Epilogue

The scentsof blood and death from both vampire and wolf alike permeated the air around the shed. I waited, hidden in the shadows of the roof, as the wolves filed out. Some leaned on others due to their injuries. Others carried the dead. Theirs and ours.

Rage coursed through me.

My brethren had been sure we could beat the wolves, finally get control of the city, and gain the one thing the master wanted–the alpha's ring. We'd had the element of surprise and the numbers to win. It would have worked if one of our own hadn't betrayed us and sided with the wolves.

We had failed miserably, and it had cost us…cost me.

The one solace I found as I waited was imagining the master's reaction when she learned her favored pet had sided with the mutts. It wouldn't be pretty. Likely, she would torture the messenger, something I had craved to experience at her hands in the past.

The pleasure I found in pain after being turned was incomparable to the feeble joy I'd once loved as a human. I craved it more than I craved my next meal. For a time, the master had sated my hunger. Now, only Adriel could do so.

My perfect, dangerous Adriel.

I watched a wolf carry him out draped over his shoulder. My lover's hair swayed with each step. Inhaling, I tried to find his scent in the pungent mix but couldn't. I yearned for even the smallest hint of the man who wasn't my master by hierarchy but of my body. He alone owned it. Used it.

Tracking the wolf, I watched him deposit Master's body in a trench the wolves had dug a distance away. My skin crawled as they began throwing dirt on Adriel.

I had no idea if he was alive or dead, but I would not leave him to be discarded like trash. So I bided my time until most of the stronger wolves were gone, chasing the last of my brothers from the bloody battle scene.

The remaining group of wolves finished respectfully removing the dead wolves and called to the others. They left the farm with only a few wolves patrolling for any of my kind foolish enough to return–-or stay as I had.

Quietly and swiftly, I blurred to my poorly buried Master and removed him. His body was gruesomely torn, his heart damaged. But I found a glimmer of hope since it was still inside him.

Adriel had been given the gift of cat shifting, and with it came nine lives. He had told me that over his long years, he had used many of those lives, never revealing how many might remain. I hoped there was at least one left.

Gathering him into my arms, I raced away before the wolves could detect me.

Distant howls rang out around us occasionally as I ran faster than any wolf could. We were a long way from our hideaway.

After losing Juicy, our nest had to keep relocating due to the wolves hunting us. But Adriel and I had found an abandoned warehouse outside of D.C. just for the two of us. Reeking of old chemicals, the air burned my nose any time we stayed there. But due to the smell, the place was safe from the wolves. Not even the other vampires knew about it. Only Adriel and I stayed there with the occasional toy we invited to spend the night with us. And dead toys couldn't tell tales.

We had shared so many delicious toys.

When I reached one of the tributaries from Eastern Bay, I paused to wash away the blood from his naked torso and kissed his cold lips tenderly.

"Stay with me," I murmured, clutching him to me as I set out to find a human to drive us across Chesapeake Bay.

I broke into one of the coastal homes and found a portly man who reacted with anger instead of fear at finding me leaning over him in the middle of the night. Grinning, I quickly fed and compelled him to leave a hilarious note for his vacationing wife about rediscovering his sexuality to explain his absence when she eventually returned.

Safely hidden away in the trunk of the human's car, I bit my finger and painted Master's lips with my blood.

"Taste me, Master. Come back to your Pet."

While my heart had beaten several times since the attack, his had yet to stir.

"Who will make me bleed if not you?" I asked, stroking his face.

When the car finally stopped and the trunk opened, what little patience I possessed had come to an end.

"Open the bay door and park inside. Hide your car well and be ready to come to me when I call for you."

Leaving the human to obey, I carried Adriel inside, upstairs to the loft we'd taken as our personal nest. Adriel called it our play palace. It had electricity, plumbing, furniture, and a comfortable bed.

Anchoring his lithe and motionless body to mine, I eased him onto the bed then stood back to look at him in the soft lighting.

Fuck. How the hell did I fix him when he was so mutilated and blood-deficient?

Biting my wrist, I held it over the gaping wound in his chest and let the droplets slide along his pale skin right onto his still heart, hoping it would start the regeneration process. I didn't close my wound until a pool of my blood glistened in the cavity. It was a beautiful sight Master would have enjoyed.

As I waited, I stripped off my shredded clothes and washed away the dried blood and dirt. Then I cleaned him more thoroughly too. His skin was nearly translucent in the moonlight that filtered through the loft window.

Morning would be upon us soon, so I closed the blackout curtains and secured them. Then I fed from our new toy. After the battle and blood I'd given Master, I was ravenous. The human squealed a little at my rough treatment, and the sound helped soothe me.

I could have consumed a blood bag stored in the refrigerator but wanted to save that supply for Master since there were only a few left–rationed from Juicy before Cross and the wolves shut it down.

Fucking Brodier Ashley Cross. I'd known he was against us when he'd saved his favored feeder at the club but hadn't dared think he would choose to side with humans and wolves. By doing so, he'd made an enemy of every vampire. While he was old and was able to walk in the sun, he was not infallible. He had a weakness—a blonde with sweet-smelling blood that I vowed to tear into while he watched.

The thought helped ease some of my anger.

After I drank enough blood to regain my strength, I went to message the nest to let them know I had survived. Others were checking in as well, but I ignored them. I only cared that Adriel survived.

Me: I'm hiding with Adriel. Not sure if he'll survive.

A private text came through moments later.

Queen Bitch: I need you back here.

My hand tightened around my phone as I seethed. I always took commands from the master seriously. Not to do so could mean death or exile. But tonight, I'd take the risk. Adriel was more important.

Me: I'll return once Adriel heals.

Queen Bitch: Now. Or there will be consequences.

Me: Oh? And what consequences will Cross face for betraying us and taking what is mine from me? I stay with Adriel. We need him. Don't forget who he had worked for and why he can walk during the day while we cannot.

Queen Bitch: He no longer works with the fae.

Me: The fae have long memories.

Queen Bitch: You have two days, or I'll hunt you down and kill you myself.

She wouldn't. She needed me, and she needed Adriel. That didn't mean I wanted to listen to her nag.

Pulling a spare pair of cat ears from the nightstand, I placed them on Adriel. Better.

I curled him up into my arms and fell asleep.

Thankyou for reading Fangs and Fudge! Everly's adventures continue with Death and Donuts, book 3 of the Ruin of Relics series.