by Renee Rose
“I have to clean up this mess. We can’t leave evidence behind.”
“All right.” His hand falls to his side. “Call me when you’re done. I’ll come get you.”
“No. I want you to stay with her. I won’t be but a few hours.”
Alex nods. We search the rental car for anything that might connect Karina to the vehicle, and find her laptop case and overnight bag in the trunk. Her phone is tucked into the outside pocket of her luggage. Alex takes her things to the car and drives away.
Taking the handkerchief from my trouser pocket, I wipe the blood from my face and trek down the hill to the body. As I wipe the knife clean of my fingerprints and wrap the thug’s fingers around the handle, the yips and howls of a coyote pack surround me. I sniff the air. Not shifters. Just plain coyotes.
How convenient.
I grin, and let nature clean up instead.
I open my eyes and a warm orange glow flickers on the ceiling above me. My mouth is a dry husk. A yearning claws at my insides and I bolt upright, gasping for air that I don’t seem to need.
“Cupcake?”
Alex and Theo rush to the foot of the bed where I lie. Their eyes are wide with expectation. Their hands grip the footboard with white knuckles.
“Wha…” My mouth is too dry to speak. “I’m…thirsty,” I rasp.
“Yes, I’m sure you are.” Theo approaches the side of the bed, slowly, guarded.
“Water, please?” And yet, for some reason, that seems insufficient.
“Water is not what you need, pet.” He sits beside me and a heavenly perfume that wafts toward me on the breeze of his approach stimulates my mouth to salivate.
“Oh, my God,” I whisper. A sharp pain slices across my gums and something pushes against my lower lip. My hand flies to my mouth and I yelp as whatever it is, pierces my fingertip. A drop of blood weeps from my fingerpad.
Theo pulls me into his arms and buries my face in his neck. “Drink, pet.”
Drink? Drink what? But when I inhale through my nose, that heavenly scent fills my nostrils again, and my mouth waters anew. Theo increases the pressure on the back of my head, pressing my lips to his neck. Yes! I open my mouth and sink my teeth into his flesh. Heaven! I moan as this delicious hot liquid pours over my tongue and down my throat. I drink and cling to him. The clawing of my insides subsides, and I feel whole. My thirst is gone. Thank goodness!
I pull back from him and lick my lips, but run into those things that were pushing against my lip. I touch my mouth, more cautiously this time. Fangs? These feel like fangs!
I search Theo’s face, just now realizing that I bit him. That was his blood flowing into my mouth. I drank his blood. “Oh, my God. What have I done?” I yank his collar aside to find a flawless, muscular neck…that looks so fucking delicious. I lick his skin and just when I’m about to sink my fangs in again, I gasp and push back. “Get away! Oh, my God! Theo!”
“It’s all right, pet.” His hands frame my face, and his compassion-filled eyes bore into me, calming me, assuring me he’s fine.
I whimper and tears streak down my cheeks. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you? What happened?”
“Shhh.” He kisses my brow. “I’m not hurt, you precious thing.” Theo chuckles and looks at Alex. “Of all things, she’s worried she’s hurt me.”
Alex kneels at the bedside and takes my hand. “What’s the last thing you remember, cupcake?”
I stare into my lap, concentrating, trying to recall. Getting kidnapped from the bus station. Zoe! I snap my eyes to Theo and clutch his shirt, the blood on my hand smearing the white linen. “Is Zoe okay? Oh, my God, is she all right?”
“Yes, my love. She’s fine.”
I nearly collapse against Theo’s chest.
He kisses my brow. “What else do you remember?”
Everything’s so surreal. I’m different, but the same. My mind swirls. Big Tony…he must have started the fire. He brought me to a remote desert location. His knife. The headlights. He stabbed me over and over. My blood dripping from his blade. And the wild animals.
I pull up my nightshirt and examine my scarred skin—completely healed. “How long have I been unconscious?” I brace myself for the length of time. Big Tony gutted me. I must have been in a coma for months for the wounds to be gone. The cut on my hip is completely healed as well. I search Theo and Alex’s faces for answers. “Tell me. How long ago was I attacked?”
