---

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ENDER
When we reach the airport, a member of the local Vampire Related Crimes unit meets us at the car with clothes for us to change into, as the blood-soaked ones might attract some attention. I’m immediately wary of the woman, but Mads is ready to be best friends with her.
“So lovely to meet you, Detective Baran, right?” Mads says as he hurries out of the car to greet her once we’ve discreetly changed inside the car. The woman’s smile widens, and it lights up her entire face like this is the meet-cute she’s been waiting her whole life for.
“Yes, but call me Katherine! I am so excited that I can help both of you. You two look like you’ve been through hell and back.”
“We have,” Mads says. “But everything is better now.”
And while I assume he means now that we’re at the airport heading back to where we were before a psychopath abducted us, she acts like he means now that we’re in her presence, and it annoys me.
Katherine pats his shoulder as I look away and wonder when we’re going to start getting the hell out of here and stop this nonsensical flirting.
“This way. Do either of you have any belongings?” she asks.
“I didn’t even have any shoes! I had to steal them off a guy!” Mads tells her, which she finds hilarious.
“Oh, that’s too funny!” she says as she smacks his shoulder before setting a hand on his back and guiding him over to the door in case he’s never opened a door before. Maybe he doesn’t even know what a door is. Maybe he’s become incapable of stepping in front of the device that opens automatically without her guidance. Maybe she thinks he’s like the vampires of folklore who have no reflection so the automatic door opener wouldn’t work for him and will only work once she guides him to it.
“Fucking hell,” I grumble.
She looks back at me and evidently doesn’t like my tone because her face scrunches up before she goes back to staring at Mads.
“We’re in a bit of a hurry,” I say.
“Your flight isn’t for another two hours,” she assures me. I feel like she takes great joy in doing so. “But don’t worry, I’ll stay with you the whole time.”
I grimace. “You really don’t have to.”
“I do. I promised DeGray I’d get you on safely. And I will definitely not break my promise.”
After we’re given a bit of time in the bathroom to try our best to clean up, we rejoin her.
She just yammers on and on while we walk, and I catch myself staring at her throat as I think about what it’d be like to sink my fangs into it. But those thoughts have me shifting away from her and over to Mads. I’m not sure why when it doesn’t matter whose blood I take, I just want to take some. But more than anything, I want the sweet taste of Mads⁠—
I quickly look away. I improved after whatever Mads injected me with, but it doesn’t mean I’ve fully recovered. What little blood of his that I kept taking went right into making sure I was alive, so my body is convinced I’m absolutely starving. I just need to fight it a little bit longer.
“Let’s get you some blood. I’m sure that’ll perk you right up,” Katherine says, and I hope she hasn’t noticed me fixating on throats. It’s one thing to be fixating on the throats of humans, but if she notices the way I’m craving vampire blood it could give my identity away. “But first, security!”
She hurries us over to a private area, flashes her badge, and then talks to a vampire she seems to know. All I know is that the vampire’s vein is distractingly close to the surface of his skin. He tilts his head back as he laughs at something she says. And then Mads is laughing and I’m just standing here staring at their throats and envisioning what it’d be like to taste them. But my eyes stray back to Mads. I can practically taste his blood, having sampled it many times now, and I really want to shove him against the wall and⁠—
“Hey,” Mads says as he reaches back to me, snapping me out of whatever the fuck that was. Do I really need to shove him against the wall to feed from him? I’m pretty sure wall shoving is not needed to drink some blood. “They need some information from you.”
My wariness immediately spikes. I knew I shouldn’t trust the VRC. Why would I? Why would they give a shit what happens to me? And Finn let Alexei, the one who rightfully wants to murder me, set it all up.
I’m not sure if Mads notices the way I tense or what, but his hand slips around my wrist, tightening enough that if I tried to flee, I’d have to drag him after me and in my current state, I feel like I wouldn’t get overly far.
“The VRC got your ID sent through, you just have to look this over and sign here,” Mads says as I glance down and see that my “ID” was forged.
Did the VRC keep my identity secret even from this group? I haven’t offered my name to the woman and don’t plan to.
As soon as I sign the name on the document, they lead us over to the metal detector.
“I will say that he was shot with some type of ammunition that left pellets or shards in his shoulder, so I bet that’ll go off, and I bet it’d be really neat if you let me watch so when I dissect him later, I’ll know where to remove them,” Mads says.
“Oh, are you a doctor?” Katherine asks, interest piqued.
