The Dark Vampire: Last True Vampire 3 (18 page)

Jenner’s control slipped another notch. The thought of that male’s hands on Bria, his breath in her ear, resurrected thoughts of murder. He needed to get the hell out of here before he lost it completely. He seized Bria’s upper arm and tucked her close to his body. They were too exposed in the club. Too many threats loomed. He’d been stupid to bring her here.

“Jenner, what are you doing?” Bria had to take two steps for every one of his, but Jenner couldn’t make himself slow down. “Let go of me.”

“We’re leaving,” he ground out.

“Because of one stupid jerk?”

“This was a mistake. One I won’t make again.”

Bria tried to pull away, but he held her fast. Even as he said the words Jenner knew he’d regret them. If he kept up with the bipolar, overprotective asshole routine she’d grow to hate him. Maybe that was for the best, though. If he allowed himself to feel anything for her he’d surely destroy her.

Jenner’s unapologetic ferocity left Bria awestruck. That didn’t mean she wasn’t furious as hell with him. When she walked out of the bathroom and saw the dhampir with her hand poised on Jenner’s lean, muscular torso, though, Bria’s temper had snapped. She’d wanted to tear the audacious female’s throat out. Her own violent urge had shaken Bria. It hadn’t deterred her, however. No, the shifter had managed to stay her course when he’d put her up against that wall.

And now Jenner was intent on dragging her home and putting her back on the shelf. This male she’d only known for a short time had taken it upon himself to
make decisions for her as though he actually had the right. “I said, let go of me!” Bria gave another hard jerk of her arm and managed to free herself from Jenner’s iron grip. He rounded on her, his eyes flashing with quicksilver, his lip curled back in a snarl. He could try to frighten her all he wanted. She refused to cower. “We might be tethered, but you don’t own me.”

She steeled herself against the vicious glint of his icy stare. He leaned in close, his mouth hovering dangerously close to hers. “Don’t I?”

Cruel, heartless male.
“No.” Her deadly tone matched his. “You do
not
. I’ll find my own way back to Mikhail’s house. I don’t want or need your company for the rest of the night, Jenner.”

He reached for her again and Bria bared her fangs. It felt good to stand up for herself and she quickly became drunk on her own power. She could be as ruthless as Jenner. His brow furrowed at the warning inherent in her expression, but the violent gleam in his eyes tamed. Music surged around them, a deep, pounding bass that drilled into Bria’s skull. The crowd surged with the wild beat and she used the opportunity to slip through the press of bodies. A sense of panic swelled within her as she expected Jenner to chase after her. And though she felt the heat of his stare sizzle over her skin, she knew that he’d stayed put.

That he would let her walk away both empowered and saddened her. Despite her need for independence, she wanted to know that the need she’d sensed in him hadn’t been imagined. That he felt
something
for her. Which was silly, wasn’t it? How could he possibly care about her when he didn’t really know her? Well, she’d teach Jenner another lesson tonight. One about
her
. If she was going to be tethered to this male he needed to learn now that Bria would no longer allow herself to be treated with indiffer
ence. What she wanted mattered. And the sooner Jenner recognized that, the better.

She took his advice to heart as she left the club and stepped out onto the crowded sidewalk. In order to be truly in tune with her environment she couldn’t let her senses work against her. Likewise, it would be foolish to draw attention to herself, no matter if the streets were populated with droves of supernatural creatures or simply humans. Bria had become a member of a very small race of creatures. Notoriety wasn’t something she could afford. Especially with her uncle’s centuries’ worth of worries scratching at the back of her mind.

The fine hairs on Bria’s arms stood on end. Her body reacted on pure instinct and she spun, fangs bared and ready to tear into flesh. She slammed the muscular form of her assailant against the stucco façade of a storefront at the exact moment his scent hit her nostrils. As quickly as she’d reacted Bria pulled back on her immense strength, holding him still before her.

“Lucas! What are you doing here?” Was there no one who thought she could take care of herself? “Did you follow me?”

“I’m worried about you.” Worried and afraid. The tang of his fear burned her nostrils. His clear blue gaze searched hers and a crease marred his brow.