“Last night, pet.” Theo reluctantly pulls his gaze from me to Alex, who looks as confused as Theo does.
But they can’t be any more confused than I am. “Last night?”
Alex takes my hand in his again, kissing my knuckles. “You were dying, Karina. We couldn’t lose you. You’ve become too precious to us. We did the only thing we could to save you. I know we did it without your permission. You didn’t really have a choice, so we understand if you’re angry with us.”
“I died?” Perhaps I didn’t survive what Tony did to me. So, if I died, why am I now alive? Or am I? Fangs. My gaze meets Theo’s.
He nods and opens his mouth. Fangs extend from under his upper lip.
I snap my gaze to Alex, and he nods, extending his fangs to show me.
Vampires?
I’m speechless.
“How do you feel?” Theo brushes my bangs from my brow.
My tongue probes my teeth, which seem back to normal. So they come and go as I need them, huh? I don’t need to breathe, since my lungs aren’t starving for air. “I feel numb.” Ah. I need breath to speak. Vocal chords can’t vibrate without air. How bizarre. “Not sure I believe what I’m seeing, but…” Everything around me is clear. I touch my face and find no glasses on my nose. I release a mirthless laugh. “I don’t know how I can deny the evidence.” But I can’t say the word. Vampire. I’m a fucking vampire.
Things begin to fall into place, though. The blood play Theo and I have shared. How quickly the slash on my side healed. They must have done something to help me. Do vampires possess the power to heal?
“You must have a million questions.” Alex rubs my thigh.
“Are you hungry?” Theo pinches my chin between his thumb and forefinger.
I smirk. “Well, I have to admit, you smell absolutely scrumptious.”
Theo waggles his eyebrows, but the amusement fades to confusion again. “Are you thirsty?”
“I was, until I… God, I drank your blood.” I cover my mouth, mortified.
“I wanted you to, love. You did what you were supposed to do.”
I nod, still not quite grasping my situation, but maybe starting to come around a little.
“I’m sorry we didn’t get the chance to share this with you.” Alex bows his forehead to my hand.
“I’m sure it’s going to take a little time for this to really hit me, but…” I stroke his dark hair and he lifts hopeful eyes to me. “So far, this is a much better alternative to death. And I can’t be angry with you two. How can I? As I lay there in the desert, right before Tony stabbed…killed me…I had so many regrets, but the biggest one was that I didn’t give you two the chance to protect me. That I never got the chance to tell you both that I love you.”
Theo drags me into his lap and they both engulf me in their arms, showering me with kisses. A phone buzzes, rattling on the nightstand. With a quick kiss, Theo stands, sets me on my feet, and grabs the phone.
He taps the glass and frowns. “Lucius and Selene are back. I need to go to the club and brief them.” He kisses Alex. “Would you please explain a few things to Karina while I take care of this? Bring her up to speed?”
“Of course.” He grabs my hand. “Come along, cupcake. Let’s get you dressed. We’ll have some wine and cheese and I’ll tell you all about how you are now free to live forever with us.”
Immortality! “Forever? With you two?” I grin. “This deal is sounding better all the time.”
Alex and Theo laugh. Theo gives each of us one more kiss before he exits the bedroom. And I realize I have n
o idea where we are.
My little cupcake spins around. “Where are we?”
“Under Theo’s house in his lair.” I take her hand and guide her out of the bedroom into the main entryway. “That door leads to an exterior entrance, in case the house is compromised. And this door leads up into the house, which is where we’re going now.” I press my thumb to the small square of glass and enter the code Theo gave me. “We’ll be getting your access programmed into the security system as well. That’s one of the things you and I will do while Theo is gone.”
“Holy cow, so high tech.” She steps with me into the passage that leads to the elevator and stairwell.
“Elevator for ease. Stairs for emergencies.” I press the button, calling the elevator back down from where Theo has just used it.
