by E A Price
One of Master’s wolf shifter maids, Susanna swept through the room, stoking the fire. She paid little heed to what was happening. She had seen it all before.
Master sucked one of Mary’s breasts into his mouth and bit it, making her bleed. She flinched, and Master’s friends chuckled. He lapped at her blood before lifting his head and giving them a triumphant smile.
“Please, can we go to the bedroom,” she pleaded in a whisper.
“No,” he growled.
Master was the only one who had a vampire companion. The others never changed anyone, or at least they never changed anyone to keep. She could see they thought he was mad for doing it, though she could see they also coveted her body. It wasn’t particularly flattering; they were deviants who coveted everything.
Rodrigo roared as he found his release. He gave Mary a satisfied grin as his servant cleaned his spent tool.
“Your wench has such a pretty mouth,” he drawled at Master. “Perhaps I might try her.”
The other vampires stilled as Master lifted his head from her breast, glowering at Rodrigo. He wasn’t aware of the rules.
“Mary is mine,” he snarled.
Master had human servants whose blood and bodies he enjoyed and all of whom he was happy to share with his friends. But he would never share Mary. He was possessive over her. It was a small mercy. Very small.
Rodrigo held up his hands in placation. “Of course, my friend.”
He stood up, batting the human away and tying his britches.
“The blood around here has become a little boring. I believe I will find some sport in the village.”
Marguerite tossed her own human aside, who continued writhing on the ground. “I shall come, too.”
Master grunted at them, barely noticing their exit, but Mary was thankful for a smaller audience, in particular, she was glad that Rodrigo had left. More than once he had tried to come to her bedroom when Master was occupied elsewhere with his human donors. It was lucky Susanna was there, sleeping at the foot of her bed in wolf form. Otherwise, Mary dreaded to think what would have happened. Probably no worse than what had already been done to her, but Master’s reaction was her real worry.
Mary glanced up and noticed Susanna lingering in the doorway. Her eyes lighted on Edward, and he gave her a long look before she hurried away.
She gave no more thought to the moment as Master’s attentions became more demanding and hungrier.
*
Present day
“Dicker.”
The rotund elephant shifter gave him what can only be described as a look. “What the fuck do you want?”
Ryder gave him a devilish smile. “Can’t a guy just stop by to say hi?”
“You can’t. And I’m still smarting after that fight with the lion shifter. Damn weasels are still pissed.”
Ryder grinned. “Told you I was good.”
Don Dicker was possibly the shadiest and pre-eminent bookie in Los Lobos when it came to underground gambling. Although Ryder was still new to the city, he had no trouble tracking down Dicker. Ryder was used to dealing in this world, and all it took was a few choice questions in the right seedy bars. There was always someone like Dicker around. He may walk around in a velour tracksuit, and hang around in dive bars, but the top end Mercedes and trophy wife showed how well he was doing.
Needing extra cash, Ryder approached him about putting him in a fight. Dicker took a little persuading, but on occasion Ryder could sweet talk people – a talent completely lost on Juliet - and Dicker finally agreed. He set Ryder up with a couple of weasel brothers who ran some illegal fights. Ryder did warn them he was good, but nonetheless, they were both shocked and pissed when he beat their champion into oblivion.
Not my fault preened his tiger. Sure as hell wasn’t. Could he help being naturally magnificent? Nope, it was a curse! One he wished Juliet would appreciate more.
“If you want another fight you can go fuck yourself.”
Ryder tossed some bills on the table, and Dicker’s upper lip started sweating – a sign of interest. “What’s this?”
“Some of my winnings.” He put a modest bet on himself, and it paid off big time – his odds were minuscule. Serves them right we won so big thought his tiger. They shouldn’t underestimate him.
“Figured you could grease the palms of the weasels. Either that or buy your wife some new shoes.”
Dicker snorted.
“The lion was slow. If I hadn’t beat him, someone else would.” Not as totally and impressively as him, but they would have. “The weasels are just getting antsy to piss you off and see what they can get out of you. Heard them talking after the fight – because I was listening to them - they’re hemorrhaging money. They owe money to Tom Murphy.” A hippo shifter mob boss who was affectionately nicknamed ‘the hammer’ and known for giving people concrete shoes.
“I don’t want your money.” Dicker picked up the wad of bills and tossed it to his bodyguard, Walt - a rough looking bear shifter who hadn’t stopped grumbling since Ryder approached. Might have something to do with the fact that Ryder broke a couple of his fingers the first time they met.
Ryder wanted to talk to Dicker, Walt wanted to get in his way, words were said, mistakes were made – water under the bridge. Walt was probably planning something but, eh, that was a problem for another day.
Ryder tried his most disarming smile, which admittedly usually only worked on the ladies. Doesn’t work on Juliet complained his tiger.
“Most people give the money back when they say that.”
Dicker cocked his head at the bodyguard. “Figured Walt deserved it after that hurt you put on him.” The bear bristled but remained stoically silent. In fairness, Ryder didn’t think he knew more than a handful of words – but then, why use words when a grunt was sufficient?
