A Wicked Hunger (Creatures of Darkness 1) (16 page)

Mace
looked at her. Her expression said she was on the verge of a full-on panic.

“Let’s go back to the cottage,” he said calmly, reaching for her.

She jerked away.

He pulled his hand back. A
dull pain, coated by sadness and salted by betrayal, twisted in his chest. It took him a moment to realize he was gleaning Cora’s emotions.

He
r lips curled into a deep frown. Distrusting eyes appraised him as though he’d been exposed as a villain.

Damn you, Knox
.

He’d been looking for the right time to tell her about the bond and what it meant. Unfortunately, Knox had beaten him to it.

“Cora, it’s not as bad as you’re thinking,” he said, attempting to dull her ire. He wished he had explained everything to her earlier, like in the car where she couldn’t run away.

She took another step back, and Knox let out a dark chuckle. Mace turned to pin him with a threatening stare. Knox merely smiled wider, enjoying the show.

Mace faced Cora again, softening his features. “I hadn’t intended for it to happen. That first night when we shared blood, we sparked a bond between us—”

“We?” she snapped. An accusatory finger landed on him. “No,
we
didn’t do anything. It was you.” She shook slightly as she backed up until she met the cavern wall.

Mace kept his tone light. “It’s not so bad, I swear. It makes it easier to sense each other’s moods, but that’s about it…”
Roughly
. “And it’s not permanent.”

At the last part of his speech, her expression relaxed a touch. He tried not to feel affronted by that. Before Knox’s interruption, he thought he’d seen strong desire behind
her eyes. Would it be so bad if it
were
permanent? He mentally shook that errant thought out of his head. Of course it would be.

“It’ll go away?” she asked shakily.

He nodded.

She turned suspicious once more. “Just like you said the dark cells would go away?”

“What’s this now?” Knox asked, dropping his arms. “Dark cells?”

“None of your business,” Mace snapped. He reached out for Cora again, and she only slightly flinched. He gritted his teeth. “Come back to the cottage with me. We should speak of this in private.”

She glanced toward Knox, hesitating. Then she nodded.

“Your drama bores me anyway.” Knox waved a negligent hand at them and then headed back down the tunnel, calling back, “Stay in the cottage or don’t. I don’t care, but I’m not leaving.”

Mace cursed under his breath and then waited till Knox was out of earshot before leading Cora down the same path. She no longer clung to him in fright…or in trust. Any hint of desire was now dead and possibly buried. Forever.

The moment they’d shared before Knox’s callous revelation had been strong, heavy, almost tangible, and so heady he’d nearly dropped to his knees…undone by a look.

Was it because of the bond? Or something else?

Whatever it was, it was gone now. And he wanted it back.

Cora walked next to Mace, though more than a few feet separated them. It was necessary. She was unnerved by his explanation of the blood bond.

For a moment, for one crazy second, she’d imagined she had feelings for Mace. To hear that it was caused by this unwanted bond was a relief—

Not disappointing at all.

“Did you hear me, Cora?” Mace asked

“Hmm?”

He peered down at her. “I asked if you were okay. You’re taking this better than expected. Would you like to talk about it? Or are you sparing the ire for later?”

As they had made their way through the hidden passage, she remained quiet, contemplative, as Mason attempted to play down the
bond
. She could tell he was playing it down because he would follow sentences with, “But it’ll fade,” and “It’s only temporary,” and worst of all, “This was the last thing I wanted.” Why the latter brought a pang into her chest, she couldn’t say. Then he would look at her, as if to gauge whether she was buying it.

She wasn’t.

And eventually she had stopped listening.

Not because she didn’t want to know everything. But because the implications of being tied to a vampire—by freaking blood—if even for a short time, had completely overwhelmed her ability to pay attention to what was happening around her. Even her lingering fear of Knox had been diminished by it.

However, she had managed to mentally file away a few facts. Blood bond: a semi-permanent bond with a vampire born of a blood exchange with side effects such as telegraphing one’s emotional state and unwarranted feelings of trust. Sounded like the makings of a perfect snare; a captive treated to a solid dose of Stockholm syndrome.

She thought back to when she might have reacted out of character because of this so-called bond.
In the tunnel just now, for sure. And no wonder she’d helped him on the mountain pass. Would she have left him there without this bond guiding her actions? Left him to die?

She shivered. Mace cocked a quizzical brow at her, but said nothing.

It wasn’t that she thought Mace was outright lying to her, but she could tell—whether it was from having gotten to know him over the last few days, or from his bond—there was something more he wasn’t saying.

And yet he was trying to explain things as gently as possible, trying to reassure her that she was safe with him. She imagined when he’d said that, he was thinking of Edgar, just as she was. If nothing else, it was sweet of him. And it did manage to ease some of her irritation.

That didn’t mean she wasn’t pissed at having been corralled into a bond she never asked for.

Nevertheless, she wasn’t in the mood to take it out on Mace at the moment. “Later would be better,” she finally replied.

He gave her a small smile. “Any time you’re ready, then.”

They ascended the stairs into the cottage, finding Knox had taken command of the sofa in front of the flat-screen. The movie he watched was something Cora didn’t recognize, which wasn’t surprising considering it was kung-
fu, starring an all vampire cast. She’d seen a few movies before, but mainly the only television she’d watched was with Winston, and that was mostly stock market analysis and twenty-four-hour news networks.

Without taking his eyes from the screen, Knox said, “Check it out, this guy’s about to have his head taken clean off.”

“I’ve had enough of blood,” Cora muttered under her breath, ignoring the action on the screen. If she could help it, no vampire would pierce her vein again.

