Talons (7 page)

Vivvie stared at him. How could he know
about the cat problem? And about Sybil’s issues with her allergies?
Her eyes darted past him. She reasoned she wasn’t getting out of
her townhouse by him. She backed into the kitchen, determined to
grab a knife from the block holder on the counter if he moved
towards her.

“
I think you need to go,
Dave,” she said as she felt around behind her for a
knife.

“
They won’t leave you alone,
Vivian,” Dave went on. “They already marked their
territory.”

“
If you don’t leave, I’m
calling the police!” she threatened.

“
I think you need to sit,”
Dave said in an angry voice. “You appear to have a problem here,
even if you don’t realize it.”

“
Your frickin’ nuts pal!”
Vivvie exclaimed eyes filled with fear.

“
Vivian, if you calm down,
you will realize all these changes started after you were bitten,”
he went on.

“
Get out!” she shouted. “I’m
gonna scream my head off, buddy! You want to make a run for it, be
my guest!”

“
I’m not running, Vivian,”
Dave said quietly. “And we both know my name is not
Dave.”

Vivvie stared at him in growing horror.
“Who are you?”

“
That’s not important. I’m
here because of the men who took your friends,” the man said and
stood. “He marked you for a reason. Mistakes are rarely made. I
followed your scent, which is lovely, I might add.”

“
What are you talking
about?” Vivvie cried. “You're one of those wackjobs that calls here
day and night since Dina went missing!”

“
No, I’m the wackjob who
sits on your patio every night trying to protect you from them,
Miss Collins,” he supplied with a small smile. “Do you really think
that glass door will keep them out? Go look at the glass
today.”

Vivvie rushed out of the kitchen and
went to the sliding glass doors. She lifted up the edge of the
plastic, staring openmouthed at the sight.

Something gouged halfway through the
tempered glass, something with claws or….

“
No average house cat did
that,” he said from behind her suddenly. “No these cats are much
larger, and much more dangerous.”

Vivvie backed away, remembering the
night she saw the eyes in the window. They were larger than a
normal cat. She knew she was a wackjob too, just buying into this
ridiculous explanation of his.

“
They will get in,” he
continued, staring at the gouged glass. “You won’t be able to fight
them off in your current state. You need to leave.”

“
Leave, what do you mean? I
can’t leave!” Vivvie said as she moved away from the glass, letting
the plastic fall back. “You’re a couple fries short of a basket if
you think I’m buyin’ this crap, buddy!”

“
He marked you, Vivian! Your
scent will allow them to find you wherever you go!”

“
I’m not going anywhere!”
Vivvie said in rising hysteria. “Is this some kind of a sick
joke?”

Dave’s golden eyes narrowed. “You won’t
find it a joke when they get in.”

Vivvie saw the guy actually believed
what he told her, stalling for time until she could snatch up the
phone and dial 911. Obviously, he was a wackadoo. Florida was
crawling with them. Finding one in her living room was just her
luck.

“
So, if I stay here, these
things will come in and, what, rape me?” she asked backing towards
the phone.

“
Among other things,” Dave
said calmly. “That is why they targeted your friends. They have
already served their purpose for him. Ryken won’t let them live
beyond that. I do know his plan for you, and that is why we must
go. Now!”

Vivvie laughed at that. Dave didn’t
appear amused. “I don’t think this is very funny, Dave.”

“
It’s not meant to be funny,
Vivian, it’s the truth.”

“
It’s not
possible!”

“
Oh, it’s more than
possible,” Dave replied, golden eyes glowing weirdly now, his
irises dilated.

“
You need to go and seek
help, Dave!”

“
I think you need to stop
denying what’s happening to you,” he said in a taut voice, his eyes
glowing.

Vivvie could see the guy
believed what he said. His eyes were lit right up, making her stare
now in horror. “What the-” she broke off in shock and backed away
from him. He advanced towards her; his eyes as bright as Christmas
lights.
He wasn’t human
, she thought in panic.

“
I’m sorry if I have to do
this to make you believe me,” Dave said as he held up his hand.
Vivvie stared in horror as claws popped out of his fingers tips;
long, sharp-looking talons protruding through the skin of the
digits.

Vivvie didn’t think, she just ran. Dave
followed her, his breath felt on the back of her neck. She was
halfway up the stairs when he tackled her on the carpeted
steps.

She struggled as he pinned her,
horrified to see the glowing yellow eyes boring into
hers.

“
You need to pack everything
you can carry,” he said grimly as he held her thrashing body still.
“They will come for you.”

“
What are you?” she raged,
pushing at him.

“
You mean, what are
we
, Vivian?” he replied,
smiling down at her. “You’re becoming like one of us. They won’t
let you evolve anymore. You need to listen to me.”

“
I’m not going anywhere with
you!” Vivvie cried, struggling wildly.

“
Then we do this the hard
way, Vivian, but you’re going with me,” Dave snapped down into her
terrified face. “That will drive Ryken to pursue you. I’m counting
on it.”

“
You want to use me as
bait?” She fought to push him off of her still, panting.

“
Sorry, but it’s necessary,”
he replied without remorse and continued to hold her down. “I have
one week until you go out of heat. I’m not wasting a damn minute of
it.”

Vivvie stared up at him, realizing the
feel of him against her was suddenly driving her wild in another
way. Her body was on fire. She felt ashamed, wanting to grind
herself against him. The sensations were alarming, and wholly
unlike her.

