Page 79 of Deadly Cravings
“It’s clear, Calliope must have her,” Asher spat. “I’ll go look for her?—”
“You stay,” Tobias shoved Asher back. “You make poor decisions when you’re emotional.” Asher scoffed at his observation. “Do you think I don’t know about the human you killed?” Tobias snapped.
Asher snarled.
“I’ll go see if Calliope will meet with me.” Tobias’s tone remained stiff and matter-of-fact. “Jax, you?—”
“I’ll check with all my contacts,” I said grimly. I’d send word out to our progeny as well. If someone came back to us with information, they would be rewarded.
“If she’s dead Jaxon, I wi—” Asher hissed and turned on his heel mid-word, disappearing down the hall. I gritted my teeth,retracting my fangs that had popped out at some point. Pressure compounded on my chest, urging me to find her.
THIRTY-THREE
catalina
The cool ground was uncomfortable,and why was it so dark? My heart rate picked up and I shot up. My forehead smacked into something hard as rock. A hiss came from said rock.
“Sorry,” I squeaked when Ren cursed under his breath.
I wish I could see Ren, but it was still pitch dark. He’d taken so much blood that I’d passed out.Did the guy have no impulse control?I frowned at him even though he couldn’t see me.
My irritation slipped away and the cool splash of reality slapped me across the face. I was stuck in a dark room. Thoughts of the vampire who’d captured me long ago were going rampant in my head.
I clasped my trembling hands together and scrambled back. There had to be light in here, I was pretty sure I’d seen the switch before Calliope slammed the door.
Unsteadily climbing to my feet, I swayed, disoriented by the darkness. Steps unsteady, I smoothed my dress down and stumbled forward with my hands out.
I pressed my palms on the walls, dragging them over the metal surface.
My fingers bumped into something and relief loosened my shoulder as I nudged the switch up. A buzz filled the room and a dim light flickered to life.
Chains rattled, calling my attention to Ren.
I choked on my spit.
My eyes watered as I coughed and worked to suck in a breath.
Holy crap he was massive. Hefeltmassive, but this wasn’t what I’d expected. His legs were stretched out in front of him. He was as large as the other vampires, but wider, more like Bastien. It was confirmed, these guys had been injected with some unfair height and muscle genes.
His short hair sat artfully mussed. Strands fell forward, framing his forehead. The chiseled lines of his cheeks had nothing on that jawline, and his plump lower lip stained with blood didthingsto me.
Ink peeked from over the neckline of his torn shirt and stretched down both his arms, but I was too far away to see details.
To put it succinctly. He was fucking sexy, and he watched me like a lion watching prey.
I cleared my throat. Now that it wasn’t darker than a coffin, oxygen reached my brain. I dipped my hand into the front of my dress to pull out my inhaler.
“Asher, Jax, and Tobias should come after us once they realize I’m not home, right?” I raked my fingers through my hair and slid to the ground next to him. I pressed my inhaler to my mouth, inhaling a puff.
He hadn’t moved and when I peeked up at him, his eyes were eerily blank. Nerves tightened my stomach. I wasn’t a fan of that expression . . .
THIRTY-FOUR
catalina
Ren was still lookingat me with that blank expression, and I nervously licked my lips.
When I first came in, I’d allowed my fear to get the best of me and crawled into his lap. But he wasn’t Asher. Nope. There was a cruel mocking in his expression that sent shivers up my spine.