Shattered Days (The Firsts Book 7)

by C. L. Quinn

  Tamesine balanced the bag, and turned the key, opened the door to her apartment, and stopped in her tracks, transfixed.

  Marc stood there in the middle of the room, naked, like a gift from the gods, his cock partially erect.

  “Does that thing ever go down?” she teased, as she came on into the room, pushing the door closed with her foot, her eyes on the object of her comment.

  Marc slid his hand over his penis, and it responded to his touch as he walked towards her.

  “Are you kidding? It’s been locked down for years, and with you in the room, no, I don’t think so. Where have you been? Do I smell coffee?”

  “You do. Specialty stuff. Just for you. I made a trip to the Coffee Cave.”

  “Wow. I must have been an especially good boy to get this kind of service.”

  Marc, now right in front of her, leaned in for a kiss, felt her fingers on his cock and they felt a hell of a lot better than his own had.

  “You were. So, breakfast, just in case either of us needs some extra energy for, shall we say, any repeat performances.”

  “If you say encore, encore, prepare to be dazzled.”

  “First, though, I need a little something to take the edge off. I also stopped at the bakery inside the Coffee Cave.”

  “My kind of woman.”

  She led him over to the sofa, and while he slid his jeans on that were lying on the floor next to the mattress nearby, she pulled two large coffees and a small white bag out of the large brown paper bag.

  “I’ll get some plates,” she said, and went into the kitchen as Marc dropped onto the couch and opened one of the coffee cups to take a sip.

  “Ah, hell, that’s good. What else did you get?”

  Tamesine came back and sat beside of him, reaching for the white bag.

  “Huge cinnamon rolls, smothered with white icing.”

  “They smell delicious.”

  She placed a pastry on a plate that nearly covered the entire dish, and handed it to Marc, licking her fingers while she got out a second one and sat down with it across from him.

  “Ummm. Yeah, they are.”

  After they’d both taken a few bites, their eyes met.

  “These remind me of similar ones they often served back home.” Tamesine told him.

  Marc paused, a bite of the cinnamon roll suspended before he put it into his mouth. “Where’s home, Tam?”

  She hesitated before she answered, her eyes shifting down and then back to him. “France. For now. Kind of a new family.”

  “Why’d you leave?”

  “I had to. I haven’t been well, mentally, for a very long time, and I needed to find out how to become healthy again. You’ve seen some of it, in our dream journey.”

  “You couldn’t do it there?”

  “No. Somehow I knew I had to separate myself. And…” Again she paused, and Marc knew this was difficult for her. He waited patiently, his gaze never leaving her face.

  “I was afraid I might hurt someone. I was sort of…unstable. Well, insane is more accurate.”

  “I can’t imagine. You’re beautiful and bright. And calm. I can honestly say that I’ve been 98 percent short of sane, too, for a lot of years, and you’ve been a stable influence on me. I feel better than I have since I got back from the Middle East.”

  “It’s because we’ve been healing together. I’m better now, too, and hope to be well enough to go home soon.”

  Marc took a big bite of his dripping pastry. Once his mouth was clear to speak, he looked back into her eyes, seriously.

  “Tell me about the blood.”

  And there it was, the question she knew had to come. The time had arrived for her great reveal. She would need to explain to Marc about what she was, and make him believe her.

  Tamesine drew a long breath.

  “I need to. I’m going to, but please know that what I’m going to tell you is completely beyond anything you have ever known. It’s going to seem unreal, but it’s not.”

  “Okay,” he said simply.

  “I asked you to trust me before we made love that first time. I knew that I might take your blood as I did, I hadn’t had a blood meal in too long. That was my fault.” She paused once more as she decided what to say. This was the first time she’d had to tell a human who she was, when it mattered. She hoped she would not have to use compulsion to wipe his memory.

  “Marc, I need blood for nutrition. I eat food, a lot of it, because I need a great many more calories than you would believe right now, but I need blood too.”

