Chapter 7 : The Other Side

*Rylan’s POV*

I licked Beth’s neck, making sure to heal the wound fully. She tasted like blood and sweat. It was a heady combination. Fuck, I hated this taste. I always hated the flavor of blood, and now it was all over my lips. But it was a necessity. I needed to close the wound, regardless of the metallic sensation filling my mouth and making me grimace.

A tap on my shoulder finally gave me some reprieve. I lifted my head and turned to Zed, rolling my eyes at his crossed arms.

“Here,” I said and handed the blood-filled needle to Zed, wiping my mouth on the back of my sleeve.

Despite what our little personal assistant thought, I didn’t lose control and bite her. This was all part of our plan.

“Are you able to have it tested to confirm that Beth is really Roger’s daughter? The police system should have stored Roger’s blood from when he was young. ”

Zed nodded. “I’ll try.”

He injected the blood from the needle into a test tube, which he then put into a police uniform pocket.

It should be easy for Zed, with his connections, to compare the two. Even though we knew Beth was Roger’s youngest daughter, we decided to test it to be on the safe side. Our plan was too important not to be thorough. We had already mistakenly kidnapped the wrong daughter. We couldn’t afford any other mishaps.

“Are you okay, Rylan?” he asked me.

“Yeah, I'm okay. I just really hate the taste…” I replied.

Zed huffed. “A vampire not liking the taste of blood? You’re an enigma, Rylan.”

“Sue me,” I muttered.

Just then, another pair of footsteps entered the room.

“Way to go, hot head, you almost ruined the plan,” Zed said to Daniel, who appeared from around the corner.

Zed was leaning against the door, unable to relax his proper stance. I was glad he was reprimanding Daniel. He usually listened to what he had to say. It was like a cop disciplining a kid, and as the leader and a quiet man, it was to be taken seriously when he spoke more than a few strung-together words.

Daniel's red hair matched his eyes, and his energy from almost attacking Beth hadn’t dissipated. He looked blood-crazed and amped up for a fight.

Zed wouldn't really hurt him, and we both knew it. Zed had always treated us like brothers, but Daniel needed to learn how to control his emotions, or he was going to get us in trouble.

“That…Beth is our enemy’s daughter!” Daniel exclaimed. “After everything her father did to us, why shouldn’t we be a little rough with her?!” His emotions were getting the best of him, like usual. “Besides, I was just trying to scare her,” the redhead shrugged nonchalantly. “You guys are too soft with her. She deserves the same kind of treatment we got and then some!”

I could feel the exhaustion settling over me like a blanket, an annoying, inconvenient blanket. The effects of her blood in my system were beginning to fade, and being tired after feeding was only another reminder of why we were doing this.

Why we had to use the female who I had rendered unconscious.

“I’m going back to sleep,” I yawned involuntarily. “Daniel, you can explain everything to her tomorrow.”

I nodded at Beth, who was strewn across the bed.

Daniel stuck out his tongue like the child he was. He wouldn’t wake me, though. He knew the consequences of doing so were severe.

“You guys think using her,” he jutted his chin at Beth, “will really avenge us?”

All three of us were silent. From the information we’d gathered, our enemy, Roger, didn’t even care about his youngest daughter, Beth. Zed had even heard from one of his contacts on the force that Roger hadn’t spoken to her ever since he got a divorce from Beth’s mother.

Zed had also heard that when Beth went to meet her father, he refused to see her, making his guards escort her off the premises. I, more than anyone, knew how cold that sicko could be, but to send your own daughter away? Now that was heartless.

Even so, we had to try, at least. This revenge plan was too important for all of us. Besides, I had a plan if it turned out that Beth wasn’t what we needed for revenge.

It would make Daniel happy, and when he was happy, we would also be happy. Because of our shared fate, we had always protected one another—but that was especially true for Daniel. We hoped that he would be so alive forever. Even with such hatred, we were not alone.

“If our little personal assistant is useless, we will give her to Daniel and let him torture her to his little heart's content,” I said, smiling at the thought. Having Roger’s daughter tied up in the basement and screaming was a compelling idea.

Daniel looked like I had gifted him the contents of a candy store with my plan. His red eyes glowed, and he gave Beth a hostile glance, looking ready to drag her down to the basement and get Plan B started as soon as possible.

Zed and I exchanged a look. We knew Daniel would tear her apart in seconds. Being the youngest of the three of us, he let his emotions get the best of him. Zed and I still hoped we could use Beth for revenge on her father, but Daniel was content with torturing the girl and draining her of her family’s dirty blood.

That would be enough for him to get even with our enemy. That wasn’t enough for me, though.

Zed and I played the long game. The one that’s more difficult to execute yet more satisfying in the end. We wanted to use Beth. To use her to get back at her father. Roger was too cunning. We needed all the leverage we could get.

After our attack at his company’s award ceremony, he knew we were looking for him. Roger was hiding, and Zed couldn’t find a trace of him. He was using his money and power to evade us. Even his precious company was handed over to his oldest daughter, Elisa.

