“Listen…whatever your name is.”
“Rachel. The name is Rachel,” she cut in.
I groaned. Such a normal name. Of course, it was. “Right. Rachel. I’m not one of you.”
“Maciah said you’d say that.” She grinned.
My fists tightened on the counter. “Don’t interrupt me.”
She pretended to zip her mouth and throw away the key like she was five. Seriously, I didn’t understand these vampires.
“I don’t work with others. If you want to give me the name of the vampire you want dead, I’ll consider looking into things, but I don’t want anything to do with your nest. I intended to tell Maciah that whenever he popped back up, but if you could just pass the information along, that’d be great.”
She jutted her lower lip out. “For reals? Like there is no convincing you? Because I was seriously so excited about having another girl around. I mean, there’s Nikki, but she’s hardly ever home. I’m always stuck with men. I am so over them walking around like they’re better than me just because I’m a woman. I could kill them all if I wanted, you know?”
Mother effer, she talked a lot.
“Then, why don’t you?”
Rachel finally took a drink of her Bloody Mary, and I tried not to gag. Then, I was distracted by the fact that she held her pinky out while taking deep gulps until every drop was gone. These vamps were insane.
She wiped the sides of her lips with the drink napkin, then leveled her gaze on me. “Because I’m not a monster, Amersyn.”
Her words were simple, but they rocked my core. I didn’t know why. I shouldn’t care. I killed vampires. Nothing more, nothing less. They were bloodsuckers that needed to be cleared from the history books.
And yet…
Rachel grinned at me, nearly bouncing in her seat as she reached for me. “Oh, oh, oh! You’re actually considering the offer now. Maciah said I’d never get you to see reason, but us girls, we’ve got to stick together. He had no business breaking into your home like that. I’d told him so. I tried to get him to approach you like this, but no, that stubborn vampire never listens to reason, especially not when it comes to killing his creator.”
She’d gone on another tangent, and while I’d nearly zoned out by the end, I hadn’t missed what the vamp had let slip.
“What did you just say?” I asked.
“Oh, crap. Maciah is going to kill me.”
6
Vampires had very few laws and even fewer that couldn’t be broken. I’d done my research and knew a couple of them, like the one Rachel had just let slip. They couldn’t kill their creator, and their creator couldn’t kill them. It was the most asinine rule ever, but I’d never heard of a way around it.
“And given you haven’t gone to do the task, I can assume Maciah’s creator is also yours?” I asked carefully.
She sighed. “Well, the cat is out of the bag now. I might as well tell you everything, but not here. Can we go somewhere else?”
I didn’t really want to go anywhere with the bloodsucker, but I was intrigued. Learning more about their inner workings excited me, especially now that I knew Dmitri and Rigo were from a bigger nest. Whatever I could get Rachel to tell me just might be invaluable.
“Fine.” I waved down Dave, and he came right over. “I’m taking off for the night. I only stopped by to check on you and see if you heard anything about last night.”
He laughed. “You’re checking on me? Right. Well, come see me tomorrow. It should be a slower night, and I’ll let you know what I’ve seen.”
I didn’t like the sound of that, but I trusted Dave enough. If there was something urgent, he wouldn’t have kept me waiting, so it was probably nothing.
As I went to pay for my whiskey, Rachel beat me to it, laying a hundred-dollar bill on the counter, then winking at me. “Those bartenders are nice on the eyes. That alone deserves a good tip.”
Oh, she was going to be a handful.
I pulled my keys out of my front pocket as we walked out of the door. “Where’s your car? I’ll follow you.”
“I didn’t bring a car. I was hoping I could ride with you, and we could maybe go somewhere you know. I’m not supposed to be here right now. You might not understand what I risked by coming to you, but it’s important enough that I was willing to put my status within my nest on the line.”
“Get in the car and don’t touch a single thing,” I snapped as I unlocked my Lexus.
Rachel let out a godawful squeal that had me instantly regretting my choices over the last few minutes. What was wrong with me? Two run-ins with a vampire that hadn’t tried to kill me was all it took to suddenly have one in my car? I wasn’t sure what to think. I had my rules, and I was breaking them. This would either lead to something great, or my demise.
She was in the front seat before I could take my words back. I took a deep breath as I slowly walked around to the driver’s side. I could do this without killing her. I could figure out the information I needed and then be done with them.
Once I was in the car, Rachel beamed at me, brushing her long bangs behind her ear. “Can we go to your condo? It looked so nice from the outside.”
If she was already aware of where I lived, I didn’t see the harm in it. Plus, I’d already placed all of my stakes back where they belonged. I had more weapons there than I did in my car if things went in the wrong direction. Or maybe it was the right direction…
Rachel reached for the radio as I drove toward the interstate, and I snapped my fingers at her. “What did I say?”
“Seriously? I can’t even turn on music? I thought we were going to be friends, Amersyn. You don’t have to be so rude.”
I slammed on my brakes, grateful nobody was behind me on the side street. “Let’s get one thing straight. I am not your friend.”
“But you could be,” she interrupted. Again.
“And I don’t like being cut off while I’m talking.”
“Then maybe you should be nicer,” she interjected.
