Page 45 of Prey

Loneliness was invading and I didn’t want to let him go. Here, he couldn’t hurt me.

“Do you think your kind will ever be able to come to peace with us?

“No. It’s impossible. You can’t be on good terms with food.”

“But, you’re wrong. So many vampires have blood slaves. They don’t kill them. Why can’t each vampire be designated a donor so the world’s population will be safe? It might work. Sure, there will be a few who break the rules, but what if something like that could be set up?”

He paused. “We already have that for those who choose not to hunt prey. But you miss the point. It’s not who we are. We have to hunt, Tessa. It’s part of who we are.”

“Who you were. If your leader made it mandatory—”

“There would be war between us vampires. I, for one, won’t stand for it,” he snapped. “We’re already caged underground. To take the little freedom we have, it can’t be that way. We’re killers. It’s what we are.”

The anger had me becoming quiet. There was no use arguing about something he was so passionate about. He’d refuse to listen to my side and I wasn’t going to waste my energy trying to convince him that peace would be better for everyone involved.

“Will you be here tonight?” The deepness in his voice told me he wanted me to be. He wanted me, period.

“Marie wants me to stay at her place again.”

A curse came through in French. “She using you, mon chaton. You know this, though, don’t you.”

It wasn’t a question. We both knew I did. “I like her.”

“You want to change her. Make her like you so you can see that we’re not all bad. I’m telling you, we’re not good. You can’t save us.”

“You’re probably right. That doesn’t mean I can’t have hope. I happen to think there’s a reason other than your blood as to why I’m being pulled to the underground. I’m curious to see what it is. If it’s nothing and I die before anything really comes out of it, at least I’ll be in a place where I belong.”

“You really feel that way?”

“Well, yeah. I’m excited about going back. Nervous, but excited.”

A few seconds went by before Marko cleared his throat. The burn had my heart sinking. “You need to feed.”

“Yes. It’ll be twice today. And I’ll still have to feed while you’re here. It’ll help. At least, I’m hoping.”

Hoping…I wasn’t. And how messed up was that? I wanted his fangs back in my neck. I wanted him to feed from me and only me. I was his and he didn’t even want me that way. Not without the price being my life.

“Stop it,” he hissed. “You say Wednesday, I say right now if you keep up those thoughts. You don’t feel like I want you, but we both know that’s the biggest lie there is. It’s how much I want you that is our problem.”

“Marko, if we hadn’t done the exchanges and you didn’t want to kill me, do you think you’d still want me?”

He sighed. “I don’t know. Probably not.”

His answer could have been him ripping my heart out of my chest for the hurt it caused. The shock came in pulses of agony that left it hard to breathe. I hated this bond that kept trying to bring us together. What I hated more was the real me who still lurked around, not strong enough to overpower his hold.

“Tessa—”

“Don’t,” I said, interrupting. “Get out of my head now and leave me alone until you’re ready to kill me. But just so you know, I’m not going down easily. It may be hard to defend myself, but I will not be an easy victim. You tell me to be prepared, I say to you, pray, Marko Delacroix. Your days may be numbered yet.”

“I hope you fight, mon chaton. And I do pray you feel justified in trying your hardest when you take your last breaths.”

I threw the covers back, going to my closet. Nudity didn’t matter. If someone saw me, fuck it. I had to get out of here. I needed to live. I needed to start planning.

Chapter 20

Marko

I sat at our table in the heart of the city, listening to the musicians off in the distance sing their tunes. Some were fast paced, some riddled with portents of the end being near. There was so much passion in their lyrics. Why I’d never paid attention before was beyond me.

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