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My mind short-circuited again. ‘What does that mean?’
She tapped the side of her nose. ‘You’ll find out soon enough. Now, time to get dressed, Genevieve.’ She pushed me towards the blue sofa where the golden outfit glittered malevolently. ‘And then go and kill Malik.’
I picked up the gold-plated steel collar with one hand and wrapped the heavy chain around my other, staring at it numbly, my mind automatically assessing it. It wasn’t exactly a garrotte, but looped round his neck—and there was enough of it to go round the movie-monster’s neck, not just Malik’s—and with enough pressure exerted—easily done with my superior vampire strength—decapitating him shouldn’t take more than a couple of seconds.
Only ...
... only I didn’t want to kill Malik.
No, I wanted to kill the evil bitch sorcerer Ha
Even as I thought it, pain ripped like wild fire through my body as needle-like teeth bit into my i
After what felt like an eternity in the centre of the inferno, I managed to work out how to make my mind shape the words the imps wanted.
I’ll kill him, okay.
The pain dulled in increments to a dull ache. So that was the deal: either I tried to kill Malik, or the imps would eat Rosa’s body while I was still inside it.
Catch 22, anyone?
Chapter Twenty-One
The dimly lit bedroom was larger than the lounge, and decorated with so much blood that it looked like an artist’s rendition of a murder scene; bright red arcs sprayed up the dusk-blue wall behind the king-sized bed, blotted the white silk sheets and splattered dark trails along the thick blue carpet. Malik and Darius lay spooned together on the bed in a tangle of pale, blood-drenched naked bodies. A cacophony of conflicting emotions—desire, hunger, jealousy, anger and shock—cascaded over me and my dialled-down vampire senses sprang back to life. My heart thudded in my chest as I inhaled the strong tang of copper, saliva pooled in my mouth and my stomach rumbled with emptiness. Listening carefully, I could make out two heartbeats, both slow, but both steady. He hadn’t killed Darius. Then the urge to crawl onto the bed and join the two vamps exploded in my mind, not to satisfy my hunger, but to rip their throats out, tear them limb from limb and bathe in their blood, just for the pure gleeful fun of it.
I took a step forward, and another, following the urge, my feet and the chain I was dragging, scuffing over the carpet, then I swayed, dizzy, as I made myself stop. Damn! Looked like the imp-imparted psychosis thing was true, then! The imps don’t only consume their host, they infect them with their irresistible enjoyment of chaos and violence.
And fuck, was Malik a messy violent eater or what?
The thought brought an edge of hysteria to the laughter rising in my throat. I strangled it before it could escape—much as the imps wanted me to do to Malik. I looked around the room for anything that might help me: pale wood desk, plasma TV, a laptop, its screen dark, a half-open door to what had to be a bathroom, and the same wall of glass as in the lounge overlooking the dance floor—but no handy priest or bottle of Holy Water in sight. I was going to have to complain to the Blue Heart’s management for their lack of foresight. After all, the nearest church was a five-minute run away ... an idea almost formed in my head—
The spike-sharp pain in my left kidney prodded my attention back to the bodies on the bed and my allotted task.
‘Well, this is cosy, isn’t it?’ I drawled, my voice calm enough to conceal the horror eating through my body. ‘Shame I’m going to have to break up your little blood—and love-fest, Malik, but I’ve a present here with your name on it.’ I snapped a length of the chain between my hands; it made a loud chinking sound. ‘And the hell-heated coals I’m dancing on are getting impatient.’
Malik raised his head to look at me over Darius’ shoulder, his eyes half-lidded, his expression sleepy ... but nowhere near soft. He took in my costume. ‘Hallowe’en has come early, I see,’ he murmured.
‘Apparently it’s old Liz’s favourite film.’ I did a twirl.
‘The disguised princess chained to the monster.’ He quirked his mouth in a mocking smile. ‘Subtlety never was Elizabetta’s strong point.’
‘So. Are you finished here?’ I jerked my head at the almost comatose Darius. ‘’Cos I’m feeling a lot impish and I think we should get on with the killing part of the evening now before it gets too late.’
‘Impish?’ He frowned, shifting to prop himself up on his bent elbow.
‘Yep, that old demon magic thing.’ The chain bit into my palms as my hands tightened around it. I eyed Malik’s long narrow fingers, which were resting against Darius’ impressive bloodstained six-pack; did Malik have to look as if he’d enjoyed himself quite so much? And why was I feeling antagonistic towards someone who was supposed to be no more than a necessary evil in my life? After all, it wasn’t like I really wanted thatsort of relationship with Malik myself ... or did I? Or was that just Rosa or the imps influencing my desires again? I shelved the questions for later. If there was a later.
‘Of course,’ I carried on, ‘I still have choices and consequences, ’ and conscious of any listening ears, I spoke the next words in my head, hoping he’d hear them: ‘ They come down to you or Rosa’s body, in fact, because once the sun rises over the horizon, I’m back in my own—body, that is.’ Gnawing pains around my knees accompanied my thoughts and my legs almost buckled. ‘So unless you managed to get ordained at some point during your last half-dozen centuries—any faith will do, neither the imps nor I are fussy—or can come up with a quick liquid solution, preferably one that’s been blessed’—I raised my eyes to the heavens—‘the bell’s about to chime for Round One.’
‘Time will wait for this, I think,’ he said. Blue fire lit his pupils and cast a peaceful glow through the dim room. He brought his i
A popping sound brought me from my reverie as Malik worked his finger between Darius’ lips and disengaged him from his arm, and a vague memory that I’d experienced something like this before brought my brows together in a frown.
‘ My apologies, Genevieve,’ Malik said, his voice sounding regretful in my mind. ‘ Whilst Elizabetta’s plans are not a surprise, if I had realised how Ha
‘Easy enough for you to say,’ I muttered, scowling, as I tried to figure out where my uneasiness was coming from, then winced as another jagged pain speared through my solar plexus and wiped the thought from my mind.
Malik slid gracefully off the bed and strolled naked towards the wardrobe. My gaze followed the fine line of his back as it tapered from his sculptured shoulders down to his waist, then on past the taut, hard curve of his butt and down the long muscles in his thighs, watching as they flexed and stretched and the dimples at the back of his knees creased with each silent lift of his elegant feet. The sight had lust coiling tight in my belly, pooling with enough heat to drown out the prickly irritation of the imps scratching inside me. Then I blinked as he stood facing me, the silk triangle of dark hair on his pale chest arrowing down past the rose-burst scar to the black leather trousers he now wore low-slung on his narrow hips.