13. Rosalie

13

ROSALIE

I 'm awake and angry, but I refuse to open my eyes yet. I know Cooper is fast, but we must have just missed each other for him to be able to beat me to my apartment. This is so unfair. I made a legit heroic escape—like with background music and shit. And as soon as I get on my own home turf, before I can even get behind a locked door, he's recaptured me again. Seriously?

I may as well be a tiny turtle trying to escape a cardboard box. This is so fucked up.

But then I hear a male voice that is definitely not Cooper's, and the anger turns sharply to fear.

"Rodolfo, I thought I'd be able to sample her as soon as I rose for the night, but she just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps, doesn't she?" He sighs. "So annoying and inconvenient."

"We'll need to drain the drugs from her system before you drink, Sir."

"That won't be necessary. I'm not planning a full feeding until tomorrow night. I just want to confuse the mating link so I don't have to worry about the bear."

Who… the hell … is that? I try to keep my breathing even and fight against the urge to open my eyes and satisfy my horrifying curiosity. It's now that I start to pay closer attention to my environment—the cold stone floor I seem to be sprawled upon.

"It's no use, poppet, I smelled the change in the scent of your blood. Fear. And your breathing changed… your heart rate changed. You humans contain very little mystery. You can't fake it with me, my dear, though you'll have plenty of opportunities to try."

Humans. My heart sinks at this word because I know that means he's not a human. And I'm not going to play dumb. I know what he is. Even before I open my eyes to look at him, I know. This room feels cold.

But not cold because of the temperature of the air. No, it's a deeper cold. It's a cold mixed with terror that seeps deep into your veins and takes up permanent residence there. I feel a loud internal scream inside my own mind, and I know.

Vampire.

His voice. The coldness both in him and in this room, it all screams to inform me of the predator I'm locked in with.

"Rosalie, come now, pet, let's not do this. You had your opportunity to choose the bear. And yet… here we are. What was it that gave you pause? Was it his good looks? His… what I'm led to believe is an absolutely intoxicating mating scent? You smell like citrus and honey by the way. Did he tell you? Absolutely irresistible. I cannot wait to really dig in and gorge myself on you."

I remain quiet. I still haven't opened my eyes. I can't bring myself to face this new reality. So instead I just let him drone on as I shiver and try to stop my internal screaming.

"Or maybe it was his success? His talent? I hear he's quite the architect. His athleticism? His wealth? That luxurious penthouse? I can see why all of these things would be repellant to you."

A tear slips down my cheek, and suddenly I feel compelled to speak. "I just wanted to be free."

He chuckles. "That human curse. You can't take a good thing when it comes to you. No, you're all just full of ideals like… freedom. Hopes. Dreams. So cute."

Finally, I open my eyes, and I wish I hadn't. I'm in a large stone room that I swear is a throne room. It's all dark gothic design. It's exactly what you would expect a vampire's castle to look like—absolutely no mysteries to unravel here—though I assume it doesn't look like a gothic castle on the outside. I'm pretty sure people would notice that.

I'm lying on the cold stone floor, and he's sitting above me on what looks like a throne with a terrifying looking guard standing on either side of him.

He has cold ice blue eyes and a sneer on his handsome mouth. Oh, no question, he's hot. But he's evil—and not the good kind of evil. He's not the "villain… but not really". He's not the misunderstood beast who just needs to be healed by a good woman's love.

No, this guy is empty . There is nothing inside him to melt, nothing to fix. Nothing to reach. He feels older than the earth itself, and I know I have no hope of manipulating him.

"No, you really don't," he says. "I'm glad you're at least smart enough to recognize that, even if you weren't smart enough to do the one thing that could have saved you from me. Accept the bear's mating mark."

I feel somehow suddenly even more vulnerable than I did just a few minutes ago—if even my thoughts aren't private… what hope do I really have here?

"Did Cooper not tell you about me?" he prods, twisting the knife in deeper.

"He told me about vampires," I say, realizing the complete redundancy of even speaking to a man who can read your mind. And did Cooper really tell me about vampires, or did he just mention in passing that they existed?

