by S. Coop
“So the AVA knows about me.”
Morgan nodded. “Marcus knows but he hasn't told the others. At least not yet.” She squeezed his hand. “This is the part I’ve been dreading to tell you. These days if you make a vampire, you have to have permission from the AVA, like a permit. This law is in place because many humans are still very suspicious of vampires. If our population grew too fast, then the humans would most likely take some kind of action. Anti-vampire sentiment is very bad some places, especially in the South. Although there are some humans that worship us, most humans either fear us or tolerate us.”
“So you broke the law when you made me,” Lasandro said.
“Yes. When I made you, I broke an important law. When a vampire makes another vampire by accident or on purpose without permission, he or she must …”
“You have to kill me,” Lasandro said.
“Yes. I have to kill you, or both of us will be put to death. That is why Pony said what she said.”
Lasandro nodded. “I understand why you wouldn’t want to tell me this. Um, thanks for not killing me yet.”
A tear slid down Morgan’s cheek. “I have no plans to kill you.”
Lasandro wiped the tear away with his finger. “Is that a strange way of saying you like me?”
“I suppose it is.”
Lasandro laughed. “Do you like me? Well, I have no plans to kill you, so …” He stared into her eyes. “So that means we both have to die.”
“It, um, seems that way, yes,” Morgan said. “That’s why we’ve had to keep moving. I don’t want you to die.”
“But we’re already undead,” Lasandro said.
“I want you to exist,” Morgan said. “And I want to exist with you, too.”
“Good to know.” Lasandro said. “So we’re in … existence together.”
“I guess so.” She looked out over the water. “I really don’t know why we’re still alive. We should already be snuffed out, and yet …” She shrugged. “Marcus, my Maker, is a member of the highest council. My refusal to kill you immediately infuriated him.”
“I remember.”
“I don’t know why he’s showing me so much leniency, but that could change,” Morgan said. “Make no mistake, my Maker is a monster. It’s only a matter of time before you are dead and I am his again.” She ran her toes through the soft, cool sand and tears welled up in her eyes.
“But I thought we both had to cease to exist because you broke this law,” Lasandro said.
“Marcus has a way of bending laws in his favor,” Morgan said. “He’d like nothing more than to snuff you out and have me under a death sentence for the rest of eternity.”
Lasandro nodded. “So you’re risking your life, your existence for me.”
Morgan nodded. “I think you’re worth it.”
Lasandro lifted her chin and placed a soft kiss on her lips, “I feel worth it. For the first time in my life. And I had to become undead to feel it. Thank you.”
“That made …” Morgan smiled. “That didn’t make any kind of sense.”
Lasandro looked into the clouds. “It made perfect sense to me.”
“Well, I’m still sorry I turned you.”
“I’m not,” Lasandro said. “What’s done is done. Let’s go inside.”
Morgan nodded, teary-eyed. “Let’s.”
Lasandro took her hand and led her to bed where they made tender love before they drifted off to the contented sleep of the living, not the dead.
Chapter Ten
Akane
Japan had not exactly been Morgan’s cup of tea, but Marcus loved it and insisted they go on, as he called it, a “taste the world tour.” He always came up with those types of things. Morgan figured it was because he had lived for so long that he was always trying to find new ways to spice things up. The life of a vampire wasn’t for everyone, and it was often dull. It was common for vampires to commit suicide after a couple hundred years. They simply got tired of living, became wearied of existing. Although the thought had never crossed Morgan’s mind, she could understand why.
They had been out searching for their next meal in Tokyo when they came across a kimonoed damsel in distress.
Or so they thought.
“What do you think you’re doing?” a man spat at a young girl. “Don’t you ever try to run away from your responsibilities again!”
Morgan stopped to watch them. The man was older, well into his fifties, and the girl was young, not a day over sixteen. The man kept yelling, becoming more and more enraged before he slapped the girl across the face. Morgan knew exactly how she felt.
“Marcus, we have to help her.”
