Page 86 of Inhuman Nature

Rake’s eyes were wide and terrified, and DJ needed that expression to disappear.

This time, when DJ pushed Lawrence away, Lawrence let him stand. DJ reached out to Rake.

Lawrence caught DJ’s hand before he made contact. “Not yet, boy. Keep calm.”

Rake mumbled through the gag and struggled in his restraints. DJ rubbed at his own mouth with his free hand, grimacing at the blood that transferred to his skin. “I’m not dead,” he observed.

“I beg to disagree,” Lawrence said, licking at his own wrist.

“Huh?” DJ should have been panicking. Why wasn’t he panicking? Something was very,verywrong with him. Rake was in danger, and DJ was—

“I recreated you,” Lawrence said, finishing his unspoken thought. “And now I’d love you to feed from your dear Rakesh.”

“I-no. No, that’s not… What?” DJ glanced at his blood-covered hands and then away again.

“You’re a vampire.”

“No,” DJ insisted. “I would know if I was a vampire.”

Lawrence rolled his eyes. “Drop your fangs and bite your boyfriend.”

DJ descended on Rake’s neck, biting and sucking as hard as he could. Even Rake’s muffled scream didn’t stop him, even as his brain and his body warred to take control. Lawrence’s blood might have been delicious, but Rake’s blood tasted familiar—like returning home after a long, hard day.

“Keep drinking.” Lawrence’s command curled around DJ’s brain, and he knew he was being compelled. But his awarenessof that fact didn’t help him stop. He drank, inhaling Rake’s scent of fear. It was sour: all sweat and alarm mixed with the salt of tears. The worst part, however, was that it didn’t stop Rake’s blood from tasting as good as it did.

DJ drew his fangs out of Rake’s neck, grimacing as his flesh tore. DJ’s teeth throbbed and his gums ached, but his addled brain hurt most of all. Every pained sound Rake made echoed in his ears, and no matter how much he wanted to shut them out, he couldn’t.

Lawrence gleefully shoved DJ’s face back against Rake’s neck. The lure of blood was too enticing to resist.

But then Rake’s pulse began to slow, his blood flowing less easily into DJ’s mouth.

DJ twisted to look at Lawrence. “Please don’t make me do this.”

Lawrence looked like he was about to tell him to get back to it, but then cocked his head and swore. DJ glanced at the crack in the curtain. It appeared to be dark outside, the only light that of the street lamps.

Lawrence didn’t compel DJ to drink any more, just tugged him away from Rake as easily as a parent would a small child. Even as they moved towards the living room door, DJ only had eyes for Rake. Slumped in the chair, head bowed—DJ couldn’t tell if Rake’s chest was moving or not.

“Rake!” he cried, trying to move towards him, but Lawrence dragged him out of the room before he could get within touching distance.

“Stop. Fighting. Me,” Lawrence said. DJ’s limbs became limp and useless, and he was sure that if Lawrence didn’t have hold of him, he would have crumpled to the floor.

“Let me stay with him,” DJ pleaded.

“No. You’re coming with me and you’re going to do it quietly and easily, understand?” Lawrence didn’t give DJ a chance to reply. He whisked them downstairs and out onto the street, then threw DJ over his shoulder. Everything happened too fast for DJ to comprehend. He got one last glimpse of their street, and then everything blurred.

Whether it was the compulsion or simply shock, DJ didn’t have the strength to resist Lawrence as they travelled through darkness. Awareness only came back to him when he was deposited on the front stoop of a familiar house.

“Well, boy. Looks like you’re stuck with me for the foreseeable.” Lawrence turned his back on DJ to open the door, and a crushing panic set in.

His ears buzzed, his stomach was in knots, and he was shaking from head to toe. He pressed a hand to his chest to calm himself, like he would so often do to Rake.

It was only then that DJ noticed he had no heartbeat.

Chapter Twenty

Shaun

The sun had been down for ten minutes when voices sounded from outside the room where Shaun was imprisoned. He strained his ears to listen in on the conversation, recognising Lynette’s voice first.