Forever Touched (Touch of Vampire #5)

CHAPTER 26

26

ADALYN

I fell like a rock toward the unforgiving ground, the darkness lifting just enough for me to realize that I was screwed. The silk I normally wound around my leg to slow my descent was nowhere to be found. The crowd parted, believing the fall was an act. A part of my routine. I braced for the pain, wondering if this was how I would die. Broken by the place that had shattered my innocence, this time beyond repair.

It would be a terribly tragic ending.

I tried to will magic to my fingertips, one last pathetic attempt to save myself, but it wouldn’t obey me. I was helpless. Hopeless . Utterly alone in a dangerous world bent on destroying me.

But just as I was about to hit the ground, dark shadows embraced me. Shielded me. Saved me from my terrible fate.

In a blur, the shadows swept me away from the crowd. Familiar strong arms held me close, and I instinctively clung to them, to him as he carried me away from the crowd at vampire speed. Several startled gasps followed in our wake, Everett’s movements too fast for the humans to track. If we were lucky, they’d simply think I pulled off a miraculous disappearing act.

I didn’t know where he was taking me, but I didn’t care at the moment. All I cared about was being in his arms. In his presence. The only place that made me feel safe. The longer he held me, the more I felt like myself again. Like Adalyn.

Within seconds, Everett closed us inside a room. A storage closet, by the smell of it. The space was pitch black, but I didn’t ask him to turn on a light. I didn’t need it. He was here with me, and that’s all that mattered.

When he carefully set me on my feet and ran his hands down my arms as if to check for injury, I held still. I couldn’t see him, but I could feel him. He was upset. Angry. Afraid .

“You fell. You fell , Adalyn. Do you have any idea what it would do to me if you died? Do you have any idea how terrified I was?”

I didn’t respond, too overwhelmed by the fear pumping through our bond. He continued to run his hands over me, his touch firm yet achingly gentle. Tears came unbidden to my eyes.

“I thought I could let you do this, but I can’t,” he said, his voice noticeably trembling.

“Everett,” I whispered.

“No,” he fiercely said, reaching up to cup my face. “I have to protect you. Every cell in my body is demanding I take you away from this place. It’s going to kill you, Adalyn. This place will kill you.”

“Everett,” I tried again. “I can’t leave. You know I can’t. I have to see this through.”

He pressed his forehead to mine, the movement shifting our masks. As his scent surrounded me, I gripped his forearms and closed my eyes.

“I hate this,” he breathed, skating his thumb across my bottom lip. “Every molecule of my being hates that you’re in this place.”

“I hate it too,” I whispered back.

As our breath mingled, he kissed me. Softly at first, then with more urgency, clearly needing comfort as much as I did. I stood on tiptoe and kissed him back, knowing that this beautiful moment would have to end all too soon. He backed me against the door, and a thrill went through me as our bodies perfectly aligned .

The kiss became heated. Tongues and teeth clashed, our need for each other growing like a wildfire. I lifted up even more so I could suck his bottom lip into my mouth and thoroughly taste him, then greedily bit into the soft flesh.

When he violently shuddered against me, I did it again. He lowered his hands to grab my backside and grind me against him. Feeling how hard he was, I purred through our bond, Do you like it when I bite you?

As I continued to nibble on the flesh like he was my personal chew toy, he quietly groaned, I’m going to come in my pants if you keep doing that .

I was tempted to make him, but I’d already been away for too long. Heath and Mistress would have heard about my disappearance by now and had no doubt ordered the bouncers to search for me.

With a resigned sigh, I ended our blissful moment and forced myself to pull away.

“Everett,” I started.

“I know,” he replied, not needing me to finish.

We paused to catch our breaths and allow the arousal between us to settle.

And then he said, “I’ll let you go, but I’m not leaving. If I think you’re in danger, I’m coming for you again. And if anyone stands in my way, they’re dead.”

“Everett,” I began, but I didn’t know what to say. I hated that he was here, but I hated the thought of him leaving even more.

