Page 18 of Queen of Ashes and Scars
My chest heaves at the news. “Jasper told you that?”
“He didn’t have to.” Alec rubs the arch of his brows with a shaky hand. “Jasper told me that Victor had been killed by a Zhao assassin, but if it was in fact a scheme, I bet Garrett was in on it, too.”
Leo clears his throat. “We shouldn’t make too many assumptions now, it’s still too fresh.”
I give him a small nod, grateful for his input. “Leo’s right. We should go someplace safe, first, and think.”
Alec’s brother just died, and that must suck, whatever the circumstances.
I’m lucky to be alive. The evil necklace Pereira gave me attempted to steal my voice, my freedom, and my very breath. Now that I’ve got it back, I’m not going to let it go to waste.
But first, we need to rest…and feed.
Keenan yanks off a big tarp from a white, nondescript jeep. “Let’s get on the road. I wasn’t kidding when I said private jets were hard to come by, but I know where we can find a suitable one,” he says with a hint of mischief as he climbs in behind the wheel.
Leo joins him in the front, leaving Alec and me in the back. He looks too pale, his usually strong, leathery scent watered down, and a hint of sweat glistens on his forehead. I lean forward to take a better look at him. “Are you alright, Leo?”
My first-blood hikes himself up on the seat, his fists clenched. “Not really, but I’m tired of being the guy that passes out all the time.”
I squeeze his shoulder, guilt grating my insides. Without the magic supplements to help his red blood cells regenerate, Leo’s in real danger. “I’m sorry I took too much blood. I owe you my life, Leo. You saved me.”
“The witch saved you…” he glances sideways at Keenan. “Besides, you weren’t the only one.”
The angel’s lips curl down in a pout. “We have to find ye someone else to feed from, Yer Highness. Chances are ye’ll need more blood before sunset.”
“I have to feed too, and soon.” Alec declares, his grim expression spelling out exactly how fucked we would be if we had to fight another wave of shapeshifters or backstabbing vampires without sustenance.
Keenan chuckles under his breath as he drives out of the hangar and heads toward the regional road. “I’d forgotten how hungry ye bloodsuckers get.”
Alec throws him a nasty look. “You drink blood, too.”
“Only when I want to. I can still eat like a mortal,” he boasts, and a hint of jealousy heats my chest. I would love to sink my teeth into a juicy piece of steak right about now, but alas…only blood will quench my thirst.
Keenan rummages through the glove compartment, his driving abilities not at all impaired as he inventories the contents before pressing a water bottle to Leo’s chest. “Drink it all. It should help ye with the not-passing-out bit. And eat this.” He hands one protein bar over to Leo and keeps the other one in his lap.
Leo gulps down the bottle and discards it at his feet. When he bites down on the chocolate-covered treat and chews, my stomach grumbles unhappily. “Alec is right. We need to find someone soon.”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere. How do you expect—” he stops abruptly, eyes focused on a car parked on the side of the road.
Two men looking to be in their early twenties are changing a flat tire, and Keenan smirks as he pulls up behind them. “Well, you guys are the luckiest bloodsuckers alive.”
The metallic wrapping from the protein bar crinkles in Leo’s hand. “Don’t kill them. Please.”
Alec leans into my ear. “I’ll knock them out first, so they won’t remember what happened. Don’t step out, you’re too weak to endure the sunlight, even if it’s raining. I’ll bring one of them to you.”
My fangs pierce my gums. “Hurry.”
The two men turn to look at Alec as he steps out of the car. The one closest to the bumper crosses his tattooed arms over his chest, but before he opens his mouth to speak, Alec’s blurry form knocks him unconscious. The one cranking the jack stands up straight in alarm only to suffer the same fate.
The roof of my mouth itches as Alec totes him over to the place he just left vacant beside me like the six-foot-tall man weighs little more than a soda. I’ve never had to feed from someone other than Leo out of survival, but I need the power and the calories, and so I sink my teeth into the stranger’s neck. Pressing my lids together, I concentrate on the blood and not my prey’s sweaty armpits or his dirt-smeared hands, the taste of him sweet in the face of my bottomless thirst.
“What a nice place for a picnic,” Keenan says flippantly, drumming his hands over the wheel.
Leo pushes his door open. “This is too weird.” He steps out of the car and grips his blond hair.
Blood and violence…my vampire senses are dying for me to drain my prey dry, but I take only a mouthful or two more than I would have from Leo.
Once we’re done, Alec returns the men to the safety of their car and climbs back in next to me. Keenan doesn’t waste a moment before driving off, and Leo looks about ready to throw up.
