Bound by Danger (The Alliance, Book 6) Read online

  “I won’t take long,” he said.

  “I’ll be here.”

  Lucien slipped past her and into the bathroom. Using the paper towels and hand soap, he scrubbed at his flesh and washed his hair the best he could. With his head bent beneath the sink, he watched the dirt flowing down the drain while he scrubbed at his scalp.

  He peeled off his filthy jeans, threw out his boxer shorts, and washed all over before tugging on the new pair of jeans. They were too short on him and hung low on his waist, but not many pants would fit him right now.

  When he finished dressing, he stepped back to inspect himself. His eyes remained red; it would probably take a couple more feedings before the color vanished, but he’d washed the dirt from his flesh, he smelled ten thousand times better, and his fingers didn’t catch in his drying hair when he ran them through it.

  He was still underweight and weaker, but he felt and looked a lot better. He would get them out of the city and somewhere safe, and once he had access to a steady supply of blood, he would feed more and work his way back to full strength.

  His chest and shoulders were still damp, so he didn’t bother pulling on the shirt. He would dry as they walked to the guard booth and pull it on before they left. He draped the black T-shirt over his arm and walked out the door.

  Callie twisted her hands and chewed on her bottom lip as she waited outside the bathroom door. Her eyes swung back and forth as she listened for the hum of the golf cart. Lucien had told her to call him if anyone came, but she didn’t feel like dealing with the guard.

  The door to the bathroom opened, and she turned toward him. She started to speak, but the words clogged in her throat when she spotted him.

  He was still gaunt, but with the layer of grime removed from him, she saw every detail of the lines carving his abdomen. No one should have abs that perfect or mouthwatering. Never mind bouncing a quarter off them, a brick would launch off those things.

  And if those abs weren’t enough enticement, a trail of dark blond hair led from his bellybutton to the sagging waistband of his jeans… jeans that had a noticeable bulge in the front of them.

  She blinked as she tried to tear her attention away from the mouthwatering sight of him, but her fingers itched to run over those broad shoulders and chest before dipping into the hollows of those abs while she memorized every inch of him.

  She hated the complete darkness of the storage unit, but she’d prefer not to see how attractive this vampire was. Slowly, she forced her gaze from his abs to his chest and finally to his face.

  His reddened eyes met and held hers as she gazed at the chiseled contours of his face. Now that he was clean, she could tell the scruffy beard covering his square jaw was a dark blond color, but she still wasn’t sure about the color of his hair as it remained wet.

  Behind the scruffy beard was the temptation of his mouth. His lips were full, but the bottom one was slightly fuller, and the upper one…. Why did she suddenly want to bite it?

  Callie shook her head as a tumult of emotions assaulted her. She couldn’t be attracted to a man—no, a vampire who willingly admitted to loving every minute of killing things, even if those things deserved it.

  She’d already been in one fucked-up relationship; she was not getting into another one, even if that meant staying single for the rest of her life. Although, after everything that happened, she was beginning to suspect her life might be a lot shorter than she anticipated.

  Pushing back her sudden unease, her eyes settled on the fading bites on his shoulders and arms. Without thinking, she rested her fingers over one of them.

  “They fed on you?” she asked.

  Self-disgust filled Lucien as he glanced at the marks. “No.”

  “Then—”

  “I did it to myself.”

  When Callie’s eyes flew back up to his, he saw the confusion in their beautiful depths.

  “I was starving. I needed to bite, to bleed, to taste blood. It’s—” He couldn’t hold her gaze as he spoke. “—it’s not something I’m proud of.”

  Horror churned inside her as his words sank in. She couldn’t imagine the desperation that would compel someone to do that to themselves. Given everything she’d witnessed, she was beginning to realize it was a miracle he’d retained enough control to get them out of those tunnels.

  “Thank you,” she murmured.

  “For what?”

  “Saving me.”

  Uncomfortable with her gratitude, Lucien shifted. “We have to go.”