  He watched her, riveted. “Okay,” he repeated, because he really didn’t have anything else to say.

  “I am what you would think of as a vampire.”

  Now Marc smiled. “Okay.”

  “I know it seems unbelievable, but I am much stronger than you, faster than anyone you’ve ever seen, I can do things normal humans can’t. And I’m over a thousand years old.”

  “Okay.” The word was just a default setting for Marc as he listened, because he wasn’t sure how to respond. He was falling for this stunning woman, and now he understood the depth of her confusion. It was all right, he would help her to be well again.

  Tamesine scooted closer.

  “You don’t believe me. That’s common, when we first reveal our natures. I’m going to do something that will shock you, but it will help to convince you that I’m not insane. Well, not about this anyway.”

  His head was swimming a little now, the emotions whirling between his new connection to this remarkable woman, and this bizarre confession of hers. He brought the coffee to his lips because he was at a loss for a reasonable response when his hands stopped, midway to his mouth, and he could not move them.

  What the hell?

  Panicked, he tried to stand, but found that no part of his body would move. He was grateful his lips worked, though, when he tried to speak.

  “What’s happening?” Marc was pretty sure he failed when he tried to sound calm.

  “I froze you. Don’t be frightened, it’s only for as long as I want it to be. I’ll release you in a moment, but I needed you to understand that I’m not crazy. What I told you is true. I’m vampire, and we’re not what ordinary humans think we are. I’m just as alive as you are, we are not the living dead. We don’t need to kill to take blood. I’m human, just like you are, Marc, but with extraordinary powers. I’m going to release you now. Please remember that I’ve only done this to show you that what I tell you is true.”

  Tamesine waved her hand. Tilting the cup, to make sure he could, Marc then moved it up and down, and lowered it to place it back on the table. She watched him begin to say something, stop, and then try again.

  “So, what you just did. That’s a vampire thing? You can freeze people.”

  “Yes. Amongst quite a few other things. I need to tell you who and what I am, so that we can move forward with our dream sessions. And this relationship that we’ve begun? Marc, I don’t know where it can lead. All I know right now is that I’ve never been with anyone before like I’ve been with you. I’m certain I’ve never made love before, and I’ve never felt such a connection with another person, certainly not human.”

  “I thought you said you were human, too.”

  “I’m sorry, it can be confusing. I am human, honestly. I have the DNA of humans, but I’m more than. It’s kind of like all thumbs are fingers, but not all fingers are thumbs. All vampires are humans, but not all humans are vampire. I know it’s wild and you’re not inclined to accept that an alternate species of mankind exists, but we’re actually not the only ones. There are many different varieties of supernaturals.”

  Marc nodded, otherwise as motionless as if he were still frozen. Tamesine knew his mind was reeling right now.

  “I can show you some of my other abilities, but I think it’ll just overwhelm you. This is better if the realization comes slowly, and has time to sink in.”

  Tamesine slid forward and put her hands on Marc’s knees, her fingers c
urled around him. “This will alter your worldview, it has to. What you need to understand is that I’m still the woman that you made love with last night. I’m still the waitress you met.”

  His eyes dropped, he stared at her fingers, then moved back to her face. “So you are telling me that you are a vampire, you drink blood, you drank my blood, and that you’re just like the rest of us.”

  “No. I’m telling you that even though I’m a different species of human, I am still a woman. The woman you’ve been inside, both physically and spiritually. You’ve been inside my mind, my dreams. You’re more connected to me than anyone else. Truly, Marc, you already know this, you just have to accept that it is true. Vampires exist. Supernatural people live here alongside of normal humans, peacefully, living their lives, just like everyone else.”

  The memory came suddenly of the night in the alley when he saw this small woman lift a large man and toss him across open space, after which she’d held an equally large man suspended against a wall. The practical part of his mind had told him there had to be an explanation, but the logical part told him there wasn’t one. And this, this crazy-ass admission would explain it. Although, it was all impossible, right?

