Page 47 of Club Blood

“You like him, do you? Even though he almost let you get drained right in front of him?” Sensing the way I tensed against her, Mercy looked down at me and her gaze softened. “Well, I suppose I should keep him around if you like him. Call it compensation for almost dying in my club for a second time.”

Despite myself, a bubble of delirious laughter escaped and Mercy smiled softly at me. “Let’s go home, little flower.”

I nodded, comfort encompassing me when she lifted me into her arms and pressed me against her chest.

It never dawned on me that my first thought of home was now also the compound.

27

MERCY

I was gonefor less than five minutes. And in that time I lost several things; the first, was my footing. I had been feeling so on top of the world, so drunk on my own power that I’d forgotten the first rule Nathaniel Tusker ever taught me,don’t let your guard down. Between the horrorAmbrosiahad just endured, Carlisle’s cronies prowling my streets, and the Vegas police department investigating the club for the girl’s murder, things were slipping through the cracks. It wasCecelia. She had a hold on me that I couldn’t shake. I’d grown comfortable in her presence and I let it become a weakness, and my kingdom was falling apart around me as a result.

It would not happen again.

The second, another bartender. Cece made me promise I wouldn’t kill him, but how could I let him live? He failed me, failed orders to protect her, even if they weren’t direct. He had to die. Her pretty words and pleas could not be enough to stop a punishment I was obligated to fulfill.

The third thing I lost had been my pride. I’d been taken advantage of in my own club, by people who weren’t half the vampire I’d become in the last century. I was forged in fire, feared across the states, and yet, I could feel a piece of my soul breaking over the safety of someone I’d met less than a week ago. A human girl that was caught up in this war by being at the wrong place, at the wrong time. I worried that maybe Carlisle was right, and that Narcissa had also seen the weaknesses that were breaking me from the inside. Maybe I wasn’t worthy of Sin City after all.

Cecelia was in my arms, hanging limply as she slept. She felt so light and I could hear her breaths come out in shallow pants. Her wounds were not fatal, but it hurt to look at them. She had cuts and scratches across her face and her arms, some deep enough to warrant stitches. I hissed under my breath as my gaze raked over her, eyes darting across the dried blood that painted her skin. It was hard to swallow back the thirst that was raging in my throat. Every instinct told me to drink, to take what was mine.

I resisted.

Cecelia’s eyes fluttered and my mouth tightened into a straight, pained grimace. I swallowed, frustrated with the lack of control that was threatening to overcome me. It was practically impossible for me to stop my fixation, but I desperately tried to stare at anything else. Pushing just past the doors, I exhaled as the bitter tang of Las Vegas greeted us. It was a relief, to smell days old cigarettes and exhaust, instead of the sweet delicacy pumping in Cecelia’s veins.

I could still hear the music blaring from behind us as we exitedAmbrosia, even as the doors shut. Despite the trauma that had occurred, I was oddly grateful.

My team was excellent at concealing, maintaining, and cleaning up messes that happened while the club was open. In the days that followed, no one would remember it as anything more than just a typical bar fight.

I waved a car around, and as it approached I swung it’s back door open before the driver could make it to my side. He stook awkwardly at the door, unsure whether his help would be necessary, or if I would kill him if he touched Cecelia. I’m not quite sure that I blamed him, my actions were unpredictable right now.

I placed her gently into the limousine, careful to slide her legs in so they wouldn’t get caught in the door. When I was certain that she was safely inside, I shut the door, following the anxious vampire around the car and frowning as he fumbled over the handle.

“Any day, blood sucker,” I hissed. He winced, but finally swung the door open, and I slid in silently as he shut it behind me. My eyes softened when I gently lifted Cece’s head into my lap. I wasn’t used to having to take care of such a delicate creature.

I could feel the buzz from inside my pocket again. Instead of ignoring it like I had earlier, I grabbed for it, pressing the talk button and raising the receiver to my ear.

“Warren, where thefuckare you?”

“Where the fuck amI? What are you talking about? Where areyou?”

“I’m with Cecelia, and we’re heading back to the estate,” I could hear the irritation that crossed my tone but I made no move to soften it. I hated answering to anyone, and this man would be the death of me for making me do so. Warren’s very audible sigh of relief had my eyes narrow.

“Thankgod. Mercy, I’ve been flippingAmbrosiaupside down trying to find you both!”

“I seem to remember that keeping track of me and mine was a part of your formal duties to my coven, Warren.”

He was frustrated and my tone was about to set him off. Dammit, I really didn’t want to have to kill Warren, too. He took a second to calm himself, breathing in deeply before continuing.

“I was attending to Carlisle. Anotherdutyyou assigned to me. I don’t have eyes on the back of my head. What do you expect me to do?”

“I expect that the safety of the coven comes first. I don’t give a rat’s ass if you come across something fuckable.”

“Wait, what?” he asked, seeming to be genuinely confused.

“Samuel. He’d mentioned you’d found yourself a bottle blonde to spend your night with. Now, it was a moment of weakness I’ll admit, letting you lax on your direct orders. And believe me, it will never happen again. Cecelia was hurt…”

“Hurt? What happened to her?!” Warren interrupted me with a shout of fear that I could not get over. How was this girl turning my coven upside down?

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