Keeping Cambria (3 page)

His brother tensed. The pungent scent of rage filled the air, followed by a fist to his mouth.

“You son of a bitch. That’s not funny,” Viper said through clenched teeth.

Venom merely licked the blood off his lip since a punch in the trap was mild to an immortal. With Viper’s temper, his brother could have snatched Venom’s heart out of his chest. “I’m not laughing, bro. My cock is so damn hard I can barely walk.”

Viper’s eyes narrowed and he took a deep breath through his nose. “I won’t share her.”

“Neither will I.” Venom didn’t necessarily want a mate, but Cambria defined the word sensual. Beautiful didn’t come close to describing her, and, God, she smelled like wild rain—pure and exciting.

Bear sauntered up beside them, his eyes darting between the two. “What’s up?”

“Cambria’s his mate,” said Viper.

“And his too,” Venom replied.

Bear’s eyes widen, and he rubbed his chin. “Well, if you two fight over her, make sure you kill each other so I can have dibs on her.”

“Fuck. Don’t tell me she’s your mate, too,” said Viper.

“No, but she certainly is a beautiful woman, and you know women can’t resist my teddy bear side.”

“Shut the fuck up, Bear,” howled Viper.

“So, what’s it going to be, Viper? Swords or straight up fist fight?”

“Neither, you two knuckleheads. If you hurt one another, you’ll upset the other brothers. Besides, what’s wrong with a threesome? I know for a fact you’ve tag-teamed before; we all have.”

“I think we should just walk away,” said Viper.

Venom’s beasts wailed at that thought. Of course, he wouldn’t unless his brother did. A mate was a gift, one meant to complete the beasts. “We’re mirror twins. It’s only natural that the
one
is for both of us.” Like the other two sets of twins, Viper’s organs were the opposite of Venom’s. The only external difference was the mirrored blue and brown eyes, and Viper was left-handed, he was right. Viper was the hotheaded one, and he was the tame one. Mirror personalities.

“Hurry up and make up your minds,” said Bear. “It’s cold as shit out here sitting on the damp, not to mention it’s a disgusting back alley. Can’t be good for your mate.”

“Bear’s right,” said Venom.

“Of course, your real problem is convincing your mate. I don’t think she likes you too much,” Bear motioned to Viper, “and I’m sure as hell certain she won’t like two of you.”

Viper shoved Bear out of the way and squatted in front of Cambria. Venom crouched, too, and then released her mind. They both offered her a hand and said in unison, “Let me help you up.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, brother.” She slapped their hands away and pushed herself up to stand. “Listen, you two. I don’t need any help. Just stay the fuck out of my way.”

“My name’s Venom, ma’am.” For once, he wished he had picked a normal name, but they were so old, their real names were outdated, and in a drunken stupor this was what their inebriated minds had chosen.

“Viper and Venom. Cute.”

“Why don’t we get you inside and take a look at that ankle,” said Venom.

“No thank you. I have other plans.” His mate turned and hobbled toward the street, pain radiating off her with each step.

Venom looked at his brother. “I guess we’ll have to follow her.”

“Or we can just throw her over one of our shoulders and kidnap her.”

“I don’t recommend that tactic,” interjected Bear.

They fell instep behind her. When she reached the end of the alley, she turned towards the titty bar, and that was okay with him.

He needed a stiff shot of something potent.

* * * * *

Cambria forced herself into the bar, hiding her limp as best she could considering her ankle was screaming with each step. The twins were following her, along with another guy that was as enormous as a grizzly. The place went eerily quiet when those three walked in, but she couldn’t blame the patrons of this biker bar. There was bad and then there were those three. They were heads taller than everybody else and looked like they would kill you just for breathing.

And they are vampires.

Scourge of the earth; her number one enemy.

For some reason, she wasn’t afraid of them.
Just call me stupid.

She sat at the end of the bar and ordered a double. The twins, who she wanted to call Frick n’ Frack, or maybe Handsome One and Two, stood behind her. She purposely took a seat with losers on each side because she could deal with drunken-old-men-ogling-half-naked-girls-on-poles better than she could the two arrogant V’s.

