Page 5 of The Vampire’s Hunter (Rogue Brotherhood #2)

5

D ani didn’t wake until the following evening, the events and uncertainty of the previous night having worn through her. Even working the midnight shift at the diner as she often did, she’d severely underestimated exactly how much vampiric hours took their toll.

Finally awake, she sat up in bed, quickly casting the covers off as her eyes searched through the dark. The dimly lit glow of the club’s neon lights from the night prior lingered behind her eyes, the constant thump of its music still ringing in her ears. Coupled with the hypervigilance she was forced to exert every time she was in a vampire’s presence—a heightened level of awareness to which she no longer accustomed to—the combination proved more than a little tiresome.

But Dani was nothing if not a survivor.

She stood from the bed, flicking on the bedside light as she went.

Only to let out a startled shriek.

Corbin sat in an armchair on the far side of the room, one long leg propped across the other where he sat frozen in wait of her, like a king who’d been waiting for a rather long time for his consort to wake. Though what was a few passing hours to an immortal?

“Get dressed,” he said, before quickly exiting the room, leaving nothing but those two words and a dark blur of movement within his wake.

Dani’s gaze fell to the edge of the bed. To the black dress bag which waited.

Play your role and in exchange, you’ll have your revenge , he’d said.

Wasn’t that always the path she chose to take?

The path of least resistance.

Though she was straddling uncharted territory here.

Unzipping the dress bag, Dani took her time getting ready, pleased, and yet not surprised, to find the clutch she’d abandoned at the club the night before had been retrieved for her. It waited on the bathroom’s granite counter, filled with all the makeup she could possibly need. Not to mention, a fresh toothbrush. She never left home unprepared.

When she finally emerged, dressed and ready, Corbin was waiting for her by the walled window, overlooking the glittering city below. “Hello, darling,” he purred, the smooth timber of his voice sending a little thrum of excitement through her. “You look lovely.”

His gaze raked over her.

The dress he’d left for her fit like a dream. A gold silk ballgown, finer than anything she’d ever worn, with a stunning draped neckline and a scandalously low, plunging back that brought out the sun kissed undertones of her skin and hair.

It made her feel like she was a golden goddess, her beauty beaming.

For a moment, Dani allowed herself to bask in his attention, to pretend this wasn’t all a dream. “Thank you,” she whispered. Some small part of her was convinced that if she spoke too loudly, she might break the spell between them.

“Shall we take our leave?” Corbin said, offering her his arm.

Oh, so gentlemanly.

Except when he wasn’t.

Like when they’d been in alone in the alcove.

She ducked her head, hiding a knowing grin.

Corbin was dressed in a three-piece suit that had clearly been tailored for him it fit him so well, like a glove, highlighting all the parts of him she’d once wished to explore.

Parts she still wished to explore, if she was being honest.

With her hands, her tongue, her teeth.

One night. Nothing more.

Coarse words and yet, they served their purpose.

To remind her of how little she truly meant to him. Even if he’d offered her this favor, this chance at revenge.

Dani accepted his arm, following him out of the penthouse and down to the street below, where the town car already waited.

It wasn’t until they were sealed securely inside, the partition window up and the silence growing tense between them that Corbin finally spoke.

“Lucien keeps the current locations of the drop houses written in a journal inside his office. You’ll find it located to the right of the third-floor stairs.”

Dani lifted a brow. “How do you—?”

“Where I get my information isn’t your concern.” Corbin shot her a look. “When I give you the signal, make your way upstairs, unnoticed. You’ll find it unlocked. Don’t hesitate when I give you the signal. Just go.”

Dani inhaled a long breath, steeling herself. “It’s that simple?”

Corbin tsked his tongue at her, as if she were being a fool. “It’s both that simple and that difficult, Dani.” He faced toward her then, his eyes growing dark. A reminder of the violence he chose to surround himself with. “Because if you get caught, may God have mercy on you, since Lucien certainly won’t.”

They continued the rest of the ride in silence, the blurred neon lights and concrete scenery of the city soon fading into the trimmed shrubs and manicured lawns of the suburbs. The car didn’t stop until they’d reached a secluded mansion, a line of limousines and other town cars queued around the circular drive for the black-tie event.