Marcus looked at the altercation in the distance. “No, Morgan, not this time. That is not our concern, come now.” Marcus grabbed her arm.
“Let go of me!” Morgan violently pulled away from him. “She needs help, and I’m going to help her whether you agree or not!”
Marcus knew how Morgan felt about violence against women. It was something she would never let him forget—how violently he had attacked her before she became a vampire. But she was his now, right? Where else could she go? “Our intervention is not necessary. Look.”
“What?” Morgan turned to find that the man and girl had vanished. “Damn it.” She gave Marcus the evil eye. “I’ll go find them then.”
“Come now, my dear, I’m sure she will be fine.”
Morgan ignored Marcus and followed the girl’s scent to a modest house nice enough to pass for a wealthy man’s home. Wood framed, it had a wide porch that resembled a wrap-around veranda.
“Their scent ended here,” Morgan said. “I’ll go in, scare the guy, compel him, and leave. He’ll never put his hands on her again. End of story.”
“Fine,” Marcus said. “I will entertain your lunacy just this once, but we must hurry as we have much to do.”
As Morgan walked up the steps, she heard yelling coming from inside the house …
“What am I going to do with you now? You are an embarrassment to this family. Frolicking around with American boys. No one will have you now. You have no chance of marrying into a good family! The only thing you will be able to be is a whore if anyone will pay to have you! Hurry up, I’m hungry!”
His words cut the girl’s ears like a knife. She continued cooking his dinner, trembling, fearing what was coming next.
How did it come to this? the girl thought. All I wanted was to be with him, the love of my life, but now there will be no escape. Her boyfriend was supposed to meet her at a bridge at midnight, but he didn’t show up. Instead, her abusive and surly father showed up.
The girl slowly stirred the rice, trying to put off the inevitable. How could I have been so foolish?
She walked over and served her father.
He took one bite and spit it at her. “Is this the best you can do? You overcooked the rice! Are you good for anything?” He hurled the hot bowl of food at her and raised his hands in the air. “What have I done to be so forsaken with a useless daughter such as you? Did you actually think he would come for you? Well, guess what? I killed him before he could do such a thing. A snake like that deserved to die! What? You thought I would let him get away with deflowering my daughter and bringing shame down on my house?”
The girl’s heart dropped into her stomach. “How could you, Father? He didn’t do anything but love me! We hadn’t done anything yet! I swear it!”
“You dare talk back to me!” He grabbed her kimono and shook her, closed his fist, and punched her in the chest. She collapsed on the floor, struggling to catch her breath.
“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” Morgan yelled.
The man turned around. “Who are you people? How did you get in here? Leave at once or I’ll …”
Morgan smiled. “You’ll what?”
The man raised his hand.
Morgan reacted by grabbing him by the neck with one hand, thrusting him into the air, and choking him. To further scare him, she allowed her fangs to desc
end. “Filth such as you does not deserve to live. So quick to rise up against a helpless young girl. You’re nothing more than a cockroach! I’m going to tell you this one time and one time only …”
Morgan spied the girl coming toward her with a katana. One minute the girl was on the floor crying, and the next she was coming toward her with rage in her eyes. “Don’t even think about it.” Morgan warned her. “Before you can hit me with that sword, I will have already broken your—”
The girl wielded the katana in a blinding flash, and the man’s head sailed across the room.
Morgan stared at the headless corpse in her hand, fountains of blood spewing into the air. She dropped the body and stepped back, keeping her eyes fastened on the girl. She glanced at Marcus, who merely smirked.
“Is this funny to you?” Morgan asked.
“Indeed,” Marcus said. “It is. It is also fascinating to me.” He stepped closer to the girl. “Tell me, young lady, how did you learn to use a sword like that?”
The girl spoke a little above a whisper. “I’m free.”
“It seems that is the case.” Morgan motioned toward Marcus. “Come on, we should go now.”
“Take me with you,” the girl said.
“Excuse me?” said Morgan.
