by E E Everly
They pretty much hit the nail on the head, but at least my neck will be healed by the next nightfall. Ambrosia is amazing stuff.
My cheeks burn as Killian eyes me with an intensity I don’t care for. I’m worried I’ve given him another reason to want something from me other than my blood.
He is a man after all.
A man I can’t fight off in the state I’m in, especially if he vamps out. I seriously don’t think he will, but I hope his freshie comes soon.
After a swift knock and the click signaling the keypad is activated, the door swings open. A stunning young woman, no more than twenty years old, saunters into the room. A glossy mane of brown locks drowns her petite face. She regards Killian. “I’m Helee. Dumitru tells me you need a refreshment.”
Killian rises off the desk. Not shocking to me, his stamina has returned with the prospect before him. He pauses beside me but doesn’t look in my direction. He’d rather have my blood, and because he’s hungry, I don’t blame him for what he’s about to do.
He needs blood. I need ambrosia. It’s how supernatural beings work.
Without hesitation, Killian moves at vamp speed, blurring up to Helee, and stops with a mere inch between them. He leans in to her neck and inhales deeply. Apparently satisfied with her vintage, he takes her hand and leads her to a chair partially hidden by the bed. Killian doesn’t like to drink around me. The few times he’s become thirsty in my presence, he’s excused himself.
I am curious though. I take another bite of my ice cream, careful to keep my sensuous hums in check, but I steal glances in his direction.
After Helee’s comfortably nestled on Killian’s lap, he glides her inner forearm against his nose. She leans her head back when Killian finally finds the right spot and bites. A moan escapes her lips.
He’s engrossed in his meal, and unlike me, Helee finds his pointy teeth and eager sucks rapturous. I must be wrong. Having someone drink your blood is ecstasy for some, but not for others. Never mind that he’s covered in gore or that his eyes are black and demonic. No wonder freshies willingly reside in a bloodthirsty hive if a vamp drinking their blood elicits the pleasure I’m witnessing.
And unlike with me, Killian pulls himself off Helee when he’s had enough.
I stare into the carton of melting ice cream. I can’t look at Killian. I feel as if I ran into two guests who I knew had sex all night because of a motel room with walls that are too thin.
The freshie climbs off Killian’s lap, straightening her skirt, and I gaze up automatically. She waves casually at me as if she didn’t just have the most arousing experience ever, but my neck still itches with embarrassment. As she excuses herself, Killian says nothing. He doesn’t get up either. Instead, his hand goes to his mouth as if he’s in deep thought.
He must be just as embarrassed as I am. My hunky, macho vampire has a soft side, and this revelation throws me. Of course, in the past few hours, he has shown an awful lot of vulnerability that even I wouldn’t be comfortable showing.
For Killian’s sake, I have to shake the tension. My energy has stabilized, so I swing my feet to the floor. Blood will take time to regenerate, but the ice cream always does its job at restoring vitality. As Helee reaches the door, I say, “Helee, before you go, do you mind returning this to the kitchen?”
She must be used to low blood pressure because Helee moves with grace as she takes the carton and leaves the room. But she sends me an envious wink. “Have a lovely night.”
Somehow I think she wanted Killian to do more than just drink her blood.
He’s my vampire, you vapid blood bag.
Surprised at my reaction, I stare at the burgundy rug. What’s come over me?
I know darn well Killian has to drink to stay alive, and I know he has to drink from humans.
Stop being so possessive. I don’t own him.
The door latches, and Killian and I are left in dismal silence. He continues to fume in the corner. It’s nearly morning. I don’t dare open the curtain to verify, because I’ll risk burning Killian, but a sensor beeps, and a mechanized shield lowers into place over the window. If I didn’t feel like a prisoner before, I do now. The metal blocking the soon-to-be emerging sun looks like a prison door. The curtains automatically draw next. Everything protecting the vampires from the daylight is on timers here. Practical.
When Killian stands, his movements are stiff. “Sasha.” He grabs the post at the foot of the bed, gaping downward, evidently thinking the bedspread pattern is intriguing. “We aren’t going anywhere today.”
