Filthy Rich Vampire Husbands

by Gisele St. Claire

  I smashed my lips into hers and for a brief moment she kissed me back, and then I felt her freeze. At the moment she stopped me, putting a hand up on my shoulder showing me her answer was still no, that we were done, a blinding flash went off in our faces. My lips were still on hers, my hand was still under her panties.

  It destroyed everything. We were kicked off the show. It wasn’t true that there was no such thing as bad publicity. The story of me and Gabby was overshadowing the show and so we were moved on, for other people to take our places. My mother was incensed at losing her job when to her clearly I was innocent and had been taken advantage of. She told me to carry on exactly how I had been, to continue partying but to try to keep to women my own age, and then she moved onto movies and won an Oscar for her producing. A great big fuck-you to a show that ended after we left because viewers wanted the gossip, and mine and Gabby’s lives were now in the ‘Hello’ magazines of the world and not on screen. Viewers were fickle like that.

  I couldn’t regret it. The woman had taught me a lot, but the aftermath had been me playing up for the press and not doing a great deal in my own right. Which led me to my current dissatisfaction.

  I needed to find something I could get invested in. Some good I could do, or some talent I could exploit, like Flynn’s photography. But I didn’t think I had any talent.

  Walking into the bedroom I stripped off and looked at my gym-honed body in the mirror. What about modeling? I pulled a face at myself. Jeez, I couldn’t deal with any more fake shit and that came in spades… unless…

  I picked up my cell and dialed a number.

  “Hey, Dad. Can you help me with something?”

  11

  Serena

  I caught a cab back to the hotel with my cases. They were surprisingly light after my thoroughness with getting rid of my past. I knocked on the internal door between our rooms but as expected there was no response. Flynn’s meeting with the committee would be in full flow.

  I made a coffee and sat at the hotel room desk where I switched on my laptop and went through the emails that had come through while I’d been to my old home. There was one from my old office. I clicked through and read the information.

  Hey Serena

  Great to hear from you! Don’t be a stranger just because you’re ‘busy’ with those hot guys ;)

  So I looked up Vern Johnson and here’s the information I found. He just seems a very ordinary guy, but I’ll leave it to you to exploit his weaknesses and find out the truth if there is any!

  Fran xo

  I read the beginning of the email again before I allowed my eyes to go any further. ‘Exploit his weaknesses’. That’s what I was known for. That was the person I had become. Before I’d met my four lovers and they’d begun to show me a new way. One where I allowed myself to experience love. At that point my heart panged for the fact I wasn’t with the others. A couple more days and I’d be back home. Then we could talk about Carter’s exuberance. I hoped I’d marry them one day. I just had to ask him to bear with me.

  I carried on reading.

  Vern Johnson - born March 16, 1968

  There was information about his parents, his education. Nothing of any real interest to me.

  He’d been married in 2001 and divorced in 2012 with no children from the marriage.

  He owned a bookstore in Brooklyn called Magic Words. Now, maybe I was onto something. It was time to catch a cab and go see what I found.

  The bookstore was a narrow building on 3rd Avenue. A small faded sign hung outside and in the window were a couple posters for writers who were going to be there in the future. I pushed through the door, the smell of old books hitting me. The books were piled high, the racks tight together. At the far end I could just make out a couple of circular tables and chairs.

  I’d known I’d probably see Vern but what I hadn’t expected was to be so struck by recognition.

  “S-S-Serena?” He clutched a hand to his chest as if he might have a cardiac arrest there and then. “I didn’t expect you to come. I thought at the most you might call.” He forehead crinkled, his eyes taking me in as if he wanted to drink up every part of me in case I disappeared.

  “I kinda just get on with things. Can we talk?”

  “Y-yes, of course, come through, take a seat. I’ll make us a drink. Do you drink coffee?”

  “Yes I do. I’ll take it black, thank you.”

  He made the drinks and brought them over, setting them down on the table. “So how did you find me so quickly?”

  I stared at him. “Well, I used to be a reporter for a gossip magazine. I used my resources and here we are. I was going to demand a DNA test but looking at you I don’t think that’s necessary.

  We had the same eyes, the same nose, the same shaped chin. He even had a white mark on his front tooth, similar to one I’d had on mine until Ortho took care of it. His hair was gray and mine was from a salon, but I guessed my whole coloring came from Vern. It explained why I looked nothing like my mother.

  “So, let’s cut to the Chase, Vern. I’m here because I want to know about you and my mom and how you made a baby. What do you want? Is it a nice fat check now you’ve seen your daughter is hanging with the filthy rich?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “No!” He said vehemently, making me shoot back a little.

  “Sorry. It’s just certainly not. I have enough money of my own. I have my bookstore, it gives me a regular income and that’s all I need. It was just I saw your photo in the press and I read your age and that you’d previously lived in New York. Everything I read made me question things, especially when they said you’d been adopted and your mother had died when you were young. There were too many coincidences. I had to meet you, to find out if you were indeed related to me.” He met my stare. “If this is the only time we see each other, I’ll understand and that’s okay. But I think we both need answers. Now what do you want to know?”