She wraps her arms around me and buries her face in my chest. I can’t help but stiffen, expecting the worst. But she snuggles, and holds me tight. “Am I really going to be with you two forever?”
I accept her embrace. “For as long as you’ll have us, my love.”
The elevator dings, and the doors slide open. We step inside and I use my thumbprint and code once more. The doors glide shut and we ascend. I’ve got her tucked under my arm.
But I can’t help the troubling thoughts of her condition. New vampires are usually ravenous upon waking. They tear through their sire in a desperate attempt to devour them. And yet Karina is calm, almost normal. She had a mild thirst. Nothing more. She was conscious of her actions of feeding from Theo and was remorseful, not ignorant of it. I remember when I was first turned. I was a mindless beast and had to be chained. The thirst for blood consumed me, as it does every new vampire I’ve ever known. Overcoming and controlling the bloodlust takes years and careful supervision.
And she’s fine.
Wonderful, but a mystery.
We step out of the elevator and into another short corridor, where I enter my print and code again. Can’t be too careful with a vampire’s lair. The panel in the wall opens, and we emerge from behind the row of utility cabinets with Theo’s tools and storage in the four-car garage of the house.
“How clever!” Karina grins and twirls, her satin pajamas clinging to her lovely figure. “Alex, I feel more alive than I was when I was… What was I? Mortal? Is that what you call it?”
“Yes.” I open the door from the garage into the hall just off the kitchen. “Why don’t you get dressed, and I’ll break open a bottle of wine?”
She throws her arms around me and I bend to accept her eager kiss. “I’ll be right there.” And she sashays across the foyer toward the master bedroom, casting a playful wink over her shoulder.
Such a puzzle.
I pop the cork of a sweet Riesling, set up a plate of crackers and cheese, and wait for her at the breakfast bar. When she enters the kitchen, her brow is furrowed, her eyes thoughtful.
“What’s on your mind, love?”
“What happened to Big Tony?” She holds her wine glass in trembling hands and her heartrate rabbits against my ears.
“Theophilus killed him. We arrived just as that monster was about to defile you.”
Her wine glass pauses halfway to her face, and she gasps. “The wild animals I heard as I was blacking out. That was Theo?”
“Yes. He was mad with grief and, quite frankly, ripped that bastard’s throat out, cupcake.” I take her hand in mine. “That asshole brutally murdered you, my love.”
She hitches her breath and grips my forearm. “You said Zoe was okay. What happened? Did Armando save her in time?”
“Actually, Phil had the same intentions—to kill Zoe. Armando arrived at the warehouse and found her near death, so he turned her as well. And then Armando hunted Phil down and killed him. You girls will never have to run again.”
Karina gawks for several moments, her eyes searching as if absorbing all the news. With a trembling lower lip, she sets her glass on the counter and rises from the stool, stepping between my thighs and slipping her arms around my neck.
I stroke her hair as she sobs, releasing all the tension that has surely built up over the last few days. Over the relief of the nightmare finally being over.
“Thank God.” She sniffles. “And thank you both. Those two were horrible men, and I think justice was done. I don’t wish death on anyone, but if there were ever two people who deserved it, I think it was them. And I’m so happy Zoe is a…”
I huff a soft laugh and pull back from our embrace. “It’s okay. You can say it.”
“A vampire?”
I nod.
She sits back onto the barstool and gazes at me in wonder.
“Well. As Theo suggested, I need to tell you about what it means to be a vampire. Your strengths, weaknesses, dos and don’ts.”
She grins and wipes away her tears. “I’m all ears.”
Chapter 11
I arrive at Club Toxic, and Maximus greets me at the door. The club is not yet open and the staff is bustling around, doing their nightly routine of getting ready for customers.
“Are they here yet?”
Maximus nods. “They’re in the office, waiting for you.”
“Have you told them anything?” I clench my jaw.
He shakes his head. “I said you would fill them in on what happened while they were away.”
“Thank you.” I inhale a lungful of courage and march up the stairs to Lucius’s office. As I enter, Lucius stands from behind his desk, a bright smile on his face. “Theophilus.” Crossing the room, he greets me with a slap on the back, and Selene rises from the couch to plant a kiss on my cheek.
