The Dark Vampire: Last True Vampire 3 (25 page)

“Got it.” Bria stood and watched as the dark-tinted window glided up before Alex pulled out into traffic. She watched as the car rounded the block, and then headed for the front of the line waiting to get into the club despite the protests that rang out behind her. A few complaints from the crowd weren’t going to stop her from going inside.

The gatekeeper was a hulking man with bulging muscles that tested the limits of his too-tight T-shirt. He eyed Bria down the length of his nose before turning his attention to the clipboard in his hand. “You on the list?”

Bria waited until he made eye contact once again. She drew on her power and projected a command into the man’s mind. “I am on the list,” she said sweetly. “Bria.”

Without looking at his clipboard he moved the dark velvet rope aside. “You
are
on the list. Have a good night.”

Bria had the cash she needed to pay the cover, thanks to a little help from Claire, and pressed the bills into the dazed man’s palm. Anxious to get inside, Bria didn’t look back as she walked through the entrance and into the club proper. She’d shared blood with Jenner enough that he was easy to track. His presence burned in the center of her being like a beacon. It rankled that he’d come here tonight. While she sat at Mikhail’s house—her newly appointed prison—Jenner went about life as he pleased, hitting the clubs as though he hadn’t a care in the world. The knowledge that he could so easily set her aside stung.

Bria was made of much sterner stuff than Jenner ever gave her credit for. Like Claire had suggested, Bria planned to have it out with him. Tonight she was going to make it clear to him that she would no longer allow herself to be closeted away. And likewise, she was ready to make it plain to him that she would no longer accept his
dismissal of her. Jenner had tethered her soul. And it was time that he started treating her in the way that a mate should be treated.

Before leaving the house, Bria had tucked two short daggers into a sheath at the small of her back that were easily concealed by the long tunic-style shirt she wore over a pair of leather leggings that Claire had lent her. She’d told Bria that someone should get some use out of the clothes, since she wouldn’t be wearing them for a good long while. Claire had acted put out, but Bria could tell that the female was ecstatic over her pregnancy by the way she’d smoothed a hand over the curve of her belly.

Would Bria ever get the chance at that kind of happiness? She’d come to the conclusion that if she wanted it she was going to have to go out and seize it.

Without Jenner at her side Bria felt exposed, and it sent an anxious tremor through her body to realize that she’d come to find his protection, however stifling, as a comfort. Now that she knew the full truth of what hunted her, every sight, sound, shift in the crowd gave Bria a start. The tingle of magic in the air caused her heart to beat a wild tattoo against her rib cage. She’d never seen a wendigo. Didn’t even really know what one was. Would she recognize William if he found her? Would she have the presence of mind to defend herself if he did? She needed Jenner. Not because she was too afraid to be without him or because she was weak. But because as a united front they could overcome all of the obstacles that stood in the way of their happiness.

“Mmmm. You look good enough to eat, baby.”

Bria stiffened as a body pressed up against her back. She turned slowly to find a large man towering over her, the only thing extraordinary about him his height. He swayed on his feet and his breath reeked of whiskey. His leering smile didn’t bother her half as much as his
wandering hands. Human. And drunk enough to be obnoxiously brazen.

She slapped away the hand he rested on her hip. “Not interested.” Bria might not have appeared threatening to the man, but she’d yet to bare her fangs. “Step off,” she added in an attempt to sound tough. If he couldn’t take the hint she’d be more than happy to show him what he was up against.

“What’s the matter?” He put his hand back on her hip, lower this time so that his fingers brushed over her butt. “Loosen up and let’s have some fun.”

Bria stiffened and reached to her back. Her hand found the hilt of one of the small daggers and she took a precursory glance around to make sure no one was watching before she slipped the blade from the sheath. The drunk human squeezed her flesh and she brought the dagger up, pressing the sharp tip to the skin beneath his chin. His eyes widened and his jaw went slack. She angled the blade and dragged it along his jawline. He swallowed audibly, the sound as clear to Bria’s ears as the sound of the dagger rasping against his stubble.

“Come on, baby,” the human blurted. “I thought you might want to have some fun. That’s all.”

Bria drew on her power. She caught the human’s eyes and held his gaze. “Leave me alone,” she intoned, “and don’t ever come back to this place.”

His eyes glazed over and his expression grew dreamy. The human gave a slow nod of his head, turned around, and walked away with measured steps. Bria watched as he followed her instruction to the letter, walking through the door with mindless, zombie steps.

Bria sheathed the dagger and turned in an excited circle, a smile stretching from cheek to cheek. For the second time tonight she’d successfully compelled someone, not to mention she’d effectively shut down the unwanted ad
vance. She wanted to pump her fist up into the air. Jump. Celebrate her accomplishment as well as her confidence. No one could deny that Bria was a formidable vampire now, not even Jenner. There was no one to celebrate with, though. No one to give her a pat on the back or to tell her that she’d done well. No one present to be proud of her show of independence and strength. It was a hollow victory. One that left a sour taste in her mouth.

