SUIT and FANGS (11 page)

For a moment, I laid still, waiting for the old familiar waves of bitterness and rage to batter against me. But there were none. There wasn’t even an ounce of guilt for betraying myself.

Oh God of Caros, I was so pathetically weak.

“Luka?”

Luka’s heartbeat didn’t even change, telling me he knew the very moment I woke up, as if our hearts were tied together and beat as one. “You could have been sent to the dungeons for what you did tonight, Caylie.” The chill was back in Luka’s voice.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

 “You lied to your parents, not to me.”

“But I know I disappointed you, too,” I said, my voice muffled against his shirt.

“Yes, you did.”

The flatness of his voice made me unconsciously clutch his shirt. “I’m sorry.”

“Did you want to go to that party so badly?”

“Did you want to go to
her
party so badly?”

Luka expelled a furious, impatient breath. “I have my reasons.”

“And I have mine,” I said flatly, staring unseeingly at the newly awakened day outside Luka’s car. Luka had so much power over me it was terrifying. In just an instant, he had managed to demolish the hate that had burned inside my heart for years. But it didn’t mean he had to know that.

“Were you jealous?”

The question stunned me, but I recovered quickly enough to ask baldly, “Were
you
jealous?”

“Fuck yes!” Luka hissed the words out, and his suddenly biting tone stunned me more than the fact that he had cursed again. He forced my chin up, our gazes meeting, his fiery and violent, mine dark and unreadable.

“You’re
mine
, Caylie,” Luka growled.

The unmistakable sound of possessiveness in his voice made me swallow and other parts of my body react. Luka’s nostrils flared, and I knew he had noticed how my flesh was once again quivering in anticipation.

Shit.

God of Caros, why couldn’t I stop being so weak with him?

“Answer me, Caylie.” Luka’s voice, ordinarily gentle and compromising, was completely hard and demanding.

His masterful voice tempted me to submit once again, to let him take me and own me. In fact, a large uncontrollable part of me wanted to do just that. 

I forced myself to shake my head, doing my best to resist the magnetic pull of Luka’s dominance. “No.” I uttered the lie in a flat tone.

“Caylie---”

“I’m not yours, just like you’re not mine.” It hurt to say the words, but I managed to keep my voice from shaking. “I won’t lie about wanting you. It would be stupid to, after what just happened. But this…it’s only the inherent weakness we have as Caros at work.”

Luka cursed.

I doggedly continued, “We have always been each other’s greatest obsessions---”

“Cut to the chase,” Luka snapped.

I flinched, the contempt in his voice almost knocking me sideways with the pain it caused. Even after everything he had done to me, I still couldn’t stop myself from hurting every time he showed how much he disapproved of me.

Lifting my chin, praying that none of the pain inside me showed on my face, I said softly, “Let’s stop beating around the bush. This time, we both know where we stand in each other’s lives. This time, we’ll stop with the pretenses.”

Luka whitened.

I pretended not to see it, pretended that my heart wasn’t bleeding with every word I said. “This time, we don’t need to call or see each other as friends. I have no claim to you in any way and you will have no claim to me in any way. You’re free to…” I swallowed. “You’re free to do whatever you want with the Moretti princess. I won’t stand in the way of your ambition because that wouldn’t be in anyone’s interest. I understand that it’s in everyone’s favor if you were engaged with her.”

I forced myself to give Luka a seductive smile, one that promised him all the sinful pleasures that both blood and flesh could bring. “This time, we simply…
indulge.
”

28 Months Ago

Dear Cayan,

I am sending to you today a young man who is in dire need of your help. He may turn vampire any moment, and you are the only one I know with the power to stop him. He is vital to our world’s survival so I urge you to do your utmost to save him.

I have high hopes in him so please take him under your wing and keep him there for as long as needed. His name is Luka Georgiades…

Sincerely,

Domenico Moretti

Phillip was chewing on Sabina’s ear while my friend took in a spoonful of yogurt. It should have made a terribly disgusting picture, but somehow the two made an erotic portrait instead. Or maybe that was just my frustrated, pent-up desires for Luka Georgiades talking.

Sabina’s spoon had frozen mid-air at my words. “You said
what
?” She scrambled off Phillip’s lap just so she could bend forward and take a closer look at my face as she demanded, “Did I hear you right? Did you just---”

“Yes,” I answered tonelessly. “I basically told him we should be fuck buddies.”

