Page 52

CHAPTER 51

T he whole of Stalkers’ Rest is gathered, watching as another warning is added to the wall alongside Tate’s old team. George’s head is spiked next to theirs, and I scan the crowd. I can sense anger, disgust, and fear as well as respect. It’s a volatile mix, and I worry about what it means. Shamus was hoping fear would keep them in line, but what if it sends them the other way and makes her vision come true?

Could she survive her people turning on her again?

Could we survive a war?

They still don’t respect her decision to have us here, and most of the hunters think she has bewitched their commander, and now this. Suspicion and mistrust are rife. I spent the night invading the electronics of Stalkers’ Rest, reading text messages and watching them through cameras. There are whispers, nothing concrete yet but enough to have me worried, so when Tate goes in to shower, I slip away. I wander the halls of Stalkers’ Rest, tracking those I need to. Half my brain is locked on the cameras I have invaded, following their movements back to a storage room. The mics pick up the whispers, and I enhance them so I can listen as I move silently.

“She’s out of control. We will be next!”

“We need to stop her before it’s too late.” They look around nervously at the servers and weapons filling the room, and they have no idea I’m right there with them.

“We should sneak in tonight while she’s sleeping and slit her throat.” I mark that one to die first.

“With those monsters around, we don’t stand a chance,” another mutters.

“If we can lure them away, I can lock them in a room from the control centre.” This is from a man wearing glasses. He’s not a hunter, he’s too skinny, but he looks just as angry.

“I still don’t get why he’s here,” another says.

“He has just as much to lose. If she starts looking into it, she’ll find he helped cover us more than once,” the leader replies. “It’s a plan. We’ll strike tonight.”

“And the commander? He won’t be happy. It’s obvious he’s whipped,” one scoffs.

“Then we end him as well, if need be, and take control ourselves. He’s gone weak and soft because of her. We’ll spike their heads with their victims’ and take control of the hunters.”

I reach the door, and despite it being locked, I simply switch it in my head and it slides open. I step in and relock it behind me. They all turn, their eyes wide. “What the fuck? How did you get in here?”

I point at the camera blinking in the corner. “You should have been more careful. I am everywhere, and I hear and see everything.”

They draw their weapons as I grin.

“You’re going to need them. Not one of you is leaving this room alive. Nobody touches what is mine.”

“Kill him first,” Glasses orders. “I can use him as bait to lure them and lock them here.”

One pulls a gun and aims it at me. He fires twice—one into my skull and one into my heart—but I do not even jerk from the impact.

I stare down at the bullet hole in my chest then raise my eyes back to them. “Pathetic.” I smirk. “Many have tried to kill me.” The bullets wiggle free from my skin as it heals, and I catch them and fling them faster than their guns can. They embed in the skull and chest of the one who shot me and he falls to the ground, dead.

The others roar and leap at me with raised blades. I let them, batting them away like flies, but one climbs onto my back and saws at my head. My circuits fizzle and my vision goes out for a moment. When my eyes come back online, my head falls to the side, almost detached. My vision flashes from colour to black and white as I reach behind me, pluck him from my back, and toss him into the wall. He hits it hard, and when he crumples to the floor, I know he is dead. I cannot sense his heartbeat anymore.

My head hangs from my body, more annoying than anything, so I lift it up, put it back into place, and feel my body mend as I advance on them. They are wide-eyed and terrified, backing into the wall.

“Please, we’re sorry!” the leader shouts. “We’ll leave her alone?—”

“Yes, you will. I will hand your bodies to her as an apology for you.”

Ripping his head up, I sink my fangs into his neck and tear out his throat. He falls, and I turn to Glasses as he pulls out a tablet and unlocks the door, rushing towards it. I lock it with my mind, and he slams into the door, pounding uselessly against it as I advance on him.

“Your skills will not save you now. I am the heart of this building. It obeys me, not you.” He taps on his tablet before gripping it against his chest as he watches me.

“I can help?—”

“I need no help.” My hand wraps around his skinny neck as I lift him into the air. He turns red then purple, beating at me before I snap his neck and drop him. Glancing around, I find they are all dead. I wipe my mouth clean of their disgusting blood since I only want hers, and then I get to work.

It doesn’t take much force to rip their heads from their bodies, and then I unlock the door with a blink, my vision finally fixing and returning to colour as I heal. These hunters were useless. My girl put up more of a fight than all of them together. It’s no wonder she won my trust and loyalty.

