by C. J. Pinard
“Mindin’ his own business, chasing a squirrel. He was hungry, that’s it.”
“How do you know it was us?” Shadow asked.
Larry glared at him. “Y’all shot him with a silver bullet. He came back to the lair bleeding from the stomach and reeking of vampire stench. Died within the hour.”
“That’s it?” Phoenix laughed lowly. “You automatically assume it was us?”
“Who the fuck else was it?” Larry asked, irritated by Phoenix’s cavalier attitude.
“Well, it wasn’t us.” I looked at my men. “Any of you recall this?”
They all shook their heads.
“No, boss,” Shadow replied.
I looked at Larry, “Well, you got the wrong vamps.”
“You got other motorcycle ridin’ vamps sleazing around Shreveport then?” Larry asked facetiously.
“If they do, they ain’t with us,” Phoenix replied.
“What is it exactly you do here?” Larry asked, looking around the chapel.
“None of your fucking business,” I replied. “Just know that if you or any of your pups get out of line, we take them down. That’s all you need to know. Now take your mutts and get the fuck out of my clubhouse.”
Larry and Mick glared at me.
“Today,” Shadow said, walking toward them.
They stood with hands up in surrender and walked out of the chapel and into the main clubhouse area of the warehouse. Kovah unlocked Dave’s cage and shoved him toward his wolf brothers. They left without incident.
We watched them drive off in their pickup trucks, and then I shut and armed the door. Raking my hand through my hair, I said, “The sooner we get to New Orleans, the better.”
Kovah snorted. “More troubles are gonna find us the minute we move in.”
I clapped him on the shoulder, looking into his sunglassed eyes. “I know, brother. I know.”
Chapter 5
Seek & Destroy
Huntington Beach, California – 1987
I’d spent almost two months tied to this fucking bed and I was about to snap. Sam was sent in once a night for me to feed from, and I was given no human food whatsoever, but never once did I crave it or feel like I was malnourished or even hungry. Nor did I ever need to use a bathroom. Agnes also came in once a night to bring me water and liquor and taunt me about becoming a vampire and inflict some light torture on me, physically and mentally.
Tonight was no exception.
As usual, I refused the booze but took the water, and asked her the same question I asked every night. “When are you going to let me out of these ropes?”
She stared at me hungrily like she did every night but didn’t answer.
I attempted a weak smile. “I need to shower. I feel disgusting.”
She leaned in close and ran her nose along my chest, neck, then face. “You smell fine to me. Divine, actually.”
I shrank back from her. “Please, Agnes. Why do you keep me tied up? I’ve done nothing to prove to you that I need to be restrained.”
“Just a little bit longer, baby.”
Baby? She’d never called me that before.
“How much longer? And why?” I asked, hating the desperate pleading in my voice.
She got up from the bed and stood over me, her arms folded across her chest. She stared as if she was contemplating telling me something. Finally, she said, “We need to make sure you can be controlled. That you can be in control of your new… urges.”
Confused, I responded, “But I’m in total control.”
“You haven’t been around humans yet. We can’t let anyone know about our kind. It’s my job to teach you. But I don’t think you’re ready.”
“I do just fine around Sam.”
“You’re restrained so he has control when to stop the feed.”
“Why did you turn me into a vampire”—even the words sounded ridiculous when I said them, but she’d insisted I embrace it—“if you were just gonna leave me tied up like an animal?”
“You’ll need to prove to me you’re ready.” She lifted her chin and regarded me carefully.
“You haven’t even given me the chance to prove I can control myself, Agnes. Take me out of this house tonight. Show me.”
I was so desperate to get out of here, I would probably agree to come back here afterward just to get out. But the darker part of me knew I’d probably just kill her and run off. I was going insane in here. She’d brought in a television and left it on one channel playing soap operas all day and cheesy sitcoms at night, and I didn’t even have a way to shut off the sound when I wanted to sleep. The only time it was quieted was when she came in and pushed the button to turn it off. Then, she would pull the knob to turn it back on before she’d leave.
