by Kimbra Swain
“I can,” I urged her, shaking my hand as the door cracked open behind me. She pursed her lips, then disappeared. “Fuck!” I said as the doors opened behind me. Throwing my arms in front of my face out of instinct, I waited for the gunfire to continue.
“What are you doing?” Stanley asked. Six men laid on the floor around him. Several of them had lost their heads.
“Trying not to die,” I muttered, realizing what a wimp I seemed.
“Well, perhaps you shouldn’t run off with the vampire world’s most notorious runaway,” he said.
I thought about what Tierney had said. If her father wanted her dead, then he had to have worked very quickly to get these guys into place after we left the dinner. Someone was lying.
“You do good work, Stella,” I said, stepping over a body.
He jerked his jacket by the lapel. “It is my specialty.”
“Death?” I asked, kicking the foot of one of the corpses that retained his head. Just making sure he was dead. “I’m pretty sure we all can do that.”
“Making things bleed,” he replied with pride.
“Is my father safe? Is he aware of this?” I asked.
“Not yet, but he is safe,” Stanley said. “They are feeding.”
“Oh, I think he needs to know about this right now,” I said.
“Fucking hell, Malik. You have a death wish.”
“Nah, I wish for a world filled with mischief, torrents of bullets, and commando vixens.”
“Commando?” Stanley asked. “Nice.”
“Come on, Killer.”
Stanley begged me not to interrupt as we made our way back to the dining room, but I was sick of being jerked around. I threw open the doors and walked through like a boss. The scene was a typical feeding. Blood and fangs. All of it ceased when I stomped into the room. I regretted it immediately, but I had my rush of badassery. It faded in the fury of my father.
“What is the meaning of this?” he boomed. The dessert scattered to the edges of the room as my father practically tore the table in half to step over it to get to me. The shortest distance between two points was straight up my ass.
“You tell me, Daddy-O.” Might as well have fun before I die. “I got out of the elevator on my floor only to have half a dozen of your men open fire on me.”
“My daughter!” MacFarlane exclaimed.
“Yeah, she’s a peach. She’s fine. I just don’t know where she is. I saved her life then she disappeared,” I said.
My father’s stride did not ease until his nose came within inches of mine. His voice rang out in my head and I flinched but couldn’t pull away as he clamped his overpowered hands on my arms.
“If you think that I would bring you into my house to kill you, then you must think I’m a fool. I could have killed you on the street had I wanted you to die. We have been breached and obviously the only people we can trust is each other. Do you understand?” he asked. My vision swirled as he exited my head. “Malik?”
“Yes, Father,” I answered.
“Continue with the feast. I have matters within my home to attend to,” Father said to the room.
“How do we know we are safe?” MacFarlane asked.
“Are you the most powerful vampire in this country or not?” my father snarled back at him.
I stifled a laugh, because maybe I did get something from my father. A lack of respect for authority figures.
Father released me, then walked out of the room.
“Hey, wait up,” I called out to him, then ran out of the room to catch him before he got into the elevator. “I think I’ll take the stairs.”
“Get in the elevator, Malik,” he ordered. Then Stanley shoved me from behind. He followed my flailing body into the car and the door promptly closed.
“Why does this one work so well?” I asked.
“Perhaps you should stay out of the servant elevator,” Father suggested.
“Maybe you should give them equal equipment? They’ve forfeited their right to life, but at least they could have a nicer elevator,” I said.
“Thanks to your choice of conveyance, I suspect they will get a new one,” Father huffed.
“I’m a man of the people,” I replied.
“What were you doing with that woman?” he asked.
“It was her idea,” I said.
“So, the MacFarlanes are trying to kill my heir.” I let him say it but didn’t respond.
“She said they were trying to kill her.”
“She does have some tendencies like you, but she’s never shied away from wanting her father’s throne.”
“Unlike me.”
“Yes, unlike my ungrateful son,” he replied as the doors opened to the floor where I was staying. The bodies of the men laid as they had before when I left them. Gore stood in the middle of the room with several other men.
“How the hell does this happen under our noses?” Father growled.
“My lord, all of these men had been recently vetted. I have no explanation,” Gore admitted.
“You will have an explanation by morning, or I will have your head,” Father replied. “Stanley, stay and help him.”
“But, Sir…” Stanley protested.
“My son is safe with me,” Father said, then went back to the elevator. I didn’t have to be ordered to know that he wanted me to go with him. I shrugged at Stanley, then joined my father in the elevator. I began to speak, and he placed his finger over his mouth to ask me to remain quiet.
When we exited on the top floor of the building, Lydia greeted us.
“Oh my god! How did this happen?” she asked.
“How did what happen?” Father asked her.
“Malik getting tied up with that MacFarlane woman,” she said.
“She is a piece of ass,” I replied, which I didn’t mean at all. She intrigued me, and I had the feeling that she hadn’t tried to kill me. It was actually much more believable that my dear stepmother had something to do with it. I decided to keep my mouth shut since Father had indicated it in the elevator. Something in Tierney’s eyes struck me. The fear. She was afraid of something; I just didn’t know what.
