Page 45 of Blood and Magic (RBMC: Helena, MT #2)

“I bet she tastes like sin. I bet she tastes like little virgin alpha slut.”

I widened my eyes at the realization. They knew who she was. They knew Kodiak was her father, and they’d taken her anyway.

“Her daddy’s gonna be pissed when he finds out what we’re gonna do to her.”

My head hung limp on my shoulders, blood seeping out of my nose and mouth, dribbling on the floor. A sharp tug on my hair had me looking up again, staring down the vampire president with an unfocused gaze.

He stuck his tongue out and licked up the center of my face, scooping crimson into his mouth with a soft, masculine groan.

“My, you are delicious.” He tsked through his teeth and shook his head before leaning in to lick more blood from my chin, swallowing it down with a look of pure rapture. “Are you gonna scream for me?”

Knowing he liked his victims to struggle made me more resolute to keep calm. I wouldn’t give him what he wanted. I wouldn’t?—

He yanked me to the side and bared his fangs, striking as quick as a viper.

His pointed teeth sank into my throat, right where Vermillion had bitten me twice, and the pain reverberated through my entire body.

It stung like poison, like venom coating my veins, and I jerked against the fuckers holding me, thrashing, trying to break free.

Tears bubbled in the corners of my eyes, spilling down my cheeks, and all I could do was wilt against him while he sucked and gulped and slurped it down.

Mill had often compared himself to these beasts. He was terrified he had become one. But I knew differently. He’d never be so cruel to me, so heartless and callous. He still had his soul, and this piece of shit had none.

Dizziness clouded my brain like a wave, tugging me under its enthralling spell.

I wanted to let it. I wanted to fade into the darkest recesses of my mind and never resurface.

It would be easier to give in, to just let them take me, but if they were going to hurt Ginny, I had to fight until the last moment.

Marx pulled away with a satisfied smirk, his fangs and lips sparkling with red liquid, his pupils dilated.

“Well, I’ll be Goddamned,” he said, leaning in closer so he could take a deep inhale. “You’ve got some of us in you already.”

What?

He tapped the end of my nose with his finger and winked.

“Have you been sucking vampire blood?” He raised his eyebrows. “Hmm? Or maybe vampire dick?”

I didn’t know what to say. I’d never been around a vampire before. Unless…could Marx sense whatever magic was in Mill? Could he tell that Mill had died and been brought back to life?

“A little of both?” He chuckled again and shook his head, stepping away with a dazed swagger that must have indicated how drinking from me had impacted him. “Whew! What a fucking rush.”

“Let us have a taste?” the vampire on my right said, leaning in to sniff the wound.

“Hang in there, baby,” came Mill’s voice again. “We’re almost there.”

I sobbed at hearing it, my knees turning to jelly, nearly giving out. But the small flicker of connection between us grew stronger, and if I focused hard enough, I could almost see it like a rope in my mind, glowing brighter the closer he got. My wails turned to laughter.

Marx tilted his head and looked at me, grabbing my chin to lift my face.

I burst into hysterics at his stupid, perplexed expression.

Maybe it was the blood loss, but everything seemed so hilarious.

Mill would come for me, and the pack would tear Marx’s limbs from his body, and I would watch it all happen with glee.

“What’s so funny?” He leaned in and smirked.

“Do you think your silly pack is coming for you? Do you think they stand a chance against us?” He nodded to his group.

“I could have them kill you right now, and then what? Your little boyfriend would show up to find you dead, and there’d be nothing he could do about it. ”

“He’s gonna gut you,” I said. “They’re going to kill you… again.” It made me giggle harder, my sides nearly splitting from how much it entertained me.

“C’mon, Marx,” one of the vampires said. “Let’s turn her and end this, once and for all.”

Marx held up a hand to silence him, narrowing his gaze on me.

“You know we infiltrated Kodiak’s pack and killed them. I even killed that little bitch in your bedroom. It’s not hard to get on Bastard turf, and I won’t stop coming until I get what’s mine.”

My heart clenched again for Ellen, but I ignored it, shoving it down until I could fully process it.

“God, all the fucking monologuing.” I rolled my eyes. “You know what I think?”

Marx peeled his lips back from his fangs.

“I think you want them to come. I think you want a fight. If you didn’t, you would have killed me or whatever the fuck you’re planning to do.” I shook my head, hardly able to hold it up anymore.

“I think you’ve yet to give me a scream,” he said, nodding to the guy on my right. “Go ahead, Jollies. You and the rest of the nest can have her. Once her heart gives out, I’ll give her my blood, and we’ll see how much fight she has in her then.”

Jollies exhaled in pure excitement before sinking into my throat, just below Marx’s bite.

I winced at the sharp lance of agony but didn’t make a noise.

Another bite came on the other side, and then another, and a fourth.

All the while, I stared at Marx, determined to hold out.

I wouldn’t give him what he wanted. I wouldn’t?—

One of them sank into my left thigh so hard, he hit bone.

The anguish that surged up my body crippled me, so deep and paralyzing, it took over my soul.

They were killing me. Truly and utterly destroying me.

And there was nothing I could do. There would be no paramedics to rescue me this time, and I wasn’t sure if the pack would make it.

When one of them sank into my stomach, I lost my composure.

And then I screamed.