Bitten by the Beast Read online

  “Yeah,” I answer. I’m a little surprised he knows who I am.

  “One of the pledges.” He leans closer to me. “I could put in a good word for you. Make sure you get in.” I can tell from his tone it won’t be a free favor.

  “Thanks but no thanks.” I push past him, but he follows me into the kitchen where I see Gretchen, the head of the sorority, doing a Jell-O shot. When her eyes meet mine she smiles.

  I think she’s going to ask me if I got something to prove I knocked on the door, but she doesn't. “Hey, pledge. The upstairs bathroom needs cleaning. Someone vomited everywhere.” She scrunches her face in disgust before turning away from me to talk the guy on her left. He’s also wearing a football jersey.

  “Gross,” Brock says from behind me. I look over my shoulder at him. “I’ll wait for you to clean up and then we can get a drink,” he adds with a wink. Jesus. I need out of this place.

  “Sure. Wait right here for me,” I tell him, and he smiles like a drunken idiot.

  “Brock,” Gretchen snaps as him. “Come here. I want to show you something.” She leans over the counter a little and gives everyone a view of her boobs. I’m guessing that’s what she wants to show him. “Go, pledge. You have your orders,” she snaps at me. It’s clear she wants Brock's attention, and she can have it.

  “On it,” I lie.

  I push my way towards the front door and I leave knowing I’m never coming back to this place. Lesson learned. All sororities may not be like this one, but I think I’ll stick to being solo for now. I don’t fit in there, but hey, that’s the story of my life.

  I make the trek back towards my dorm with Kane filling up all my headspace the whole way. Why can’t I get this man out of my head? I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. Maybe I can think of a reason to go back tomorrow. It’s too late now, and I don’t want to chance running into his sister again.

  I reach into my pocket to double check the time, but I curse when I can’t find my cell phone. Where would I have left it? I know I had it when we got to that gate. Maybe it fell out when I jumped over the thing. Or maybe I dropped it in Kane’s house. This would give me a reason to go back. Though I’m not sure I have the guts to really do it. Damn it, I don’t have the money to replace my cell phone, so I guess I don’t have a choice. I’m going to have to go back tomorrow.

  I fish out the key to my room and try to be quiet in case my roommate is asleep. When I crack open the door I see her sitting up in bed with her glasses perched on her nose as she reads.

  “Hey,” she says in a soft voice.

  She’s always so soft spoken it makes it hard to get to know her. I’m not surprised she’s got her face in a book. That actually sounds really amazing right now. My mind flashes back to Kane’s library.

  “Hi,” I say back as I go to my closet and pull off my stinky beer shirt. I get another one and put it on before flopping down into my bed. “So I went over to the haunted mansion everyone always talks about.”

  I watch as Dove’s eyes get big. I had a feeling that might get her attention. I don’t know a ton about my roommate, but I do know she loves mysteries, according to all the books she leaves lying around.

  “There was this kickass library inside you would have died over.”

  “You went inside?” She sets her book down and turns to face me, giving me her full attention.

  “It was some stupid pledge thing.” I throw my hand out and wave dismissively, not wanting to talk about that.

  “I told you those girls aren’t nice.” She pushes her glasses up her nose.

  “I know. I’m done with it.”

  It wasn’t so bad because I got to meet Kane. But that thought only makes me feel crazier. I can’t get him out of my head. The ache is still deep in the pit of my stomach.

  “Good.” She nods, loosing some of her dark hair from the messy bun on the top of her head.

  “What do you know about that place anyway? The man I met…” I trail off, not sure I want to share too much about him.

  “Not much. Just what people say about it. That it’s haunted and the guy who lives there only comes out at night.”

  Hmm. I roll over, looking up at the ceiling. “There’s got to be something on that house. I mean, it’s been around for so long. There has to be a history to it.”

  “I’m sure if we did some digging we could find out who owns it,” Dove says, and I sit up.

  “You think?” I throw my legs over the side of the bed.

  “I’m sure. We can go check it out tomorrow at the library. See what we can find.”

  “Don’t you have a key to the library?”

  Why wait until tomorrow? I know I’m not going to be able to sleep with this weird feeling still in my stomach. I have this need to find out more about Kane.

  “I do,” she says hesitantly, but I know she practically lives there. If she isn't here or in class, that’s where her booty is.

  “So we can go now.” I hop up from my bed and grab her hand. “Come on.” She hesitates for a moment, but I can tell she wants to do it. She just doesn't want to get in trouble is my guess. “Please,” I push.

  “Okay,” she finally gives in.

  She grabs a hoodie and her keys, and I smile. I can’t remember ever feeling this excited.

  Six

  Kane

  It feels like there’s a burning inside my body that’s growing as time goes by. The separation from Juliet is too much, and I ache to be close to her again. The smell of roses lingers all around me and it’s driving me to the edge of insanity.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Ravana asks.

  “I don’t know, I’ve never seen anyone act like this before,” Erik answers.

  “We should take him to the tunnels. Just in case we need to keep him underground,” Ezra says, and I try to jerk free of his hold. “Jesus, Kane, calm down. We’re not here to hurt you.”

