Bad Taste (Part II) // Colby Brock

221 - Colby

"Huh?" Tara replied, stopping everything she'd been doing—which was just making her captor hold on a little tighter since she was thrashing. She hadn't made a difference, so I didn't know why she wasn't just conserving her energy.

Julian completely ignored Tara anyway, watching Rebecca with narrowed eyes as he held onto Katrina in her compromising position. There were tears staining her cheeks already and falling to the floor or onto her thin pale pink shirt. She'd stopped fighting a while ago now.

"You don't mean that," Julian said. "I know you don't. You're in love with him." He nodded his head at me, glaring as if I'd had any say in this either. I hadn't at first, but I supposed Julian wanted me to find some miracle way of avoiding my One just so he could have his obsession.

"I'm not doing this for myself," Rebecca pointed out. I noticed that she was staring particularly at Katrina rather than Julian, like she was making sure she was alive. "I'm doing this for her. She's human, her mind can be manipulated. You let her go and I come willingly." She hesitated. "Maybe I'll even like it."

My stomach churned at the sound of that, my fists clenching, but I knew I had to keep quiet and out of the way in this. We didn't have a chance of winning unless we played along a little.

"Say you are telling the truth," Julian murmured, "then what're you expecting to happen to the rest of your friends, even if we let this one go?"

"I don't know," Rebecca admitted.

"Would you be happy with them dying?"

"Not really." She glanced backward at all of our friends being held back, me as the only one who was still free because the vampires were too scared to attack. When she met my eyes, she held it for a moment, both of us relishing in the present.

"If we make this deal, I'll only be letting this human go, Rebecca," Julian warned. "Not any of the rest of them. Not Colby." Rebecca's legs visibly tensed. "You're going to stand by and be okay with that?"

"I'll have to be," she said.

"Okay." Julian, without warning, threw Katrina as hard as he could to the side, causing her to crash into the wall. She hit her head, putting a dent just beside the already residing hole, then fell to the floor groaning. Hayley, the closest vampire to her, walked over and picked her up.

Wordlessly, she pulled Katrina into the same hold the rest of the vampires had on my clan. Emily walked to her to guard, too—not that Katrina could ever overpower one vampire, let alone two.

"Come here, Rebecca," Julian demanded. She hesitated but started walking anyway, making her way to the middle of the room. "I wish I could trust you but I don't. I'm going to have to search you for weapons."

Rebecca scoffed. "I literally have one in my hand."

"Then drop it before you come any closer."

She stopped, dropped the stake in her hand to the ground, then tugged the dagger I'd gotten her from her belt and dropped that, too. Julian seemed to continue staring like he knew she had more, so she reluctantly reached into her boot to grab the last stake. It hit the floor with a clatter and rolled.

"I will still search you when you get to me," Julian announced. "Come."

Rebecca made the last couple of steps and Julian latched onto her immediately. He gave her a pat down, starting with her shoulders then drifting down her sides and her legs. When he'd gotten to her ankles, he stood up to spin her around and started again.

Her eyes were on mine as she let him touch her, but the second he touched too close to her ass, she flung her leg back to kick him, sending him across the room.