Hexed (The Gwen Sparks Series Book 4) (34 page)

“No, he’ll be a spirit walker like you,” Amara said, rising to her feet. “Look after him. It’s going to be difficult going from the power he used to have to that of your kind.” And just like that, she was gone. My eyes searched my room only to find empty space.

Dorian sat back on his heels and slowly opened his eyes, causing me to gasp. The smokiness I’d come to love was gone. His eyes were now the color of whiskey.

“Dorian? Are you okay?”

He let out a harsh exhale, his chest rising and falling heavily as he fought to catch his breath. Beads of sweat collected along his skin, his bare chest glistening against the sunlight.

When I reached out to him, he gripped my wrist and scooped me into his lap, wrapping his arms around my waist and hugging me to his body. I lay my head against his shoulder and listened to his breathing. He was so warm, not a hint of ice clinging to him. I concentrated on the rise and fall of his chest, the heaviness of his breathing.

My eyes had been closed but the sound of blood rushing beneath his skin coaxed them open. My gaze settled on the vein pulsating against his neck, causing my mouth to water. Leaning forward, I pressed a kiss to his throat. My teeth and gums ached as I thought about biting the place where I’d just kissed, seeing if he tasted as good as he smelled.

Afraid of my reaction toward him, I leaned away from his shoulder and closed my eyes. It didn’t matter though; I could still hear the rush of his blood. Lincoln’s blood donation had done its job and completed my transformation. I was now the one thing Ian Despereaux had worked so hard to turn me into—a monster.

Read ahead for a bonus short story from Aiden Blake’s POV.

I took a vote with my street team and they decided they wanted to hear Aiden’s side of the story, what led him to make the choices he made. Enjoy!

~ Addicted ~

I TRIED TO curb my annoyance that Louis had brought an entourage with him. My house was full of low-level witches and vampires. I retreated to my office for a breather, but Louis followed along, stating that we had business to discuss. As I took a seat in one of my leather, winged back chairs, Louis sat in the one opposite from me. He hadn’t come alone, though. A woman stood just behind his chair, a smile on her lips for me.

In my pursuit to help Gwen track down the distributor of Brew, I tracked down my old friend Louis. He resided in Chicago and, like me, had a nightclub. It was through contacts that I learned he served Brew under the table. When I called him with the ruse of wanting to sell witch’s blood in Vain, he’d invited himself to Flora.

I had met Louis is Germany a hundred years ago. Like with most vampires, we hadn’t seen each other in almost ten years but still considered ourselves friends. Living lives as long as ours, time separated never hindered our alliances. While Louis was ruthless in his business ventures, I didn’t believe he was the face behind the Brew distribution, but maybe he knew who was. As callous as it sounds, the selling of witch’s blood wouldn’t bother me if not for the fact that I was in love with a witch. This new development put Gwen at risk, stuck a target on her back. One I was willing to do anything to remove.

“Should we get down to business?” I asked. Louis and his entourage had been in my home for the past day, and my patience was growing thin. Not to mention the fear of Gwen showing up to a house full of vampires addicted to witch’s blood.

“You know,” Louis started, gesturing for the woman to come around the chair. “In the day since we’ve been here you haven’t once sampled the product you wish to buy. Call me paranoid, but that’s bad business.”

“My intentions were not out of disrespect,” I told him. “I only wish to serve addicts, not become one. Some may say that’s good business.”

Louis glared at me. “The boss doesn’t trust that sort of business. You either try the product or lose our supply. I don’t need to tell you that the distribution of Brew is a dangerous one. Surely the witches will retaliate for the injustice against their species. The boss does not put his trust in just anyone.”

“You have yet to tell me who your boss is,” I said. “I’m not used to doing business without knowing who I’m in business with.”