Ever groaned, and it just about summed up my sentiments perfectly as well.

The next few seconds were spent in awkward silence. Classes had been suspended for an unspecified reason by the Brethren, with all Caro minors advised to be home no later than two in the afternoon. Since we still had over three hours to kill, Sabina had wanted all four of us to have brunch in a nearby Caro restaurant before going home.

The place was one of the finest Caro establishments in the area, patronized by the upper classes of our race. We all belonged to the same circles, which was why most eyes had followed Sabina and Phillip as they walked inside the restaurant with Phillip’s arm curled possessively around Sabina’s slim waist.

Ever was the first one to speak. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but that
wasn’t
part of the original plan, right?”

Sabina exhaled loudly, and strongly enough for several strands of her hair to fly up. “You know you’re practically setting yourself up for another heartbreak, don’t you?”

“I know what I’m doing,” I said finally. “I’m not going to be hurt.”

“Forgive me for my ignorance, but I simply have to ask. Luka Georgiades agreed to this?”

All three of us girls glanced at Phillip incredulously. “Of course he’d agree,” Sabina growled. “She’s basically offering him free use of her body without anything in exchange.
No
guy would refuse that.”

“Actually,” Phillip said quietly, “you’d be surprised at how a lot of guys
would
refuse that.”

The three of us snorted simultaneously in disbelief.

Phillip laughed.

“It’s sweet of you to pretend,” Sabina began teasingly.

Phillip flicked her head, but it was a tender gesture. “You know I’m not pretending. I never do, with you.”

Ever and I exchanged looks once more. One of these days, we really had to give these two some one-on-one time about where their relationship was going – or whatever it was that they had…
for years.
Neither of us could figure out why Phillip wouldn’t just break his engagement off with Luisa. It was clear for everyone to see that he and Sabina were perfect for each other.

Phillip tucked an errant curl behind Sabina’s ear. “Believe it or not, but I’m very selective with who I make love to.” He glanced at me. “And Luka Georgiades is even more selective.”

“You’re not saying anything I don’t know,” I told him dryly.

“Well, you’re telling me something I never thought of.” That threw me off, but before I could ask what he meant, Phillip added, “You never struck me as Luka’s type.”

My eyes narrowed. “And exactly what do you mean by that?” I asked silkily.

Phillip shrugged. “Let’s just say I know some of the women he has been…
intimate
with.”

I couldn’t keep myself from flinching at Phillip’s words. I knew Luka wasn’t a virgin. How could he be with how good he was at making me come? And yet knowing was still different from hearing someone actually confirm the truth.

“And your point is?” I snapped.

“You don’t have a thing in common with any of them.”

“And,” I asked, even more edgily this time, “again I ask---your point is?”

An amused smile touched Phillip’s lips. “There is no point and I never meant to offend, Caylie. It was merely an observation, but…” He raised a brow. “Why should you care about whether you have something in common with the women Luka has been known to...see?”

I opened and closed my mouth, not knowing what to answer.

Sabina and Ever were staring at me wide-eyed.

Somehow, I felt defensive all of a sudden. “I was just curious.”

“Caylie,” Ever said slowly. “Please don’t tell me you like him
that
way?”

I jumped to my feet. “I need to go to the restroom. Catch up with you later.”  I nearly ran away from them after speaking, but I had a feeling it was the truth that I couldn’t make myself stand still enough to face.

When I got inside the restroom, I collapsed against the wall, a suffocating sensation wrapped around my heart. I tried imagining Luka with that harlot I once saw him in TV with, and my fists automatically clenched. I tried imagining Luka kissing her like he kissed me, touching her like he touched me---

“Caylie!” someone in front me shrieked.

My head snapped up.

Bernadette Cairns, a dark-haired sophomore, pointed at the mirror shakily as she gazed at me nervously.

When I twisted to look at my reflection, I wanted to scream myself.

Red-rimmed eyes, fangs out---a Caro’s true colors revealed in broad daylight.

If I was anywhere but school, I would have been dead by now. It has always been the Brethren’s policy to eliminate all possible threats that could lead to humans discovering our worlds, even if it meant taking a Caro’s life, no matter how young or old.

“I’m sorry,” I gasped out when I finally got myself in control.

