Dark Horizons (The Red Sector Chronicles) (33 page)

I didn’t need to be psychic to know what he was thinking about, or rather, whom.
I couldn’t help the words that spilled out of my mouth.
“Do you miss Angel?”

He blinked, startled, then smiled, though it was just as melancholy as the grief buried in hi
s eyes. “Yeah,” he said softly, staring at the windows.
“I was just thinking how much s
unlight reminded me of her hair
and her smile. Her whole personality kind of lit up a room, you know?”

That sentiment stung a little
; it was exactly how I thought of her
. “Yeah,” I said quietly, turning away before he could see the tears brimming in my eyes. “She sure did.”

Angel was something of a best friend to me. Even when I found out she was the one who turned Orion, she still fought to do the right thing at the end, including saving my life and Aden’s. She was also Orion’s pet experiment for his virus.

My jaw clenched as I fisted my hands, hearing revenge’s sweet whisper in my ear. “Don’t worry, Rook,” I said, my voice turning deadly. “If it’s the last thing I do, I
will
bring my brother to justice.”

He gazed at me. Something changed in his eyes. They were no longer sad.

They were full of pity.

We trained for about another hour and a half until it got too dark to see. We opted not to try to turn on any lights, not wanting to draw attention to ourselves.

Arika and Leo returned right around sunset. “We found it,” Leo proudly announced, striding toward
us with excitement on his face.

I nearly pounced on him, my heart picking up speed. “You did? Where is it?”

“Close by, actually,” Arika said, her dark eyes glittering. She sounded a little out of breath. Judging from the glossy sheen across her skin and Leo’s, they must have run here.

“You didn’t run into any trouble, did you?” I asked warily, glancing between the two of them.

“Don’t worry,” Arika said with a deadly smile. “We didn’t find any trouble – they did.”

Her thumb stroked the pommel of her sai, and I nodded once. “I bet they did,” I
murmured darkly
.

“How are you feeling?” Leo asked Rook, eyeing his chest.

“Better, actually,” Rook said, playfully nudging me with his elbow. “
Sergeant
McAllister here made me train all afternoon, which actually helped work out the soreness.”

Leo’s jaw clenched as his
eyes
flicked between us, and he cleared his throat. “That’s great, that’s great,” he muttered absently, sounding distracted.

I raised a brow, catching his gaze with a question in my eyes.

Leo licked his lips.
“Could you excuse us for a
minute?” he asked softly, more to Arika than Rook.

I recognized that voice. It was the one he used to melt hearts
and make knees tremble.
Rook was immune, but Arika was not. I probably wouldn’t have heard her sharp intake of air at Leo’s request had I not had better hearing than most. Blinking, she glanced to me, as if weighing the decision, before nodding curtly and placing a hand on Leo’s arm. “If you need me, I’ll be close,” she said, her dark eyes flicking to me before she followed Rook out of the room.

Meaning, “Don’t try anything,”
I thought, sm
irking. She was no push
over, that was for sure.

Once they were gone, Leo rounded on me. “How are you?”

I stared at him. “Well, other than being schooled last night by my homicidal brother, I’m doing peachy.”

“No, I meant –” He sighed. A low growl slipped out. “I meant, do you, er, need anything?”

More staring. “Some clarity over what you’re trying to ask would be nice.”

Rolling his eyes, he said, “Are you hungry?”

It took me a moment to process what kind of hunger he was talking about. Squirming under his gaze, so hopeful, like a puppy hoping for dinner scraps, I crossed my arms and started to back away. “I’m fine,” I said lightly, giving him my devil-may-care smile. “Really, Leo, you don’t have to worry about –”

The moment I took a step, he cut me off, blocking my exit with the hulk of his body. Though he had lost some
weight
, he was still two hundred pounds worth of man. My face heated as he brought both arms up on either side of my head, leaning in and whispering next to my ear. “You don’t have to lie to me, Sloane. I’m here for you.”

It suddenly became incredibly difficult to swallow. “Leo, stop,” I said, pushing against him, and admittedly, holding back. I was afr
aid if I used my full strength that
I’d fling him across the room and hurt him. “Please, I’m all right. Just forget about it.”

“I can’t,” he said, sounding strained. “You’re all I ever think about.” Pause. “You’re even in my dreams.”

That last word sent shivers skittering through me. It was so breathy, so lustful.

So Leo.

With a pang of guilt and disappointment, I forced myself to meet his gaze. “It’s my bite. It’s done something to you. You need help.”

He laughed, nuzzling my neck and gently nipping the skin at the curve of my shoulder. “I need you,” he said, his voice coming out in a desperate growl.

My lids fluttered closed, and a shocked gasp escaped my lips as he began trailing ghost kisses down my neck and shoulder.

“L
eo,” I said as his lips started
wandering
dangerously close to my breasts. “Stop.”

“I will,” he said, eyes glinting with a secret smile, “when you sound like you want me to.”

More protests built up on my tongue, but their logic died away as heat
churned
deep inside me. Every muscle tensed and coiled with longing, to give in to my body’s demands as Leo’s lips set fire to my senses.

My
conscience
screamed at me to snap out of it, but its voice became a distant whisper as Leo’s mouth hovered right over mine. “Do you love me, Sloane?” he whispered against my lips.

I looked at him
. His eyes, though dark with desire, were so honest and full of hope that I didn’t pause to think through my answer.

“Yes, Leo,” I whispered. “I always have, and I always will. Forever.”

