We Own the Night (The Night Songs Collection Book 3) (10 page)

“Another reason not to trust them.” I nestled my head on Tristan’s shoulder as I digested that bombshell. “He said he did it to protect Melanie.”

I stopped myself short of asking Tristan if he’d do the same thing for me.

“And there’s another female vampire in town. But they tell me she’s not a threat.”

“All female vampires are a threat.” He pulled a curl away from my hair, as if he wanted to examine it. “There’s no way around it.”

I sat up and turned to face him. “All of this would be so much easier if you had told me anything. Not that I can trust you, either. I won’t forget that, you know.”

“Elephants and clan leaders. They never forget.”

I swatted at him, and he caught my hand, bringing it to his mouth so he could kiss my fingers. I moaned softly as he sucked on my fingertips.

“What else did he tell you?”

“He showed me how to do that quick movement thing, and told me about getting energy from one person.” Since Tristan nodded, I figured that was pretty reliable. “Have you ever done that? From me?”

“That’s how I knew you were in Vegas.” He locked eyes with me. “I was thinking about you, and I could feel you. I could feel your anticipation. When I could feel you, closer, I knew you were here.”

I closed my eyes. Thank God I didn’t need to breathe, because I couldn’t. Tristan responded by continuing to kiss me, making his way up my arm.

“Noah was at the theater tonight.”

That stopped him dead in his tracks. His eyes blackened. “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have killed him.”

“God, I wish.” I pictured the cases raining down around him, wishing they’d crushed his skull. “So he’s the new singer of Soul Divider.”

“What?” Tristan’s jaw dropped. “How is that even possible? Soul Divider is in your clan. What the hell are they doing?”

“I’m sure Ryder and the band have no idea about what happened with Noah and me.” I wished I didn’t have to bring it up. “I don’t know if this means they’re working with Blade, or if Blade’s working against the band. I was so shocked, I didn’t think to ask questions. Noah wouldn’t have helped me, anyway. My first thought was that Ryder should have mentioned it.”

“Damn straight he should have.” Rage rolled off of Tristan’s skin. “I think you’re right. You can’t trust those people. What the fuck. What happened to clan loyalty?”

“Like you can talk.” I moved his face back to mine. “You betrayed Talis by spending time with me.”

“That wasn’t betraying her.” He smiled, but it wasn’t happy. “It was just pissing her off. There’s a difference.”

“I guess you’re right. You piss me off all the time.” I tried to make him smile for real. Didn’t work. “You better not betray me, Tristan. You’re all I’ve got.”

At one point in my life, which seemed something that happened in another universe, I had envisioned spending my life with Tristan. In my head, we led a sun-soaked existence, kissing endlessly as the ocean lapped at our ankles. It’s funny how in your dreams you never get old.

At least I got that part right.

He lowered me back down to the couch, one hand in the small of my back, the other on my shoulder. He kissed me from the center of my neck down to my breastbone. “You’re all I want,” he murmured.

I sighed, from the feel of the lips feather soft against my skin and the sound of those words. I wanted them tattooed on my heart. While I was lost in another dimension, our clothes had disappeared, unneeded. I wrapped my hands in fistfuls of Tristan’s hair, pulling his head up. He stopped what he was doing and looked up at me, fangs bared, eyes glowing.

He sunk his fangs into my skin, just above my left breast. My body bucked up against his as I screamed. He pulled the essence from my body, so close to my heart. I pushed him closer, my body reacting uncontrollably. I scraped my fingers along his arms, his blood hot as it pooled on my stomach. He lowered his head, working his tongue on the skin of my belly. I pushed his head lower, running my free hand through the blood he left behind then sucking it off of my fingers.

Tristan and I shared the same wish: that he would crawl inside of me, that we could become one. This was the only time everything felt right. Blind and screaming when I reached my peak, I pulled his face back to my mouth, smothering him with kisses, then biting his neck. His body went limp and I climbed on top of him, straddling his stomach as I drank. I slid down on top of him, fitting perfectly together and moved back and forth with all the strength I had left that night.

When we both had nothing left, we laid in a heap, gasping for air we didn’t need, sometimes having enough energy to kiss. Nobody said a word. We didn’t have to.

That was all I needed.

C
ash Logan’s eyes followed me again from the moment I stepped into Embrace until I got to the bar. My skin tingled under his gaze. Was he trying to read me? What would he pick up?

Weren’t my weakness already public knowledge?

Lennon had a Venomtini waiting for me as I climbed up on the bar stool. She knew just what I needed. I licked sugar off the rim, and then downed most of it in a long, smooth sip.

“Damn, doll.” Lennon whistled. “You mean business.”

“Seriously, it’s like Kool Aid now.” I still felt Cash staring at my back. “What’s with the magician? Is he trying to use x-ray vision on me or something?”

“He can use his magic on me any time he wants.” Lennon looked over my shoulder and fluttered her eyelashes. “Jesus Christ, he’s hotter than the sun.”

Her enthusiasm over this guy still took me by surprise. “Ready to jump back into the game, huh?”

