Raven's Blood

by Cassandra Lawson

Chapter Five

  Raven had never been inside of a vampire community, only the business area, but it didn’t seem like vampires lived there. She didn’t know anyone who’d seen where the vampires lived, probably because people who went in never came out. Dread washed over her as they entered the gated community. The guards were eyeing her curiously as she sat hunched over in the front seat of Connor’s jeep. She hated the feeling of being on display for these creatures. What she hated most was the fear nearly strangling her.

  Breathe! She reminded herself. No longer the scared girl who’d watched her mother die eighty-three years ago, she was now strong, and she would not embarrass herself.

  The settlement wasn’t what she’d expected. It was a little like the human suburban communities where many human families had lived before the pandemic. It was almost like a window into the past. While not exactly the same, the similarities were eerie.

  The houses were close together with backyards that appeared to extend pretty far. Each home had two floors, and they were all painted in drab shades of brown or grey. All were boxy, like the housing where she lived, but in much better repair. There were covered driveways in front of each house, and it looked like there were some variations, but in general, all had an entryway to the left of the parking area and a narrow covered walkway leading to the front door. All the doors were white. There were three large windows visible from the front, one downstairs and two upstairs. The tiles on the roofs caught the sunlight, and she guessed they were some kind of solar panels. In some areas at the human settlement they used solar panels, but they were nothing like these. The colorful tiles on each roof formed abstract mosaic patterns. The beautiful roofs seemed out of place on such unattractive homes. Trees and ornate old-fashioned lanterns lined the streets, making things seem almost normal. Then she saw a group of children riding bicycles and gasped.

  “You keep children here?” she nearly shouted. “You are even more disgusting than I ever could have guessed. What kind of monster feeds off children?”

  Connor parked the jeep in the driveway of a drab grey house and grasped the collar around her neck, pulling her close. Raven refused to show any of the fear she felt.

  “Do not speak to me that way in front of my people or I will be forced to discipline you,” he warned with deadly calm.

  “How about if I just speak to you that way when we’re alone?” she snapped.

  He smiled with his lips parted slightly to reveal his fangs. “When we’re alone, I prefer it if you talk to me that way. It gets me hard.”

  Raven gasped and leaned as far against the door as she could get. The stupid vampire actually laughed at her.

  “I hate you,” she muttered.

  His face sobered. “You hated me before you ever met me, and there’s nothing I can do to change that.” Bitterness dripped from every word.

  Connor got out of the jeep and walked around to her side to open the door. After removing the cuffs, he put them in the back. Vampires stopped on the street to watch with open curiosity as Connor led her into the house with his hand wrapped around her upper arm. Her cheeks heat with shame at being treated this way.

  Immediately inside the house was a large room with hardwood floors and comfortable looking sofas and chairs. A grandfather clock ticked loudly, and there was an ornate mirror beside it. She didn’t know much about vampires, but she’d read that they couldn’t see their reflection. She wondered if that was true.

  Connor walked her up the stairs to a bedroom without a word. The hallway was narrow with beige walls and no photos or paintings. She struggled in the doorway of the bedroom, but he just sighed. “I need to change clothes, Raven. You can keep your eyes closed if it makes you feel better.”

  “I’m a nymph,” she scoffed. “Trust me. I’ve seen much more impressive men naked.”

  Rather than being offended, he laughed. “Damn! You are full of spunk, aren’t you?”

  Standing rigid in the doorway, she watched as he stripped off his jacket. The Kevlar vest under the jacket, explained why he seemed so unnaturally bulky. Raven stared at him as he stripped off his t-shirt. He had very little hair on his chest, and she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t one of the nicest chests she’d ever seen. His abdominal muscles were well-defined and rippled as he slipped a clean shirt over his head. When he began unbuttoning his pants, she turned away, proving she’d spent too many years around humans.

  “I was wondering how long you’d gawk at me while I undressed.” He sounded smug.

  Luckily, they were interrupted before she had to answer.

  “Connor!” shouted a man from downstairs.

  “Be down in a minute!” he called back. “You can look now,” he told her. “I’m descent.”

  She snorted. “I’m pretty sure decent isn’t a word I’ll ever use to describe you.” She turned to find him in khaki shorts and a t-shirt. His feet were bare, and he sat on the edge of the bed to put on his socks and shoes. It was strange. He didn’t look like a vampire, and her shock must have been obvious.

  “What did you expect me to wear?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “I guess I never really thought about it. I just didn’t expect you to look so normal.”

  He studied her for a moment and frowned. “Your clothes are a mess. I’ll see if someone can bring you some things to wear.”

