Page 64 of Club Blood
Carlisle nodded enthusiastically. He reached towards the bedside table and grabbed for his glass of whiskey. I watched as he took a long sip, the silence settling around us uncomfortably. "Cheers," he said with a laugh, raising his now empty glass in my direction. I tilted my head towards him in return.
"Why did you call for me?" I asked him. I was not inclined to stay any longer than I needed to. Something about Carlisle set me on edge. Everything was razor sharp, from his appearance to the way his voice cut through the air like a knife.
"Oh Cissa, I didn't call on you for business purposes," he got up and set his glass on the table again, walking towards me like a predator. I resisted the urge to run, refusing to allow him to smell my fear. Carlisle walked until he stood right in front of me, and grabbed my left tit roughly. I moaned in pain as his mouth lowered to my neck without permission, and his fangs slid deep into me. Carlisle must have thought that the sound that came from my mouth was pleasure, since his reaction was to suck harder. I enjoyed the feeling of sharing blood, but as he attached himself to me, leaving a welt and twisting my nipple so hard that I wanted to scream, I put my hands to his chest to push him away.
"Mmm, Narcissa. Don't tell me you don't want this. That's why you left your little whore, right?"
"I thought you wanted to talk about our next moves," I whispered honestly, gasping as he let go of my nipple and grabbed around towards my ass instead.
"Ournext move? Cissa, your work here is done. You left Mercy defenseless. You left her without her loyal Second to protect her. What will she do now, knowing that she has no one?"
"But she brought in Warren," I reminded him. He continued his unwelcome exploration of my body, pinching and pulling at whatever skin he could find.
"The defector? The minute he recognizes that she will fail, he will run. I do not believe the boy is loyal."
That was the wrong move. I always felt that the bond between Mercy and Warren was thicker than they ever let on. I could already tell I'd frustrated Carlisle with my words, so I refused to contradict him. Instead I watched as he removed himself from me and rubbed the blood from his face in anger.
"Since you don't seem taken by my arousal," he pouted, losing all the charm I initially saw in him days before. "May I ask what it was you thought I called you here for? Thereal reason,Narcissa, not the one where you pretend to be included."
I staggered on my feet, afraid to look him in the eye.
“I wanted to talk about Cecelia Blake.”
The name didn’t register to Carlisle it seemed. He stared at me dumbfounded.
“Cecelia? I don’t know the name.”
“You wouldn’t know her face either,” I scoffed, “She was tongue deep inside of Mercy all night atAmbrosia.”
Recognition filled him then, and Carlisle threw his head back in a loud laugh. I cautiously glanced behind me, worried someone might have overheard.
“Thehuman? Why should we be concerned over her? God Narcissa, I didn’t take you for a jealous ex.”
My hands curled into fists at my sides.
“Mercy is infatuated with her. I worry she’s going to make a stupid decision.”
“Then let her. You are on team Valore now, why worry about what will happen to that coven?”
“Not stupid in that way,” I argued, “I worry she will kill someone important for the girl. I fear that she will put us all at risk over the safety of this human.”
“Mercy is not that dumb,” Carlisle said. There was an air of arrogance that surrounded him, as if he knew more about Mercy than I did, as someone who spent every waking moment with her for years. “And besides, she already killed Nathaniel Tusker. She seems content with her power over Vegas. She has too much to worry about running her new region. She will have very little attention to pay to me and my agenda.”
“The girl, for whatever reason,meanssomething to her,” I tried to explain, “If we kill her, we kill Mercy. She needs to die, I assure you.”
“I care not about a human death, Narcissa. And that is the last of it. I will not hesitate to put an end to you too, if you push this.”
The note of finality filled the room.
“Mercy will die. I promised you this. And you will find your place in my coven. It may not be as rewarding as the space in your bitch’s coven, but at least you will no longer have to look at the face of your ex lover. Or at her body as it is ravished by someone else. And you may have me, if you’d like,”
He held out his hand towards me in invitation. I felt obligated to take it, even knowing the promise led down a road I was not ready to take. My hand felt clammy in his.
Carlisle was wrong. I saw the crazy look in Mercy’s eyes when Cece was in danger. She would not let go of her human easily.
And if she dies, Mercy would burn the world down, thoughts focused on nothing else but revenge. It was a good thing I had Valore. Although I was not convinced that he was willing to protect me, I would place my bets on him. Mercy was terrifying, but Carlisle was pure fear.
“I'm tired of this conversation, Narcissa.” Carlisle spoke out of boredom, and waved me away as if I was a mere blood bag. I frowned and my blood boiled under my skin. I stood there, knowing he dismissed me, but wanting to stay and argue.