12. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Felix

I have a funny feeling I’m going to die tonight.

Okay, maybe not for real, but things are getting interesting as hell, and not in a good way.

Except maybe seeing Zia’s pussy.

That was pretty fucking good.

So responsive, her pretty pussy already wet before I even…

I shake the thought from my head as I start pacing again.

I can’t think about that right now.

Throwing caution to the wind that way, it’s one of the reasons I’m convinced that I’m nearing the end of my life.

I’m so goddamn hungry that my more primal instincts are getting harder to keep under control. And if I don’t eat something soon, I’m liable to do far worse than using a sex toy on the woman who kidnapped me.

Then eventually I’ll hit the point of no return. I’ll end up permanently feral and either go on a killing spree that will result in Davina finding me before she kills me, or I’ll just wither up and die.

And both of those options really suck.

No pun intended.

I groan at that stupid thought and look at Roger, relieved he’s perfectly fine and sound asleep.

Which is miraculous because whoever it is that just showed up at this house is loud .

“Hey, bro. What’s with the surprise visit?”

My ears perk up at that, and I lean toward the door, trying to eavesdrop the best I can.

And I do it while I ignore the second wave of relief that hits me in as many minutes because that dude is Zia’s brother.

Probably.

Hopefully .

Either way, I’m ignoring the feeling because why would I be jealous of my relatively unhinged abductor having a man in her life?

I immediately scowl at that.

If Zia had a man in her life, she shouldn’t have let me use that toy on her. I mean, by human morals anyway, and I’m not really into sharing, not after what happened with Davina and… oh my god, why am I even thinking about this!

Firmly patting my cheeks, I resume listening at the door.

“Don’t give me that shit, Zia.”

“What shit? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Everything is—”

“Kiza told me about the second body.” The male voice grunts as the front door closes.

Well, now I know my senses are somewhat on target. I figured there were two bodies in this house at some point, so the validation is nice.

“I, uh, it won’t happen again. I promise. I swear even. No more bodies,” Zia says in a relatively sincere tone.

“There weren’t supposed to be any , Azizia. None . You came up here to hide, not draw so much fucking attention to yourself that I have to come up and check on you to make sure you’re sticking to your word.”

Up here ? He said it too, so I’m not wrong in assuming Zia is from down below in some way.

This is Idaho, so I guess it’s up from somewhere, but neither of them has accents that would indicate they’re from any of the southern states.

Then again, I’m pretty convinced Zia isn’t human, so there’s no telling what up is in reference to.

“I know, but I needed a place to stay, and this house was kind of perfect,” Zia says. “I can’t exactly live in a box or something. Besides, you took care of all that already. What’s done is done, so let’s just move on. You want some beans?”

The male voice sighs in frustration as I hear heavy footsteps moving throughout the house. “Okay, Zia. Yeah, I get that. I wasn’t thrilled you killed someone to get shelter, but I can understand it, and we handled it so things were legit. It’s the second body that I’m struggling with. And I really hope you have more food to eat here than just beans.”

Assuming he’s referring to the woman Zia tried to feed to me, this guy doesn’t know about me. That I’m here, that I’m a vampire, and if he really is her brother, Zia knows he’ll be pissed about that too. Why else would she drag me around the house before she hid me in here?

“She was too close to the house. Snooping around and looking in the windows. I was trying not to blow my cover!”

Yeah, he has no idea, and Zia is lying to keep it that way.

Which probably means he’d scold her for one count of kidnapping on top of the two counts of murder. I wonder how he’d feel about opening someone else’s mail.

“There are other ways of dealing with that, Zia. You didn’t need to kill her just because she was curious.” This guy sounds exasperated. And definitely like a brother, a big brother at that, because the tone he keeps using is similar to the way Silas talks to me at times.

That whole I’m annoyed but I care about you even when you make stupid decisions, tone.

I’m definitely familiar with that.

My stomach growls as I keep listening, the hunger pangs getting worse with each passing second. And that noisy shit was enough to wake up my sleeping cat.

Roger lets out one of his god awful meows, one that sounds more like he’s been trapped inside a dryer set to tumble for four hours, before he throws himself off the toilet with a deafening thud.

“What was that?” The male voice hisses as the footsteps stop.

“Nothing. What are you talking about? I didn’t hear anything,” Zia, not so tactfully, says.

I look around the bathroom for Roger, ready to break my back in my weakened state by picking him up so he doesn’t make any more noise, but I don’t see him. How the hell don’t I see him? He’s huge.

My eyes dart around the toilet, looking under it, next to, and when my cat is nowhere to be seen, I start to panic.

“Roger,” I whisper as I turn away from the door. “Roger, where are you?”

I’m worried if I move I’ll make too much noise, and Zia and her guest will hear me, but my cat was only getting started with that screech he let out, so I need to find him quickly.

Which shouldn’t be hard. We’re in a goddamn bathroom.

I search the sink, knowing damn well Roger didn’t jump up there because he hasn’t been that high up since he was a kitten, but where the hell did he go?