  Her eyes widened with surprise. “Thank you.”

  His voice lowered. “Listen to me carefully. I don’t want to hurt you, but I cannot show any sign of weakness among my people. Do you understand?”

  “If I’m disrespectful, will you kill me?”

  “No, I won’t kill you, but you might wish I had.” The threat frightened her more.

  “Come on, Connor,” shouted another male from below. “You can play with your nymph later. We have business to discuss.”

  “Aren’t you worried about discussing business with me around?” she asked.

  “Why should I be?” he asked. “You aren’t leaving.”

  “Thanks for the reminder, asshole,” she grumbled.

  “If you keep using those sweet terms of endearment, I’m going to start thinking you like me.”

  His teasing tone threw her for a loop, and she wasn’t sure what to think. It just wasn’t what she expected. Then she reminded herself she needed to keep her guard up. Just because he looked normal, didn’t mean he was.

  He held the door and motioned for her to walk in front of him. Hearing voices downstairs, Raven wished she could avoid going down there. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck in a room full of vampires.

  When she got downstairs, she recognized some of the vampires from the woods. One was a tall blond who, quite frankly, looked like he should have a halo. It was no lie; she’d never seen a more beautiful man. If his angry scowl was any indication, he would like nothing more than to rip her throat out.

  There was also a female, about her height with short brown hair and pale grey eyes. While they were of similar heights, the female vampire was much curvier than Raven, with rounded hips and large breasts. She gave Raven a reassuring smile.

  The third vampire she recognized was just slightly taller than Connor. He was lean, with longish black hair and catlike green eyes. He looked almost bored until his eyes landed on her, and his lips curled into a playful grin. “I hope we were interrupting something.” Raven recognized his voice as belonging to one of the males who had yelled for Connor to come downstairs.

  The blond gave her a predatory glare. “Such a lovely new toy, Connor,” he drawled. “Can I have a taste?”

  Grabbing her arm, Connor pulled her behind him in an oddly comforting way. “No,” he practically snapped before turning to the room in general. “Where are Jack and Shelby?”

  “Jack went home to check on things and change clothes,” answered the female. “Shelby went to pick up some clothes for the nymph since they’re about the same size. We figured you wouldn’t think about it.”

  Connor shrugged. “Why would I think
about something like that?” His voice sounded cold.

  The blond male laughed. “She’d probably be more fun without clothes,” he added.

  Raven’s fists clenched at her sides, and she wondered if there were rules about how she could behave toward the other vampires, or if it was just Connor she had to pretend to respect.

  Connor’s gaze locked on the blond vampire. “I’m not sure I like what you’re suggesting, Simon. You know the laws.”

  Simon gave him a mocking salute. “It was just a joke. Although, I should add that those laws apply to humans. We don’t have any laws regarding wood nymphs.”

  “Have you given her anything to drink or asked if she needs to use the bathroom?” the female demanded.

  The expression on Connor’s face must have said enough, because she let out an exasperated sigh and then, grabbed his wrist. The female hit some buttons on his wrist band before motioning for Raven to follow her. “Don’t worry about the collar. I set the boundaries on it so you can move around downstairs without a problem.”

  Raven reluctantly followed her into the kitchen, which was separated from the other room by a door. The female got her a glass of water, and Raven took a tentative sip, surprised the water tasted good. The human communities still had running water, but it was pretty bad. They filtered it so it was safe, but it still tasted terrible.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “I’m Carla,” the vampire introduced her.

  “Raven,” she replied before finishing her glass of water.

  “Are you hungry? I could probably still catch Jack before he heads over here. His wife is human so they have food.”

  “He’s married to a human?” Raven all but gasped.

  “And they are disgustingly in love,” remarked the exotic woman entering the room. She was a couple inches taller than Raven with a lean muscular build similar to Raven’s. With reddish brown hair, green eyes, and mocha skin, she was striking. Raven recognized her from the woods as the one who had looked like she wanted to stab Connor. The woman pulled out what looked like a cell phone and wrote something on it with a small pen. “I told Jack to bring food,” she stated. “I’m sure you aren’t hungry now with all the stress, but you will be later.” She handed Raven a pile of clothes. “We can get you some more stuff later, but this will give you two comfortable outfits, and a couple pairs of pajamas. I think my stuff will be a little long on you, but it should fit okay. I wasn’t sure about the shoes, but we can get some later,” she remarked, examining Raven’s feet. “I know mine won’t fit you.”

