Vampire Elite (27 page)

She shook her head. “No idea at all.”
 

He turned back to the door and checked the handle just in case, but it was locked, just as she’d said. He kicked the door with all the strength in his leg and almost broke bones in his foot.

“So. We’re prisoners.” Odji was disgusted with himself; he always tried to stay in control of his circumstances, and had had enough practice that he usually succeeded. He aimed several more kicks at the door, throwing all his frustration into it. Even reinforced, the door should have been damaged, but there wasn’t even a dent in it.
 

Whoever had locked them in here knew what he was capable of and was prepared to handle beings of his strength. He needed to clear his mind and think rationally. He was responsible for the Amiti girl’s life.
 

He lowered himself onto the couch and stretched out his legs in front of him before returning his gaze to the girl. She sat there quietly, watching him intently.
 

Several locks of her golden hair spilled over the blanket, shimmering in the warm glow of the soft light. She’d lowered the blanket to below her chin, exposing full, pale pink, slightly parted lips. Odji imagined kissing them and how sweet the kiss tasted. Was she naked under the blanket? He’d never forget the perfection of her nude body; her full breasts, the beads of perspiration rolling down her abdomen, the curve of her hips, the juncture where her thighs met, hiding the sacred spot between her legs ...
 

Odji was dying to see all of her again. Now he understood why Sekhmi would disrobe an Amiti at the first opportunity. Damn, Odji wanted her, right now and right here: on the bed, on the floor, the table, anywhere. If someone didn’t separate them soon, one of them was going to die. And it would no doubt be him.

“Why are you staring at me? You’re making me very uncomfortable,” the girl said warily.

Odji quickly composed his face into what he hoped was a placid expression. Had he been leering openly at her? How long had he been staring like that? “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. But you are the most lovely thing in this room—and probably on this side of heaven.”
 

“Thing? I’m not a thing.”
 

“Sorry; I just meant that you are quite beautiful, and I find it hard to take my eyes off of you.”
 

The girl blushed.
 

He was mildly encouraged by her reaction. “What’s your name?”
 

“Why do you care? Sekhmi don’t call us by our names.”
 

“Sorry again. Please, don’t judge me by the behavior of others. My name is Odji. By the way, Odji means
wicked
, which I’m not, by the way.” He really sounded stupid ...
by the way
.

“Fine. My name is Zlata.”
 

“Your parents did well, giving you such a beautiful and fitting name.” He wanted to reach out and run his fingers through her thick mane of golden hair. She had to be his. She belonged to him.
 

Just then a large display monitor on the wall came to life with a crackle of static. The man who appeared on the screen looked to be in his early forties, some kind of scientist or medical type.
 

“Good morning,” the man said, smiling as he shuffled through a pile of papers scattered on the desk before him. “Welcome to the Project research station. I’m sure you have no desire to remain here, so you should know that if you cooperate, you’ll be released much sooner than if you resist.”
 

The guy went on to explain that they had become involuntary subjects in a long-term research project and that their living arrangements would depend on their cooperation; the researchers could make their lives relatively comfortable or unbearable.
 

“So I suggest that you and your friend here”—the man nodded toward Zlata with a sly grin on his face—“make yourselves comfortable. Who knows? You might find your stay here a pleasant experience. It will certainly be a fascinating experiment for us.”
 

“You pervert! I’ll rip your heart out.” Odji hurled himself at the monitor, throwing all of his weight into his punch, but the monitor won the fight, bruising and bloodying Odji’s knuckles while staying completely unscathed. “Go to hell, or wherever you humans believe in. Actually, just go fuck yourself; I’m sure we can all agree about what that means.”
 

The man just raised an eyebrow. “Well, aren’t we touchy? Sorry to upset you, but
we
make the rules here. End of conversation.” The monitor slowly slid back up into the ceiling without a scratch on it.
 

