Roric scowled at that, but the truth was, being a vampire certainly wasn’t going to make her life any easier. Bloodlust was just one more worry to add to her long list.
Gray pinched his brow and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry, Care. I know how hard this must be for you.”
“Thank you, Gray. I guess I should get back to work. I know it’s crazy out there. That’s probably why you came looking for me. I’m sorry I bailed on you. I just needed…”
“Uh yeah, well, I don’t think the customers would appreciate it if you attacked them, so take all the time you need, but that’s not the only reason I came back here. You know that redhead you were talking to?”
“My friend Piper.”
“Yeah, well, she just left with that vampire.”
Caroline’s mouth fell open, and she leapt up and yanked her shirt over her head. “Roric, we have to stop them!”
Roric jumped up at the same time. “How long ago did they leave?”
“I came back here looking for you right away, so just a couple minutes.”
Roric clenched his jaw and pulled his arms through his holster. “It still might be too late if they left in a car. I won’t be able to follow his scent. They go out the front door?”
Gray nodded. Roric took off out of the room, and Caroline followed him. He slammed through the front door, drawing in a deep breath to catch the scent, then turned towards the alley. “They went this way.”
As soon as they rounded the corner, Caroline’s enhanced eyesight made it easy for her to see Piper, pressed up against the wall, clutching a hand to her neck, and two figures tussling in the dark alley. Their grunts and groans echoed off the brick walls around them as they pummeled each other.
“Piper!” Her call alerted the fighting vampires to her presence. They stopped fighting for a moment, and one of them ran away. Roric took off after him. But the other one stayed put, looming next to Piper.
Caroline froze at the end of the alley, terrified, not sure what to do. How could Roric leave them with another vamp? Fear iced her veins, but then anger boiled up inside her, strengthening her. She yanked her phone from her pocket and sent a quick text to Alec with shaking fingers, but this would be over before he ever got there. If she and Piper were going to survive, they’d have to defend themselves.
She was a vampire now, too. That meant she was stronger, more powerful. But was she any match for this hulking vamp? She didn’t want to provoke him, but she’d do whatever it took to protect Piper. She was just about to launch herself at him when she heard his voice.
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” The remaining vamp approached Piper cautiously. He wasn’t the one from the bar. This one was taller, larger, with short, sandy brown hair, wearing a striped polo and khaki pants. He didn’t look threatening; he looked like a catalog model for a line of business casual wear. But appearances could be deceiving. Her own attacker had designer clothes and a charming smile.
But where had this vamp come from? And why didn’t he take off when the other vamp did? Had he tried to stop the other vampire from attacking and that’s why they were fighting?
Caroline rushed towards Piper, but she stopped before she got too close. She wanted to comfort her friend, but would Piper be afraid of her after what she’d done? Caroline was full on Roric’s blood, and she didn’t think she would lose control, but Piper didn’t know that.
“He bit me, but I’m fine.” Piper rubbed her neck but smiled at the other vampire like she wasn’t scared of him at all.
Caroline couldn’t help but notice how much calmer Piper was than Caroline had been after her attack. If she hadn’t seen the fang marks on Piper’s neck, she’d never suspect she’d just been attacked by a vampire. Did Piper know the guy was a vampire when she left with him? She’d been awfully curious when she found out Caroline had been turned. She’d even offered to let her drink from her. And the way she’d talked, it sounded like she almost wanted to be a vampire. Was Piper really that foolish?
“Piper, why did you leave with that guy? That was so dangerous!”
Roric came jogging back around the corner then, breathing hard, and Caroline’s body instantly relaxed. Even though this other vamp didn’t seem threatening, Caroline felt a lot better knowing Roric was there. But she was still furious at him for leaving her.
“I lost him. He got in a car and sped away. Are you all right?” He turned towards Piper, and she nodded.
“Davede? What’s your role in this?” Roric glanced at the other vampire. Maybe he knew him and trusted him. Caroline’s anger settled some.
“I was just walking by and I heard a scream. I saw that vamp attacking her, so I jumped on him. He was really strong, though. I couldn’t get the upper hand.”