“Weasels are getting too big for their tiny shoes anyway. Let Murphy deal with them. What do you really want? You didn’t come down here out of the goodness of your fucking heart.”
“You know anything about vampires?” Ryder asked.
“What’s there to know? Bloodsucking fuckers. You take my advice and stay away from them; they’ll fuck you over every time. Or don’t, what do I care!”
“You ever heard of them mating with shifters?”
Dicker gave him a sidelong glance. “Really? You came to me because you wanna hear about the mating habits of vampires?”
“Figured you knew everything.” Or at least he thought he did. Who else could he ask about this? Juliet wasn’t forthcoming, and he couldn’t imagine other vampires would be either.
“True,” he said smugly.
“So?”
“So I ain’t ever heard of a vampire mating a shifter. Snooty fucks only mate other vamps. They find a human mate; they change them. Don’t think many even feed off shifters. Must be our funky blood – not good enough for the prissy fuckwits.”
“Why not shifters?”
What was wrong with his blood? Was that why Juliet didn’t want to feed on him? He never thought he’d see the day where he was sad that a creature didn’t want to suck his blood, but it really galled him and his beast that she wouldn’t take it. The thought of her feeding from someone else had his tiger chasing his own tail in frustration.
Dicker shrugged. “Fuck do I know. Shifters can’t become vampires, so the bonding probably doesn’t even work.”
“Really?”
“You ever see any shifters walking around with fangs? You see any vampires holding hands with shifters? They don’t turn, and the two don’t mate.”
“No, I guess not.”
Ryder rubbed a hand over his head. Fuck – maybe the bonding really wouldn’t work. Since he met Juliet, he’d been preoccupied with getting her to mate with him and getting into her panties – of which he knew every single pair having spent an inordinate amount of time going through her underwear drawer. He had to admit he hadn’t ever met a shifter who had mated a vampire. Not something he’d thought about
before.
“You look like you’ve kicked in the nards,” smirked Dicker.
He had.
Chapter Five
Juliet didn’t know why she was even surprised to wake and find Ryder in her room. He was sitting in one of her armchairs; a small reading light illuminated the room. She voiced as much.
“Why am I even surprised?” she drawled while trying to hide a yawn.
His eyes flicked up from his book, and he smiled at her. It was a kind smile, filled with warmth and a little hunger. It made her insides flip. She was dead - they really shouldn’t be doing that.
“You sleep a lot for a vampire,” he commented neutrally.
Juliet pulled herself up in bed, being careful to keep the covers around her chest. Her nightdress was perfectly respectable, but the way he looked at her made her feel completely naked. Sure his senses were great even for a shifter, but she swore he had x-ray vision.
He stared at her in interest, and she felt a little uncomfortable even for one of his intense gazes.
“So? What’s your point?”
“According to this,” he motioned to the book in his hands, “vampires rarely sleep. Maybe once a month.”
“Ah, that’s what’s different about you. You’re holding a book.” She gave him her most patronizing grin, and he waggled his eyebrows.
“Yeah, I’m skipping over the big words. Hard to believe I didn’t finish school, huh?”
“I never went to school,” she said in a sudden fit of forthrightness. Perhaps it was to ease him. He had nothing to be ashamed of. She believed schooling was important, but he was no less of a man for not graduating.
He looked at her in interest, and she realized that while she chastised him for trying to hide from her, she hadn’t told him much about her either. Though maybe she shouldn’t tell him anything…
“Girls didn’t go to school back then. Few boys really did either, at least not where I came from. I was sixty-five before I could persuade anyone to teach me to read.” She looked down at her hands folded in her lap. “In my time, in my village, girls were there to get married and become mothers.”
“Did you ever…”
“No,” she replied sharply before he could finish that thought, old waves of anger shimmering to the surface. “What is that you’re reading anyway?” she asked, changing the subject.
He held it up, and she read the cover. Eckman's Guide to the Modern Vampire. It was her book. One she’d bought out of interest. Some of it was correct; a lot was mere supposition. The book actually said little, but the author had managed to drag it out over five hundred pages.
“I’d recommend Fifty Shades of Grey, but if you are trying to get to sleep that one would do it.”
“It’s actually pretty interesting.”
“Spoken like a man who has never read Fifty Shades of Grey. But please, enlighten me, which parts are interesting?”
“About how some vampires develop magical powers.” He looked at her questioningly.
It went into detail in that section. It was a strange quirk. The abilities they developed were very varied. Once, she met a vampire who could fly. She was not exactly keen to divulge her own ability to many people. She’d either be laughed at or called upon to tend to depressed hamsters. “Umm hmm, what else?”
“That vampires can tolerate more and more sunlight the older they get.”
“That varies from vampire to vampire.” She wasn’t about to go sunbathing to find out how much she could stand.
His eyes narrowed, and a small possessive growl escaped him. “Probably best you don’t run the risk. Sunlight is overrated.”
“Spoken like someone who can go out in it every day.”
“Say the word, and I’ll give it up.”
There was such an earnest taint to his face she couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of her. He scowled, and she shook her head.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she chided.