“Play your role, Dani,” Corbin said. “That’s all you have to do.”

Dani’s heart was suddenly pounding in her ears, her palms sweaty.

Corbin reached for the door.

But before she realized what she was doing, Dani lunged for him, staying his hand.

Corbin’s eyes narrowed, his lip curling a little as if he were preparing to tell her she’d overstepped.

“Corbin, I…I’m not certain I can do this.”

The whole thing had seemed so manageable from the safety of Corbin’s penthouse, or when he’d held her in his arms, but now that they were here, the thought of facing Lucien again, even though she’d requested Corbin’s help with this, it…

Corbin must have recognized what she was thinking, because something inside him seemed to melt then, his gaze softening.

It was almost too much to bear.

“What can I do to convince you of your power?” he whispered.

“My power?” Dani’s eyes widened as she blinked.

Corbin smirked a little as if she’d amused him. “Come now, Dani, you’re not na?ve. You must see the way men look at you, women too.”

Dani glanced down at her hands. “As if I am a prize to be claimed, or a…a threat to be eliminated.”

“Exactly,” Corbin flashed her a devilish grin. “There is power in captivating attention, in being the most beautiful woman in the room, in deciding when and to whom you gift your attention. You need not have a blade to cut a man down with a single look.”

Dani’s breath felt heavy now, her chest rising and falling with the quickening of her pulse as she hung on his every word. Is that how he saw her?

As someone who could be powerful?

Who could be fierce enough to wield beauty as a weapon?

“Now, what can I do to help you claim that power for yourself?”

She was nearly drunk from the high of his words, his unfaltering belief in her. She could feel it beneath her skin. Like being glamoured, and yet, so much better. So much more.

It was intoxicating.

But could she trust it?

Dani met his eyes. She desperately wanted to.

“Just…Just don’t leave my side, please.” She gripped his arm, fortifying herself a little. “Not until I have to go upstairs, that is.”

Corbin smiled then, more relaxed and genuine than she’d seen in years. “Dani, only a fool would dare leave your side willingly. Tonight, you are mine, and I intend to ensure everyone knows it.”

Dani’s eyes widened. “With more public sex?” she nearly squeaked.

Corbin chuckled, smirking a little, before he gripped her hand, brushing a gentle kiss across it as they exited the vehicle. “Don’t tempt me, darling,” he whispered, “because tonight you’re mine, and the evening is young yet.”

Thus far, the party was far more manageable than Dani had anticipated, the hours passing by quickly in a blur of posh outfits, shimmering chandeliers, delicious hors d’oeuvres and glittering dances. For once, it was easy being there among the crowd, latched onto Corbin’s arm as he charmed his way through conversation after conversation.

He was undeniably good at this, at communicating, conversing, charming anyone and everyone in his wake, exactly as he’d urged her to do. So good that watching him for so long felt a little like she’d been staring into the sun for the whole of the evening. Given long enough, she could almost be singed by the sheer magnitude of it. Watching him made her forget herself.

What wonders could he accomplish if he chose to use those skills for the greater good?

The possibilities were endless, really.

By the time Dani was finally able to catch her breath, the evening was already halfway through, though they’d still yet to encounter Lucien. Not that she was looking forward to it.

Dani knew when the time came.

Corbin’s gaze flicked toward her, his dark eyes finding hers, where they stood together among the hallway’s glittering vestibules. “Brace yourself,” he whispered, giving her a moment to prepare.

As much as she could ever be prepared anyway.

There was no way for Dani to accurately describe how she felt in that moment, seeing the face of a man, a vampire who’d decided to rape her, who in a single act had chosen to wreak untold havoc and devastation in her life. Nausea, anxiety, panic, she’d experienced all that and more leading up to the months, the moments that had led her here. The mere notion of being in the same room as him made her feel physically ill. Terrified. Sick.

Her stomach flipped, revolting against her, and for a moment, it felt as if she’d been lifted out of her body, no more than a viewer at the stunned woman who stood below, a beautiful woman, an ethereal beauty she soon recognized as herself, but then, almost as quickly as the feeling overtook her, it was gone, replaced instead by a sudden warmth as Corbin whispered to her.