“Is that true?” Roric glanced at Piper, and she nodded.
Roric clamped a hand on Davede’s shoulder. “At least you stopped the attack. These turned vamps seem to be extra strong. Plus, he’d just fed on a human. You did a good job. Not every vamp would be willing to jump in like that. You ever think about joining the VEA?”
Davede gave a half-smile and ducked his head. “I’m happy at the blood clinic. I’m not sure I’m cut out for VEA work. But I couldn’t stand by and watch an innocent human get attacked like that.” When he looked up, he smiled at Piper.
Piper tilted her head and smiled back. “You work at the blood clinic? So does my brother, Alec. Do you know him?”
“Sure, of course. He’s my supervisor. Which is kind of weird since he’s not even a born vamp, but he’s good at his job. He runs a tight ship, but he makes the humans feel comfortable and keeps the vamps happy. Maybe because he’s been on both sides.”
Piper nodded and smirked. “That sounds like Alec. He didn’t want to be a vampire, but he’s the kind of guy who’ll do his best, no matter what.”
Davede leaned against the wall next to Piper. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at the clinic before.”
Piper rolled her eyes. “That’s because Alec won’t let me get anywhere near it. I’d love to check it out sometime, though.”
The truth slammed into Caroline, and she grabbed Piper’s shoulder, whipping her around to face her. “You knew he was a vampire, didn’t you? You wanted him to bite you!”
Piper eyes glimmered and darted back and forth, guiltily, then she dropped them to the ground, but Caroline could still see her red cheeks and the hint of a smile. Caroline gawked at her. Here she was, feeling terrible for almost attacking her friend, and Piper had purposely put her life at risk by leaving with a vampire!
Caroline stared at Piper in anger, disgust, and disbelief. It had been a long time since she and Piper had been close, but she couldn’t believe she was friends with someone who wanted to be a vampire. How could Piper have purposely offered herself up to some random rogue vamp she met in a bar?
Roric obviously felt the same way because he glared at Piper. “Technically, it’s not a crime for humans to offer themselves to vampires, it’s only illegal for vamps to drink from them, but it’s still foolish, dangerous, and wrong. He could’ve changed you, or even killed you. A girl turned up dead this morning from a vamp attack.”
Piper’s mouth fell open, and she bit her lip to keep it closed.
Davede put a hand on Piper’s back. “Hey, don’t feel bad. A lot of humans want to know what it feels like. That’s why we have so many volunteers at the clinic. It’s a safe place to satisfy your curiosity. If you really want to give blood, just call the clinic and ask for me. I promise I won’t tell your brother.”
Piper turned and smiled up at him. “Thanks, Davede. And thanks for trying to save me.”
“Piper?” Alec showed up then, poking his head around the corner of the alley then rushing towards her as soon as he saw his sister.
Roric whipped his head towards Alec with a frown. “Alec? What are you doing here?”
“Caroline texted me, said Piper had been attacked.” Alec grabbed his sister and wrapped her up in
his arms. “Are you okay, sis?”
Piper looked at the others over her brother’s shoulder, her big eyes begging them not to tell him what she’d done. Caroline wanted to tell on her so Alec could talk some sense into her, but she felt like she owed it to her friend to stay quiet. Piper had helped her when she needed it, and she didn’t freak out when Caroline almost attacked her.
She nodded at Piper, making a silent promise to keep her secret, but she couldn’t help feeling like she was still betraying her friend.
Chapter 25
“I need to get back to work. Gray is slammed in there.” Caroline headed back towards the bar as soon as Piper left. Her nerves were a mess, but maybe the routine of working would help to calm her.
Roric gawked at her for a moment then finally jerked into action and grabbed her arm. “What? No! You can’t go back to work, Caroline. You’re obviously not ready to handle being around a room full humans yet. You need to come home with me until you get your cravings under control. Have you forgotten that you almost attacked your friend less than an hour ago?”
