Page 64

“You’re going to let me bite you,” the vampire said as if he’d read my mind, voice thick with syrupy compulsion that made my voice die in my throat.Even without direct eye contact, my body betrayed me instantly, going limp and pliable in his hold.

There were a lot of things to be afraid of when it came to vampires.

When I was in college, compulsion was mostly something stupid that vampire sorority girls used to make sure our admissions in truth or dare were actually truthful, but we’d all learned that it wasn’t just a fun party trick.

There were laws against it, of course. Stripping someone’s autonomy and forcing them into submission was unacceptable way before we knew vampires were even real.

My breaths came in heavy pants, mind screaming against my languid form tomove, to doanythingthat would get me out of the situation.Nothing happened.

The vampire released my face. Lifting my boneless arm to his lips, he inhaled deeply against my pulse.I squeezed my eyes shut, still battling against the order like there was a physical wall between my brain and my limbs.

He ran the pad of his tongue against the strumming vein that lay just below the skin.

“Your skin tastes like fucking cotton candy,” the vampire muttered.

I opened my eyes in time to see his crimson eyes flaring with delight.

Please stop.I couldn’t force the pathetic, pleading words past my lips.

“Fuck you.”

He sunk his fangs into my arm with a pinprick of pain, closely followed by a lick of pleasure that washed over my every nerve. I clenched my teeth against the moan that was brewing in the back of my throat, my knees weak as the enzymes in his venom did their job to ensure my compliance—no,enthusiastic participation—in being a walking juice box.

I willed myself not to vomit as disgust began to crack the foundation of his compulsion. I kept pushing, willing my body to move. To open my mouth and call for help.

My blood rushed so loudly in my ears that it drowned out the music of the club, vision blotting slightly as he sucked up mouthful after mouthful.Pain flared to life in my wrist as my flesh ribboned. I gasped, blinking rapidly in time to catch Ren’s fist connecting with the vampire’s face.

Reality snapped into focus now that I was free of the vampire’s grasp. I slid to the floor, curling to hug myself as my breath came in ragged gasps from the relative safety behind the bar.

The commotion on the other side of the divider was nothing but a nonsensical arrangement of thuds, curses, and shouts punctuated by my own hiccupping sobs as I fruitlessly tried to regulate my emotions.

“Vi?Vi!” Cole’s voice sounded far away as he kneeled beside me, his warm hand on my shoulder.

Instinctively, I reared back from the touch, my fight-or-flight response too close to the surface.

“Let go of me Dana, I’m going to fucking kill him!” Ren shouted from the other side of the bar.

Cole grimaced. “I won’t touch you without permission again. I’m sorry,” he said gently, his bleached eyebrows drawn together with concern and hands held open over his chest. “Can I help you sit up?”

I nodded jerkily, and his gentle hands moved to help untangle my limbs and sit me up, leaning me against the shelves that lined the underside of the bar.

“Vi!” Ren gasped, shaking Dana off and hopping over the bar to drop to her knees in front of me. She cupped my face in her hands. “Are you alright? I’m so sorry I?—”

A whimper clawed its way out of my throat, and I slid toward Cole, the usual excitement that I experienced looking at Ren’s dark, mono-lidded eyes replaced by an entirely animal sort of fear at the sight of her fangs.

“You need to give her some space,” Cole said loudly. “Back up.”

Ren dropped her hands like I’d burned her, emotion clouding her dark gaze.

“Right,” she scooted back, turning an accusing glare on Cole. “What happened? Why was she alone behind the bar?”

I clenched my jaw, gripping the sleeve of Cole’s shirt as fat tears rolled down my cheek. Blood dripped down my arm from the torn flesh, splashing onto the floor in little pools of crimson.

“I’d gone for lunch; you were still here when I stepped away,” Cole said. “Quit bitching at me and go find Dana. Vi needs that arm wrapped.”

Ren’s jaw worked with frustration before she stood.

“Yeah, right. I’ll be right back. Stay right here.”