She downed the whiskey, enjoyed the burn as it slid down her throat, then spun around to search for any signs of a vampire—present company excluded. Their massive chests were like the freaking wall of China. “You two are blocking my view.”

“Who do you have your eye on?” asked one of them.

“Anything that bites.”

“We bite,” offered the other one.

He flashed his white canines, prompting her to ask, “Don’t your teeth turn red with all that…you know?”

“Nope,” they both replied in unison.

Great. They’re in sync with each other.
That thought led to other wicked things involving one in the front and one in the back, and her smack dab in the middle. Where the hell did that idea come from? Her core clenched, and fire flickered around places that were encased in ice and hadn’t been used in a while.

The vampire on the right arched a brow. Damn. Could they read her mind? She’d heard that vampires were superior, but certainly there had to be a line drawn somewhere.

They towered above her, arms crossed like warriors guarding a treasure. Their braids were near the length of hers. She didn’t mind men having long hair, as long as it wasn’t prettier than hers. Damn, as hot as these two were, their hair probably was to die for.

The real question was why she didn’t just run them through with her sword. So they did one noble deed by killing two vampires. Whoop-dee-do. They still drank from people, for fuck’s sake.

Cambria forcefully moved her eyes around the room—and wouldn’t you know it, they landed on a pair doing the nasty in the hallway. The chick’s legs were wrapped around the male’s waist, and he was humping for all he was worth. Another strange feeling zinged through her.

Then she saw it, a dark shadow winding through the crowd. The hairs on her neck stood on end. Apparently, the twins felt it, because they turned and looked straight at the shadow.

The one with the blue eye on the right turned and grabbed her arm. “We need to go.”

“No, way.”
This might be the vermin I’ve been looking for.

“You don’t have a choice,” he said.

“Which one are you?”

“Viper. Now get your pretty ass in gear.”

Cambria tried to pull her arm from his grip, but his whole hand encircled it with plenty of hand to spare. “Listen, dickhead aka Viper, you don’t own me. In fact, I should kill you just because you’re a vampire. Now get the fuck out of my way.” She took two steps, hoping he’d release her, but instead she spun around when she reached the end of his long arm.

“Cambria,” said Venom. “A very bad vampire has just entered. His mind is damaged, and we need to get you to safety and then handle him.”

“Killing
vampires
is what I live for.”

“There’s also a feral werewolf in here,” offered Viper.

“Good. You two take the werewolf, and I’ll handle the vamp.”

“We can’t let you do that,” answered Venom.

“Listen. He’s here looking for food. I am food. I’ll lead him outside, and then I’ll kill him. You can tag along if you want to. Just stay the fuck out of my way.”

Viper released her and propped his hands on his hips like a child. “And what if he gives you a brain bleed?” asked Viper.

“It’s worth it to me.” She almost ran to get away from them. Of course, she couldn't take the time right now to consider that werewolves also existed. What the fuck! Were all scaries from childhood real?

Cambria cut to her left, and bikers peeled out of her way. She didn’t have to look over her shoulder to know the sea of leather parted for the two very big, very bad-ass vampires behind her. She walked right up to the vampire that stepped out of the dark shadow that had disguised him. She rubbed her body against his, wanting to make sure he thought she was easy. She whispered, “Let’s get out of here.”

This vamp’s eyes were glassy, unfocused, and she had to agree that this one was feral, which was not a word she’d used before. But now that she thought about it, all the ones she’d killed had this look. Except the King, the one that Viper eliminated. He hadn’t had this wild-ass rabid look; he was just a whole different level of nasty.

Her prey wrapped his arm around her neck and headed to the door. The twin V’s stood off to the side scowling, and this guy was so far gone he didn’t even see his death in the pair’s eyes. The feral leaned into her and sniffed, which gave her a whiff of something dead. Yuck.

The cool air against her face was welcome. She sucked in the fresh air and prepared for the next assault on her nose. When they turned to corner, she glanced over her shoulder, surprised that the twins weren’t following her. Didn’t matter. She didn’t need them to kill this guy.

