Enraptured (38 page)

“Paige!” Ian bellowed.

Her vision finally cleared as she blinked
away the last of the debris. She found herself face to face with a
set of brown eyes she’d despised for years. “Hello Paige,” the man
across from her purred. “How is my lovely daughter tonight?”

Years of training had taught her to retain
her calm in a deadly situation, but violent images of leaping on
him and shredding the skin from his face danced through her mind.
The anger filling her caused her fangs to extend of their own
accord. A thud sounded behind her, the wall shook, but Paige held
her father’s gaze. To look away would only spell her death.

“You’ve definitely gone through some
changes,” he continued with an amused sparkle in his eyes. Paige
shifted her hold on the jagged piece of wood in her hand; her arm
had bent behind her and become pinned when she’d been slammed into
the wall. “Did you honestly think becoming one of us would help you
to beat me?”

Red filled Ian’s vision; the entire room was
coated in it, yet everything around him became sharper, more
enhanced. He could move faster, smell and hear better, and more
than that, he was stronger. The minute the man had laid his hands
on Paige, pure fury had burst over him, but so had a single minded
determination to destroy everyone who was a risk to her.

Grabbing hold of the vampire who had made
the mistake of being wary of him, Ian wrenched his head completely
around. He snatched the man’s writhing body up and smashed it
against one of the others. They fell back from the blow, tumbling
off the bed and onto the floor. The man in his hands kicked
frantically; strangled mewls of protest and panic emitted from him.
Ian smashed his body down, placed his foot on the man’s broken
neck, and jerked forcefully back on the feet in his hands. A
wrenching sound accompanied the man’s head being torn from his
body. Blood sprayed across the room from the headless body as Ian
heaved it away from him.

A loud grunt sounded from behind Paige,
blood burst over the walls around them, turning the cream color of
the room a garish pink color. Her stomach turned at the display,
but her eyes remained on father. Ian’s mind danced across the
perimeter of hers; he was injured and incensed, but alive.

“I didn’t think of you at all,” she
replied.

“Oh, Paige.” His index finger slipped
underneath her chin and lifted it up. “You’ve thought of me every
day of your pathetic existence.”

Paige’s nostrils flared, but she refused to
let him goad her into reacting recklessly. He leaned toward her,
which was what she’d been waiting for. With him off balance, she
lunged forward and smashed her forehead off of his nose. Stars
burst before her eyes, but she’d been prepared for them. He hadn’t
been prepared for his nose to be shattered or for her to attack in
such a way.

A snarl escaped her; she followed the head
butt up with an elbow that carried the full force of her weight
behind it. Her ribs may be broken, but she could feel them healing
already and rage fueled her now. She’d been waiting for years to
kill this man; she didn’t care what it took, or how much torment
she had to endure in order to succeed in doing so.

His left cheekbone caved beneath the force
of her blow; his eye bulged grotesquely from his broken eye socket.
She leapt forward, pouncing on him and taking him down while he was
off guard. She swung out with the piece of wood, driving it toward
his heart. It had just broken through the skin of his chest when he
flung his arm up to block her. He knocked her hand away with so
much force her wrist went numb, and the makeshift stake flew from
her hand.

Her father grabbed hold of her numbed wrist
and squeezed with enough force a bone snapped in it. She bit back a
cry of pain, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing her
scream again. Ignoring the pain, her upper lip curled into a sneer
as she flung herself away from him. She pulled her foot back and
drove it into his face. Fresh blood spilled from his now pancaked
nose. When she went to kick him again, he seized hold of her foot
and shoved her leg back at her so hard her knee bashed off of her
nose and caused blood to burst free. Twisting to the side, Paige
managed to wrench herself from his grasp and shove herself to her
feet.

Ian grabbed hold of the last vampire trying
to keep him from Paige and drove his fangs deep into the man’s
throat. Blood gushed into his mouth. The vampire howled as he beat
and clawed at him. The man’s anguish resonated in his head; he
ignored it as he continued to feed in deep pulls that rapidly
drained the man and replenished the massive amounts of blood he’d
lost.

