Kiss Me, Kill Me Page 23

  He stood in front of me, eyes haunted, breathing heavily, a torn piece of fabric from my pants clutched in his fist. He threw the fabric to the ground, scrunched his eyes closed and swore under his breath.

  Meanwhile, Desislava was studying me as if figuring out the most painful way to take me apart. She pulled something from her pocket. A ring. She held it up, right in front of me. It was a brilliantly cut, square yellow diamond, set between smaller white diamonds in a platinum band.

  I frowned. I’d seen that ring before. It had been in a jeweller’s window. I’d deemed it the most beautiful ring in the display. I’d had no qualms pointing it out to Greg since it had been so ridiculously expensive, it was out of the realm of possibility that he’d purchase it just because I’d said I liked it.

  ‘He bought it for you before I turned him,’ she said.

  I gasped.

  ‘He planned to give it to you when you returned from your conference. However, once I turned him, he decided not to ask you to marry him. He’s kept this hidden from you all this time.’

  He kept it hidden? Why hadn’t he asked me? ‘Where did you get that?’

  ‘I searched his house. Somewhere you don’t go. Somewhere you would never find it.’

  Greg had a house that was in need of renovating. My apartment was more comfortable, so we’d been living there, and Greg’s house had been vacant for some time.

  ‘You think he loves you,’ she continued, the word ‘loves’ dripping with disdain. ‘But you’re no longer enough for him. Given time, he would have moved on. I’m simply moving the timeline forward.’ A quick smirk. ‘Putting you out of your misery. He needs someone who is his match.’ That Desislava believed she was his match didn’t need to be said.

  She slid the ring—my ring—onto her finger. Second one from the left on her left hand.

  If I had a knife or sword handy, I would have had no qualms chopping her fingers clean off. While I stared at those fingers, I noticed the water bottle she was holding looked like mine. Had she lifted it from my handbag outside? Her stealing my water bottle was the least of my problems at the moment.

  Or so I thought.

  ‘Alexi,’ she purred, handing him the water bottle. ‘Feet.’

  Alexi accepted the bottle, pulled the spout open and stepped towards me.

  Shitting hell, he was going to wet my feet, and then she’d stand there watching until they froze.

  Or so I thought.

  I needed to hang on to the last skerrick of energy I had left after fighting Alexi. In comparison with Lorenzo’s blood having given me a boost, Alexi was an actual vampire—a huge one at that. I had to stay put and see if a better opportunity to escape presented itself. One that had a slight chance of success.

  Try as I might, I couldn’t quash the urge to run or fight back.

  Neither running nor fighting worked, because Desislava grabbed me and held me still while Alexi soaked my shoes.

  I shuddered and winced and clamped my lips shut against the high-pitched mewling sound that made a bid to escape. I was so cold, everything hurt.

  Desislava let go of me. A smile slowly spread across her face. It was filled with intense sadistic joy. I really wished she wouldn’t do that.

  ‘Take off your shoes,’ she said to me.

  A breath burst out of me. ‘No.’ My wet skin would freeze to the floor. Fuck. No!

  ‘Do it.’

  I shook my head.

  ‘Do it, or we’ll do it for you.’

  I shook my head more vehemently.

  ‘Alexi?’ she said.

  And then Alexi, with preternatural vampire speed, was behind me, putting his arms around my body, trapping my arms and lifting me up again. I kicked and writhed and screamed.

  Desislava grabbed my legs one at a time in her cursed strong vampire grip and pulled off my shoes and stockings.

  She stepped back and said, ‘Put her down.’

  ‘No, no, no, no. Alexi. Please, no!’

  ‘Ana,’ was all he said in response.

  ‘You don’t have to do this, Alexi. Why are you doing this? Why are you even with her?’

  He whispered his answer against my ear. ‘She has my sister and her baby. She has described the things she will do to little Katia if I do not cooperate.’

  The idea of Desislava carrying out some sick, evil torture on that innocent, adorable baby made my gut churn.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Ana,’ Alexi said in a pained voice.

  ‘You don’t need to apologise to her,’ Desislava grated. Her glare should have cut Alexi down where he stood.