She lowered her eyes, looking sad. “I’ll always love Jacey, that’s never going away. But it’s been like two months since I’ve had any blood play. I’m about to rip myself open in the middle of this bar. I can’t take it anymore.”

“I get it.” Really, I did. Once vampire blood passed my lips, I couldn’t imagine my life without it. Lennon must have felt like she was wilting by now. “But are you sure about that guy? Maybe it’s the magic thing, but he gives me the heebie-jeebies.”

“He’s sexy and mysterious.” Lennon practically swooned, still looking past me. “And he radiates power. I want to feel that power flowing through my veins.”

That was it. It was the power. I looked over my shoulder, back to Cash. His lips turned upward in a smile. A horrible, dirty smile that said so much but gave me no answers. It was his only acknowledgement. He drank in my surprise with the same intensity I finished my Venomtini.

I turned back to Lennon quickly, trying not to let on how much her new love interest startled me. “When Melanie has a chance, ask her to meet me in the office, please.”

Lennon’s mouth dropped but I didn’t give her a chance to ask any questions. I walked away without looking at anyone.

I sat back in the chair and pulled my knees up to my chest, picking at the frayed threads around the hole in my jeans.

I would have done anything to not have to do this.

When the door cracked open, I straightened myself up, trying at least to look respectable.

“Hey, Callie.” Melanie sat down as I nodded to her. Her expression changed from hopeful to puzzled when I didn’t smile at her greeting.

“I wanted to thank you and Ryder for inviting me over the other night. Everything he told me was really helpful.”

“Isn’t he the best?” Her face lit back up. Her warm emotion washed over me. Damn it. This wasn’t going to be easy.

“You guys seem really happy together.” I stood up, feeling foolish sitting at the desk. I looked like I was playing office. “But I feel like he didn’t tell me everything.”

Melanie’s mouth dropped. “You weren’t there very long. I mean, you can’t learn everything you need to know in one night.”

I ran my finger along the bookshelf. I didn’t want to look her in the eye. Not exactly a leadership quality, but I was doing the best I could. “That’s not what I’m talking about. I wish someone had mentioned that Noah Dalle had replaced Drake Bonham as Soul Divider’s singer.”

She brought her eyebrows together, confused. So she didn’t know everything, either. “What difference does that make?”

“Noah isn’t a part of this clan. And Noah was helping another clan leader work against me while I was still human. Soul Divider
is
a part of my clan. Major decisions, like this, need to go through me.”

“I think you need to talk to Ryder about this.” Melanie closed herself off.

“I will.” I leaned against the bookshelf. I drank in her defiance and tried to read her mind. A scramble. “I don’t like it when people keep things from me.”

“What are you trying to say, Callie?” Great. Melanie wasn’t even a vampire and I’m pretty sure she wasn’t the least bit intimidated by me.

“I don’t know if I can trust you.” There. I said it.

“Oh.” That’s all she said. I watched her deflate.

“I don’t think I can offer you the protection you’re looking for right now.”

“What?” Melanie stiffened. “You can’t do this to me. They’ll send me to jail. For life.” She dissolved into tears. My insides crumbled, but her meltdown did her no good.

“Melanie, stop it. Please. I just need to know you’re telling me everything I need to know. Then I’ll reconsider.”

She looked back up at me, her eyes filled with hatred. Now I could see how she could’ve killed people. “If you won’t help me, I’ll find someone who will.”

She got up and ran out of the office. I slid down against the bookshelf, falling to the floor. I had no doubt she’d find someone to help her. Even if their only motivation was to hurt me.

“S
eriously? You’re not going to come with me? Not even for moral support?” My mouth hung open in disbelief as Tristan flipped through television channels. It wasn’t like he even had anything to do.

“Beautiful, those meetings are all blah, blah, blah. I can’t be bothered with all that shit. And my dad will be there.” Tristan tipped his head back towards Trevor George, who looked as shocked as I was. “You’ll be great.”

“Fine. Don’t care about your future.”

“Why start now?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll do my best to get you a gig on the Praise the Lord channel. Wish me luck. I’ll need it.” I didn’t wait for his reaction before I turned on my heel, heading towards the elevator and pushing the button to get the hell away from him. Tristan’s dad followed me into the elevator, and waited until the doors closed until he said anything.

“He’s never going to change, Callie,” Trevor sighed. “It’s a waste of your energy to try.”

“I wish someone had put some more energy into him before he got himself into this mess.” I met Trevor’s eyes as they widened in surprise. “He’s not a waste of energy. I really hate that everyone thinks so.”

“Are you telling me how to love my son?”

I sighed and leaned up against the wall as the elevator came to a stop. “I just wish he knew how much you did.”

Great. I couldn’t have been tied in tighter knots of tension if I had tried walking into the board meeting for the shareholders of Talis Enterprises. I felt ridiculous, my big debut in a conference room full of middle aged men in suits, wearing my ombre baby doll dress and china doll slippers. I’d never been to anything so stuffy and formal in my life. I was homeschooled, for crying out loud. Corporate anything was so far out of my comfort zone I didn’t even know what to expect.