A Vampire's Hunger

by Carla Susan Smith

  * * *

  Laycee welcomed me with open arms, then gave me the expected ration of shit about my hair. Professional pride made her tidy it up for me so I looked more cute, loveable hedgehog and less angry porcupine. It was a great improvement, and I couldn’t believe how much time I was now saving in the shower. I managed to last two weeks before the craving for peace, quiet, and a bathroom without a diaper genie in the corner got to me.

  As always, Laycee understood. “Is everything all right with you and Eye Candy?”

  “Yes. He and Ryiel had a misunderstanding. He’s gone to apologize.”

  We were sitting on the porch swing, and Laycee immediately jumped up to make sure Jake was still seated at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper funnies to his infant daughter.

  “It’s nothing to do with him and Jenna, is it?” she asked in a whisper.

  “No,” I assured her, smiling at the way she avoided using Ryiel’s name. “It’s strictly a vampire guy thing.”

  “Ahhh.” A knowledgeable lift of an expertly penciled brow put the matter to rest.

  Instead of returning to the penthouse, I decided it was time to face my apartment. Naturally, I told Tomas where I would be, just in case anything happened to me while Gabriel was still in absentia. The sentinel offered to meet me, so I wouldn’t have to go through the process alone, but I told him that rather defeated the purpose. He agreed with my decision, but made me promise to call him if anything felt wrong.

  I was met at my apartment door by a certain amount of fear, but I forced myself to move past it. If I could tell the Grim Reaper to take a hike, then I could walk through this door. Besides, Ryiel had assured me my demon couldn’t come after me again once the contract was broken, unless I gave him cause to. My apartment had been cleaned and my bed replaced. According to his note, Tomas had passed on the hefty fee for a rush delivery to Aleksei, who hadn’t so much as whimpered on receiving the bill.

  I spent the next couple of days unpacking boxes that had been in storage, and trying to decide what to keep and what to send to Goodwill. Four twenty-something CPAs moved into the apartment down the hall, and being neighborly, they invited me to their housewarming. I was elevated to the status of a goddess when I showed up with all of Aleksei’s leftover booze. I returned home to find a spray of freesias on my pillow with a note. Gabriel was back from his trip and wanted to take me on a date. I took that as a good sign that he and Ryiel had reached an understanding.

  * * *

  Someone had made a valiant effort to replace at least most of the burned-out or missing lightbulbs from the sign at Rosie’s Bar. I wondered if they might take a stab at the gravel parking lot next, but it was going to take more than a couple of boxes of 100 watts to help the one lone light. I parked my Charger between two pickup trucks, both of which had seen better days. I didn’t see anything that belonged in Gabriel’s garage.

  There had been a few changes inside Rosie’s since the night I’d first met Gabriel there. The trophy deer head on the wall was sporting a Santa hat. Whatever enterprising soul had put it up there had been disinclined to remove it. I wondered if it might be replaced with a green derby come St. Patrick’s Day. The other changes consisted mainly of new signs promoting different makes of beer, but it was going to take more than the offer of a few imports to put Rosie’s on the map.

  It was a weeknight, so the place wasn’t exactly jumping. I took a seat in a booth, and when the waitress came by, I ordered a Jack and Coke, and asked for a clean glass. Puzzled by my request, she nonetheless returned with my order almost immediately.

  “Do you have any vodka?” I asked.

  “Yeah, of course.”

  “Stoli Elit?” The blank look on her face was answer enough. I reached in the tote bag I was using as a purse and pulled out a bottle. The waitress watched as I cracked open the seal and then filled the empty glass she’d brought me. “I want you to give that to the blond guy sitting two booths behind me,” I told her.

  “Uh, you’re not s’posed to bring your own liquor,” the waitress admonished me.

  I put the bottle of vodka on her tray, next to the glass I’d poured. “Keep it behind the bar,” I told her. “In case someone else asks for it.”

  Problem solved, she gave me a toothy grin and went to deliver the drink. Less than thirty seconds later, she was back, looking slightly flushed. Both drink and bottle were still on her tray.

  “What did he say?” I asked.

  “He said to tell you if you wanted to buy him a drink, the least you could do was deliver it yourself.”

