Part 5 (1/2)
”Am I? Just as well. I was figuring to leave soon anyway.” Bree shrugged. ”Got things to do. People to find.”
James.
The thirst for blood rose up strong and hot at the thought of his ex-lover. He knew where James lived, or had lived. He could track the b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Find his home. Probably find him in the middle of humping his latest f.u.c.k-toy.
Bree's mouth watered. He licked his lips, tasting smoke, blood, and the last traces of Julian. ”Maybe I'll start with you, though,” he whispered. His voice was low and rough, but it carried.
The gym bunny shook his head. Scared as a -- a rabbit! Bree laughed out loud at the notion. At the sound, his would-be aggressor backed off a few more, panicky steps. ”Don't,” he said, voice shaking. ”I'll leave you alone. Don't hurt me.”
Bree grinned, showing all his teeth. ”Sure. No problem.”
The man eyed him nervously, clearly not believing a word, but after a moment turned to run.
”For now!” Bree called, just to watch him stop and turn around, face etched with terror, before he took off at a dead run, smas.h.i.+ng his way through the dancers.
Bree watched him go, still laughing to himself. Absently, he took out another cigarette and lit up. Poison, his a.s.s. b.a.s.t.a.r.d like that would pump himself full of steroids and never question it, so long as he looked better each day. He inhaled, savoring the harsh burn of the smoke. G.o.d, why had he quit? Tasted so good. Made him tingle all over. Tasted of pure, sweet death ... and blood.
Salty, coppery blood. Blood filling his mouth.
His fingers began to shake.
Oh. Oh, s.h.i.+t. What did I just do? I was gonna kill that man. And I was gonna enjoy it. I could've bathed in his blood, danced on his guts, then turned around and f.u.c.ked the first willing body in the ruins left behind. And I wouldn't -- have -- cared.
What's happening to me?
The cigarette fell from his suddenly nerveless fingers. f.u.c.k. Oh, f.u.c.k. I'm a monster.
”No.” A hand lightly grasped Bree's forearm. He jerked sharply around to see Liam, of all people, at his side. The small man looked up into Bree's face as if searching for something. Bree stared back, scared s.h.i.+tless, letting Liam look his fill.
Finally, Liam seemed satisfied. ”I can answer all your questions,” he said, as calm as if they were talking about the weather.
”But come. Let us find a more private spot.”
Bree couldn't help holding back a little, no matter how much he longed for answers, or for the strange sense of comfort Liam was pumping out like a geyser. ”How do you know anything about what's on my mind?” he demanded. ”You haven't --”
”Julian,” Liam said, gazing calmly at Bree. ”You've met Julian.” He reached up to touch the forgotten bite mark on Bree's neck. His fingertips came away stained with red. It stung like h.e.l.l, and Bree flinched. Liam glanced at his stained hand with mild curiosity and a certain blase att.i.tude. ”Yes, Julian,” he said. ”I know him of old. Come with me, and I'll tell you all I know.”
”You don't know anything,” Bree whispered, throat dry.
”Don't I? I know his name. I know it was he who bit you. I know you feel a thirst for blood that frightens you senseless.”
Bree stared at Liam.
The small man held out his clean hand. ”Will you come?”
Wordless, swallowing around the knot in his throat, Bree grasped Liam's hand tightly and bore down. ”I'm scared,” he whispered.
Liam's eyes filled with an old, weary sympathy. ”I know. Now come. Come, Bree. Follow me.”
Liam seemed to know every inch of Amour Magique from the inside out, as intimate with its twists and turns as he might be with a lover. He'd led Bree, never pausing once to consider his choice of direction, straight out a side door Bree would have sworn hadn't been there, and onto a smoking balcony. No one else out there but the two of them and an ashtray full of b.u.t.ts.
Liam had let Bree smoke his way through three cigarettes, waiting until the smoke he took in began to make his stomach turn.