I can only see his profile, the way his hair falls onto his forehead and the way his nose is straight and strong. His half-closed eyelids conceal the usual clarity of his human eyes, making him look pained. I want to go to him, but the awkwardness of tonight presses between us.
“I have class,” I say.
Killian snaps to reason. His deep-set eyes highlighted by his pronounced cheekbones exemplify the fire I expect from a surly vampire. “I’m sure, after last night, they’ve canceled classes. Why don’t you check with Mandy or Lexa?”
Oh, my phone. I put it on silent during a lecture. I’m still amazed by this human invention and its convenience in communicating. I dig the phone from my pocket and groan because of the list of messages. Mandy asks if I’m okay. Lexa asks if she needs to kill Killian. The texts go on for a while. I come across a general, college-wide text saying classes are indeed canceled.
I tell Killian, and he just nods curtly.
“I have things I can do, then.” Such as shop and finish my history essay. I do love to go into the human’s stores. Every trip I find a new contraption or product to enthrall me.
“You can’t leave.” He closes his eyes, as he often does when he’s frustrated with me, or himself. It’s hard to tell with whom in this situation. “You take one step out that door and someone will grab you.”
I agree with him. The vampire infestation within these walls creeps me out. “Fine. I’ll catch up on my shows.” Ever since coming to Earth, I’ve become slightly obsessed with series shows, watching the drama of fictional lives play out. I’m even amused how humans have portrayed supernatural creatures. They are fairly close with some variations.
I snatch up a remote and turn the television on, plopping myself onto a couch in front of a massive flat-screen. You’re being too testy, Sasha.
Why shouldn’t I be?
You’re jealous.
Of course it’s ridiculous to be jealous of Helee. I don’t really want Killian to bite me. It’s horribly painful.
“It’s my bedtime,” he says as if he doesn’t have sympathy for me.
I glance over the couch’s back. My heart jumps as Killian lifts his shirt over his head and drops it onto the bedside table. He smiles, ever so slightly, but doesn’t look at me. The antics of my beating heart always amuse him, but hey, I’m still a woman, and he’s still a half-naked man. Undead or not, his body has an effect on me.
Killian pries off his bandage. After a quick probe of his side, he must be satisfied the blood did its job because he slips off his jeans and crawls into bed.
Black boxer briefs. I jerk forward and pretend the commercial about cat food is TV worth watching. Don’t think about how his thighs bulge underneath the fabric.
Think practicality. Would you want to sleep in blood-covered clothing? No.
He wouldn’t want to dirty Natalia’s linens. The thought doesn’t make my heart slow.
He’s probably using my rapid heartbeats as a hypnotic sleep inducer.
Killian rustles under the sheets and doesn’t stir again. Galloping Griffins. I have to sit here all day while he has his beauty sleep.
I should have kept that carton of ice cream.
FIVE
Killian wakes me with a gentle nudge to my shoulder. I must have fallen asleep on the couch, but not before finding a few things to do. While my vampire snoozed, I used Natalia’s bathroom to wash up. From her collection of snug T-shirts, I selected a
raspberry-colored red that went great with my cool skin tones and dark hair. I watched several shows, but with the day stretching on and me confined, restlessness took over. I couldn’t even count Killian’s breaths to occupy my time because, well, he didn’t breathe.
Killian’s body was so eerie in his sleep. Did he know that? But the angles of his jaw and his brow softened while he was as still as the dead. I didn’t dare touch him even though I wanted to lift an eyelid to see what color his eyes were while he slept.
I was told never to disturb a sleeping vampire. Who knows what Killian would do? He might think I’m an attacker and vamp out.
“What time is it?” I stretch, careful to cover my mouth as I yawn. I’d hate to gross out my vampire with morning breath.
“Sundown.”
That’s vague. Vampires are always vague with time. It’s either before the sun comes up or after the sun goes down. It’s spring semester so nightfall comes later and later. Must be about 8:00 p.m.
