The Black Dagger Brotherhood_ An Insider's Guide - J. R. Ward [117]
As the sun sets, Wrath calls for Marissa. She arrives in the chamber, pleased that he’s reached out for her because he’s obviously disturbed. On Wrath’s side, his mind is consumed by Beth. He’s worried that she’s out in the city without him, he can’t get the memories of making love to her out of his mind, and he’s petrified of her coming transition. Marissa offers him her wrist but, as Wrath closes his eyes, he sees Beth. In a surge of remembered passion, he goes for Marissa’s neck.
Marissa feels him take her in her artery and she’s shocked. His body is fully aroused as he drags her against him. This is what she’s always waited for and she grabs onto his shoulders, reaching into his mind with hers. She gets a vivid image of the female he’s thinking of and her heart breaks. She finally lets her hope go. She knows that he will never, ever feel this way about her. A tear slips from her eye as he drinks.
Across town, Mr. X sets out in search of another prostitute to use as bait to catch a vampire. This time, he’s brought a net with him that’s strung with silver cording. He kills another woman in an alley, leaving her to bleed out. When a vampire comes by, he traps the male in the net. Mr. X walks over and shoot several darts into the male. When the vampire loses consciousness, Mr. X drags him over to his car and drives him out into the country where Mr. X lives.
Beth walks back to her apartment to pick up some clothes and checks her messages. Butch has called her several times and she’d also heard at work that he’d been trying to find her. She gets him on his cell phone. He tells her to say put because he’s coming over. She’s waiting for him when her stomach starts feeling nauseous. She pops a couple of TUMS but the feeling just gets worse.
Wrath finishes with Marissa, and when he pulls back, she tells him that she’s releasing him of their covenant. He takes her hands in his and tells her he’s sorry. She murmurs that they were a bad match from the beginning. He vows to always protect her but she tells him that she’ll find someone else to do that. She dematerializes.
Wrath goes upstairs and the warrior brothers come to him. While Wrath was with Beth the night before, they were watching the martial arts academy. They noticed a steady stream of lessers going in and out at three a.m. and believe that it is the center.
Meanwhile, Butch arrives at Beth’s apartment and buzzes the intercom. When she doesn’t answer, he goes around to the back. Through the glass door, he sees her laying face down on the floor, curled in a ball. He breaks the glass of a window with the butt of his gun and goes inside. She’s writhing in pain. He starts to call 911 when she stops him. She gives him an address and begs him to take her there. He tells her he’s not taking her anywhere but an emergency room. She grips his arm and drags his face close to hers. She tells him if he wants her to live, he has to take her to Wrath. It all becomes clear to Butch. Wrath has gotten Beth hooked on heroin and she’s in withdrawal. If he takes her to an ER, she could die if she can’t get the drug. He picks her up in his arms and carries her to his car. Driving like a bat out of hell, he goes to Darius’s house.
Wrath and the brothers are in the drawing room when they hear a pounding on the door. Drawing their weapons, they go over in a group. Wrath opens the door. Butch barges inside with Beth in his arms. Wrath takes her from him as the brothers watch in astonishment. He carries her as if she is utterly precious and disappears into the drawing room.
Across town, Marissa has returned to her room and crawls into her bed. When her brother comes up later, in hopes of bringing her out to a party, he looks in horror at the fresh wounds on her neck and the bruising of her pale skin. Havers is consumed with rage at Wrath. He goes into his laboratory, convinced he has to do