She might as well have been talking a different language. None of it made sense to me, and the only thing I was worried about was Zack. I was the reason he was mixed up in this mess, and I wished I could at least know he was okay. “Where’s my friend?”
“The tall, pretty one?”
“The last part is debatable, but yes. The tall one.”
“I’m saving him for later, I think.”
“What does that even mean?” I forgot my fear for a moment and let out the frustration in my voice. “Why are you people harassing me? What did I do?”
She ran a pink tongue over her teeth, then flicked her eyebrows up once. “You let them out.”
“Let who out?”
“The Undergroves.”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “Okay? Assuming that’s true, it doesn’t mean they care the slightest about me. So—”
I gasped. All I felt was a sort of forceful thud in my stomach. I stumbled backwards, then looked down in complete confusion at the red stain on my shirt.
Blood. Was that blood?
My blood?
I looked at Leah, then saw her fingertips were wet and red. I looked at my stomach again and fell to my knees. “Why?”
She shrugged. “Because even Bennigan isn’t always right.” She gave me a girly wave, then back stepped and disappeared into the shadows.
I flopped on my back and looked up at the sky. So this was it. Dead by… what was that? A fingertip punch? Stupid. I was surprised that it didn’t hurt more. All I felt was a sort of cold spreading from my stomach that carried numbness where it went. I wondered if that’s how it would happen. Gradual spreading cold that reached my brain and ended everything.
I found myself wishing I hadn’t let Zack tag along. What had I thought he’d accomplish against those three? I’d known there was something wrong about them, and I’d still let him come.
I heard footsteps coming toward me.
“I’m dying, okay?” I said, feeling annoyed. “You got me, so just fuck off and let me die in peace.”
“No,” A man’s voice said. A deep, resonant man’s voice that I was sure I’d never heard but immediately felt like I knew. “I don’t think I will.”
I blinked, realized how blurry my vision had gone, and rolled my head to the side. “Oh, hi,” I said weakly.
How long had I been laying here bleeding? I patted the ground by my side a few times and determined the puddle of blood was large. My expertise in hematology told me it was approximately more blood traveling out of my body than was ideal.
“Are you Bennigan?” I asked.
The blurry figure tensed, then I saw him looking around us. “No,” he said. “Bennigan is a bastard.”
“And you’re not?”
There was a pause. “Whether either of us like it or not, it appears you’re about to be bonded to me. Even if I am a bastard as well.”
“Is that like when a baby lizard thinks the first thing it sees is its mommy?” I felt like I was getting delirious. I grinned, though, finding the idea funnier than it should’ve been. “Are you saying you’re gonna be my mommy?”
I thought the man was smiling a little, but everything was getting too blurry to be sure. He pulled something shiny from his pocket and cut his palm. “Drink,” he said.
I shook my head, hearing the soft patter of his blood hitting the pavement beside me. “That woman said someone bonded me already. Sorry to break it to you, but I’m already taken.” My voice sounded distant and floaty to my own ears.
Everything was spinning now, like the world was trying to fling me off into the abyss.
I was dying.
The man hesitated. “That’s not possible. Now drink.”
Before I could react, I felt hot liquid dripping across my mouth and running down my cheeks. A little bit of it slid down my throat before I could decide to be disgusted and close my mouth. “Is that blood,” I sputtered.
“Drink,” he said more insistently. He pushed his palm to my lips and forced more of the blood into my mouth.
The little bit that had made it into me was doing strange things I could already feel. My stomach rumbled and moved like I’d just tried Zack’s diet plan for a few days. But the coldness was fading, and I was feeling less foggy.
And it tasted good. Strangely good. Like fancy red wine or some kind of sauce that was so good you’d find yourself licking up the last drops from the plate when the meal was through.
When he pulled his hand away, I found myself hungry for more of it, as insane as it was. I lifted my head and reached for his hand, but he shook his head. “No. You shouldn’t have more than you need. It wouldn’t be safe.”
I wasn’t sure why, but I thought he was implying it wouldn’t be safe for his sake, not mine.
The man looked up, and I realized two dark figures had appeared at his side.
“She’s being followed. Make sure that changes.”
“Yes, master,” one of them said sarcastically, and then both figures were gone as quickly as they’d come.
“What’s going on? Are you guys superheroes? Are you Blood Man?” I still felt woozy, like I was halfway between drunk and dead tired.
“You’ll sleep soon. When you wake, you’ll feel better. Your wounds will be healed. And…”
“And what?” I asked. I could already feel the most powerful urge to sleep I’d ever felt rising up.
“And I’ll explain the rest when you find me.”
“Wait. Zack… Where is he.”
“We took care of him. Stop worrying and sleep.”
“You killed him? You bastard!” I reached up to grab his suit—what kind of person wore a suit at this time of the morning?
“No,” he said, gently pushing my hands back. “We sent him home and made sure he won’t remember a thing.”
My vision was finally getting clearer, and I saw how breathtaking the man was. “Wow,” I said dreamily. “You are pretty.”
His face had been a mask of serious manliness, but my comment drew out a smile. It also showed me that his canines were unusually sharp and long. He also had a cute little vampire dimple I thought I could’ve tucked a penny into.
Wait. Vampire. I’d seen enough movies to connect the dots forming rapidly in front of me. I was about to ask him point blank, but he put a hand on my cheek. There was something in the way he looked at me. Like he’d known me for years. It was the way teenage girls dreamed about being looked at and never quite found. It was a lost, hopeless look. A I will walk through fire for you look. A I will pick up my clothes and never leave a mess in the kitchen if you’d just be mine look.
I had a brief image of him waiting in the kitchen for me with an apron that said, “I Fanged The Chef”. Then I saw a little sharp toothed baby crawling on the ceiling and hissing at the cat.
Okay. Maybe I was already dead. At the very least, I was certainly delirious. That explained the vampire thing. It was just my mind playing tricks on me. Sexy, mouth-watering tricks that looked amazing in outdated, strange clothes.
He looked very serious. “Sleep, Cara. We’ll speak again soon.”
And then my world blinked out.