“No… not at all,” Mads replies, not bothering to explain any more than that. Even knowing that the man she’s in love with likes dicing into bodies doesn’t deter her.
“That’s fascinating,” she says.
Is it? Is it?
Concerning should be the only real response here.
Once we get through the scan, she hurries us off to a restaurant. Like… can’t we just grab some synthetic blood and then wait at our terminal in misery? But nope, we must sip it out of wine glasses and socialize, which is the very last thing I’d ever choose to do.
Katherine smiles at Mads. “I wish you guys had come up here for something more fun.”
“The abduction did put a damper on things but there were fun moments, for sure!” Mads says, which is questionable. I don’t remember any of these “fun moments,” but it’s also become clear to me that Mads is strange… and has a really bitable neck.
Fuck.
I tear my eyes away from him and stare at my hands as the lady talks and talks and Mads laughs, and then she laughs.
“Boy, oh boy. Sure taking them a while for that blood. You think they’re having to catch a person and drain them first? Ha ha…” Mads sounds a bit delirious with that last part.
“I’m sure it’ll be out shortly.”
The waiter finally brings the blood. “Here we go!” he says as he starts to give it to Katherine, but Mads snatches it up. At first, I think he’s trying to be gentlemanly and guide it to her, but instead, he tips that glass back and chugs it while the waiter stares at him, hand still outstretched like he’s holding an invisible glass.
Realizing what he’s done, Mads hesitates and wipes a drop of blood off his lips. “Uh… do you… possibly… have more of this in like… a pint?”
“You want… you want a pint of blood?” he asks as he slowly sets down the other glasses between Katherine and me. I can already see Mads eyeing them.
“I will also take a pitcher if you have it. Really… any… large, hefty container will do. Even if it’s in like a saucepan, I can make it work. Thank you.”
The waiter stares at him for a long moment before nodding. “A bucket of blood. Okay…”
Mads turns to me. “You?”
“No, I’m good,” I say, repulsed by the smell of it. Even so, I lift it to my lips and try not to recoil when I taste it. It won’t hurt me, but it also does little to help me. It generally just makes me feel unwell to drink human blood, but if it’s the only option, I have little choice.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think about you being so thirsty,” Katherine apologizes as she slides her glass over. “Would you like some more while you wait?”
“No! No! I really couldn’t drink yours,” he says while downing it. Like how can he even pretend he’s not interested as he licks the glass like a dog trying to get the very last crumb out of their bowl?
I take one more sip of mine and find that I can’t stomach the stuff, so I slide it over to Mads who now has a glass in each hand. Maybe it’ll make him stop licking the glass.
“Oh, I really couldn’t. Thanks, but I really couldn’t,” he says, even though my glass is already gone as well.
“You’re not thirsty?” Katherine asks me.
I’m fucking ravenous. I’m starving, but the only thing I could easily eat is sitting next to me, and he’s over here starved and deprived of blood because of me. “No, I’m fine.”
Mads stops licking the wineglass long enough to give me a concerned look which I promptly ignore.
“You really are okay?” he asks.
“I’m fine.”
“I’ll share my jug with you when I get it,” he assures me.
“I love your accent. Where are you from?” Katherine asks him.
“I’m currently working in the council out of London. I have this cute little apartment that overlooks the river.”
The waiter returns with a large glass of blood which Mads eagerly takes even though he looks disappointed that it’s not quite a bucket.
“You sure you don’t want more?” Mads asks, offering up some of the glass he’s treasuring.
“No,” I say as he manages to slide the glass near me, which seems to take a lot of effort on his part when he obviously wants to down it all himself, but my eyes are too fixated on his throat. I quickly stand up. “I’m going to go check the terminal. Make sure everything is on time.”
“Katherine would get an alert on her phone if it wasn’t,” Mads assures me.
I notice she isn’t planning on stopping me, which is more than fine with me. They can flirt to their hearts’ content; I’m going to go find someplace to cool my head… somewhere very far away from Mads’s throat.
Once I figure out the direction of the terminal, I begin walking.
A group of women walk past, laughing and eager for their trip. My eyes lock on the vampire in the group as I’m drawn after her. Just… a little taste. Maybe if I explain myself, I could take just a little taste…
Fuck.
With a start, I realize I’d been following them. Hastily turning around, I slam into another vampire and jerk back.
“Sorry,” he mutters, barely looking up. I bet he’d taste…
No, no. Nope.