  I felt and heard Alexi’s shuddering exhale, and then he lowered me.

  I lifted my knees to my chest. I hung there for a moment, mere centimetres from the floor. Then he lowered me the final distance, and the soles of my feet touched ice.

  I cried out, scrunching my feet, balancing on my toes and heels, striving to have the minimum surface area of my skin touching the floor.

  With his hands in my armpits, Alexi pulled me upright from my crouched position. When Desislava ordered him to keep me from moving, he placed his hands on my shoulders and pressed down, ensuring my feet were flat on the floor and stayed that way.

  Desislava circled me. When she came to a stop in front of me, her expression was pleased.

  By now, tears were streaming from my eyes. My feet were numb. They felt dead on the ends of my legs, yet painful at the same time. My whole body shook uncontrollably with cold and a shit-ton of fear.

  Desislava walked over to the shelving unit that ran around the interior perimeter of the freezer. Grabbing a metal upright in her hands, she pulled. A metal pole broke away from the shelving unit. The shelves tipped to one side, the samples they were holding sliding and crashing to the floor.

  She stalked back and stood in front of me. Just watching and enjoying the show, as it were.

  My left foot was trying its best to cramp. Breaths coming in short bursts, I focussed on relaxing the muscles, doing my best to avoid what my foot was attempting to do.

  I calculated my odds of survival. My enemies had super-vamp speed. I wasn’t even particularly fast for a human. I was better at long distance, never having won a sprint race in my life. The vampires also had super strength and could withstand temperature extremes. They could heal from most injuries.

  I, on the other hand, felt as if is I’d shown up for a downhill ski race wearing a string bikini and a pair of flippers. I was cold—cold down to the marrow—and ill-equipped for what was coming. And I knew it was going to hurt like a motherfucker before it was all over.

  My odds of survival sucked balls.

  ‘Alexi,’ called Desislava with a jerk of her head, indicating Alexi should come to her side. Like he was a dog and she was calling him to heel.

  Alexi’s hands moved from my shoulders to trail down my arms. He squeezed gently, a gesture of comfort before letting go.

  The boss lady noticed and glared at him as he came to stand beside her. She then walked behind me, so I had one vampire at my front and one at my back. I preferred keeping my eyes on Desislava. I couldn’t turn, my feet currently frozen to the floor. It seemed an age that I stood there not knowing what was coming next.

  When the metal bar smashed into the backs of my thighs, I screamed in pain and shock. My back arched so hard, attempting to get away at the same time that I tried to lock down my body so as not to move an inch, I felt muscles and tendons strain.

  My eyes had scrunched closed. I opened them and stared at Alexi, beseeching him with my gaze, help me, help me, help me, help me.

  He grimaced and shut his own eyes, so he didn’t have to look into mine.

  The bar crashed into my calves. Again, I screamed and fought not to let the impact move my body from where I was fixed to the floor. I cried hard, snot pouring from my nose, the sobs bursting from my throat, almost choking me.

  And then came the blow to the backs of my knees. My knees folded, sending me crashing to the floor. The thing
I’d been fighting so hard to stop from happening, happened.

  The skin on the soles of my feet was torn from my body.

  I shrieked over and over, rapid and high-pitched. I’d heard dogs make that sound when they got run over in the street. It was an animal sound of pure pain. Even from far away, it had always made me cover my ears and made my gut twist.

  Shaking, on hands and knees, I tried not to throw up. Tried not to collapse onto my front. Having skin ripped from your body was more painful than being bitten and mauled by rabid vampires. You learn something new. Every. Fucking. Day.

  When I attempted to lock my elbow joints to keep my body off the floor, it was hard. My whole boy was shuddering and seemed not to be responding to commands from my brain.

  The pole connected with the side of my ribs.

  The blows came.

  Again and again.

  It felt as though it went on for hours.

  No matter that I tried with all my willpower to avoid large areas of my skin coming in contact with the floor, that was how I ended up. Lying on my back, arms crossed over my head, trying to protect my skull.

  I’d lost skin from my knees, palms, hip, the side of my torso. There were bones that had broken: ribs, one arm, a finger—maybe others. My throat was raw from screaming. My nerves on fire with pain. My will to live, nonexistent.

