Vampire Romance: AMBER - The Grue Series (Vampire Romance, Paranormal, The Grue Series Book 1)

by Adams, Nancy

  Faith stuffed me into the new undies and one of the new dresses, and I got to the front parlor just as his Cadillac pulled up in front of the house. Faith kissed my cheek (what was it with girls kissing me lately?) and disappeared as he rang the doorbell.

  I opened the door, and could tell instantly that Greg liked what he saw, because he stepped back and let out a wolf whistle, then stared at me.

  “Amber,” he said, “If I weren’t standing on your doorstep, I might have failed to recognize you! You were already lovely, but tonight, you’re absolutely breathtaking!"

  “Why, thank you, Sir,” I said, and smiled. He held out his hand for me, and I let him escort me to his car and open the door, hoping that I would manage to get past my country-girl ways for just a little while. Please, God, I thought, let me be a city girl for just this one night!

  “I’ve made dinner reservations at Alphonso’s,” he said as he slid in behind the wheel. “The food there is probably the finest in the city, and we won’t be overcrowded. And then, afterward, I thought you look like the kind of girl who enjoys a good movie—am I right?”

  I laughed. “Yes, you’re right,” I said, and he beamed at me.

  “I thought so!” he said with a smile. He started the car, and followed the long, winding, tree-lined drive.

  We went to a fabulous restaurant, and I forgot about my dread of the grossies, because everything on the menu looked and smelled fantastic! I had a petite sirloin with shrimp, a salad made with shitake mushrooms and scallops, and some sort of vegetables I’d never even heard of! Dessert was a fluffy pie of the most sensually decadent chocolate I’d ever tasted in my life, and I almost had an orgasm just from feeling it on my tongue.

  “So,” Greg said as we lingered over the dessert. “Are you getting all settled in?”

  “Yes, and it’s amazing!” I said. “Nathan and his family are just wonderful people; his granddaughter Faith has taken me under her wing, and intends to”—and here I put on a cockney accent, like what’s-her-name in My Fair Lady—“make a gen-yoo-wine lady of me, she does!” I laughed, and Greg smiled.

  “Well, if what I see tonight is any of her doing, I’d say you’re in wonderful hands. I was quite serious when I picked you up, Amber; you’re absolutely beautiful!"

  I blushed, and he touched my hand on the table. “You know,” he said, “I realize I’m a little old for you; does it bother you that I asked you out?”

  I think my eyes went wider than usual. “Oh, no!” I blurted out. “I mean, you’re not that old, and I—well, I’m eighteen, so I guess it might seem like I’m too young for you...”

  He was chuckling at me. I guess I was being obvious, trying to act more sophisticated than I really was, but the truth was that I liked Greg. He didn’t act like Vince, or any of the other boys I’d dated in high school, and he wasn’t pushy like guys in the Café could be. He was a nice guy, and I realized that I was hoping we might date regularly for a while.

  Of course, I knew I couldn’t have a real relationship; if I got married, for instance, my husband would get older as the years went on, but I wouldn’t, and sooner or later it would dawn on him that there was something not right about me. And how would I manage to go hunting, if I had a man to answer to all the time?

  But I didn’t want marriage; I just wanted a boyfriend, and Greg was the best candidate I’d found for the job yet!

  We left the restaurant and went to a big theater, where we saw a delightful movie called Stripes. It was about these two misfits who joined the Army because they couldn’t figure out how to pull their lives together, and somehow managed to become heroes by the time it was all over. I loved it, and laughed and had a wonderful time, but it also made me think about the changes life had forced on me, lately. I wondered if I was a misfit who was trying to find my place in the world.

  When the movie ended, Greg took me home. He walked me up the front steps of the house, and when he leaned in for a kiss, I gave him one he wasn’t likely to forget soon, but I cut it off before it got too heavy. He was already turning me on, and I didn’t want to rush anything with him. Better to let things take a more natural course.

  “Amber,” he said, “I’ve had a wonderful time this evening. I hope you’ll let me take you out again soon? Perhaps tomorrow evening?”

