Blood Song

by Lynda Hilburn

  Chapter 7

  “Alexander!” Ethan bolted off the couch and stood before the visitor. He spotted Nelson standing behind the Master and glared at his friend.

  Nelson mouthed “I’m sorry” before lowering his gaze.

  Obviously Nelson had followed him to Grace’s studio and reported his whereabouts to Alexander. Ethan thought he should be outraged at the vampire with whom he’d shared so many years of servitude, but he couldn’t summon any anger, because he knew how damaged and frightened Nelson was. The lost soul simply never had the strength to defy the Master, no matter how much he hated his undead existence.

  “It appears we have a doomed love affair in progress,” the sandpaper-edged voice boomed again. Towering over everyone, Alexander stalked up to within an inch of Ethan’s face, his long silver hair flowing down his body like liquid mercury, an evil grin stretching his lips. He bent his head and locked his black gaze onto Ethan’s. “You know the rules, silly boy. Now I have the pleasure of draining your plaything dry and making an example of you for the rest of my slaves.”

  The menacing vampire glided over to Grace, exposing his long, sharp fangs. Quick like a snake, he bent, lifted her arm and bit her, making loud sucking sounds as he drank her blood.

  Before Ethan could even think about coming to her rescue, Grace screamed. The razor-sharp, high-pitched sound bounced off the walls and crawled over his skin like sonic bugs.

  All the vampires in the room began to tear at their ears and wail. Alexander retracted his dripping fangs, and jerked upright. Howling, he covered his ears as blood oozed from his nose and eyes. “What is this witchcraft?” He pulled his hands away. They were covered with thick, red liquid.

  “Master, save us!” the servants pleaded as they panicked and rushed toward him, bleeding from every opening.

  Grace took a breath and sang out another, even more lethal tone.

  Chills raced up and down Ethan’s body. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Blood was oozing from the pores of the slaves’ skin. Holy hell. Her voice really is a weapon! He expected his head to explode any second.

  Alexander rubbed the blood from his nose and mouth and roared, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but I know how to stop you.” He swung his fist and hit her hard on the side of the head above her ear. “Shut the fuck up!”

  She fell back against the cushions, unconscious.

  All the vampire minions froze, silent.

  Ethan started to move toward Grace, but then thought better of it. He knew she was still alive. It was best to keep quiet, to drop off the master’s radar. He couldn’t afford the luxury of showing a reaction to the violence.

  Alexander straightened, pulled a rag from the pocket of his robe, and wiped at the blood crusting on his chin and dripping down his hair. “Leave it to you, rebellious servant, to find a human who can bleed you with her voice. What freaks you both are.” He looked Grace up and down. “But she is quite fetching for a mortal woman. I can’t fault your taste. Of course I’ll taste her very soon.” He gave an evil grin. “And I’ll make sure to rip out her tongue first so we don’t have a repeat performance.” His dark eyes narrowed and he beckoned several vampires with a slight twitch of two fingers. “Quickly now. It’s near dawn. Take them to the lair. We’ll have a full gathering tonight. It’s been too long since I made an example of a slave.”

  One of the blood-covered lackeys lifted Grace into his arms and trotted out the back door. Another came for Ethan, who was tempted to fight, but didn’t want to let on that he hadn’t been entranced. He’d waited for the usual spaced-out feeling he got whenever Alexander put the vampo-whammy on him, but it hadn’t come. It didn’t take long for him to connect his new immunity to being a half-thing, thanks to Grace. Since he had no idea what he was capable of now—or how long the changes would last—he continued to act as if he were in an altered state. He’d seen ample evidence of vampires being hypnotized by the brutal master, so he knew how to play it. He let his mouth hang open and his eyelids droop. He wasn’t worried about Alexander seeing through his pretense. As powerful as the short-tempered Master was, he had his limits. Ethan discovered years earlier that Alexander lacked any ability to intuit or perceive beyond his normal vampire senses, which surprised Ethan because he’d believed everyone could use imagination and will-force like him.

  Barely cracking an eyelid, he tracked their progress toward the lair.

  By the time they got to the hideaway there was a subtle shift in the Eastern sky, which was no longer pitch black, but now indigo blue. Dawn would arrive soon. Ethan braced himself for the claustrophobic sensation—he wasn’t sure if it was more like drowning or having huge boulders layered on his chest—that preceded his daily sunrise death.