  Wiggling her toes, Raven smiled for the first time since her capture. She’d had bare feet when they were running because she moved better without shoes. Now, she wasn’t sure what had happened to her shoes. “I’ve always had big feet.”

  Carla put up one of her own feet, standing on one foot with impressive balance. “Me too! I hate being around little miss delicate feet here. She’s like an Amazon compared to me, and she still makes me look like I have Sasquatch feet. Oh, by the way, that’s Shelby.”

  “Don’t hate on my pretty feet,” Shelby said with a grin. “And I’m not much taller than you.”

  “But you look like some warrior princess,” Carla pointed out.

  Raven had to agree with that description, and it’s one of the things she liked about Shelby. That thought brought a frown to her face, because she didn’t want to like these vampires. They might seem nice, but she knew it could all be an act.

  Shelby put her hand on Raven’s arm. “I don’t blame you for being uneasy around us. This whole situation really sucks. The only good part of this was seeing Connor’s face when you made your offer.”

  Carla nodded enthusiastically. “He looked like he was going to swallow his tongue.”

  “I’m glad my predicament can provide so much amusement for you both,” Raven muttered.

  “Sorry,” Shelby said without a hint of apology. “If you knew Connor the way we do, you’d be amused, too. He’s always in control and has everything planned out far in advance. You totally fucked up his plan today. Well, Ian and Simon helped. They were not supposed to be there.”

  “Based on his reaction to Ian and Simon in the other room, I get the impression you throw him off-balance in a lot of ways. That’s a good thing,” Carla added.

  Raven had no idea how to respond to any of this. It was such a strange conversation. “How long have you known each other?” she asked.

  “We basically grew up together,” Shelby replied. “Same with Jack and Simon. So, it’s been about a hundred years. We didn’t meet Ian until after we struck out on our own.”

  That meant they were about the same age as her. Raven wanted to ask how they had contracted the Moon virus, but she felt like they were already being a little too personal.

  “You may as well shower and change,” Carla told her. “Jack will be a little while. He’s been late to everything since he met his wife.”

  “Stop talking about me behind my back.” That playful-sounding command came from the vampire entering the kitchen—a male with brown hair and laughing blue eyes.

  Raven spun, immediately taking a defensive stance, with her legs spread slightly, which made the new vampire laugh. “Calm down, nymph, I don’t bite.” Then he laughed more, flashing a hint of fang when he smiled. “Okay, I do bite, but I promise I’m not going to bite you. My wife frowns on me biting other women.”

  Raven’s head was spinning. These vampires weren’t acting like she expected them to. There had been no growling and no threatening to tear her throat out.

  “I brought food,” the new vampire offering holding out a plate. He had one of those faces that would have been big in the old teen movies. His lips were full and his cheek bones were high, but there was just a little roundness to his face, giving him a boyish charm—that and his smile.

  Raven eyed the plate suspiciously.

  “It’s not poisoned,” he assured her.

  “If we were planning to kill you, you’d already be dead,” Shelby stated, and Raven found Shelby’s blunt nature reassuring.

  “Thank you,” Raven said as she took the plate. Looking around, she found no table, which made sense since vampires probably didn’t need a table in the kitchen. She set the plate on the counter and started eating. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a turkey sandwich, but it was good. Truthfully, she wasn’t hungry, probably due to her nerves. The only reason she was eating was to keep her strength up.

  “Don’t mention it,” the male vampire said. “My name’s Jack. I’ll bring my wife by to meet you when things aren’t so tense around here. She was really excited about Connor bringing back a wood nymph. Actually, she already had the sandwich ready for you when Shelby messaged me to tell me to bring food.”

  On those strange words he walked out of the room.

  Angry shouts came from the other room, and she cringed when she heard someone shout. “Just fuck the nymph and kill her. We can’t have rebel human sympathizers wandering around here.”

  Shelby patted her shoulder.

  “Don’t worry,” Carla began, “Connor won’t kill you.”

  “It might be best if he did, kill me that is,” Raven breathed out, not sure if the vampires heard. She suddenly found it impossible to finish her food. Death didn’t frighten her nearly as much as being imprisoned. A quick death was far preferable to the slow lingering death that would come from being away from the woods too long. Of course, even that was preferable to the idea of being an unwilling blood donor to a vampire. She reminded herself that no matter how nice they seemed, they were still the undead creatures she had fought for decades. They were still the killers who had slaughtered people she loved.

  Quietly excusing herself, Raven asked for directions to the downstairs bathroom. Once in there, she showered and did her best to avoid coming back out. It might be cowardly, but she’d had just about as much reality as she could handle for one day.