  “You said you’re a vampire. So, exactly what does that mean? I mean, how are you a vampire? You said you’re not dead, but isn’t that how a vampire is made?”

  “No. What you see in movies is just an urban legend, probably loosely based on someone in the past who might have known a vampire. But no, we’re not dead. Normal humans, like you, can be changed, that’s true. What makes someone vampire is a virus that exists in vampire blood, extraordinarily powerful, that literally reworks human DNA to change a normal human into something different. Vampires don’t age, Marc. And we can be killed, but not easily. We’re very strong and fast, with abilities to control certain elements of the world around us. Sex is beyond erotic for vampires.”

  She could see him trying to process the information.

  “Only one more thing, and you’ll know everything that I need to tell you. I am not an average vampire.”

  Marc grunted, “Huh.” Okay, she was not an average vampire, what the hell did that mean.

  “I am a first blood vampire. It means I was born vampire, not made, like most. I am much more powerful than even a made vampire. That’s why I left France, Marc, because I am so much more powerful than most vampires. While I was unstable, that made me too dangerous. I was afraid I might hurt someone. That’s why it’s so important that, now that we have found each other, we stay together, we heal each other. I need you, more than you’ll ever understand.”

  It was too crazy, too much, he couldn’t do this now.

  Marc stood. “Look, uh, I need to… I’m gonna go and wrap my mind around this. You’re right, I just need some time. I’ll, uh, call you.”

  He grabbed his boots and keys before he headed towards the door, picking up his pace the closer he got, but as his hand went to the doorknob, it was stopped in midair. Tamesine stood in front of the door, and he hadn’t even seen her move.

  She shrugged. “I’m really quick.”

  Marc felt lightheaded. “Okay,” he said, stuck in that single word mode. There was just no safe reaction. She was right, he was overwhelmed, and halfway terrified that he believed her. With all of his tragic, life-splintering memories of war, he wasn’t sure that he could absorb one more thing that changed the world.

  “I need some air,” he finally said, and tried to gently push her aside, but her hands came forward and wrapped around his arms.

  “It’s all right, you’re fine, breathe.” Instantly, Marc felt his air passages open and sweet air enter. His respiration dropped to normal and stayed there. The lightheadedness returned.

  “What did you do to me?”

  “Just a vampire thing. We call it impressing. All I’ve done is induce calmness. Sort of like a mild sedative.”

  “You’re controlling me?”

  “No. No, Marc, no. Although…” Tamesine paused. “We can do that, by capturing your gaze. I haven’t though, with you, and I don’t intend to. We need honest communication, trust, between us, if this relationship is going to begin our healing. Marc, I can’t let you go in this state of mind. It wouldn’t be healthy for you or my race.”

  “You don’t trust me? Who am I going to tell? They’ll just send me back to the VA to the looney ward.”

  “You’re not looney. You’re beautiful and kind. You’re a good man, Marc. And a hell of a lover. Please stay and let me show you what we can be together. Let me show you what I can do when I can take the gloves off.”

  They were so close now, he could almost feel her heart beating. She was the loveliest woman he’d ever known. It might be a betrayal to himself, but he wanted her again. He could feel her breath on his neck as she leaned forward and touched her tongue to his throat. He jerked backward.

  “Do you remember how good it felt when we made love the first time and I took a blood meal? I was careful then, but if I can show you how it can really be, the ecstasy can be incredible.”

  She was exquisite, standing before him, her heart in her eyes, desperate to help him understand her odd disclosure. His body reacted to hers even though he was still concerned and confused. He couldn’t reject her and just walk out.

  Bringing up both hands, he held her face, his thumbs moving gently against her cheeks.

  “About that, I believe you. Our lovemaking has been spectacular,” Marc told her. “But now is not the time. You need to give me a chance to work through this. How about we meet tomorrow night, in my apartment, after work?”

