The twins, Ezra and Erik, are our enforcement. They are the vampires in this area that no one fucks with. They're also like brothers to me. I doubt that even if Ravana called them they would ever hurt me. But I don't want to bring them into this yet.
"I don't understand what you're saying. She's human, Kane. We can't mate with humans. You're supposed to mate with a vampire. That's the only thing that will keep us immortal. We share our venom with our mate and that bond is what keeps both of us from dying. How can you possibly mate to a human?"
"I don't know, but I feel it." I place my hand on my chest and step towards her. "I've never felt this. Not even before I was created. But I know it just like I know the moment the sun sets every day. She is my mate."
"You've lost your mind." Ravana shakes her head and goes back to typing on her phone.
I let out a sound of frustration and turn away from her. Just then I hear a car pull up outside. "Who's here?" I say, more to myself than to her.
"It's a cab. I called it for the human," Ravana says, not looking up from her phone.
"No," I say and begin to walk towards the library. A strong arm reaches out and grabs my shoulder. Only another vampire would have the strength to stop me. "Get your hand off me or I'll break it in half."
"Kane, don't do this. If you try to keep her, I'll have to stop you."
I turn around and get close to her. She's tall, but not as big as me. But she's got enough strength that it would be a fight.
"If you try to keep her from me, I won't be sorry for what I have to do to get you out of my way."
"I'm trying to protect you, brother," she says softly, and I realize that I'm shaking with rage. How have I become so undone? "Can you not hear her heartbeat? She's terrified. Let her go, Kane."
A low sound begins to bubble up my throat and I shake my head as I close my eyes tightly. I don't want to hear what she has to say. In the distance there's a knock on the door—the cab driver.
"Listen to me," Ravana says and grabs my arms. "If you keep her from leaving, you're going to scare her even more. Be calm."
My throat is tight just at the thought of her not being with me, and everything inside me is begging to rush back in there and hold her until she's not afraid anymore.
I hear two sets of footsteps at the back of the house and panic hits me. "You called the twins?" I say. I've been betrayed by my own sister.
I struggle in her hold, and just as I break free Ezra and Erik come down the long hallway and grab me. It takes the both of them to carry me into the other room, and one of them covers my mouth so I can't call for Juliet. I kick and fight as Ezra tries to calm me, but I'm not listening to his words. I watch as Ravana gives me a sympathetic look and walks towards the library as the twins carry me away. I stop fighting long enough to listen to Ravana tell Juliet that she's called her a cab and that she's free to go home.
"Oh, thank you." I hear rustling like she's taking the blanket off of her. "Can I tell Kane goodbye? I'd like to say thank you."
"I'm sorry, that won't be possible," is all that Ravana says back to her.
Their footsteps echo down the hall and to the front of the house. I begin to struggle even more, now knowing that she's going to leave and I might not ever be able to see her again. I punch and kick as the twins take me to the floor, and I scream out into the darkness that my mate is being ripped from me.
"Goodbye," I hear Ravana say as the door of the cab closes, and the sound of a car driving away makes everything inside me go numb.
I give up fighting then and lie limp on the floor.
"What have you done?" I moan softly as pain like nothing I've ever felt before slices through me. It feels like I'm being ripped in half.
JULIET's POV
As the taxi pulls away, I look back at the big iron gate. A stone lodges deep in my stomach and I can't explain why.
"Where to, miss?" the driver asks, and I turn to look at him.
I ramble off the address for the sorority house. I should probably go back there and let them know I'm okay. I sigh, dropping my head back and closing my eyes. They probably aren't even wondering where I am, but better safe than sorry on the off chance they actually do call the cops or something. The heaviness in my stomach grows into an ache as the car speeds away. The image of Kane on his knees flashes before my eyes. His breath against my arm. I still don't know what his face fully looks like, and I guess now I'll never know.
It was clear his sister wanted me gone. I'd been surprised when he said it was his sister because the look on her face when she saw the two of us together was deadly. She wanted me out of there and made it happen fast. How have I gone from wanting to leave that place to being disappointed that I'm leaving? God, my head is a mess.
I groan when we pull up to the sorority house and I see the party is in full swing. I fish out some money and give it to the taxi driver. I don't want to go inside right now, but I need to get this over with.
When I enter the house I have to push my way through bodies. I look around to see if I recognize anyone so I can tell them I'm back and get the heck out of here.
I gasp when beer is spilled down the front of my shirt. "Shit, sorry." My eyes trail up a football jersey until they reach Brock Johnson's face. Brock's the quarterback for our school. I only know who he is because the girls around here talk about him as if he's a god. Don't get me wrong, he's handsome and all, but he's got asshole written all over him. I'd know. When you grow up like I did, you learn to pick them out in a crowd.
He goes to wipe at the spilled beer on my shirt, but I swat his hand away before it can make contract with my breast.
"Don't touch me," I say through clenched teeth, not wanting to draw attention.
"You're Juliet, aren't you?" he asks as he drops his hand away.
I try and take a step back from him, only to run into someone else. The house is so packed I can barely move. God, I hate crowds. It makes me anxious when I don't have a clear path of where I'm going.
"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.