Worlds Apart (Worlds Apart Vampire Romance, Book One)

by Emily Knight

The hounds of hell receded into the distance, but Peter could only focus on the path ahead. The bat sped through the branches and narrowly missed the wide tree trunks. Peter tucked and curved his body away from every near-miss.

  The thick clumps of trees thinned and Peter found he could relax his distorted body. The wind whistled past him and the ground flew by in patches of black and gray. He stretched out his arms and smiled as the world of shadows came up and receded, and was replaced by more of itself. He was flying as the crow flies, only minus the wings and the control. It was great,except for the occasional branch that slapped his face.

  The bat slowed until it glided over a particularly prickly patch of thorn bushes and set him down so he straddled a thick branch of an ancient tree. His pilot settled itself in front of him so they faced each other. Peter's heart beat loudly in his chest as he faced off against his rescuer. Its beady eyes stared back at his wide ones.

  He licked his lips. "Um, thanks for saving-" His words caught in his throat when the beast transformed. The wings stretched and thinned into slender arms, the tiny claws beneath itself lengthened to legs, and the body stretched to the proportions of a familiar young woman. In less than five seconds Peter found himself staring at the young woman of his dreams. He noticed her teeth were long and sharp, and her blue eyes sparkled in the starlight. The last word came out in a squeak. "-me."

  She smiled at him. "It was nothing."

  He leaned back and studied her pale person. "Wow. . ."

  The young woman shrugged and one hand grasped her opposite arm. She couldn't meet his eyes. "I know this looks bad, but it's not really as bad as you think it is."

  He swallowed the lump in his throat. "How bad is it?"

  She winced. "I'm-well, I'm not exactly normal."

  Peter raised an eyebrow and leaned toward her. "That stuff with your dad about vampires. You weren't joking, were you? You're really a vampire, aren't you?"

  The smile slipped from her lips and she hung her head. "Yes." She shut her eyes and tensed. The inevitable scream would come, and he'd plead for his life.

  Instead, she heard an excited squeal. She looked up to see his eyes shining and his mouth open in a wide smile.

  "That's so awesome!" Peter scooted closer to her and she scurried backward until her back hit the trunk. "So were you born this way or did your dad bite you? Is he really your dad? Are you really my age or do you just look young?

  She furrowed her brow and tilted her head to one side. "You're. . .you're not afraid of me?"

  He shrugged. "Should I be?"

  She opened her mouth and pointed at her long teeth. "I am a vampire, and we do drink blood."

  He flashed her a grin. "Yeah, but I don't think you're going to drink my blood. You could have done it in the park or at your house, but you didn't. In most of the movies that usually means you don't want to hurt me."

  She straightened and pursed her lips. "Maybe I didn't want to leave your body lying around where someone could find it." She grasped the tree branch and nodded down at the brush. "That would be a perfect spot for a body."

  He shook his head. "Maybe, but I still don't think you want to hurt me."

  She look at him with a quizzical expression on her face. "How can you be so sure of me?"

  "It's your eyes." He reached up and brushed away a loose strand of her dark hair. A light blush appeared on her cheeks and he smiled. "The first time I saw them I knew you weren't going to hurt me."

  A smile brightened her face. "I'm glad. I. . .I was afraid you'd be afraid of me, but-oh!" She reached out and brushed her hand against his cheek where lay a thin line of blood. "You're hurt."

  Peter reached up and pressed his fingers against the wound. He came away with a smudge of blood on his palm and shrugged. "I guess I got a little too close to-" The woman grabbed his hand and pulled it toward her. He stiffened as she opened his palm and studied the blood. His eyes flickered from her intense face to the red liquid. "A-are you okay?"

  She leaned down and licked his palm. He let out a strangled yelp and laugh, and yanked his hand from her grasp. She winced. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

  He snorted and shook his head. "You didn't hurt me. That just tickled." He tilted his head to one side and studied her face. "So how do I taste, anyway?"

  She smiled. The light from the clear night sky glistened off her sharp teeth. "Sweet."

  He cringed. "I was afraid of that."

  She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Don't be. I make sure to take my blood before I go to the park." She scooted closer to him and leaned close to him. "But you do taste better than the synthetic blood."

  He gave her a shaky smile. "That's-um, that's good. So-um, your dad has hell hounds?"

  The young woman sighed and leaned away from him before she gave a nod. "Yes, and they aren't trained for mercy."

  Peter grinned. "I thought as much, though I think they really wanted to make an intimate acquaintance with my legs."

  Her face fell and she shook her head. "They wouldn't have stopped there, and Dad won't be too pleased if he sees you again, either."

  "Is he a vampire, too?" Peter asked her.

  She nodded. "Yes, and I don't know what he'll do if he learns you're a human. We've-well, we've never had a human find the house before."

  He arched an eyebrow. "Not even in an airplane?"

  "No, there's-" she sighed and turned away. "Dad wouldn't really want me telling you everything about us. He doesn't really like humans. That is why we live where we live, and why he can't find out you're a human." She pursed her lips and gazed into his eyes. Her voice was soft, fearful. "He might kill you."

  Peter shrugged. "Why does he need to find out? I can just keep playing at being a vampire and he won't know the difference."

  The young woman bit her lower lip. "I suppose we could meet in the park tomorrow night."

  Peter smiled and grasped her hands. Her pale cheeks took on a rosier glow. "Great! Then I'll meet you at the park. How about where we met tonight at sundown?"

  Her bright smile shone on her face and she nodded. "That would be wonderful." She looked up at the stars and sighed. "But I guess I should go now." She slipped her hands from his and stared past him in the direction of her house. "Dad might find out I'm missing and come looking for me."

  Peter glanced down at the ground. "Um, before you go could you-" He pointed at the brambles and bushes beneath them.

  Her eyes widened. "Oh! Sorry! I'm so used to watching people from the branches that I forgot where we were. Here, let me get you back to the path." Peter watched in amazement as she transformed into her bat form and flew behind him. Her tiny claws grabbed his collar, and she pulled him off the branch and over the brambles toward the the path. The flight of the bat meant the half hour trip took only a few minutes, and she set Peter's feet on the firm ground of the dirt path.

  She settled on his shoulder and toothily smiled at him. "Until tomorrow night," she squeaked.

  He smiled back until he remembered one vital detail. "You know, I don't even know your name."

  She laughed. "I guess I forgot to tell you it. It's Anaro, but you can call me Ana."

  He furrowed his brow. "Anaro. That's a neat name."

  Ana opened her wings and flapped into the air. "My mother gave it to me, but I need to go. See you tomorrow!"

  He raised his hand above his head and waved to her. "Later!" he called back as she flew off into the night.

  Peter turned and, with a grin on his face, stepped lively down the path. He couldn't believe his luck finding a beautiful vampire girl who had eyes and claws for him. Now that the terror was over he was eager to experience the joy of flying, or at least being carried wherever she was willing to fly him. A million questions floated through his mind about his new vampire girlfriend and her anti-social father. It would be easy to avoid him so long as they stayed in the park. Nothing
could go wrong-

  Peter's thoughts were interrupted when his foot caught on something. He crashed head-first toward the ground, but he caught himself before he hit the dirt. Peter rolled over onto his back and stared at what caught his foot. His eyes widened when they fell on the pale face of another college student. In the light of the lamps he could clearly make out two distinct marks on the young man's throat. Peter gulped and sat up.

  "Damn. Things just got not-easy," he muttered.

  CHAPTER 5