She looked down at me, her gaze raking over my body.
“Please,” I whispered. “I’ll do anything.”
She lifted a brow. “Anything?”
I cleared my throat unnecessarily. “Anything.”
Meaning, the second she untied these ropes, I was going to kill her. I could already feel myself becoming stronger. I was currently working on snapping the thick wooden bedpost in half so I could slip the rope off of it and get the hell outta Dodge. I felt I was close to having it cracked right before she came in.
She crawled up the bed like a hungry panther and slid my pajamas down. I closed my eyes. I knew I’d have to fuck her at some point, but I could think of worse things I’d have to do to get outta here.
Agnes looked into my eyes and stroked me while she licked her lips. It had been a while since I’d gotten any so it didn’t take much to get my cock to harden. She slid my pajama bottoms off and threw them on the floor, and in the blink of an eye, she lifted up her black dress and then impaled herself on me. It felt good, but I still had to grit my teeth. A biological response I couldn’t help. She yanked the top of the dress down and bared her tits to me while they bounced as she rode me. She had to do all the work since I obviously didn’t have use of my hands.
I had an idea. “I want to touch you,” I lied.
She repulsed me, but I could put on a good show. Did a little acting at the local theatre after high school while I was deciding on a career. Which I had obviously never settled on.
Agnes licked her lips and looked down at me, as if in contemplation. I bucked my hips, jamming myself deeper into her.
She leaned her head back and moaned. “Oh, yes, right there.” Then, she moaned out my name as I felt her tighten around my cock.
With her riding me harder now, I couldn’t control myself—I shot into her hard and deep as she screamed out to God.
I shuddered, and not in pleasure.
Out of breath, she collapsed on top of me, and then rolled over to rest her head on my chest. “Your dick is amazing,” she said throatily.
I resisted rolling my eyes. “Yep, now untie me.”
She let out a girly sigh and began to rub circles on my chest. “No, I don’t think so. Not yet, anyway. I want to lie here for a while.”
Well, I didn’t, and she was pissing me off. I gritted my teeth while we lay there. She, in postcoital bliss, me seething in anger that I’d had to have sex with the witch and she still had me tied up.
“Come on, Agnes. Please?” I again hated the desperation in my voice.
“No, I don’t think so, not right now.”
I was about to lose my shit. “Listen, I did my part, now you do yours.”
She raised her head and looked at me incredulously. “Your part? You’re an asshole.”
“Untie me or get the fuck outta here!” I screamed, pissed she hadn’t loosened my restraints.
She hopped off the bed, now clearly livid. She slapped me across the face. “Fuck you, Vane.”
After she stormed out of the room, I made sure the door was closed before I yanked as hard as I could on the bedpost. It finally cracked in half and I had to suppress the urge to yell in happiness. I made quick work of untying the rope holding my other
hand hostage, using my fangs to bite away at the rope on both wrists and then threw it to the ground. I ran to the closet where I’d seen my clothes and shoes. Agnes kept a whip in there she sometimes flogged me with to show me how quickly I could heal.
I slid on my swim trunks, tee, baja hoodie, and flip-flops and went straight to the window. Yanking back the curtains, I was relieved it was nighttime. Not that it was any sort of surprise, I could pretty much detect the daytime, as it made me sleepy—plus, Agnes only came around at night. Except that one day she came in and ordered Sam to pull the curtain back to allow the sunlight to burn the skin on my leg. I’d screamed in pain and she claimed she was only teaching me a lesson—keeping me safe to reiterate that the sun could kill us. All while she stood in the corner of the room, away from the stream of light.
Sadistic bitch.
