Page 12 of Bound by Vengeance
“Don’t you remember how good it was betweenus?” Duke murmured. “How good I made you feel, how often you came.It can be that good again between us.”
“You must think I’m an idiot, and believeme, it wasn’t that good. I’m outstanding at faking it.” She fakedalmost everything in her life.
She’d had enough of this; she’d never wantedto torture him, only wanted him dead, and she didn’t have to knowhow much they paid for her. It might make her feel worse to learnhow much Duke believed her life was worth.
Lifting the stake over her head, she grippedit in both hands before driving it down, through his back, and intohis heart. Duke jerked, his mouth parted, and his round eyes methers before the life slipped out of them and he slumped to theground.
Rising, she wiped off her hands and walkedover to help Nathan.
Nathan stepped toward the children butstopped when they clutched each other tighter.
“Shh, it’s fine,” Vicky soothed the childrenwhen she appeared beside him.
The blood streaking her face seemedoffensive on her pretty features, and he resisted wiping it away asshe stepped so close her arm brushed his. When she focused on thechildren, the swell of her power rippled against his skin.
“There’s nothing to see here,” she murmuredto them. “You heard nothing and saw nothing. You’re perfectlysafe.”
A glazed look came into the children’s eyesas Vicky used her power to change their memories and compel them todo what she commanded. At one time, this show of vampire powerwould have infuriated him. Hunters were immune to a vampire’s mindcontrol abilities, but he despised that they could do this toothers.
Now, he welcomed her calming these kids.
“Go on home now,” Vicky said.
The children leapt to their feet and racedup the stairs. Nathan watched them go before turning to her.“Duke?”
“Dead.”
He intended to find out who and what Dukehad turned her over to, but first, they had to clean up thismess.
CHAPTER 6
Vicky remained by the basement stairs tostop and change the memories of anyone else who might come toinvestigate. She listened for any hint of a distant siren, but allshe detected was the raised volume on a lot of TVs. Apparently, theresidents preferred going deaf over getting involved.
Nathan left the basement out the door theSavages used to enter. He returned a few minutes later and startedremoving the dead. It only took him half an hour to haul out thebodies, but Vicky’s nerves felt stretched tauter than a bowstringby the time he finished.
“I have to get the one in my apartment,” hetold her when he rejoined her at the bottom of the steps. “I’ll beright back.”
When he vanished from view, she crept up thestairs after him and stood in the dirty front hall. Only one timein her life had she ever felt this lonely, and then she’d been achained, vampire Happy Meal.
In the warehouse, she at least had hope herfamily would somehow find her, but now she had nothing.
These past seven months, she’d focused onone thing: killing Duke. She’d succeeded. He was dead; she shouldbe celebrating, yet somehow, she felt emptier than before. Herrevenge had propelled her every day. It kept her going through thenightmares, cold sweats, and flashbacks of her imprisonmenthaunting her days and nights.
What do I do now?She rubbed at thescar on her wrist as she contemplated a question she couldn’tanswer. She’d believed killing Duke would somehow cleanse her, butshe only felt… lost.
A creaking step drew her attention to Nathanas he stepped off the stairs leading up to his apartment and turnedthe corner toward her. Grim resolve had settled over his features,but he couldn’t hide his weariness or the bedsheet-enshrouded bodytossed over his shoulder.
“Did anyone see you?” she whispered.
“No.”
Vicky turned and led the way back into thebasement. Once off the stairs, she stepped aside to follow him overto the exit and outside. A dented and rusting pickup was parkednext to the door. Vicky cringed when she saw the bodies heaped intothe back like some death cart from the bubonic plague. All theyneeded was to start ringing a bell and calling for people to bringout their dead. In this neighborhood, they might get sometakers.
No one moved on the city streets, and ifsomeone did walk by the alley, the truck was positioned so the bedfaced a brick wall. Still, she felt antsy togetoutofthere.
The truck’s springs creaked when Nathantossed the body into the bed and walked to the cab of the pickup.Opening the driver’s door, he reached behind the seat and removed alarge, blue tarp. Nathan lifted himself into the bed, hooked thetarp to the latches there, and pulled the material across thebodies. So many vamps packed the truck that the tarp bowed up inthe middle, and he could see the perfect imprint of hands, faces,and legs.
With a sigh, he walked back to the truck,removed two more tarps and started stuffing them around the bodies,so it looked more like debris instead of corpses piled into theback. With his adrenaline and the thrill of the fight easing, hestarted to feel his bruises and exhaustion as he worked.