  She ignored her impulse to clasp his hand as they walked through the storage units and toward the entrance. They were almost to the guard booth when he tugged the shirt over his head. Disappointment filtered through her, but it was definitely for the best.

  When they stopped outside the guard booth, the man turned to look at them. He didn’t seem surprised to see them standing there.

  “I need to use your phone,” Lucien said.

  The guard grabbed the black phone sitting on the counter and pushed it toward him.

  “Do you have a cell phone?” Lucien asked.

  “No.”

  Lucien kept his irritation over this concealed as he pulled the phone closer and lifted it from the receiver. He started dialing the last number he remembered for Ronan and waited as the phone rang. Usually, Ronan would have gotten rid of the phone with this number by now, but Lucien suspected Ronan kept it in the hopes of receiving this call.

  He’d almost finished dialing when he spotted three Savages emerge from the alley between the buildings across the way. They stayed to the shadows, but they were out in the day, which meant they weren’t as far gone as some of their brethren and the sun didn’t bother them as much.

  And as he watched them, their eyes found his.

  CHAPTER 17

  The Savages emerged from the shadows of the buildings and raced across the road toward them. Gripping Callie’s elbow, Lucien hurried her toward the guard booth. The older man stood inside, gaping at the monsters racing across the street toward them.

  “Get in the booth,” he told her, “and stay in there until this is over.”

  “Lucien….” She started to protest, but he was already pushing her inside and closing the door.

  Out of frustration, she slapped her hand against the glass before reaching for the handle. Her fingers enclosed on the knob and froze there. Heart hammering, she lifted her gaze to the Savages racing across the street toward them.

  What was she going to do out there… besides get in the way and possibly get them killed? But she hated the idea of him out there, alone with those things. The only weapon he had was himself, and though he looked better than yesterday, he didn’t look as healthy as these things. He was still bony; they were well-fed monsters.

  She started to twist the knob before stopping. She wasn’t afraid of going out there and fighting them; they would kick her ass, she had no doubt about it, but she was scared of being a distraction to Lucien, and neither of them could afford that.

  She couldn’t be the reason he died. He’d hurt her, but she wouldn’t be here, or alive, if it wasn’t for him.

  Releasing the knob, she rested her palm against the glass as Lucien faced the Savages and braced his feet apart. “Lucien,” she breathed.

  “What is going on?” the guard demanded, but his voice wavered.

  The Savages scrambled up the chain-link fence like monkeys up a tree. When they arrived at the top, the barbwire didn’t slow them even a little. They jumped over it and landed on the other side in a move so fluid Callie barely saw them.

  Callie’s mouth went dry as she locked the door and backed away from it. The lock and glass would do little to stop the Savages from getting through, but it gave her a measure of relief. Then one of them looked up at her and smiled.

  She didn’t recognize the creature, but something in the way he looked at her unnerved her completely. Hunger emanated from the man, but she wasn’t sure if it was for her blood or something more.
r />   “What are those things?” the guard breathed.

  “Death,” Callie murmured and wished she could take the word back when his breath sucked in.

  Her gaze shifted back to Lucien as the Savages raced for him. She spotted the phone outside lying on the ground a second before Lucien lifted it and jerked it toward him. The cord ripped from the wall inside the booth and slid out beneath the door. It caught for a second before tearing free.

  Gripping the phone in both hands, Lucien used it to bash in the skull of the first Savage as it lunged at him. Clutching the caved-in side of its head, the creature staggered away from him before hitting the ground on all fours.

  Callie pressed her hand against the glass and leaned closer. She couldn’t breathe as the second Savage grasped Lucien’s arm and jerked him around. They’d just found freedom, and now these things were going to destroy that.

  The Savage, who had smiled at her, jumped onto Lucien’s back. No!

  Lucien stretched a hand over his back to grasp the Savage’s neck. His fingers brushed against its open mouth; it was about to sink its fangs into his throat when Lucien squeezed its flesh and hauled it over his shoulder to smash it into the ground.