I looked out to see I was on the second floor of this house. Again, not surprised, since with my enhanced hearing I could hear voices down below. I was just holding onto hope that it was a basement, but of course, I was not that lucky. I was in the middle of a suburb, it seemed. I looked back at the closed door and then tried to slide the window up. It was stuck, but I could see the lock engaged, so I turned it and the window lifted easily. I didn’t want to have to break it and draw attention to myself. I breathed a sigh of relief and then sucked in some fresh night air. I could smell the salt from the ocean, and I wanted to cry in happiness. Looking down, I blew out a breath, knowing I was going to have to jump. I just hoped I didn’t break a bone. But even if I did, I’d rather have broken bones than spend one more minute in this fucking house.
I put my head out and braced myself while I put one foot on the ledge. As I was pulling my other leg up to the ledge, I felt a cold hand grip my ankle.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Agnes hissed, her fangs out, eyes black. She yanked my body to the ground, and I fell face first with a thud onto the hardwood floor.
Quickly turning around, I jumped up and backhanded the witch, and she went flying across the room. I made a beeline for the window, but she was too fast. She caught me around the waist and dragged me back down. We rolled around on the ground, her trying to claw my eyes out and me throwing punches. I had never hit a woman in my life, but this was no woman. She was a goddamn monster.
I was able to finally get on top of her. Smiling, I gripped her head with both hands and began to slam it over and over against the hardwood as it cracked and splintered. She was weakening but she wasn’t out cold. Her claw-like fingernails were digging into my forearms and ripped the sleeves of my hoodie. I didn’t care.
A cry from the doorway made me look. Sam stood there mortified.
The distraction was all she needed. “Go get help, Sam!” she yelled.
The man scurried out the door.
She got to her feet, but so did I. As she lunged at me, I dodged her easily enough and then grabbed her from behind by the waist, pinning her arms down by her sides. For the first time since I was turned, I felt a deep, bitter darkness inside me. It began to well up until it came out of my mouth. My fangs descended and I slammed them into her neck, sucking as much blood out of her as I could. When I felt her too weak to fight, I grabbed her head and twisted it, breaking her neck with a satisfying crackly crunch.
I doubted it would kill her, but it was the time I needed. I could hear footsteps pounding up the stairs and wasted no time diving head-first out the window. A quick body roll, the one I did when I was underwater and a big ocean swell threatened to pull me under, had me landing on my feet. I’d lost both flip-flops in the melee, so my bare feet were immediately scraped and bloody as I landed. But I didn’t care. I steadied myself, looked back up at the window to see three pale faces staring down at me, and then… I ran for my fucking life.
Chapter 6
Big Easy State Of Mind
Present Day
Phoenix put his hands on his hips and looked up at the massive warehouse-turned-clubhouse. Then he looked around the neighborhood, then back to me. “What kind of artsy-fartsy bullshit is this?” He gestured around to the posh neighborhood.
I chuckled and shook my head. “New Orleans’s warehouse district isn’t like other cities’. They’ve spruced it up with art galleries, coffee shops, and upscale bars and shit.”
“I see that. Don’t think we’re gonna run into any trouble being around this many people? Especially at night?” Kovah asked.
“Yeah, not so quiet out here,” Shadow commented, running a hand over his shaved head.
“That’s the idea, to blend in,” I said, rolling my eyes and heading inside. My guys were tough and could kick massive amounts of ass, but sometimes I questioned their logic. Guessed that was why I was the leader. Still, I loved every one of the bastards.
The guys followed me inside, and I heard low whistles and sounds of approval. The massive 25,000 square foot behemoth made our Shreveport location look like a doghouse. On the upper tier were the living quarters. The men and women with families were more than welcome to live anywhere in New Orleans with their families, but our single guys and gals would be given room and board here, if they wanted it. They were small apartment-type homes with one bedroom, complete with one king-sized bed and one wardrobe, one bath (shower and sink only, no toilets), and a kitchenette (fridge and sink only, no stove or oven). And one of the apartments was fully outfitted to accommodate a human, if need be.