“Take me with you,” the girl repeated. “You are not like me, am I right?”
“What do you think, child?” Marcus asked. “Are you not afraid?”
“Marcus, we don’t have time for this,” Morgan protested.
“I think this one could be of some use to us,” Marcus said. “With fighting skills like that, she could protect us when we are most vulnerable and you are the one who wanted to intervene.”
Morgan frowned. “I intervened to protect her. I need no protection.” She locked eyes with the girl and tried to compel her. “You are free, so go be free somewhere far from here. You do not want to be involved with anyone like us.”
“But my father killed the only thing I loved in my life,” the girl said. “I have nothing now, and the authorities will certainly kill me for this.”
“Go be free,” Morgan said. “Repeat what I said.”
The girl bowed her head. “I will go be free.”
“Let’s go, Marcus.”
“Coming, my dear.” Marcus followed Morgan, rolling his eyes behind her back, as they escaped into the night.
Morgan was more than happy to get away from that madness. How could someone seemingly so innocent kill so mercilessly? She knew the girl’s father was an abusive asshole, but she had no idea what that girl was capable of until just then.
They ran until Morgan heard someone gaining on them. She and Marcus stopped to see the girl hot on their heels. They stopped, puzzled and looked at each other. How could a human run so fast? It wasn’t possible.
“Young one, how can you run so fast?” Marcus asked.
“I have been blessed by my ancestors with a gift,” the girl said. “In every generation of my family, one person has these gifts. The gifts vary, and my gift is the gift of speed. That is how I can run with you.”
“Another reason she should come with us,” Marcus said. “Remarkable.”
“How can you possibly be thinking about keeping her?” Morgan again tried to compel the girl. “Fairytales won’t get you very far, girl. Go home and tell the authorities someone broke in and killed your father. You have no business with us.”
“Wait a minute,” Marcus said. “Okay, young one, what is your name?”
“I am Akane, but my friends call me Pony.”
“Okay, Pony,” Marcus said. “I’ll make you a deal. If you can keep up with us until we reach our destination, without tiring, you may stay with us.”
“Marcus, no!” Morgan cried. “This is not a good idea!”
He cut her off instantly. “Silence! You have had your way enough today.”
Marcus took off, and Morgan followed with Pony hot on their trail. They ran, and ran, and ran some more. Morgan thought there was no way Pony would last, but she did.
After that night, Pony became their “protector.” No human or vampire rivaled her speed or cruelty, and that made her invaluable to Marcus. He turned Pony on her sixteenth birthday, and that’s when she started unleashing her particular brand of devastation. Pony would often devour nearly every inhabitant of a small town or hamlet, and Morgan had the distasteful task of cleaning up her mess.
Morgan constantly complained to Marcus, but he would hear nothing of it. Pony had become like a daughter to him, and he would have no foul words spoken of her, even when she was wrong. In Marcus’s eyes, Pony could do no wrong. Although now Pony had some control of her blood thirst, she rarely chose to exercise it.
And Morgan had regretted trying to help her ever since.
Lasandro felt Morgan stir. He could tell she was deep in thought. “You wanna talk about it?” he asked.
“No, I’m fine. Let’s get some rest.”
Morgan cleared the memory of that night in Tokyo from her mind and concentrated on being in the arms of the man she … loved? There was no use fighting it. Yes, she loved Lasandro and had for quite a while.
“I love you, too,” Lasandro moaned.
“You heard my thoughts,” Morgan said.
“You have beautiful thoughts,” Lasandro whispered. “I wish your thoughts weren’t so loud, though. I’m trying to sleep.”
Morgan’s breath caught in her throat. He loves me. She smiled and fell back to sleep.
Chapter Eleven
What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
“We go in, ask a few questions, and get out, okay?” Morgan warned Lasandro when they approached their destination. “I’ve known Katya for a long time, and trust me, she can only be taken in small doses.”