  The Savage grunted as it squirmed like a worm and tried to get away, but before it could, he lifted his foot and hammered the heel of his stolen sneakers into the Savage’s mouth.

  Callie winced and started to look away from the brutal scene, but she had to see. She couldn’t not know what was going on. Lucien was winning, but that could change, and if he were in jeopardy, she would do what she could to help him.

  Hovering nervously at her side, the guard murmured a prayer. She didn’t know what he was praying for, Lucien to win, all of them to die, or some kind of heavenly intervention.

  The third Savage turned and started to flee. Lucien could not allow that to happen. Even if they were long gone from this area before more Savages returned, they would have the advantage of knowing where to start looking for them.

  The Savage was near the top of the fence when Lucien launched himself up the chain-link, grasped the back of its shirt, and yanked. The material tore as it gave way, but he pulled the Savage from the fence.

  Lucien swung it over his head and drove it into the ground. Bones crunched as it smashed into the pavement. The creature’s broken arm hung limply at its side as it dove at him.

  Clasping his hands together, Lucien hammered them into the Savage’s back when it wrapped its arms around his waist. The Savage pulled his jeans down and nearly pulled them off his ass as it hit the ground.

  Before the creature could recover, Lucien pulled back his fist, and kneeling over it, he smashed his hand into the Savage’s back. Bone and flesh gave way as he pushed through to grasp the monster’s still-beating heart. With a yank, he tore the organ free and smooshed it into the ground.

  Though incapacitated, the remaining two Savages remained a threat. Lucien returned to the first Savage as it staggered to its feet and swayed toward him. The one side of its head still looked like a car had backed over it, but its bulging eyes were a fiery red, and drool dripped from its elongated fangs.

  Like a mummy, newly risen from the sarcophagus, it held its arms in front of it as it lurched forward. When Lucien grasped one of those arms, the fingers of its free hand dug into his flesh, but Lucien ignored it as he spun the Savage, grabbed its misshapen head, and snapped its neck.

  The guard fell to his knees, crossed himself, and clasped his hands in front of him as his prayers grew louder. Unsure of what else to do, Callie rested her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. The man trembled beneath her, and she hoped he didn’t have a heart attack before this ended.

  Lucien kept twisting the Savage’s head until he ripped it free. Then he turned his attention to the remaining creature as it launched at him.

  Lucien dodged the punch, caught the creature’s elbow, and snapped its arm over his knee before bashing his elbow into the Savage’s face, once, twice, three times. The creature’s head shot back with each of the blows, and blood sprayed from its mouth as its face became more like mush.

  Releasing its arm, he jerked it up and behind the Savage’s back as he spun it and pushed it into the pavement. Pressing his palm against its cheek, he smashed the Savage’s face into the asphalt as it kicked and squirmed like a worm rising from the earth after the rain.

  Lucien pushed down until something popped, the head gave way, and his knee hit the pavement. The creature’s arms and legs continued to kick, but little remained of its head. Unable to stand the sight of it anymore, Lucien tore its heart free and tossed it aside.

  He turned to find Callie watching with her mouth open, her palm against the glass, and her other hand on the guard’s shoulder. Then her hand fell from the glass, and she grasped the door handle to pull it open.

  She burst free of the shed and ran toward him, only to skid to a stop a couple of inches away. She took a tentative step toward him before pulling her foot away from the carnage surrounding him.

  Callie had been about to jump on Lucien and hug him, but when she saw the damage he’d inflicted, reality returned. She couldn’t throw herself into a vampire’s arms, especially not one covered in the blood of the Savages he’d just slaughtered.

  That was complete insanity. But oh, how she longed to go a little insane and reassure herself he was okay by hugging him close.