“I could have hurt you.” Lucas was foolish to have followed them. If Jenner saw them together he’d kill Lucas. Indignant fire sparked in Bria’s belly. Jenner had rejected her yet again. Proved to her with his possessive outburst that she was nothing more to him than a
thing
. To hell with Jenner. She’d known Lucas for a century. He was her friend. Bria wouldn’t cut herself off from her family simply because it didn’t please Jenner to see Lucas put his hands on something that the vampire deemed was
his
.

Careful, Bria. This could be dangerous ground
.

She still didn’t fully understand the extent of her tether with Jenner. She certainly wasn’t interested in putting Lucas in danger. But since she was confident that Jenner hadn’t followed her from the club, she figured Lucas was safe enough in her presence now. Besides, when Bria walked out on Jenner she hadn’t thought about how she’d get all the way across the city and back to the king’s home. At least now she wouldn’t be racing against the sunrise to make it back there.

“You could never hurt me,” Lucas said in a too-gentle murmur. “Just like I could never allow any harm to come to you. Where’s the bastard who’s claimed to have tethered you? I’m sure Thomas would be interested to know that he abandoned you in this part of the city.”

“Which is why you won’t breathe a word of this to him.”

Lucas’s brow furrowed. “You’d defend the vampire?”

“Jenner didn’t abandon me,” Bria said. “I left him.” A spark of hope lit Lucas’s eyes and Bria held up a hand. “It’s not what you think.”

“No?” Lucas arched a brow. “If you felt any loyalty to him, if this tether is as all-encompassing and magical as the vampires suggest, then why aren’t you at his side right now?”

“
I
am a vampire,” Bria stressed yet again. “Stop pretending as though I’m not.”

“You are the same,” Lucas said. “Sweet. Loyal. Soft.” He reached out to smooth a lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail from her face. “Beautiful. Gentle.”

Bria’s temper rose. She allowed a warning growl to build in her throat. Lucas might as well have called her helpless. Weak. Incapable. Obedient. “I am
changed
. I could kill you easily, Lucas, and you behave as though I’m too frail to walk alone on the street.” His brow furrowed
at her vehement hiss. “I have taken the vein at Jenner’s throat.” This time, Lucas had the audacity to look appalled. “And he has taken mine.”

“Bria.” Lucas did nothing to hide his shock. “That is forbidden.”

He wrapped his hand around her arm and guided her down the street. A heated conversation on a crowded sidewalk was bound to draw attention, and apparently Lucas wanted their exchange to be private.

“Why is it forbidden?” She’d never questioned her uncle’s laws, but now that she was free of the coven Bria had become more brazen. “Have you ever wondered what prompted him to set such mandates? Do you know of any other covens that are so regulated?”

“The other covens are wild,” Lucas said with disdain. “Animals who feed at will and without restraint.”

Bria stopped in her tracks. Lucas turned to face her, brow raised in question. “Perhaps we
are
animals.”

He urged her to walk again and his scent soured with fear once again. The power she felt outweighed her concern for her friend. She wanted to prove to everyone that she wasn’t
viaton,
as Jenner had called her. Bria was ready to show her teeth.

“Bria, we are above the sway of base urges. Giving in to them only serves to justify the Sortiari’s slaughter of our kind.”

Never had those words sounded so false to her ears. Indignation burned through her and Bria pulled away from Lucas’s grasp. If Lucas and even her uncle weren’t going to treat her with any more respect than Jenner had, Bria had no use for any of them. “You’re wrong. My uncle is
wrong
. He is afraid of what we are. What we have the potential to become. And he’s taught us all to share in his fear. I’m not afraid, Lucas. Not anymore.”

Lucas stopped in his tracks and seized Bria’s arm. He
pulled her to him and his free arm came around her waist. “Come home where you belong, Bria.” His whispered words were a desperate plea. “Please. Stay with me.”

“Bria is a vampire now. A
tethered
vampire. She doesn’t belong with your coven, dhampir.”

Damn it
. Bria had been so preoccupied with Lucas that she hadn’t sensed Jenner come up behind them on his motorcycle. His voice rippled over her, dark and dangerous. Lucas met his stare, so defiant that Bria almost felt sorry for him. He was no match for Jenner, yet he refused to back down.

“You might have tethered her,” Lucas said. “But you don’t
own
her.”