  Over a century ago, Alexander seized an abandoned hospital in the foothills west of the city. The dilapidated place used to be a sanitarium for humans with tuberculosis and other contagious diseases. Back in the day, one of its selling points was access to nearby hot springs, and only the rich could afford to take the cure. The site had been abandoned when half the resident patients died within a three-month period from unexplained causes.

  What a coincidence the vampires moved in about the same time.

  The city eventually discovered the toxic level of minerals in the hot springs caused more problems than they cured, so the area was fenced off and the property condemned.

  Still feigning unconsciousness, Ethan studied all the vampires, noticing they’d begun to slow, their footsteps labored and unsteady. It was during this time, right before sunrise, when all vampires looked like zombies. That’s probably where the horror tales about the brain-eating cadavers originated from to begin with.

  “Take them to the lowest sub-basement,” Alexander ordered. “We’ll continue the festivities when I rise.” He strode around the corner of the building and Ethan heard a door slam.

  The two vampires carrying Grace and Ethan stumbled down several staircases and pushed through squeaky double doors leading to a windowless expanse filled with rusted medical equipment. Several inches of putrid water, left over from the last flood, covered the floor. Body parts floated in the foul liquid. It smelled like mildew, blood, disembowelment and death.

  “End of the line.” The vampire carrying Grace dropped her onto a stained metal table covered in rat droppings. Her head hit with a thud.

  “For you, too,” said the other vampire as he shoved Ethan onto the top of a large shelf. “I’d hate to be in your shoes, mate. Have fun down here, but don’t drink her. Alexander has dibs.”

  Ethan kept his eyes closed until the laughing vampires shuffled up the stairs.

  “Grace,” he stage-whispered as he jumped down from the shelf and waded to the other side of the room. “Wake up!” There were no windows, so he couldn’t actually see the subtle light shift outside, but he felt it. He didn’t know how much time he had to rescue Grace before he collapsed facedown into the shit pond. It was amazing he’d been able to stay conscious this long.

  He stared down at her closed eyes and saw jerky eye movements under her lids. Was she dreaming? Wherever she was had to be better than the reality she’d face when she woke up. It wasn’t going to be pretty. He sniffed the thick, noxious air. Even though his sense of smell was a hundred times more sensitive than a human’s, the odors weren’t as horrible for him since he was used to them. Grace wasn’t. “Grace! We’ve got to make a plan.” He patted her cheeks with no response.

  Tempted to grab her and make a run for it up the stairs, he forced himself to keep trying to rouse her instead. He couldn’t imagine what would happen if he dropped her in the slime when his vampiric spark extinguished for the day. He stilled for a moment, trying to sense the familiar vibration given off by nearby bloodsuckers, the faint buzz he barely heard anymore unless he paid close attention. Nothing. Maybe they were too far underground.

  “Come on, Grace. You have to walk on your own.” He pulled her into a sitting position, and gently shook her shoulders. Her head bob
bed back and forth like her neck bones had dissolved. Damn Alexander for hitting her so hard. Wondering if his trance skills would work on her if he held her lids open and stared into her eyes, he moved closer. Holding the sides of her head between his hands, he used his thumbs to pry up the lids and locked eyeballs with her. “Grace! It’s time to wake up. You gotta do what Ethan, the angel from your dream, is telling you.” He kissed her forehead.

  For an instant, he thought he saw a muscle twitch in her cheek. “Yeah! That’s it. Come on back.” He waited. Nothing. “Well, shit! Now’s a good time for you to be your amazing self. Hey, Amazing Grace. That’s you!” Without thinking he started singing, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was a bloodsucking vampire but now I don’t know what the fuck I am...”

  One of her eyes opened. Then the other. She coughed and blinked several times.

  “Ethan? I hear your voice, but I can’t see you. I don’t think those are the right words to that song.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I’ve got a major headache. That asshole hit me!”

  “He did.”

  Sniffing, she blinked a few more times. “Where are we? It smells so horrible in here. Did the sewer back up?”

  He fished in his pocket for the old lighter he always carried, a remnant of his former life. He justified keeping it by figuring he’d be prepared the next time he came across some quality weed. Of course pot had no effect on the undead, but it was a good excuse. He flicked the flame to life, hoping there wasn’t any gas to ignite, and held it near his face so she could see him. “This place is way worse than any sewer.”

  Trembling, she pulled him in for a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here. Who were those men who broke into my studio?”