I hurry over to a little alcove with vending machines and push myself back into the corner where I can’t stare at the vampires moving past. I’m just going to become friends with this vending machine…
And then what? Get stuck on a plane with vampires packed around me?
Why did I get burdened with this curse? This inability to keep complete control over myself is going to ruin me. I hear footsteps and tense, prepared to flee to another spot, when I discover they sound quite familiar.
“Is there something secretive back here?” Mads taunts as he moves closer to me. That smile is on his face and his rich blue eyes are watching me closely. He finally has some color to his cheeks from the blood he’s consumed, and I’m over here wanting to take it from him.
“No, stay away from me,” I snap.
“Why would I do that?” he asks as he walks up until he’s mere inches from me, boxing me in.
I twist my head, trying not to breathe him in. “Stop. If someone saw us… people would question things. If she caught us… she could fuck this whole thing up. And I’m not draining you again. You’re struggling to recover as it is.”
“I’ve consumed enough blood to feed a small village. I think I’ll be fine,” Mads murmurs as he drapes his arms around my neck. “I heard I taste delicious.”
“Stop,” I say as I try to push him back, but when he refuses, I find myself pressing my face against his neck. It’s like I’m hypnotized by this man, and I have no idea why. My brain is telling me that I need to stay closed off, that I need to keep him as far away from me as I can. I’ve always been able to do it before. I’ve always been able to drive a huge wedge between me and anyone who might want to be close to me, but Mads is proving hard to do that with.
“I can’t keep draining you. I’ll find someone else.”
“What if I don’t want you to find someone else? What if that’ll make me jealous?”
I scoff. “Why the fuck would you be jealous?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” he asks as he presses a finger under my chin.
“Go back to flirting with that woman and leave me in my corner where it’s nice and peaceful.”
“Well, that’s foolish. Why would I flirt with her when I have you? Or… wait… don’t tell me you were jealous.” The look of delight on his face sours my mood. What nonsense is this man spouting?
“I will drain you and leave you here to fly alone,” I threaten as I try my best to force myself to walk away. All I have to do is walk away and then get on a plane packed with vampires full of blood and go home. All while this man sits close to me, leg brushing mine, hand trailing… fuck.
My eyes drift up to his as he watches me closely. Not wanting to deal with that knowing look, my eyes trail down to his lips and then to his neck and back up again. What the hell am I even doing thinking about any part of this? And why do I stand so still when he leans in and nips my neck? His sharp fangs barely catch the skin of my throat, but the way he nicks it makes me shiver.
“It’s just a drink,” he says. “It’s not a marriage proposal.”
“Knowing you, that’ll come next.”
Mads chuckles as he licks the spot he’d bitten. The way his tongue drifts over my throat sets me on edge. The only issue is that I should be pulling away, not turning my neck to give him more. And why would I even do that? Out of some sick twisted fantasy of a normal life? Because I’ve deprived myself of touch for so long? Or just because I’m fucking ravenous and the desire that comes with that is twisting my thoughts around?
“It’s just a little nibble,” he coaxes.
“You should be the one convincing me not to,” I mumble as I’m hypnotized by the way his fingers glide up my neck and over the spot he’d nipped.
“Maybe I like to live dangerously.”
“Maybe you just want to use me to take care of this nightmare of yours,” I say.
He hesitates, hand stopping its ascent, and I realize that I’m right. This was all just another ploy to use me. Unlike Abel, who used torture and psychological abuse to get me to do what he wanted, this man wants to use something much more intimate. It’s nowhere near as bad, so why am I still so pissed about it? Why does it infuriate me like this? I shouldn’t give a shit what he wants.
“Why would you say that?” Mads asks as he grabs my face. “I guess that even though hanging out with each other in a psychopath’s den made me feel like I know you quite well, at the end of the day, we really don’t know each other as much as I’d hoped. But I wish you knew me well enough to know that I wouldn’t do that to you. Stop trying to make everyone out to be monsters. Can’t you just trust someone until they prove otherwise? It seems like everyone you meet, you want to make yourself out to be the bad guy so they all hate you and then you don’t have to deal with them. You don’t have to worry about liking them if you or the person you’re interacting with is a ‘monster.’”
His eyes hold mine and I realize that I just don’t have an answer. I’m not sure if I ever will. He doesn’t understand that there’s absolutely no use in trusting anyone when they’re all out to destroy you.
“I will feed off you but nothing else.”
His teasing and alluring gestures seem to have fallen by the wayside. “Fine, fine.”
“After we return home, we go our separate ways.”