“Breathe, darling.”

Dani sucked in a harsh pull of air.

Without hesitation, Corbin swept her out of sight, to the far side of the room, hiding them both away where no one could see them. This time, nothing about his touch was meant for show. It wasn’t even sexual …

This was for and her alone.

For her reassurance. Her fortitude.

“Listen to me,” Corbin hissed, instantly commanding her attention. “There is no right or wrong way to respond to choosing to face someone who’s assaulted you, Dani,” he said, his voice caught between a heated whisper and a thinly veiled snarl at the thought of what’d happened to her, “and nothing I say can take away the pain, the panic or rage you may feel at seeing him in public like this.

“But you and you alone are in control of what happens next. You get to choose how to respond, whether you will face him, brazen and confident as I know you can be, as you claim your revenge, or whether you will choose to cower in fear. That choice will never be his to make. Do I make myself clear?”

Dani nodded slightly, unable to bring herself to speak or look at him.

Corbin cupped her cheek gently. “I’ve asked too much of you, suggesting you come here. I see that clearly now. I apologize for not seeing it sooner. We need only—”

“No,” Dani said, inhaling a sharp breath, forcing herself to breathe through her fear. “No, I asked this of you. I…I need to do this.” She shook her head a little. “I want to do this,” she corrected herself. “To face him, to show him that he couldn’t break me.”

She glanced up at Corbin then.

It would have been easy to blame how she’d gotten here on her brother, or even on Corbin, for all the ways their personalities often and easily overtook hers. But neither had forced her hand or taken away her decision. Not as Cillian and Lucien did.

Tonight, the choice had been hers and hers alone.

She’d been the one who intended this.

And there was an…oddly satisfying power in that. In reclaiming this unusual, glittering life from which she’d been driven away. For better or worse.

Enough that for once, she felt she could be brave, despite her fear.

“I’m ready now,” she said, lifting her gaze to Corbin’s again. “I want to face him.”

The look Corbin gave her was one filled with respect. “You have more courage than anyone gives you credit for, Dani, and I think,” Corbin shook his head a little, like it killed him to admit it, “I think that blasted brother of yours may have seen that from the start.” Corbin extended his arm toward her. “Shall we?”

Dani took hold of him, gently bringing him close. “After you.”

Corbin led her forward, steering her in the direction of an adjacent crowd, as if he hoped to buy her more time, give her a reprieve to gather herself for a moment more, but Dani took a harsher hold on him, surprised when the vampire allowed her to lead them both.

“I need to get this over with,” she whispered.

The second time she laid eyes on Lucien wasn’t as jarring at the first, but if she’d thought she had conquered her queasiness, the sight of the human woman leashed like a dog at his feet immediately corrected her misassumption. She’d once been treated the same with Cillian.

Her stomach plummeted.

“I think I might be sick,” she whispered to Corbin, just before Lucien stepped forward.

“Then I’d recommend you aim for his godawful excuse of a suit,” Corbin muttered, forcing her to let out an unladylike snort.

“Corbin, so good of you to come,” Lucien purred.

“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Corbin said, his manners perfectly intact, but there was an…underlying maliciousness in his tone that Dani wasn’t certain anyone else could hear. Not unless they dared to look for it.

Corbin’s disdain for Lucien was clear.

So clear that, if Dani didn’t know better, she would have said Corbin’s dislike of Lucien was personal. More than a hate between two feuding mafia bosses. More than the protective instinct he might feel for Lucien’s victims, or for her as a friend, if that’s even what they could be considered. No, the lust for violence in Corbin’s eyes wasn’t even slightly circumstantial.

It was intimate, ancient, fierce.

Fueled by a hatred birthed long, long ago.

Longer than she’d ever have a chance to live.

The difference between them struck her starkly then, making her suddenly aware of who and what he was. She wasn’t certain how she hadn’t seen it before.

Even if Corbin had offered her more than one night, made her sweet promises, Corbin Blackwell was as beautiful of a being as he was old, a creature meant to outlast her. He was ancient, unchanging, and as twisted as he was fierce, frozen in time like a film reel. Moving, and yet, not fully alive either.