I sneered at her. “Still wasn’t done.”
Rachel waved a hand for me to proceed, and I took another deep breath, regretting the decision when her foul stench of decaying flesh entered my senses.
I was never going to survive this.
“We’re not friends. You don’t have permission to touch my things. I am not one of you. I kill monsters like you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Remember that before you piss me off again,” I said, then pressed harder on the gas than necessary, skidding the tires.
“Oh, Amersyn. I like you,” she said, not at all fazed by my words.
“That makes one of us,” I muttered. I wasn’t at all pleased with myself. I was letting these vampires get under my skin. I was breaking my own rules. And for what?
Vengeance that wasn’t even guaranteed.
My fingers tightened around the steering wheel as I sped onto the interstate, toward the better parts of Portland.
Rachel stayed quiet the rest of the drive and I didn’t have to stake her in my car. That would have required a trip to the detailers afterward that I didn’t have time for.
When we arrived at the condos, I used my card to access the parking garage. Rachel drooled over the various sports cars from the other residents as I tried to tune her out. I got out of the car before she’d even unbuckled and headed for the bank of elevators.
A small gust of wind circled me, then she appeared by my side. “Not even going to wait for me, huh?”
“Seems you’re here, so there was no need to wait.”
There was already a waiting elevator and I walked right in, swiping my card for my floor and pressing the “close door” button. Rachel tsked at me before blurring inside and narrowly missed the doors biting her ass.
She tapped her stiletto heel and crossed her arms, staring at me.
I managed to ignore her—just barely—and sighed in relief when the ding sounded for my condo. My eyes searched the open area, checking for anything out of place a
nd taking a deep inhale for recent scents that didn’t belong.
Nothing stood out except the citrus scent still lingering from Maciah’s earlier and unwanted visit. An odd choice in cologne, but it had worked for him.
Rachel’s hands were clasped behind her back as she roamed my living room, then entered the kitchen. She managed not to touch a single thing and I was impressed.
“How many bedrooms and bathrooms?” she asked, moving toward the window view of the city.
“Three of each.”
She glanced back at me, longing in her burnt-red eyes. “Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have my own house.”
“Right. Well, how about you start telling me more about this vampire creator?” I wasn’t Rachel’s friend. No matter how normal she seemed. All I needed was to take one deep breath to remind myself of that. The scent of dead human blood flowed through her veins.
“Am I allowed to sit?” she asked.
“Sure,” I droned, following her to my living room. She lounged across the chaise at the end of my couch, and I took over the recliner, knowing there were stakes stashed in the arms.
“So, I know I slipped up earlier. You weren’t supposed to know Silas is Maciah’s creator, but now that you do, I still can’t tell you anything about Maciah, but I can tell you about me.”
I nodded. That would have to do, and then I could go my own way and figure out how to end more vampires in the process.
“So, I’ve been with Maciah for the last twenty-three years.”
It was my turn to interrupt. “How old are you?”
“I’m technically forever twenty-five, but I’ve been walking this earth for forty-eight years. I was living my dream life before I was turned. I had the best friends, a kickass 1972 Challenger that made all the boys drool, and a small apartment overlooking a creek that I called my own.”
There was a longing in her eyes that almost had me sympathizing with her. I wanted to smack myself as I did my best to remember she was a murderer.
“Aerosmith was playing just a few towns over from mine. They were one of my favorites. A few of my girlfriends scored tickets, and there was no way I could say no. We went together, dressed to the nines, and danced to the music as if our lives depended on it. Little did I know, in a way, mine did.”
“How so?” I asked.
Rachel’s body shuddered as she closed her eyes. “I’d needed to pee so badly. I’d tried to hold it. The show was almost over. I didn’t want to miss the encore, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I darted off to the bathrooms, running as quickly as I could in three-inch platform shoes. I’d never peed faster in my life as I heard the band start up again. When I exited the bathroom, I stupidly took an extra moment to stare up at the sky and sway to the music instead of hurrying back. Hands grabbed on to me, nails cut into my skin, and I tried to scream, but a second hand covered my mouth. His red eyes are something I’ll never forget.”
A lone tear fell down her cheek. Her eyes were still closed as she was lost in the memory. I couldn’t prevent myself from feeling bad for her. Rachel didn’t choose this life. Yet, I couldn’t stop from thinking she’d had a choice. She didn’t have to feed. She could have died. Instead, she’d chosen to kill and live.
Rachel continued, “Silas turned me into a vampire, then threw a card at me, stating I’d either find my way or I’d die. I didn’t know what I’d become. I didn’t know why my throat burned with a need I couldn’t understand. Silas only wanted me if I was strong enough to kill. I didn’t know that then, but I know it now. I was lucky, though. I never found my way into his nest.”
“But you’re not dead, either. What happened?” I tried to keep the disgust out of my voice. She would have only stayed alive because she fed, and a newborn vampire had very little control. She had to have killed someone from her thirst.
“Maciah found me as I was stalking a security guard. I didn’t understand what I was doing, but I was hunting the innocent man until Zeke tackled me to the ground. I nearly tore the poor guy’s eyes out as I fought against his hold. Then, Maciah shoved blood from a bag down my throat. He saved my life that day. He gave me a choice. The right choice. Some days, I wonder if I’d been better off dying, but I have a family now, and that means something to me.”