Knox made a sound that was half laugh, half condescending scoff. “You’d better get over that real quick. You’re bonded to a vampire,
cher
.”

She raised a brow, wondering
, dreading, fearing she already knew, what Knox meant. But she clung to a small thread of denial with an enforcing desperation. Mace could drink from others. That was one of his reassurances. She didn’t need to feed him, right?

She looked to Mace.

He just shook his head. “Don’t mind him. If he could age, he’d be one of those crotchety old men who throw their canes at children. He’s an expert at causing trouble.” He handed her a parcel she hadn’t noticed him carrying before and then averted his gaze too quickly.

Now that she was aware of it, she thought she sensed anxiety and guilt coming from Mace.

She pursed her lips and started up the stairs, convinced he wasn’t offering her the entire truth about this bond thing. Knox might be more forthcoming, but she wasn’t about to try and get him alone to find out.

“I’ll be up in a moment,” Mace called after her.

She shot him a surprised look. Then her eyes darted to Knox and back as if comprehending his meaning. Mace wasn’t about to leave her in a room alone through the night with another vampire in the house. He could tell she was confused and scared. Most of all pissed. He’d address that later. Right now, he needed to set some ground rules with Knox.

Impossibly, her lips thinned further.

He expected a protest. Instead, she replied with a curt nod before disappearing to the second floor. Though he didn’t hear any noise, he imagined her cursing them both.

He couldn’t blame her. Even though it was for her own good, she was essentially a prisoner. In more ways than she was fully aware.

Mace turned back to where Knox lounged carelessly. “Get the fuck out of here.”

Knox rolled his eyes. “I thought we had this conversation already, and it ended with go fuck
yourself.”

“You selfish prick!” he snarled. “When will you ever choose the clan over yourself?”

Knox’s expression turned dark. “You don’t want to go there.”

“We used to be like brothers. How many times have I risked my life for you—
”

“I never asked you—”

“—and you can’t even do me a solid?”

“—for shit!
Fuck you!”

Mace lunged for Knox’s throat, but Knox saw it coming.

Without getting up, the heel of Knox’s boot kissed Mason’s chin with all the power of a grand slam hitter. Mace stumbled back, stunned, tasting blood.

Knox lowered his leg and relaxed into the couch once more, one arm over the back. “Seriously, Mason? Are we really going to do this?”

Mace spit out a mouthful of blood. “Yeah.”

Tension crept through the air as they both waited for the other to move.

Knox swiped his finger under his nose, sniffing. A baneful smile crept over his face.

* * *

Cora dropped the clear plastic pack Mace had handed off to her on the mattress and plopped down beside it. She was tired and wired at the same time, feeling like she should be doing something, but hadn’t the energy. She should be running as far and as fast from this place as she could manage.

She fell back onto the mattress, her arms sprawled out and
legs dangling over the edge, staring up at the ceiling.

The notion that she could escape Mace was laughable at this point. Not only was she in the middle of nowhere—a forest no less, a vampire’s ideal hunting ground—but she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to escape him. Which was infuriating in and of
itself.

She glanced down at the package. There were several items within: Two books, a set of candles, a smaller item that looked like a jewelry box, and some fresh fruit—peaches and strawberries.
Her favorites, naturally. What else had he discovered while he’d watched her for so many months?

She pulled out a peach, suddenly
reminded of her total lack of appetite. She should be ravenous. Was it wise to be concerned?

Determined, she bit through the soft skin, finding the center juicy and ripe. She knew it had to taste wonderful. However, her taste buds were of a different
opinion. Nonetheless, she took another bite, and another, till only the pit remained. Her stomach gurgled uncomfortably and then settled with a heaviness as though she’d eaten an entire feast.

Definitely not right.

To distract herself, she rummaged through the rest of the items. The candles were thick and waxy, as if homemade, and perfumed by an array of scents: rosemary, jasmine, burnt wood, floral, and other fragrances she couldn’t identify. There were over a dozen candles all together of different colors, shapes, and sizes.

She retrieved the book next and read the cover: A Witch’s Guide to Demons, Vampires, and Other Supernatural Entities.

Another, smaller book, read Quick Spells for the Witch on the Go: Pocket Edition. 

In the jewelry box, there was a beautiful pendant—a transparent, yet deeply purple gemstone attached to a silver chain.

Lifting the chain, she allowed the stone to dangle freely as she examined its many facets. She could understand the fruit, the books, but why would Mace buy the candles and this necklace?

A loud crash drew her to the window. Yellow light from the front door cut through the darkness and stretched over the yard, revealing Knox and Mace below. Knox landed several punches to Mace’s face, backing him up against
the car. Mace gripped the side of Knox’s head and then slammed his skull down through the passenger side window. Glass shattered. The harsh blow didn’t slow Knox down. He responded by head-butting Mace, following it up with another swift punch.

Both males were alarmingly bloody. How long had this been going on? What were they fighting over? Oh, goddess! What if Mace lost?

She banged on the window, yelling for them to stop. Then she remembered they couldn’t hear her. She opened the window and leaned out, preparing her lungs for a screech that would not go unheard. Instead, she found herself staring into a small, dimly lit room.

Against the far wall, a reading lamp sat atop a desk. All color but that of the lamp seemed to have been leached away. There were no windows, and she instantly felt confined. A hallow kind of depression hung heavy in her heart. That depression transformed to terror when she realized the room was populated by a single shadowy figure seated at the desk. Its dark head
seemed to look her way. Then the figure slowly stood, reaching out for her.

Cora
sucked in a painful gasp that filled her lungs too full and screamed.