Page 32 of The Vampire Trap

“Where are you going, Zadie?”

“All those innocent people… how could you?”

Now that I’ve dropped all pretense, so has he. And it’s far worse than I could have imagined.

“How?” He bites out. His hands ball into tight fists as his anger multiplies from within until he is straining to keep it under control. “Because they are monsters.Allof them. They are twisted and vile parasites. They might notbedemons, but they are no better than the worst of them. Including the viscount.” Spittle flies from his mouth as he speaks. “The only way a vampire like that is created is through their willingness to bond their life and soul to a demon—you know this!” At the last, he lunges for me.

I turn and run towards the howling of lesser demons. The only way I’ll stand a chance of making it through the night is to get out into the open and slip down a side street, circling back into the safety of the city’s light.

Benjamin throws himself at me, tackling me to the ground. All the breath is forced out of me. By the time I can breathe again, he’s flipped me onto my back, gripping both wrists with one hand, trapped under his weight. He leans into it, pressing down.

“He should have refused and died like a human while he still had dignity left!”

I open my mouth to scream, hoping the saints are with me and someone will hear. Something sharp stops me. Two pointed ends, roughly an inch apart, press into the side of my neck. The metal of the unusual weapon is cold. It almost feels like…

False fangs?

“Don’t scream. If you do, I’ll have to hurt you, and I don’t want to do that. Please, Zadie, please don’t make me.” Benjamin pleads with me as if he is innocent as if he is the victim rather than the one threatening my life.

I choke back a sob and nod.

“Look… look at what he’s done to us. How can you doubt his nature when he’s turned you against me?”

Even through the fear, I can’t help but pity him. Regardless of his feelings—there’s no justification for his actions.

“I was fifteen the first time I saw one of those things feeding on a woman… her twisted pleasure at being devoured. He’d fooled her into reprehensible lust in the open. I never told you.” He shakes his head as if pushing the image from his mind. “Ever since then, I knew I needed to rid this city of them. I knew I had to protect you from them.”

Ben has seen vampires as a threat to Sangate for so long he didn’t notice when he became the monster.

But he’s not alone in his guilt. I’ve turned a blind eye to the intensity of his hate all these years. Only now seeing his words thrown carelessly among others and quick flashes of cruel expressions, for what they were. If only I paid attention instead of dismissing things as a tendency toward over-enthusiasm or my imagination.

“Why did you have to insist on helping?” As he rambles on, he begins to sob. “And now?—”

His grip loosens slightly. If I can just get a hand free…

“It’s all right, Ben. It’s not too late to fix things,” I lie. “Tell me how to help, and I will.”

He snuffles as his blue eyes scan my face. “I’m so sorry, Zadie.” He jerks his arm holding the weapon, and drives it into my neck.

Burning pain. The feel of hot liquid spilling down my throat. Not enough air… I’m dying. Choking on my own blood.

Benjamin sits up, straddling me. I grasp at my neck, trying to stanch the flow of blood, but my rapidly weakening grip keeps slipping. All the while, the person I trusted with my life watches from above.

Wrapping his hands around my wrists, he pulls them away. “Don’t worry,” he coos. “I won’t slit your throat. By morning, the city will know who the real monsters are. We’ll drive them out. And it’s all thanks to you. Forgive me, but I don’t have anything to help ease you—you should never have come out tonight.”

Silent tears burn as they slide over my temples.

Spots dance before my eyes. Suddenly, Ben’s weight is gone. There’s a thump and a sharp exhale, then something heavy falls to the ground.

Thomas’s face appears above me, and for a long second, I think I’ve arrived in the Otherworld. I realize I’m still alive when he slides his arms under my band and cradles me against him. Agony blinds me from the jostle of being shifted.

“This will hurt,” Thomas whispers.

His hand is a firebrand against my skin. His touch heating to match the glowing red ring around his irises.

I fight against him as invisible flames swallow me whole. But I can’t even manage to twitch a single finger. Flashes of molten lightning writhe around his hands, lighting his face with a soft red glow. Not once does he look at me; all his focus is on my injury. It goes on for an eternity until I’m afraid I will lose my mind.

My first breath scratches past my throat but each one after is easier and easier. Though it takes me a moment to reorient myself, I’m no longer choking. I realize Thomas is murmuring in soothing tones.

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