Particularly, vampire females.
Since I took the job at the Academy, I’ve been extremely selective over which cases I take. And since I met Violet, I haven’t taken any that would force me to leave the city.
This man? This chupacabra?
He’ll pay for all he has done.
I remain in the shadows as I watch him converse with the other men. At one point, the female finishes her blowjob and moves to perch on the arm of his chair. When he begins to finger her pussy, I look away with annoyance.
Finally, Matthew excuses himself from his companions to refill his glass. Using the shadows as coverage, I follow him to the purple-lit bar.
“…take it for what it is,” a very drunk Matthew slurs to the impassive bartender. “And what it is, is a pain in my ass.” He guffaws as if he just told the most hilarious joke before taking the proffered bottle. Over his shoulder, the bartender—a man named Bernie—meets my gaze and dips his head slightly in acknowledgement. I have been around enough for Bernie to know not to question me. If there’s one thing monsters covet above all else, it’s self-preservation.
Before Matthew can turn around, I grab his shoulder and tug him a short distance away, towards a mirror I had installed years ago.
There are numerous purposes for mirrors. They show you your true self, the darkness you attempt to hide behind a teasing smile and a beautiful face. But they’re also a pathway, a portal, if you will. You just need to know how to use them.
Matthew lets out a strangled cry, attempting to scream for his friends, but I have already pulled us both through the mirror.
It’s a sickening sensation, like wading through knee-deep tar. It clings to my body and makes movement nearly impossible. Still, I trudge forward, darkness closing in on all sides of me like a steadily shrinking room. I have entered this realm enough times to know how to maneuver through it, how to contort it for my own gain. A moment later, a speckle of light breaks apart the monotony of darkness. I drag a whimpering Matthew towards that light and step through.
We enter a sparsely furnished room with pure white walls and white tiled flooring. It’s caved inwards, leading towards a simple drain in the direct center of the room. There are no windows or doors; in every direction, all you can see is glossy white paint. A simple chair rests a few inches away from the drain, and a table sits opposite it.
It’s the chair I lead a struggling Matthew to, shoving him down and using the installed cuffs to restrain him. Fat, ugly tears roll down his chubby cheeks as he stares up at me.
“Please, I have a family. I have a wife and kid at home.”
I just barely hold in my snort. According to my extensive research, his wife left him years ago after she found him balls deep in a hooker, and he has no kids. Hell, he doesn’t even have a pet.
There are two things I hate more than anything in this world—crying and lying. And Matthew? He has just done both.
“Please,” he sobs, violent tremors jerking his body forward. “Please. I need to get home to my family. Please. My wife…she’ll be lost without me. She loves me, and I love her. Haven’t you ever been in love before?”
For the first time in the many years I have done this, I pause. My hand lingers over the second restraint. It lasts only a second—hell, a millisecond—but it’s enough for Matthew to notice.
“What’s her name? Or his name? What if this was her you were doing this to? What if this—”
I shove a gag into his mouth before he can say another word.
Keeping my face blank, I move towards the table in his direct line of view, caressing each blade with a calculated tilt to my head. Shall I use the knife this time? The dagger? My contractor didn’t specify how he wanted the kill to go. He trusts my judgement. I suppose I should make it as quick as possible to get it over with and head back to the club.
Though torture does sound enticing…
Matthew spits out his gag and levels me with a fury-filled glare.
“I’m going to find your whore and fuck her senseless. I’m going to wrap my hands around her neck and give it a twist until she’s nothing but a sack of meat. Then, I’m going to fuck her again while I make you watch.”
Cold fury radiates through me as I move my attention away from the table to the man held hostage before me. Well, that settles it.
The bastard is going to suffer for hours, maybe even days, until he’s screaming for death. No one can threaten Violet.
With a cruel smirk, I grab a set of pliers from the table and take a step closer to him.
“Let’s play a game,” I say as I kneel down before him. The vitriol in his eyes is quickly replaced by terror. Good. He should be scared. He has unleashed a beast inside of me, a beast I hadn’t even realized existed. “My bet is I can make you beg for death in less than five minutes.” With quick fingers, I unzip his pants and grab his disgusting dick, holding my pliers just above it. “Prove me wrong.”
Chapter 19
Violet
The music courses through me as I spin around in a circle before coming back to Frankie’s embrace. We sway together, our hips gyrating, as the DJ weaves together an intoxicating beat.
Frankie keeps his hands firmly on my waist as we twist and turn—even when I move away, I know I’ll always come back to him.
I wrap my arms around his neck and play with the curly hairs resting at his nape. His hair is smooth to the touch, almost unnaturally so, and slips through my fingers like silk.
I never would’ve expected in a billion years that I would be able to touch Frankie like this without fear of repercussion. For the first few months I knew him, he’d been so reclusive and indifferent. I wasn’t even positive he liked me, let alone liked liked me. Being with him is as natural as breathing. I know that if I were to fall, he would always catch me.
His words before penetrate the lust-filled fog in my mind. Could it be possible? Could I be mates to the others as well? A tiny voice in my head can’t deny the rightness of such a thing, but I shove that voice beneath the proverbial rug.
No, it’s impossible. It’s nothing but a foolish fantasy. Every girl hopes to be loved and worshiped by a harem of sexy men, but the truth is much more bleak.
You have to choose one.
Isn’t that the way the world works? Two people fall in love, and it’s like an explosion of fireworks. You know inevitably that you were made to find this person, made to love them. There has never been a case of a mating bond with more than one person.
What would it even mean? Would the guys have other female mates as well? I don’t know if I would be able to live with that, as selfish as it makes me. I want them all to myself. Just the thought of them with another woman has me seeing red.
“Do you need something to drink?” Frankie yells into my ear, and I nod eagerly, pushing my previous thoughts aside. I’ll focus on them at a later time.
“Yes, please, with a sparkly dildo on top,” I reply back, nipping his earlobe. He smiles at me—none of his usual aloofness remaining—and gives my arms a squeeze.
“I’ll be right back. Stay where I can see you.”
I wave away his over-protectiveness and shoo him towards the bar. As he leans forward to talk with his friend, the bartender, I can’t help but wonder where Dimitri disappeared to. And…if he liked the show.