Louis gestured for the woman to approach me. Her hips swayed as she closed the space between us. Her long brown hair was plaited and hung over her shoulder, ending just under her breasts. She wore a flimsy blue dress with a flowing skirt that hit mid-thigh and nothing else. I could tell from where I sat that she wasn’t wearing a bra, and I doubted she bothered with panties. She was pretty in an average way, nothing special about her, yet nothing displeasing either. As I stared into her eyes I couldn’t help but compare her to Gwen, which he failed in comparison.

“Drink,” Louis commanded. “And then we’ll discuss the boss.”

I eyed my old friend, knowing I was backed into a corner. I had a very important choice to make. I would either sink my fangs into this woman’s neck or refuse and lose any hope of gaining a name. From what Gwen had told me, Brew only affected younger vampires. It was this little piece of information that made my decision for me.

The woman climbed onto my lap, straddling my waist. My sluggish heart sped up as I wrapped my arms around her waist and sat up, leaning toward her. Louis watched me from his chair, his eyes suspicious.

“I drink and then you tell me who I’ll be buying from?” I just needed a name, something to tell Gwen and Micah, and then this entire Brew fiasco would be over. The perpetrator would be apprehended and everything would go back to normal. Since I only ever drank from live sources, drinking from this woman didn’t make me uncomfortable. What unnerved me was the unknown of what would happen now that the spell protecting witches blood was dissolved.

The woman leaned toward me, placing her throat within range of my mouth. As I stared at the vein pulsating beneath her skin, I wondered why a witch would sell out her own kind and serve vampires. Living for as long as I have, I knew what sort of things desperate people would succumb to. Louis probably paid her well to feed his friends and clients.

Sliding a hand up her back, I held her against me and brought my lips to her throat. My gums swelled as my fangs descended. My eyes caught on Louis right before my teeth broke her skin and hot blood filled my mouth. My eyelids grew heavy with the disparate taste. I’ve drank from witches before, but had never tasted anything like this before. The normal coppery taste was still present, but subtle against the sweetness of magic flavoring the blood. It was so good that I had a split second to wonder if I was even drinking blood. I drank greedily, my arms tightening around the woman’s body to keep her against my mouth. The woman moaned into my ear as she writhed her hips against my pelvis, but sex was the furthest thing on my mind. With each swallow, my nerve endings sparked to life and set me ablaze with the need for more. It was pure magic, wild and earthy—raw.

Addictive.

As that word wiggled its way through my head, I had a moment of clarity. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been drinking from her neck, but I knew if I didn’t stop now, I wouldn’t stop until I was sucking on an empty vein. I’d drain her dry and crave more just to feel the rush of magic twine itself through my system.

Ripping my teeth away from her throat, I shoved her backwards. She fell off my lap but I couldn’t worry about manners while my body acclimated to this new sensation overtaking my body. I felt it everywhere as though a living being possessed every inch of me. My skin buzzed as the magic rushed through my veins. Slumping back in the chair, I closed my eyes and turned myself over to the magic. It was wondrous. For the first time in over six-hundred years I felt alive.

Hands roamed up my thighs. I half opened my eyes to find the woman kneeling between my legs, and Louis smiling as he left my office. He knew this would happen, knew once I drank I would be hooked. I couldn’t seem to find the awareness to worry about it though, not yet.

The woman’s fingers began fumbling with the button on my pants. Her seduction was the only thing that penetrated through the rush. I sat up, gripped her wrist and shoved her away. My pants were tented from the hardness of my cock, but it was Gwen’s legs it wanted between. Even in my state, I knew not to cross that line.

As Gwen crossed my mind, I sobered some. I’d drank from a witch, gotten a taste of the one thing she was trying to end. And I wanted more.

“There’s more than one way I can make you feel good, baby,” the woman cooed. Her fingers brushed over the bulge in my pants, causing me to growl. With the influx of energy, I was definitely in the mood for sex, but the woman’s body didn’t tempt me as much as her blood did. Blood leaked from the puncture wounds on her neck, tempting me closer.

