Wicked Surrender (18 page)

Vera cleared her throat
—
twice. She ran through everything Sarina said twice before she could figure out what to say.

“Um, well, thank you. I assure you I’m not sad, and I would lo
ve to come over for dinner some
time just give me a ring.” Nice, sweet smile, there. She ignored
the question
about Jackson Marsh, she was not going to talk about him, wasn’t even sure if she could without crying.

Sarina was stronger and smarter than she originally gave her credit for because she didn’t stand up to leave.
Instead,
she leaned back her chair and gave her a saucy smile. “Would you perhaps be interested to know that I saw Jackson Marsh today?”

Vera flung herself into a sitting position, her ass nearly falling out of the chair as she tried to get closer to Sarina. “What, what do you mean? He was
here.
On Kategan land?” Panic, shock, hope, and excitement spun through her all at once.
Stupid girl don’t get your hopes up.

Sarina leaned forward like she was about to divulge the
juiciest
of gossip. In a loud whisper she said, “He came by Vane’s today, or should I say
tonight
. He asked where Rome was and so on and so on, and then he asked about you.” She tossed her head back and
pretended
to fan away the heat from her face. “The man’s eyes were so hot when he talked about you I swear I had to crack a window. The man
smoldered
.”

Vera absorbed her words with a mixture of denial and stupid hope.

Sarina cocked an eyebrow and pretended to study her nails. “So would you like to know what else he asked about?”

Vera could only nod dumbly.

Sarina grinned from ear to ear. “He wanted to know where you lived. Said he needed to talk to you. Vane wouldn’t tell him either. Oh my god, you should have been there. It was
awesome
. I thought there was going to be a fight. Jackson got all angry-eyed and dark, even his scent smelled...different. Vane only told him after he fessed up about being changed into a vampire
. Then there was this
other thing that he promised me and Vane not to tell
anyone about
.”

Vera grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a little shake. “What promise? Tell me, please!” She didn’t hide the desperation in her voice. Her hands were shaking when she finally pulled them back.

Sarina cocked her head and smiled softly. “You love him, don’t you?”

Vera slumped
in
her seat with defeat and said miserably, “So much. He is my mate.” Sarina
nodded
,
her eyes gentle and understanding.

“He cares about you, you know. I may not have any right telling you this, but I think that’s why he came here today. For you.”

Vera nodded mutely, her mind buzzing with a thousand thoughts, doubts, fears, and hopes.

“Well I’ll leave you alone now, but I just wanted to tell you that you have a friend close by if you want to talk, go shopping, trash the male
sex
, or get drunk and watch Twilight.” Vera laughed for the first time in four weeks.

She went to Sarina and hugged her tight. “Thank you,” she said softly. Sarina squeezed her back.

“Anytime darling.”
She
gave a girly wave then left out the front door.

He came back. Well of course he came back, he lives around here, but he came asking about her. Did he still want her? She didn’t have so much pride or attitude that she would deny him if he came back groveling
—
okay if he came back at all. She would take him back in a second.

She walked back upstairs in a daze. When she got to her
bedroom,
she just stopped. She had no idea what to do. After doing the dishes she’d felt energized into doing something
—
namely going out and getting drunk. But now she couldn’t. The bathroom light drew her attention and like a moth, she went to it. Her makeup was scattered across the sink so she methodically started picking it up.

He asked about her. What was the promise? Did he want her back? It had to be something good, right? Or else Sarina wouldn’t have looked so evilly happy. Maybe he was going to apologize. Hope had her eyes widening and a small smile twitching on her face.

Don’t be stupid, Vera.
She slammed her hand against the wall, her teeth grinding together. He had a month to call, to write, to come see her. He wasn’t coming back with a
bouquet
of roses and an “I love you.” A fuck, that’s all he would want.

She switched off the bathroom light, and then there was a knock at the front door.

# # #

Jackson cursed himself again and the silly package sitting in the passenger seat next to him. He stared at it hard, then turned back towards the road, his hands screwing against the
steering wheel
.

God he’d never felt this before, and it fucking sucked.

She wouldn’t even like it.
Hell,
she wasn’t even going to let him in
the
door, he just knew it. He banged his head against the
steering wheel
for the twelfth time and followed Vane’s directions to her house.

He didn’t know what kind of mystical powers were at work but he did know that he was in love with a woman
who was not human,
and he didn’t even know if she had a job. Not that he blamed her for that. He never asked. Was too busy staring at her,
grumbling
at her like some kind
of caveman. Real smooth, Jacks
.

There was no way she’d take him back. Even if he
groveled,
which he planned to do a lot of. He was a vampire now, as in, needs blood every day to survive.
Sure,
she won’t mind.
Riiiiight.

He cursed the passing streetlights. They shone beams into the car and glinted the shiny red paper of the package
back at him. A cruel reminder. Warm heat flared over his cheeks
and
he
tried to pretend it wasn’t there.