"No, I mean me, specifically. Or maybe he just doesn't know. I killed his brother's mate. She was quite an entree. She tasted like red velvet cake. I admittedly have a weakness for sweet things. She was so good, I just gorged on her blood until she was no more. But… I like to think I've grown as a person since then. So don't worry, I plan to take my time with you—use restraint. Who knows… maybe you could be my pet for years… decades… centuries, even. My blood can keep you at just the right… vibrancy … for my taste—for as long as I wish."

No, Cooper failed to inform me of all of this. And now I'm back to being mad at him. Sure, now that I have a control in this experiment to compare with, Cooper clearly isn't evil. But, he might be a fucking dumbass. How could he not tell me about this?

And have you blame him even more for being forced into mating?

I wonder briefly if this is my own traitorous internal dialogue or if the vampire has pushed this thought into my head. But I know deep down, it's me finally seeing reality for the first time.

"You know, poppet, that death defying stunt you pulled to escape the horrors of being mated to a total sweetie pie like Cooper? That wasn't your idea, so I hope you aren't planning to claim it was."

He snaps his fingers like a hypnotist breaking his spell, and all at once the dream I had last night floods back into my mind, and I know it was only being held back from my awareness by the vampire. He slunk into my dreams last night. He gave me every piece of the escape. I followed his plan exactly as he'd laid it out, like some zombie acting out a play. It was all a trap.

I'm torn between relief that I don't have to blame myself for running away from Cooper this time, and disappointment that I only thought I was fully in control while I was planning and executing my escape. It felt so real. It felt like my idea. But even if it wasn't, I still did those things. There was no supernatural power that led to my success. I could have just as easily failed and fallen to my death.

The vampire doesn't seem interested in my mental hamster wheel; he just continues his villain speech.

"I've been tracking you since you returned from California. Unfortunately Cooper beat me to you… initially, at least. It was quite a puzzle to figure out how to get you out of a locked penthouse in the middle of the day when he was away, no less. I had to go to great lengths. The number of people I had to enthrall, well, you just wouldn't believe the work I've put in to acquire you. You should feel flattered. First there were the tenants just below you… I had to get them to move out, quickly and at the last minute. I had to get the building owner to go along with it, and then clear out the apartment as he just happened to decide he really needed to remodel everything and bring construction workers in. It was some of my finest work. And of course one of my human servants brought you to me once you were out in the wild again."

I can't stop the tears. I have nothing to say to this monster. And I know begging won't do any good. There is no humanity in him, so why bother?

"Oh, come now. You'll have wealth and luxury here, too. I mean, you'll eventually have luxury, once you've earned my favor. I don't just give out nice airy rooms for free, you know. I'm not quite so eager to please as your besotted mate." His dark gaze sweeps lewdly over me, and I know exactly how he plans for me to earn my nice room. "Eventually you'll grow to enjoy my touch, my bite, the feeding. It's all quite dark and erotic. I'll turn you into a completely new creature. And you'll forget all about silly pesky things like freedom and art. Making art, that is. I plan to expand your no-doubt subpar education on real fine art. I have some of the rarest paintings in the world in my collection."

I don't have any brave words. The banter that easily flowed between Cooper and me is absent in the face of this primeval threat.

He sighs. "I do hope you'll become an interesting conversationalist, poppet. It's really not enough to be young and pretty and have delicious blood. Are you understanding me? Are you mute? Speak!" He barks that last word out at me like I'm a dog.

"Yes, I understand," I bite out.

"Good. I would hate to have to just drain you, but if you aren't going to be the slightest bit entertaining, it doesn't matter how rare your flavor is. I'd prefer someone grateful for the opportunities I present. I'll show you the world. We'll travel everywhere. I'll put you in the finest clothes, keep you in the most luxurious lodgings. All you have to do is be a tiny bit agreeable and pleasant. Do you think you can manage that? I mean, it's only your life on the line here, after all."

"Yes," I choke out. Thankfully my inner voice has stopped taunting and judging me for my choices. For all I know, the vampire has been manipulating my mind from the very beginning.

"No," he says, "You don't get to put that on me. Also, I would start to guard my thoughts, if I were you. I can be quite sadistic when I'm displeased with a blood doll. Just something to keep in mind. Rodolfo?"

