“We’ll move on in the morning.”
“Will they find us here?”
He almost told her no, but the word froze on his tongue. He didn’t want her to worry, but he couldn’t lie to her. “Probably not.”
“But there’s a possibility?”
“Yes.”
Callie sank to the floor. The cold concrete against her ass drained what little heat remained in her body. She’d prefer not to get closer to him, but unable to take the cold, she crawled in the direction of the mattress. When her hand caught the corner, she pulled herself onto it and perched on the edge.
“I’m a lot stronger now,” he said. “If they find us, it will be a much different battle.”
And if Yannis found them here, he would destroy his brother. Lucien would joyfully tear the bastard apart for what he’d done, and he would ensure Yannis never walked the earth again.
Memories of the past almost overwhelmed him, but he buried them once more. He couldn’t allow himself to become infuriated while trapped in this place. It would not help him earn her trust, and though he’d never tried to earn the trust of a human before, he wanted hers.
He settled onto the mattress beside her. They didn’t touch, but they were so close, her presence warmed his side and her smell engulfed him.
“You’re only one against many,” she said.
“I was one against many before too, and we’ve made it this far.”
He had a good point there.
“True.” They sat in silence for a few minutes before she spoke again. “Why are those things trying to make you like them?”
“They’re trying to turn vampires who don’t kill into vampires who do.”
“You don’t kill?”
“No humans or innocents, but I enjoy destroying those who deserve it.”
He’d regained enough of his abilities that he heard her gulp. He should probably curb some of his blunt attitude, but he’d never been one to hold back before. However, she’d been through enough without him scaring her with his blatant enjoyment of killing.
“I know what I did to you when I bit you,” he said. “But I meant it when I said you’re safe with me. I promise you, Callie.”
His voice rang with sincerity, but she didn’t know how to respond. Instead, she decided to change the subject.
“You said you don’t kill, but you were going to kill that man in the house before I stopped you.”
Lucien couldn’t deny the truth. He’d been out of control and on the verge of taking a life; he’d also been on the edge of turning on her.
“I was out of control then, but I’ve fed and have more control now,” he explained. “They didn’t give me any blood the entire month I was there. I was ravenous and out of my mind. It’s also why I bit you. I’m not offering it as an excuse, but it is the truth. I’m better now and more in control. It won’t happen again.”
For some reason, she believed him. Why would he lie about something like that? How would she act if she didn’t eat for a month and someone suddenly put food in front of her? Hangry did not begin to describe what she was like when she went for more than a few hours without food, never mind a month.
“I won’t take from you again, unless you willingly allow it,” he said.
“There’s no way I’ll let that happen! I don’t ever want to experience that again.”
Lucien winced and started to run his fingers through his hair, but they got stuck on the grime again. Frustration filled him; he needed to fix this between them and a shower.
“A vampire’s bite is actually extremely pleasurable if you’re willing,” he said.
She recalled watching him feed on those humans; she didn’t see how anything could be pleasurable about it, but she wasn’t going to argue with him.
“Many enjoy it tremendously,” he continued.
There was something in his voice that caused her stomach to clench. She refused to be attracted to the vampire beside her, but she couldn’t deny the strange flutter his words evoked.
First Carter; now this guy. She had shit taste in men.
She refused to let herself become attracted to this filthy, borderline animal beside her. She was exhausted, and he was the only one she had to rely on in this horrible situation, so of course her body was going all kinds of crazy on her. When this was over….
What? What would happen then? She might never be able to return to her old life. Sorrow swelled inside her as she considered giving up her friends and her career. She loved what she did, and her friends were the only family she had left now that her parents were dead.
“What do you do, Callie?” Lucien asked.
“Can you read minds too?” she gasped.
Lucien chuckled and then stopped when the distress in her voice registered. “No, I can’t read minds. When I’m at full strength, I can control minds, but I can’t read them.”
Callie wasn’t sure she believed him, but if he could read minds, then he’d already know what she did and wouldn’t have bothered to ask the question. Still, she shifted uncomfortably, which caused her knee to brush against his. She jerked her leg away and hugged her knees to her chest before setting her chin on top of them.
“I’m trying to get to know you better,” he said, though he had no idea why. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d felt compelled to learn anything more about a human or a woman.
“What do you do, Lucien?” she asked instead of answering him.
“I hunt and kill Savages, and I love every minute of it.”
Callie lifted her chin from her knees. She blinked in the direction of his voice, but of course she still couldn’t see him. Had he really confessed to murder with such ease?
Yes, he had. A chill slid up her spine, and she gulped. He’d kept her alive and gotten them this far, but she could never forget she was sitting with a predator, and she was most certainly the prey.
“What are… what are Savages?” she croaked.
“That’s what we call the vampires who took you and imprisoned me. They’re vampires who kill for fun; they enjoy destroying innocent lives, like yours. They’re monsters, they’re Savages, and they don’t deserve to live.”
She pondered this for a minute before replying. “I agree with you on that. Do you hunt them on your own?”
Lucien didn’t know how much to reveal, but he could give her a little more without divulging too much. “No, I have friends—no, they’re my brothers of my choosing, and we hunt them together.”
Because the brother he shared blood with, he never would have chosen. His thoughts returned to Yannis standing there and smiling at him from the tunnel entrance. And then back to a night almost three hundred years ago when he walked in on the bloodbath of his brother’s doing. It was the first and only time in his life that his heart broke.
“I see,” Callie murmured.
She was amazed to discover she enjoyed listening to the rough timbre of his voice. Unlike the man, his voice was pleasing, deep, and melodic.
She yearned to see his face, but it was probably better she couldn’t. She was scared she might start to feel pity or understanding for him, and she’d be playing an incredibly perilous game by sympathizing with a creature who survived by feeding on her kind.