Thorn's Addiction

chapter 4

Amber sat in her room, flicking through an old fashion magazine she’d found in the back of her car. She’d spent the previous night chatting to patrons at the bar, trying to glean any information about the hunters. She had come up with absolutely nothing useful, and was left feeling frustrated and helpless. That no other hunters had come to search for their comrade was suspicious, Amber didn’t like the complete lack of contact. Unless those sort of casualties were normal for them? It would make sense with their field of work. Amber sighed and swung her feet up onto her bed. She lay back and stared at her ceiling, trying to put together a single thread of clues. Her mind wandered to Thorn, his dark voice, his legs that went for days. She imagined his crimson lips on her arm again, the feeling of decadence when he fed. She shivered, it wasn’t often she felt this turned on. She’d sworn off s*x for the most part, only seeking it out when the urge became too powerful to resist. And even then, she tried not to sleep with people she knew, or that were consistently in her life. She struggled against her own mind about Thorn, trying to explain to herself that he was off limits.

THUMP. Amber scrambled to her feet as something heavy hit her window. She cautiously peered out the window to see Thorn downstairs, looking completely dishevelled.

“AMBER’ Thorn yelled up to her.

Amber opened her window, “How the f**k do you know where I live?”

“Come down here, please hurry, they got Killian”.

Amber grabbed her bag, shoving her phone and keys in quickly before sprinting down the stairs and out the door to Thorn. She made sure to double lock the door behind her.

“Thorn what the f**k?” She said, breathless from the sprint downstairs.

“Get in”, Tobias called from his red ute across the street.

Amber and Thorn got into the car quickly, Tobias floored it as soon as their doors were shut.

“Tobias what is going on?” Amber asked, trying not to let fear edge into her voice.

“The fuckers found out where the band has been staying, they attacked them and kidnapped Killian.” Tobias growled.

Lilith moaned from the front seat, “what happened to her?” Amber asked, reaching a hand to hold Lilith’s hand in reassurance.

“She tried to fight them off, she’s injured, but I know someone who can help”. Tobias accelerated more, driving recklessly fast.

“Tabitha?” Amber knew Tabitha, she was a witch. Tabitha was an extremely talented healer, but since she and Tobias broke up Amber hadn’t heard much about her.

“Yeah.” Tobias’s jaw clenched.

“Thorn are you okay?” Amber turned to Thorn, if Lilith was injured and Killian kidnapped, he must be suffering too.

“I’m fine, just shook up. I wasn’t there when they arrived. I was feeding.”

Amber felt a pang of jealousy rise in her. Feeding on someone else. Someone else got to feel his velvet skin against theirs, to hear his deep moan as he fed. Amber shook her head.

“Okay, do we have any idea where they took Killian?”

Lilith coughed, “they said something about the Exalted Hotel”.

Amber nodded, she knew the place. It was some big posh place where rich people went to eat caviar and lounge by the pool without getting wet.

“Tabitha first, then Exalted”. Tobias glanced at Lilith with clear concern.

Lucky it was a Monday or Tobias and Amber both would’ve been at the bar. Tobias of course had plenty of other staff members but Amber was the only one he trusted enough with supernatural matters such as this. The other staff knew about the nature of their clientele, but many of them were human and uneducated on the ins and outs of being a supernatural being.

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Tabitha’s house was hidden by trees, flowers and huge shrubs. She lived on a normal suburban street, her house standing out like a sore thumb. Butterflies and bees flew around her yard, making Amber think of her childhood summers with her grandma. There was something of the Fae about Tabitha’s place. Tabitha herself was no different, she rushed out of her home with bare feet and a long embroidered dress on. Her wavy red hair hung down to her ass, and she had a spattering of freckles across her chest, arms and face.

“Tobias?” She called as she jogged towards them. “What’s going on?”

As Thorn and Amber helped Lilith out of the car, Tobias explained what had happened to Tabitha. She took a deep breath in and hurried back inside, immediately starting to collect bottles and jars of ingredients. Thorn and Amber deposited Lilith on a couch covered in crocheted blankets and cushions. Thorn offered some of his blood to Lilith but she declined. Hearing this, Tabitha put her jars down momentarily and fetched a huge bottle of human blood. She handed it to Lilith with a cute pink straw with a flower on it. Lilith slowly started sipping.

As Tabitha continued putting together her healing concoction, Tobias, Thorn and Amber sat in the chairs surrounding Lilith.

“We need a plan for getting into the hotel, and into their room”, Thorn said, frowning at the ground.

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