  “That was master vampire Alexander. My boss, I guess. Or more like my owner.”

  “Your owner? He had a very odd energy. His aura was missing. No life force.”

  “No surprise there, since he’s a vampire—a dead thing. Are you ready to accept that now?”

  “Since I’ve never seen a live person without an energy field, I can admit he isn’t a normal person.”

  “Are you saying you didn’t notice I don’t have one, either? I’m as dead as he is. Or at least I was before I met you.”

  “You do have an aura. It’s not as brightly colored as most people’s and it has a different shape, but it’s there. I noticed it right away when you talked to me after the sound circle.”

  “No shit? I guess that’s something else you’ve done to me. But we’ve got bigger problems right now.” He lifted her into his arms so she wouldn’t have to walk through the toxic sludge pooled around his feet. “I need to get you out of here before they realize I wasn’t zapped by Alexander’s eyeball hypnosis.” He sloshed through the chunky water, hoping he’d be able to stay conscious at least long enough to point her in the right direction.

  Halfway up the third staircase, he thought it odd that he hadn’t encountered anyone yet, or even heard them, for that matter. When he reached the top of the fourth set of stairs, he froze, confronting a sight he never expected to see again. Something he never would’ve believed. Light. Grey, overcast light, but actual daylight. He almost dropped her in his shock. Stunned and trembling, his dead heart pounding, he stared out the broken doorway toward the eastern horizon and the beautiful sunrise in progress. How could this be? He looked down at Grace who was staring up at him.

  “What’s wrong, Ethan? You’re shaking. And you’re holding me so tightly I can barely breathe.”

  “Sorry.” He released her and moved closer to the door. “This is the first sunrise I’ve seen in four decades.” Moisture gathered in his eyes and a lone tear trailed down his cheek. “Even if I melt five minutes from now, I’m a happy dead dude.”

  She took his hand. “I still don’t know whether you’re crazy or you really are a bloodsucking creature like Alexander, but I’m grateful to you for getting me out of there. Can we leave now?”

  Leave? Go out into the sun? All vampires knew that was certain death. “I can’t leave, Grace. You know the myth about vampires bursting into flames in the sun?”

  She nodded.

  “It’s not a myth. It’s true. Watch.” He steeled himself, anticipating the coming pain, and stuck his arm out through the doorway, expecting to see smoke and smell burning flesh. He had to show her the truth of his reality, even if it destroyed him.

  Resolved to die with dignity he waited, and felt... nothing.

  “What the fuck?” He thrust out the other arm.

  “Ethan, what if you aren’t a vampire and never were? Maybe they captured you and you got confused. Brainwashed. Did you have a recent head injury, or –”

  He dropped his arms and stared at her, frowning. “I know what I was. I don’t understand. Not only did I not die at sunrise, but I’m not frying in the light. It’s you. You really changed me. But into what I have no frickin’ clue.”

  “But, isn’t this good news? If I did have something to do with healing your condition, aren’t you glad?”

  He pressed his lips together and strode out the door.

  “Ethan! Where are you going?” Grace followed and caught up to him on a patch of dead grass a few feet away.

  “I had to see if my body would explode if I came outside. Apparently—at least for the moment—I’m fireproof.” Tears overflowed his eyes again, and he raised his face up toward the sun. “I don’t get it.” He choked, his voice thick with emotion. “I should be truly dead. This can’t be happening.” He blinked, and then looked at Grace. “How is this possible?”

  “I don’t know, Ethan.” She took his hand. “If you really were a vampire, maybe it was a mutation—something abnormal. If that’s the case, then it could be healed like anything else, right?”

  He lifted her arm and studied the fang holes and dried blood then met her eyes. “I’ve got to find out if I still crave blood. I promise I won’t hurt you.” Before she could answer or figure out what he intended to do, Ethan extended his fangs and sank them into the wounds Alexander had made in Grace’s skin.

  She gasped and tried to pull back. “Ethan, stop! No!”

  He held tight while she kept fighting, and sucked for a few seconds, before he retracted his fangs and let go.

  Eyes wide, Grace jumped away, rubbing her arm.

  Ethan felt bad about scaring her, but he had to know. “I still like blood. It tastes good to me. For a second I was tempted to take a lot more from you, but I was able to control myself. That’s definitely new for me.” He scanned the horizon. “I don’t know if I’m disappointed or relieved that blood is still my Happy Meal. I didn’t die at dawn, and I’m standing in the sun. What the fuck am I?” He shifted his frightened gaze to her as his knees went out from under him and he dropped like a stone onto the grass.