“Time to leave.” His hair’s tousled and damp. He must have showered. “Natalia brought you breakfast.”
A granola bar and a glass of milk lie on the coffee table. I rip the wrapper off and inhale the bar.
Storm sprites use vast amounts of energy, and my lack of blood isn’t helping my strength, but the milk instantly makes me feel better. It’s the next best thing to ice cream.
Killian sits in the chair across from me, dressed in fresh black jeans and a silver T-shirt that fits him perfectly. Natalia must have brought them in. “We need to discuss what’s going on.”
“You mean why the seed demons slaughtered that poor girl.” I gulp down the last of my milk but hold in my satisfied aah as I set the glass down.
Killian runs his hand over his stubble. He didn’t shave. He usually keeps his beard about a quarter inch long. It most definitely adds to his capricious vampire vibe. “I’m more interested in why they left you alone.”
A smile spreads over my face, but I stare straight ahead at the coffee table. Naturally Killian would hone in on me. Always me. He’s obsessed with me. I stretch my arms over my head and arch my back.
Killian watches me, or rather my neck, with amusement and with a bit of hunger.
Once a vamp has a taste of me, he can’t focus on anything else.
“Your neck’s almost healed,” he says.
I tilt my head nonchalantly and say in a voice of sweetness and innocence, “Ambrosia.” I squirm anyway from his penetrating glare and amble around the room, considering what the seed demons are up to. The mechanical shield on the window beeps and lifts. I relax my shoulders. Freedom. Finally.
I’m raking my hands through my bedhead when Killian appears at my elbow. I twist the length of my raven-colored locks and drape them over my chest, giving Killian a clear view of my creamy neck.
He inhales. I feel the gentle puff on my skin when the exhalation comes.
“Cut it out,” he growls.
I shoulder him as I turn, placing my hand on his chest and pushing him away. He stumbles into the desk, but sits on it, as if he meant to step away before I pushed him.
So suave.
At least the awkwardness between us has dissipated, and we are back to our usual selves, teasing each other without mercy.
I grab my jacket and start for the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asks.
“Downstairs. To the car,” I say as I shrug into my jacket.
“Natalia moved it to the garage.”
“Okay.” I stop halfway across the room. “Which way to the garage?”
He hasn’t moved from the desk, cocky vampire. “We’re not going out that way.”
I sigh and move closer to Killian. “How many vamps are out there ready to bite me?”
“At least a hundred in the mansion. More underground.”
I purse my mouth in irritation. We could have gone anywhere else. Natalia could have met us at Killian’s flat.
Killian takes his time moving from the desk, as if he has a point to prove. After he unlocks the window and lifts the sash, he holds his hand out. “I can make the two-story drop easily.”
I don’t take his hand. Should I show him? I should gush and fall all over myself like a vampire groupie whenever Killian shows off or openly brags about his vamp powers. Then again, he hasn’t seen half the things I can do as a storm sprite. “So can I.” Forget holding back. I’m showing him.
Shimmering wings, sparkling like rhinestones, unfurl behind me, practically touching the floor and reaching as far as my arms open wide. And when I say unfurl, I mean the pure energy expands from my spiritual being and pops into existence from my scapulas outward. Concave scallops sweep along the edges of my lobed wings as I wave them back and forth, utterly proud of their majesty.
They’re somewhat like dragon’s wings in their structure, minus the leathery feel.
Killian jumps back. “Unholy hellfire, little sprite. Why were you waiting to unveil those?”
“Meh.” I flutter my wings, blowing his hair. “I haven’t needed them before.” Since I’ve come to Earth, that is.
“Can you fly with those?”
“Can I fly with these? Of course.” I’m about to zip into the air when Killian pops my bubble.
“Are you sure you want a mansion full of vamps to know your secret?”
I smirk and shake my head. As usual he’s right. “I hate you, you know.” My wings droop.
He lifts my chin. “You can’t live without me.”
I couldn’t die without his interference, he means, because he’s always watching me, always making sure seed demons and vampires don’t attack me.
