"Why."
It wasn't a question. It was a condemnation of her choice.
She swallowed, her mouth dry. "What do you mean why? Because we weren't happy without you. Because we want to help you. Because—"
"Because you wish to die?"
He stepped out of the crate fluidly, his duster swirling like black fog around his long legs. She didn't remember him being so tall. To look up at him she had to tilt her head back, baring her throat.
"We're not going to die," she told him, breathless with uncertainty and the fear she struggled not to feel. "We're going to help you get to Scar Tooth."
"Where you'll die," he growled softly.
She didn't know what he wanted from her. No, that wasn't true. He wanted her and Clay to turn around and leave him. But that just wasn't happening.
"Why are you afraid of us?" she demanded, going on the offensive even if it resulted in her throat being torn open. This vampire before her resembled little the Vellum with whom she and Clay had shared intimacies. This vampire was the alien creature she had found on the train. But she was convinced this was only one side of Vellum, that the Vellum she knew was in there and wanted to take control.
"The only one who should feel fear is you," he whispered.
His hand shot out before she could duck away, fisting in her hair at the back of her neck. She yelped as he cruelly yanked her head to the side, leaving her completely vulnerable to his attack.
"You came back for one thing," he said against the racing pulse in her neck. "You came back to die."
She shut her eyes. "We came back to love you, Vellum."
"Vampires know nothing of love."
She shuddered as the cold enamel covering his fangs pressed to her skin. Closing her eyes, she said, "You do, Vellum. You know love because you've felt it, too. You still do."
She gasped as twin points of fire pierced her skin.
"Looks like I was right about nightwalkers all along," she heard Clay drawl. "They're nothing but pasty-faced cowards."
Vellum froze against her, the tips of his fangs only barely embedded.
"Should have known as much, considering what you animals did to Janie."
Vellum snarled and thrust Mariel away so roughly that she stumbled. Fortunately, Clay was there to steady her. He held her tight to his side as he confronted the vampire.
"This mean you're admitting to being a monster?" he taunted.
Vellum's black eyes seemed soulless. "You'll die, Marshal, and I'll make certain that it's agony for you."
"Stop it!" Mariel shouted at him. "Just stop it! This isn't you. Why are you doing this?"
"Because he's scared witless," Clay said with a sneer. "He can't handle us, so he has to hide behind the mask of this thing." He guided Mariel behind him as he stepped toward Vellum. "I always knew I was the better man for her. Thank you for proving my point so clearly, nightwalker."
"I told you to call me a vampire," Vellum snarled.
He was fast, but Clay must have anticipated this, for although the vampire surged across the distance between them to grab the front of the Marshal's throat, Clay had his gun out and its barrel pressed to Vellum's temple at the same time.
"No!" Mariel cried out at the two males locked in stalemate. "Don't hurt each other. This isn't what any of us wants."
"Isn't it?" Clay gritted out. He coughed as Vellum tightened his fingers. Clay cocked his pistol. "Be a man, Vellum."
"I'm no man," the vampire purred, baring his fangs in a frightening parody of a smile.
"But you're ours," Mariel insisted. She couldn't stand this a moment longer. She dashed to the two males and wrapped her arms around Vellum from behind. With her arms locked tight around his chest and her cheek pressed to his shoulder, she murmured, "Please. Please come back to us. Remember what you had with us, what we made you feel. What we made you need."
"Mariel, get back, dammit!" Clay ordered.
"No," she said stubbornly. She rose up onto her toes and dared to press her lips to the back of Vellum's neck. "He doesn't want me to leave. Not truly." She pressed a kiss to his skin. "Isn't that right?"
From her position she couldn't see his face, nor Clay's, but she read the tension running through Vellum that kept every muscle in his body as rigid as stone.
"Mariel, I'm telling you to back off!" Clay tried again, genuine fear shading his voice.
Mariel hugged Vellum tighter. "Not until he's ours again."
"Jesus," Clay muttered. He cleared his throat and then, to Mariel's amazement, he eased back the cocking mechanism on his gun. "Listen, Vellum. I-I'm begging you, alright? She wants you. She's not happy without you. We—we both aren't. So put an end to this lunacy and act the way you did before. We gave up our life at Everton for this. For you, dammit."
Never had she imagined Clay begging Vellum to be their lover, but the plea had been made, and she felt its effects immediately in the body she continued to embrace.
"Yes," she urged as Vellum's muscles eased. "Please. We gave up everything for you. Because we want you."