Odji burned with hatred and frustration. Needing a target for his rage, unable to aim it at its real source, he swung around and slammed his fist into the table, which splintered and collapsed into pieces.
 

The human knew that no matter how fiercely Odji resisted, eventually he’d be overcome by bloodlust and wouldn’t be able to resist feeding on the Amiti girl. On Zlata. The blood-bond would kick in, and his golden angel would turn into a devil and kill him as he fed. This was not the outcome he’d envisioned when he’d rescued her.
 

He wheeled around to face Zlata. “Did you hear that? I feel like a rat in a cage.”
 

“He said they’d let us go if we cooperate. I’m going to do that; I’d much rather help in human research than spend my life locked in your bloodstock dungeons.” She was glaring at him, her face tight with hostility.
 

“Zlata, I never would lock you in a dungeon.”
 

“And you expect me to believe that? You were planning to, what, let me go?”
 

“No. What would be the point of that? You don’t yet have the ability to shield so you’d just end up back in the sacred chamber of Sekhmet.”
 

Zlata shivered visibly. “Then what
did
you have in mind when you kidnapped me?”
 

“I wish I could explain, I don’t know what happened to me when I saw you on the altar about to be sacrificed. Something deep inside me exploded and I lost control. All I could think about was that I had to protect you.”
 

“I don’t believe you. Vampires only want to use us for our blood.”
 

“No, that’s not true—”
 

“Yes, Odji, it is, unless you can convince me that you’re feeding on animals or humans.”

Odji stood in the middle of the room, speechless. He drank Amiti blood on a weekly basis—plus more, casually, just another mixer for his cocktail. He closed his eyes to the source of the blood and how it was harvested. Everyone did.

Zlata watched him, her eyes reflecting suspicion and mistrust. How desperately he wished that they would shine with love—for him, Odji. Why didn’t life ever turn out the way you wanted it to?
 

He could easily kill her now: she wasn’t even immortal yet, and it would only take one stroke of his fist to expel the life from her body. But he couldn’t make her love him.
 

“No, uh,” he stammered. “Well, uh ... I can’t deny it. I feed on Amiti blood. Now you have a reason to hate me.”
 

He’d fallen into a hole filled with despair. She was lost to him. In her eyes he’d forever be no more than a monster who fed on the blood of her people.
 

At that moment a large slot in the wall behind them slid open, revealing a tray with two appetizing-looking meals—green salad, baked potatoes, and fried chicken—and an ice bucket holding a small assortment of beverages.
 

Maybe food would take the edge off, ease the cramping in his stomach? He’d been ignoring the arousal he’d felt ever since he’d first seen Zlata, and now he could feel the bloodlust rising in him like an awakening dragon.
 

Damn, this was going to be one of the greatest challenges he had ever faced.
 

He picked up the tray. Since he’d broken the table, the only place to sit was the bed. So he put the tray on the bed in front of Zlata.
 

“You should be hungry. Please, eat.”
 

She didn’t move, just stared up at him with wide brown eyes. He realized he was too close to her and felt another rush of sorrow—which was immediately overwhelmed by exhilaration at her fear. It aroused Odji even more, every instinct shrieking to claim her. He felt his eyes narrow as he closed the remaining distance between them, a predator ready to rip her throat out.

Zlata lowered her gaze, her thick lashes brushing her cheeks. She inhaled deeply, and as she exhaled, the tension seemed to leave her body. Odji could sense what she knew: the wheel of fortune had turned. It was
she
who was now
in control.

“Are you naked under the blanket?” the question escaped before Odji realized what he was saying. His voice was hoarse. “Take it off.” It was an order.
 

Averting her eyes, she obeyed. The blanket slid down, revealing her beautiful nude body. It seemed to radiate sunlight, her golden hair spilling over her shoulders and breasts like a veil.
 

Odji knew he was signing his own death sentence, but he didn’t care. He wanted her more than anything else in the world, the passion rising in him beyond his ability to tame or control it. This would be end of him. He knew it. So be it. He would die in ecstasy.
 

