Waiting (27 page)

Gunner stepped out first
then hel
ped me with our adjoining hands
before protectively tu
cking me behind him.  T
he sun
wasn’t
far away from setting
now in the crisp, breezy evening air
.

“Follow me.”

Quinn spoke and I had to obey
.
Gunner still stood in front of me, blocking me from going in front of him.

We were at an abandoned restaurant, surro
unded by huge maples trees and
 
covered in leaves and what looked to be mold. The smell backed up my guess. We were in the middle of nowhere, literally, since I'd never even heard of this place.

We crossed through the creaking front door to find the inside was as clean and up to date as if it were a new establishment. The outside must be a cover for anybody who just happened to come across it. The e
ntire inside interior was black
with white booths and countertops. Spotlessly clean.
 
It was just as big as the club we'd gone to, but with lower
ceilings
.

I was forced to follow Quinn down three flights of stairs into what could only be described as a dungeon. There were cells with silver lined walls and a few of them already occupied with withering bodies. A guard sat behind a desk at the end of the hallway, pressing a button that slid open the door. Quinn waited for it to fully open before stepping inside and leading us down another set of stairs.

These stairs were rickety and Gunner had to ca
tch me from falling a few times even
though he was the one being drained of his power.

We were thrown into a large ce
ll
complete with a bed and toilet, table with two chairs and a small radio on the bedside table. Once inside Quinn threw a key and Gunner caught it, quickly releasing the cuff then doing the same to me.

Qu
inn disappeared after shutting the
very thick door that led back upstairs. I hoped this place was ventilated, because I sure as hell needed air to breath
e
even if no one else here did.

“Are you alright
,
Gunner?” I placed the cuff and key underneath the
mattress
, out of view, before coming back to look at his wrist and neck. “I'm so sorry that you're involved in this. Did they say anything to you? Why are they doing this?”

He winced when I touched his marks, but held still. If he drank my blood then he'd be able to get rid of them.

“Why don't you want to drink my blood? Just take a sip and it'll heal your marks.”

Again I lifted my arm to him
but he backed away, taking a seat at the table.

“I can't!” Finally! He speaks. “Sam spoke too low for you to hear, but if I drink from you, she'll kill my family and us.” His voice was tired and full of regret. “You have your purse on you
though;
did you check your phone? Parker might've had it turned back on.” I eyed him warily while taking a few steps back. “You called him when you were in the bar. I've been watching you for him since he left this afternoon. He didn't trust Francis, but it seems it should've been Sam he didn't trust.”

That made sense. I dug through my purse and found my phone. No bars. I tried c
alling 911
but it wouldn't go through.

“We can try it again later. Are you alright? I'm going to do everything I can to get us out of here, I promise.”

“Well I'm not old and strong and smart like you guys, but it seems that you could've tried something while we were out in the open, not locked in a silver coated cage that'll slowly deplete your power.” His eyes saddened more, twisting into pain. “Sorry. This isn't your fault. I'm just...confused, pissed, angry. I can't believe Sam would do this!”

I kicked the bar
then hopped on one foot from the pain radiating through me since I was wearing open to
e
d heels.

“Here.” He helped me sit down then pricked his finger with his fang before shoving it in my mouth. I swallowed before shoving him away. “It'll get rid of the pain.”

“Maybe, but you need your st
rength.” I tried not to reveal
 
how gross I felt at having his finger in my mouth. “You said they'll kill your family. Do they have them locked up?”

“No. But they're all human and they know where they live.” His family was human, was he recently
turned? “You don't recognize me
but I'm Gunner, Ashley's father.”

Holy shit! Now that he said it, it
was
him. Ashley's fa
ther hadn't ran out on them,
he'd become a vampir
e. I gasped then stepped toward
him again.

“What happened?” He knew exactly what I was talking about.

“I'd gotten in bad with one of my debts. Who knew vampires existed, let alone had higher interest rates than anything legal.” He sat back down in the chair while
I
sat on the bed. “I started drinking vampire blood so they couldn't mess with my mind, and added it to my wife and daughter's drinks whenever I could, just in case. I was in over my head with no way out. Apparently vampires do have laws about killing and they weren't able to do anything to me but threaten. Parker came to me with a solution. He'd kill me and my family would be left alone.”

He paused, reminiscing on the memory.

“I didn't believe him until he made that blood oath, which I'm not sure how I knew he wasn't lying, but I did. He brought me in front of who I owed, threw down a wad of cash, told them my debt was paid off, then drank from me until I passed out.” His gaze glossed over. “I'd already made peace with dying, thought it was the end for me, until I woke up with a dying thirst inside a silver cage. Parker turned me, cared for
me, taught me how to live, but
 
told me I'd never be able to go home again.”

“If you went home, they'd be able to tell you were different.” I spoke barely above a whisper, stunned from what I was hearing.