  I smiled. “Greg, we just met. I do like you, very much, but I don’t want you to see me so much you get tired of me right away! How about next weekend, instead?” I tried to give him a coquettish look, and I guess it worked, because he smiled and kissed me again, then turned and sort of skipped back to his car.

  “Friday night, then,” he said as he walked. “I’ll plan something spectacular!"

  I laughed and smiled, and my heart gave a little flutter as he drove away. I was about to get out my house key, when the door suddenly opened and a hand reached out and yanked me inside.

  It was Faith, of course. “Well?” she demanded. “How did it go?”

  “What do you mean, how did it go? It went great!” I said, and the smile on my face spread to hers.

  She beamed at me. “Oh, my goodness,” she said in a bad stage whisper. “Amber’s falling in love!"

  “No, Amber is not!” I said stubbornly, but she shook a finger at me and said, “Uh-oh, liar, liar, pants on fire...”

  “No, they’re not!” I insisted, though the thought crossed my mind that they might be smoldering a bit. “Greg’s a nice guy, but I don’t know him that well, yet!"

  Faith shook her head. “Uh-uh, honey, you don’t know him well enough to do the deed with him, maybe, but you sure know him well enough to be dreamin’ about it! Geez, Louise, I just saw him through the sheers and I got the hots! You actually let him kiss you! Don’t try to tell me you ain’t thinkin’ about it, I’m not that dumb!"

  By that time, she had me laughing so hard I was afraid I’d have tears, so I shushed her and headed for my room. She followed me, and when we got there she helped me get undressed, and even tossed a t-shirt over my head. I think she wanted to hang out, but I knew I’d be running in and out of the bathroom shortly, so I said I was tired.

  “Mm-hmm,” she said. “Lucky for you everyone else is out for the night, then.” I looked confused. “Lucky for me? Why?”

  “Cause you and me both know good and well what you’re gonna be doin’ as soon as I’m out of here!"

  I blushed and laughed, and pushed her out the door. She yelled, “Hey, before I go, I got a question,” and I opened it again.

  “What?” I asked, expecting something sarcastic and humorous.

  “Tomorrow, we’re havin’ a barbecue out back,” she said, “a family thing, but I figure you’re gonna be family before we’re done, anyway. Wanna come? It’s not ‘til after two, so you can sleep in if you want to.”

  I almost said no, thinking of all the times I’d heard people say stuff about black people being wild and such—but I’d already decided I liked Faith, and Nathan and the rest of them just seemed like folks; maybe they talked a little different, but what does that matter?

  I smiled. “I’d like that,” I said, and then did a silent groan as I thought of another evening of the grossies—but then, we were talking barbecue!

  I was sure it’d be worth it. The only problem was that I was due to feed on Saturday night, so I’d have to slip out afterward and go after my real meat, and I hoped it wouldn’t cause me too much trouble, later.

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Horace

  I was not happy when I rose and found that Madeline was not there. Besides the obvious, that I felt responsible for all of my little family, there was the simple fact that if anyone was going to get us in trouble, experience had shown me that it would be Mad. I went out with the express intention of finding her, and finding out just what the devil she’d been up to. The others stayed with me, that night, probably so that I wouldn’t fly off the handle if I found her with blood all over her.

  They needn’t have worried. We found her less than an hour after l
eaving home, at a place called Party’s, a pop nightclub on Wilshire. She was sitting there sipping a sloe gin fizz, and smiled when we walked in.

  “Where were you this morning?” I asked without preamble, and she bristled.

  “I found a place to stay out of the sun,” she said, “and had some company I wanted to stay close to.”

  I looked around, but no one seemed to be with her. “Oh? And where might he be?”

  She lowered her eyes. “Gone on his way, of course. It’s another night, and I’m hunting again, just like all of you.”

  She looked into my eyes again, but seemed to be forcing herself to do so. I waited ‘til she lowered her gaze once more, then said, “On the radio, tonight, they’re talking about a man found near Pasadena early this morning. He’d been injured, they said, and had bled to death. One of the bloody coppers said it was spooky, though, because the fellow had what looked like fang holes in his neck, and no other wounds.”