“
What does it take for you
to believe me?” he said in a softer voice, his eyes darkening, his
lips lowering to nuzzle at her neck, making her tense and moan as
her body responded despite her desire to fling him off of her. His
mouth dipped to the swell above her bathing suit top. A gasp
escaped her in anguished pleasure. “I could have you right here,
and you would let me, or anyone else for that matter. Does this
seem like normal behavior for you?”

Vivvie couldn’t catch her breath, her
insides were on fire. His words were like a slap in the face, but
her body was writhing under his, to her shame. She didn’t want him
to stop, she thought in horror.

“
We don’t have time for
this,” he said in amusement, nibbling at her neck again, feeling
her intense reaction to his touching her. “We need to get on the
road. Sorry.”

Vivvie couldn’t help the way her body
demanded release. He stared down at her with his grim look again.
He got up off her and helped her up.

“
It will pass soon,” he said
in apology.

Vivvie leaned against the hand rail on
the stairs, mortified to feel the resentment he stopped touching
her. She knew the truth at once. This was totally not like her at
all. She didn’t let strange men nearly have sex with
her.

“
What is happening to me,
Dave?” she asked hoarsely, her hand going to her mouth, eyes filled
with fear and mortification.

Dave looked uneasy. “I’ll explain it
all to you on the way. We have to go.”

“
I can’t just go!” Vivvie
said again as she snapped out of it. “I have to work! I have a life
here, if you haven’t noticed, Dave!”

“
Oh, I have noticed,
Vivian,” he said, shrugging. “We both know it’s going nowhere for
you. Go pack your things.”

Vivvie glared at him. “And if I
refuse?”

Dave looked delighted. “Then you get to
sit in the back and I don’t have to smell you all the way to
Denver.”

“
I’ll go to my dad’s!” she
insisted again. “

“
Vivian, they know
everything about you,” he said and shook his head at her continued
denial. “Compliments of your roommate, they’re very much in your
life. They know where you work, where your parents live. You can’t
hide from them. They will find you by your scent.”

“
I could run to my aunt’s in
Minnesota! They won’t find me there,” Vivvie cried in
desperation.

“
They would find you, kill
your aunt, and take you,” he replied brutally as she flinched. “You
do your family no favor by dragging them into this, as well as the
people you work with. They almost killed the black man the other
night. They meant to take you then. I was there.”

His mentioning Salem made her tense to
know her friend was at risk.

“
What’s in Denver?” she
asked in a scared tone, afraid to ask.

“
We have a place there,” he
explained. “It’s where we live, and where you will live. You can’t
stay here anymore. Your nature will expose us all. Eli ordered me
to kill you. Be lucky you’re cat bait instead.”

“
My nature?” she gasped in
confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“
You’re turning into one of
us, Vivian,” he answered her with impatience. “The change can’t be
stopped. Had I got to you the night you were bitten, I might have
stopped it, but you wouldn’t have a hand now either.”

Vivvie gaped at his words, but he went
on.

“
It’s the only way to stop
the spread, look at it like cancer,” he said unmindful of her
horrified reaction to his cutting off her hand.

“
What am I going to turn
into?” she asked in despair, feeling her heart clench at his
look.

“
You will see.” He looked
away, his face growing sad. “Hurry up and pack what you can. We
must be out of Florida before nightfall.”

Vivvie went to her room in a daze. She
hurriedly changed out of her bathing suit for jeans and a tee
shirt, grabbing her warmest hoodie. She removed two large suitcases
from her closet. Tossing everything she could stuff into them, she
sat upon them to zip the suitcases shut.

Vivvie put her wet hair into a ponytail
and packed up all the essentials in her bathroom. Knowing she
couldn’t return made her hasten to grab her pictures, Dina’s
laptop, MP3 player, and all her favorite CD’s.

Dave arrived in her room and took the
suitcases while she carried the rest down. He looked at the laptop
and shook his head.

“
You can’t take that,” he
said flatly.

“
But why, it’s brand new? I
can’t just leave it,” Vivvie protested.

“
The IP address and the air
card, that’s why. It’s registered. The FBI will track it right to
you.”

Vivvie set the laptop on the kitchen
table, disgusted. “What a waste!”

“
I’ll give you my old one.
It’s better than that piece of shit,” Dave promised with a look of
impatience. “Vivian, you don’t want to hear this, but I’m doing you
a favor. I could have killed you or let them have you.”

“
Why didn’t you, then?” she
seethed at him, tears filling her gaze, still shocked by all he
said.

“
I don’t know, maybe I like
you,” he countered and his golden eyes glowed, making her stomach
start to seize up. “Or maybe I know Ryken does.”

“
Who is Ryken?” she
asked.

“
Your date that night, the
one who bit you,” he reminded her. “He obviously liked you well
enough to turn you. He allowed the change, up until
now.”

“
What do you mean?” she was
almost afraid to ask.

“
He left you alone, unlike
your friends.”

“
What happened to
them?”

“
They went into heat,
Vivian, I think it’s obvious. Then Ryken and the others took them.
Once they had their young; Ryken killed them for sport. They never
allowed them to make the full change.”

Vivvie looked sickened. “What did they
have, may I ask? They gave birth to something?”

“
You waste time; we have to
go,” he said tersely.

“
Why did he wait until now
to come after me?”

“
Ryken claimed you as his.
That is my only explanation. He is their leader. It’s why he
continued to come back here and mark his territory, to keep the
others away from you,” Dave replied sourly and Vivvie looked even
more disgusted. “I think your date wasn’t a total wash.”

“
He was a total
asshole!”

“
It’s not often he’s
rejected, and by a human no less. I’m left to assume that’s why he
wants you,” Dave told her and shrugged. “He will come after you.
Make no mistake of that.”

“
What is it he wants?” she
asked in dismay.