Vein of Love (Blackest Gold Book 1) (22 page)

THE DINER WAS
empty except for a couple that was more interested in smothering each other in kisses than eating their late-night pancakes. It was a cheap-looking place that served deep fried hotdogs as an appetizer and had vinyl nineties-style yellow booths that stuck to Molly’s thighs. She was also pretty sure there was gum on the edge of her seat.

Lex devoured her French fries in large bites, stuffing them into her small mouth. “This is so good,” she moaned, rolling her head back in ecstasy. “I haven’t eaten this type of food in a month.”

Molly’s eyes widened. “Is that how long they’ve had you?”

Lex took her time to answer. “Yeah. Leaving a college party in Queens.”

“And then they paraded you around like a sex toy?”

She nodded. “They usually do that for a while before killing us.” She licked the grease off her fingers. “So what made you want to help me if you’re one of them?” Lex’s eyes grew dark. Molly could see she was still suspicious of her. “You and Tensley not on good terms?”

Molly glanced at the window, looking at her reflection. Her hair had lost its curl and now sat on her shoulders in waves. “Tensley and I don’t get along. At all.”

“I can see why,” Lex mumbled. “You’re the complete opposite of him.” She rolled her shoulders, a bone cracking. “He’s an incubus, a seductive one.” She grinned with food still in her mouth.

Molly hadn’t thought of other demons. “What are you, then?”

Lex sat back and smoothed her flyaway strands of chestnut hair. “I’m a soul eater.”

Oh. Shit.

Lex shook her head. “From the look on your face, I’m assuming Tensley didn’t completely educate you.” She ate another fry, and Molly saw how pointed Lex’s teeth were—sharp and jagged, like a shark’s. “Unlike incubi, I don’t get energy from intimacy. I get energy from sucking emotions and thoughts.”

“You can take people’s thoughts?” Molly leaned forward, fascinated and a bit freaked out.

“Yup,” she said quietly. “You want to forget something? I take that away. You want to stop feeling something? I take that away.”

Molly furrowed her brow and noted the sadness in Lex’s voice. “That doesn’t sound like it would be very helpful.”

Lex gently shook her head, eyes lowered to her bruised hands. “It gives me strength. I can use it to my advantage—if I want someone to forget something. Manipulate people’s emotions. Scorpios finds me useful.”

Scorpios?

Lex glanced up at Molly and her eyes were black,
hungry
. She raised her hands in embarrassment and covered them. “I’m sorry,
I’m sorry
. I’m just so weak right now.”

Molly blinked and realized Lex had almost done something to her. She saw Lex’s frustration, the shame in her desires. The girls sat in silence after that, but Lex didn’t continue eating. Instead, she stared at the cold fries with tears in her eyes.

“Does Tensley know where you’ve been?” Molly asked.

“He doesn’t have a clue,” Lex answered, her Queens accent surfacing. “He found me when I was fourteen, crammed in a closet after stealing their belladonna.” Molly arched a brow. “It’s a drug that demons use for pleasure. He found me and instead of slitting my throat, he took care of me. There
was
a price to pay: his father wanted me to find information undercover. No one would expect a weak little girl to work for the most powerful, feared organization in America. Tensley protected me, though. He was like a brother to me.” Lex pinched the bridge of her nose, her cheeks skeletal from lack of nutrients. She looked like she was dying, and her skin was ghastly pale. “Unfortunately he couldn’t protect me from the hunters. When they take us, we usually vanish for good. But you helped me for some reason… I guess thanks are in order.”

Molly took a sip of her water, sheepish. “Don’t mention it.”

“So, Tensley and you haven’t been getting along?”

Molly fixed her sunglasses. “No, not really.” She thought back to the bandages, to his nurturing behavior with Illya.

“Surprising. I mean, he was definitely into you.” Lex chuckled.

“What?”

“He was checking you out—a lot—when we were taking you home. You were too busy hyperventilating to notice.” Lex folded her arms. “If he hadn’t been so stressed to get you safely home, he probably would have flirted with you.”

Molly flushed.
Flirted with me?
“I didn’t think he found me attractive.” She hated how her heart swelled knowing he thought she was pretty.

“Psh, are you fucking kidding me? Half the time he avoided looking at you because if he
did
, he would’ve stared like a damn fool. The poor man was awestruck by you, and you didn’t even notice.”

“Well…
I
was a bit distracted by how he was manhandling me,” Molly replied sharply, glaring as she thought of Tensley’s hands on her hips that first night, forcefully moving her down the street. Molly didn’t want those warm feelings in her chest for Tensley, not when he’d threatened her family so many times.