  Maybe I’m having an LSD flashback and none of this is real. Yeah. That’s it. I’m lost in a brain chemical nightmare. But vampires don’t have flashbacks and nightmares...

  Grace stood silently, staring down at him, an annoyed expression on her face. “You bit me.” She glanced down at the holes he’d opened in her arm, which were still bleeding.

  “I know. I’m sorry.” But not totally sorry. You taste great. Ethan sat up and held out his hand. “Give me your arm and I’ll make the wounds disappear.”

  She stepped further away. “No thank you. I can heal myself.” Her stern tone of voice made it clear she wouldn’t be his snack again anytime soon.

  His gaze drifted to the sky. Watching the sun rise was a surreal experience. Who—or what—was he now? As much as he’d hated his brutal life as a vampire, at least he knew what he was and what was expected of him. Now he’d awakened into a new landscape, one he didn’t have a road map for.

  “Ethan?”

  He snapped out of his daydream and looked up at Grace, trying to focus on her words. “Yeah?”

  “I’m going to walk home now. I need food and a shower a
nd at least twenty-four hours sleep. After that maybe I can begin to grasp the notion that vampires exist. And why my voice didn’t kill you.”

  “What?” He jumped up. “Wait, no! You can’t go home.”

  Grace’s brows rose, her expression tensed. “Why not? Are you going to keep me prisoner so you can drink my blood?” She backed up a few steps.

  “Of course not, but there’s a much bigger threat than me.”

  “What are you talking about? The bad guys are asleep in their coffins, or wherever they go to die during the day. We’re safe.”

  “No. We’re not.” Ethan shoved his hands in his pockets and paced in a circle, deep in thought for several seconds. “As soon as they wake up, they’ll go to your studio to find us. If we’re not there, Nelson knows the general area where your house is because he was with me when the newbie attacked you. Alexander will smell you. They’re not going to give up on the bloody ritual they planned.”

  Watching Grace, Ethan saw the exact moment she figured out how much trouble they were in.

  “Oh, my God, Ethan!” She wrapped her arms around herself. “We’ll have to leave until they forget about us. Come on. I need to go home and pack.” She started walking, and he grabbed the back of her shirt. “Hey!” She spun to face him.

  “You don’t get it. They’ll never forget about us. They have nothing better to do. Vampires live for situations like this. They have eternity to plot revenge and think of new ways to amuse themselves. We’ll have to...” He stopped before saying the words he couldn’t believe he was thinking. The ramifications of his plan caused his stomach to churn.

  “Have to what?”

  “Destroy them.” A wave of panic flashed through his body, and he trembled, light-headed with the intensity of it. But after saying the words out loud, he knew they were true. It was clear what he had to do. Grace would only be free of them if Alexander and his entire coven perished. And since the only ways vampires could be killed were by cutting off their heads and burning them, or by direct sunlight, his task was clear.

  But that meant Nelson had to die, too.

  Anxiety and fear twisted his gut. Ethan didn’t know if he could kill his friend, even though Nelson hated being a vampire and wanted nothing more than to escape in whatever way he could. He’d tried to kill himself many times since they’d met. Nelson had gotten very creative about his suicide attempts, but he hadn’t had the courage to walk into the sunlight.

  Maybe destroying him would be a mercy.

  “There’s no other solution.” Ethan locked his gaze on Grace’s. “We have to go back into the building and destroy them all.” He hurried through the doorway and started down the stairs, knowing Alexander and his minions could be found in one of the regular basement levels, the bunker, they called it, in honor of one of Alexander’s heroes, Adolf Hitler.

  Ethan had spent years in a cardboard box down there, so he knew the territory.

  “Are you serious?” Grace asked, panting from trying to catch up, disbelief dripping from her voice. “What are we going to do? Find an ax and chop their heads off? Or maybe pull them out into the sun.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I was kidding! That’s insane. We’re not murderers.”

  “How can we murder something that’s already dead?”

  She frowned and pursed her lips. “Well, regardless. How many are there, anyway? Ten? Twenty? Fifty?”

  “Boulder’s pretty small, and it can’t sustain as many vampires as a bigger city, so there are only about thirty servants here in addition to Alexander.”

  “Only thirty? How are we supposed to handle thirty bodies? I can’t believe I just said that.”

