Bleed For Me (7 page)

Terese broke away from the circle, her hand
outstretched,
beckoning
, to one of the guys.

Apollo’s jaw clenched.

The foolish mortal eagerly followed her—
like some
kind of damned dog
. The mortal was a big, brawny guy with
short cropped red hair and muddy brown eyes. He licked his lips as
he watched Terese, and, even from across the room, Apollo could
smell his lust.

Oh, hell, no.
He waved his hand, parting the
crowd as he stalked toward them.

He wasn’t sure what kind of game Terese thought she
was playing, but there’d be no—

Terese opened the back door of Hades and led her
mortal out into the alley.

“
Terese
!”

The dancers around him stilled at the lethal yell.
But the back door had already swung shut.

* * *

A heady rush of power swept through her. Terese
stared up at the red-head—
Jeez, what was his name again?
Martin? Marvin?
—and felt her bloodlust grow.

The man was completely under her thrall. His gaze was
helplessly fixated on her, his pupils dilated to tiny
pinpricks.

“Get on your knees,” she whispered softly…and he did.
He actually lowered to his knees before her! He stared up at her,
waiting.

She’d been practicing her thrall over the last week.
Little tests at first. Not on Apollo, never on him because she
didn’t want to take his will away. She’d experimented only on
strangers. Just little pushes before, but…

Now this.

A car horn sounded in the distance and laughter
drifted in the air around her.

Terese was alone with the guy in the alley. Alone
with a guy who outweighed her by at least two hundred pounds, but
she wasn’t scared.
She
had all the control. All the power.
Finally
. “Tilt your head back,” she whispered and licked
her dry lips.

Instantly, his head cocked, and his throat, that
thick, muscled throat, was offered up to her.

Oh, my.
Terese swallowed as her gaze drifted
to the racing pulse point that tempted her—

“Don’t even think about it.”

She yelped and spun around at the rough rumble of
Apollo’s voice.

He stalked out of the building’s shadows, his blue
eyes glittering with rage. “Get away from him, Terese.”

“It’s…ah…not what you think.”
He would have
appeared at just that exact moment.

“Oh?” He took another slow step toward her, and the
street light fell across his face. His seriously
pissed
face. “You didn’t just bring that guy out here so that you could
stick those lovely fangs of yours in his throat?”

Well, the idea really was tempting…especially now
that the fellow had his head tilted back so far and his throat was
just waiting for her, but— “No. That’s not why I’m here.” Her fangs
burned, but she ignored them.

The guy on the ground shook his head, then blinked
groggily. “Wh—what’s goin’ on?”

Terese could have screamed. She glanced back down at
the guy, striving to keep her thrall. “Nothing.” Her fingers
stroked his hair. “You’re just resting for a moment, just resting
and—”

Apollo grabbed her hand. “Do. Not. Touch. Him.” A tic
jerked along his jaw.

But she needed to. She’d found that her compulsions
worked a lot better if she touched her prey.

The redhead rose slowly. His brown eyes blinked, then
narrowed. “What’s goin’ on?”

Apollo barely spared him a glance. “Go inside.”

The fellow’s bushy brows lowered. “Dick, don’t you
tell me what to do—”

“
Fuck off.
” Apollo turned his head and
locked his unblinking gaze on the fellow.

“Man, I will kick your
ass
!” The man’s
fingers curled into ham-sized fists.

Terese reached out to touch him. She knew she could
bring him back under her compulsion, knew she could calm him down
and—

Apollo pulled her to his side. “I told you not to
touch him,” he gritted.

She swallowed, and a lick of fear shot through her at
the lethal expression on his face.

“Mortal,
go inside
.” Apollo’s voice shook
with power.

The fellow ran inside.

And Terese really, really wanted to run after
him.

Because she didn’t think being stranded in a deserted
alley with an angry god was going to be much fun.

A strange, golden glow seemed to surround Apollo. Her
eyes began to water as she gazed at him.

“I thought we went over this…” he muttered, his hand
tightening even more around her wrist. “If you want to drink, then
you will damn well drink from me.”

Her fangs burned. She realized that she wanted, quite
badly, to bury her teeth into his flesh.

