Without warning, Mara detached herself from B’s arm and glanced up at him. Her eyes were glowing like twin beacons, blood red and dangerous. Instead of the fear he expected to feel rushing through him, B found himself strangely turned on by the sight. She gentley urged Sergei toward B’s arm, his blood running in tiny rivulets from the twin puncture wounds Mara had left behind. Sergei hesitated momentarily, but ultimately gave in.
With a groan, he struck. B felt Sergei bury his canines within his arm, drinking deeply. There was no pain, but this time there was no pleasure. He looked down at Sergei, watching as he fed. His chest began to constrict, his breathing became shallow and rapid. A cold sweat broke out all over his body. Sergei’s red eyes bored into B’s as he looked up, increasing his panic.
Unwanted memories flashed in his head again, Gadreel and B being held down, sharp teeth ripping, reddened eyes glowing, blood spilling. Screams echoed through his mind as he tried to yank himself out of the downward spiral. Sergei instinctively tightened his grip on B’s arm and jerked it closer, his fangs sinking deeper into B’s skin. The baby vamp’s iron grip had B's reality splintering - he was back in the dungeon where he’d been tortured. Unbreakable wolframite cuffs held him and Gadreel to the damp stone wall. The demons bit and scratched them, feeding off of their blood. The Devourers forced images of heinous acts into their minds, making them throw themselves violently against the walls in an effort to render themselves unconscious. The demons stopped feeding and started touching them, hands everywhere. B tried to separate his soul from what was being done to his body, trying to detach himself and fly away... Distantly, B heard a heartbreaking scream, it sounded as though someone’s soul was being ripped apart. He felt sympathy for that poor fucker...
Reality slammed back into focus, and B realized that soul-rending scream was coming from him. Mara was crouched between his legs, cupping his cheeks, and trying to catch his gaze with hers. Her mouth was moving, but the words weren’t registering in B’s brain. His ears were still ringing from the volume of his screams. Narrowing his eyes, he tried to focus on her mouth to decipher what she was saying. It looked like are you…something? He squinted his eyes and tried to focus all of his senses on Mara, finally her voice started to break through the static.
“Are you okay? What happened?” Mara asked, her voice full of concern.
A flush of embarrassment crept up B’s face as he realized how badly he’d just lost it in front of both Mara and Sergei. Nothing like a complete mental breakdown in public to boost the self-esteem. B was mortified. He liked to keep his freak-outs private. How the hell was he going to explain this? Steeling himself, B wrenched his face out of Mara’s hands, knocking her off balance so she fell back onto her butt. He dug frantically in his pocket for his smokes. His fingers came in contact with the pack and he drew it out with a sigh of relief that was short-lived as he flipped it open and realized it was empty. Crushing the useless cardboard in his hand and tossing it on the floor, B leapt abruptly to his feet, knocking the chair off its legs and sending it clattering to the ground behind him.
“I’m out of smokes. Gotta go,” B muttered as he hurried back toward the staircase and freedom.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Katia sat staring at her reflection in the dressing table mirror of Amir’s guest room. She was frustrated beyond belief. They’d been here for two days now, maybe three. It was hard to keep track of time in Outer-Sheol without the sun and moon to mark the days and nights. The constant twilight was messing with her internal clock, days and hours were starting to slide into each other, and she'd had no contact with the outside world. Katia blew out a breath in annoyance.
To top it off, Luc had done his damndest to avoid her since leaving the motel. Whenever they’d found themselves alone together, he’d found an excuse to go in search of Amir. After the moment they'd shared, Katia wasn't amused. They were going to have to find a way to deal with each other, since they would be living in close quarters for the foreseeable future. Time to start adulting like champions.
Then there was that kiss...Katia had never experienced anything like it. The world had disappeared and every nerve ending in her body had come alive. She’d have made love to him in a heartbeat with no regrets. He had set her on fire. Luc was a mess of contradictions. He was dark and light, good and evil, strong and vulnerable, kidnapper and savior, her nightmare and her dream, all in the most hottest package she’d ever seen. He’d kissed her with a passion that had seared straight through to her soul; she could have stayed locked in his embrace forever.
Katia grabbed her brush and dragged it mercilessly through her hair. Once the knots were out, she found a hair tie and began to twist her hair up behind her head into a rough bun. She watched herself in the mirror as she maneuvered the thick length of hair. Suddenly her vision blurred, her hair tumbled back down her spine as she dropped it to rub her eyes.
She opened her eyes and looked back in the mirror. It