  Madeline continued to look at the table in front of her, but she shrugged. “And you automatically suspect he’s one of mine? That isn’t very nice, Horace.”

  What I wanted to do was slap her. She always avoided eye contact when she lied, and I wanted to force her to admit the truth, but she was a vampire. Not much chance I could force her to do anything she didn’t want to do, and we were in a crowded club, anyway. I let it go for the moment, though she knew we were going to talk later. We all relaxed and went to the hunt, and it wasn’t long before we were all well fed.

  Amber

  Horace came in about two, with Madeline in tow, and they went up to his room. I was surprised they didn’t stop at mine, but there was something in his step that told me he wasn’t happy, and I didn’t think I wanted to be in the middle of whatever it was that made him that way.

  Of course, I didn’t have to wait long to find out. Even though Horace and Madeline were being so quiet even I couldn’t hear them, my faithful pal Simone showed up at my door an hour later.

  She looked at me and whispered, so softly that I had to half-read her lips, “Is Horace back with Mad, yet?” I nodded. “Ooh, I bet it’s hot up in his room, then! She didn’t come in last night, and didn’t let Horace know where she was; that’s a rule, y’know, for us.”

  “No,” I whispered just as softly. “I didn’t know, he never said anything.”

  “Well, it’s cause o’ Horace feels like he’s gotta take care of us all, y’see? Don’t think it’s the same for you, since you can take care o’ yourself better’n he can, but us, he’s pretty serious about knowin’ where we go, and all, so if we get in trouble he can come find us—and especially with Mad!"

  I must have given her my stupid look, because she grinned at me.

  “It’s on account o’ her bein’ the one as gets us in trouble the most, like when we bit ya! Mad, she don’t always like our ways; once in a while she gets a little carried away, and somebody gets dead. Horace don’t want that, cause it can lead back to us, so he watches her close. Well, last night, she slipped out on her own, and there was a body got found in Pasadena what’d been bit and drained dry.”

  “Oh, no!” I said, though I felt a bit hypocritical; after all, I killed someone every time I went to feed, so what right did I have to judge Madeline?

  “Yeh! We found her at one o’ Horace’s favorite clubs, and he got her alone. Mad says it wasn’t hers, but Horace don’t know if he believes her, y’know? And if he thinks she did it, then he may tell her to leave.”

  I looked at her. “But you and Madeline—you’ve been together a long time. What would you do, if he made her leave?”

  Simone shrugged her shoulders. “Mad was with Horace afore me, and she makes me mad, sometimes. If she goes, she goes. I stay here with Horace, and you!"

  She grabbed me, then, and kissed me, then flounced out of my room and up the stairs to her own as if nothing had happened.

  I worried the rest of the night, afraid that my new family was falling apart, and that I might be part of the reason. I kept recalling how angry Madeline had been when I was first turned to a grue, how she kept looking at me hatefully for the first few days. If she was still angry about me being there, maybe she was willing to blow Horace off, even if it caused division. She could always blame me, rather than herself.

  Horace

  When Madeline and I returned to the mansion, we went straight to my room to talk. I imagined Amber wondering why we hadn’t stopped to see her, but I was in no mood to worry about her feelings at that moment. I was quite furious with Mad, and determined to get to the truth of the matter of the corpse in Pasadena.

  At the same time, I didn’t want Amber listening in to the conversation, so I resorted to a whisper that could not be heard even by a revenant, unless she were within a few feet. Mad understood, and replied in kind.

  “If the body in Pasadena wasn’t one of yours, then tell me where you went last night,” I said, and the hard anger came through even in the soft sounds.

  She hesitated for a moment, and then said, “I went down to Huntington Beach. I wanted to see if some of the old haunts were still there, and check on a few of my old pets.”

  I was flabbergasted. “Your old pets? Dear God, woman, we’ve been gone from there nigh thirty years! How bloody old would they be, now?”

  Again she hesitated, and it hit me; Madeline had had a taste for lads, teenagers, and we’d had more than one argument about the possible repercussions.