The woman saw me staring at her neck and smiled. If I was in my right mind, I’d say she had a death wish, but as it were, I didn’t care. The red droplets collecting along her skin caused my fangs to lengthen, and my hunger to build.

With a fingertip, the woman reached up and swiped at the blood. Still smiling, she leaned toward me and coated my lips with her blood. My mouth parted as the magic buzzed through my lips, causing them to tingle. After that I had tunnel vision, solely focused on getting more of her blood. I was frantic for it.

***

I stared down at the crumpled body at my feet, confused. Her limbs were sprawled out like a discarded doll, her eyes wide and lifeless. Her once peachy skin was now stark white, her lips blue. And her neck…

I stumbled back until the wall stopped me. My normally sluggish heart pounded with a vengeance, almost painful in its abuse. My body was abuzz with energy, power unlike anything I’d ever experienced. I could feel the magic thrumming beneath my skin, racing through my veins and awakening every nerve ending.

The office door swung open causing my eyes to shift from the dead body. Louis stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. Walking closer, his eyes caught on the crumpled form between the two chairs, and he…smiled.

“My, my,” Louis said, his voice amused. “Looks like you enjoyed your sample a little too much.”

“I…I didn’t mean to.”

“It was exhilarating, yes?” Louis asked, stepping around the dead woman to where I stood near the wall. I’m no stranger to killing, but with willing donors nowadays, killing was needless. I was old enough to know when I’d had my fill, and not to let my hunger go to the point of me becoming frenzied. However, her blood was unlike anything I’d ever tasted before. My body demanded every last drop, and I’d taken it.

Not too many things scare me, but even now, I wanted more Brew. I had just drained a woman of her blood and thoughts of getting more kept running through my head.

“This usually happens the first time,” Louis said, resting his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged him off and grew angry with his comforting tone.

“You invited her in here knowing what would happen?”

Louis shrugged. “She knew the risks when I hired her. It never works out well when one addict enables another, especially when one addiction is stronger than the other.”

My eyes fell to the woman. “She was a vamp tramp?” While the term was derogatory, it was what we called those addicted to the bite of my kind. In some ways our venom served as a drug, one that hooked most donors. Our venom was in no way as strong the magic in witches blood, but addictive nonetheless.

The woman didn’t look like the typical vamp tramp, though. Imagine the difference between high price call girls and prostitutes on street corners. Long time donors resembled the streetwalkers while this woman resembled a classy escort.

“Should we discuss business now?”

My eyes slowly lifted to Louis’ face. Not an ounce of remorse showed itself on his features, but then, why would it? She’d been a product to him, an employee he used to entice other vampires to buy Brew. I was the one who killed her, who’d allowed the addictive properties in her blood overwhelm me. Gwen would never forgive me for this. Out of everything, this was the one thing that bothered me. While I was remorseful about killing the woman, betraying Gwen’s trust was like a stake through my heart. She’d hate me.

***

A day had passed since I killed the witch. Louis left with his entourage and promised the boss would be contacting me by tonight. Before he left, Louis gave me a black business card with a phone number. No other information was on the card, just the white text of numbers. I was to call when I needed more Brew. As a new client, Louis said it was his gift to me.

I told myself I’d call Gwen once I learned who was behind the Brew distribution, but in reality, I was hesitating because I had no clue how to confess to what I’d done. One night was all it took for me to become the Aiden she loved, to the Aiden addicted to Brew. I couldn’t handle the look on her face once she realized I’d let her down.

I wish I could say I was stronger than the addiction, but I wasn’t. Killing a woman did not hinder me from wanting more witch’s blood. Today I had laid in bed but sleep eluded me. My thoughts raced from fear of Gwen finding out to tracking down a witch and feeding again. I could feel the magical buzz waning through my veins. I quickly realized that I was also afraid to be around Gwen. I’d rather walk into the sun than harm her. She’d been wrong when she told me it only affected younger vampires. I’d been counting on that, hoping it would save me from falling prey to the addictive properties of witch’s blood.