If her heart still beat, it would have started to race when he began to reach for something. She choked back a hysterical laugh at the sight of a business card that he pulled from his pocket. A vampire that carried business cards. Cute.
Her hand shaking slightly, she reached out and grabbed the card and briefly gazed down at it. The Den was written in solid black print and in tiny lettering underneath it said The Briarberry Estate. She paused, confused. “Wait. The Briarberry Estate? Like the one that doesn’t exist?”
Jensen laughed and shook his head. “Oh it’s very much still there. Trust me.”
“No offense, but I’ve been going to the briar patch where the estate used to be since I was a kid. It’s not there.” She said stubbornly.
“It’s there and it’s someplace that will help. I work there. Come by and check it out.” Jensen smiled as he grabbed his phone from his pocket, gazing at it quickly. “I have to take this call. Help yourself to whatever you need here. Next time just go through the front door and tell them Jensen said you can have what you need. After all, I do own the company.” Answering the call, he turned and left without another word.
She stood still, clutching her backpack, staring after the vampire that just walked out the door like nothing was out of the ordinary. He casually strolled out like she wasn’t in the process of stealing from his company. His company, which of course he owned.
So, what exactly was the place on the business card he handed her? She’s been to that location a dozen times and nothing was there. Was this just a huge joke, she wondered. But, before her thoughts could gather any more information of what had happened, the lights in the room flared to life, causing her to jump in surprise.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Jensen said that you may need a cooler and that he wanted an Uber to take you home.” A lady in a white lab coat handed her a discrete looking fabric cooler and smiled. “Keep the cooler and the ride has been paid for. Have a wonderful evening.” The woman smiled again and turned, walking out.
Several seconds passed, maybe minutes, with Kedah just standing there, holding her backpack and the cooler, doing nothing more than staring. Her mind whirled with thoughts on the turn of events this evening. The lab coat lady popped her head back through the door and spoke softly. “Your rides here.”
Kedah stumbled to the door, still in a daze from the last few minutes, backpack and cooler in hand. They gave her the cooler, free blood, and a ride home. It was too good to be true, and with her luck, something was going to bite her in the ass, it always did. For now, she was just going to ride this out.
As she was reaching for the door, a cool hand touched her shoulder. She turned her head to see the women in the lab coat smiling at her.
“I just wanted to say I’ve known Jensen for almost 300 years, sweetie. He doesn’t give things away lightly, and only does it when he sees someone with promise. He must see something in you. Take that for whatever its worth.” She nodded happily and left Kedah alone with her thoughts, which were jumbled and non-coherent.
A horn blared in the distance, reminding her that her ride was here. Scrambling to the car, she muttered her address to the driver, and tried to relax in an unfamiliar car that held the stench of too many travelers and regrets of decisions they all made. At least it wasn’t a taxi.
Pulling out her phone, she noticed three missed calls and ten texts from her roommate. All of which was her freaking out that something bad had happened. Her personal favorite text to date was something along the lines of, you’re not dead, again, are you?
Typing a quick message back explaining that it was a weird night and she was on her way back, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Even though she shouldn’t be tired, it was, after all, the middle of her day, at midnight, she still felt drained. Lack of blood and the weirdness of the night wasn’t looking to be a good combination and she couldn’t wait to get home to fix at least one of the several issues bouncing around her head.
***
Jensen walked into his office followed closely by the manager in charge when he wasn’t around. “Well, that solved that issue as to where the blood was going.” He muttered as he sat heavily behind his desk. The night was long and strange and hadn’t even really begun yet.
“I’m glad. I was really beginning to wonder what in the world was going on. It was the damnedest thing.” The manager said as she stood at the edge of the door.
“I’m just confused as to how there are vampires within my region that I don’t know about and have no one aiding them. I really couldn’t care that she was stealing, better that than murdering people, but I do care that she seems to be alone and absolutely clueless about her very nature.” He pushed a piece of paper around on his desk and sighed loudly. Really the last thing he needed right now was a bunch of baby vampires running around untrained and unaccounted for. Where there was one there was always more to follow.
“I’ll let everyone know to keep an extra eye out in case we see anyone else coming in for a snack. You’re right though, better to be taking what they need than causing issues within the human world.” She agreed. He looked up at Natalie and smiled. It really was a good decision to put her in charge, she was level headed and calm under pressure and kept everything running smoothly since his duties took him to the Den more than they allowed him to stay with this business.
“Thank you, Natalie. You have been a wondrous help.” He said in appreciation.
“You’re welcome, sir. Anything else I can do for you tonight?” She asked.
“No. I’ll just take care of a few more things and head home.” He said gently. “Oh, actually, can I get a drink before I go? If you wouldn’t mind?”
“Of course. Your usual?” She asked.
“Yes, thank you.” It wasn’t even half way through the night and coffee was already going to be on the menu when he got home. He had at least a dozen disputes to settle, some businesses that needed a looking over and a few residents at the Estate were getting a little unruly.
Moments later Natalie walked back in with a glass of warmed blood that she placed on his desk. “Try not to stress too much, I know you’re old but so far you’ve held off the wrinkles. You keep at it and they will appear without warning.” She joked with a grin.
“There went your raise,” he laughed back. “Thanks again and I’ll try and keep the wrinkles at bay.” She laughed and left him in the office, alone, to sort through paperwork. Sipping the blood, he shifted through the papers and did what needed to be done. Less than an hour later he was ready to close up his office here and head back to the Den where more paper work awaited.
Grabbing his keys and the now empty cup he was using, he stopped by the breakroom within the business and set the cup in the sink. Quietly, he snuck out the back door where his car was waiting.
Going on autopilot he made his way back out of town and to the fortress that he called home. His thoughts drifted to Kedah as he drove. She had survived a turn without the aid of her Sire, which was impressive, and then continued to survive on bagged blood, which was even more impressive.
It concerned him that she was out there alone, but he hoped she’d take his advice and stop by the Estate. That place was created for people just like her. People who needed a little extra help getting back on their own feet or for those that had nowhere else to go.
Getting side tracked, he came back to his own thoughts as he pulled onto the driveway, taking the road around back to the garage. As much as he liked everyone that worked and lived here, he really hoped everyone was somewhere else so that he could make his way to his office quickly and quietly.
Dashing in and up the first flight of stairs, he rounded the corner on the second floor and walked quickly into his office. Thankfully no one followed. Sighing in relief, he sat at his desk and opened his computer, prepared to spend hours responding to emails and making endless calls to his vampires throughout the state.
It was going to be a long night but before he even started it, he really
needed to see about this new little vampire he encountered today. Miss Kedah, the survivor, was a mystery that he intended to discover before the night was done.
The Briarberry Estate Series
Paranormal Romance
Newly Reborn (Book .5)
Fanged and Confused (Book 1)
Scratched and Scared (Book 2)
Lonely and Lost (Book 3)
Short Stories
Yearning for Home (Military Romance)
Under a London Snow (Fantasy Romance)
Lost in a Memory (Paranormal Romance)
Rising Tides Page 6
