Book One
Ariel Dawn
Naughty Nights Press LLC ● Canada
Chapter One
Ava sat on the floor of her bedroom and closed her eyes. The sound of her mother’s voice broken by the gurgling of blood assaulted her senses and the tears surged forth unbidden.
The memory of her father’s unseeing eyes, glassy and vacant, stared into her, and all she wanted was to remember them the way they had always been. Happy, and most of all, full of life.
A sob tore from her throat.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. These things happened to other people, not people like Peter and Nora Michaels. They were as normal as normal could be. They had a vegetable garden and board game nights, for God’s sake. Only normal, uninteresting people had vegetable gardens and game nights, right?
The whispers outside her door were unavoidable despite wanting to be as far from the mourners as possible. They hardly noticed her or her brother; after all, their parents had left the family, changed their names, and started a new life.
She didn’t look up as someone opened the door and closed it quietly behind them.
“Hey.” Mal’s voice was steady but wary, as if he were afraid. “Open your eyes, Ava.”
“I can’t stop seeing the blood.” Ava shuddered and swallowed hard. The metallic scent of iron made her nauseous.
“Let me help you.” His voice was darker now and she could feel the light was gone.
“Are you going to kill me now?” She opened her eyes and stared up at her brother, who stood above her holding a perfectly chiseled, sharpened stake. The blood dripping from the stake was fresh and she glanced at it with a mixture of sadness and relief. The walls around her melted away, giving way to darkness and concrete; the scent of blood and mildew replaced the familiar smells of home.
Ava glanced around her; she was in a basement. The light of her childhood room was gone, replaced with only darkness. The sounds of heavy bass above told her the party was still in full rager mode. The walls were wet and there were bloodstains on the floor.
Her boyfriend, Ross, lay in a heap on the floor, the color drained from his face. He was losing more blood by the minute. She couldn’t move. Her legs felt like dead weight and the blood from her deep wounds was warm and wet against her flesh, running a steady stream down her thighs. She was starting to feel rather lightheaded.
A figure emerged from the shadows. He had bright green eyes and was absolutely stunning. Like an angel who had descended to the depths of hell to save her.
Except, Ava knew he was the furthest thing from an angel.
“Help me...” Her voice was hoarse from the countless hours she had screamed into the void.
But he wasn’t alone.
“Cassius, come on. We shouldn’t be here...” the second presence warned.
“They’re going to kill her.” The angelic man with dark blond hair and beautiful green eyes turned to face the shadows.
“We’re on their territory,” the second voice warned.
Ava’s heart quickened. “My boyfriend, Ross... He’s...he’s still alive.” She choked the words out, wincing through the pain. The angel was in front of her instantly.
He lifted her hand gently, his thumb running over the vein in her wrist with delicacy.
“There isn’t much I can do for your friend. He’s too far gone. But I can save you—however, I need your permission to do so.”
The way he spoke was unlike anything she’d heard before. His voice was deliberate, clear, possessing an air of sophistication.
“I don’t understand.” Ava blinked as her heart pounded, adrenaline rushing through her blood.
“Cassius...we need to move, like now.” The disembodied voice sounded panicked.
“I need you to give me permission.” Cassius didn’t waver in his request. It was simple and honest and...
What else was she supposed to do? Die?
“Yes, yes... I give you permission. Just fucking save me, damn it!” She wanted to beat him over the head. What was so difficult?
Cassius brought her wrist up to his lips and Ava suddenly felt serene, as if not a thing in the world could have been wrong. It was a blissful feeling really, one that could almost make someone forget they were sitting in a pool of their own blood.
Then, she screamed in agony as razor-sharp fangs pierced her skin, breaking through the moment of peace and urging a rush of blood to the surface that was heated like a boiling pot of pasta. She jerked in response and he let her.
The searing pain around her wrist, his tongue on her flesh, as the wound sealed both, ignited a primal need within her and revolted her at the same time.
“The fuck? Cassius, what are you doing?” The voice was alarmed.
Ava started to feel very lightheaded, as her vision blurred. The last thing she remembered seeing was a group of frat boys emerging from the shadows before her world went dark.
Chapter Two
Ava arose in sweat-soaked pajamas, her heart racing. She turned on the lamp by the bed and slowly reached her hand under her pillow.
Her eyes searched the room quickly, scanning the shadows and seeking any movement. When she was absolutely certain she was alone, she leaned back against the headboard and closed her eyes; her fingers still gripped the stake in her hand.
It had been ten years since her parent’s death. It had been seven years since that night at the Alpha Pi Omega house, where she’d almost died.
Some days, she wondered if she should have kept quiet instead. It would not have been a peaceful death, but sometimes Ava thought it would have been so much easier.
The gentle sound of wind blowing through the quiet room alerted her and Ava’s body reacted almost instantaneously—she jolted from the bed, stake in hand. She thrust it out with a warning, knowing very well how easy it would be to deliver a killing blow. Yet, she held back. The tip of her stake gently kissed the fair expanse of slick, perfectly clear skin exposed from a very familiar, gray v-neck.
Long, elegant, fair-skinned fingers curled around hers in a suave sort of fashion, gently tugging the stake down.
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this, my sweet Avarice,” Cas’s voice was like caramel, sweet, and unbelievably decadent.
“I would think for someone who’s been around as long as you, you’d have better manners.” Her heart still raced but the panic had subsided. Despite everything she’d learned from Mal, everything she’d trained for since that day at the frat party, she could not find it within herself to stake this annoying, pain in the ass vampire who insisted on checking up on her. Quite frequently, in fact.
“I suspect you have had trouble sleeping.” His fingers traced the skin on her wrist, running gently over the top of faded scars that would never fully disappear. From a distance, the marks appeared like any other scar, but in the light, they shimmered with the venom’s seal.
Scars where fangs had laid claim to her blood. Where she’d been marked by him, the same man standing before her. She looked up at his eyes, and her heartbeat stilled, if only for a moment, as he reached out to touch her. Abruptly, she dropped her arm and turned away from him, throwing the stake back on her bed.