  “I found one of them,” she said. “It was Carlson, and he was—pleased to see me.”

  Well, she wasn’t lying, I could tell that, but that still didn’t mean she hadn’t killed the man found drained of blood.

  “And where did you go after that? I looked at your car, there are a lot of miles on it for one night.”

  “I didn’t go anywhere; Carlson was happy to see me, as I said; I stayed in his house, in his cellar all day.”

  I shook my head. “Well, I’m glad you were so comfortable that you could trust a mortal with your life! Did it not occur to you that he could have come down the bloody stairs and taken your head off while you were dead to the world?”

  She smiled at me, a cat’s smile. “Carlson would never do such a thing. He loves me, even after so long.”

  I held my fury in check, and looked at her. I could hear Simone down in Amber’s room, and even though she was almost as silent as I was, I knew she was telling Amber what was going on. That wasn’t a problem, of course, Amber was one of us, and had a right to know what our problems were.

  The distraction helped me control my temper. “Madeline,” I said, “I cannot accept your behavior. You know how I feel about not knowing where any of you are, and yet you think nothing of just disappearing on me.”

  She glared at me, then, and for just a moment I thought she was going to strike out at me.

  Instead, she said, “Why do you care? You’ve got your new baby girl to look after, don’t you? Can’t she keep you entertained? But you haven’t even tried her yet, have you? Odd, that—as I recall, you couldn’t wait to bed me and Simone, and you barely let Jen waken before you had her in the sack! But little Amber, she’s too precious for that, isn’t she? She’s so freaking precious to you that you only laugh when she kills a mortal, but if you even suspect that I might have—”

  So there it was, then, the real reason for her attitude. I’d known she wasn’t happy about what Jen had done, and we’d even talked about it. Hell, if she’d had her way, I would have taken a torch to the girl, burnt her up even before she completed her turning.

  The conversation went on for a while, but nothing was resolved. I told her that if that was how she felt, then perhaps it was time she went off on her own, but to make damned sure it was far from us if she did.

  She said she needed to think about it, and would give me her answer the following night. I heard her go up to Jen’s room to wait for her.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Amber

  Rudy and Jen came in about five, and
they seemed to be okay, so I finally relaxed a little. The sun rose not long after, and the house got that eerie “dead” feeling I sensed after the vampires stopped breathing every morning.

  But, of course, it didn’t stay that way long. Angel and her crew came in moments later, even though it was Saturday, and I smelled coffee and bacon a few minutes later.

  I was reading, of course, and I reminded myself that I was going to attend the Granger family barbecue later that day, so I decided to “sleep in,” and didn’t go down to join them. I finished the book I was working on about ten, then got up and went to take a long, leisurely shower.

  It was a beautiful day, and I slipped into a pair of cutoffs and a sleeveless pullover, then slid a pair of flat sandals onto my feet. I brushed out my hair, and decided that I didn’t need any makeup; after all, I wasn’t going anywhere, just hanging out with Faith and her family, and they’d see me without makeup often, I was sure. I even rubbed my eyes before I went to the kitchen, to make it looked like I’d slept too hard.

  Angel saw me and smiled. “Amber, sweetheart, you want some coffee? I got a fresh pot goin’!”

  “Yes, please,” I said. I’d accepted the necessity of the grossies, by then, so I didn’t balk anymore at enjoying the flavors that I liked, and coffee was one of them. I spooned in some sugar and took a big sip, then moaned with pleasure. The awesome expansion of my sense of taste was just another benefit of being a monster.

  But sometimes I forgot parts of it. “Oh, careful, honey!” Angel said. “That’s hot coffee! You’ll scald your lips on that, you ain’t careful!”

  It was pretty hot, I realized, but it was too late to yell “Ow!” I smiled and winked at her.

  “Angel, my daddy taught me how to drink hot coffee when I was a little girl!” I said; then held the cup up to my lips again and slurped it with a little more noise. “See?” I said after. “Just suck in a little cool air with it, and it slides right over the lips without hurting.”