  “One at a time. Come on, let’s go. Daylight’s wasting.” He still wasn’t convinced he wouldn’t collapse at the worst possible moment. “We have to find Alexander first because they all obey him.”

  Ethan led the way to the unflooded basement level where he’d lived.

  “What are all these big cardboard boxes for?” Grace moved to the nearest one, lifted the flap on the side then jumped back. “What the hell? Somebody’s in there.” She held her nose. “And they smell bad. Like soiled underwear and blood.”

  “That’s what a dead—well, dead for the day—vampire smells like.”

  “Eww. If you’re a vampire, why don’t you smell like that?”

  “Beats me. I’m sure I did before. Quite the olfactory treat, eh?” He hurried down the center of the space and pointed off to the left. “There’s a separate area back here where Alexander stays.” He waited for Grace to join him. She nervously shifted her eyes from side to side as she passed through what he thought of as the vampire version of a trailer park.

  They walked into the alcove and discovered a huge stone sarcophagus, etched with Egyptian hieroglyphics and surrounded by statues of demons. Drained human bodies were stacked against a wall.

  “Holy shit. He was a sicker fuck than I thought.”

  Grace audibly gulped and ran her fingers over the lid before trying to lift it. “This thing weighs a ton. We’ll never get it off. I hope you have a Plan B. Or C.”

  Ethan grimaced. “Let’s see if anything beyond craving blood remains of my former existence.” He pushed against the heavy cover, and it slid to the side with ease. “Yes! I’ve still got my super strength. What a deal.” He pushed again and the lid crashed to the ground, the sound echoed through the cavernous basement.

  They both startled from the noise then looked down at Alexander, who lay naked, bloody and dead.

  “Oh. My. God.” Grace pressed her hand against her chest and nodded toward the collection of bodies. “Did he kill all those people?”

  “And thousands more throughout his long life. So, if you’re feeling squeamish about ending him, keep those murders in mind.” He studied her pale, sweaty face. “Are you sure you’re up for this? I could do it alone. You can wait for me outside.”

  “Part of me really wants to bolt out the door and keep on running, but you’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking. Of course, he won’t forget us. I want to help.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s get it over with.”

  “Okay.” Ethan reached in and grabbed Alexander’s limp form from the stone coffin. He half expected the Master to open his eyes and attack with his lethal fangs. But there was no movement at all. “Come on. I’m going to stand at the outside door and throw him into the light. I don’t personally know what happens to a vampire in the sun. Alexander used to threaten us with frying in the sun, but he never gave any specifics. It’s all urban legend. I hope something happens.”

  “But how could you not know? I mean, it’s in every vampire movie...”

  “Yeah, well, don’t believe everything you see or read. And besides, Alexander was a control freak. Our lives—if that’s what you want to call them—were pretty limited. Come on. Let’s go.” No way I’m telling her the truth about my life. She’d be disgusted.

  Grace followed him up the flights of stairs to the main entrance. “This is really creepy, Ethan. Now I’ll have more horrible memories to add to the stash I’ve already got.”

  “Yeah. I’m sorry about that. Truly. If I hadn’t come across you the other night, you’d never know vampires exist and you wouldn’t be afraid for your life. But this is the hand we were dealt and we need to play it.”

  He stood in the doorway, looking out at the sun shining on the sidewalk and then at his former master. “Bon voyage, Alexander. Don’t forget to write.” Tensing, he held his breath as he tossed his boss’s body onto the cement. The corpse hit the ground and immediately burst into flames, like turning on a gas grill. Ethan backed away and watched the long strands of silver hair crackle like Fourth of July sparklers. After burning white-hot for a few seconds, nothing remained of the body except a scorch mark and a scattering of ashes which moved with the breeze.

  “Shit! It’s true. Vampires really do fry in the sun. And fucking fast!” He stuck his arm out again as he had earlier. Nothing happened.
He turned to Grace. “But apparently not me. Maybe I’ll never be able to explain what changed, and for all I know the more time I spend with you, the more I’ll morph into something other, but I’m glad to have the chance to rid the town of a cancer it didn’t know it had. Who would’ve thought? Ethan James, Super Hero.”

  “And Grace Blackburn!” She struck a Wonder Woman pose.

  “Of course!” He hugged her. “Let’s get started.” He wanted to keep busy. Eventually he’d have to deal with all the emotions he’d repressed. But not now.

