large, mahogany desk with his feet propped up. There’s a cruel smirk on his face as he gazes down at me, and fear quickly takes hold of me. Two other vampires are standing behind him, but I don’t recognize either of them.
Thaddeus was young when he was turned—only twenty-one years old. He’s tall, thin, pale, and blond, and he has the distinct appearance of a pretentious trust-fund kid despite being more than a century old. I’ve never liked the creep, but I can see why Al might have originally been attracted to him.
“Alistair won’t bother you again, mutt.” Thaddeus waves his hand dismissively.
Bryson growls once, walks out of the room, and slams the door behind him. I’m left alone with the vampires. I have no idea what’s going on right now, but it can’t be anything good. My heart is beating so loudly and erratically that I can barely hear anything else as I slowly shuffle backwards and force myself to stand up.
There’s an agonizing pain when I try to stand on my left foot, so I balance on my right and force myself to keep my eyes trained on Thaddeus. After meeting Rian, I seriously forgot the whole point of coming here tonight was so Al could make his ex-boyfriend jealous and prove he’d moved on from their relationship.
“What do you want?” I grit my teeth. I hope I look angry and not just scared.
Thaddeus doesn’t answer me. He just continues staring at me coldly, like a predator watches its prey. I decide to try to make a break for the door. There’s a chance he’s just fucking with me and won’t even stop me from leaving. If he’s being serious right now, I can maybe call out for help. I don’t think most supernaturals here would pay me any mind, but I’m positive Rian and Matthieu would be pretty pissed to discover I was hurt and being kept locked in an office.
Just as my hand touches the doorknob and I turn it to let myself out, one of the vampires I don’t know appears beside me and grips my wrist as he pulls me away. I fight to pull my hand away from him, but he only tightens his hold and drags me back across the room.
Thaddeus moves lightning quick, appearing right in front of me. “There’s no way you’re getting out of here until I’m done with you.”
“Then what the fuck do you want?” I scream angrily. “Is this about Alistair? Fucking Christ. You don’t really think he’ll take you back after you’ve treated me like this, do you?”
“Alistair is mine, regardless of what he may believe.” Thaddeus curls his lips, revealing his sharp canine teeth. “He’s been under your influence for too long. He’s young and impressionable, and he hasn’t yet learned how our world works. I watched him make a spectacle of himself earlier, throwing himself at the Unseelie Lord with you. It was absolutely disgusting. I’ll be sure to apologize to Lord Rian as soon as we’re done here.”
I widen my eyes in disbelief and laugh incredulously. “You’re insane! Rian wanted us. He’s going to fucking kill you, you blood-sucking psycho!”
Thaddeus ignores me completely, flicking his gaze over my shoulder to the vampire who grabbed my wrist a moment ago. “Drain her. Hopefully her blood is sweeter than her mouth.”
I’m given no time to react before the vampire yanks my hair back and buries his teeth in my neck. It’s fucking excruciating, and I scream and kick in pain. The vampire covers my mouth with one of his large hands and digs his teeth in deeper as he drinks from me.
In all the time I’ve known Al and been around other supernaturals, I’ve never been bitten by a vampire. I’ve heard that it can feel amazing—better than an orgasm, even—if the vampire makes it feel that way. It quickly becomes evident that this vampire has no intention of dragging this out or making it pleasurable. Everything hurts, and my neck is burning. Tears stream down my face as I continue to try and fight, though my efforts prove to be futile.
When there’s a sudden burning on my wrist, the vampire lets go of me without warning. He hisses in pain and clumsily steps back, and I turn around to watch him through blurry, tear-filled eyes. He blinks at me, and then, like something out of a horror movie, blood starts pouring out of him. His mouth, nose, eyes, fucking everywhere. He doesn’t even scream.