Page 56 of Because the Night

Two of the thugs are vampires, but one is human. I can hear his galloping heart inside his chest. Somebody else besides me is nervous.

I lived the whole of my mortal life without being of much interest to anyone. To now be the subject of all this attention is both bizarre and awful.

“She’s awake,” mumbles one of them. “Are you sure you got all of the bugs off her clothing? Last fucking thing we need is the Woodsman tracking her here.”

Tracking devices in my clothing and accessories sounds about right. Very Lucas. The assholes finding them is not good. What I need to do is stay calm and think. But I have the distinct feeling I’m on the verge of the biggest panic attack of my life. Or death. I might also just slide back into unconsciousness. Black spots are dancing before my eyes.

Someone must have noticed me missing by now. The family will be looking for me. I’d love to know how they got me out of The Boulevard. In all likelihood through another of those hidden passageways Nicholas was talking about. Not to be harsh, but I officially kind of hate that hotel.

Lucas will find me. I know he will. I just don’t know if he’ll find me while I’m still in one piece. Therefore, I am going to have to help myself.

“I’ll take those,” says another of the thugs, getting in my face. I focus on him, concentrating hard, searching for the still part of my mind, and it actually works. The word that appears inside my head isbored. Abduction and assault have lost their thrill for him, apparently. But the emotion accompanying the word is greed. Which makes perfect sense when he kneels in front of me and rips out my diamond earrings. Just tears the hooks through the flesh of my earlobes.

My howls of pain fill the room. A few drops of blood fall onto my bare shoulders. I have no tolerance for pain. Never have. Therefore, being tortured is a problem for me. A really fucking big one.

“Stupid bitch,” mutters the second vampire, and he kicks me in the thigh with his steel-toed boots. Once, twice, three times, making me scream in pain even louder. He doesn’t stop until the sound of cracking echoes in the cold, empty space. My upper leg is a mass of bruises ever so slowly changing color by the barest of degrees. I am not healing anywhere near as fast as I should. And he just broke the thickest damn bone in my body with relative ease. Shit.

At this point, I burst into tears. I can’t help it. Fear owns me completely. I have never been so scared in my life. Not even when Lucas turned me, which is saying something. Speaking of my sire, I would dearly love to know where he is right now.

All three of the assholes start laughing at me. Guess I make a pretty pathetic figure, sitting on the ground, sobbing. My leg is sheer agony. I am helpless, and I hate it.

“Let’s get a drink,” says one vampire to the other. Then he turns to the human. “Watch her.”

“What?” asks the human in a high-pitched voice. “You’re leaving me on my own?”

“It’s not like she’s going anywhere with a broken femur,” the second vampire scoffs. “That’s why we bled her, you idiot. So she wouldn’t have the strength to heal herself. And she’s too new to be able to compel you. That shit takes years to learn.”

The human frowns his whole heart out. “Yeah, but—”

“You’re not actually scared of this pitiful, bawling newborn, are you? All you have to do is stand here and keep an eye on her. Just don’t get too close. You’ll be fine.”

“He’ll be here soon,” says the first vampire. And a word appears inside my head, surrounded by a wary sort of respect.Marc. Which makes perfect sense.

Then the two vampires walk out, shutting the door behind them. The way it echoes hollowly is like something out of a horror film.

I huddle on the floor, sniffling. The pain in my leg is easing ever so slowly as the bone knits itself back together. Thank goodness. But fuck, it hurts. Having a bone broken and feeling it heal just might be the most excruciating thing ever.

It is not, however, unusual for me to be underestimated. In work environments, by boyfriends, etcetera. And this situation is no different. If they think I’m going to sit here docilely waiting to get tortured, they are kidding themselves. I refuse to end like this. These assholes will not be what kills me. Not when me being undead was starting to show such promise.

“Please don’t hurt me,” I whisper, watching him through my lashes.

“Shut up,” he says, staring off at the wall.

“I can turn you. That’s what you want, isn’t it? That’s why you’re with them?”

The human pulls a gun no doubt loaded with wooden bullets out of the back of his pants. His brows draw tight together as he frowns.

“Don’t you want to be immortal and live forever?”

“You were only just turned. You probably can’t even do that yet.”

“But I was turned by the Woodsman. His blood is stronger than his brother’s. You know that, right?”

He shrugs and scowls at the ground. But he’s listening. I have his attention.

“And I’m his favorite,” I say with a forced smile. I really should have been practicing this mind control stuff before now. More than just the one time with Henry. But I push as hard as I can, forcing my focus onto him, all while searching again for the still and silent part of my mind. The place where other people’s words and feelings seem to appear to me out of nowhere. This has to work. It just has to. “He gave me those diamond earrings.Help me, and he’ll give you even more. He’s got cars and jewels and whatever you want.”

“Look, would you just…”

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