CHAPTER THREE
If you ever love someone, really, truly love them, then a part of you always loves them, even if they screw you over majorly. As in, promise to love you forever and then abandon you at the first possible opportunity, because as it ends up they’re a vampire and everything you shared was just a game. So, when I saw him standing there, this tiny part of me still loved him, even as a wave of black rage devoured every ounce of humanity still left in my body.
“Zy.” Quinn’s voice, a frightened tremor riding it. “Zy, what’s the matter?”
He was standing next to me in a heartbeat, the way only a two-thousand-year-old vamp can move. “Kaitlyn.” His voice swirled down my ear, low and intimate, for only me to hear.
“I haven’t gone by that name in a long time, Alexander,” I said.
Quinn’s eyes darted back and forth between me and Alexander, and Riley stood up next to me, muscular arms crossed over his chest, frenetic shifter energy rolling off his skin.
Alexander glanced at each of them dismissively. “I’m glad you’ve made friends. You seem to be doing quite well.”
“No thanks to you,” I growled, my own power flaring up.
“I can’t imagine what you mean,” Alexander purred. “We had a gorgeous time together.”
“Cut the bullshit. You played me, when I was practically a child.” My hands clenched in fists so tight I felt trickles of blood running down my palms where my fingernails bit through my skin. Beside me, Riley let out a deep growl, his eyes going wolf.
“Call off your dog,” Alexander said with amusement.
“Go fuck yourself,” I spat.
“Is there a problem here?” I could feel Will standing behind me. As distracted as I was, I hadn’t heard him coming.
“Yes,” Quinn answered.
Will fixed Alexander in his gaze. “If you’re not a friend of Zy’s, you’re not a friend of mine. Get lost.”
“You’re the owner of this place? A Cyclops? I guess society really has gone to Hell,” Alexander sneered.
My blade sang as it slid out from behind my back and sliced through the air towards him, but he was gone. Only his laugh lingered on the air, caressing my skin just as he’d intended. “Son of a bitch.”
“That’s your ex?” Quinn asked in a shaky voice.
Will and Riley’s faces bore matching looks of shock.
“I’ve gotta get out of here,” I snapped, stalking towards the door. “Thanks, Will,” I called over my shoulder.
I strode down the pier, the cool night surrounding me. When I got to the end, I took off my red strappy heels and hurled them out into Elliott Bay. I punched my hand into one of the rough hewn wooden posts, which splintered and fell into the water. My knuckles bled a little, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything but the molten desire for revenge that bubbled inside me. How could that asshole show up after more than two centuries and pretend nothing had happened? He’d known I was here in Seattle. He’d known I was in the bar before he stepped foot inside, a convenient attribute of having fed on my blood. He had to pay for what he’d done.
“Zy?” Quinn. Brave girl.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t formulate coherent words.
“Are you going to be okay?” I saw a ball of light form in her hand so she could see her way in the dark. The light hit my face and she stopped. After a moment, a moment she probably spent contemplating how safe I was to be around right now considering the murderous look I undoubtedly had on my face, she came and stood next to me.
We didn’t talk at first, just listened to the sound of water sloshing up against the dock. The rhythmic melody slowly eroded my rage. Which sucked because then I had room to think about things I didn’t want to think about. Things I had forced from my memory for a long, long time.
“You’ve never told me about when you became immortal,” Quinn said finally.
She was right. We’d known each other for almost a decade, and I’d never spoken of it. “I don’t want to talk about it now, either,” I said, my voice lifted away on the wind.
“Okay.”
We lapsed into silence again for a few minutes. And then, I heard myself talking. “I was seventeen. Lying in an Irish meadow picking flowers. I fell asleep, and when I woke up, the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen was sitting next to me.” I stopped, and heard Quinn’s heart pounding. Or maybe it was mine. “He asked if I was an angel, because I looked so peaceful and beautiful sleeping among the flowers. He’d made a crown of flowers while I slept, and he laid it on my head. I never stood a chance. He was so handsome and so smooth. We talked for hours that first day. I was in love with him by the end of the afternoon.
We saw each other every day for almost half a year. I felt like I was constantly walking in a dream when he was with me. And I felt like I would die when he was gone. Then one day he told me he loved me, and asked me if I wanted to spend my life with him. When he bit me, it hurt at first, but then… it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt in my whole life. Wrapped up in his body, his kisses searing through me…
He didn’t turn me into a vamp. I thought we were going to get married, and then he would. But my father had other plans. He beat me for disgracing the family and promised me to someone else, a man four times my age. I knew Alexander would stop it, take me away from everything. But he disappeared. I kept waiting. And waiting. The wedding came and went, but still he hadn’t returned. My husband was a terribly cruel man, and hit me all the time. I began to waste away. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was happening to me, but I knew. I’d lost the will to live, as pathetic as that is. That’s when she came.”
I paused, my body going rigid as the memory crept over me like spiders. Quinn stopped breathing.