  “Let’s start with how you met my mother and how I came to be and then move on to how I came to be adopted when one of my parents was still alive.”

  I crossed a leg over the other, lifted my cup to take a sip of coffee, and I waited for Vern to start talking.

  “Let me close up the shop.” Vern got up and spoke with a couple customers. By the time he returned my coffee was empty and without asking he went and made me another cup, also bringing a glass of water. My body was tied in knots with the delay. When I was investigating other people’s stories I loved extracting each thread until they built up into a beautiful story web, but now, when it was mine. I couldn’t deal.

  Finally he sat back down and assessing him I realized he’d probably needed that time to compose himself.

  “I met your mother in a bar downtown. It was a strange evening because she’d come over to me and asked me to buy her a drink and I just, well, I couldn’t refuse. She was drop dead gorgeous with her red corkscrew curls and a smattering of freckles. I’ll never forget it. She was wearing a green dress which molded to every curve in her body and a pair of bright red heels. I ended up in a hotel room with her, and when I woke up, I found myself in the hospital.”

  “She’d hurt you?”

  “They couldn’t work out what was wrong with me. Just I’d checked in to the hotel for the night and the maid had found me unresponsive in the bed the next day. They did a battery of tests on me but couldn’t find anything wrong. But I guess there aren’t any modern day tests for how much of your soul got drained right out of your body. Of course, I didn’t know that back then. All I knew was they’d phoned the contact in my wallet, my fiancée. As you can guess that ended well.” He looked into the distance.

  “So there I was: an unpaid hotel bill, a ruined relationship, and just hazy memories of a hot redhead who’d, well… given me a good time, let’s put it that way. I got my energy back and got on with my life. Except I kept having dreams, dreams of the woman, and after them I’d not wake for hours. I lost my job next. There are only so many times you can fail to tu
rn in for work. Sleep studies came next and visits to all kinds of physicians but they yielded nothing. I got desperate and started researching online where I read about the succubus. Before I met your mother, I’d have booked you a place in an asylum if you’d mentioned anything paranormal, but like I said, I was desperate. So I got myself some books on the subject. Got me an interest in the magical realm and of reading.

  “And so I tried a summoning spell after talking to a warlock who helped me, and wouldn’t you know, I got your mom to appear right in my room. We bound her there until she told me what she was and what she was doing. She fought against the truth spell but eventually it forced her to speak. She told me she had taken my sperm and transferred it to an incubus, who had in turn impregnated a human woman. There was someone out there carrying the child of this mix.

  “I became heavily involved in magic, in the occult; dragged into things beyond what I could do as a human. But I kept track of your mother and followed her as she made regular visits to a house. A house containing a woman who over time became more heavily pregnant. I tried and failed to get either your mother or the surrogate to listen to me. I ended up with a restraining order and being committed for insanity on more than one occasion. The next I knew the woman was home with her baby and then she was gone. I had no idea what happened after that. Future summonings failed.”

  I held up my hand. This was just far too much to process. “I need a minute.”

  “Take all the time you want.”

  I left the table and began to walk around the bookstore, staring at the different colors, heights, and widths of the books, but not seeing many of the titles, too lost in my thoughts. It was only a short while ago I had been a human woman who thought she’d been given a raw deal on life. Now part of me wanted to go back and erase where I’d come from. My birth was abnormal and abhorrent. And what was I? Half and half? It was that question that drew me back to the table.

  He expected my question and began answering before I’d uttered a word.

  “You’re known as a Cambion. Mythology would suggest that you are part demon and able to drain energy from people, also to glamor. So many things. But in reality the recorded studies suggest you would be like a normal human, albeit with an extra-strong power of persuasion.”

  I gave a chin lift. “Yeah. I thought I was a talented reporter, but it looks like I was just born that way.”

  I looked at the floor.

  “You need to know, I’ve never stopped looking for you, Serena, but I never found a single clue to lead me to you. I didn’t even know your name.”

  “Well, I was adopted when I was three. We lived in New Jersey. Me and my adopted family that is.”

  “I’m sorry that your mom passed.”

  “I don’t really remember her. What I do recall I wonder if I’ve just imagined it from the photo I have of her.”

  His eyes widened. “Do you have the photograph here?”

  It was still in my purse. I lifted my purse from the table, opened the zipper and reached inside for the faded-blue envelope. I passed it to him.

  His hands shook as he took out the photo.

  “That’s her all right. So very beautiful. I can’t believe she’s gone.”

  Looking at my father’s expression, I wondered if he’d ever properly moved on from my mother. There was a desperation in his eyes, a need.

  “You married, right? But didn’t have any family?”

  A grunt of a laugh came from his mouth. “We tried but nothing happened. When we had tests, they said my count had dropped and it would be impossible for me to father a child. Looks like the succubus drained me of a few things. My wife left me as she wanted children more than she wanted me.”

  “So then you opened the bookstore. Does it do okay?”

  “It does fantastic. Mainly through online sales. The store itself can be quiet. I sell vintage books and have a room just for supernatural books, grimoires, etc. I have to be careful who I let into that room. There are protection spells in place to make sure I’m not tricked into losing an antique.”