  They ran down the stairs and stood by the first cardboard box and lifted the side flap. “Here’s the fastest way to do this: you pull the vampires out of the boxes, and I’ll haul them upstairs and toss them out the door.”

  “Really?” She wiped her hands on her shirt. “I have to pull them out of the boxes? I’m strong, but not that strong.”

  “You’d be surprised how skinny most of us are. Many of us were barely getting by when we were turned. We’re easy to drag.”

  “But what if they have cooties? It isn’t very clean down here.”

  “Cooties, Grace? Really?” Is this experience messing with her mind more than I thought?

  She shook herself like a dog in the rain. “Okay, okay. I’ll pull them as close to the stairs as I can.”

  “Let’s do a few together to get things started.” He couldn’t imagine how hideous this entire day had been for Grace. She’d been remarkably calm in the face of absurdity and horror.

  They went from box to box and dragged the occupants out into the center of the room. “All right. I’ll take a couple up. You keep bringing more.”

  Eventually, Ethan saw Grace walking toward the last two boxes and called out, “Grace, wait!” He caught up with her in time to reach into an empty box and retrieve an acoustic guitar. “This is my box and my stuff.” He stood still for a few seconds.

  “What’s wrong, Ethan?”

  “It just occurred to me that I have no home. Nowhere to go. I lived with Alexander for almost half a century.”

  She slid her arm around him. “You can stay with me while you figure things out. Don’t worry.”

  “Thanks.” He gave her a quick kiss, then strode to the last box and squatted down. “This is Nelson’s box. Something smells different here. I’ve been dreading this.” He lifted the flap and pulled Nelson out by his feet. Headless. “What the fuck?” Ethan crawled into the box and came out carrying the severed head.

  She gasped. “Oh, no!”

  “Nelson.” Ethan stared at his decapitated friend. He clenched his teeth together, his jaw so tight he couldn’t speak. Overwhelmed with rage at Alexander and sadness for his best friend, he fought the urge to cry. His gut churned with grief and the need for revenge. He’d kept his emotions in check for so many years, he didn’t know what would happen if he let them out. He trembled with the effort to hold back the feelings—to keep himself together. Nelson had been a true friend, something Ethan had little experience with. He’d never felt such a loss. Hold on, hold on, hold on.

  He lifted both parts of Nelson into his arms and moved toward the stairway. “Come on.” He sniffled and cleared his throat. “I’ll give him to the sun. I guess I should be grateful that Alexander was a monster until the end. He must have punished Nelson for not coming forward sooner. Or some other lunatic thing he made up on the spur of the moment.”

  They moved silently through the basement and up the flights of stairs until they reached the doorway.

  Pausing, Ethan looked down at the head of his friend. “I love you, man. I wouldn’t have made it all those years alone. I’ll never forget you, Nelson. Never. I’ll make it right.”

  He launched the head and the body onto the scorched sidewalk and watched them ignite. Finally, tears rolled down his cheeks.

  Grace wrapped her arms around his waist and crooned softly. “I’m so sorry, Ethan.”

  After a few minutes, Ethan wiped his eyes and turned his gaze to her. “I’m going to make one more trip, to be sure we got them all. I’ll be right back.” Needing a minute to collect himself, he bolted down the stairs, testing his vampire speed, which was apparently still in operation, and quickly returned. “Okay. All clear.”

  Grace yawned and stretched. “I’m so glad that’s over. Let’s go to my place and clean up. We both smell horrible.” She retrieved Ethan’s guitar he’d leaned against the wall and walked outside. Stepping carefully around the ashes, she stopped, looking over her shoulder. “Hey, aren’t you coming?”

  He’d frozen in the doorway. “It’s not over.”

  “What do you mean? You said we got them all.”

  “Yeah. We got them all here. But I forgot about Mordecai.”

  “Who’s Mordecai? Another one of your vampire friends?”

  “Not even close.” His lips pressed into a tight line. “He’s another master, even worse than Alexander. He moved to Boulder a few months ago and started his own vampire-making factory. There are mindless newbies wandering all over the city killing humans and leaving bodies for the mortal authorities to find. He made the moron who attacked you. We’ve got to find his lair while it’s still daylight, and drag their carcasses into the light, too.”

  Grace backed away slowly, staring with her mouth open. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear the part about dragging more carcasses.” She set his guitar on the grass. “This has gone too far, Ethan. I’m already shell-shocked and questioning my sanity. Everything that’s happened since you showed up in my studio last evening has been a nightmare.”