Rachel sat up, drying her cheeks and meeting my stare. “Silas is still turning humans. He is still killing. We have tried to stop him, and for a while we thought we had, but he’s resurfaced. When Maciah and Zeke found you, we finally had a solution to our problem: you.”
Mother effing effer. I didn’t want to help these people. I didn’t want to see them as anything other than the monsters I’d always known vampires to be.
This Silas dude sounded like the worst of the worst. Rachel hadn’t wanted this life. I knew she wasn’t lying about that. Nobody could fake that kind of emotion.
Even still, I hesitated.
“We’ll help you find Dmitri and Rigo. We’re not tricking you. Maciah isn’t that kind of man, and if you’d give him a chance, you’d see that for yourself,” Rachel added.
Yeah, that was exactly what I was worried about.
7
It was almost nine by the time Rachel directed us to the vampire nest. I’d only ever been to crackhouse-looking bloodsucker hideouts. I wasn’t sure what I expected from a vampire that showed up to my house in a suit, and I shouldn’t have been surprised when it was a mansion, yet I was.
My Lexus fit in with the neighborhood of ginormous houses, plethora of trees separating the homes, and large fences keeping unwanted guests out. Well, maybe most guests. Likely not supernatural ones.
The walls around Maciah’s property were steel-grey stucco with iron rods sticking out of the top, daring someone to try to jump over without having one end up in their ass. I pulled up to the gate, and there wasn’t a keypad, only a screen.
Rachel was out of the car before I could ask what next. She pressed her palm over the glass surface, and the screen flashed white, then beeped twice. “Welcome, Second Best,” the computer voice said.
“Freaking Zeke,” she sneered, then glanced at me. “That’s Maciah’s other top vampire. He likes to think he’s the best, but I’ve proved him wrong time and time again.”
I just shook my head. These vampires were seeming more and more normal by the second. I didn’t like it one bit.
As the gates parted, Rachel got back into my car and directed me to park in the roundabout. “If you come here for longer than a visit, we’ll get you access to the garage. This beauty shouldn’t be left to the elements.”
She wasn’t wrong about that. It was freezing in Portland this time of year. Snow flurries had been happening on and off the last week, and I preferred to keep my car under cover.
As I stared up at the massive house, I was once again second-guessing going there. I’d made a choice to stick with my rules, then I’d let Rachel change my mind. I’d let her show of humanity weaken my resolve. I didn’t know what that meant for me, and that wasn’t helping my mood.
At this point, I was winging things. A part of me was convinced I should help them. That it was the right thing to do and that they would be useful to my hunting. But the very core of who I was had been rocked. I was off kilter.
Rachel was already out of the car as I worked to get my head as right as it could be given the circumstances. I patted my jacket pockets, double-checking my stakes were still present. With four on each side, plus new daggers inserted into my boots, I was as safe as I was going to be walking into the home of who-knew-how-many vampires.
That was probably something I should have asked before arriving.
After getting out, I scanned the yard and house. There were mature trees all around us, green manicured grass, and even rose bushes lining the house. So freakishly normal. The house was two, possibly three stories, given I could see windows that likely went to a daylight basement.
The outside was made from the same charcoal stucco as the fence with windows every six feet or so on both
the lower and upper levels. Vampires usually weren’t much for natural light, so that made no sense to me until I stepped inside.
There was the darkest tint ever over the glass as I turned to my left and right, checking for vampires. Rachel might have been nice, but I didn’t trust whoever else lived with her.
To my left was a sitting area with bookshelves covering every available wall. On a coffee table, there was an antique map of the world I badly wanted to check out. Something about old maps always intrigued me. The world was ever-changing, and it was interesting to find countries that didn’t exist anymore.
On the right where Rachel stood waiting for me was an open foyer with couches and two staircases leading to separate parts of the house. I tried to peer further ahead, but there was nothing other than closed doors.
“Maciah is waiting for us in his office. Come on,” Rachel said with a smile.
I hesitated for the slightest of seconds before stepping forward. My chest tightened at the thought of seeing Maciah again. He was different. He called to something deeper inside me, and I didn’t like it. I also hated that he thought I was one of them. There was nothing vampire about me. Not one tiny bit.
Rachel led the way up the right set of stairs. The wooden staircase was in perfect condition, without a chip or dent to be seen. My fingers trailed up the smooth surface as I followed the vampire. Okay, maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. I could have the conversation. Get the information I needed and leave. Easy as that.
Those thoughts were only wishful thinking as laughter sounded from the left side of the house. “Dude, did you see him? He was so scared. It was almost too easy,” one male vampire said, likely bragging about his newest kill.
Without hesitation, I pulled a stake from my jacket and aimed for the murderer. Just as I moved my arm forward, Rachel grabbed on to my wrist. “Listen before you act, Amersyn.”
I snarled at her as I tried to pull out of her grip, but she was strong, and I was curious what she meant.
Vampire Heir (Scorned by Blood Book 1) Page 5