Odji leaped at her. He heard the tray clatter to the floor. Panting like a wild beast, he grabbed her by her ankles and pulled her down, spreading her on her back. He dropped next to her, pressing his body against hers, and slid his hands along her silky skin. Then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly to his chest. Roughly, he pressed his mouth to hers, totally carried away by the sensation of her petal-soft lips on his. He broke away and gasped, buried in the glory of her hair.
 

“Kill me, if that’s what you want. I don’t care. I can’t resist you another second. I’ve been searching for you all my life; at least I’d die knowing what it was like to love you for even a few short moments.”
 

He began covering her face with obsessive, demanding kisses, moving gradually to her neck.
 

Zlata tilted her head back and offered him her throat.

Chapter 38

In Simone’s windowless room, days and nights merged together, broken only by the comings and goings of the humans. She tried to mark the passage of time with their visits, which seemed to happen every day, but then they came at irregular intervals. Every time, the humans restrained her and took more tests—blood and tissue samples, and all kinds of scans using machines she didn’t recognize.

Scared and frustrated, she began having panic attacks. She yelled at her captors and begged them to release her. But the humans paid no attention to her. She was just a subject of their research, like a dog would be. That was it.
 

Finally and unexpectedly, her bloodlust exploded. She had no idea how long she’d gone without blood; it must have been over three weeks. She screamed at the technicians who passed through her room that she must feed on fresh blood to live. The humans ignored her and continued to bring her standard human food: soup, potatoes, meat, salad, fruit and even some desserts like ice cream and cookies.
 

A few more days passed and Simone became feverish; her stomach felt as though it was digesting itself, cramping so violently that she wailed in pain, lying on her bed in a fetal position, squeezing her knees to her chest and gagging uncontrollably.

Desiree, who’d been on duty observing Simone on the monitors, couldn’t bear to watch her suffering any longer, and the lab techs were reporting that she had a high fever and sporadic pulse. She went into Simone’s room and checked for herself. Dear Goddess, what was Oberon thinking? He’d said he was going to spare this vampire’s life, so why did it seem like he was trying to kill her?
 

Desiree hated seeing people suffer. Nobody deserved to live in pain. She dropped Simone’s hand and rushed to find Oberon. She collided with him in the doorway to Simone’s room.
 

“Ron!” She barked his nickname. “Are you going to just let her die? You’re killing her!”
 

“No, of course not. I’m going to let her feed. You know they say blood tastes best after a period of starvation.” Oberon looked Simone over. She was so pale that her skin had started to turn grey, and she lay on the bed, eyes closed, groaning pitifully, her hair matted and tangled on the pillow. But she was still beautiful, Queen Istara’s daughter. If his plan worked, his powers could become unlimited. He smiled at his thoughts.

“You’re certainly not planning on offering her your own vein?” Desiree demanded, incredulous.
 

“Yes, Desi, I am.”

Desiree removed her glasses and looked directly into his eyes. “Well, I hope you won’t be giving her any of your powers along with your blood.”
 

“Of course not.” Oberon leaned down and kissed Desiree’s forehead. “Trust me. This is all part of the original plan. It will work out just fine.”
 

“Well, good luck with that. I hope you know what you’re doing.” She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
 

Oberon was still smiling. Desiree never stayed angry at him for too long, and he’d spoken the truth: everything was going according to his plan. He wrapped Simone’s blanket around her and lifted her off the bed. He let her feet touch the floor and then threw open a portal and stepped into the vast abyss with her in his arms. He didn’t need to worry about the humans noticing anything; he’d have them reappear at exactly the same place and time when he returned. He couldn’t travel through time, but he could create a sort of crease or loop that enabled him to spend time elsewhere and return to the present. Anyone monitoring Simone’s room would only see Oberon lifting Simone, trying to stand her on her feet, and then returning her to the cot.