  “He said that, did he?”

  The waitress nodded. I could see the cogs turning in her head as she wondered if perhaps she ought to have been a little more diplomatic. Too late to do anything about it now. She shrugged and put the glass of vodka down in front of me. And the bottle too. “Just in case,” she said, before turning and walking back to the bar.

  With my tote bag over my shoulder, I scooted out of the booth, pausing to pick up the glass and the bottle of Stoli. I could feel stares coming from the bar. The waitress had shared the incident with her regulars, and curious to see the outcome, heads were now turned.

  Gabriel sat wedged up against the back of the booth with one leg spread along the seat. I guessed there wasn’t enough space for him to sit with both legs beneath the table and be comfortable.

  “Buy you a drink?” I asked.

  “Is it really buying if you’re providing your own bottle?” he asked.

  “I’ll make sure I tip the waitress a C-note before I leave.”

  “Wow, you must really want to buy me a drink.”

  I slid in opposite him, managing to get both my legs under the table without any problem. “How’s Ryiel?” I asked, pushing the tumbler of vodka across the table to him.

  “Good. He sends you his best.” The upturn at the corners of his mouth told me he and the dark-haired vampire had parted on better than good terms. I was glad. Picking up his glass, Gabriel downed the vodka in one go. “Katja died,” he said suddenly, losing all traces of good humor.

  “Oh . . . I’m sorry.”

  “Are you?” He arched a brow in surprise at my response before refilling his glass from the bottle sitting between us.

  I decided that yes, I was sorry. I could afford to be magnanimous because I was the one who was alive. For a few moments, we sat and said nothing. The wail of a love gone wrong poured out of the jukebox, and I thought it sounded similar to the one I’d heard the night Laycee had called me from this same bar. But then I think most country songs sound alike, given enough time and alcohol.

  I stared across the table at my lover. His hair shimmered in the low light, and his eyes were darkening. Something was bothering him.

  “Ask me, Gabriel, whatever you want to know. I won’t lie to you.”

  He sighed, hesitating a moment before saying, “Is the contract truly broken?”

  Ah, so that was it. He’d not asked me outright, and knowing the power of words when dealing with supernatural beings, I understood why he needed to hear the confirmation from my lips.

  “Yes,” I said gravely. “The contract is truly broken.”

  I didn’t know it was possible to look relieved and worried at the same time, but Gabriel managed it. “Is there anything I need to know?” he asked in a low voice.

  “Kartel is going to start a war between vampires and humans,” I said, deliberately misinterpreting what he was asking me. “And the Dark Realm is going to help him.”

  Deciding to let me have my way, Gabriel crossed his arms and nodded. “Ah, so that’s what he was up to.” The ripple of his biceps said they missed my touch. “It will be a difficult accomplishment without a way to create his army.”

  “How so?”

  “We didn’t find Petrov at the location the informant gave us, but we did find a notebook he seemed to have left behind. It contained a detailed account of the whereabouts of every drug stockpile Kartel had amassed. It’s all been d
estroyed.”

  “That was a stroke of luck.” My tone clearly demonstrated my disbelief. Gabriel just shrugged. “But what’s to stop Kartel from getting Petrov to just make more of the same drug?” Even though his disappearing act suggested Petrov was aware that Kartel had no further use for him, the blue-haired vampire was still his maker. Petrov could always be compelled.

  Gabriel emptied his glass. “Petrov is dead.”

  “Did you . . . ?”

  He shook his head. “No. He took his own life. I can only assume he realized any sanctuary I offered would be temporary in nature, and with no other Original to protect him, he took the only option available.”

  “How did he do it?” I don’t know why I asked. Morbid curiosity perhaps?

  “The Sahara desert is quite lethal, or so I am told.”

  Our waitress stopped by, bringing me another Jack and Coke. I thanked her, enjoying the shocked look in her eyes when I placed the hundred-dollar bill on her tray and told her to keep the change. Being rich had its moments.

  “So Kartel’s plans have been derailed?”

  “For the time being,” Gabriel agreed.

  “You don’t seem very concerned,” I observed.