Bernadette nodded, her eyes still wary.

“Please don’t tell anyone about this,” I begged. If word about this was to reach the Brethren, it was all over for me, my rehabilitation cut off, a Brethren sentence inevitable.

Bernadette nodded again, but we both knew it wouldn’t be as easy as that. To protect our race was a duty and a responsibility ingrained in us since childhood. Any threat was to be reported at all costs, and this time
I
was a possible threat.

Oh God of Caros, what was happening to me?

Unable to bear the wariness and doubt in the other girl’s eyes, I avoided her gaze as I walked past her. I was running again by the time I reached the front doors of the school. Sending a quick text to my friends to tell them I had to go home earlier than planned, I jumped inside the backseat of the limousine that my parents always had on standby when I didn’t want to drive to school.

“Home, please,” I told the driver, my voice stiff with the effort it took not to break down.

When I got home, I went up to my bedroom immediately, needing the privacy and comfort my bed could give me. But when I opened the door, Luka was inside, his violet gaze startled when it met mine. He was impeccably put together as usual, his blond hair shiny, his pinstriped suit without even a smallest crease to ruin its beautiful folds.

Luka immediately came to his feet, his beautiful face becoming tense when I only remained silently staring at him. “What’s wrong?” He was already pulling me inside by the time he finished speaking, kicking the door shut behind him.

I couldn’t speak, not when I knew I couldn’t bear to see the doubt and wariness in Bernadette’s gaze mirrored by Luka’s eyes. All I could do was gaze at Luka in despair as I wondered desperately if I was going insane. This was not normal. This was not fucking normal, but I didn’t know if there was anyone I could turn to for help.

There was only one possible reason for this to happen, and that was the fact that I could be in danger of turning vampire.
But why?
It made no sense. I hadn’t taken any innocent life so why was I losing control all the time? But if this was true…if I was turning vampire, then I couldn’t burden anyone close to me about it – not if it meant the Brethren would see them as possible accomplices.

Luka shook me hard, startling me into looking up at him. “Caylie, dammit, tell me what’s wrong!”

All I could do was let out a choking sob.

A wild anxious expression entered Luka’s eyes. “Tell me.” His words were a mixture of pleading and demanding. “Tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it for you.”

I shook my head even as my mind furiously raced for an answer. “I’m…”

“What?”

“I’m…in shock.” I swallowed. “I just suddenly remembered how someone almost killed me last night and I…panicked.”

Luka pulled me in his arms the moment the words left my mouth. “Stop worrying about it, please,
mi vavli.
”

Those last two words he murmured against my hair killed me, and tears stung my eyes as I wrapped my arms around his neck tightly. It was the first time I had voluntarily touched him since he came back to my life, and we both knew it. Luka’s entire body shook, his arms tightening around me.

“I swear it, Caylie,” he muttered fiercely. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I nodded against his shirt, not having the heart to tell him that if my worst fears were true, he or anyone else would never be able to protect me from myself if I did turn vampire.

“I had the human’s background checked, Caylie. He was an obsessed fan of yours and a member of some crazy cult-like hate club. But he’s dead now. It’s over.”

Luka’s words did and didn’t make sense at the same time. “But he said there would be others---”

“Delusions,” Luka said flatly. “He was psychotic. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

I pulled away, frowning up at Luka. Something just wasn’t adding up. “But he had a stake---”

Luka’s lips thinned. “Unfortunately, some of their delusions were more spot-on than we’d like it to be. They think we’re vampires.”

And maybe,
I thought sickly,
they would be right in my case.

Luka gently cupped my face, his thumbs wiping away tears I didn’t even realize I had shed. When his violet gaze locked with mine, I could feel him commanding me silently to believe in him, the deliciously magnificent power inside him unleashed in its full glory, Luka’s way of assuring me he had the strength to wipe out an entire army to defend me.

But would Luka be able to kill me if it meant saving our race? Would I want him to?

“There’s nothing for you to worry about, Caylie. I promise you. I’ll always protect you. I won’t ever leave your side again.”

Something inside me shattered at those words.

LIIIIIIIIAAAAAR!
It was the last dying scream
that
something gave as Luka’s words once again worked like a key, but this time it didn’t release memories locked away in the past. This time it freed a rage so black I imploded at its power, like having my soul torn away from my body.