“Come on, Terese.” He yanked her against him. “You
want to bite someone? Bite me.”

And she did. Her fangs sank into his throat and his
sweet blood flowed onto her tongue. His hands curled around her ass
and pulled her against the thick length of his arousal.

He groaned when she licked his neck.

By now, she knew all of his weak spots. Just as he
knew hers. Each day just made her want him more.

Not just
want
him, need him.

She lifted her head. “I wasn’t going to bite
him.”

He smiled down at her. “Finally mastered it,
huh?”

And she knew that Apollo had been aware of her
games.

She nodded.

“He wanted to fuck you.” Now her god sounded
disgruntled.

Terese arched a brow. “Wasn’t going to happen.” His
blood filled her with power and a humming energy. “I don’t want
to—”

“
Damn, Apollo, are you taking your dates to
alleys these days
?
Cheap asshole
.” A man’s thundering
voice cut across her words.

Apollo swore and turned slowly to face the guy who
stood near the entrance of the alley.

Terese followed his gaze. Her eyes widened when she
caught sight of a dark haired man with a wicked grin.

“Ares.” There wasn’t a whole lot of warmth in
Apollo’s voice. All right, there wasn’t
any
warmth in his
voice. “I thought you’d be out of town for another week.”

“Don’t worry, bro, I’ll be leaving soon.” His dark
stare drifted over Terese and he whistled in appreciation. “I just
thought I smelled a surge of power and figured I’d better pop in,
you know, in case you were about to kick some ass.” His lips
twisted. “But apparently, you aren’t kicking ass, you’re just
getting some a—”

“
Ares…
” A definite warning edge was in
Apollo’s voice.

The dark man just laughed.

Terese stared at the stranger as curiosity burned
within her.
Ares.
She knew that name. “You’re the god of
war, aren’t you?”

He gave a little bow.

“Oh, great!
Him
you know!” Apollo wrapped
his arm around her shoulder as they faced his brother.

“And who might you be, my lovely?” Ares asked.

“Terese Lafitte.”

“It’s a pleasure to—”

“Cut the shit and stop hitting on her,” Apollo
warned.

Ares frowned. “I wasn’t hitting on your…” He inhaled,
and his eyes narrowed “…little vampire.”

She felt Apollo stiffen beside her. “How the hell did
you—” he began.

“Her scent.” A small shrug. “I’ve met her kind
before.” His eyes narrowed. “Even killed a few in my time.”

Apollo stepped forward and placed his body squarely
in front of Terese’s. “Don’t even think about it.”

Another low rumble of laughter. “Relax, Pol. I’m not
going to hurt your…friend.”

“Damn right you’re not.”

Hmmm…she wasn’t feeling a whole lot of love for the
war god. Peeking over Apollo’s shoulder, Terese glared at Ares.

“But there’s someone else nearby…” His head cocked to
the side. “Someone who wants to hurt her, very badly. I can feel
his rage lapping at me.”

Eric.

“Where is he?” Apollo demanded.

“Close.
Very close.”
A gleam of what
appeared to be anticipation lit the war god’s eyes. “Want me to
track him?”

“No.” Cold. Deadly. “The bastard’s mine.”

“Huh. So you’re not all sunshine and smiles, eh,
Pol?”

He didn’t answer.

“Good. I always knew there was a reason I let you
keep living.”

Apollo snorted.

The air around Ares began to shimmer. “If you change
your mind, well, you know how to find me.”

“I can handle this guy on my own.”

“Yeah, killing vamps should be child’s play for you,
sunny boy.” With a wink, Ares disappeared.

Terese blinked, then glanced around the dark alley.
She didn’t feel quite so powerful anymore. Actually, she felt
scared.
There’s someone else nearby…
“I-is he out here?”
Was Eric watching her? Watching them?

“No, if he were here, Ares would have told me.”
Apollo’s gaze scanned the darkness.

Dammit, why couldn’t it be over? Why couldn’t Eric
just leave her alone?

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him.” The back of
Apollo’s hand caressed her cheek.

“What—what do you mean?” She didn’t like the idea of
Apollo going up against Eric. The guy was an elder, who knew what
he could do? “I think we should just stay away from him.”
Far
away.