Still silent, he'd offered Bree a gla.s.s of something cold and fizzy, one Bree hadn't seen him carrying -- hadn't both his hands been empty? Confused, but desperate to wash the coppery, bittersweet taste of blood from his mouth, Bree had grabbed the drink and guzzled down half a dozen swallows. Ginger ale. Of all the f.u.c.king things. Ginger ale! What he always drank when he felt sick to his stomach.
He'd put the gla.s.s down, wiped his mouth, and stared at Liam. Liam had stared back, eternally patient He'd put out a small, dry palm to pat Bree's shaking hand. Then, he'd begun to talk. Quiet, quick, and utterly calm. Spinning a tale that had set Bree's head spinning. Halfway through Liam's speech, he'd started shaking his head and hadn't stopped yet.
Liam finished. ”Do you mind? I am a bit dry now.” He picked up the ginger ale and took a sip. ”Delicious, in its way.”
”Yeah.” Bree managed to still his jerky movements, then reached up to rub at the wound on his neck. Still damp. b.l.o.o.d.y. ”I thought Julian was nuts,” he said abruptly. ”But you? You're a f.u.c.king psycho, Liam.”
Liam shrugged. ”I've been called worse. Accusations do not alter the fact that what I've told you is only the truth.”
”Uh-huh. And I'm supposed to believe every word of it, no questions.”
”Do you need further proof? Still?”
Bree s.h.i.+vered. Unable to stand in one spot any longer, he started to pace. ”You're giving me a load of fairy-tale s.h.i.+t, and you expect me to open up and swallow? G.o.d. How dumb do you think I am?”
”I begin to wonder,” Liam said dryly.
Bree ignored him. He waved his hands, pale as dying moths in the moonlight. ”You're telling me you're not human. You're an incubus, whatever the h.e.l.l that is. Got the s.e.x magic working for you. That's just you being deluded about yourself. But you tell me that you've known Julian for years, hundreds of years? Known him back when he killed for fun and f.u.c.ked his way through half the men who stood in his way? While he butchered the other half just to watch them die?” ”He has changed,” Liam said mildly. ”Changed a very great deal. I had heard rumors, but had no confirmation until I laid eyes upon him tonight. He has pa.s.sed through the need for wholesale slaughter. It is natural, if one of his kind lives long enough.”
Bree let out a bark of laughter. ”One of his kind. Yeah. You're telling me Julian is a G.o.d-d.a.m.ned vampire, and you expect me to just believe that?”
Liam raised his shoulders. ”My words are all but irrelevant,” he said. ”Julian has tasted your blood. He used his power to show you the pleasures of drinking from a wellspring of pure life.”
”Cut the poetry s.h.i.+t,” Bree snapped. ”Vampires aren't real. Neither are incubuses, or whatever the h.e.l.l you think you are.”
”'Incubi' is the proper plural.”
”What the f.u.c.k ever. Like it matters. What the h.e.l.l did you drag us into, Liam? We thought we were coming to party. Is this where all the crazy people come? Jesus, man, no one even blinked when Julian bit me. No one cared!”
”They wouldn't. Anyone who saw Julian knew what he is, was, and has been for centuries. You danced your way into a cl.u.s.ter of his kindred without even knowing. Of course, they wouldn't help you. I don't doubt they were jealous, but no one would dare to cross Julian.” Liam paused thoughtfully. ”I expect they admire you for your courage now.”
Bree laughed again, the sound harsh. ”Yeah. That just s.h.i.+nes my ego up nice and pretty. Thanks a ton. Vampires. You're crazy, Liam.”
”Not crazy,” Liam said patiently. ”You know that. Why do you blind yourself to the truth? By Lilith, I dearly love humanity, but your stupidity appalls me at times.” He touched Bree's neck. ”Julian's marked you for his own. He picked you out very deliberately. Perhaps he even knew you would be here tonight. It would be like him.”
Bree shook his head. ”Bulls.h.i.+t.”
”No. Truth.”
”Why should I believe you?”
”That much is your choice. Only know this, the last bit of knowledge I can share: Julian no longer exists for the kill. He has grown old and seeks both peace and a partner to spend the rest of eternity with him. He seeks a mate, Bree, and I believe he has chosen you.”