Keeping their heads in my hand, I wander through the corridors. Hunters see me coming and gape in shock. I locate her by using the cameras and call the elevator in my mind. When I step inside with some horrified techs, they scramble to get out. I skip the floors I don’t need and get off at the gym where she is with the others.

It falls silent when I walk in, and she senses it and turns, her mouth dropping open. I don’t stop until I stand before her, lowering to my knees and holding up their heads. “My love, I bring the heads of those who would do you harm.”

“Addeus.” She blinks at me as Shamus moves to her side.

A crowd forms, and I feel their anger.

“You cannot just kill us!” someone roars. “Look, it’s been allowed to kill our own!”

Without a word, I project the scene in the storage room, their malicious intent and words flowing through the air as they plot to kill her and the commander.

“Well, shit.” Shamus laughs as he looks at me. “I guess it pays being half machine. Alright, let’s add them to the wall.” He clears his throat as he steps past me, but I keep my eyes on her. “Enough. Disband and take this as a warning. Anyone who plots to harm Tate or me will face our wrath. We are everywhere. Go now.”

“How did you know?” she asks me.

“I have been keeping an eye on everyone for you. I know you were worried about your vision, so I wanted to make sure it did not come to fruition.” She grips my chin and jerks my head up. I stare lovingly into her eyes. “If I have displeased you, you may take my head with theirs.”

“Displeased?” she repeats as she looks at me. “No, I’m not displeased, Addeus. I’m honoured you thought to protect me like that.” She kisses my head. “Thank you for keeping us safe.”

“Always,” I vow. “No matter what.”

Her thumb rubs over my lip and lifts to show me blood. “Did you feed on them?” Her eyebrow arches accusingly.

“No, I ripped out his throat. I did not even let a drop roll down my throat. It was nasty,” I sneer, and she grins.

“You’re healing. There’s a line on your neck. Did they injure you?” she asks, and I nod. “Then feed and heal, my protector.”

“You need your strength,” I protest, hating the weakness in me that wants her blood. There isn’t a moment when I don’t want it or her, not since I tasted her when she freed me. Maybe it is me she should fear, but I would rather die than harm a hair on her head.

My eyes widen as she grips one of her daggers and slices her neck. “I said feed,” she snaps.

The scent of her blood fills the air, and before I know it, the heads roll from my hands and I tackle her back to the mats. My mouth seals over the cut and I suck, worrying on it like an animal before I slide my fangs into her vein. The addictive taste of her blood explodes in my mouth, lighting me on fire from the inside out. I drag her under me, needing everything she is.

I roll my hips against her, seeking her warmth and body.

Shamus’s hand tangles in my hair, yanking my head up. “Not too much. She will need her strength,” he warns, and his logic winds through my head.

I slow my feeding, enjoying her blood as she groans beneath me, clutching me tightly. As I pull my fangs free, I sense her confusion, but I slide down and her clothes disappear. I feel the magic and know it was either Jarek or the fae, and I make a note to thank them later as I force her legs open and slam my fangs into her inner thigh, somewhere I’ve always wanted to feed from her.

She screams, but I pin her as her delicious, powerful blood slides through me, her glistening cunt inches away. I shove my fingers deep inside her as I feed, feeling her clench around them, and I grunt into her skin, sinking my fangs deeper before pulling them out and biting her other thigh while I fuck her with my fingers. I keep biting, covering both thighs with my marks. Her hips lift and her cunt clenches on my fingers as I carefully slide my fangs into her sensitive flesh on either side of her clit, and she yells.

Her pussy clamps around my fingers as she comes. Humming happily, I carefully extract my fangs and lick it better as I slide my fingers from her channel. I lick her cream from my digits as I sit back.

Lifting my head, I stare down at her dazed, happy expression before glancing at the others. Shamus nods and steps away, letting me know he was there in case anything happened, and I respect him for that. My eyes find the others and widen.

Ronan has the heads propped up so their unseeing eyes watch us as he throws popcorn into his mouth. The fae reaches over them from the other side, grabbing some kernels as he, too, observes us.

Tate sighs and sits up, touching the wound as her eyes rove over the room. She must spy it at the same time I do because she groans and buries her head in my chest as I chuckle.

“Damn pervs, all of you.”