Jenner cocked a challenging brow and it was all Bria could do not to kick him.
Arrogant males
. “Sunrise isn’t far off,” he remarked as though he couldn’t be bothered to respond to Lucas. “Let’s go.”

Lucas implored Bria with his drawn expression. No matter how she felt about Jenner right now, he was right. She didn’t belong with Lucas and the other members of her coven. That part of her life was over. There was still so much she didn’t know about her new existence, and the only way she’d learn was to remain at Mikhail’s. At least, for now.

“Go home, Lucas,” she said as she walked toward Jenner’s motorcycle. A resounding sadness hollowed out her chest as she climbed on behind him. “Where you belong.”

Jenner pulled out onto the street without another word. Bria buried her face in his back despite her anger. She couldn’t bear to see the look of hurt on Lucas’s face as he stared after them. For the first time in days, Bria wished her soul hadn’t been returned to her. She could’ve used a healthy dose of apathy right about now.

Not
even the rush of the early-morning air could cool Jenner’s temper. He’d followed Bria from the club, careful to keep his distance, only to find that bastard Lucas had sniffed her out like a hound on the hunt. Jenner had watched from the shadows as the dhampir led Bria away from the club, his head bent close to hers. When they’d stopped to exchange heated words on the sidewalk Jenner’s resolve had nearly broken. The sight of the other male’s hands on his mate, the urgently whispered pleas . . . It had taken a physical effort not to succumb to his bloodlust as he listened to Lucas beg Bria yet again to stay with him.

It seemed the bastard was relentless in his pursuit of her. Jenner gripped the handlebars so tight that they creaked in his palms. The Ducati came to a screeching halt at the security gate of Mikhail’s driveway and Jenner’s body tensed as he waited for the guards to let him through. Behind him, Bria gripped the sides of his jacket, unwilling to put her arms around him as she had earlier in the night. He’d treated her no better than the uncle she
sought to escape, and Jenner was rewarded for his dickish behavior with her cool dismissal.

When he pulled the bike to a stop in front of the house Bria hopped off and rushed under the portico for the front door. The door swung open and a swath of light cut across the shadows before it slammed closed. Jenner didn’t move. Didn’t take a single gods-damned breath. He leaned on the handlebars, his body vibrating with tension. He didn’t trust himself to chase after her again. If he did he’d be tempted to pick up where they’d left off at the bar and she’d know once and for all to whom and where she belonged.

Instead, Jenner sought out his king.

He sat with Claire in the entertainment room at the back of the house. Tucked into one corner of the large sectional couch, she lounged against him while he idly caressed the swell of her stomach. A movie played in the background, something action packed, with myriad explosions. But the two of them seemed not to notice. They kept their heads bent close together as they spoke in hushed tones. Again, Jenner was struck by not only the intensity but also the intimacy of their relationship and it caused his chest to ache with a foreign and uncomfortable want.

“Jenner,” Mikhail said without turning to see who’d entered the room. “Is everything all right?”

“A word?” he replied.

Claire eased herself up from the couch. “I need to get breakfast situated before I get Vanessa up for school.” She placed a slow kiss on Mikhail’s mouth before she excused herself. “Try not to look so bleak, Jenner,” she teased as she headed out of the room. “You’ll get the hang of it.”

Gods.
Was it that obvious that his tether was the source of his sour mood?

Mikhail sat up straighter and held out a hand in invitation. “Sit.”

A space of silence passed between them. Jenner took a deep breath. Released it. “Siobhan is requesting that you let her see Chelle. If you allow it, she’ll share whatever information she has on the rogue werewolf. I spoke with Ronan about it earlier tonight and he agreed that—”

“It’s been little more than a week, Jenner. Give yourself time to adjust.”

He didn’t want to talk about his tether. Or Bria. Or the fact that he felt more out of control than ever. He didn’t want his king to know that he was on the verge of becoming the mindless creature he’d always feared he’d be. “It’s not a good idea. The rogue is inconsequential. Siobhan’s obsessions have focused on Chelle. She doesn’t give a single shit about Gregor. He’ll lick his wounds before he refocuses his efforts. The attacks on the covens are what need our attention for now. That’s how we’ll find him.”

Mikhail regarded him for a quiet moment. “Have you fed, Jenner?”