He snorted. “Yeah, that’s a plan.” He linked his hand
with hers and pulled her close to him. “I need to get you some
place safe, then I’ll hunt him and—”

“No!” She stared at him in disbelief. Surely he
didn’t think she was just going to sit all comfy and cozy somewhere
while he went out and faced Eric. “I’m not going to let you hunt
him alone.”

But he just laughed. “Trust me, I can take him out.”
Such total confidence.

Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. What had Ares
said?
Killing vamps should be child’s play for you, sunny
boy.
She swallowed, a really,
really
bad feeling
rising in her stomach. “What did Ares mean, about you killing
vampires?”

His eyelids lowered in a barely perceptible flinch.
If she hadn’t been watching him so closely, she wouldn’t have seen
the telling movement. “Apollo?”

His lips thinned. “I’ll tell you, but, first, I want
to get you out of this alley.” His arms looped behind her, and he
pulled her flush against him. “I want to jump back home.”

Jump.
“You mean…space jump?” That was what
he’d called it before.

A quick nod. “It’s the safest way. We’ll disappear
and if that bastard’s watching, he won’t know where the hell we
went.”

Her fingers dug into his waist. “How does this work
exactly?” Jumping through space, that seemed dangerous. “I mean, is
it like on Star Trek when the crew members look like they’re
disintegrating?”

His lips quivered and she knew he fought a smile.
“No, sweetheart. We’re not going to disintegrate. We’re just gonna
move really, really fast.”

“Oh, okay.” Moving fast didn’t sound so bad.

“Now, hold on tight, and don’t let go, no matter what
happens.”

No matter what happens.
Um…back to sounding
bad. “Apollo, I don’t understand, why—”

Too late.

A strange howling filled her ears, and the alley
darkened as the cement walls faded away.

A blur of light whipped past her body. Hands yanked
at her flesh.

Terese screamed and clung to Apollo, holding on to
her god with all her strength.

“Are you all right?”

Terese cracked open one eye and managed to glare at
him. “Are we done jumping?”

With an effort, Apollo managed not to laugh. “Uh,
yeah, we’re done.” They were back at his place, and Terese was
currently curled in the fetal position on his bed.

Her other eye opened. “I don’t ever,
ever
want to do that again.”

“Sorry, I should have told you that jumping could be
a little unsettling at first.”

“Yeah, a little.” She sat up, rubbing her arms. Then
she bit her lip. “Do you think we’re safe now?”

He hoped so, but he really didn’t know how powerful
Eric was.

There was someone who could tell him, someone who
always seemed to know everything about mortal and immortal
life—

Zeus.
His all-knowing, arrogant sire.

He’d have to jump to Olympus and pay his old man a
visit to see what the bastard knew.

Terese stretched out on the bed. “Dawn’s coming.”

Apollo blinked. The windows were completely covered.
Not even a trace of light from the outside shone in. With each day
that passed, Terese seemed to sense the dawn’s power more and
more.

The mattress dipped when he crawled into the bed with
her. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”

Her arms wrapped around him, and she cuddled close,
resting her cheek on his shoulder. “What’s that?” she asked, her
voice soft.

“What were you like…before?” Before Eric had found
her, before he’d transformed her into a vampire. Before there’d
been fear in her eyes.

Her head lifted and she gazed at him, a small line
pulling down her brows. “What do you mean?”

“Well, what did you do for a living?” Such a simple,
normal question. And it was so important to him.

He wanted to know Terese. To know the woman she’d
been, to know the woman she’d become.

“I-I was an artist.” She lifted her right hand and
gazed down at her nails. “I always had paint on me. On my clothes,
in my hair.” She turned her hand toward him. “Under my nails.”

He caught her hand in his, brought it to his mouth,
and kissed her fingers. “What did you paint?”

Her smile faded as sadness slipped across her face.
“I liked to paint the outdoors. Landscapes. Sunsets. The morning
light trickling over a pond…” She swallowed and for a moment, tears
shimmered in her eyes. “I wasn’t an artistic genius or anything,
but I-I enjoyed the painting. It made me happy.”