A deep ache settled in Bria’s chest as the tether that bound her to Jenner once again pulled to its breaking point. The distance between them opened up like a wide cavern. And she didn’t think she’d be able to live through the strain. Claire said that Jenner had put Bria up on a pedestal. That he saw her as something too pristine to soil and above his station. How could Jenner think so lowly of himself that he thought the best thing for Bria would be to keep himself from her? He had to feel the strain as much as she did. With every passing day it became harder to bear. Jenner had said it himself the very first night they’d met:
The tether is absolute
. It would do him no good to continue to fight it.

Bria wouldn’t
allow
him to continue to fight it. He belonged to her as much as she belonged to him. And she refused to sit by and watch as he tortured the both of them for no damned good reason.

She scanned the nightclub once again and narrowed her focus to block out anything that might disrupt her concentration. Jenner was here, his soul fired in her consciousness, and his scent stood out among all of the others packed into the building. It ignited her thirst, a dry fire that would only be quenched when she buried her fangs into his throat. That’s exactly what Bria was going to do. Through with playing games, with being discarded, with having others make decisions for her. She was going to make sure Jenner realized who he belonged to. And before
the sun rose she planned to belong to him both body and soul.

She caught sight of him across the crowded bar, standing head and shoulders above most of the people present. Despair followed on the heels of elation as she spotted him. Beside him stood the female who’d pressed against his body the night
he’d taken Bria to The Dragon’s Den. Jenner’s gaze was focused on the female’s face and a deep groove cut into his brow. His hands were wrapped around her wrists as he held her to him. Bria’s heart clenched. She stared at him, dumbstruck, while her heart shattered into a million pieces.

Jenner downed his fifth vodka of the night, wishing like hell that his metabolism wouldn’t burn the alcohol off before it could numb his overactive fucking brain and the memories of his past that haunted him. Despite Ronan’s assurances that Jenner’s past didn’t define him, he’d nearly given himself over to his lusts last week in the gym with Bria and it had been nothing more than another cruel reminder that when it came to her his control couldn’t be trusted. The scent of her arousal invited him, as did Bria’s own passion whenever he allowed himself to slip. With every passing day, each minute of time spent with her, Jenner found his soul twining more intricately with hers. His want of her was absolute. Overwhelming. Just the thought of her caused him to shake like a fucking junkie in need of his next fix. If he didn’t hit the release valve soon he was going to crack.

He’d come to Ultra tonight in the hopes that the myriad sights, sounds, and distractions would clog up his mind and prevent him from thinking of her. But his mood soured with every drink he downed, and all the crowds had managed to prove was that where Bria was concerned there wasn’t a single thing in this world that could lure his focus from her.

“All alone, Jenner? Did you finally kick that meek and mousy female to the curb?”

A low growl vibrated in Jenner’s throat at the sound of Marissa’s voice. The female was gods-damned persistent, it seemed. Apparently his cool rebuff the last time he’d seen her hadn’t been enough to deflect her unwanted attention. Jenner leveled his gaze on the dhampir and his
lip curled back to reveal his fangs. There was nothing meek or mousy about Bria. His mate was fierce. Strong. A force to be reckoned with.

“Gods, I love that violent streak in you,” Marissa purred. “You’re a cruel male to leave me wanting, Jenner. I haven’t been properly fucked since you last took me.”

“You’ll have to find someone else to properly fuck you.” Jenner tried to keep his anger under control. “I’ve told you once already, it’s not going to be me. Not ever again.”

Silver chased across Marissa’s gaze. Her eyes narrowed before she masked her annoyance with a seductive smile. “I’ve never known you not to accept a body or a vein when one was offered up to you.” She gathered her long hair over her shoulder to expose her throat to him. “What’s changed that you can deny yourself what you can’t live without?”

Jenner knew what Marissa—and countless others—thought of him. That he was a mindless creature of uncontrollable lusts. Undiscerning of his bedmates or the veins that he took sustenance from. Disloyal for breaking faith with Siobhan to pledge himself to Mikhail. And yet it didn’t stop Marissa from using him when it met her mood. It didn’t stop her from sating her own desires with him. Hell, she hadn’t even minded sharing him. The differences between the female who stood before him now and Bria were staggering. Bria refused to share him. Refused to take another’s vein. She was loyal to him when she had no reason to be. Honorable when he felt anything but. She stood head and shoulders above any other female Jenner had ever known.

“Everything’s changed,” he said. “You don’t know a damned thing about me, Marissa. Not anymore.” In fact,
Jenner suspected that the only person who truly knew him was Bria, and he’d turned her away. Never again, though. Jenner was through being a stubborn asshole.

His words didn’t faze Marissa. She reached out and ran her palms down his chest, stopping at his waistband. She curled her fingers inside his jeans and Jenner seized her wrists. “I said
no
.”

Marissa’s mouth hovered dangerously close to Jenner’s and she pushed her body against his, forcing the contact. This was his own doing. He had no one but himself to blame for her rash and wanton behavior. There had been a time when he wouldn’t have hesitated to hoist Marissa into his arms and fuck the female up against the wall with all of Ultra’s patrons looking on. But Jenner was changed. Bria had changed him.