  “Then let me go,” I say through gritted teeth. “This is all a mistake. I need to get to her.”

  “Do you hear yourself right now? You sound crazy. You’re going nuts over a human!” Ravana spits the last part as the twins pull me down the stone stairs that lead to the tunnels. “You can’t be trusted right now. You need to calm down and we need to figure out what’s going on. Did she slip you some kind of drug?”

  We reach the bottom of the stairs and I let all my anger and strength surge forward and break free of their hold. “Fucking hell, would you guys just look at my dick already? She’s my mate!”

  The twins both stop and look down in shock to the front of my suit. Ravana is behind me so she can’t see, but the look on the twins’ faces must be enough. I hear her gasp and step back.

  “Holy shit,” the twins say in unison.

  “But this can’t be right. Our kind doesn’t mate with humans. When we’re changed, we can only be with another vampire forever. That’s how we stay alive.”

  “Don’t you think I know how this works?” I shout as I straighten my suit jacket and button it closed to hide the bulge in my pants. “I’ve been told the same stories as you, little sister, remember?”

  “I think we should talk to Bishop,” Erik says, stepping forward when I go to argue with him. “I’m not saying she doesn’t belong to you, because clearly the magic is working.” He holds up his hand for a high five, and I roll my eyes. “That’s cool, leave me hanging.”

  “What he’s trying to say is that we should just talk to our leader before we let you run around in the streets like a crazy vamp chasing down the smell of her pussy.” Ezra leans in close to whisper, but we’re all freaking vampires, so it’s not like the others don’t hear. “How does it feel getting a chub? It’s been so long I can’t even remember.”

  “That’s enough,” Ravana says. “Let’s take the tunnel to Bishop and figure this out. I don’t want to risk going above ground right now.”

  “I’ll drive,” Erik calls, and I decide to just give in and go along with them.

  I get into the back
seat of the Mercedes SUV, and Ezra slides in beside me. Ravana gets up front with Erik, and then he’s taking off into the dark. Our eyes are made for night, so there’s no need to put on headlights. And it’s not like we need them. These tunnels have been here for hundreds of years. They were made long before any of us came along for this very reason. A lot of times when a vampire is coming to the end of his life, he will leave all his belongings to another vampire in his coven. The tunnels connect all of our houses and are here for when we need to travel during the day. It’s not my favorite form of traveling, so I only use it when I have to.

  The twins are the youngest in our coven at just twenty years old. Bishop turned me and then Ravana years later. But the twins were an unexpected surprise. Covens can be larger than the one we have, and then there are rogue vampires that live alone. We talked about expanding our family, but the closer Bishop gets to the end of his two hundred years, the less he brings it up. I can imagine it makes him sad to think of creating someone new in our family only to leave them behind.

  The drive doesn’t take long, but my skin feels too tight and the burning in my stomach is irritating me. Somehow it comes and goes. One moment it brings me to my knees and the next it’s only a dull throb. I can’t understand why it won’t stop.

  When Erik stops the car we all get out. There are stone steps identical to mine nearby, and the four of us take them up to Bishop’s house. When we reach the hallway at the top, we walk directly to his study. He’s always here this time of night either writing or recording our history. He said he didn’t want to die without us knowing all that he’d been taught. I’ve told him before that I think he never found his mate because he doesn’t leave his house, but he seems to think that being our vampire historian is better for all of us.

  “Come on in,” Bishop says without looking up from his desk.

  We all file in and stand there, waiting on him to stop what he’s doing and look up. It only takes a second before he’s putting down his pen and sitting back in his chair. Bishop might be the oldest vampire in the room, but he doesn’t look like it.

  “So, it’s Friday night and everyone wanted to come see me at once? Family dinners are on Tuesdays, guys. You know the schedule.”

  “Check out Kane’s dick!” Erik says excitedly.

  I roll my eyes, and Ravana groans and drops her face in her hands as Ezra and Erik high five.

  For a second Bishop looks like he might laugh, but then as his eyes lower they widen in shock. He stands up and glances over to Ravana then back to me. “Did you and—”

  “No,” she and I say at the same time.

  “Who is she then? Why isn’t she with you? Don’t you know separation in the first few months can be painful?” he says as he comes around the desk.

  “She’s human,” Ravana says, and room goes silent. Bishop’s eyebrows pull together as he looks to her and then to me.

  “Is that true?”

  I nod. “She broke into my house tonight. She cut her arm on the gate sneaking in. I was only going to clean the wound and then tell her to leave, but the scent of her…” My mouth beings to water as I remember the smell of the roses. How sweet and innocent she would taste. My eyes feel heavy and my body throbs with the need to have her. To take her, if I must.

  “Kane,” Bishop commands, and I snap out of my fog. “Sit down. We should talk about this.”

  Bishop turns around and walks over to a stack of books on a table in the back. He starts going through them, flipping pages one after the other.

  “Bishop, are you saying this has happened before? There’s a possibility that this is real?” Ezra asks as I take a seat in front of the desk and Ravana begins to pace.