  After thinking that, she wondered if she might already be a little insane. But how could anyone remain completely sane after everything she’d seen and endured? They couldn’t, but she still wasn’t about to hug him when blood, and other things she preferred not to think about, covered him.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “I’m fine. I’m filthy again, but I’m fine.” Normally, being dirty didn’t bother him. It was part of the job, after all. However, after a month of being covered in filth and his blood, he was tired of it. “I have to take care of the guard, dispose of these bodies, and clean up before we leave.”

  “I’ll help you.”

  “No, don’t touch any of these things.” He didn’t want the filth of the Savages tainting her. “There’s no point in both of us getting dirty again. Stay close to me. There could be more of them out there.”

  Callie wasn’t going to argue with him.

  • • •

  It took him longer to deal with everything than he’d hoped. The new guard arrived before he finished cleaning up the mess. Lucien took control of the new guard’s mind and settled her into the booth with the old man. The woman was near seventy with smooth black skin and graying hair she wore in a bun. She didn’t have a cell phone either.

  “How do you not have cell phones?” he muttered as he made sure they were both seated comfortably in the booth.

  “We’re not allowed to have them while we’re working,” the woman replied. “Besides, the reception here is crap.”

  “And I guess you took the bus to get here too?”

  “Yes,” the woman said. “It’s easier than dealing with traffic.”

  Lucien sighed and finished giving them their instructions. If someone arrived, they were to keep them out with an excuse about a possible gas leak. The guards turned their attention to the closed gate as he slipped from the booth.

  Lucien dragged the bodies deeper into the storage units and spread them out in a pool of sunshine to let them burn. Because they weren’t as far gone as other Savages, it took a while for their bodies to start smoldering before catching fire. Callie stood beside him as the bodies created a bonfire in the middle of the units.

  After taking care of that, he used a hose to wash away the blood staining the asphalt around the guard’s booth. Then they returned to the storage unit where they found his clothes. He pulled out a new pair of jeans and another black T-shirt before returning to the bathroom to clean up and change.

  When he finished and the bodies were nothing more than ash that he washed away with the hose, he gave new instructions to the guards to de
lete all video footage, forget everything that happened, and continue with their lives. He told him the phone broke in a freak accident, but didn’t go into specific details; sometimes, it was best to leave things unexplained.

  When he finished, he clasped Callie’s hand, and they returned to the streets of Camden. It was almost three o’clock by the time he confiscated a battered Toyota from a young teen who’d probably just bought the car or received it from his parents when he got his license.

  “It’s probably his first car,” Callie said as she settled onto the front seat. “The poor kid’s entire life probably revolves around this thing. He might have had a paper route so he could buy it.”

  Lucien glanced at her as he adjusted the rearview mirror. He didn’t care what the kid had to do to get the vehicle, but he saw the regret in her eyes as she stared at the slack-faced, pimply teen standing on the sidewalk while he watched them steal his vehicle.

  “After we get out of here, I’ll ditch this thing where the cops will be sure to find it for him,” Lucien assured her because now she had him almost feeling bad for the kid.

  “Good.”

  Callie slid her seat belt on and sank back in the seat. A spring poked her in the ass, but when she looked at the ceiling and discovered the low-hanging, gray fabric, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she recalled her first car.

  It was an old Dodge she’d driven into the ground, but she loved every second of abuse she committed to that gas-guzzling vehicle. The fabric on the roof had sagged like this one.

  It hadn’t helped that she and her friends had made it a game to find funny pins to stick into the fabric. In the end, there were over a hundred of them, and they all had cute sayings like, “Blondes have more fun, but brunettes get it done,” or “Bad decisions make good stories.”

  When the car finally died, she’d pulled all those pins down and stuck them in a box. It was sitting on a shelf in her closet.

  “Where are we going?” she asked as he started the car.

  “I’m not sure. I can’t head home. There are cameras everywhere, and if the Savages somehow get a hold of footage of us, they’ll know what car we took and what direction we’re heading. We have to stay off the radar as much as possible.”