  “You are my only concern.” He paused, giving me a look that promised nothing but a lifetime of devotion. Reaching for my hand, he turned it over and rubbed his thumb gently across my inner wrist. “Is there anything we need to talk about?”

  This time I wasn’t mulish. I knew what he was asking, what he needed to know. Had I surrendered any of myself in order to break my pact with the Dark Realm, and if so, how much? And he wasn’t asking because of anything so foolish as male ego. He was asking as much for my sake as his own. Gabriel didn’t want me thinking I couldn’t come to him because of choices I might have made.

  “Why did you ask the Void to heal me?”

  My question wasn’t what he expected, and surprise flared in his eyes. “The Void and I have an . . . understanding.”

  I knew as much because the Void had told me so. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him what such an understanding had cost him, but I didn’t. There are some things better left unsaid.

  Even between lovers.

  “It was the Void that removed the opal . . . not him.” Gabriel’s relief at my words was palpable, and I covered the hand holding mine with my free one. “Is there anything you want to ask me?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Are you going to grow your hair back?”

  Still self-conscious about my shorter look, I put a hand to the nape of my neck. “I haven’t decided. Do you want me to?”

  “Only if it pleases you to do so.” He raised my hand to his mouth and brushed his lips over my knuckles.

  I looked at the hand that held mine, seeing the platinum-and-mahogany ring on his finger as it caught the light and shone. The ring he hadn’t taken off since the day I’d put it on him. The ring I knew he would never take off. Gabriel would keep me safe, and if he couldn’t, then the Void would. Because he had asked it to.

  I had no idea what had happened to us before, and I accepted that I might never know. Had I hurt Gabriel in the past? Yes, I could feel it somewhere deep inside me, though the details were lost. But I couldn’t live my life worrying about things I couldn’t change. I was in love with a vampire, and he loved me. Always had. Body and soul.

  “Do you still want to take me to see the Northern Lights?” I asked.

  He grinned. “Of course. Just tell me when.”

  “What’s the name of the place again?”

  “Kangerlussuaq.”

  “Do you suppose we could find a priest in Gang-er-loose-sue-arc?”

  “I’m sure we could.” He hesitated. “Why do you need a priest?”

  “I think I’d like to be married under the Northern Lights.”

  His smile was pure seduction. “So is this your way of telling me we’re going to be okay?”

  I smiled. It was such a human thing to say. I felt, as well as heard, the collective sigh from the bar area as I leaned across the table and kissed him on the mouth.

  “We’re going to be better than okay,” I promised.

  Go back to where it all started with Carla Susan Smith’s A

  Vampire’s Promise, available wherever digital books are sold!

  TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS

  Rowan Harper is nothing but a smart-mouthed bookstore clerk with

  a crappy love life on the night she walks into Rosie’s Bar. Most of

  the drama in her life is borrowed from her best friend’s adventures.

  But when she meets Gabriel—tall and movie-star gorgeous—

  everything changes. Never mind that she turns down the drink he

  offers, or that he brims with secrets she can’t begin to guess at. He

  ignites a desire in her she never suspected—and shows a fascination

  with her she can’t explain.

  He has no family, no job, no bank account; he knows where

  she lives and her favorite flower. An aura of mystery cloaks him,

  even as Rowan grasps for facts, even as she fears an answer that

  could destroy her happiness. Gabriel can guide her through a

  wonderland of new sensations. But only if Rowan trusts him

  enough to follow . . .

  Winner of the OKRWA “Finally a Bride” contest.

  Visit us at www.kensingtonbooks.com

  Carla Susan Smith owes her love of literature to her mother, who, after catching her pre-teen daughter reading by flashlight beneath the bed covers, calmly replaced the romance book she had “borrowed” with one that was far less risqué, and much more appropriate! Though she was encouraged to include different genres in her reading tastes, romance—paranormal romance in particular—has always been her first love.

  Born and raised in England, Carla now calls South Carolina home, where she lives with her wonderfully supportive husband, awesome son, and a canine critique group (if tails aren’t wagging, then the story isn’t working!). When not writing, she can usually be found in the kitchen trying out any recipe that calls for rhubarb, working on her latest tapestry project, or playing catch-up with her reading list. Please visit her at www.CarlaSmithauthor.com.