Someone walked right up to the window of the diner and knocked against the glass.
Cree.
He tapped it three times and Lex recoiled, leaning back against the booth’s cushions.

“Stay here,” Molly told her, placing a hand over Lex’s. “I’ll talk to him.”

Lex’s hand shot out just as Molly passed by, her grip strong as iron. “No! He’ll kill me!”

Molly gawked at Lex’s trembling chin. “I’ll talk—”

“You can’t change his mind about what I am! He’s the reason they took me. He’s the reason I was in there.” Her words tumbled out as she frantically tugged at Molly’s wrist. “Please,
please
Molly. H-help me. Don’t let them take me.”

Molly’s heart lodged itself painfully in her throat. She saw herself in Lex: the desperation for someone to help her, save her from a potentially life-threatening circumstance. Molly’s black-and-white world crumbled; not all demons were bad. Molly eyed Cree over Lex’s head, his stoic expression.

There’ll be no mercy from him.

“Run,” Molly muttered, her lips barely moving.

“What?”

“Run and don’t stop. Find somewhere safe, okay? Somewhere they can’t find you.”

Lex gave her a watery smile and as soon as Molly stepped back, Lex darted through the diner out the back entrance. Molly ran to the front door, blocking the way as Cree tried to push his way inside.

“Move, now!” Cree shouted, but Molly stood her ground and pushed him so hard he stumbled back into the street.

“No! You’re going to leave her alone.” She approached him. “Let me explain, okay—”

“What the hell were you thinking? You let her run away!” He pounded a finger to his temple and widened his eyes at her. His voice was booming. “She’s a
demon
that committed a crime, Molly!
The enemy
.”

“It was despicable! They were assaulting her, Cree! It was unbear-
able to fucking watch!” she roared, her own voice rivaling his.

“She’s a demon—they don’t feel, they don’t have emotions, they don’t care about anything but getting what they want!” He stepped forward, towering over her petite frame.

“She was crying!”

“They mimic our emotions, Molly! Goddamn it!” He paced back and forth on the asphalt.
Mimic emotions?

She’d seen Lex’s tears, heard her voice break; it wasn’t fake.
Is he lying to me?
Lex was innocent, sweet, and Cree wanted to hurt her.

“I want this done. I want to break the contract, and nothing else. He doesn’t get hurt.”

Cree’s back tensed, and he looked over at her. “What?”

Her hands trembled as she wrung them. “I don’t want to be engaged to him, but I can’t hurt him—I just want the deal to end, or for him to change his mind. He’s innocent. He actually—”

“He’s a
demon!
How are you not registering this? They want to devour us, suck out our strength, manipulate us, and if we don’t stop them first, they’ll do it. He
is
heartless.” His nostrils flared and he marched over, jabbing his pointer finger in the air. “As soon as you let your guard down, Molly, he’ll devour you—in more ways than one—and I won’t be able to stop him then. Don’t be naïve, thinking he’s your
friend
. He’s using you, and if you think he deserves to breathe, then he’s winning. He doesn’t care. If he acted like it, it was because he wanted to make you vulnerable to him. To manipulate you.”

“He was different—”

Cree frantically searched in his coat pocket and pulled out a frayed photograph. He shoved it in her face. “See this girl? This was my little sister Nina. You know what they did to Nina? They raped her and killed her like it was nothing. Do you want to be used by them? He’ll hurt you and your family. He threatened them before; do you think he won’t twist your father’s arm off if need be?”

She gaped at the picture of the brunette girl around her age, her smile so wide it made her eyes crinkle. Molly’s heart clenched as Cree stuffed the picture back into his pocket.

She threw her hands down. “No, of course not! I just want to end the engagement. That’s all. I don’t want to be in this world, with demons, and hunters, and monsters! I want to be normal and free. I don’t want to worry about whether he’ll hurt my mom or September, and I want to go to the museum and go to school without always thinking about
him
and
your world
.” She raked her shaky fingers through her tangled locks, breathless. “I still want to end the contract, but I’m not going to do
anything
if it means someone else gets hurt.” She tried to hide the wobble in her voice, fighting to appear fierce and determined. “Understood?”

Cree scowled. Finally, he sighed. “No more violence. Bring him to us—and make sure he’s submissive—and we’ll help you out of the contract. The best option is to drug him so we can get him to cooperate.”

Molly hesitated; why did things still feel off with him?

They kill demons for a living. They can’t get rid of that instinct.
It wasn’t what she wanted any more. Before, she’d simply wanted Tensley gone, dead or not, but now she knew better. She knew
Tensley
better, not as a demon, but as a man. She knew what Cree’s end goal was and it didn’t match hers: save both of their lives without death.

