Page 7 of Vampire Bite

I sighed heavily, realizing that this would be more difficult than I thought. She was a stubborn one. That was probably one of the reasons why I was so drawn to her in the first place. Who else would make such an insane decision as to allow a vampire to drink their blood. Only a mad person.

I promised myself I wouldn’t forget this moment, that I’d show her how I felt when the time was right. When she was ready to see what was so clear to me—that we were made for each other, two souls drawn together by forces beyond our understanding.

“Let’s start by going over what you know,” I suggested, shifting my focus to the task at hand, even as a part of me longed to reach for her, to pull her back into the warmth of my embrace. “You said you had a lead?”

“Yes,” she said in a professional manner, as if nothing had happened between us. “I am looking for a man named Henry Livingston. The last place he was seen was a town called Ravenshade. That’s where I went, and like I told you, that’s when it all happened. They jumped me and I ended up here, in this God forsaken place. I… I need to find him and bring him home.”

I didn’t want to tell her that there was a good chance the man wasn’t among the living. It depended on many factors. But she didn’t need to know that right now.

“I see,” I told her instead.

“His family is paying me good money for my services, and I can’t let them down,” she quickly added, as if that was the most important reason she was doing this.

“This is a dangerous place,” I told her simply. “You shouldn’t be walking these streets alone.” One glance in her direction assured me that she was well aware of that fact herself.

“I’ll be fine,” she replied rebelliously. “I don’t need anyone to protect me.”

“There is safety in numbers,” I reminded her. “There is just a few of us, roaming these streets with just a semblance of freedom. And to be honest, I have no idea how long that might last. So, it would be best to stick together. Besides, it’s not just you and me. There’s a few of us.”

“There is?” A flicker of hope lit up in her eyes, in those beautiful eyes. “Who are they? Vampires?”

“Vampires,” I shrugged. “Humans.”

“Both?” she asked with a frown. “How come?”

I chuckled rolling my eyes. “You haven’t been here long, so you can’t know. But I would have expected you to have done your homework.”

She pouted, and her lips became more kissable than ever before. It took all of my conscious effort not to grab her and take her again right on that couch.

“I did do my homework,” she snapped back at me, showing me more than just backbone. There was strength, defiance, rebellion. There was refusal to allow anyone to bring her down. I liked it. “My homework was on Ravenshade. Not on… this place.”

“Nusquam,” I told her, not expecting her to know. But she surprised me yet again.

“Nowhere?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

The name seemed to settle over her like a shadow, her eyes narrowing in that familiar mix of confusion and dread. I’d seen that look a hundred times before, on the faces of others who’d stumbled into this dark underworld, but with her, it hit something deeper inside me, something that tightened like a vow.

“Mhm,” I nodded. “Nowhere. Nusquam… this place isn’t supposed to exist. Not to anyone outside.” I paused, letting the weight of it sink in. “That’s why you’ve never heard of it. It’s hidden from the rest of the world, blanketed by dark magic sothick it makes us invisible. No one on the outside even knows we’re here.”

Her face paled, and I could feel her grasping for something to hold onto, something to make sense of this nightmare she’d landed in. I knew the look all too well—the fear of realizing that the life you’d known was no longer reachable, that escape was more than just a matter of finding the nearest door.

She swallowed, her gaze searching mine as if hoping I’d tell her I was wrong. “And the people here… vampires, humans… they’re prisoners?”

I nodded, bitterness curling inside me. “Kidnapped, captured, hunted. The shifters bring them here and turn them into slaves.” I glanced away, feeling the old anger stir, my jaw tightening at the thought of the horrors hidden within this place. “It’s a factory, a machine. It exists to feed their power, their dominance, and they don’t care who they drag down to get it.”

The silence that followed was thick. I could see the realization setting in, her understanding growing with every beat of silence. She looked away, her hands clasping tightly in her lap, and I wanted to reach out, to say something that could reassure her. But here, there were no comforting lies, no easy ways to soften the truth.

Instead, I took a breath, steadying myself. “But there’s a way out,” I added, holding her gaze, willing her to see the promise in my words. “It’s not easy, but there’s a way. And I’ll get you there. Whatever it takes.”

She nodded, though her eyes were still clouded with doubt. And as I watched her, I knew that whatever happened, I wouldn’t let her fall into the same chains this place had wrapped around so many others. I would fight to see her free, even if it took every last ounce of strength I had.

Chapter Five

Annika

The next morning, when he told me we’d be meeting others like him—like us—I felt a flicker of hope, even if it was just a faint one. The thought of meeting other people who hadn’t given in to this dark place, who were still fighting back, was almost too much to believe.

“Is there somewhere I can shower?” I asked, trying to scrape a hand through my tangled hair, feeling the dirt and grime that clung to me. It was more a habit than a real question—I knew that comforts here were few and far between.

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