Page 39 of Psycho

My uncle laughed—he actually laughed—and pushed me toward him. “Finish him.” He gestured toward the two holding him back and they let him go. The vampire lunged at me with his stupid super speed and got me on the ground quickly. But I was bigger and stronger. I bucked him off and grabbed the knife I’d dropped. We began to circle like a couple of rabid dogs. He again used his super speed to lunge at me, taking a bite out of my neck.

I howled in pain as my blood dribbled out of his mouth.

“Fucking disgusting,” he spat.

“You did not just bite me!” I snapped, lunging for him. I cut him in the pec muscle but he moved too fast so it was just a swipe.

He moved fast again, this time knocking me down. I knew he wouldn’t kill me—my uncle was only doing this for entertainment purposes because he and the others were sadistic fucks—but this asshole was seriously pissing me off.

I wished it was a full moon so I could turn and tear him apart with my claws and teeth. All I had now was my knife, strength, and super healing.

With the vamp on top of me, I managed to get the knife into his stomach. He fell back and grappled for it, but I used my palm to push it in deeper. Then I pulled it out and jammed it into his heart. Well, it must not have hit his heart because he hadn’t turned to ash like I’d seen other vampires do when they died. It wasn’t just the sun that turned them to ash—their very death did that to them.

I punched him the mouth and twisted the knife. His face went from livid to frightened, right before his skin began to turn gray. Then, he slowly crumbled. I snatched the knife and stood as my wolf brothers whooped and hollered, patting me on the back.

“Welcome to the Hellcats, son.”

“Fuck off,” I told my uncle, skulking out of the garage to go lick my wounds in peace.

I found no pleasure in killing another creature. Undead or not.

I woke from the dream-memory alone in my bed and shook my head. My first kill was one I’d never forget.

There had been so many since then, they started calling me Psycho with the rage I’d fly into on doing it. Didn’t matter—vamp, wolf, warlock, even a few humans. Something inside me snapped when the red-hot rage hit. I looked at my empty bed and hoped Nera never saw that side of me.

Chapter 15

Triggered

Nera

I blinked my eyes open, wondering what time it was. These “dorm” rooms had no windows. I fumbled for my phone that was plugged in and sitting on the floor and saw it was close to 8 a.m.

I groaned and flipped the covers back, but I didn’t get out of bed. My thoughts immediately drifted to Sheppard and what had happened last night. He must really be pissed at me for just leaving like that. In my defense, I was all in for some bedroom fun. I had no idea one little sentence could trigger me like that.

“Just a little taste…”

The bastard’s voice, smell, and face had immediately come back to me, memories of him rutting on top of me while talking himself out of biting me.

“I need a shower and some coffee,” I grumbled to myself.

I put the thought of that sick bastard out my mind. I knew I should probably get some therapy or something to deal with later. I owed Psycho an apology.

I grabbed a towel and some sandals and headed to the showers.

As I washed his scent off me under the hot water, I relaxed. I was sure he’d understand, but somehow I still felt bad. He wasn’t the type of guy who’d be angry with me—of that I was sure. I’d never seen him mad or heard him raise his voice. I wasn’t sure how he earned that nickname but those were questions for another day. I was sure one day he’d tell me.

As I lathered up my hair and scrubbed my scalp with my fingertips, my thoughts drifted to my family in Tampa. They didn’t even care that I’d been missing for, what, nine weeks now? I was glad I’d told Amanda. She’d called me later that night and we’d talked in depth about what happened, me obviously leaving out the supernatural aspect. I also told her that her cousin’s MC was being watched by the police and to not be surprised if Duke, Hawk, and the rest of them were arrested soon. The way Hawk had been so paranoid about the cops… didn’t seem like it looked good for them. I was more than grateful they’d had the sense to call Psycho to get me out of there. The last thing I needed was to be caught up in that bullshit.

I exited the shower and brushed my teeth at the communal sinks, then padded back to my room. I decided to go check on Trigger and then figure out what I was going to do with my days. I was starting to get the itch to go back to work, and the thought of nursing here in New Orleans sort of excited me. I love the show The First 48 and this town was featured on it frequently—not that it should be a proud moment for New Orleans—but it sure kept law enforcement and the medical field busy.

After I dressed and was forced to use the mirror to blow-dry my hair, I put on a little makeup to make myself feel better and headed out to the main area of the clubhouse and then to the infirmary. I wasn’t too surprised to find it empty, seeing how stubborn Trigger was. I was sure he had probably wanted to sleep in his own bed once he woke. Couldn’t say I blamed him. I briefly wondered if Charlie had followed him to his bed. Psycho had told me he thought they’d had something in the past—maybe past friendship—and that was how she’d come to the Bayou Wolves, but I never pressed. It wasn’t my business, and I had other crap to deal with.

I looked around the infirmary and decided to unpack all the medical equipment we’d bought yesterday before Shep had taken me to dinner. I wasn’t really shocked that the bag sat on the table in here, as he must have deposited it there it last night or this morning.

I went about organizing the drawers by importance, and once I was satisfied I—or anyone else—would be able to locate the things we needed, I smiled and closed all the drawers. Then I stripped the bed Trigger had been lying in and washed out the bowl they’d used as a bedpan. On second thought, I should probably just throw this thing out.

Gross.

---