Cree was so far from the man she’d met at the bar, and her gut told her not to trust him. She couldn’t trust him.

I’ll break the contract on my own.
Her eyes flickered past him to see Ryan and Albert a few feet back.
Albert.

“Fine,” she said with a slight edge to her voice.
Make him believe it.
“I’ll bring him to you tomorrow night.”

Cree’s flinty stare lost its edge. “You’re making the right decision, Molly,” he said in a hushed voice. “Let me walk you home, okay?”

She pulled her jacket tighter around her midsection. “I’m okay. I think I need some space.”

Cree watched her and after a long moment, he patted her shoulder. “Get some rest; you’ll need it.”

Molly numbly nodded, throat dry, cautious not to say too much. She walked down the quiet street, hoping her plan would work.

TENSLEY BLEW A
puff of smoke from his lips and glowered at the blooming tulips in front of his apartment building. Summer had definitely arrived, and in full force.

Illya was busy keeping a close eye on Molly, along with a few of Tensley’s men. It was nothing new, but it still flagged him. She was up to something.

“Damn it,” he muttered, a cigarette pressed between his lips as the sweltering heat overwhelmed him in his designer suit. He leaned against a brick building and sighed, fingers shaking when he went for his lighter. He had smoked before––only sometimes, usually after sex—but now, he smoked most of the time…something to distract him from another craving.

He’d heard of demons going for months without intimacy, and in the end they all ended up as corpses. He couldn’t keep living like that.

“Mr. Knight.” A sensual voice hummed into his ears. Tensley gazed through his dark lashes, surprised to see the familiar, slender figure before him. His body pulsed. He pressed his back firmly to the wall and lifted his head high.  

A smirk warped her lips, and he took another long drag. He stepped away from the wall and, with as much strength and confidence as he could muster, managed to stop shaking. He took the cigarette from his mouth and stubbed it out.

“Ms. Rose.” His eyes scanned over her long toned legs and her red mini-dress. Her dark hair was curled, and her eyes were sharp and endlessly black. His chest hurt; he cared for her like no other person before. It was still so painful to look at her, but he was desperate for energy. Even a quick glance gave him a delicious pulse of strength.  

“Oh, so now that you haven’t seen me in a month, I’m
Ms. Rose?
” He waited for a laugh to release from her pursed lips, but she was good at keeping him on his toes. She strolled over, swaying her hips, and eyed him. “You don’t look so hot, Tensley.”

He held in a grunt and steeled his features. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. “I’m fine.”

She giggled and then faked a pout. “Has your fiancée not been taking good care of you?” Tensley raised his chin, eyes narrowing as she lifted his limp hand to her chest. He tried to pull back, but she was stronger. “Oh, Tensley.” 

“Ms. Rose.”

She brought his other hand to her lips and licked his pinkie. “Call me Evie. Don’t you remember how you used to whisper in my ear when you were inside me?” She leaned in close, meeting his ear perfectly due to her height—unlike the short blonde fiancée of his. “Don’t tell me you forgot all about me.”

He couldn’t forget her, but he wasn’t going to use her. He wasn’t going to do that to Evelyn. She wasn’t a mistress. He turned his head, breathing hard into the shell of her ear as he gripped her waist. She shivered against his body. “I remember.” He moved past her, but she stepped into his path and shot him a shrewd look.

“That little girl doesn’t satisfy you, not like I did,” she hissed, her nose wrinkling and her chest rising with every breath. “Let me help you.” She stepped forward, pressing her long fingers to his chest.

Tensley considered leading her into the nearest alley, lifting up her dress, and being satisfied again.
It would be so easy.

“I miss you,” Evelyn cooed. Her voice was so soft, perhaps the softest he had ever heard it. “Don’t you miss me?”

He squared his jaw. He
did
miss her. It was truly a disgusting thing he felt for Evelyn. Demons weren’t supposed to feel so much for one being. “I’m engaged, Ms. Rose.”

“Since when does that matter?” She grabbed his shirt playfully, lifting it up to feel across his tensed stomach muscles. “You used to play with me any way, any time, any place, remember?” She looked around and after ascertaining that the street was empty, pushed him hard against the brick. He stretched his neck, eyes half-closed. Her tongue licked across his collarbone, fingers skillfully unbuttoning his dress shirt. Now he was semi-hard.

God, it felt good. His body twitched with the small amount of new power. Evelyn kissed him roughly, leaving a trail of bites.