“Olga. Red hair like a river of flame, gray eyes like the waves off of Galway.” I shivered as her name fell from my lips. “I knew who she was right away. There were legends, folktales passed down through all the villages. Tales of a beautiful girl who fell in love with a beautiful boy but was married off to another against her will and died of a broken heart. The next full moon she rose from her grave and sucked the life force out of her father and husband. And so Anam Gatai were created. Some of the legends call us Dearg Due, blood drinker, but blood is not enough to satisfy us.
Anyways, I guess Olga wanted company, because she started turning other poor girls into immortals like her. She pressed her lips to mine and I felt my humanity slipping away, my life floating out of me, my soul flying away piece by piece. And because my tale was particularly heartbreaking, being as how the man I loved was just fooling me and actually a vampire, she gave me extra power.” I forced a bitter smile. “I guess there’s a silver lining to everything. And I did get revenge on my father and husband. Oh, and it was sweet.”
Quinn took a deep breath. “Wow, Zy, I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”
“Everything happens for a reason,” I said, looking out over the water. A tear ran down my face.
“Which is?”
I didn’t answer her at first. The tear that had dripped down my cheek now hung at my jaw. I reached up and flicked it off. That would be the very last tear I ever cried for that dick. “I lost my soul because of Alexander. I found out later in the supe gossip circles that this was his M.O. He found young girls, and told them he loved them, then took their virginity and sometimes their soul. The ultimate player, love ‘em and leave ‘em.” I paused for a mirthless laugh. “I pushed him out of my memory. I had to move on, to survive. But now that he’s walked back into my city, knowing full well he’d find me here, he’s going to pay. I’m going to kill that asshole so he can’t keep doing this shit to other girls. Plus, he’s trying to assassinate the HR. So, I’ve got a legal excuse.”
“What?!” Quinn’s head whipped around to look at me.
“Yeah, that angel that came to Noir told me a vamp has been trying. And nearly succeeding. I didn’t put the pieces together until I saw him. He is an assassin-for-hire, after all. Another lovely tid
bit I found out after we were together.”
“So, what are you going to do?” Her golden witch eyes looked like glowing suns in the darkness.
“I’m going to find him. And I’m going to kill him.” I cast one last look out over Puget Sound, then headed for the parking lot.
“You don’t mean tonight, do you?” Quinn chased after me.
“It’s not even midnight. I’ve got the whole night. When’s a better time?”
She was quiet for a moment. “I’ve never felt a vamp as powerful as him. How old is he, Zy?”
“Let’s just say he may have known Jesus Christ.” I had reached the pavement and pulled out the keys to the Porsche. I pressed the unlock button and the car blinked to life.
“Holy shit! Don’t you think we need to think about this? Come up with a plan to kill a vamp that’s almost two millennia your senior?” She stepped in front of me, blocking the door. Her black dress blended into the glossy paint like the car was absorbing her.
“I have a plan. Find that bastard, and kill his sorry ass. It has a beautiful simplicity, don’t you think?” I smiled a smile I knew was not pretty at all.
“No, I don’t think. Riley!”
Damn her. She knew he’d hear with his freaking super-wolf ears. “Listen, I’m not asking you to come with me. I know this isn’t your vendetta.” I caught her eyes with mine.
Riley pushed the door of the bar open and started towards us, Dan and a couple others on his tail. “What’s going on?”
“Tell him,” Quinn said, a stubborn set to her jaw.
I sighed. “Sweet Quinn is upset because I’m going to kill Alexander. Okay? Sharing time’s over now, let me get in my car.”
“He’s two thousand years old,” Quinn snapped. “She left that little detail out.”
Dan let out a low whistle and Riley’s face got stormy. “So basically, you’re just going to end your existence in a blaze of glory, going up against someone like that alone? That’s just dumb.”
“Alright, I’ve had enough of this.” I picked Quinn up, moved her, and slid in behind the wheel. And proceeded to become frozen in place. Except for my mouth. “God damn it, Quinn.”
“I’ll release my spell if you stop and listen like a rational person,” she said. Power rolled off her like a lightning storm.
“I don’t suppose you can be persuaded to give up your suicide mission?” Riley asked, his eyes hard.
I shook my head. “Fuck no.”
“Well, then let’s come up with some sort of compromise. Like, a little extra backup.”
“From who?”
“Well, I know a certain shapeshifter who’d be happy to help you out.” Riley’s expression was innocent.
“Are you joking? Sure, let’s just bring together all the ex-boyfriends I hate for one big night of fun.” I pushed hard against Quinn’s bonds with my own burst of power, but she had me locked down good.
Riley smirked. “I’m just talking about two of them, not a thousand.”
“Cock,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
“So, that’s a yes then?” he responded with a knowing smile.
I knew they were right. I could see the only thing I’d gain tonight was my own death. Which wouldn’t be so bad, other than hanging out in that hot-as-hell shithole smelling brimstone for the rest of eternity. But, then Alexander would just kill the HR, and keep taking advantage of other innocent girls. And nothing would come of my noble sacrifice. I sighed again. “Fine. But only so you guys will shut the hell up.”
Quinn smiled and released me. I started the car with my power and floored it in reverse. Ah, the looks on their faces. I smiled, then slammed on the brakes. “Just joking. Get the hell in.”