The Sweetest Kill: A Young Adult Paranormal (20 page)

Tyler runs a hand through his hair and sighs before continuing, “So I took the streets. I fought for money using my new brute strength and won enough to keep myself fed. I slept under overpasses and hated everyone. I was roughing up a guy for some extra cash, when Tobias showed up. He watched me beat the shit out of the guy and when I asked him what he wanted, he told me he knew what I was.”

“How did he know?” I ask, completely wrapped up in the story.

Tyler shrugs, “How does he know anything? He just does. Anyway, he offered me a job. I spit in his face and told him to fuck off. He stalked me for weeks, always offering the same deal and I’d always tell him where to stick it. I wasn’t interested in doing anything but rot in a gutter. Then after a month of, I was run down and agreed. It was the best decision I ever made, I can tell you that much.”

“What changed your mind?”

“He offered me a way out and a purpose.” He tells me simply, “It was all I wanted.”

“It’s like making a deal with the devil isn’t it? He always knows what you desire most.”

Tyler chuckles and nods, “Yeah, but this one isn’t so bad. He’s just bored.”

“So that’s your tale of woe?” I ask with a sigh.

Tyler looks at my untouched eggs and grabs my fork to take bite of them himself, before answering, “Yup. What about you?”

I shrug and look anywhere but him, “Mine’s not all that exciting.”

“I bet it is.” He argues, “Not very often the boss has me stalking human females for something other than a meal. By the way, I’m sorry about your boss.”

I frown at him, “Why? You didn’t do anything.”

“That’s the reason I’m apologizing. Should have killed him on the night we officially met. Would have saved you some hurt.”

Some, I think, but not all. With a sigh, I look up at him and smile, “It’s okay.”

“All the introductions finished?” A tight voice asks from behind us. I jump and turn around to see Tobias leaning up against the wall with assessing crimson eyes. When they land on me, they soften a little, “Have you eaten?”

“I made her food but she’s not eating.” Tyler says, his mouth full of egg.

“So you thought it’s better to eat her food for her?”

Tyler shrugs, unrepentant, “Better than having it wasted.”

Tobias rolls his eyes and turns back to me, “I have your clothes upstairs inside the duffle in the closet. Get dressed and be down here in half an hour.”

“Why?”

“Because you and Tyler still have that errand to run.” He tells me patiently, “And going in my pajamas will only be distracting.”

I glance down at myself and blush. Okay, he has a point.

antecedent

Dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans, a baggy white sweater, and my motorcycle boots, I descend the stairs in fifteen minutes. My jacket is draped over my arm as I walk down, but I pause when I hear low voices coming from somewhere nearby. The voices don’t stop talking when I stop walking, so I take this time to listen to what’s being said. Some of it I can’t make out, but what I can discern, doesn’t make sense.

“You know the rules?” Tobias asks lowly.

“I said I got it and I got it.” Tyler snaps, obviously irritated.

“She can’t know where you’re going until you’re there. She’ll hate it at first but I think once she gets into it, she’ll enjoy herself.”

“She’ll be pissed.” Tyler tells him flatly.

“She’ll get over it.” Tobias dismisses.

“I stand by my earlier statement, she’ll be pissed.”

“Drop it.” Tobias growl before appearing around the corner and seeing me pretending not to hear anything. He pauses and his face registers surprise, before it slips into amusement, “Hello, Shoshanna.”

“Tobias.” I greet as I move down the stairs. Pausing, I fake confusion, “Or is it Toby?”

His smirk becomes more pronounced, “Which would you prefer?”

“I can’t really say.” I mumble with a shrug. When I spot Tyler coming into view, I turn my attention to him and smile, “Ready?”

“Yes ma’am.” He says with a grin.

When I get off the last step, I give Tobias a wary look, “Aren’t you supposed to be hiding in your coffin for the day?”

I hear Tyler choke on something beside me, but I don’t remove my eyes from Tobias’. His lips pull up into a very amused smile and he reaches out to brush a lock of hair from my face. I’ve pinned half of it back with a few clips I found in my bag, but it keeps falling out. His fingers brush my bruise and I wince but don’t move a muscle.

“Are you dismissing me, Miss Belle?”

I roll my eyes at the formal tone in his voice, “Only if you’re willing to be dismissed, Mr. Van Garrett. Besides, isn’t this an errand for you? Something urgent, enough to not be bypassed for another day?”

“You’d be surprised what I can go without.” He teases as his thumb caresses my dry lower lip. My lip trembles a little under his touch. Tyler clears his throat and Tobias’ eyes go dark as he seems to collect himself. Stepping back from me, Tobias’ expression goes bland as he turns to Tyler, “Have her back by nightfall.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Nightfall.” Tobias says again with force.