Lasandro impatiently applied pressure to the heavy, old-school doorknocker on the oversized mahogany door. “Don’t worry, I got this.”
The door swung open, and a scantily clad, voluptuous African American vampire stood before them looking both surprised and annoyed by their arrival. Without introductions, she let the two in and pointed to the back of the residence. “Katya’s back there, in the office,” she ordered before returning to the mix of humans and vampires carousing about a large room, a party already in full swing.
Morgan and Lasandro entered the office, and Morgan was not surprised at what she saw. Katya sat behind a desk with a blond bombshell in her lap, no doubt her snack for the night, Katya’s long hair draped around the blonde’s shoulder. Morgan had known that Katya swung both ways, and female was evidently the flavor of this century. Morgan was rarely surprised by Katya’s appearance. She was always doing something wild with her hair. The current choice was dyed black with fiery red tips. Katya had also gotten more tattoos. She once told Morgan it was “her thing” to get a new tattoo every decade.
Lasandro cleared his throat. “Um, hello.”
Katya eyed the pair and gave Morgan a toothy grin, fangs and all. It had been a long time since their last meeting. “Leave us, Trina,” Katya ordered the blond, who looked perturbed and pissed.
“Come find me when you’re ready for some real fun,” Trina said.
Lasandro watched her pass by, and Trina gave him a quick “You, too” glance and winked at him before she exited the room. Lasandro felt Morgan flaming beside him.
“What can I do for you, Morgan?” Katya asked. “By the way, I must say you look divine tonight as you always have.”
Morgan rolled her eyes. I must really love Lasandro if I’m willing to deal with this bitch again. “I have a bit of a dilemma. My companion and I are in need of some information about a murder that happened about twenty years ago here in Shadybrook.”
“Well, that’s what the police are for, hon,” Katya said.
“Cut the shit, Katya,” Morgan snarled. “Nothing happens in this town that you don’t know about or know someone who knows.”
Lasandro side-eyed Morgan. What’s with her tonight? She�
�s going to ruin everything and piss this lady off before we can get any information.
Lasandro spoke to Katya with sincerity. “I’m sorry, but we would never have bothered you about this if it wasn’t extremely important. It was about twenty years ago on Dakota lane. The woman was in her late twenties at the time, and we know vampires were involved. Her name was Maria.”
Katya looked as if she were deciphering a code. “Maria, hmm,” she pondered, tapping her bottom lip. “Well, if anyone knows, Rene would know. She’s in the party room.”
Katya led them into the party room, where an orgy was in full swing. Everyone was drunk, and the vampires were having their way with humans, who didn’t seem to mind much. It also looked as though clothing was optional, and many had “opted out.”
Don’t you get any ideas, Morgan thought.
I only have eyes for you, my mistress, Lasandro thought.
And you better keep those eyes on me, Morgan thought.
You have such beautiful eyes, Lasandro thought. I would be a fool to look anywhere else.
“Rene!” Katya hollered.
Rene extricated herself from a threesome and gave them the same annoyed look she had given them at the door. Katya filled her in on the reason for their visit.
“I remember that,” Rene said. “The vampire community was up in arms because of the gruesomeness of it all. At the time, we were supposed to keep low key, and that murder was not low key. I heard the lady’s husband got sent up the river for it. Lucky for whoever really did it.”
“So you don’t have any clue who might have done it?” Lasandro asked impatiently. He was trying to read Rene’s mind to find out if she was lying or not, but he was too young and inexperienced to get in.
“I might know something,” Rene said, “but if you keep trying to get in my head, then I’m not gonna tell you a damn thing, little boy.”
Morgan squeezed Lasandro’s arm.
“My bad, sorry,” Lasandro muttered.
“I heard it was a group from out of town,” Rene said. “Roamer vamps. You know, vampires that don’t really stay in one place for too long without moving on. Well, there were three of them. An acquaintance of mine said one of them came to him bragging about it. How he stalked some woman and drained her dry, a real beauty. The guy was sick.”
