eyed Thomas and Jonas. “You, too, per favore. ”
The please did it. Jonas disappeared in a blur of speed.
Thomas kissed my cheek. “Sleep well.”
Heaviness hit my eyelids. He’d put power behind his words, dosing me. Wouldn’t be the first time. “Hey, no fair,” I yawned, already half gone.
He disappeared in a blur of motion. No nightmares. Peaceful sleep. You are safe. Dixon cannot harm you here.
I trudged down the hall, letting my guard down, letting the despair well up and clog my throat before I did something truly stupid like run after all four men and tell them the truth. Dixon has Faith and Kai.
But I had to lie and lie very well. I might have laughed at the irony of this situation if it weren’t for the fact my friends’ lives were on the line. My father and Thomas had taken everything away from me—my family, my memories, my power—and everyone around me, had kept secrets, told me lies, all to keep me safe. I’d resented them for it.
Now I got it, big time.
Sometimes you have to make the tough decisions, to do things you wouldn’t normally do, things that make you scream this is so wrong , yet you can do nothing else.
Sometimes secrets and lies are all you have. And I would keep my friends—and family—safe. At all costs. Even if it cost my life.
Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
Six
I’m a liar and a junkie.
Hiding out in the fancy Zen-like stone and marble bathroom at Banzai Sushi, I prepped to down my drug of choice. Or rather, the substance forced upon me by that blackmailing, undead bastard from hell.
Hate you, Dixon.
I glanced at my black leather cuff watch . 8:58 p.m.
Two minutes until my blooding hour, one hundred and twenty seconds until I traveled down the undead end road to I’m-so-screwed town.
I leaned against the sink, the cold marble chilling my hip much like the vial in my hand chilled my fingers. Water dripped from the faucet, the splatter marking the passing seconds and competing with the patter of my pulse.
Was I really going to do this?
Instinct screamed at me to stop this craziness before I hit the point of no return. But what choice did I have? I’d spent every waking moment scouring the World Wide UnderWeb for a magical solution, or any solution to my problem, some kind of counterattack I could use against the bastard. So far, I’d come up empty. That left complying with his demand, for now, because I couldn’t, I wouldn’t let my friends die.
A burst of laughter sounded through the bathroom door, making me jerk. My hand tightened reflexively on the vial lest I drop it and doom Faith and Kai by my carelessness. On the other side of the door, restaurant patrons—including my gal pals Gen and Claire—downed delicious bites of the best sushi in town. My own nuggets sat heavy in my gut as I steeled myself for my task.
8:59 p.m.
I faced the sink and lifted the vial into the trio of lights above the mirror, studying its ruby red shimmer. Claps and shouts sounded outside, followed by the clink of sake glasses. Some of those happy patrons had watched me saunter past their tables from my window seat, the men and some women watching the sway of my hips in my little black dress, others staring further down, probably admiring my long legs or designer wedge-heel boots. To them, I looked like a normal, young twenty-something. None of them had the first clue what I was, though I certainly looked the Hollywood stereotype with my cloud pale skin, dark eyes paired with dark hair, and red lips.
Blood drinker. Half-breed. Hybrid. Vampire princess in a hot mess of trouble, skulking to the bathroom for my blood fix.
I broke the wax seal and pulled out the stopper, inhaling a mélange of aromas. Metal, lemon, grass, and more. Pungent and heady. Not pure blood, more like a blood cocktail, a black magic beverage.
What would happen if I didn’t drink at precisely nine? Would Dixon’s mark kick in and beat the crap out of me from the inside out? Did it lurk in the
The please did it. Jonas disappeared in a blur of speed.
Thomas kissed my cheek. “Sleep well.”
Heaviness hit my eyelids. He’d put power behind his words, dosing me. Wouldn’t be the first time. “Hey, no fair,” I yawned, already half gone.
He disappeared in a blur of motion. No nightmares. Peaceful sleep. You are safe. Dixon cannot harm you here.
I trudged down the hall, letting my guard down, letting the despair well up and clog my throat before I did something truly stupid like run after all four men and tell them the truth. Dixon has Faith and Kai.
But I had to lie and lie very well. I might have laughed at the irony of this situation if it weren’t for the fact my friends’ lives were on the line. My father and Thomas had taken everything away from me—my family, my memories, my power—and everyone around me, had kept secrets, told me lies, all to keep me safe. I’d resented them for it.
Now I got it, big time.
Sometimes you have to make the tough decisions, to do things you wouldn’t normally do, things that make you scream this is so wrong , yet you can do nothing else.
Sometimes secrets and lies are all you have. And I would keep my friends—and family—safe. At all costs. Even if it cost my life.
Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
Six
I’m a liar and a junkie.
Hiding out in the fancy Zen-like stone and marble bathroom at Banzai Sushi, I prepped to down my drug of choice. Or rather, the substance forced upon me by that blackmailing, undead bastard from hell.
Hate you, Dixon.
I glanced at my black leather cuff watch . 8:58 p.m.
Two minutes until my blooding hour, one hundred and twenty seconds until I traveled down the undead end road to I’m-so-screwed town.
I leaned against the sink, the cold marble chilling my hip much like the vial in my hand chilled my fingers. Water dripped from the faucet, the splatter marking the passing seconds and competing with the patter of my pulse.
Was I really going to do this?
Instinct screamed at me to stop this craziness before I hit the point of no return. But what choice did I have? I’d spent every waking moment scouring the World Wide UnderWeb for a magical solution, or any solution to my problem, some kind of counterattack I could use against the bastard. So far, I’d come up empty. That left complying with his demand, for now, because I couldn’t, I wouldn’t let my friends die.
A burst of laughter sounded through the bathroom door, making me jerk. My hand tightened reflexively on the vial lest I drop it and doom Faith and Kai by my carelessness. On the other side of the door, restaurant patrons—including my gal pals Gen and Claire—downed delicious bites of the best sushi in town. My own nuggets sat heavy in my gut as I steeled myself for my task.
8:59 p.m.
I faced the sink and lifted the vial into the trio of lights above the mirror, studying its ruby red shimmer. Claps and shouts sounded outside, followed by the clink of sake glasses. Some of those happy patrons had watched me saunter past their tables from my window seat, the men and some women watching the sway of my hips in my little black dress, others staring further down, probably admiring my long legs or designer wedge-heel boots. To them, I looked like a normal, young twenty-something. None of them had the first clue what I was, though I certainly looked the Hollywood stereotype with my cloud pale skin, dark eyes paired with dark hair, and red lips.
Blood drinker. Half-breed. Hybrid. Vampire princess in a hot mess of trouble, skulking to the bathroom for my blood fix.
I broke the wax seal and pulled out the stopper, inhaling a mélange of aromas. Metal, lemon, grass, and more. Pungent and heady. Not pure blood, more like a blood cocktail, a black magic beverage.
What would happen if I didn’t drink at precisely nine? Would Dixon’s mark kick in and beat the crap out of me from the inside out? Did it lurk in the
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