  Recognizing her fear and vulnerability, Ethan spoke in a quiet, soothing voice. He didn’t want her to have a stroke or some other normal human reaction to unnatural terror. “Everything? I don’t think everything was bad.”

  She goggled. “How can you say that? We killed a bunch of people you knew.” Her skin paled and sweat dripped down her face.

  “Not people. Vampires. Not the same thing at all.” He added a layer of seduction to his tone. “But what I meant was, I thought the kissing was pretty amazing. Didn’t you?”

  Flinching instinctively, he stepped into the daylight and reached for Grace. Tapping into the suggestions he’d given her back at her studio, he stared into her eyes. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Grace. You can relax. Relax. Relax.”

  Grace’s shoulders slumped and she licked her lips. “It’s not fair that you can do that to me. What if I want to freak out?” She took a deep breath.

  Ethan moved close, leaned in and kissed her, long and sweet. I could really get used to this.

  She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back.

  After a few seconds they pulled apart. “I guess I’ll have to agree that was amazing.” Grace smiled at him. “Why don’t we go to my house and practice some more?”

  “That’s exactly what I want to do after we finish what we started.”

  When her anxiety rose and her heart pounded again, Ethan pressed his palm against her breast. “Relax. We’ll get through this and then things will be a lot better.”

  “I don’t understand why we have to worry about these other vampires you don’t even spend time with. They probably won’t know anything happened.” She gave Ethan hopeful eyes.

  “Trust me, they’ll know. Vampires are worse than humans. Even more brutal and bloodthirsty, because they have centuries of time to fill. Killing is fun to them. Mordecai always used to spy on Alexander here. The next time he comes around, he’ll realize the master and many of his servants went into the sun. It’s like an energetic memory—an extra vampire sense. Not to mention the burning smell.”

  “But what does it matter if they know? Maybe it will scare them away.”

  Ethan gave a harsh laugh. Grace was still in denial. Well, why wouldn’t she be? She had no idea what kinds of monsters lived off human blood. Two days ago her life had been normal. “Of course they’ll be glad to have the area to themselves, but they’ll be able to smell us: a human and whatever I am. The scen
t will never fade, and they’ll track us.”

  She suddenly looked so forlorn, so defeated, that it tugged on his heart—or whatever passed for his heart these days. “Are you saying we’ll never be safe? I’ll never be able to use my studio—”

  “No.” He took a step back and stared up at the sky, realizing what he had to do. It was his fault she was the target of bloodsuckers. His fault the rug had been pulled out from under her life. He’d find a way to make it right. “You will be safe. You can have your life back. I’ll make sure of it.”

  “How?”

  “You’ll go away for a little while. Long enough for me to destroy Mordecai and his minions and make sure no reinforcements show up. I’ll set fire to this location and any other vampire nests I find.” He stroked her cheek with the side of his finger. “Please forgive me. I shouldn’t have expected you to help with such a horrible task. I might not be fully vampire anymore, but I’m more than human and I can handle this job by myself. Especially since I have the advantage of being awake during the day.” As long as it lasts.

  “No!” She moved in and hugged him tightly. Her heart slammed against her ribs. “That’s not going to happen. As much as I don’t want to murd... er, dispose of any more bodies, I won’t leave you alone. I’ve been hiding and afraid for too long. You need me. We’re a team now.” She tightened her grip on him. “I don’t want to lose you.”

  “What?” He couldn’t believe his ears. Is she saying she wants to be with me? No. That can’t be. I don’t deserve anyone like her. I don’t even know what I am anymore. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. His throat tightened and he had to swallow a couple of times before he could speak. It had been so long since he’d been attracted to a woman, he didn’t trust his instincts. Surely she would come to her senses any minute now. “I don’t want to lose you either, Grace, but I can’t pull you into my troubles any deeper than you already are. You deserve to be happy.” He pressed his lips to hers and sank into her warmth, delaying the inevitable as long as possible.

  As the kiss went on and on, their arms tightened around each other. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so connected to anyone or wanting a woman so badly. In his own way, he’d been as fearful of relationships as Grace. He’d met female bloodsuckers he found attractive, so his lack of attachment hadn’t been from want of opportunities. And it wasn’t so much that he’d been afraid he’d be hurt again—although that’s what he told himself. But rather he’d become so hopeless he couldn’t see the point of allowing any joy or comfort into his miserable life at all.