“You’re more important to me than anything, Adalyn. I’ll allow you to do your job, but I won’t tolerate you getting hurt. That’s all I can promise you.”

My heart fluttered, his words warming me like a blanket. A sudden need to protect him hit me, and I blurted before I could think better of it, “I’ll tell Mistress that I’m not feeling well tonight. If she thinks I’m too weak to perform, she’ll let me go home.”

His relief flooded our bond so swiftly that my knees almost buckled. “Oh, thank God,” he breathed and gathered me into his arms. He held me so tightly that it was nearly impossible to pull away.

But I did. I forced myself to leave our little closet bubble and face whatever came next. It wouldn’t be pretty, but I felt lighter, certain I’d made the right decision—for both of us.

Rocky found me a minute later. As he checked me over for injuries, he looked worried but didn’t say anything. A quick phone call had Mistress joining us soon after.

“What happened?” she demanded. “I received several reports that you fell and then disappeared.”

“I don’t know,” I replied, trying my best to appear dazed. “I must have passed out. When I came to, I was in a closet.”

Her gaze hardened as if she didn’t quite believe me. I tensed, certain she’d try to thrall me. Instead, she turned to Rocky and said, “Did you see any sign of Prince Everett tonight?”

My throat closed.

He opened his mouth, then slowly closed it and replied, “No, ma’am.”

“Well, keep a lookout. If you have even the slightest suspicion that he’s here, inform me immediately.” She whirled back to me and grabbed my arm. “Come. You need to get back out there.”

As she swept down the hallway with me in tow, I allowed myself to stumble a little. To show weakness . “I’m not . . . I’m not feeling very well, Mistress.”

“ Enough of this, Adalyn,” she snapped. “You have a job to do.”

When she continued to drag me forward, I tripped again, nearly falling to my knees .

Growling, she whipped around and yanked me upright by my hair. “You’re useless. Useless! ” she screamed in my face.

Pain shot through my scalp, and Everett’s voice immediately filled my head. Adalyn, what’s wrong? I can feel your pain. Adalyn! Screw this, I’m coming to get you .

No! I inwardly cried, struggling to keep my composure in the face of Mistress’s wrath. I can handle this. Please don’t let her see you .

He didn’t respond, but his silence said far more than words ever could. If I didn’t get this situation under control soon, he would make good on his earlier promise.

“I don’t know why I put up with you,” Mistress continued to rail at me, giving my head a shake. “Mortals are so weak and pathetic, always needing to be taken care of. You’re more trouble than you’re worth these days, Adalyn.”

“I’m sorry, Mistress,” I started, then had the balls to add, “I just need a little food and rest. Then I can—”

“Rocky!” she barked, releasing my hair with a disgusted curl of her lip. When the bouncer joined us once more, she shoved me toward him. “Return Star to her room. And make sure she gets some food .”

Tossing me one last glare, as if my body’s needs had just ruined her life, she angrily stormed down the hallway.

Rocky watched her go, then inclined his head for me to follow him. I quickly assured Everett that all was well, but I could still feel how upset he was. If my employers continued to manhandle me, I doubted he would stay away much longer.

When Rocky and I reached my new room, he wordlessly held the door open for me. Expecting him to leave just as silently, I was shocked when he paused to say, “My wife is mortal.”

I turned to face him. “She’s human? ”

He nodded. “I wanted to have children. We’re still trying.”

“Oh.” I understood enough about vampires to know that their females were barren. The king himself had chosen to marry humans instead of a Venturi female, his desire for heirs more important to him than having a queen by his side. Still, it took years, sometimes decades for a vampire to conceive a child. I gave Rocky a small smile. “Best of luck to you.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. Nodding, he simply replied, “I’ll get you some food.”

“Thanks,” I said. He really was nice for a bouncer. Too bad he worked for Mistress.