It was the most honest answer I knew how to give, though I still wasn’t sure if we were on the same page when it came to our love for one another. Either way, I d
idn’t have a chance to find out
because his mouth came crash
ing onto mine, consuming me as one of his hands tangled in my hair and the other wrapped around my back, crushing me to him. His heat, his smell, was everywhere.

For a moment
I stood there, unsure what to do with my hands, but eventually they wrapped around his neck as I kissed him back.
The scent of his blood was intoxicating, as much a drug to me as my bite was to him. Pure, heady lust filled me up as my fangs began slowly elongating.

Leo’s hands trailed up the back of my shirt, running along my bare back and up over the clasp on my bra. When he tried to undo it, my eyes snapped open
and I abruptly broke the kiss. “What are you doing?” I asked, panting.

“I want to be closer to you,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I want you, Sloane.”

Thinking maybe he’d kiss me again, I was surprised when his hand disappeared into his pants pocket.

“What’s that?” I asked as he fished around.

“A way for us to be close
r
.”

The end of a wooden handle appeared – a switchblade.

Too late, I was sucker
punched by a cold wave of dread, realizing what he was going to do.

My body warred with my mind and heart. The vampire
in me
wanted him –
all
of him – while
the piece of me that was still his best friend didn’t want to destroy our relationship this way.

The blade flipped out in a flash of silver, and Leo pointed the tip to the inside of his forearm. I stumbled against the wall, trying to back away from him as far as I could. “No,” I begged, covering my nose and mouth with my
shirtsleeve
as the smell of blood filled the air. “Leo, don’t.”

“Yes,” he breathed, holding out his bleeding arm toward me. “Drink.”

“No,” I choked out, trying to cough the smell up. It was so strong I could taste it along my tongue.
“You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I know exactly what I’m asking,” he said. “It’s the only way for me to feel close enough, like I belong to somebody.”

Those words mucked up the gears of my mind. While my brain tried to put some kind of hidden meaning behind them, Leo lifted his arm to his mouth, running his tongue along the wound, before grabbing me and planting a wet, bloody kiss on my mouth.

That did it. The moment my tongue touched the sweetness lacing
his
lips, my vampir
e side clawed free of its cage.
I pinned Leo to the wall, clamping down on his neck after my fangs
fully
extended.

He cried out, moaning as I drank. I got in maybe two good gulps before it felt like someone had set my throat on fire. Gasping in pain and shock, I reeled backward, my hands reaching for my throat, trying to stop the burning sensation.
The air was saturated with the smell of blood and burning flesh.

Ripped away from Leo, my fangs retracted and I blinked several times to clear my vision of the red haze of bloodlust. After a few seconds, the tip of a red sai came into view, pointed directly for my forehead.

“Take one step near him
and I’ll kill you,” Arika hissed.

“No!” Leo shoved me back, stepping between us.
“If you want her, then you’ll have to go through me.”

Arika’s face washed free of all color as she stared at him in disbelief, mouth gaping open.
“
You can’t mean it.”

“Cross my heart,” he said fiercely.

“Stop it,” she spat. “She’s a worthless vampire, a parasite.”

“She’s my best friend!” Leo shouted, the venom in his voice making us both jump.

“Not anymore!” Arika shook her head, her pleading eyes locked with his. “
Leo, she’s using you!”

“I asked her to!”

That stunned Arika into silence. No one moved or spoke as the sound of Leo’s l
abored breathing filled the air
and tension swelled between us.

It took Arika a while to regain her senses. “Please tell me you’re joking,” she said
at last
, her voice smaller but just as passionate.

Leo’s
mouth pressed into a thin line
and his jaw vexed.

That was all the confirmation Arika needed. Slamming her sai back into her belt, she stormed past him, knocking shoulders with him roughly. “Fine,” she said, her voice tight with emotion. “See if I care when you turn up dead. Baka.”

I didn’t know much Japanese, but I’d seen enough anime to know that was the word for “idiot.”

Without a backward glance, she shoved open the door so forcefully it banged the outside glass before closing with a thud.

Neither Leo nor I spoke for at least a good long minute after Arika left. Finally, he sighed. “Sloane –”

“No,” I said violently, backing away from him with tears in my eyes. “Don’t you see?
It’s never going to change. I
’m always going to be like this –
hurti
ng you.”

His mouth closed as the look in his eyes turned solemn.

“So if you know what’s good for you,” I said, my voice barely a whispe
r, “then you’ll show me the lab and
get the hell away from me.”

Not waiting for a reply, I turned before he could see the single tear trailing down my burning cheek.

CHAPTER 20

Rook and Dezyre didn’t say anything to me when I stormed by, swiping at my eyes, for which I was grateful. I was in no mood for comfort
ing
.

Not knowing what else to do and wanting to be alone, I found a nook tucked behind a pair of old washing machines and
lied down
. Trying to get comfortable as best I could, I curled up on my side and shut my eyes in an effort to force sleep. I wanted to forget about what had just happened. Mostly, I needed to forget about the way Leo’s kiss made me feel, like I was on fire.

Inside
I felt very cold. And afraid.

What’s happening to me? Who is this girl – this thing – I’m becoming?

I needed to see Aden, needed to know that what we shared wasn’t just some you’re-dying-and-I-need-someone-to-love bullshit. It was more than that. I wasn’t sure exactly what, but I knew there was more depth to our emotions.
I also knew there was more to the twisted, codependent relationship Leo and I had staggered into, but I also had no idea how to go about resolving that. Part of me didn’t
want
to think about it.