The man stopped, grabbed her waist, and she found her back against the brick wall. This guy was stronger than the others.

“Hey, now. Slow down. Tell me what you want.”

He pressed his body against hers, and she pushed against his shoulders. “Let me go, you bastard.”

His face tilted back, fangs flashed, and he leaned over. She heard a growl right before he sailed through the air as if he weighed nothing.

When she was free, she pulled her sword and looked up to see one of the V’s fighting with the feral. A fist landed on the vamp, and blood and spit flew. Suddenly four more vampires appeared in the alley out of thin air. Swords appeared in both hands of each twin, and they started hacking the new guys as well. She took a step forward, only to be pinned to the wall by an unseen force.

“Which one of you bastards has me tied to this brick wall?”

One of the twins flashed her a grin, but she had no idea which one. She hated that she couldn’t move; it made her feel helpless, sort of claustrophobic. “Let me go!”

Cambria pulled as hard as she could against the invisible binds, but she couldn’t even pry her finger off the damned wall. “Bastards!’

All she got was laughter. She closed her eyes and put all her strength in breaking the force field.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, ma’am.”

Her eyes popped open, and the other blue-eyed, brown-eyed, too-handsome bear stood in front of her. At least they weren’t triplets.

“Make your brother let me go. I need to defend myself.”

“Women don’t fight. Besides, that’s what I’m here for.”

“You idiot. There are two against four. We should join the fun and even the odds.”

“Nah. My brothers are just playing with them. I’m supposed to make sure none of the blood gets spattered on you.”

“Oh. My. God. Insanity runs in the family.”

He gave her a dazzling smile, complete with fangs. “Yes, ma’am. It does.”

She had to admit that there wasn’t a scratch on either of them. Their opponents were bleeding from several cuts, and their skill with a sword was impressive. The twins each wielded two weapons as if they were merely plastic kiddy swords.

“I think they’re showing off.”

Suddenly, three more vamps materialized. “Listen, dickhead. Let me go.”

“Sorry.”

Dumb ass.
“Well at least go help them.”

“They’re having fun.”

What was it with men? Showing off instead of getting the job done. One of the V’s kicked his opponent so hard, the vamp flew through the air toward her. The bear just stepped in front of her, a sword materialized in his hand, and he sliced the weapon clean through the guy.

“Great,” he said. “They let me play.”

She rolled her eyes at the juvenile attitude. “Get your big ass out there and help them.”

“No can do. They will kick my butt. They’re my older brothers. I can’t go against them.”

“You’d let them die instead of helping them?”

“If you want this ended, open your mind to them and tell them to stop.”

“What?”

“They’ll listen to you. Just open your mind, reach for theirs.”

This was stupid as hell, but what did she have to lose? She’d known vamps were powerful, but she was learning more about their abilities. Cambria opened her mind.
Okay, you twins.
Do they even hear me?
Release me. I don’t like being tied up, not to mention that you need my help.

She already cares about us, bro.

Yeah, too bad about that tying up. I can see her bound to our bed and…

Our? Warmth spread though her at such a sinful thought.
Oh, stop it. I care that you’re outnumbered, and I can’t help you.

What will you give us?

A headache if you don’t stop this.

How about a kiss?

What? No. No way.

Then I guess we’ll keep fighting.

These guys were stubborn morons. Six against two were terrible odds.

Okay. Okay. Just one.

Laughter floated in her mind, making her feel way too easy. And pissed off.

They both stopped fighting, and then the bad guys screamed and grabbed their hair. When they dropped to their knees, the twins sliced off their heads.

She tugged against her invisible ropes. “Now let me go.”

Fire flew from the sky, blinding her, and when she opened her eyes there was no indication that a war had been fought. Little cinders floating over the ground were the only evidence left.

When she was free from her invisible bounds, she marched straight up to the twins and poked them both in the chest. “You were just toying with those…those
things
.” God, that sounded as if she were sympathetic to the monsters. “You should just kill them and move on. Anything can happen when you play with fire.”