As he shut the door, I turned and started to pace. I’d just bought myself some time, but for how long? Mistress hadn’t sent me home, which meant that she still wanted me to work tonight. To entertain clients . They knew I was here, and a handful of them were already prepared to spend an hour with me this evening. Mistress would be livid if I forced her to turn them away again, but forcing myself to have sex with them was even worse. Much worse. The thought made me want to hurl my guts out.

I’d never enjoyed being a blood whore, but now that my feelings for Everett were growing, I downright hated the thought of being touched by any other male but him.

There was only one thing I could do. One thing I could live with. But doing it could ruin everything.

When Rocky returned with food, my stomach was tied into so many knots that I couldn’t eat. Even when I’d lost my virginity to Councilman Torres, I hadn’t felt this ill. I’d always managed to endure what needed to be done in order to survive this life, but things were different now. I was different.

The more time I spent with Everett, the more Adalyn came out from hiding. Star was cracking. Breaking . Even a mask couldn’t hide the real me anymore. And the real me couldn’t endure this place. She refused to.

It didn’t matter that I still owed the Faircrofts an insurmountable blood debt. It didn’t matter that I’d agreed to this job, that I’d accepted it in order to work off my indenture and seek revenge on the vampires responsible for my father’s death.

It didn’t matter, because this body wasn’t for sale anymore. This body was mine , and I would no longer give it to anyone undeserving.

As a new sense of resolve filled me, I stopped pacing to laugh. I laughed like a person unhinged, like someone who’d just discovered that their world was about to implode. Because it was. This dangerous world I lived in was about to shatter into a billion pieces. I could only hope that I didn’t shatter with it.

That moment came an hour later.

Mistress stormed back inside my room, and I slowly rose from the living room couch to face her. She took one look at me and froze. “What do you think you’re doing? You should be naked right now. And where’s your mask? Your first client will be here in ten minutes.”

I glanced down at my baggy jeans and threadbare sweater, then looked back up at her with a shrug. “Send them in. But this is all they’re going to see.”

Her eyes practically bugged out of her head. “This isn’t funny, Adalyn. Remove your clothes and get into the bedroom now .”

“Is that an order?” I dared to ask. “Are you forcing me to have sex?”

Her face turned beet red. “Of course not. You agreed to this job. You jumped at the chance when I offered it to you.”

I shrugged again. “Well, I’ve changed my mind. I can’t handle it anymore, so I’ve decided to quit. ”

Quit.

Quit.

Quit.

The word danced through the air, taunting her and damning me.

I’d done it. I’d finally uttered the words I should have said the moment my innocence had been stripped from me. The moment I’d realized that giving up my soul wasn’t worth surviving this life.

I felt intoxicated. Empowered . I was nowhere near free, but I was in complete control of this moment. I didn’t know how long Mistress stared at me, but I didn’t look away once. My normal submissiveness was nowhere to be found, and I refused to take back my condemning words.

This was it. My life or death moment. The moment I’d hidden from for the past six years.

But I was done hiding. I was finally ready to face it. Finally ready to put my foot down. Finally demanding I be treated as more than a slave. I might still be bound by a pactum to serve out my indenture, but I was done allowing vampires to abuse me.

From now on, I would fight back. I would no longer take it lying down.

The desperation that had driven me to accept this mistreatment was nowhere to be found. In its place was a strange sense of peace. A knowing that I’d done the right thing.

Mistress must have seen the change in me, because the anger in her eyes suddenly vanished. Sighing dejectedly, she said, “You’ve been through a lot this past week, Adalyn. I should have seen that you were reaching your breaking point. Mortals really are fragile things. I’m sure you’ll feel better after a little rest, then we can discuss your return to Dreamscape.”

As she turned to leave, I replied, “I won’t change my mind.” She froze in her tracks. “I won’t break the promises I made to you six years ago, but I can’t work off my debt this way anymore. You gave me a choice to become an exotic dancer and blood whore, and I’m choosing now to reject them.”

“Reject.” She spoke the word as if she’d never heard it before. “You choose to reject them. Are you also choosing to reject our mission?”

When I didn’t respond, she swept from the room without a word.

The door shut, sealing me inside with my chosen fate.