Checking to make sure Zia has her maybe-brother occupied, I turn away completely, take one step, then all hell breaks loose.

Roger screams as I step on his tail, then he moves faster than he has in years, darting between my legs only to trip my panicked ass. I go down to the tile floor in slow motion, my arms flailing as I try to find something to hang on to, ripping the towel rack off the wall as I thump against the vanity before landing on my back.

“What the fuck was that, Zia?” The heavy footsteps quickly approach the bathroom, accompanied by Zia’s lighter ones.

“Nothing, Rae! There’s no one in the bathroom!”

Real smooth, Zia.

Rolling onto my stomach, I army crawl past my cat, who’s licking his tail and looking at me like I’m a complete asshole, then quietly push open the shower curtain.

The knob on the door turns a few times, my panic skyrocketing when I hear the male— Rae— shout, “This better not be another human, Azizia. I swear to—”

“It’s not!” she blurts. “There isn’t another human in there!”

She’s not wrong.

But I don’t exactly need this guy finding me in here, either. I’m not strong enough to fight right now, and for some reason, I want to keep Zia from getting into more trouble. As fucked up as that may be.

I pull myself up on the edge of the tub as carefully as I can before climbing into it, closing the curtain just as Rae throws himself against the locked door and breaks it open.

“Whoever’s in here, better get the—what the fuck is that ?!”

“My… it’s my cat.”

I roll my eyes as I press my back flat against the bottom of the tub.

There’s no way she’s going to convince that guy Roger is hers. He doesn’t typically like many people, and she’s been referring to him as an alien, so I doubt this is going to play out well.

“Your cat?” Rae asks skeptically. “You have a cat ?”

“Yep.” Zia’s shadow moves in front of the shower curtain and I’m not sure what she’s doing until I see her bend down, then struggle to stand. “Isn’t he… just… the cutest?”

She grunts multiple times as Roger gives off his warning growl, the insane woman picking my cat up and kissing the side of his head .

“Why, of all damn things, would you get a cat? Especially one that looks like that .”

“I was lone—ah, shit! I was lonely, Rae.”

“I don't think he likes you.”

Roger hisses and starts wiggling in her arms like crazy as Zia says, “We’re still… getting to know each other… he’s going to—hey!” She drops him on the floor with a plop as my cat swipes at her. “That wasn’t very nice, asshole!”

“I’m not sure you need to get to know each other at all if he’s going to try clawing your eyes out every time you’re within range.”

“It’s fine. Roger will love me eventually.” Zia moves closer to the bathtub, and I’m not sure that’s a good idea.

Her brother doesn’t seem to believe in boundaries, and if he’s worried about her having someone else held captive—which she does—in this house, I wouldn’t put it past him to start searching. This bathroom being location number one on the list, considering he’s already in it.

“You yelled at me for the second body and if you don’t have anything else to yell at me for, I was just about to take a shower when you—”

She reaches behind the vinyl, turns on the water and pulls the little stopper thing so the shower comes on when her brother grunts, “He’s looking for you.”

Zia’s hand freezes on the faucet, the water like ice as it starts pelting me. “He… he is?”

Rae’s shadow comes into view, closer to her, before he reaches out a hand and pats her shoulder. “That’s really why I’m here. The second body, it flagged him.”

“Kiza wouldn’t have told him, would he?”

“No,” Rae says. “Neither him nor Draven would have said anything, but he somehow noticed, and I think it means he has spies up here.”

Zia’s entire body language changes as she pulls her hand away and wraps her arms around herself. “And you think they found me?”

“It’s possible he has a good idea where you are. If you want to stay under the radar, I’d suggest you stop killing people and consider changing locations, otherwise your husband is going to leave Hell just to drag you back down there himself.”

Everything else that’s said is lost on me as I stare up at the ceiling.

Zia is a demon.

Which means her brother is too.

And that makes so much goddamn sense. The way I couldn’t quite place her scent, her freakishly strong little body, the lack of hesitation when it came to killing people.

The woman who kidnapped me is actually a demon who escaped Hell, and it sounds like she’s on the run just like me.

From her husband .

I immediately scowl over that, pissed off for multiple reasons, and ready to light into Zia for them all.

After her brother leaves because I still don’t want to get her in trouble.

Like a fucking idiot.

The two of them talk in quieter, soothing tones, and reassuring words from her brother are spoken, and after a few moments, they leave the bathroom.

I don’t get out, though.

As stupid as it is, I just get to my feet and stand under the freezing spray of water, and wait for Zia to give me the all clear before I turn it off or exit the tub.

And even though I’m thinking of about a million things to say to her when she gets back, only one of them comes out of my mouth when she does.

“Felix?” Zia whips open the curtain with wide eyes, her gaze moving over my face and sopping wet body for a beat. “Felix, are you—”

“You’re fucking married ?” Because that is apparently the most pressing matter right now.

Fucking idiot.