“Good evening, Sire. My lady.”
He sits his backside against the edge of his desk and motions me to take a seat.
“I’d rather stand, thank you.”
“Why do you look so serious?”
“A few things, but I’d like to get something out of the way first. Something that has been troubling me since I found this.” I pull Lucius’s cryptic notecard from my suit breast pocket.
“Ah.” He sets the note aside. “I apologize for leaving that so open ended. I didn’t think we were going to be gone so long, but after I’ve had a think about it, I realized we don’t actually have to have that talk after all.”
I’m going to kill him. All this fucking tension for nothing? I inhale a calming breath and try to release the murderous thoughts rampaging through my brain.
“You said there were some other things bothering you?”
I nod. “Alexander Clay arrived a few days ago. Do you remember him?”
“Yes, of course. He was that young vampire at Bartholomew’s nest in London, right?”
“Yes, Sire. I would like your permission for him to join the nest. We have decided to rekindle our relationship, since he is no longer beholden to London.”
“If you vouch for him, then I will give my blessing.”
“We also have a new person in our relationship. I don’t know if you ever noticed me spending time with Karina Lockwood?”
Lucius narrows his eyes and looks to Selene.
“The redhead with the freckles?” the queen asks.
I nod. “There was a bit of trouble surrounding her friend Zoe, one of our bartenders. Karina was mortally wounded.”
“Yes, that’s right. Armando filled me in on what happened. It seems both of these girls suffered at the hands of this man. I am sorry to hear that.” Lucius places a fatherly hand upon my shoulder.
“Actually, I-I turned her, Sire. Alex and I couldn’t bear to lose her, and time was of the essence. There was no opportunity to consult you.”
He nods thoughtfully. “Armando had to do the same.” He sighs. “Will she pose a threat or a problem?”
“On the contrary. In fact, I’m a little puzzled about her condition. I only turned her last night and she’s, well…”
“Ah, you haven’t turned anyone before. Is she difficult to handle?”
“No, Sire. She’s a complete angel.”
He and Selene frown.
“Would you two come to my house for a short visit? I can fill you in on what’s happened, and perhaps you can shed some light on her condition.”
“Of course. Lead the way.”
I smack the card onto the table. “Uno!”
Alex tosses his handful of cards into the air and rounds the table, hoisting me over his shoulders as cards scatter across the kitchen floor. I squeal with delight and squirm as his fingers dig into my sides, tickling me.
“You’re just mad…because I’ve beaten you…ahhh…three times!” I manage between breaths, and the room spins as he twirls me around.
“Ahem.”
Alex stops and I slide down his muscular body, still giggling and trying to catch my breath and balance. Although, now I realize all this breath catching is in my head as I really don’t need to breathe. The nuances of being a vampire take a little getting used to.
Theo stands at the threshold of the kitchen door, his hands on his hips. But the corner of his mouth puckers as he suppresses a smile. “What mischief are you two up to?”
“Alex is a sore loser.” But two people enter the kitchen behind Theo and I sober quickly from my playfulness.
Lucius and Selene. I know of them, but I’ve never met them.
“Alexander, I believe you already know King Lucius. This is his queen, Selene.”
Alex executes a curt nod. “Sire. M’lady.”
“Come, pet.” Theo holds out his hand and I obediently approach, slipping my fingers into his. “Sire, this is Karina.”
I have never met a king or queen before, and considering my new condition as a vampire, I assume they are now my king and queen. I dip a deep but shaky curtsy, eyes downcast. “I am pleased to meet you, your majesties.”
Selene’s musical laughter fills the room. “Theo, she is absolutely precious.”
With a tug on my hand, Theo encourages me to lift my eyes. Although Selene’s face is bright with amusement, Lucius narrows his gaze.
His arms are crossed, and one hand strokes his chin thoughtfully. “I see what you mean. And you’re saying she was transformed late last night? Just rising a vampire this evening?”