  Ice: red with blood.

  ‘Just kill me already,’ I croaked. ‘Won’t be any…blood for you…to suck on. You. Fucking. Parasite.’ I had a crack at calling her other names, bad names, but I seemed to have lost control of my speech.

  I wondered if having Lorenzo’s blood in my system was keeping me alive. A normal human would have died by now, surely. Just my luck, I didn’t have enough vamp juice to fight her. Only enough to prolong my suffering. Apparently, the quick-death option wasn’t available in this particular McFreezer-room restaurant today.

  The freezer door slid open. Momentary hope flared that the night-duty officers would save me. Followed by panic that Desislava would kill them.

  ‘Welcome,’ said Desislava. And then I remembered the vampire soirée/summit Desislava had planned.

  Footsteps approached. When I saw the faces of the two newcomers, hope flared once again.

  No, it soared.

  ‘Help me.’ It should have come out loud and plaintive. It was barely a whisper.

  Melanie and Scott stood over me.

  They made no move to help me, instead, taking in the scene with calculating eyes. Scott zeroed in on the blood-soaked ice surrounding me as if estimating how much liquid there was left in me to drink. Melanie tilted her head and breathed deeply, as if figuring out how good I might taste based on my smell.

  I was hit with an immense sense of shock and betrayal. The same way you’d feel if you were feeding your goldfish who had been swimming around all cutely, when suddenly they leap up and eat your hand down to the wrist before you even know what’s happening. Because today they’ve decided they’re piranhas.

  Whoever created vampires should be taken out and shot. Vampires were such shitheads.

  Someone was laughing. Desislava. ‘How entertaining,’ she said. ‘You believed they were here to rescue you.’ Another chortle, and her face came into view. The sadistic glee on her dial was set to the highest level. ‘I decided it would be nice for your friends to be involved in ending your life. A personal touch is always best, I find. Besides, the bitterness of being hurt by those closest to you, added to the piquant flavour of your fear,’ she breathed as if sampling a fine bouquet, ‘will be an absolute delight for my palate.’

  She laughed again, so utterly pleased with herself.

  ‘Alexi, pick her up and place her there,’ said Desislava, pointing to the table at the side of the room. ‘For easy access,’ she added, walking to the spot where the next part of my endless demise would be taking place.

  Alexi crouched over me, tears running freely. He touched my face, a fleeting caress, then gone. ‘Ana, please forgive me. I am so, so sorry.’ His arms again extended towards me. In readiness to pick me up.

  ‘No, no, no, no, no,’ I begged in a voice that was basically nonexistent.

  Alexi gritted his teeth, then blew out a long breath, preparing himself to tear the skin off the back of my body. ‘Ana,’ he said over and over, chanting my name like a prayer. Begging for absolution.

  Melanie and Scott were bending down and reaching for me. They probably couldn’t wait to remove me from the floor so they could get me onto that feeding table.

  There was a gust of wind, a blur of movement, and without warning, the tip of a wide blade burst from Alexi’s chest.

  Blood spattered onto my face, into my eyes, and my mouth. It took a moment for my brain to process what had happened.

  As I thought, Nooo, don’t kill Alexi, the blade was withdrawn and Alexi’s body was thrown across the room.

  Then there was Greg, holding a wicked-looking sword.

  There had been many times when I’d been overwhelmingly happy to see Greg. This time topped the charts. Number one with a bullet.

  His brows drew together, his mouth opened to let out a shaky exhalation as he surveyed the damage. My damage. His eyes glistened.

  ‘Ana!’ he said. It was a lament. It was soul-deep grief and sorrow.

  I’m sorry, I wanted to say. My mouth opened and closed. There were so many words trying to crawl out of my throat. No sound came. I gazed at Greg, trying to tell him, to apologize for waiting so long. For not letting him turn me sooner.

  I felt wet stuff running down my face. Probably tears. Maybe blood. Possibly both.

  I watched tears appear at the outer corners of his eyes. I tracked their progress down his beautiful face that was twisted with anguish.