“Honey, let me appease your nerves,” she said to my father as she ran her hands over his chest, and under his jacket. He pushed her away.
“Lydia, go sleep downstairs in your room tonight. My son and I have business to handle,” he said.
“Oh, and so I’m not good enough to be in on your private conversations?” she asked.
He froze, then turned to face her. “You sold your soul and turned in the only man you ever loved. Why should I trust you with anything?”
Whoa. He meant me.
“I never loved Malik. He was just a piece of ass,” she said.
“Touché,” I replied.
She stomped off towards the elevator, and my father walked steadily to the back off the room toward a set of double doors. When we entered, the lights automatically illuminated the extra-large bedroom. An executive desk sat near the windows which overlooked the neon lights of Nashville. The California King bed featured four sleek black posters with white gauze draped around the top. The linens were stark white.
Father made his way to the liquor decanter on his desk. He poured two glasses of dark liquid, then offered me one.
“Thanks,” I replied, then took a sip.
“You drank blood at dinner,” he said.
“You asked me to be your heir for the extent of the weekend. I am doing my best, but I had to leave before the feeding. If I had gone back to that style of nourishment, I would have never been able to stop. So, I checked out. Tierney gave me the opportunity,” I said.
He took long sips of his drink before speaking. He sat down the glass, then removed his tie and jacket.
“I have not told you everything,” he said.
“And yet you claimed you are the only one in this building that I can trust.” I took off my jacket, throwing it on the end of the bed. The damn cufflinks were cutting off
my circulation, so I removed those too.
He sat down on the desk. I’d never seen my father sit on his desk. I’d never even seen him lean on it. His feet dangled below him like a child on a swing.
“It is my belief that Lord Blackburn’s son has blackmailed him into this transition. Tierney wants her father’s throne, which makes you the odd heir out,” he said.
“I have no desire to remove you from power. I may hate this lifestyle. I may hate vampirism with a passion, but I know what your purpose is,” I replied, taking a seat on a chaise across from the bed.
“And that is why you are here and not dead, but that doesn’t mean that one of them might try to remove me. Especially Blackburn since the MacFarlane clan controls two territories. Removing us both would open the door for the West to take the South,” he said.
I finished off the drink. “You brought me here to protect me.”
“In a way, yes.” He picked up his glass and threw it across the room. It shattered against the far wall. He picked up another glass and filled it. I felt sorry for the drinking vessels in this house. Their life span was shorter than the humans. “It seems as though you aren’t safe here. I apologize, Malik.”
Silence hung thick between us. My father had apologized to me. Apology signaled weakness.
“What do we do about it?” I asked.
“Normally, I would say strike first, but in this case, I can’t make a move because it looks like my own men did it. That time has already passed. I’m not one to tuck tail and run,” he said.
“Neither am I.”
“You are with me on this?”
That was the ultimate question. I might trust my father. I might even respect him and his purpose, but did I want to fight in his corner. At this point, I didn’t see that I had any other choice.
“Yes.”
“Good.” He downed the rest of the drink, then told me his plan.
At some point during the night, I rolled off the chaise and hit the floor. My father had offered his bed, stating that he couldn’t sleep. I’d never seen him sleep, and I wondered if he did. The bed was for sex which is why I wouldn’t sleep in it. One thing I didn’t have to worry about was Lydia showing up here.
When I woke up, my father was gone, and Stanley sat at the desk.
“Good morning, Sunshine,” he said.
“What’s the fall-out?” I asked.
“You care about family stuff now?” he asked.
“I almost died in this building. I’d like to fulfill my promise to my father, then get the fuck out. It seems that I’m going to have to care at least for a few days,” I replied.
“The factions are pissed. The normal ruckus about a lack of control. Your father has been downstairs appeasing them all morning.”
“Has Tierney turned up?” I asked.
“You should stay away from her.”
“I get that, but is she here?”
“Yeah, she came in this morning with her father as if nothing happened.”
“Where are my clothes?” I asked, assuming that my choice of wardrobe had been made for me.
“Stella dropped them off earlier. They are in your father’s bathroom. You were kinda hanging out when she came in, and I let her fondle you.”
Obviously, a lie. “Are you jealous that she touched my junk? She would touch yours if you offered.”
“Shut it, Reject!”
I snickered all the way to the bathroom and through most of my shower, which I used to ponder my father’s plan. He wanted me to continue our well-known feud in public. He also suggested that I keep Tierney close. She intrigued me, but I didn’t like the idea of allowing myself to get wrapped up in her problems. Father felt like I could get her to tell me what she knew about the change of power in the West and their future plans.
Going through all the facts at hand, I was convinced that the true target of all of this was my father. As much as I hated to admit it, he was the devil I knew. The crest on my ring meant something to him. Now, it meant something to me. I had to preserve the system I hated for my entire life.
When I stepped out of the bathroom, Stanley raised an eyebrow. “You almost look respectable. Even your face.”
“I guess you had a poor canvas to start with on yours,” I replied.
“I’m handsome,” he protested.
“Of course, you are. In an Andre the Giant kind of way,” I replied while walking to the elevators.