Tyler rolls his eyes, “Yeah, I got it.”

Opening the front door, Tyler gestures for me to walk ahead of him. With a frown in Tobias’s direction, I walk past him and towards Tyler. Tyler waits for me outside the door and reaches past me to close it behind me once I’m out of the way. With a brief smile in my direction, Tyler walks ahead of me while leading the way towards the already operating and waiting car parked in the driveway.

I chew on my lower lip and head towards it, while wondering what the hell that mood change was about. Maybe it’s because, now, there are people around to see you with him, my brain supplies unsympathetically. My stomach clenches and my heart aches at the idea. I quickly push away the sickening feeling I have at that thought. I shouldn’t care if he wants to be seen with me. He’s the one who brought me here!

“Miss Belle, happy to see you’re well.”

My head lifts to see Anthony standing by the car, dressed exactly like the last time I saw him. He’s even wearing the sunglasses again. Tyler opens the back door and climbs in without a word to Anthony, but I do owe the man a ‘thank you’. Stepping towards him, I struggle on getting the words past my mouth.

Anthony seems to notice and speaks up, “No need, ma’am. I’ve been meaning to test out the aim on that gun for a while now.”

I gulp at the memory that invokes. Nodding hastily, I figure that’s all that needs to be said on the matter. Crawling into the sleek back car, Anthony closes the door behind me. Tyler is sitting on the opposite side of the car with a smile on his face, as I grab the seat belt to pull on. He goes without it, but then again if I were a Lycan, maybe I’d abstain from wearing it too.

“So where are we going?” I ask Tyler as Anthony starts driving.

“Errand.”

I roll my eyes at his grunted reply, “Obviously but where?”

“You don’t really want to know.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to know?”

Tyler sighs and looks at me speculatively, “We have two errands today, one I don’t think you’ll like every much.”

“Meaning?”

“I’m on strict orders not to reveal any information.”

“I heard.” I grumble as I look out the window.

He huffs a laugh before sighing, “Well you know what they say about eavesdroppers.”

“I didn’t expect to hear anything good myself, so your point is moot.”

“How old are you, Shoshanna?”

I make a face, confused by the change of subject, “Twenty-two.”

“Young.”

Turning back to the window, I sigh heavily, “I don’t feel young.”

“We have a bit of a drive. Why don’t you tell me how you met Tobias.”

I tense, “I’d rather not.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

“Alright, we’ll play it your way. I’ll tell you what I know and you fill in the dots. Sounds fair?” He says but doesn’t give me time to answer before speaking again, “You dislike socializing. You don’t talk much and when you do, you often stutter. You are left handed and when you’re thinking hard about something, you chew on your lower lip. You tug on your sleeves often and feel your arms through them as a comforting habit. Would you like me to continue?”

I just stare at him. I suppose he noticed all that while watching me. That doesn’t surprise me, but it’s strange to hear facts about yourself rattled off like they’re everyday things. I chew on my lower lip and then his words echo in my head, making me release it. With a scowl, I turn away and look outside the window.

“But those are just observations of your habits.” Tyler continues, when I don’t say anything, “The personal information is where it gets interesting. I also know you’re suicidal and in the midst of intense therapy after a seventh attempt on your life. See, that’s the thing about Tobias, he sees what you want the most and then he gives it to you. That’s how he ensnares you. I wanted a purpose. You, on the other hand wanted death. Yet, here you are, alive and well beside me. You see? Interesting.”

I feel tears start to pool in my eyes, but I don’t turn to look at Tyler. I don’t want him to know he’s getting to me. He’s curious, rightfully so. He knows how Tobias works, like the devil himself. Offering your deepest desires for his own selfish means. He just wants you for amusement, I remind myself. Why would he want me for anything more than that? I try to remember that this is a job, something I agreed to as a means to an end. Tobias makes deals for selfish reasons, and so do I.

Wiping away any escaped tears, I turn to Tyler with an apathetic look on my face. Tyler’s brown eyes widen fractionally, before he slips an emotionless mask over that. He does it so easily that I don’t doubt it’s something he has to use a lot. I wrap my arms around myself as I face him and keep my voice fairly quiet.

“You are very observant, I’ll give you that. In fact, I’ll give you even more credit for digging into my medical records, which is illegal by the way, but that doesn’t change the facts. Being that despite your interest, Mr. Parrish,  the details of my deal is none of your business. You were not involved in them, so as informative as this has all been, I’d rather we don’t discuss it again.”

“Shoshanna, I…“

“Please,” I plead quietly, “Just… stop talking.”

The rest of the drive is fairly silent and for that I’m thankful, but it’s also a terribly long ride. In the brightness of the day, I can make out better the surrounding landscape. It’s pretty vast, and with little population for most of the way. It’s easy to tell when they get closer to the city though. Once we do, I feel myself relax a little, this is my domain. This place I know how to navigate. A mansion? Not so much.