Like she could ever forget that horrible moment? As much as she wanted to, she knew it would play on an endless loop in her mind for longer than she could bear. And of course, it had motivated her to do the one thing she’d promised herself she’d never do. The one thing that cemented her new life as a vampire. She hated herself for giving in, and she hated him even more for making her want to. Even now, his emotion stirred his blood, clouding her mind with his tantalizing scent, and her body wanted nothing more than to sink her fangs into him again. No! She had to resist! She couldn’t let herself become a slave to her bloodlust, and she especially couldn’t let herself depend on a vampire.
Caroline yanked her arm from his grip and scowled at him. “I don’t need your help, and I don’t want it! I’m fine. I drank, remember? You seduced me into drinking from you, the one thing I never wanted to do. You ruined my life, Roric. Just stay away from me. I never want to see you again.”
Roric’s face twisted and his chest caved like she’d stabbed him in the heart with his own stake. But she couldn’t let herself think about the fact that she’d hurt him. It served him right for all the pain he’d caused her. She stomped off, leaving him standing in the alley looking pained.
She knew deep down that he wasn’t evil and he might even care about her, but she couldn’t afford to worry whether she hurt him or not. He was a vampire, and that meant she couldn’t trust him, so matter what he said or how bad she wanted him. She couldn’t even trust herself, anymore.
She went in through the back door and stopped at the bathroom to check her appearance. The customers probably wouldn’t feel comfortable around her if she looked like she’d been sucking on someone’s neck. Amazingly, the woman in the mirror looked perfectly normal, if a little tired and world-weary. She splashed some water on her face, washing off any residual blood, and dried it with a paper towel then ran her fingers through her hair, smoothing the mussed strands as best she could.
She could do this. She just had to be more prepared. She’d bring a dozen blood bags to work if she needed to. If that wasn’t enough, she’d go to the blood clinic and drink from a human. She hated to resort to that, but it was better than drinking from Roric. That was too intense. Her body wanted him, even if her mind told her he was all kinds of wrong for her.
Satisfied with her appearance, she headed out to the bar and slipped in next to Gray. The scent of human blood hung heavy in the air, wet and pulsing under thin layers of skin, but she had to force herself to resist it. She wouldn’t let herself get close enough to anyone to put them at risk. That was her mistake with Piper. She’d stuck her face right next to Piper’s neck. No, she’d keep her distance and everything would be fine.
Gray’s eyes bulged at the sight of her, and he took a step back as she neared. “What happened? Is your friend okay?”
Caroline took shallow breaths, trying to ignore the burn in the back of her throat, and resisted the urge to wrap a hand around her neck. She grabbed a towel instead and started wiping some sticky spots off the bar. Gray must’ve been too busy to keep it clean. “Yeah, the vampire was drinking from her in the alley, but he ran off when he saw Roric.”
“Oh my God, the poor thing! She must be a wreck.” He didn’t say it but she knew what he was thinking — first her friend tries to attack her, then a rogue vamp succeeds.
Caroline couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “She went with him on purpose. She was… curious.”
Gray’s mouth fell open, and the liquor bottle he was holding slipped from his hand and landed on the bar with a loud crack, but the heavy glass didn’t break. “I guess she wasn’t mad at you, then.”
“No, but I still feel awful. How could I do that? It was like an animal took over my body and I couldn’t think rationally anymore. All I could do was react.” She took the bottle from him and put it back on the shelf, but her hands were shaking. She quickly crossed her arms, burying her hands, but Gray’s eyes followed them, missing nothing.
“It’s a good thing that VEA dude was keeping an eye on you. Where’d he go, anyway?”
“I told him to leave.” She dropped her arms to her sides, forcing them not to move, and gave Gray a look that told him she wasn’t interested in talking about it right now.
Gray grimaced and reached for another bottle. “Uh, Caroline, you know I don’t judge anyone, and you’re still my best friend, but maybe you shouldn’t be here right now.”
“I’ll be fine, Gray. I… fed.” Her cheeks burned at the word. It sounded so animalistic. What was better? Ate? Drank?
Gray gritted his teeth, but he didn’t argue, just nodded. “Okay, well, it’s all right if you decide this is too much for you.”