  “So you know a lot about the supernatural world. Have you ever been tempted to become one? Like a vampire maybe?”

  “Like you?”

  I straightened. “How can you…?”

  “I just told you. I have magic in place, spells. Everyone who walks into the store emits auras of different hues that I can read to know what they are. Yours shone both orange for your succubus side and a dark green for the vampire one. How long ago did you turn? It’s fainter than usual, so I’m guessing it was recent?”

  “A few days ago.”

  “So, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that your new boyfriends are vampires too, right?”

  “It’s not for me to disclose if they are anything at all.”

  He smiled, while handing me the photo back. “You don’t need to tell me anything. You see, Serena, you say your journalistic skills come from your succubus side, but I’m meticulous at research. Maybe you just inherited your father’s genes?”

  It would take some getting used to that this guy was my father.

  Taking a glance at my wristwatch I realized I should make a move. “I should go.” I paused. “What do we do now?”

  “That’s entirely up to you. I can only hope you’ll stay in touch.”

  It was strange. I’d only just met this man but he felt like home. I wanted to get to know him better.

  “This is going to seem a little crazy, but do you have someone who could mind the shop, and do you like beaches?”

  12

  Carter

  It was my second day at work and I’d been in my trailer for hours, waiting to shoot a scene. God it was boring. I was questioning my whole acting gig. We’d been on set since 5am and here until late evening yesterday. I was already missing the surf. My body craved it, and with Serena gone as well, I felt all kinds of fucked up.

  Why had I engaged my mouth before my brain and come out with all the marriage stuff? Yes, I wanted to make her mine, well ours, but she was right, I’d not brought it up with the other guys. Plus, I think most women liked a proposal rather than someone just announcing it like they’d had a great idea for a new surf move.

  A knock sounded on my trailer door. Oh thank God, time to get out of here. Except it wasn’t. As I opened the door, I saw it was one of the other actresses who played the lead’s mortal enemy.

  “Oh, hey, Maya.”

  “Can I come hang? I’m so bored.”

  Maya took me a little by surprise as before now I’d only ever exchanged polite hellos with her. I’d bumped into her at parties often but she’d seemed quieter than most.

  “Sure.” I gestured inside. “I can’t say I’ll be any more exciting though than being on your own.”

  Maya took a seat on the small couch in my trailer. She was small and slim; with dark, smooth skin; and long dark hair. Her accent was pure sex and wickedness, a huskiness underlying it. She was dressed in tiny white shorts, a cropped red tee and wore black converse on her feet.

  “Catalina is taking too long today. Stupid bitch partied last night so didn’t learn all her lines. We might not even get to film anything today.” She said in that gorgeous Mexican accent.

  “Not at all? Just waiting around all day?”

  “Exactly, which is why I decided I would come and get to know you a little better, because otherwise, all I have to do is stare at my trailer walls.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been doing that myself.”

  “So, Mr. Cole. Congratulations on your new career. I bet your parents are pleased you followed the family path?”

  I sat on a chair against the small table in the trailer.

  “Carter. I cannot hear you all the way over there. Come sit with me, I don’t bite. I have a fiance.”

  Feeling reassured she wasn’t trying to hit on me, I moved to the couch beside her though I wasn’t comfortable. My thigh kept smacking into hers as there wasn’t a lot of space.

  “My paren
ts are happy if I’m happy. They’ve been encouraging, but they also warned me it was hard work. I know about all the waiting around, they used to speak of it, yet it’s not until I’m actually doing it that the reality is sinking in.”

  “Yes, well we wouldn’t be waiting around so much if the diva had learned her lines.”

  “Is she really? A diva?”

  “Catalina? Oh my God, yes. But she’s good fun too, so she makes up for it afterward when we party. Hey, you should come. We’ll be out tonight after filming. Come to Catalina’s.”

  “I don’t think that’s…”

  “You’d meet other contacts in the industry. Catalina knows them all. Just pop by. You don’t need to stay. I insist. She’ll have us out of filming tonight by ten at the latest as it’s on her rider that Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings she holds a party at her house.”

  I sucked on my bottom lip. It could lead onto other things for me. Maybe where I was the star and called the shots instead of wanting to put one through my skull in boredom.

  “Okay. Just for an hour or so. Then I’ll need to get back home.”

  “The wife got you on a curfew?” Maya raised an eyebrow.

  I flinched a little at her use of the word ‘wife’ given recent circumstances. “No. Actually Serena’s in New York right now with Flynn.”

  “Then why are you putting yourself on a curfew? Come to the party and leave when you get bored whether that’s five minutes or five hours later.”

  “Do you know, I thought you were the quiet one of your group, but now I’m starting to wonder.”

  “Always watch for the quiet ones.” She laughed a throaty laugh. “Now, do you have a pack of cards? We need to do something to pass the time.”

  We did eventually get to filming some scenes, but Maya had helped time to pass a lot quicker as I found once you got to know her she never stopped talking. I knew her family history, how she’d gotten into acting, how she’d met her fiance. She asked me a million questions about myself. I liked the woman, she was definitely a what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of person.