Soulless (Book #2 of Hunted)

Feeding Time

"Unmute him," I commanded Phoebe. She looked at me like I was crazy.

"Why?" she asked. I stared at Zane and he glared back at me furiously.

"Please, Phoebe," I pleaded with her. She glanced at Zane and then back at me then nodded. She pointed her finger at him and he rushed forward as if to bite it off.

"Give him back his choice

Let us hear him scream

Give him back the voice

That haunts our ever dream"

She chanted like a full-blown Charmed One. Suddenly all the sound came rushing back. Horrible cries that conveyed one single message; 'I hate you all.' He fell to the ground with his arms wrapped around his midsection his savage screams of agony splintering my consciousness and nearly reducing me to tears. Then right before my eyes, he rolled onto his back, brought his arm to his face and sank his teeth right into his flesh. My jaw dropped open and I made a move toward him with a small shriek, but Phoebe snatched me back.

"Go get the blood," she reasoned hastily. I nodded and darted up the stairs as fast as my feet could carry me. I ran to the fridge, opened it, grabbed the duffle bag full of blood and then rushed back down to the basement.

I set the bag on the bottom step, unzipped it and grabbed one of the cold squishy blood bags. I saw Phoebe shudder out of the corner of my eye.

"Zane," I said. He was still chewing on his arm torn between drinking his own blood and biting the cuff off. "Zane," I said louder and I pitched the blood bag at him. It hit him in the chest and then flopped onto the ground. Phoebe gasped at what I had just done. I grinned as Zane ripped himself away from his arm and attacked the blood bag. It was like feeding a wild animal.

His teeth punctured the thin plastic bag and he jerked his head back tearing a portion of the plastic away. The blood spilled down his chin and neck to stain the collar of his shirt. Phoebe made a sound of revulsion in the back of her throat. I watched the bone deep bite on his arm heal as he drained the bag. He tossed the empty plastic skin away and growled at us low in his chest.

"You give him more, I'm gonna go upstairs and gouge my eyeballs out," Phoebe said as she started up the stairs. I made myself laugh.

"Not as sexy as on television is it?" I asked sarcastically. She groaned loudly in reply. I glanced at Zane crouched down close to the ground glaring at me like he would very much like to rip my face off with his teeth. I reached into the duffle and pulled out another pint of blood. I threw it at him and the process began again. Maybe if I watched it enough my brain would become desensitized.

About eight minutes and twelve pints of blood later I zipped up the duffle bag. I stood up and gathered the tattered plastic scraps that were beyond his reach and left the ones closest to him for fear of getting too close. I slung the duffle over my shoulder and started up the stairs. The traces of blood left on the plastic were sticky against my fingers.

I heard the chains rattle and I turned to see what he had done. He was standing now staring at me with his head cocked slightly to the side, his hands were still. Actually his whole body was disconcertingly still. His eyes were completely black and he wasn't blinking.

My brain went blank as I stared into his dark eyes. I didn't see the blood on his face or the basement around us I only saw his eyes. I felt the plastic fall out of my hand, I set the duffle on the bottom step, and I could feel my legs slowly carrying me towards Zane.

I didn't want to walk towards him. I wanted to go upstairs! Why was I moving towards him? I tried to stop but I couldn't make my legs listen to me. I kept moving until I was less than a foot in front of him. I tried to move back but I was stuck. He stepped forward to close the small space between us and hunched over so his face was level with mine and our noses were nearly touching.