“Why don’t vampires drink shifter blood?”
She shifted uneasily in her bed, wanting him to leave so she could get up and shower and pretend she hadn’t been enjoying sexy dreams of him all day.
“They do.”
Ryder leaned forward in his chair, as though desperately eager for her every word. “Really?”
“Some do, but human blood is better.”
His lips twisted in amusement. “Better?”
“Turn to chapter twelve. Apparently it’s all about nutrients and taste.” Total crap in reality. Shifter blood tasted no different to human blood, but most vampires were too worried about getting that close to shifters - in case it accidentally triggered bonding
“Chapter twelve,” he muttered flicking through the pages.
Impatience flashed through her. “Take the book if you want it, I’ve read it. But I need to get ready for work.”
“Go ahead,” he murmured.
“Alone,” she clarified
He leered at her, and for a moment she thought he would argue, but he didn’t. Slowly, he rose to his feet, stretching out his long, muscled limbs.
“I’ll be downstairs.”
“There’s really no need to stay.”
“I insist, I’ll be here in case you’re feeling peckish. Figured maybe you’d want to test out my blood before you decided about how shifter blood tasted.” He gave her a smug grin. “I taste great.”
Insufferable lout. But, yes, sadly, she was certain he would taste amazing.
*
On arriving at work, Juliet found her assistant Emily pacing with arms folded and a censorious frown on her face. For a second, Juliet was reminded of her mother. Yikes, it had been a very long time since she had encountered that kind of unease. The expression on Emily’s face made her feel like she had broken her curfew and was about to get grounded.
“There you are!” exclaimed Emily.
“Here I am,” Juliet agreed, vaguely amused by Emily’s disgruntled expression.
“You’re late.”
“Indeed.” The consequence of an extra-long shower. To say she was a cold, undead creature it took her ages to cool down earlier. That might be because of the sexy sabre-tooth refusing to leave her house.
“I’m worried about you. It’s not like you to be late.”
Juliet could have argued that she and Emily had only known each other for four weeks, but Emily was already riled enough.
“I had a pesky houseguest.”
That part was true. Even though she was leaving for work, Ryder still wouldn’t leave her house. He tried to elicit all sorts of x-rated promises out of her before she could peel him off her couch. She didn’t give in to any of his demands and ended up manhandling him out of there. He enjoyed that very much.
“Oh?” Emily furrowed her eyebrows in concern.
Juliet smiled. “A cat, I had trouble getting him out the house.”
“You should try catnip or a spray bottle.”
Juliet worried what his catnip might actually be – probably her, though she couldn’t shake the feeling that he would drop her the moment someone else took his fancy.
He was just stubborn. The more she denied him, the worse he got. But ultimately, his desire would wane, and he would move onto another woman, right?
She wouldn’t deny she was attractive, but there were plenty more attractive than her. She was old and set in her ways and generally boring company. Perhaps she should throw a few nubile young girls at him to remind him of what he was missing.
She perused her messages and gave Emily a few instructions about returning the calls.
“Is Gerry in today?” Gerry Sanders worked below her and was in charge of the investigating agents.
“Yes, but not for much longer. He’s due to go on vacation for three weeks after today. He and Jessie are going skiing.”
Juliet beamed at her efficient though slightly pouting assistant. “I’ll try and catch him before I go.”
Chapter Six
Ryder slammed his paw d
own on the bell. Then he did it again, and then a few more times, right up until a witch with a sour expression snatched the bell away from him.
According to Dicker, Kalinda’s Magical Emporium was the best place to seek magical advice in the city. But if he was expecting a friendly welcome, he wasn’t going to get it. Even his tiger would think twice before pissing off the purple-eyed witch glaring at him.
“Are you lost, shifter?” The words poured out of her mouth like honey. Presumably, this was Kalinda.
There was a strange aroma in the store, it tickled his nose and made him a little woozy. Whatever it was it aggravated his beast, making him want to gag – or maybe cough up a furball. Yet, he didn’t feel like snarling or tearing his claws through something. That wasn’t quite right; that wasn’t quite his normal reaction, and he suspected she was burning something to calm her customers down, or perhaps make them spend more.
Kalinda smiled, but there was no warmth in it. She was attractive, in a terrifying sort of way – he’d give her that. But one thought of Juliet dispelled any other woman from his thoughts.
Ryder tried to shake away the cobwebs forming in his mind. He came there for a reason. “How do you extend your lifespan?”
Her eyes looked him up and down. “Have you tried diet and exercise?”
It was his turn to give her a sour look. “I meant really extend it. Do you have anything like magical spells or potions?”
Kalinda gave him a patient, patronizing look. “You’re asking the same questions thousands of witches, wizards and warlocks asked before you. Most spend their whole lives chasing it.”
“It?”
“Immortality.” Said with a lot of relish.
“They could become vampires.”
“In which case they’d lose their magical abilities, not to mention the other sacrifices. Most don’t believe it’s worth it.”
His tiger huffed. “So you’re saying there’s nothing?”
Kalinda scowled. “If I knew the secret to immortal life do you really think I’d be running this pokey little store?”