  “There are cases of it happening before, but it was a long time ago. There’s only one or two documented that I can remember.” He pauses for a second before grabbing a small book and bringing it over. “Here it is.”

  Everyone gathers close as he reads the passage in the book. It’s from his creator, who is talking about it happening before his time. He says that it happened in an ancient bloodline and that the power we have can be connected to a human. The human we choose as our mate will become immortal just as we become immortal when we find them. We can drink their blood and it will sustain us until the end of time after our first bite and the venom enters their body.

  Bishop sits back in his chair and I can see his mind is spinning. Ravana is silent as she looks at me, waiting for me to say something. The twins are whispering to one another and I tune them out because I knew the moment I smelled her blood that she belonged to me.

  “This has a lot of complications,” Bishops says as he steeples his fingers in front of his face. “She won’t know anything about our world. Taking her as a mate is not a choice, but you have to be careful. If she finds out what we are and rejects you, this could kill you.”

  As if the room wasn’t already silent, no one dares breathe a word at this news. I remember him telling me a long time ago that sometimes when a mate was killed the other would die soon after. I don’t know if there’s a history of a vampire being rejected, but I’m willing to take that risk. I would do anything to have my Juliet.

  “I don’t like this,” Ravana says, and I turn to look at her. “I don’t like revealing our secrets to a human who might decide they don’t want this life.”

  “Did any of us choose this life?” I counter and stand up. I can feel my anger rising again and I know it’s because I’m separated from the woman I want.

  “No, but we didn’t have a choice. She does.” Ravana gets closer to me, and I can see her own anger bubbling up. “She could ruin everything we’ve built. All of this could come crashing down because you’re following your dick.”

  She turns away from me and walks to the window. The sun isn’t far from rising now. I can feel it inside me.

  “Either you all need to stay here, or you need to make your way home. This conversation is done for tonight. Kane.” Bishop and I lock eyes. “You are to stay put until we get this figured out.”

  I nod and then turn on my heels to head for the tunnels. I don’t hear anyone following me, so they must be staying. We all have rooms at Bishop’s house for nights like this. But I’ve always been the loner of the group. Mostly it has to do with the scars on my face, but I like the quiet, and the twins are always making noise.

  When I get to the SUV I drive through the tunnels back to my place and climb the stairs. I have my orders from Bishop and I’m supposed to follow them. But the scent of roses hits me when I walk through the door and suddenly all bets are off.

  Seven

  Juliet

  “There’s nothing,” Dove huffs as she leans back in her chair, more frustrated than I am.

  We’ve been poring over old news articles and searching the internet for any sort of clue but have come up with less than zero. Well, except that the home is owned by some company that owns a handful of mini mansions around here, some I didn't even know exist because they are nestled back into the woods. Hiding in plain sight is what Dove had said.

  I let out a long sigh, knowing we aren't getting anywhere tonight. “I’m not giving up,” Dove mumbles, more to herself than me. She has a determined look on her face.

  “We should call it a night,” I tell her, knowing the sun will be coming up soon and we don’t want to get caught sneaking out of the library in broad daylight. I know Dove has a key to the place, but it doesn't mean she’s supposed to be here at all hours. I don’t want either of us to get in trouble.

  She looks at her watch and must have the same thought as me. She squeaks then stands up so quickly she almost knocks over her chair. “Mr. Benson always gets here super early. We have to get out of here.”

  We get our shit together and haul ass back to our dorm room. When we finally crawl into bed, Dove is out like a light and I can hear little snores coming from her side of the room. As for me, I’m still wide awake and unable to get any sleep. My mind won’t stop focusing on Kane an
d wishing I knew more about him. I keep wondering why this ache inside of me isn't going away.

  After an hour or so I give up trying to sleep and throw the covers off me. I dig through my closet to find something to wear but do my best to be quiet so I don’t wake up Dove. I grab my yoga pants, sneakers and a hoodie. When I’m dressed, I pull my hair into a ponytail and slip out quickly because I know if she wakes up she’ll try to stop me.

  Maybe there’s a last name on his mailbox or something. If we had a last name, maybe we could find out more about Kane. At least that’s what I tell myself while I wait for my taxi to pick me up.

  As the driver pulls up to the gates, I notice that ache in my stomach has started to ease now that I’m back here. I hop out of the taxi and walk up to the gate. I stand there like I did just hours ago, but this time there’s no fear. My fingers wrap around the bars, and before I can think about what I’m doing I’m climbing the gate all over again. Something is pulling me towards this house. Towards Kane.

  When I hop down I make the long walk to the front door and knock. I’ll ask if I left my cell phone here. I repeat it over and over in my head so I don’t forget when the door opens. But after a few minutes go by I’m disappointed when no one answers. It’s probably for the best because I’m knocking on the door at five in the morning like a crazy person. Still, I can’t pull myself away. In an act of complete lunacy, I grab the door handle and to my surprise the thing freaking turns. The door slowly opens with a loud creak when I push on it.

  “That’s not creepy at all,” I mumble to myself as I step inside and shut the door behind me. I should probably be more afraid, but I’m utterly calm. That weird feeling that had been hanging all around me since I left here is gone, and weirdly it feels like I’m home.