He was one stupid son of a bitch. He’d fucked the greatest thing in his life up. Now he had to try
to
g
et it back, because living with
out it
, he
was only a shell of himself. Physically he was a wreck, mentally, a borderline monster.

He had Dmetri to thank for a lot though. The man had helped him, taught him so much shit he’d never even contemplated in his life. Like making sure he always had a supply of blood nearby so he didn’t get “hunger pangs.” Hunger pangs in a hungry vampire equals death to humans or animals alike.

Jackson slowed a
s Orchard Drive came into focus
. He
turned down it and
found her house
, pulling to a stop
in front of it.
His gut was bending and twisting with nerves, a sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and his fangs threatened to
drop
at the thought of seeing her again.

Would she be happy to see him? He’d thought of this moment a thousand different times since he’d fucked up with her. He was
determined to make it up to her
. He just hoped like hell
that
she didn’t hold a grudge. He lifted the box out of the passenger seat and got out of the car.

Lights were on in her house
—
a cabin just like Rome and Vane
’
s. The Kategan
’s
definitely had a thing for cabins. Her house was recessed back in the woods with
the
trees giving her house ample amount of shade and privacy from the main road he’d just come off from.

He parked some distance away because...shit. Because he was scared. Always know the exits
;
always have an escape route. Basic survival rule number one.

He walked silently over the gravel to her cabin, a beacon in the dark night. A shadow moved inside the house and his heart picked up speed. He was actually going to see her, after all this time.

The wind picked up and gently passed over him, ruffling the hair that
he
h
adn’t been cut in weeks. Jacks
inhaled that wind and had only a second to react before a blur of movement leaped out from the trees.

# # #

Vera flung open the door, her heart in her eyes.

A vast greatness of nothing greeted her. She stepped outside and looked left, right, up to the main road. She opened her senses and smelled nothing. Was Sarina playing a joke on her?

“Sarina?” Insects chirped and frogs bellowed in return. She put one foot back in the house and smelled it
—
vampire. She almost smiled. He came back!

“Jackson?” she called out, not caring how excited she sounded.

An evil laugh came from behind her. Vera spun around to find Ariss standing in her living room. She didn’t question it, just let her beast roar
through her with a feral growl
and launched herself at the vampire
bitch
.

She caught Ariss around the middle and tackled her hard to the ground. She had a second to hold her and then Ariss twisted her arm free and slammed her palm into her nose. Vera sputtered as blood and pain
lanced
through her.

Ariss caught her by the hair and yanked her back, wrapping her legs around her waist and flipping them over. Vera made a wide arc with her arm, hand fisted tight, and slammed it with all her strength into Ariss’ face. The vampire nearly slid completely off of her.

“Fucking bitch,” Ariss hissed. U
sing her hair as leverage
, she
lifted Vera’s head and slammed back down to the floor.

Dizziness
danced through her mind like she was on a merry go-round. “What do you want?” she bit out
between
clenched teeth.
Ariss slammed her back again,
and then
slammed
a
fist into her face.

She bit down hard on her tongue with the next hit to the face. Roaring, Vera lifted her legs and hips off the floor and wrapped her ankles around Ariss’ neck. It became a battle as Ariss was determined to yank out
every
strand
of
Vera
’s hair for leverage
.

Finally,
a sharp pull of hair ripped out of her head. Vera didn’t feel
it;
she used her legs to slam Ariss down to the ground. Ariss
’
head
lolled around, her eyes flutt
er
ing
.

Vera didn’t
hesitate
to sit on her chest and introduce her fist to her face a dozen times. She was panting when she was done and Ariss lips were busted, bloodied, and her eyes were going to be black in the morning.

She grabbed her by the hair and yanked her neck to the side.
“I said
what do you want with me?”
She sharpened her pull in warning.

Ariss gasped in pain and struggled beneath her. “My Master’s going to kill me unless I kill you. This is my last chance, and I will not fail.”

“Well it looks like you did,
bitch
.” Ariss
laughed
a cruel scratch of a sound.

“Or so you think. Conner is going to kill your mate.”

Vera froze. “Who’s Conner?”

Ariss l
aughed and shook her head side
t
o
side. With the hand gripping her
hair,
she could bare
ly move
an inch.

Vera had
never
before
felt
the ugliness of rage that filled her then. She pulled back her fist and hammer
ed
it into Ariss until her
breathing slowed and she
slumped lazily against the floor
. Only then did she stop.

Breathing heavily, Vera aske
d again. “Who is Conner?” Ariss’
eyes fluttered closed. Vera slapped her hard across the face, the sound
a sharp crack in the room
. “Answer me!” she screamed in her face.

Ariss opened her eyes and smiled, her
fangs
spotted red. “My guardian. He went after your mate. He’s going to kill him.”

# # #