  “I can do that. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “I will be. This is just really strange. But I think you understand that, right?”

  “I’ve done this before, a few times, so yes. But I’ve always wiped those people’s memories when I finished with them. I don’t want to do that to you, unless you want me to. Whatever happens, Marc, just know that if this is too much for you, I can make it all go away. Leave your address and I’ll come, tomorrow. Three am?”

  Marc nodded and pulled his cell out to text his address to her phone. “Done. So, get some sleep, I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

  With just a slight hesitation, Marc moved closer and kissed Tamesine softly on the lips, then disappeared out the door without closing it.

  Tamesine pushed the door shut and leaned against it. Would he be able to accept the truth? She thought so. He was a smart, capable, honest man. He would be able to accept whatever reality brought to him. With time and more evidence that vampires did exist, and that she was one, he would be able to accept the truth.

  Killing the lights, Tamesine dropped onto her mattress, still mussed from sex earlier that night, his scent still potent on the sheets. She missed him already.

  She could feel the presence of daylight, her vampire’s body responding to the need for rest. Coupled with the drama of Marc’s reaction to the revelation of her supernatural nature, sleep came fast and dreamless.

  When it arrived hours later, night came like an explosion and rocked Tamesine awake, her heart thundering. She shot out of bed, breathing hard, temporarily alarmed. She threw off all of her clothes, each piece felt as if it was strangling her.

  Nearly an hour and three glasses of wine later, she sat calmly on the sofa, the television quietly advertising a work-out video. Tamesine knew to trust her instincts, and they told her things were going to get much harder before they got easier. How, why, she did not know, but it was indisputable, trouble was coming again.

  In an abandoned warehouse just minutes from LAX, Claude stood before Taggert’s team, nine of the largest men he’d ever seen. Largest human men, that was. Taggert had them at attention as he presented them to Claude, who was, technically, in charge on-site, but not in charge of this recovery team. The team was solely under Taggert’s command.

  “Quite an impressive force,” Claude said, but his arrogance showed he found them less so than his word
s conveyed.

  “There isn’t any finer force in the world,” Taggert told him, ready to shoot this asshole who thought himself superior to his group of fighters. “Lamont has complete confidence in every man here.”

  Claude almost sneered. “Well, isn’t that special,” he said, and wasn’t surprised when Taggert stepped directly into him, facing him, inches away.

  “Yes, it is. That’s why we take over now. You,” Taggert smiled, his own version of Claude’s sneer. “You just sit in your car, like you’ve been assigned, and stay out of our way.”

  Claude had been an assassin for fifteen years, one of the best in the business, and that this cunt had the balls to think he could talk to him like that, pissed him off more than this assignment had.

  “You think you have it under control now?”

  “I know I do.”

  Claude stepped back, his hands in the air. “Well, then, go do your job, soldier. I’ll just be here waiting for you when you bring her back.” Prick.

  Taggert nodded. “I have the surveillance details, we will be there within the next half hour. She will be returned to be packaged and transported within the next ninety minutes.”

  Nodding, Claude smiled. “Good luck.”

  He knew Taggert had no idea what he was getting into. No one would, but Claude. Claude was the king of contingencies. He would wait for the team of enormous, highly trained men carrying state-of-the-art weaponry and the special vampire-tranq serum, to return victorious to the warehouse.

  They would find out quickly that Taggert and these men in armor were not prepared for a first blood vampire at all.

  NINE

  She went for casual dress. Not that she had anything too fancy here in L.A. anyway, but she just wanted him to be comfortable with her when she came to his place to continue the discussion about the existence of supernatural beings. Tamesine thought it strange that she was actually nervous at the idea of seeing him again tonight.

  It had been her night off from the diner, but he’d had to work, so she glanced at the clock as she sat on her sofa, polishing off the rest of the bottle of wine and trying to eat a cheese sandwich. Midnight. Three more hours before he would be home and waiting for her.