Part 31 (1/2)

Chapter 23.

”B astard!” Bella kicked the steel door for the third time to no avail.

She paced.

Here she'd thought Severo had resolved to make this work. And the only way she could possibly foresee that happening? Let the werewolf decide.

If it accepted her, Severo could banish his apprehensions and worries that she'd never be safe around it. And if the werewolf tore out her throat...Well, there wasn't much of a way to argue if that happened, was there?

Rationally, she understood his fear. So much had happened to them since coming together. He could have never antic.i.p.ated that his girlfriend would be transformed into a vampire. And then to face losing her should the werewolf protest?

This might be the safest place for her during the full moon, but having blooded her teeth, Bella had lost all trace of fear. And she was hungry.

She gave the door one more good kick but succeeded in only denting the steel.

Shouldn't she have superpowers by now? she thought. The other vampires were so strong, they'd rip this door from the hinges.

Though she had noticed many changes since the transformation, Ivan had said it would take until the next full moon before she was completely a vampire. Whatever that meant.

Right now her senses increased. She could smell the gunpowder in the plastic containers at the back of the a.r.s.enal. And though night had fallen and she hadn't switched the light on yet, she could see very well.

Stalking to the table's edge, she grabbed hold of the stainless steel. The corner of the table bent. ”So I am stronger.” She glanced to the door. ”But not strong enough for that mother.”

Maybe if she pried out the hinges?

Searching for a tool, she grabbed a crowbar and hammer and went to work.

A ghostly howl outside made her stop pounding. Another howl sounded closer to the house.

”He must not have gone far away. Is he coming for me?” Bella leaped onto the counter and peered out the ten-inch-high gla.s.s-block window. It was impossible to see through the distorted blocks.

She jumped down and resumed pounding at the door. One hinge pin popped out and clanged onto the cement floor.

She positioned the crowbar beneath the next hinge pin but paused. ”Do I really want to do this? Do I think I'm some kind of big bad vampire now who can take on anything in my path? I don't think I can win against a werewolf.”

But she didn't have to win; she just had to seduce.

Gla.s.s crashed to the ground. Bella guessed it was the patio door that Severo had only just reinstalled a week earlier. The werewolf had entered the house.

She worked at the second of three hinges, but it wouldn't budge no matter how hard she hit it with the hammer. Instead of creating more noise, she set down the tools and bent before the door to listen.

Snorts and huffing breaths sounded. Far away. The werewolf was probably walking through the kitchen. Talons scratched across marble. The thunder of each footstep-it was not running, but was slowly taking the foyer's measure-rocketed her heartbeat to her throat.

He was looking for her. He must smell her. h.e.l.l, the werewolf could smell her from miles away. Now his head must be filled with her scent.

Her vampire scent.

”There must be deodorant for hiding vampire pheromones,” she muttered. ”Just...let him be calm, to see me before he rages.”

And she closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips to the steel door. See me, she repeated over and over. Know me.

The wolf stalked the hallway toward the a.r.s.enal. A bang outside the room shook the wall. It seemed angry, impatient to find the creature it scented. It was on the hunt.

On bent legs, Bella twisted to eye the a.r.s.enal. What kind of weapon would work against a werewolf? Not a lethal weapon, one that contained silver, but something to hold it back if it intended to take off her head. Something to pin it to the ground while she ran for the garage and hopped in the car to speed off to China.

She didn't want to die. And to be ripped apart by her lover was not on her top-ten list of adventures.

But she did want it to recognize her-if only for a moment-and know that she had not changed. Sure, she now needed blood to survive. But her heart had not altered. Her soul needed Severo...and the werewolf.

A bang against the door pushed in the steel in the shape of wide knuckles. A chilling sc.r.a.pe of talons down metal sent a s.h.i.+ver up the back of Bella's neck.

The werewolf howled. Bella did not recognize it as that ”I see you and want to mate with you” kind of howl with which he usually greeted her. This one was low and menacing.

A p.r.i.c.k to her lower lip made her jump. ”Now is no time for the fangs.” Try as she might, she could not will them back up.

The vampire she had become was prepared to fight for survival.

Two more fist marks bulged in the door. The middle hinge, partly released, cracked in half. A kick brought the door down inside the room.The bullets and guns and knives sitting on the counter behind Bella clattered to the floor as she backed into it. Her hip bone hit the steel, and she winced but did not take her eyes from the approaching threat.

The werewolf seethed, its fangs descending along its extended jaw and glistening with saliva. It howled at the sight of her and stalked up in two long strides, forcing her to jump onto the counter and crouch defensively.

”It's me,” she cried. ”Severo, see me!”

It snarled and tossed back its head. The muscles strapping its shoulders pulsed as it did a caveman chest pound. Powerful thighs flexed. It stomped. One paw swept across the counter, to Bella's right, tearing the steel in four jagged lines.

Blood drooled down her chin. She'd bit her lip. The blood scent must enrage the wolf beyond measure, she thought. ”h.e.l.l, I can't sit here and take it,” she said aloud.

She dropped to the floor and thought to crawl away, but a hand connected with her side. One blow swept her across the room and out the door. She skidded along the waxed marble floor and slammed into a wall with a groan.

Blood seeping from her thigh, Bella scrambled along the floor. Behind her the werewolf stalked at a distance, as if it planned to play with her, exhaust her before the killing.

”You're not playing fair!” she shouted and scrambled to her feet.

Das.h.i.+ng toward the front door, she reasoned that outside the werewolf would have her at an advantage. The garage door was behind her, behind the werewolf, so reaching the car was out of the question.

Veering right, Bella headed toward the bedrooms. Perhaps the smaller rooms and the furniture would impede the werewolf. For a few seconds.

”Severo, I love you!” she called back. Gripping the door frame, she swung herself into a bedroom.

She slammed the door and locked it, knowing the gesture was futile.

In proof, talons ripped through the wood as if it were fas.h.i.+oned from mere leather. Bella stumbled backward, her spine colliding with the bed. She scrambled across it to the other side. The werewolf pushed the door into the room. On all fours, it lifted its head and sniffed.

With one leap it soared across the bed and knocked her on the floor, its deadly taloned fingers on her shoulders and its knees pinning her feet.

Bella screamed.