Mads sighs as he reaches up and pushes my hair out of my face. “Can we be pen pals, at least? That sounds fun. I’ll tell you everything I do for the day. ‘On this fifth day of the third month of this grand year of the snake, I decided to see why my neighbor was so irritating. Oddly enough, the issue was not determined via dissection.’”
I try not to laugh and find it surprisingly hard to do. “Why are you always wanting to dissect people? You should have gone into a different field.”
The smile he gives me overrides the disappointed look he’d worn earlier. “I’m teasing, I’m teasing.”
“With your skills of chemistry, why wouldn’t you become like a drug lord or something instead?”
He gasps. “Can you imagine me as a drug lord?”
“No one would take you seriously.”
“I’d have the best drugs around.”
“You sound proud and that’s something you shouldn’t be proud of.”
“I… understand that. I tease, I tease. Now suck me, Daddy.”
I press a hand against his face and push him into the side of the vending machine as I decide I will simply starve to death.
Mads laughs as he grabs me so he can spin me around to push me against the wall. “I guess you’re more of a great-great-great-grandpa instead of a Daddy, aren’t you?”
“I think you’re delirious, and now I’m going to drain you in the hope it silences you.”
He just laughs again, but as I press my lips close to his throat, he offers it up without hesitation. How can he still be so trusting after I nearly killed him? How can he still deal with me when I do everything I can to drive him away? And why do I find it harder and harder each time?
My fangs break through his skin as my arm slides around his waist and the sweet taste of his blood touches my tongue. I don’t realize I’m exuding an aura that’s washing over him until he moans while he clutches me. I can feel his cock pressed against mine as he sinks into my arms. My hand is itching to slide under his shirt and down into his pants to grab his ass in my palm. I want to feel him, touch him, fuck him… be fucked by him. The blood is clouding my mind, driving me to a point I promised I’d never let myself go. It’s lucky that tucked back here, no one walking by can see us because my hand wanders up his shirt, exploring his skin. I want more but I can’t take it here, I can’t take it now.
Drawing back is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I slide my fangs free and run my tongue over the blood, which makes him shiver. I start to pull back but he presses me against the wall and licks the blood off my lips. Then he kisses me, but I can’t kiss him back. It’s already bad enough that Abel wants him. What happens if I do kiss him? What happens when I’m forced to kill him like I did my own brother? What happens when Abel finds out and knows how to destroy what’s left of me?
I want just a taste.
But I spend too long dreading what would come of this if I failed to kill Abel, and Mads pulls back before I can get more. He doesn’t seem as torn up about my lack of response as I assumed he’d be. Instead, he just smiles at me, gives me a wink, and turns.
“Come on now. Katherine was just asking about my whole life story. You definitely don’t want to miss it.” The grin he throws back at me is so cocky that I find myself trailing after him. It’s like I can’t even keep my thoughts straight when this man is around. Half of me is kicking myself in the ass for not kissing him back, and the other half wants to leave him stranded at the airport so I don’t have to think about him being killed. Maybe I’ll come back and collect him when this is all over… if I’m still alive, that is.
When we return, Katherine is all smiles. “You guys were gone a while; I was starting to get worried.”
“Sorry about that,” Mads says.
Before I even get to sit, the phone in my pocket begins to ring, and when I pull it out, I see that it’s Finn.
“Hello?”
“Are you alone?” Finn asks.
“I’m at the table with the person you sent to collect us and Mads.”
“Rylee wants to speak to you, but she said it’s super important that only you can hear. Do you have a minute?”
I look up, aware that they can hear what Finn is saying without me saying anything more. “I’ll be right back,” I tell them before I head out to the main area. At least now I can walk around without looking at everyone like I might eat them. “I’m alone now. What’s going on?”
“Just… wanted to ask what Mads might have said about some of the UK vampires who’ve come from the council. There’s a vampire named Vivian who has just arrived. Another UK council member called Arrington has informed us that she is the one who gave approval to get him changed into a vampire. It seems… odd. According to the other members, there was no discussion, she pushed his change through without any other permission.”
“That you know of,” I say. “There are more members on the council than you’re aware of, Finn. Abel was the creator of the council, and he did so to take control of the vampires. From the outside, it appears that Abel is no longer part of the council. He was supposedly removed a hundred years ago by council vote after he started purging vampires.”
Marcus speaks up. “How would we not know any of this?”
“Why the hell would the council ever let anyone know that they were the reason that many vampires died?” I ask.