I fold my wings, blinking them out of existence, and stick out a pouty lip as Killian swings me up into his arms. Ghastly ghouls, he’s warm, for a vampire. As far as I know, his blood still circulates, pushing restorative fluids throughout, to keep his undead body from decomposing, but I’m willing to look past his current state because he seems so human.
He was human.
I asked him about his heartbeat once and how he heals. He only told me that being a vampire came with certain supernatural perks, such as strength and healing, despite being undead. How those perks are possible is a mystery to me.
I hang on to Killian as a good vampire groupie would. Being a helpless maiden was happening too much for my comfort these days. I hug his neck extra tight as he leaps over the windowsill and drops to the ground below.
As soon as he straightens, a dozen or more vampires blur into the moonlight and surround us.
Killian sets me on my feet, swearing softly.
“Maybe now would be a good time to fly,” I mutter, because it’s breakfast time for the vamps.
SIX
A brooding vampire stands at the crowd’s head. I haven’t seen him before. With brown hair that touches his shoulders and straight brows, he looks like a Cro-Magnon man right out of the humans’ history museums. His aura from another time amplifies my assessment. He could be centuries old.
Killian grabs my hand and pulls me against his chest. “Don’t make any sudden movements,” he whispers.
It’s very wrong that, in this moment of peril, I’m caught up in Killian’s masculine scent mixed with cinnamon and clove toothpaste. I notice this pleasant distraction because I’m not usually pulled into his sturdy arms, so close to his contoured chest—only when I’m in danger it would seem. For just a nanosecond, my cheek rests in the curve right below his clavicle.
I might welcome future danger just a bit, then.
The Cro-Magnon vampire speaks. “Killian, why do you bring such a tantalizing morsel into my home and don’t offer to share? Dangling her before us all day, with her scent rolling down the corridors, is rather cruel. Come, let’s have a taste.”
Something rushes in front of me. I blink, and Natalia and Dumitru are standing before the vampire. A little late, but I’m immensely grateful Killian has backup.
“Seth, she is not to be touched,”
Natalia says.
Seth shoves Natalia aside with barely a wrist flick. She stumbles but catches her footing. Dumitru steps forward and puts his hand on Seth’s chest. “You might vant to apologize for that.”
“Don’t be a hero, Dumitru.” Seth’s eyes darken. “Move. Let me see our little guest.”
Even though Dumitru’s hulking form is a good block, Killian pulls me behind himself and stands next to Dumitru. Natalia whips around and guards my back. The circle of vampires has tightened around us. Clearly no one defies Seth, but I’m also not sure what history Killian has with Seth or why Killian doesn’t live with the coven.
“No one’s biting Sasha,” Killian hisses as he squeezes my hand.
“Ah, Sasha.” Seth catches my eye where I’m peering between Dumitru and Killian. “Surely you’re willing to offer a sample of your elixir.”
I narrow my eyes, sending daggers of hate. My free hand wraps Killian’s waist. No one bites me—except Killian.
“We’re going now,” Killian says.
Nobody moves. I sense a mental standoff between the men, but neither Seth nor Killian back down. Who knows what’s going on behind their penetrating looks. I could spread my wings and fly away, and then Killian would keep his head.
And I would keep my beating heart.
Don’t give away your advantage.
Killian pumps my hand again, as if he’s telling me to wait, but the tension in his muscles says he’s ready to tear into Seth. “We both know who pulls your strings,” Killian says to Seth. “I’d hate for you to disappoint her with your rogue pursuits.”
I’m curious who this her is they’re talking about, but now is not the time to ask.
Seth’s features sharpen with contempt. “You mean you’d hate to disappoint her more than you already have, skulking in the shadows, yearning for a supernatural blood donation to dull your failures.” Seth stares right at me as he continues with Killian. “Is breathing her scent enough for you?”
Killian darts forward, primed to strike, but Dumitru holds him back. The other vampires don’t even twitch. No one breathes, of course. I’m the only one whose chest is heaving and whose heart is pounding.