Thrusting the man away from him, Ian lifted
his foot and smashed it into his ribcage. The man’s bones crushed
and collapsed beneath his weight compressing his chest. Arms and
legs flailed and beat at him and the ground, but Ian continued
relentlessly onward until he’d flattened the man’s chest and
crushed his ribcage to the floor. Arms and legs stopped kicking
when his heart was stomped beneath Ian’s boot.

He spun toward Paige in time to see her
father rush at her with his shoulders down. She slammed her clamped
hands into his back as he wrapped his arms around her waist and
propelled her backward. They crashed into the wall with enough
force that it gave way with a shuddery crash. Drywall and wooden
beams snapped like twigs beneath the force of their impact as they
toppled into the room next door.

Ian’s heart leapt into his throat when he
lost sight of her. He raced through the doorway to find Paige and
her father rolling across the floor, both trying to get the upper
hand on the other. They flipped in a rapid blur of motion across
the blood drenched cream carpet beneath them. Paige somehow managed
to get her knees in between them; with a shout, she flipped her
father over her head. A loud grunt escaped him as he crashed down
on top of the glass coffee table. The legs of the table flew into
the air; glass shattered under his body.

Paige bounded to her feet, grabbed hold of a
broken leg and dove at her father. Adrenaline surged through Ian as
he lunged toward them at the same time Paige landed on her father.
Spinning around, her father threw back his arm and slapped her
across the face. Her head shot to the side, the scent of her blood
permeated his nostrils as her cheek was split open. Ian’s roar
would have made a lion cower, but the blow hadn’t knocked off
Paige’s downward trajectory. She drove the piece of wood into his
chest and twisted ferociously.

Her father grunted; his arms and legs kicked
straight up in the air. His hands snatched her hair and jerked her
head to the right as Ian arrived at her side. Drawing his foot
back, Ian kicked the man in the temple, caving the bone of his
cheek and temple in more. Blood spurted from his blown out eye
socket and temple. Ian grabbed hold of Paige’s arm, but before he
could draw her away, she slammed her hands onto the piece of wood
protruding from her father’s chest.

She slid from her father’s slack grip as he
began to shake and convulse from the death throes wracking him.
Paige took a stumbling step back; he caught her before she could
fall to the floor. Lowering her down, Ian knelt before her. He
pulled her arms out to rapidly inspect her before grasping hold of
her chin. Blood trickled from her nose and cheek. Her breath
rattled in and out due to her broken ribs and punctured lung.

“Are you ok?” he demanded.

Her gaze remained fixed on the man behind
him; the man whose feet still kicked out the rhythm of death
against the floor. The broken expression on her face tore at his
heart. Careful not to jar her ribs, he cradled her against his
chest. “It’s ok baby,” he whispered. “It’s over now.”

“It’s over,” she whispered. Tears slid down
her cheeks, her lower lip trembled, but her dazed eyes finally met
his. “It’s over.”

It felt almost too good to be true, but she
couldn’t deny her father’s body lay across from her. Couldn’t deny
that the man who had haunted
every
one of her nightmares
over the years was finally dead. She’d believed she’d feel more
relief, more joy. Instead, she felt strangely numb and torn. She
was a murderess, and more than that, she’d just committed
patricide. Should she hate herself? Should she be happy?

“Paige don’t,” Ian whispered when he sensed
her chaotic thoughts. Lifting her cheeks in his hand, he bent and
pressed a tender kiss against her lips. “Don’t beat yourself up;
don’t doubt yourself. You did what you had to do.”

“Did I?”

“Yes, you did,” he whispered. He pushed the
hair back from her face and kissed her more vigorously. Pulling his
arm away, he bit into his wrist and held it out to her. She shook
her head at him and tried to push his arm away. “Feed,” he
commanded.

“I fed from you earlier and you need it,
you’re wounded.” The gash on his cheek had already healed enough
she couldn’t see his teeth, and his ribs no longer showed on his
side, but she knew how badly he’d been maimed.

