Twisted

“No.”

But…but…he was so beautiful. Even if human girls considered him crazy, they should have been all over him. Actually, they should have been all over him because they considered him crazy. Weren’t bad boys attractive to one and all? Someone to be tamed or something?

Her betrothed, Dmitri, had been a bad boy among the vampires, and the females had flocked to him.

“Why not?” Her hands began an exploration of their own, sliding down the strength of his chest, tugging at the softness of his shirt, then slipping under it. Finally. Hot-as-a-furnace skin.

“Never trusted anyone enough.”

Did he trust her enough? Or at all? She hoped so, because she would never betray him. Ever.

“What about you?” he asked, planting kisses along her jaw.

Her nails curled into him. She didn’t want to answer. Not after hearing his reply. “Well…”

He lifted his head, and she moaned in frustration. His eyes glowed a brilliant amber-brown now, tiny flecks of violet and green swirling in the background. Such gorgeous, mesmerizing eyes.

“Yes,” she admitted softly. “I have.”

His hold tightened on her. “With who?”

Would he think badly of her now? She didn’t want to tell him, so she said, “I was curious. I was betrothed to Dmitri, as you know, and as you also know, I hated him and, well—”

“Dmitri? You slept with Dmitri? Whom you hated?” There was a faint trace of outrage in his tone.

Even that minute amount angered her, cooling the hottest of the flames licking over her. “No. Not Dmitri. But what if it was him? What would you do? What would you say?”

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly.

A few more flames crackled and hissed their way to extinction. “Anyway. I didn’t want him to be my first because, as you said, I hated him.” She’d debated keeping herself pure for him, even though that wasn’t a vampire tradition or requirement. She’d debated simply because Dmitri had been a jealous, possessive sort, and he would have hurt whoever she’d picked.

Finally, a few months before traveling to Oklahoma, she’d decided to go for it, just get it over with and pick someone who could hold his own against her fiancé. A mistake that she regretted, but one she couldn’t change.

“And for your information,” she went on, “we don’t have as staunch a view about sex as you humans do. My father had about a thousand wives, you know.”

Frost glazed his eyes. “So who were you with?”

Like she’d go there with him. “It doesn’t matter.”

“He’s still alive and here, then. And that means I can—” Suddenly silent, Aden stiffened against her, his gaze jolting up and narrowing. “Someone’s coming.” He sniffed. “Female. Familiar.”

Her ears perked, but she didn’t hear anything.

He lifted from her and stood, and though she’d been on a downward spiral and had despised the direction of their conversation, she already mourned the separation, resented the interruption.

Without a word, he reached down and helped her do the same. Her knees almost buckled as she brushed the debris from her robe, her attention never leaving him. His skin was flushed, tension vibrating from him. While he didn’t have fangs, his teeth were bared in a fearsome scowl. His lips were swollen—perhaps she’d bitten too hard —and his hair nearly stood on end.

Crunching leaves, snapping twigs.

Someone was coming. How had Aden heard before she had? Again? She swung around and saw Maddie the Lovely rushing toward them, long blond hair flying behind her.

“Your majesty,” the girl called, grinding to a halt when she spotted him.

Aden stepped in front of Victoria. To shield her from a possible threat? Please, please, please. That would mean her Aden was returning, the parts of Victoria fading. Right?

“Yes?” Aden prompted.

“You have visitors.” Maddie focused on Victoria, worry in her eyes, before returning her attention to Aden. “The councilmen suggested you hurry.”

Dread slithered through Victoria, a snake determined to squeeze the life out of her. Visitors. Allies? Or enemies? Either way, Aden was hungry and hadn’t yet fed. Until he did, everyone in the mansion would be in danger. Because the longer he went without blood, the more he would weaken, the more the hunger would strengthen, until he just sort of snapped, attacking everyone around him.

“You need to feed first,” she said to him. Though it pained her, she added, “On Maddie.” The sooner the better. Vampires could satisfactorily feed on other vampires. It wasn’t ideal, not only because of the skin issue, but also because, when you drank from another vampire, you saw the world through their eyes. At least for a little while.

A distraction like that could cost Aden his life. But, he would have a few hours before his focus merged with Maddie’s. That should give him plenty of time to deal with the visitors. And later, Victoria could guard him in her bedroom.

“No. No vampires,” Aden said with a shake of his head. “Victoria, teleport to the stronghold and bring me a blood-slave.”

He wasn’t fighting her on the issue, and she wasn’t sure if that made her happy or sad. Or angry. “I…can’t,” she admitted quietly. She’d tried to teleport to him this morning, when Riley’s brothers had informed her of his summons, and she’d failed miserably.

Depression had nearly overwhelmed her. She wasn’t normal anymore. She was a freak among her own kind. And honest to God, walking from one place to the other, without the option of simply appearing, sucked.

Sucked. Another human word. When would the madness end?

“Why?” Aden asked.

“I just can’t.”

He remained quiet for a moment, absorbing her claim. Whether he deduced what it meant or not, when even she wasn’t one hundred percent certain herself, he didn’t say. He just nodded. “All right, then. We’ll walk back to the stronghold together.”

“But you need to—”

“Maddie,” he said, cutting Victoria off. “Lead the way.”

The girl nodded and obeyed, and Aden followed after her. Victoria remained in place for several heartbeats of time. Neither Aden nor Maddie looked back at her. Or around for her. She wanted to do something to keep Aden from the house and whoever had come for him. She wanted to protect him. But how?

The farther away Aden got, the more the roaring in her head increased in volume, until she couldn’t concentrate. “Shut up, Chompers!”

Another roar.

“Fine.” And wouldn’t you know it? Now she was talking to the thing in her head like Aden often had. Gritting her teeth, she trudged after him.

ELEVEN

MARY ANN WANTED TO SCREAM. In the end, she allowed herself only to snap, “That’s enough. Both of you.”

Ignoring her, Tucker and Riley faced off. Again. After running all night, stealing a car, stealing bleach for her hair—she was still rebelling about that and hadn’t used it—stealing tattoo equipment, breaking into a motel room, commandeering it, she needed a freaking moment of peace before the three of them had to leave and steal another car.

“I can’t believe you want this piece of crap to live,” Riley said.

“Apparently she likes pieces of crap. Look who she’s dating.” Tucker snickered at him.