He could run and hide, but we would find him in the end. Zed, Daniel, and I had worked too hard not to get back at him.

“I need to rest,” I sighed, the all-too-familiar sensation of fatigue almost knocked me over. “Don’t harm the girl,” I warned Daniel, glaring at him. He shrunk back from my stare. “At least, not until we say you can. Do you understand?”

My redhead comrade nodded and smiled at my words. No matter what, we would get our revenge. It just depended on how we would do it.

***

They were in my room again. Here to take advantage of me, to take away my childhood like they did every night. It was a cycle that never stopped. They came into my room and took what they wanted.

No matter how loud I screamed or how much I begged them to stop, the cruise ship was my prison, and if I could, I would drown myself to escape them. I would try to resist, but there was no point. I wouldn’t be taken advantage of willingly, though. I would fight until the last second to get their hands off me.

A hand was touching mine, but this skin felt different than the others, soft and warm. Then, I opened my eyes. I was not on that dammed cruise ship. I was no longer a child forced into unspeakable circumstances. I was in my room, in my bed. I had killed all those monsters long ago.

I wasn’t back in that awful place with those awful people. It had been a dream. A memory my subconscious played while I was sleeping. Nothing more. I was ok.

But then, who the hell was on top of me? Who dared to interrupt my precious sleep?

My initial reaction was to strangle whoever it was. I wrapped my hands around their throat without looking at the trespasser's face. Ow! Whoever was on top of me bit me! They bit me hard! The moonlight from my window washed over the intruder’s face. Could it be? Our little personal assistant had snuck into my room.

Beth’s pale face hovered above me. She was straddling me, her white, creamy thighs on either side of my waist. Her expression was odd. I had never seen her look so assertive, so sly. She was now a woman who was sure of herself and knew what she wanted. So what was she doing in my room? What brought all this confidence on?

Why was she sitting on top of me? I thought she was afraid of us.

Beth was stroking my face. It felt good. She looked sexy, even in her plain clothes. Her new attitude shocked me. She was acting strange and didn’t seem like herself. I should put an end to this, right? Besides, I wasn’t in the mood to play with our little assistant after my nightmare.

“Beth, you’re breaking the rules. You aren’t allowed to be in here. You know that. Go back to your room and go to sleep. You need rest almost as much as I do,” I said.

She didn’t answer me. Instead, she began kissing my neck. Her soft lips felt like feathers against my skin. It felt…good. She sure knew how to make someone confused.

Oh well. If I wasn’t allowed to kill her, I could at least have a little fun if she was willing. I kissed her back, my tongue sliding into her hot little mouth. Damn, Roger’s daughter was a good kisser. Her lips tasted like the cherry chapstick we kept in all the guest bathrooms. The little minx has been through our things.

Her tongue battled with mine for dominance, and I allowed her to win. I was, after all, humoring her. She rolled her hips and gripped my biceps. After we made out for a while, she became increasingly bold and impatient.

I allowed her to take off my cotton shirt. How far was I going to let this go? Beth ran her hands down my abs, a sexy grin on her face and a naughty glint in her eyes. She shifted her hips and bit my collarbone.

Wow. How was I ever going to stop this if it felt this good?

This woman was insatiable. Her hair was wild, brown, and loose. She seemed completely different from the woman I had previously interacted with. She spent a few moments tracing my six-pack, up and down, her hands soft yet firm.

When she tried to remove my sweatpants with her teeth, I decided she had enough fun for one night. I needed more sleep than the average person to function, and she was interrupting me. I had no choice but to pull away from her and put my clothes back on.

While I was doing this, she pouted on the bed, watching me dress. I leaned down and captured her lips for one more soft kiss. After I pulled away from her, I whispered in her ear, wanting to remind her who was in charge.

“I should have wrung your neck, sneaking into my room like that when you know you’re not allowed. But what happened here I will remember and will ask for it in the future. I hope you don’t go to the wrong room next time, sweetheart.”

My warning made her shiver. Good. I hoped she was scared. We had our fun, but what happened here couldn’t happen again. She was related to my number one enemy. She was nothing more than a ploy, something for us to use.

I picked her up and carried her downstairs, back to her room. I deposited her on the bed and told her to behave and go to sleep. I made sure to lock her in her room so that she couldn’t escape again. I walked back upstairs, muttering about crazy women. I got back into my bed, but the exhaustion didn’t settle over me like it usually did.

It surprised me that I missed having that crazy female in bed with me. I couldn’t get her face out of my mind, the feeling of her soft skin, the way her brown hair fell around her shoulders, the curve of her breasts.

She was beautiful in an underrated sort of way. Even though she had triggered a horrible memory, I enjoyed my time with her. How strange. I shook my head to stop thinking of my enemy’s daughter.

She was only a means to an end—a way to get back at the man who wronged me, who wronged Zed and Daniel.

And he was going to pay.