Caroline dove in and started taking orders and making drinks, swallowing down the craving she felt every time she got close to a human, but the burn only intensified as the night dragged on. Her mouth and eyes watered and sharp knives attacked her throat every time someone moved too quick, stirring up the air. She had to hold her breath and grab onto the edge of the bar to stop herself from lunging. Meanwhile, her mind constantly conjured up images of latching on to the warm necks of those who dared to sit at the bar in front of her.
When a man asked for a Bloody Mary, his hand at the bottom of his neck, right below his throbbing jugular, and his tongue sweeping seductively across his bottom lip, Caroline lost herself in her fantasy for a long moment.
“Caroline, Caroline!” Gray’s voice broke the spell at the same time his hand grabbed her arm and yanked her backwards. She shook her head and blinked several times, looking back and forth between Gray and the man on the other side of the bar.
His hand was wrapped protectively around his neck now, and his eyes were wide with terror. What happened? Had she tried to bite him?
“Caroline, you hissed and bared your fangs at him!” Gray whispered in her ear, but there was no point in keeping quiet.
Everyone nearby must’ve seen what had happened, because they were all looking at her like she was some kind of freak, or worse, a dangerous animal. The man she’d almost attacked sat paralyzed in fear, but others around him quickly grabbed their things and hustled away from the bar, some leaving the building altogether, their tabs forgotten.
Gray looked at her with pity in his eyes, his jaw tight. “Caroline, I’m sorry, but you need to leave. I know you don’t mean anyone any harm, but you’re not in control of yourself, and you’re scaring the customers.”
Her whole body shook, and her face burned with shame as she nodded and walked away as calmly as possible. But as soon as she was through the door to the hallway, she burst into tears, sobbing as she rushed for the back door.
Chapter 26
She had no idea what she was going to do now — she needed every dime she made just to survive. How could she even eat if she didn’t have a job? Did she still need to eat? She didn’t know. Obviously, she needed blood, but did vampires need food, too? She’d b
een so consumed with bloodlust, she hadn’t noticed if she had any regular hunger pangs. There was so much she didn’t know about being a vampire. She’d kept her head in the sand, wanting nothing to do with them, but now that she was one, she was clueless.
She plopped down on the cold cement outside the back door and put her head in her hands, letting her hot tears wet her palms. What was she going to do? She obviously couldn’t be around humans, at least not yet. Alec had said that the first few days and weeks were the worst as far as cravings went. Maybe once she got past that she could handle working again. In the meantime, she could hole up in her apartment with a bunch of blood bags and wait for her cravings to settle down.
She couldn’t really afford to take time off work, though. Could she find another job, one that didn’t bring her in close contact with humans? She barked out a pitiful laugh. It had been hard enough to get this job. She had no skills, no education. The only jobs a person like her could get were customer service. That certainly wouldn’t work, unless she found a place that catered to vampires instead of humans.
A dark thought crossed her mind. There was always the oldest job in the world. She’d heard rumors about vampire prostitutes who sold themselves to people who wanted more than just regular sex. Sucking on Roric had been erotic; she could only imagine what it would feel like to do that with a human. Add in sex, and it would be the most intense experience she could imagine. But just the thought was a bile black weight rolling around in her stomach. Her parents would turn over in their graves if they knew their daughter had stooped that low.
No, she could never live with herself if she sold her body like that. But maybe there was something else she could sell to pay the rent. What though? She didn’t own anything of value. Even her mom’s old jewelry was mostly worthless costume stuff. Her car was the only thing worth more than a few dollars. Maybe she could sell that.
It wouldn’t do her much good during the day without tinted windows, and there was no way she could afford those any time soon. Besides, vampires were supposed to be fast. She could probably run to work quicker than her rusty, old Neon could go. But that would mean she’d never be able to go anywhere during the day. The car was worth a lot more to her than she could sell if for; she probably wouldn’t get more than a thousand dollars, if that.
Compelled by the Vampire: Vampire Enforcement Agency Series Book 1 Page 15