  He thrust his hips against hers, and she groaned. The sound sent a rush through his body, hardening his cock and making his heart pound. His fangs descended and Grace’s tongue scraped the tip of his sharp teeth, drawing blood. The taste flooded his senses. His erection grew, and he wanted nothing more than to throw her to the ground and push himself into her. Even imagining pumping inside her made him harder.

  Shit! Realizing he was losing control, he willed his teeth back up into his gums, and forced himself to put some space between their bodies. He didn’t want to overwhelm or frighten her with his urges, because he knew what would happen if his hormones triggered his blood lust. How could he think about sex in the midst of the grisly task they’d undertaken—to put her in such danger? What kind of animal was he?

  “Ethan,” she mumbled. With another groan, she slid a hand between them and stroked his length.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m gonna lose it. She doesn’t know what she’s doing. I can’t...He hesitated, and she rubbed him again.

  The blood lust swamped his reptilian brain, his fangs reappeared, and his gaze shifted to the pulsing vein in her neck.

  Grace unbuttoned the waistband of his jeans, lowered the zipper then took him in her hand. “Oh, yes...”

  Over the edge now, his cock ached with the need to penetrate every part of her. Trembling with the effort to restrain himself, seconds away from drinking her dry, he called on the last remnants of his humanity, pushed her away, and re-zipped his pants. “No.” His voice sounded thick and rough. He lisped from trying to talk around his fangs. Shocked he could stop at all, he stepped further away from her, watching the hurt and confusion shadow her face.

  “You don’t want me?” Grace asked in a quiet voice.

  “Damn, woman. I want you more than you can imagine. That’s the problem.” His erection pushed painfully against his zipper. He loomed over her, panting, which wasn’t something vampires ever did. That more than anything scared him. What else would his body do on its own?

  “How could that possibly be a problem? I want you. You want me. I haven’t killed you yet.” She moved toward him then stopped abruptly. “Wait. Are you afraid my voice will hurt you? Is that why—”

  “No way. You’re the one who’s in danger from me. I can’t control myself.”

  They stared at each other for a few seconds. He willed his canines to retract.

  She nodded. “I would’ve argued that you’d never hurt me, but your energy is strange, your aura spiked and red. You probably could harm me.” Suddenly her eyes went wide and her brows shot up. “Of course! Let me use my voice. Maybe I can soothe the primitive part of you. You said I already changed you—that you’re now a half-thing. What if I can help you manage that aspect of yourself?” She stepped toward him.

  “No.” He backed up. “Stay there. I don’t want to take the chance.”

  “Ethan, if you truly want to be with me, using my voice is our only option.”

  “And if it doesn’t work?”

  “Then,” her shoulders slumped, “we’ll never be able to touch each other again.”

  Grace’s words hit him like a punch to the gut. Dejected, he stared at the ground. After forty years, he’d finally found a reason to stay alive. Didn’t he owe it to himself, and to her, to at least try? Wracking his brain, he mentally reviewed the worst-case scenarios—weighed the downsides to the possible plan, afraid what would happen if she touched him. His cock strained rock-hard and the tips of his fangs pushed against his gums.

  “I can heal you without being near, you know.”

  His head jerked up. “What?”

  “Yes. I’ve healed people on the other side of the world by holding them in my mind’s eye and chanting.”

  “How is that possible?”

  She laughed. “Seriously? The bloodsucking, immortal vampire who rises from the dead every night is asking me what’s possible?”

  He gave a sheepish grin. “I think my rising-from-the-dead activities are over. Maybe I’m turning into a sparkly vampire who never sleeps. But I can’t see any other solutions. If you’re sure you don’t have to touch me, let’s give it a go. I’ll stay over here and work on getting a grip.” He balled his fists at his sides.

  “Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I’m going to imagine the red in your aura changing to light blue while I chant. That will give me visual evidence. Ready?”

  He nodded. At this point, he didn’t care if his aura sang and danced, he just didn’t want to kill Grace.

  She began chanting quietly in a low key. Immediately, he felt an energy pulse moving along his body, causing a tingling sensation. His heart tripped and he gasped. As she changed the words and raised the pitch of the notes, he could’ve sworn invisible fingers stroked his skin, leaving trails of warmth. She increased the volume of the chant and the air pressure shifted, raising the hairs on his arms. A wave of heat sizzled through him. “What the hell?” he said, right before he collapsed onto the ground, out cold.