine. In that moment, my worry kicked into overdrive, and I wondered if the two vampires weren’t in cahoots against little, old, mortal me. Did I really think that little of Arys? Well, kind of, yeah. But, considering the scenario at play, I had no choice but to turn and head for the exit.

  I took in as much of the freely exuded energy in the bar as I could. It felt warm and reassuring as it filled my reserves. I knew that she had an unnatural boost, but I couldn’t be sure how psychically in tune she was. Like humans, metaphysics weren’t the same for all vampires. Arys felt me absorb the energy in the room, but I had a feeling that she couldn’t. For my part, I felt whatever was feeding her power, and it wasn’t a good magic.

  Relief washed through me when I saw the empty alley out the backdoor of Lucy’s;

  not even a group of smokers lingered nearby.

  I was ready for her … or them. I turned so that my back was to the building, and I faced them both head on. I wasn’t afraid, not yet anyway. At this point, I was still more concerned with the mutilated body in the middle of town.

  “Catherine, my love, why don’t you and I leave Alexa to enjoy her evening, while the two of us catch up?” Arys wasn’t fooling anybody, but he sure was trying hard.

  His charm slid off Cat like water off a duck’s back. I suppose when you’ve danced with the devil for decades, you learn a few of his tricks.

  A blast of red light streamed between the two vampires for a split second as she hit him with a shot of power. When it was dancing in the air around us, I could feel the witch magic mixed with her own. So, Cat had stocked up her arsenal before coming here.

  I hadn’t sensed it in my office, so the magic had to be a charm or spell of some kind.

  Honestly, I learned everything that I know about spells by watching Lena. I was really hoping that she wasn’t hopped up on black magic, the crystal meth of magics, more or less. It didn’t feel that dark, but one can never be too careful.

  “Don’t you ever learn when to shut the hell up? I’m not going to play your game, so save us both the embarrassment.” Cat stalked to where Arys sat on his ass, dumbfounded.

  She stood over him so that his gaze met her thighs, and he was forced to look up at her. An attack from behind, though good for me, wouldn’t be good for Arys, and I could hear Jez in my head asking why I was hesitating. I was a jumble of nerves, wary of that moment when she would go too far, and I would have to react. />
  “Did you really believe that I would never live to find you? I thought you knew me better than that.” She shifted slightly, so that he had to lean back to keep from touching her. Arys looked slightly pained, which I attributed to the proximity of her thighs, which were scarcely covered by her short, trendy dress. Despite the gravity of the situation, a nervous laugh broke free of me.

  “What are you laughing at, wolf?” Suddenly, she half turned to face me and let loose with another metaphysical attack. I met it with the energy that I held hot and waiting.

  The shot ricocheted back to her; a cloud of sparks erupted where the two energies met between us. The force threw her off her feet, to her knees in the dirt, which didn’t do much for her temper. When she got to her feet, her pupils blazed red; I shouldn’t have let her get back up.

  A noise beyond the door of the club had me praying that Shaz would stay inside. I knew he wouldn’t have missed the three of us leaving through the back way. If he thought there was trouble, nothing would keep him inside.

  “And, to think, I considered sparing you. No, I guess Sindarys can now watch his lover die first,” Catherine spat before another blast caught me off guard. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back, staring up at the night sky.

  “That’s it, bitch,” I said as I leapt to my feet. My body ached where the energy had struck, but I was otherwise unhurt. “I don’t risk my neck every night just so I can deal with psychos like you.” With a nasty look at Arys, I added, “Next time you leave someone for dead, make sure they actually are dead, first.” With great self-restraint, I held back on shooting a slap of power at him.

  Catherine gaped open-mouthed at me. “I knew you wouldn’t understand, not until he does it to you. He’ll take all you have to give until nothing remains that isn’t bitter and cold.”

  “Only if I let him. Which from the looks of you, isn’t going to happen.” I saw her twitch, and with a snap of my fingers, an energy circle formed around me.

  “This is between you and me, Catherine,” Arys spoke up; his tone was furious as he wiped the dirt from his jeans. “If you want to finish this, then I’m ready. Leave Alexa out of this.”

  He shocked me by approaching the angry vampiress and grasping her tightly by both upper arms. He shook her hard enough to cause her to stumble into his lean frame.

  “She should have goddammed told me!” Catherine’s voice rose into a yell, and she fought to escape his grip.

  She had a point. I should have told her that it would be a conflict of interest as soon as I saw his photo. But, I’d been curious, and my personal interests won out.

  “Any woman I take to my bed is none of your damn business. It never has been.”

  Arys’ voice grew in its intensity, and pulsating anger swept through him. I could feel it from where I stood.

  “Of course not. That’s so very typical of you, Sindarys. Still very much the womanizing man-whore I see, even consorting with beasts now. I thought you enjoyed your women with a tasty, preferably dead, ending.”

  “What I enjoy is a woman who knows how to stay dead, at least in memory anyway.” Arys spit the words into her face.

  Even my guts hurt when I saw her face fall; I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach.

  I took a clumsy step forward as if to break the painfully awkward moment.

  Unfortunately, it also broke the shield that I’d created.

  Catherine’s attack was instant; she didn’t even look at me. Spitting dirt, I was on my feet again in a matter of seconds.

  “Well shit, Cat!” I ground dirt between my teeth and lashed out at her simply from sheer spite, but she was ready for it; she escaped Arys with another assault against us both.

  Now that Arys had successfully hurt and humiliated her, she had nothing left to lose.