“I’ve fed and you’re more important.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but the
steel will of his mind against hers silenced her words. He would
not back down on this. Taking hold of his wrist, she lifted it to
her mouth. She licked away his blood before biting deep to reopen
his bite. His happiness filled her mind; his blood slid down her
throat as he held her head tenderly against him. The strength of
his blood seeped into her system, accelerating the healing process
of the numerous injuries she’d sustained.

The sound of feet approaching caused him to
shift his hold on her as he spun toward the doorway. He crouched
into a defensive position. He scented the air, but the cloying
scent of blood had been burned into his nostrils and covered all
other scents. His lips skimmed back to reveal his fangs, a low hiss
escaped him as he prepared for a fresh attack.

Ethan skidded into the doorway and came to
an abrupt halt. His eyes widened when they landed upon him, before
darting around to take in the destruction of the room. Ian’s
muscles relaxed at the sight of his brother. With his mind, he
urged Paige to keep feeding as he turned her away so the others
couldn’t see her. It may be necessary for her to feed right now,
but it was still an intimate act he didn’t wish to share with his
family.

“What happened?” Ethan demanded.

“We were ambushed the second the elevator
doors opened.” Ian wrapped his arm around Paige’s shoulders and
pulled her closer against his side when she released his wrist.

She wiped his blood from her mouth and gave
a brief nod when he sent her a questioning look. “I’m fine. I feel
better already.”

He believed she’d had enough; he could feel
an easing in her discomfort, and her breath had stopped rattling in
and out. Ronan’s boots rang on the floor when he strode in behind
Ethan. His eyes were crimson in color as he surveyed the death
littering the room. “Your father?” he inquired of her.

Paige nodded and waved a hand at his body.
“I killed him.”

He gave a brisk nod. “This must be taken
care of, at once. The police are on their way. We don’t have much
time. Aiden, David, and Brian are taking care of the witnesses and
erasing the memories of the people hiding in their rooms.”

“Cameras?” Ian inquired.

“Your attackers have taken care of those for
us, thankfully.”

“There may be some in the stairwell,” Paige
said. “I came down the stairs, and I’m sure there was a camera on
the elevator. There was also a woman above, she was locked out of
her room, but I kept my head turned away from her. I don’t think
she got a good look at me.”

“I’ll make sure my man takes care of the
cameras, and we’ll find her. I’m not taking any chances on this,”
Ronan replied.

“What causes our skin color to change like
that?” Ethan inquired as his gaze ran over the mottled color of
Ian’s skin.

“It happens to all purebreds if they’re
pushed to a breaking point,” Ronan replied. “It’s the ones who
don’t have someone, or something to come back for, you have to
worry about.” Ian’s hand tightened around Paige’s when she pressed
closer against him. “Now, are the bodies in the hall and in here
all of them?”

“No,” Ian answered. “There’s another in a
room down the hall and a head in the elevator shaft.”

Well, she’d been right in her guess about
the head.

“I don’t think we’re getting the head back.”
Ronan pulled out his phone and typed a message. He stared at it
until it released a small beep. “It’s been taken care of.” Paige
gaped at his words, she never wanted to get on his bad side if he
could type a message and have someone retrieve a head for him.
“Where’s the other body?”

Through the bond connecting them, Paige
could feel Ian’s concern for her before he looked at her. “I’m
fine, this has to be done,” she told him as the wail of approaching
sirens filled the air.

Ian hesitated before rising to his feet.
“Come with me,” he said to Ronan. “Ethan stay here. You’ll need
Aiden and Brian to help with this mess, I’ll send them in.”

She barely saw Ian run from the room with
Ronan right behind him. Her legs shook a little as she rose to her
feet, but she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Her
ribs still ached, her wrist was still sore, but she could feel the
healing power of Ian’s blood seeping through her system and
repairing her body.

“The other three bodies are in there,” she
told Ethan and pointed toward the bedroom.

He strode forward, but instead of walking
past her, he stopped beside her and rested his hand on her arm.
“You’ll get through this.”

She forced a smile. “I know I will. I’m
just…” her voice trailed off. She was just what right now? She
didn’t know, she didn’t have time to figure it out and she wasn’t
sure she ever would.