Not breathing. Not flesh as she was.

Not human.

And yet, she wanted that kind of power, the power that came with an unending existence.

Is that what had always brought her here? To this glittering world? A search for power? For immortality? Along with the revenge she now wished.

And if so, what kind of monster did that make her?

Dani swallowed hard, her tongue instantly dry and thick. Maybe Quinn was right. Maybe she had turned her back on humanity.

She reached for the long chain of her necklace, cradled between her breasts. She pulled it from her decolletage, fingering the skeleton key there for strength. At the sight of it, Corbin’s eyes went wide, his nostrils flaring, but Dani didn’t have time to question it, before the fleeting look was gone in an instant.

She blinked, vaguely aware that Lucien was now talking to her. “I’m sorry. Were you saying something?” she said, turning down her nose at him.

She couldn’t help but notice Corbin’s smirk at the corner of her eye as Lucien sneered.

“Perhaps you’d prefer to put your pet on a leash,” Lucien said to Corbin whilst staring straight through her. “Then she might be better trained.”

Corbin’s look of feigned boredom was an immediate dismissal. “I don’t need to keep my companions on a leash in order to tame them, Lucien. Personally, I find they are more than eager to return of their own free will.” Corbin placed a hand on her lower back, drawing her to him, protecting her once more.

“Why bother to amuse them when you can simply take?” Lucien said, his disgusting gaze raking over her.

Adrenaline shot through Dani, making her unable to stop herself. “A man only steals what he cannot win fairly.” She turned her attention toward Corbin then, forcing more than a little admiration into her gaze. Gently, she reached out, cradling his cheek. “Stealing is beneath you. It’s the tactic of the poor and desperate.” She turned her gaze toward Lucien then. She stepped back a little. “Lovely party. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Dani made a hasty exit then, escaping the pressing heat of the ballroom and quickly locating a passing waiter. She plucked a bubbling champagne glass from his tray, before immediately downing the contents. She felt Corbin’s presence behind her a moment later.

“I think you’re supposed to savor it,” he whispered into her ear.

Dani passed the champagne flute back to the waiter, before snatching another. “I’m sorry I insulted him so blatantly. I have no doubt that’ll cause trouble for you, but I…I just couldn’t stand to stay silent as he stood there with that smug look on his face, and that poor woman…”

“Do you think I am angry with you?” Corbin asked, as if he were amused.

Dani shook her head a little, sipping more of her champagne glass. Now that she was really letting the flavor linger in her mouth, she wasn’t even certain she truly wanted it. She set the half-full flute down on another passing tray again. “I just thought maybe you’d be—”

“You were incredible, darling, and Lucien is no doubt furious. You have his attention now, and that’s exactly where we want him.”

Dani lifted a brow. “And why do we want his attention again?”

Corbin had never exactly made that clear.

He hadn’t been very forthcoming about their plans. A fact that hadn’t escaped her attention.

He chuckled a little, as if she’d done something to amuse him again. “Like I said before,” he extended his arm toward her. “You’ll have your revenge. Leave the details to me.”

Dani hummed her approval. The champagne going to her head quickly, relaxing her. Just enough to make her forget, if for a moment, that she couldn’t fully trust him.

Not really.

He was still a vampire after all. As her brother had reminded her.

The growing tension and feeling between them nothing more than for show.

Hiccupping, she held Corbin tight as he led her back toward the dance floor. “Now that you’ve proven to this world that you’re unafraid of Lucien, time to reclaim your place as its queen,” he said, his words enticing and entrancing her once more.

To her surprise, for the next hour, Dani didn’t once think of Lucien again, or, if she was truthful, she managed to avoid looking at him directly, at least. Instead, she was too caught up in the feel of what it was like to be whisked about the dance floor in Corbin’s arms, to have all eyes watching her. Even if it wasn’t real. Even though it never would be.

And though she knew that in time, Corbin would give her the signal to slip away, to take her true shot against Lucien, already she felt as if she had won, because tonight, she’d learned what she’d came here to do. To reassert herself. To reclaim her place.

And survival was its own kind of revenge entirely.