Page 24 of Vampire Savage

I tower over his writhing body, staring down at him, my hands finally uncurling from fists as the tension eases from me, bleeding away like he is. He looks towards me, eyes filled with tears, and opens his mouth, no doubt to plead for mercy. I raise my knee and stomp my heel into the center of his face. The first stomp is enough to crack his skull and knock him out. I stomp again and his face buckles. Again and the thick bone finally crumbles under my heel with a wet squelch. One more stomp ensures his head is nothing but shattered fragments of bone and gray matter.

Lifting my foot from the mess, I scrape the sole clean on the troll’s still chest and pull out a folded handkerchief and begin to wipe the blood from my hand with efficient swipes. Looking at the mess below me, my brows dip with displeasure. I didn’t end him as slowly as he deserved.

A shoe scuffs behind me and I twist, turning towards Wren. All displeasure and thoughts of punishment disperse at the sight of her green eyes, pupils wide with fear and the dark. She’s wrapped her arms around herself, her body shaking. I’m in front of her in an instant, cupping her jaw with both hands, keeping my touch light but needing to touch her, to feel her.

Her hands fly up to grip my wrists, her eyes meeting mine in the dark alley. Her eyes are glassy and when a breath shudders into her, a large tear slips over the edge and pools against my hand.

“Landon,” she whispers, her voice ragged with fear and relief. Again, the emotions pulse through me, and the urge to wrap her in my arms, to hold her tight and shield her against the world is nearly impossible to fight.

I tilt her face, allowing me to inspect the small drops of blood desecrating her neck. The cuts are minor, nothing that won’t heal on their own. I want to lick them, not to taste her blood at last, but to help heal her even more quickly.

I cannot let her be afraid of my world. I still need her to get to Oberon, and I refuse to let a troll ruin my plans.

“Let me take you somewhere,” I say, not really asking but I wait for her shaky nod before dipping my knees and scooping her into my arms, one arm under her knees and the other cradling her back. Wren’s small hand grips the front of my button-down, and each hot tear soaking into the fabric is like a brand against my skin. If I could kill the troll again, it still wouldn’t be enough to satisfy me.

I consider my options, knowing Malachi is likely still at Lush, and dismiss returning there. He’s good in a fight but shit with the aftermath if it doesn’t involve booze and fucking. There’s an apartment I keep nearby, but it’s something I only utilize when I have a regular submissive and not appropriate for the care she needs right now. I could take her to the Nightshades’ clan home, where I have a suite of rooms…as does my mother, Ambrose, and the rest of his inner circle.

Considering her, I decide. Shifting to guide her head into the crook of my neck, I duck my head towards her. “Keep your eyes closed, Little Bird.”

Wren nods, the effects of fear and adrenaline still rattling through her and into me. I breathe in her scent, steadying myself, before walking out of the alley. Near the entrance, my foot hits something and I look down to see a cracked phone. I crouch and utilize my supernatural speed to let go of Wren, swipe it up and place it in my pocket, before holding Wren again and rising. As we leave the alley, I can’t help but smirk at her white coat and silver heels. Only my little bird would seek out the darkness wearing the clothing for the light.

It’s harder than it should be to pull my gaze away from her. I begin to run towards the bridges to Topside, determined to rebuild the shields this beautiful human has somehow managed to penetrate. There’s too much at stake to let her become a distraction. She is a tool, an opportunity for revenge, and that is all she can be.

Chapter Eleven

WREN

Air washes over me, enough to tell me that Landon is taking me somewhere quickly. I’ve often daydreamed about how it would feel to be able to move as quickly as a vampire, but now that I’m experiencing it, I don’t care. I can’t let myself focus on anything except the warm campfire and balsam scent of him as I keep my face buried against his neck. If I do, the events of the last few minutes will overwhelm me. Later, I’ll break down.

Under my hand, his heart is a slow, steady beat and other than his smell, I try to use it as a metronome for my own, which still is fluttering like the bird I’ve been named after. Landon’s arms are strong around me, his grip never wavering even as lights flash in the dark of my closed eyes. This vampire makes my world narrow to him, demanding all of my attention and energy, and before I may have fought it but right now it’s saving my sanity.

The troll. Being pinned to the wall as it threatens me. Landon arriving. Landon brutalizing—

No. I cut off my thoughts. Those are things for later.

We stop as suddenly as we began and Lan is shifting me in his hold, lowering me back onto my feet. I’m unsteady, but he keeps one arm firmly around me and I look where he’s taken me. My breath hitches in surprise as I recognize the delivery bay at my apartment complex. He doesn’t say anything as he slips his hand into my purse that somehow survived the incident and retrieves the service badge, waving it in front of the door to allow us in. He keeps it and I’m still too confused to say anything, especially as he hurries me inside to the elevator. Another wave of the badge and the doors open.

“Twelve,” I whisper, but he’s already pressing the right floor and pocketing the badge.

The small part of me that screams in his presence is shouting again but there’s too much going on right now for me to care. Later, I’ll dissect his actions and figure out what unnerves me about them. Right now, I just lean into his side when he tugs me close again, wrapping an arm around his front to cling to his shirt, glad that the elevator is fast.

In the harsh fluorescent lighting of the steel-walled elevator, the blood staining Lan’s white shirt makes my stomach crawl up my throat, threatening to expel itself. Yanking away from Lan, I slap my hand over my mouth, rushing from the elevator before the doors are fully open. I race to the kitchen, since it’s closer than the bathroom, and retch into the sink.

Never have I been more thankful for a housekeeper than right now, so I’m not puking on my dishes from dinner.

Lan approaches me and I squeeze my eyes shut, gripping the marble counter hard enough for the edge to cut into my palms. In the dim lighting of my kitchen, how can I ignore the fact that Lan just killed the troll who wanted to mug me—and threatened worse. Not just killed him but did so violently and brutally. Even though it was too dark for me to see most of it, I heard it all.

I heard the troll screaming and crying. I heard the wet snap of bones and impact of Lan’s foot. Still, when Lan turned back towards me, all I could do was reach for him.

He doesn’t touch me as he stops at the counter, his gaze weighing heavy on my shoulders. I spit one last time and scrub my mouth with the back of my hand, not able to look at him yet. My heart is racing again, but this time I don’t know if it’s from earlier or if it's a new fear.

Staring hard at the subway brick walls of my kitchen, I have to know. “Should I be afraid of you?”

Landon doesn’t answer right away, and that sensible voice of mine is screaming Yes! I flinch when he touches a finger under my chin, but he waits a long beat and then when I don’t pull away, he guides me to look at him.

His eyes are still ringed with red, but once more the metallic gold shines through. All the fury and snarling from earlier is gone from his face and once again he’s watching me with a nearly unreadable expression. Nearly, because there’s a tilt to his brow that warns me I may not like what he’s about to say.

“I am not a good man, Wren.” His voice is hard as stone and blunt with honesty. “You would be better off telling me to leave and never come near you again. That troll, earlier? It’s the least of what I’ve done. What I will do again in the future no doubt. I am a monster, Little Bird.”

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