  Then I witnessed the change in his demeanour. The planes of his face hardened. His eyes filled with rage; an unholy light burned behind them. He looked pitiless. Barbaric. His whole being roiled with violence as if he wanted to tear the entire world apart.

  I suddenly wished he hadn’t come. There was one of him and three of them. Greg had consumed the blood of ancient vampires—both Desislava’s and Lorenzo’s. Melanie and Scott were newbie vamps and therefore nowhere near as formidable as Greg. But still. The odds sucked. Big ones.

  ‘I want him alive,’ said Psycho Bitch to Melanie and Scott.

  ‘So do we,’ answered Scott.

  What the hell was this? Greg would not go willingly. What was the plan? Would they keep him trapped—an animal in a cage? And what was Scott’s problem? Greg had never done anything to Scott. Vampires were such raging assholes.

  I wanted to kill them! I wanted to make them hurt in many and varied ways for a damn long time.

  I couldn’t hurt shit right now, frozen to the freaking floor and fucked-up as I was. Plus, everything was getting a bit fuzzy. I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. I needed to sleep. What a stupid time to want to doze off!

  Perhaps I was suffering from hypothermia. Tiredness was a heavy blanket pressing down upon me.

  Greg touched my face.

  I blinked.

  When I opened my eyes, he wasn’t standing over me. I’d blinked longer than I’d intended. I struggled to keep my eyelids open.

  There was some serious shit going on. There were blurs of movement. It was like a tornado made of vampire. There were grunts. Thudding. I swore I heard Melanie yell, ‘B.I.T.F.O!’ There was a scream.

  An arm came sailing out of the whirlwind of vampires and landed with a heavy, sickening thwack on the ground a couple of feet from my head. It looked like a female arm. I realised it belonged to Desislava, the now-one-armed bitch. The yellow diamond ring on her finger was a dead giveaway. Woot! I was happy the arm belonged to her and also happy it hadn’t hit me on the way down. With the way my luck was going, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d found a way to give me a slap with a disembodied limb.

  More shelving crashed to the ground. My colleagues were going to be so pissed about losing t
heir samples.

  Melanie’s wig came flying out of the fray. That struck me as freaking hilarious. It was a shame laughing was beyond my current capabilities.

  My eyes rolled back in my head. I checked out for a bit.

  I jerked awake to the most bloodcurdling scream and a sound between a thunderous crash and a crack. The floor reverberated beneath me. If I wasn’t already frozen to the damn thing, I would have had the urge to flatten myself to it and try to hold on. Tilting my head to the side a fraction, possible because my crazy huge hair was protecting my scalp, I saw a wonderful, wonderful sight.

  Desislava, pinned with the pole she’d beaten me with. Greg had used it as a stake, driving it through her heart and into the floor.

  ‘Greg,’ I attempted to say. Something garbled came out.

  And then he was there. My Greg. Staring at me, touching my hair, my face. Scanning the sitch. His face crumpled. Removing me from the floor was going to devastate him.

  I gazed back at him, into his sublime deep-green eyes. I’d always thought those orbs were my Kryptonite. They made me weak. He could make me do anything when he gazed at me with those eyes. I’d planned on staring into them for the rest of my life. A long, forever kind of life.

  I’d stuffed up, though. Taken too long to make my decision. And now the universe was going to fuck me over.

  The universe sucked big fat hairy balls. If there was one take-home from life, it was that.

  It was snatching me away from my man. This situation was whacked in fifty different ways; however, I couldn’t regret that I had met Greg. He had been a bright, shining light in my otherwise murky life. He had given me so much and protected and saved me so many times. He’d prevented me from being raped and murdered by thugs; dealt with Stewart the psycho killer; saved my life after the car crash; saved my bestie’s life (that had turned out a bit shit but it wasn’t his fault); made Stepfucker piss her pants (awesome!); fought ancient freakball vampires; saved Lorenzo; staked N.I.P. to the floor after confiscating the stolen ring (by chopping her whole arm off—yes!); and he had showered me with so much love and brought me joy, the likes of which I had never known or imagined I would ever know. My time with him was scintillating, exquisite, treasured.