  The onslaught of power that descended upon me in an offensive storm had me scrambling to create another circle. The atmosphere around us grew tight with all of us pushing the limits and laws of nature. Dammit, her power source had to have a limit.

  Arys gave up the metaphysical fight and launched himself at her; the two of them went down, sprawled in a heap of fists and fangs like a wolf fight.

  Any kind of energy attack risked Arys, so for the moment, I only watched because I sure as hell was not jumping in.

  “Stop trying to force yourself on me,” he growled into her face. “How many more centuries will you stalk me before I’m forced to extinguish you? This ends now.”

  Her sharp nails raked his face, and her pitifully small fists beat at his chest as he hovered over her, lying in the dirt. A struggle ensued, and they grappled until Arys held her tightly by the wrists.

  “Have I ever been anything more to you than a nuisance?” Catherine never ceased struggling beneath Arys but from the way she wriggled her skinny ass, I guessed that she was trying to jog his memory. I rolled my eyes; I should have walked away and left them to it.

  “Baby, a nuisance is all you’ll ever be. You’re backing me into a real corner here, you know.” Arys’ tone was low and smooth but as deadly as they come. “You’re starting to take my options away. Pretty soon, I’m going to be forced to finally do away with you.”

  He said it so easily that I knew he would do it with no regrets. What did that say about how he looked at me?

  “Do it then,” she hissed. “It’s about time you finish what you started. You killed me long ago. Finish the job, my love.”

  She leaned up just enough to brush his lips with hers, and I choked on the jealousy that was becoming too commonplace for my liking. I watched in extreme discomfort as Arys returned her kiss.

  My attention was momentarily distracted by the vibrations of my cell phone in the front pocket of my jeans. A quick glance revealed a text message from Shaz that read simply, ‘If you don’t reply in two minutes, I’m coming to look for you.’

  I managed to tap out a quick reply of, ‘Wait, not yet.’ My stomach flipped as the vampire kiss deepened, and I glanced around the alley.

  I felt more than awkward and decided that I might as well leave. I’d just taken a step when Arys, in a blur of speed, sank his fangs deep into Catherine’s throat. A strangled cry broke from her as the blood began to pour from the gaping wound.

  Everything happened so fast then. Catherine propelled Arys a good thirty feet, where he landed against the back fence of a property across the alley. Judging by the sharp splinter of wood along with his steady stream of curses, that had to have hurt. I shook my head. The poor bastard was simply too much offense and too little defense.

  When nothing stood between us, Catherine rounded on me, tattered and bleeding.

  Her red dress was caked with dirt, and I heard more than one pebble fall from her hair. A softly glowing red amulet had spilled from beneath the neckline of her dress. With blood streaming down her front, she gasped and choked.

  Between her madness and her desperation, she was an unpredictable opponent, and I regretted mincing words with her. Still, the scent of her fear tantalized my inner predator.

  “You,” she pointed a bloody finger in my direction. “You got to him first. You warned him I’d come.”

  “Sorry to break it to you, but he’s not afraid of you.” I advanced on her with a psi ball, warm and pulsing with swirls of gold and blue, in my hand. “This is your last chance to leave here in one piece.” I winced at my own choice of words; an image flashed in my mind of David’s dismembered corpse.

  What sounded like a war cry erupted from Catherine, and she rushed me like a mad woman, with her arms stretched straight out in front of her. The pungent aroma of her blood struck me, and my natural power began to grow in excitement but not from the heady elixir of prey. No, I vibed off my foe’s impending doom. As her blood continued to spatter, I could feel her growing weakness.

  I let the energy ball dissolve but took the energy back into my reserves. I tensed for the impact of her approach. When she hit me full force, I threw my weight into her, which sent the two o
f us rolling in a tangled heap. With gritted teeth and years of experience, I ended the roll so that I was staring down into her face.

  Blood was beginning to form at the corner of her mouth. I could clearly see the wound that Arys had made, a gaping hole in her jugular that would be hard to heal but not impossible for a vampire of her age. He should have gone for the carotid artery if he’d really wanted to bleed her. Could it be that the dark vampire was unable to dispatch the one that he had once loved?

  Regardless, the wolf within me truly loved a physical fight to the death. I lost all control; I let fly a series of blows that would have killed a human. Catherine’s head snapped back and forth, and I thought I had her until she suddenly threw me.

  The amulet blazed, and I reached for it, but I was already airborne. I tucked and rolled painfully along the graveled road. Rocks and broken beer bottles cut and slashed at me as I tried desperately to protect my face and head. My bare arms stung as the gravel scraped and burned into my flesh.

  I was running out of time; my white wolf was due to rescue me, and the chance of innocents stumbling across us was increasing by the second. There was only one way this was going to end quickly. I’d never had the guts to try it, but I knew it would work for me now. I’d witnessed Kale kill more than one vampire by forcing his energy inside them until the pressure built beyond capacity and the vampire’s heart exploded.

  As much as I wanted to lay on the ground in shock and let the rattling in my brain settle, my adrenaline had me up in an instant. I reached out for all of the consumable energy in the vicinity. I could gather some from the natural elements like the moon, stars, and air, but I needed a direct physical link for the attack that I planned to launch. In a dirty back alley with no fertile soil beneath my feet, my power reached out for the one steady energy source that was close enough to touch and achingly familiar.

  Arys slowly approached; he looked rough. Deep red scratches formed a diagonal line from the outer edge of his eye to the top of his upper lip. She had just missed raking one of his damn eyes out. The dirt smeared on his face reminded me a little of war paint. His torn clothing added to the savage look in his eyes, so feral that even I grew nervous as he drew closer.