I do start to panic a little when we start to head uptown, where I remember Viktor’s apartment is situated. I meet Anthony’s gaze in the rearview mirror, his sunglasses now removed to reveal light blue eyes meeting mine. He seems to notice my panic and gives me a subtle shake of the head. I immediately relax into my seat, and let out a shaky sigh. I’m not ready to go back there, not with memories of the last time I went there still having the power to overwhelm me. I wipe my sweaty palms on the legs of my jeans, and turn my attention to the view out my window.

When the car slows down though, I feel my heart triple in speed. No! No way in hell am I going in there! This is worse than I thought it would be. I look over at Tyler and see him staring back at me with a hint of pity in his dark brown eyes. I feel my anger boil under my skin as I think of the conversation I overheard earlier between the two men. I’ll get over it, Tobias said. Well he’s got another thing coming, because I’m not going in there.

“Scale of one to ten, how pissed are you right now?” Tyler asks quietly.

“Eleven.” I grit out.

He winces, “Well, that’s not good.”

I snap my head in his direction and glare at him, “You think?”

“It’s just a store.”

“A clothing store!” I spit. The words sound dirty, even to myself.

Tyler looks uncomfortable and shifts in his seat, “Don’t women usually like shopping?”

“I don’t know what other women like, but I don’t.” I snap at him, trying to calm myself down.

I curl my hands into fists and dig my nails into my palms as hard as I can. I don’t like thinking about my body. Whether that means dressing it or not, I don’t want to think about it. I just want to wear what’s comfortable and these places aren’t about that. Traumatic memories of my mother taking me shopping come to mind, and I try to bat them away. I’ve been humiliated in this setting far too often.

“I’m not going in there.”

“The boss said…“

“I don’t give a flying fuck what he said, I’m not going in there!”

“You’re acting like a brat.” Tyler tells me dryly. “He did this so you could get some new clothes, so relax and spoil yourself.”

“I don’t want to be spoiled! I want to be left alone!”

I’m completely over this game. The thought comes to mind that this is what Tobias wanted. To put me in yet another unwanted situation, just to watch his favorite monkey dance. It could be a test, but if it is, I’m deciding to fail it. Grabbing the handle of the door, I scramble out of the car before Anthony can even make it around the car. I give him a quick glance before turning on a heel and walking in the opposite direction. I’m done with the games.

“Where the hell are you going?” Tyler yells from behind me.

“Home!” I yell back at him, over my shoulder.

I hear his heavy footfalls behind me, but it’s not until he grabs my shoulder do I actually stop. I quickly step away from him though, creating a space between us with my heart beating hard in my chest. He puts his hands up in surrender when he takes in how much I dislike him touching me, and backs up a little. It’s nothing like when Tobias touches me. I don’t feel anything close to comfort from Tyler, only fear.

“Sorry.” He quickly apologizes, hands still in the air.

“I’m not going in there.” I tell him resolutely. I’m not bending on this.

“That’s fine.” He assures, still looking like I have him at gunpoint, “Just come back to the car.”

“No.” I say with a shake of my head, “I’m done with these little trips. He does this on purpose, just to mess with me. He’s said so himself. I can’t keep doing this. I’ll lose my mind, again.”

“Again?”

I ignore him and speak in a rush, “I can’t go back to the hospital. I can’t go back to the circle confessions or the goddamn midnight checks. The doctors keep telling me they know me and what’s best for me, just from reading a file. They know nothing about pain. They know nothing about the fucking agony constantly in my chest, suffocating me. I can’t do it again. I can’t.”

Tyler reaches out towards me again, and I step back with a shake of my head, “Don’t.”

“I’m sorry.” He says fervently, but I don’t think it’s just for attempting to touch me, “Listen, I’ll go inside. They have personal shoppers there. I’ll just need your sizes and I know what he wanted you to get. It’ll take about fifteen minutes, twenty tops. He’ll never need to know you didn’t go in there.”

I eye Tyler warily, “You said he knows everything.”

“Who do you think tells him everything?” Tyler tells me with a slight smile, before holding a hand out towards me, “Just come back to the car and I promise you that I’ll take care of it.”

“Why?”

He frowns, “Why what?”

“Why are you helping me?”

Tyler licks his lower lip and laughs a little, “Well, let’s just say, I’m not exactly a stranger to the downsides of Tobias’ deals.”

Our earlier conversation comes to mind and I weigh the truth in his words. Alright, he may know a few things, but I don’t think he had to deal with Tobias completely integrating himself in his life. I can’t imagine Tyler would share a bed with anyone, let alone a male vampire with a nasty habit of invading personal space.