Fuck this.
“Come on.” Tensley yanked her around to the side of the building, dodging cardboard boxes and puddles of water from the latest summer rain.

Tensley pulled Evelyn toward him, palming her breasts and causing her to gasp. When he went to shove her to the wall, she firmly pushed him back. He stiffened, and his eyes widened as he stared down at the woman kissing his chest.

She was strong; there were no dark shadows underneath her eyes, no fatigue. If anything, her touch was a little
too
firm and tight. Her fingers undid the button and zipper on his pants, but he grasped her wrists before she could go any farther.

One hand wrapped around her throat. “Who did you fuck?” He bared his teeth, nostrils flared. 

She tensed under his harsh tone and her awestruck expression transformed into a mirror image of his rage. “Oh, like you aren’t fucking your fiancée?” 

His grip tightened for a moment. “I haven’t fucked her. I haven’t fucked anyone!” Evelyn’s expression faltered, and her mouth fell open. He glared. “But maybe I should have.”

He let go and stepped back, trying to collect his anger with deep breaths.

In, out.

In, out.

All the women he had turned down because of the damn vixen in front of him. He growled, zipped up his pants, and proceeded to do up his shirt’s buttons. 

Evelyn gawked at him before punching the closest trashcan. It left a giant dent, evidence of her sexually enhanced strength. “
I
was supposed to be your fiancée!
I
was supposed to have your children, not some ugly, stupid twat. You just got engaged to someone else because your damn father told you to. You left me! What was I supposed to do? Wait for you?”

“I told you I wouldn’t fail you.” His eyes bored into Evelyn’s, and her wrath faltered, leaving only fear and regret. “You’re free to go fuck whoever you want,
Ms. Rose
. We’re done.”

Her eyes grew red and wet. “No, we’re not.” She stomped her stilettoed foot once. “Even before you went to go see your fiancée, you stayed with me, to the last second.”

“So you should’ve believed me, but you
didn
’
t
, so now we’re done.” He fixed his hair and rubbed the lipstick from his collarbone. “Goodbye, Ms. Rose.”

She marched toward him. “Tensley, if you go back to that bitc—”

He swung around and she stopped in her tracks.

“I’m going home to
my fiancée
, Ms. Rose,” he said coldly. He wasn’t actually going to Molly’s apartment; he simply wanted Evelyn to feel as much pain as he did in that moment.

She slept with someone else…after five fucking years together.
“Goodbye.”

Tensley watched Evelyn’s lips shake and he turned away, strolling down the street.

He walked into his apartment building, the glass showcasing the elegant lobby trimmed with gold and pure white marble floors.

Evelyn wanted him. She found him handsome, smart, and desirable, yet Molly didn’t even seem interested.

His brow creased.

Was he not good enough for her? Evelyn was comfortable and assuring, while Molly was so sweet and gentle while also challenging him to question his actions, words, and thoughts.

Someone spoke, but his focus was solely on the elevator doors. He didn’t want to speak to his nosy neighbors or Sebastian, the doorman; he needed to compose himself. Then someone touched his forearm and he jerked, ready to scowl at the low-breed creature that dared to speak to him in his irritated state. Molly stood before him, pale cheeks rosy.

He frowned. He couldn’t catch a break from the women today. “What are you doing here?” He didn’t hide the surprise in his voice very well.

She went to speak, but her eyes darted to his chest instead.

Her fingers hovered over his collarbone where Evelyn’s mouth had sucked, the red bite marks forming fast. “What did you…”

He snatched them and she winced. “Don't waste my time,” he responded; he’d had enough of women for one day. “Goodnight.”

He turned, running his fingers through his hair as the elevator dinged its arrival.

“Wait!” She leapt for his arm again.
What was
with
this girl?
“I need to talk to you.”

He stopped, staring at the ceiling to keep from snapping at her. “Talk.”

Her brows curved in worry. “In
private
.”

The urgency in her voice made his shoulders tense.
She needs something…

He rolled his eyes and gestured for her to follow him into the elevator. All the walls were mirrors, reflecting the two of them over and over again from different angles. She fidgeted with everything—her jacket, her golden hairpin, even the engagement ring, which also could not be removed unless he chose to do so.

Her anxiety stirred his impatience, and his heart ached. His fingers massaged the area, and he sighed. He eyed the mirror only for his eyes to focus on Molly’s face, bottom lip worried between her teeth, and at that exact moment, she caught him looking. She didn’t look away and let her teeth release her bottom lip painfully slowly.

He needed to forget Evelyn once and for all, and standing next to Molly in that small space was making it easier than ever. Nothing held him back now. She was completely
his.