He gestures to one of his guards, and a moment later, I'm picked up off the floor and placed on the vampire's lap.

I shudder in his cold embrace as he strokes my hair as though I'm a pet he just picked up from the pound. And he probably does see me this way. He did call me pet , after all. It's such a vampire cliché, but I'm sure this is how he truly sees me. Just an amusement. Something to dress up in little Goth Barbie outfits. Someone to train to do tricks. There is no reality in which he would ever see me as his equal.

Cooper might be an otherworldly being, but he's not inhuman.

"That's because a shifter is part human," the vampire says. He can't even pretend to stay out of my mind, and I have no idea how to keep him out. What does guard your thoughts even mean? I can't just stop thinking.

He takes my chin in his hand and turns me sharply to face him. His fingers are long and elegant, and his grip is like a vice. He's very pale with dark hair and lips so red he looks like a goth who has painted his face with makeup, except that it isn't makeup. My heart rate picks up speed as it occurs to me that he may have already eaten tonight. How else would his lips have this much color? Did he kill them? Did he…? I refuse to let my conscious mind complete this thought, but he picks up on it anyway.

"I did, as a matter of fact, feed already. I fucked her on black silk sheets and then drained her of all her blood. She was such a pretty thing, and she screamed so sweetly for me. That moment where screams of pleasure turn into screams of pain… and then it all dies out on a whimper and a gasp… I never get tired of it. And then those sightless eyes that still carry the trace of shock that it all ended this way. I mean, come on, how could the little twit not know I was a vampire? But she was a cheap fast food hamburger, you—my dear—are a delicacy. It won't be so quick for you."

I can't stop the tears moving down my cheeks. I would give anything to go back in time, to not run from Cooper. I thought I could just rejoin the normal world. I didn't know I was now a permanent part of all this. I didn't know the dark places my life could go.

"You'd be wise to forget about him. It's unfortunate, but sometimes we make choices in life that we can never really undo. We just have to live with them. You'll never see the shifter again. After I bite you, he won't want you anymore. Even if he could find you, he would discard you as soon as he knew a filthy vampire had defiled you. And I plan to defile you in every way a person can be defiled. So you might want to do whatever a human needs to do to prepare themselves for such a stark ongoing reality."

Can't he just fucking shut up? I know villains like to talk, but just… shut up !

I'm sure he heard that thought. I'm sure his guards also heard that thought, given the force with which I delivered it. In the next moment, he strikes. I cry out at the searing pain of fangs in my throat. He grips my shoulders as he drinks. A moment later he flings me away from him and spits the blood out on the concrete as though he's disgusted.

So much for being a delicacy.

I press a hand to my bleeding throat.

"Ugh. Those drugs are rank," he says.

"I offered to drain the drugs off, Sir."

The vampire waves him away. "Just close her wound."

"Yes, Sir."

I shrink back as the hulking guard comes closer. His eyes glow briefly red. I had thought he was human. Is he a vampire, too? He pulls me into his arms, and I cringe as he licks the side of my throat.

Then he gets up and returns to stand behind his boss. When I touch my throat again, my hand comes away clean. No bleeding.

"Well? Put the puppy in her crate, she's useless to me until the drugs have cleared. I'll feed and play with her properly tomorrow night."

Rodolfo comes back and picks me up off the floor. Before we're out of the room, my captor speaks again.

"Poppet, do you know what tomorrow night is?"

When I don't answer, he fills in the blank.

"The full moon. Even if he could find you, he's not going to be able to control the beast when he smells me on you. He might just kill you himself. Wouldn't that be ironic? You needing my protection from him . I've never gotten to play the hero before. It might be amusing.

With that pronouncement, Rodolfo is dismissed with me in his arms. My crate turns out to be a cell with a mattress on the floor and a toilet. There's a mini fridge on one end of the room with what I hope is food and water inside. A large red digital countdown timer hangs on the wall. Twenty-two hours, thirteen minutes, and nine seconds. Eight… seven… six…

Rodolfo speaks then. "That's the amount of time until the sun sets tomorrow. Marcus will return for you then."

The vampire's name is Marcus, and he's helpfully given me an exact waiting time until my life goes completely to hell, and the real nightmare begins.