“Andre was a national treasure!”
“I agree, but he was ugly as fuck.”
“You can put a suit on a pig, but he’s still a pig. How dare you talk about the dead in that way!?”
“You are right. Forgive me. He was much better looking than you.”
Stanley growled while pushing the button for the second floor where the main activities would take place today. When we stepped off the elevator, I heard the angry voices attacking my father.
“You expect us to stay here when your own people tried to kill your son and her,” a younger male voice said. Apparently, Dick Jr. was speaking for Daddy Dick.
“I wouldn’t be alive if Malik hadn’t saved me,” Tierney said.
I walked into the room, looked her straight in the eye. I hope she got the ‘go to hell’ look on my face. “You are welcome,” I said. “Good morning, Father.”
“Good morning, Son.”
“How can you assure our safety?” Dick Jr. asked.
“Father and I spent the evening double checking all the security measures that we put into place. Our head of security is interviewing his men, and we will get to the bottom of this soon,” I replied.
“Your father has told us as such, but I do not feel safe,” Dickey said.
I leaned on a table piled high with fruit. Removing a green apple, I brushed it on my lapel. “Are you worthy of taking your father’s place or not?” I asked, then took a bite of the apple.
Dickey snarled showing me his teeth. I stabbed mine into the green apple and removed my hand. “Hey look, no hands!”
Tierney held back a smile, and I winked at her. She blushed, then turned her head away from me. My father shook his head at me.
“Son, please have respect for our guests,” Father said.
“Oh, I’m not disrespecting them. I just have no self-respect. Part of being a reject, ya know?” I replied.
“Yes, well, perhaps putting your fangs away and keeping your mouth shut would be helpful,” Father suggested.
I shrugged and allowed them to continue fighting. Tierney made her way closer to me as I finished off the apple. I grabbed a banana.
“Fruit?” I asked, holding it at crotch level.
“Would you just stop it,” she hissed. “I came over here to thank you for saving me last night. Your sacrifice would have been almost chivalrous.”
“I had no intention of being chivalrous. I got left hanging,” I said, dropping the banana on the ground.
“I was too scared and ran.”
“Liar.”
“I’m not lying,” she lied.
“You are cute when you lie.”
“Damn it, Malik. Do you take anything seriously?” she asked.
“Not really. So, are we fucking or not?” I asked.
She looked back at her father, then at me. “Maybe later.”
“Rejected again. See! The name fits,” I said.
“I need help,” she said.
“I’m fresh out of good deeds,” I replied, choosing an orange from the pile of fruit.
She stepped closer. Her scent swirled around me, and I fought off the arousal factor. “If you don’t help me, he’s going to kill me.”
“Nah. He’s not got any other heirs, does he?” I asked. “Seems like it would be stupid to kill you here where he is vulnerable. He would have no heir to take his place if something unfortunate happened to him before he got home.”
I took a wedge of the orange and popped it into my mouth. My stomach growled, wanting something more substantial than fruit. I ig
nored it, watching a gamut of emotions roll across Tierney’s face as she made up her next lie.
“He already has chosen someone. I don’t know who it is, but all he is waiting on is my death.”
I licked the sticky off my fingers, one by one, then looked at the gorgeous lying woman before me. “Why don’t we just cut the shit and you tell me what’s really going on? Spell it out for me. I’m just a poor misfit in this big bad vampire world.” I fluttered my eyelashes at her.
“You are full of shit. You cannot tell me that you lived out there without any protection from your father,” she said.
I had one advantage with Tierney. She underestimated me and my ability to be a true vampire. “Wanna go for a ride?” I asked.
“I don’t think we should be talking about that here,” she muttered.
“Dirty minded vamp. I meant on my motorcycle,” I said.
She quirked a smile, and her eyes sparkled at the idea. I saw my father watching me while trying to appease the others.
“Come on, Scarlett. Allow me to show you my world,” I said, offering her my hand.
“Don’t call me pet names,” she said.
“I’ll call you whatever I damn well please. Are you coming with me or not?” I asked.
“Phrasing.”
“I’ve asked you to join me for a ride, as well as, a mutual climax. I think my phrasing is spot-on. Well?” I said, wiggling my fingers at her.
She placed a cold hand in mine, and I had to remind myself that this was for my father. For the best of the vampires of the Southern realm. The rough and dirty things I’d do for my freedom. At least I could hope for rough and dirty.
Tierney’s helmet muffled her squeals of delight as I drove the bike hard into the corners. Her grip on my waist tightened when I hit the interstate, zipping through heavy traffic. The whiplash reactions needed to navigate the obstacle course of sedans and trucks came from the vampiric blood flowing through my veins. Even if I made a mistake, we wouldn’t die. However, I knew I wouldn’t make a mistake.
I’d run from my father’s goons more than once. When father told me that my bike was in his building’s garage, I didn’t have time to be pissed at him for taking my precious motorcycle. He even suggested I use it to intrigue the red-headed goddess who was currently saddled up behind me. My biggest problem turned out to be that I enjoyed it. I liked the feeling of her holding tight and the anticipation that I might get more than a bike ride out of this.