I pointed out the ivy that crawled up the walls and staircase. I explained how it had crept through the ground during the time the warehouse was abandoned, but I had told the remodelers to leave it, as I thought it gave the place character. The bottom floor held the same structures as the other warehouse: A huge motorcycle repair shop in the back with its own entrance and bay doors, and a small office for customers to wait, as we were going to start repairing bikes for profit. Next to the shop, a row of offices sat on the right side, an armory full of all my lethal and nonlethal goodies and toys hidden behind a secret wall in my office.
On the left of the warehouse were five fully built metal jail cells instead of the oversized cages we’d been using. A three-quarter wall with a door had been built around them to hide them from any non-club members who happened inside. No chapel this time, as I owned the bar next door and we’d be using that for church. The rest was just open space, and I would take suggestions on what to use it for. The floor had been completely covered in gray epoxy and the fluorescent lights reflected off it.
“This is fucking bad ass!” Kovah said, looking around.
“Thanks, man,” I replied with pride, accepting his fist-bump.
“Go pick out your rooms, you single assholes. Just not that one”—I pointed to the larger unit that sat in the corner—“that one’s mine.”
Phoenix, Face, Shadow, and Venom all raced for the stairs like a bunch of kids. Kovah stood next to me.
“What?” he asked. “Manta already found us an apartment around the corner.”
I perked up. “Yeah?”
He nodded, pulling a can of chew from his pocket. “Yeah, overpriced piece of shit it is, too.”
“But it’s nice?” I asked, hopeful he and his wife would be happy here.
He smacked the can against his palm to loosen the tobacco. “Yeah, nice as fuck. Too nice for my ass. But my woman deserves it. It has all the modern bells and whistles and shit. Plus, we were tired of making the drive to Shreveport and back to see each other. Her field office is here in the city.”
I knew his wife worked for the BSI agency—some offset from the Justice Department that kept tabs on the supernatural. I had been shocked to learn they had actually hired a vampire. I thought they policed them, not employed them.
“I was so damn relieved when you said we were opening a chapter here. I love this fuckin’ city.” He shoved a wad of dip into his mouth.
I made a face and pointed. “I thought you quit that shit.”
He smiled around the dip and looked real stupid. “I quit smoking.�
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The guys came down the stairs.
“Happy with your accommodations?” I asked.
They all responded positively, and I gestured for them to follow me out the front door. It was a short few steps to the Cobalt Room next door, and I used my key to open the front door. I would eventually have an enclosed walkway built between the two buildings so we wouldn’t have to go outside to reach the club.
Set up like a standard bar, it boasted two large wooden bars stocked full of liquor. Blue and white recessed lighting lit up the place, and one large dance floor sat off to the right. The brass railing along the entrance ramp glittered under the lights.
Multiple tables were set around the place, and there was plenty of space to hold church. The bar would only be open at night, obviously, and I’d already decided church would be held as soon as the sun went down, and then the club would open at 8 p.m. each evening. I already had Jewel, Dash, and two new prospects enrolled in bartending school. Dash had wanted to stay behind at the Shreveport location, but he was needed here. He insisted on keeping busy, so he’d repair bikes a few days a week and help out serving drinks the others.
“Very nice, boss,” Shadow said, patting me on the shoulder as he walked by to inspect the place.
I watched as Kovah went over to the digital jukebox mounted to the wall where people could pay to listen to whatever they wanted to hear through the massive speakers strategically placed around the bar. He began pressing buttons, trying to figure it out.
“You break it, you buy it,” I called out.
He flipped me off and I chuckled as I headed toward the back room. One office and a supply room were all that was back here. The office was small, but the desk and computer served its sole purpose. I didn’t really plan to work on the books back here, as I had my office in the clubhouse, but it might prove to be a nice place to hide out when the bar was busy. Sometimes crowds gave me a proverbial headache. But I needed the extra income and a place to hold church so I figured a bar in such a busy district of the city would make me some extra dough.