“Yes. Parker paid my debtors over two hundred grand then killed me to satisfy them, brought me back to life, and has helped me take care of my family ever since.”

I teared up. Parker was a saint. Always helping out anyone he can even when he doesn't know them.
 
I di
dn't deserve him, let alone any
one else. Whatever hold I had on him, it was a miracle. I was never letting go.

“Why could Parker kill you, but not them?”

“He wasn't associated with them. Our laws don't hold
everyone
accountable. If I were killed by some random vampire, human or accident, my debtors would be cleaned of me, and free to move on to my next of kin to collect what I'd owed. By Parker paying them more than what I owed, then killing me, by our laws the debt is squared. They can't harm a member of my family. Of course, Sam wasn't a
part of any of that, so if she wants, has the free will to go after my family, claiming they were random humans.”

That was...I'd never learn any of their laws if they were all open ended and twisted like that. The only one I was sure of, was first rights. Though if I was killed in this, they could dispose of me and not even have to admit to anything.

Ughh, vampires.

“Ok. So, do we have a plan or any ideas about what is going on here?”

“No. I'm sorry. Parker has had your blood though, he
will
come for you. They can't hide you from him forever, especially since we're immobile now. He'll be able to track your scent and I'm sure he'll bring back up.”

Right. Of course he would. And follow my scent? Was everything done that way in the vampire world?

Before a
ny of my nerves could be calmed
the door w
as slammed open and Sam entered
wearing shiny red leather pants and a matching black halter top, squeezing her boobs to the point of what looked like pain, though she didn't seem to care.

“Enough reminiscing. Piper, come with me. If you fight me or try anything dirty, Ashley will be the first to be killed.”

Gunner looked at me with pleading eyes. I wasn't going to endanger his family's lives any more than he would.

Sighing, I stood and e
xited through the now open door. I
watched it slide shut behind me as I nodded to Gunner, reassuring him I'd play nice, then started back up the stairs with a giddy Sam behind me.

EIGHTEEN

Sam brought m
e back up to the main floor and
into one of the many back rooms before shutting the door,
ordering
me to change into what could only be described as an S&M outfit.

“You've got to be kidding me.” I held up the hanger and dangled the chains and bits of leather that hung from it, looking back at Sam confused. “Why do I need to wear this?”

“Would you rather I call Quinn in here? I'm sure he'd be more than happy to do more than just
watch
you change.” Her lips twitched at the disgusted, fearful look on my face. “That's what I thought. Change.”

Without much other choice,
I quickly donned the outfit. Chains connected th
e two triangles over my breasts.  A
thicker chain connected the barely there bottoms, kind of like the swimsuit she'd given me, but this was made of black leather and heavy chain links.

“Why are you doing t
his?” My bottom lip started to
 
tremble and it took all of my will power to not break down and cry. My strength was running very thin. “Did they do something to you that I'm not aware of, because I know for a fact that I've been nothing but nice to you.” My vo
ice was barely above a whisper.  She
hear
d
me
and chose not to answer
.

The last to put on were the heavy black boots
that came up past my knees, the thick heels making
me as tall as her.

“I can make your time here easi
er
if you'd like me to mess with your mind. I can make it so you don't feel anything.”

Why would she offer me that after she promised to torture me?

“Like I could trust you to just do that, and nothing else.”

“Whatever.”

My second mistake: Looking directly into her eyes.

She held my gaze and my body immobile, her
blue
eyes streaking with a wicked gleam
before black ble
d through, revealing her vampire side
.

“You will feel no pain. You will obey witho
ut question.” She walked toward
me and stopped once she reached my feet, sifting my hair out of my face before whispering directly into my ear. “
You won’t tell Parker anything until after you’re free
.
You will only run when you know you'll be able to get away. You'll know the moment. You'll feel it.” She took a step back and spoke at a normal level. “When Parker gets here you'll continue to do as you
’
r
e
told.”

She stepped forward once more, r
ubbing her leather against mine.  T
he noise
was louder than her next whisper as her breath blew against my ear while
she placed a
long
black wig expertly over my hair.

“Tell him I'm sorry, but I had to save my mate. You'll be free to move and say as you like after Parker
and
Francis
 
come into contact with you, but you
will
remember what I've told you.”

The door opened behind her.  S
he lick
ed my cheek from chin to temple.
I stood there too stunned to move or say anything.

“Are you done giving her instructions? Oh, are you tasting already? I want some.” Quinn strode forward, shirtless, but wearing, you guessed it, black leather pants.

Sam turned to him with fangs extended, hissing.

“No tasting until Parker and Francis get here! I was just licking her. Her skin is delicious.”

Quinn moved
past h
er, grabbed my arms to face him
then bent his nose in the crook of my neck, visibly inhaling across my collar,
flicking
his tongue across my pulse before pulling back.

Revoltion was
one
of the few feelings I was having, and it was the most apparent at the look I was giving him
.  That angered him
.