Prison of Blood and Lies

Eight

Tucker grinned at me from the kitchenette chair tucked in the corner by the window. His eyes reflected the light from the bathroom. He stood and took a few steps in my direction.

He jerked his head in the direction of the bed where I’d plopped the unconscious woman. “Looks like you’ve got something that belongs to me,” he growled.

I didn’t need to be able to read auras to sense his aggression. He was here and he was not here for a cup of coffee and conversation.

The surprise had dried out my mouth. “How’d you get in here?” I croaked.

He rolled his eyes and pulled a key card from the breast pocket of his jacket. “Seems the manager here isn’t really a fan of yours.” He shrugged and stuffed it back inside.

“But—”

“I followed the rotten stench of leech. You blood-suckers smell like death. Wasn’t hard to follow my nose.” He scrunched up his face in disgust.

“Anyway,” he said. “We’re not here to talk about you. I’m here to kick your skanky ass.” A growl emanated from deep within his throat.

“That’s not going to happen, pup.”

He bared his teeth at me. His canines were elongating into viscous-looking fangs.

“I’m not even going to need my wolf for this, honey. You look like you couldn’t hurt a fly.”

I bristled at the pet name but tried to keep my cool and my focus. This asshole could be the key to everything.

He swiped his arm across the cheap entertainment center, knocking the television and the lamp on the floor which sent glass shards flying.

Someone in the next room thumped their fist against our shared wall. “Keep it the f**k down over there,” a deep - voiced woman shouted, her words were a little muffled by the thin wall.

The sudden loud noise caused my guest to stir only slightly. She rolled from her back to her side and let out a deep breath. I hoped that she’d stay asleep for this. She probably couldn’t take much more trauma and things were going to get ugly.

Tucker’s attention was all on me. He took a step over the busted TV and crouched down like he was going to charge. I found his eyes and tried to push a jolt of seductive energy at him. He stumbled back and relaxed his posture for only a moment.

He smiled. “Lucky for you, I like it rough.” He burst forward and grabbed me by my middle and we both tumbled to the floor. We landed with him on top of me, throwing punches at my face. I blocked most of them with my arms.

I wriggled myself out from under his body and planted a fanged bite on his forearm.

He roared and jerked his arm back.

“You b***h,” he shouted.

The neighbor pounded on the wall again. “One more time and I’m calling the cops. Shut the f**k up.”

I shoved him and gained the upper hand this time. I put all my body weight on his shoulders and forced as much of my energy into him as I could.

He would lust for me and then he would bleed for me. He relaxed again and his eyes glazed over.

“There we are,” I purred.

Still perched atop him, I kept my hypnotic gaze locked on his eyes. He blinked lazily, the two eyelids not quite moving in sync.

“Tucker. You know, that’s a really nice name for a dog.”

He didn’t respond. He just looked at me like I was the most beautiful woman who’d ever graced the planet. I smiled. The s**t head was all mine.

“Now, we’re going to play a little game.”

Nothing.

“Nod if you understand.”

His head moved. Close enough.

“What’s your name?”

He mumbled something thickly that sort of, maybe, resembled Tucker. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

Maybe I threw a little too much at him. The man was barely coherent. One eye slid closed. The other followed. I would never get anything useful out of him at this rate. I needed to bring him back to some level of alertness.

I slapped him across the face and stopped the flow of my energy to him. His eyes opened and focused on my face.

Realization passed across his face and he kicked me off of him with a move so swift, I barely had time to register and try to catch my balance.

He was on top of me again, letting his weight press my tiny frame into the shag carpet.

“You think you’re so good?” He laughed and slapped me across the face with an open palm. The sting brought tears to my eyes.

He felt me up an down with his hand while he restrained my wrists above my head. Images of before flashed to the front of my mind.

Not again. I can’t do this again.

He finished pawing me and put his face to my ear. His hot breath left my neck damp.

“I think I can make more off you than her. Let’s make that official.”

I struggled and kicked and managed to land a blow to the back of his head. Those yoga classes before I died really improved my flexibility.

The blow was enough to knock him off balance. Before I could throw him off completely, he’d fished a syringe from his jacket pocket and jammed the needle into my thigh.

I felt him depress the plunger and inject what felt like a thousand insect bites into my muscle.

“b***h. You’ll learn. And they’ll be happy I found one like you.”

He punched me in the eye and got off me.

I sprang to my feet, knowing that I’d lost this one. I couldn’t go back to that life.

Panic rose in my chest. I screamed and rushed him.

I could vaguely hear the neighbors bitching. It sounded like one was on the phone.

The world started to slow. I needed to stop him before whatever he’d injected me with took effect.

There were two of him standing before me and I felt dizzy. Cold nausea swept over me.

As I lost my vision, I felt strong arms lift me.

“No,” I mumbled. “No. You can’t.”

I punched his back with as much strength as I could muster.

“I win. Told you I didn’t need my wolf for you.”

The chill of the outside air hit my face. Everything had gone black. I couldn’t see. Sleep pulled at my consciousness.

As I lost the battle against unconsciousness, I heard a siren and someone shouting into a megaphone.

“Stop. Put your hands in the air!”

There were voices and shouting. Everything seemed to be getting farther and father away from me. I felt like I was sinking in a deep body of water. Waves of sleep pulled me under and away from the danger that threatened my freedom.

The last sound I remember before being taken completely by the drug was a single gunshot and a yelp. The yelp echoed in my mind until it faded to static.

The warm embrace of nothingness finally embraced all my senses and I let go.