He lifted his top lip so I could see the upper row of teeth and as I watched, his canines grew longer and longer until they protruded a good quarter- to a half-inch below his other teeth. Then they contracted back up into their normal place and extended again, as if he could will them to move in and out of his gums. He grinned at me. ‘How do you explain that?’
Shit. Another psycho magician.
‘I can’t explain it.’ I stared at his mouth, trying to figure out how the trick fangs worked.
Keep him talking . . .
‘Go ahead,’ he leered, his eyes sparkling. ‘Touch them.’
Touch them? I wasn’t going to stick my fingers in some psychopath’s mouth. He’d probably bite me. I didn’t want to think about where those teeth had been.
‘No. That isn’t necessary – I believe you.’ Placate the lunatic.
‘Oh, but I insist.’ He grabbed my hand and forced it up towards his mouth, laying the tip of my index finger on one of his fangs. It contracted while I touched it and I was able to snatch my hand away. Maybe my instincts could override whatever he’d done to me after all.
He sneered. ‘I’m old enough to have total control of my fangs, but if you get me aroused or angry enough they seem to have a mind of their own. And right now I’m feeling very aroused.’
Breathe, Kismet. Stay calm.
‘You don’t have to hurt me. Why don’t we talk about your feelings—?’
‘I don’t think so.’ He grabbed my hand again and shoved it down into his lap, which was filled with a large erection. ‘Let me show something else with a mind of its own.’
Oh no. This can’t be happening.
In one quick motion he had me lying flat on the couch with him on top of me, roughly pressing his lips against mine. Bile rising in my throat, I pushed at him again, my muscles finally deciding to cooperate, but he grabbed my wrists, holding them over my head in a vice-like grip as he forced his tongue into my mouth. Terror flooded my brain. After a few seconds, he kissed his way down to my neck and then, with a flash of pain, he bit me.
I screamed and kicked and shoved against him in a futile effort to dislodge an immovable object. I tried to raise my knee to administer the only effective self-defence strategy I knew, but he weighed on me like a slab of cement and I thought that maybe I wouldn’t have to worry about him raping me because he’d probably crush or smother me first.
He made loud sucking sounds at the wound on my neck and I started to feel light-headed. Suddenly the pain stopped and I opened my eyes, which I hadn’t realised I’d closed. He wasn’t on top of me any more. I heard male voices yelling, and the sound of furniture being pushed around.
I sat up, feeling like the morning after, and saw Devereux and Bryce struggling with each other, dancers in a strange ballet. Raleigh was nowhere in sight.
Watching the two of them was surprisingly entrancing and I couldn’t shift my eyes away. It was as if they moved in slow-motion. I was fascinated by Devereux’s light-blond hair contrasted against Bryce’s dark, silky veil. I hallucinated that their hair was flowing out around their heads as if they were submerged underwater and, while some part of me knew that couldn’t really be happening, I was lost in the spectacle.
The harsh sound of Devereux’s angry words jarred me out of my trance.
‘If you touch her again, I will kill you,’ he bellowed in an unnaturally amplified voice. ‘She is under my protection now. Ignore that at your peril.’ He released Bryce, who laughed in his face and then vanished.
Literally vanished.
I stared at the empty place where Bryce had been and tried to coax the neurons in my brain to fire in some helpful way. I blinked quickly a few times to clear the fog. Perfect. I’d finally lost my mind.
That didn’t just happen. I must be sleeping.
Devereux straightened his clothing, smoothed his hair back from his face and walked over to me. He sat down, opened his arms and I sagged against him, forgetting for a moment that I had my suspicions about his mental state, and allowed myself to be held. I could hear his heart beating and felt his warm breath on the side of my face.
We just sat like that, with him holding me, collapsed and shaking against him, for several minutes.
‘Did he hurt you?’ Devereux asked. ‘I could not live with myself if I failed to arrive in time to keep you safe. I never thought Bryce would risk my anger by coming here. I made a terrible mistake. Please forgive me. I will pay much closer attention in the future.’
‘Thank you, I’m okay,’ I mumbled, but I didn’t know what I was thanking him for. Had he appointed himself my bodyguard? Was he saying that he was the reason I’d been attacked? Since Bryce said Devereux was his soulmate, was this some kind of lovers’ quarrel I’d got in the middle of?
‘No, it is not a lovers’ quarrel,’ Devereux said, responding to my unstated question. ‘We have never been lovers. Bryce refuses to accept the fact that I do not return his feelings. I am not as he wishes me to be, despite his many attempts to sway me. I have no judgements against bisexuality, but that is not my preference. His irrational jealousy has caused him to wreak havoc in the vampire community. He believes if he takes over the coven, he will coerce me into doing his bidding. He is wrong. He has made a fatal error now by involving you.’
Involving me? That didn’t sound good. Devereux stroked my hair, and I surrendered to the calming rhythm of his hand. I didn’t know how to make sense out of anything that had happened. I prided myself on my logical mind, and none of the puzzle pieces fit. My body was in shock and the wound on my neck throbbed. I couldn’t really have seen someone disappear before my eyes. That was impossible. It was probably a delusion triggered by the attack. But it had looked so real.
I was grateful to find that all my clothes were still buttoned, snapped and zipped. Thankfully, Bryce hadn’t had the time to follow through on his intention to penetrate more than my neck.
I’d listened to many rape and assault victims talk about their horrible experiences, but I’d never truly understood how it felt to be at the mercy of someone who meant you harm. I sat there drowning in an unfamiliar mishmash of feelings, second-guessing myself about what I could have done to talk him out of hurting me. Or, at the very least, what I could have done to shake myself loose from the effects of whatever drug he must have slipped me.
Maybe it was some new version of the date-rape drug that could be passed along by body fluids. That would explain why he focused on my mouth so much – he wanted to make sure I got the whole dose. Yeah, that must have been it. Right. Even I didn’t believe that.
I knew better than to blame myself for any part of what had happened. I was well aware how damaging it was to blame the victim for her own victimisation. But I couldn’t sort out the avalanche of emotions.
I should have been able to do something. What was all my training for if I couldn’t handle one mentally ill maniac?
But damn it to hell – I couldn’t move my arms and legs! What the hell kind of weirdness was that? Were all vampire wannabes closet hypnotists? Had he pressed a nerve in my spine to cause paralysis?
How dare those assholes waltz in here and make me feel unsafe in my own office? Unsafe in my own life?
I’d never thought of myself as someone who’d ever need to be rescued. I didn’t like the feeling.
Devereux gently turned my head and inspected the bite on my neck.
Something about what he found made him frown. ‘You have lost some blood. You will probably feel dizzy for a while. May I?’
He moved in closer for what I thought was a better view and I felt his tongue brushing against the bleeding holes in my neck. Outraged, I pulled away and yelled, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ I immediately felt woozy from the sudden movement, but I’d be damned if anybody else was going to snack on me tonight.