“So Abel created the council?” Marcus asks.
“Yes, to gain control and put himself at the head of the vampires. I don’t know Watson’s position. I’d met him many times when I was young, but he never took a head position.”
“You said you were involved?”
“Involved, yes. Willingly? No. Abel was forcing me to do… things for him. Anyway, after Abel was driven out, I’m confident that he left many of his people spread throughout the council. Addison was likely one of them. This Vivian could be as well, but I don’t recognize the name. Can you send me a picture of her? Try to make it one where she’s not the central focus so Mads doesn’t see if I have to open it near him.”
“Sure, I’ll try to find a discreet one. Do you think Mads is working with Abel?”
“With him? No. Abel was prepared to torture Mads to get what he wanted.”
“You’re sure it wasn’t all a farce to get you to trust him?” Marcus asks.
I don’t know why it irritates me that he’s acting like Mads is the bad guy here when I also didn’t trust Mads at the beginning. “Mads isn’t involved with Abel. I believe he’s just getting caught up in shit he should never have been involved in.”
“But that still doesn’t explain why he’s so important to Abel that he risked the life of many of his own people to get him,” Marcus says. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“The plane will be leaving shortly. Hopefully you can send the picture before we take off. Is there anything else?”
“Ender, I’m aware you need help with this,” Finn says. “But many of the members of the VRC aren’t overly fond of you and neither is the council. Everywhere you go, you’ve made enemies. Just… be careful what you say or do; we can only protect you so much. It’s hard to forgive what you did to Claude, but I’m also aware you saved my life.”
“For his own gain,” Marcus grumbles.
“I understand that. But we all really love Rylee, and she seems to think you’re a damn good guy, Ender. Don’t make her out to be a liar.”
“I’ll never claim to be a good guy. But I will do whatever it takes to keep Rylee happy.”
“If you touch Finn or Claude or any of my people again, I will tear your head off your body and then rip you apart piece by piece. Do you understand? I will tear your skin apart. I will⁠—”
“Hon, I think he gets it. Do you get it, Ender?”
“No, I’m sorry, I got a bit confused there. Why would you remove my head before my limbs? Wouldn’t you want to torture me first? I mean, what fun is ripping skin off a dead body? At that point you seem less heroic and more like a serial killer.”
“The second you’re out of that plane, I’m throwing you so fucking hard back into it,” Marcus snarls.
“You two! Let’s be civil. We can do it! Yay!”
“Fuck you, Ender,” Marcus snaps before ending the call.
I feel like that call went quite well, so I slip my phone in my pocket and head over to find that Katherine is all alone. The last thing I want to do is sit at the table and stare at her, but she notices me and it’s too late to turn the other way.
“Where’s Mads?”
“Right here, right here,” Mads says as he hurries up behind me. “Don’t fret, I didn’t go too far. I just wanted to wash my fingers. I got a little messy.”
“Doing what?” I ask.
Mads just smiles at me as I suspiciously stare at him. “Let’s go to the terminal, eh? I grabbed a book as well. One for you too, if you want it. It’s one of my favorites. I’m sure you’ll love it.”
Katherine follows us to the terminal even though I really wish she wouldn’t, and when we sit down, she chooses the seat next to Mads. I try to choose a seat with a different family, but Mads pulls me down next to him.
“How long are you staying in the States?” Katherine asks Mads.
“I don’t know. As long as I need to, I suppose. What do you think?” he asks as he leans into me. “How long do you want me to stay?”
He sets his hand on my thigh, and I glance down at it. I’m not sure if this is more flirtation or if this is him trying to get her off the idea that he’s up for grabs.
“For the rest of my life,” I say, quite dryly.
Mads laughs and grabs my head before kissing the side of my forehead.
And when they begin loading the plane, he thanks Katherine and hurries me onto the plane with a hand on my back.
“She can’t see us anymore, you can stop being so touchy-feely,” I tell him.
“Well, that’s no fun,” he says, but I notice his hand doesn’t stray and I find myself leaving it there.
We get on the plane, and he waves me toward the window seat. I’m definitely not going to complain because I’d prefer not to be stuffed next to a stranger. Mads sits down and hands me a book he insists I’ll love before he opens the book he’d bought for himself. He gets one page down before he slowly leans toward me. I glance at him as he tries to pretend he’s asleep when he sets his head on my shoulder.
I stare at him for a moment as I debate what to do with this. But apparently, I take too long to decide because he’s already fast asleep.