The Vampire and the Ink of Doom (Dreadful Vampire Mysteries Book 1)

by Piper Alexander

  Three vampires against a werewolf should’ve been no contest but I guess the rules were different since this wasn’t a regular werewolf. I rushed to the kitchen, filled an extra-large pitcher with water, and ran back as fast I could without losing any water. A loud eardrum-shattering scream pierced the air as I returned. The werewolf had sunk its teeth into Pita’s leg. She bashed it repeatedly on top of its broad head but it refused to let go.

  I got as close as I could and dumped the water on the wolf, making sure to cover it from head to toe. The result was instantaneous. It released Pita, unleashing a loud, pain-filled howl that could probably be heard in town. It collapsed onto the rug, its shape blurring and running until it was nothing more than a huge puddle of ink on the carpet.

  “That’s going to stain,” Granny grumbled, climbing to her feet. She pointed at Pita’s bleeding leg. “So is that.”

  “I don’t care about any stupid stains,” I said, although I did care about the savage tear in Pita’s leg. “We need to find out who left that book.”

  I looked at the faces in the crowd, spotted Jasper. When he realized I was looking at him, he became paler than usual.

  I ran towards him as fast as possible. Jasper blinked, his eyes closing. By the time they opened again, I was there. I wrapped my fingers around his throat and slammed him against the wall, lifting his feet off the floor.

  “Enjoying your visit, Jasper,” I snarled. “Are things exciting enough for you in our little town or did you feel the need to make things more interesting with your little writing project?”

  My eyes burned crimson as my fangs extended.

  Jasper’s eyes grew even wider, a high-pitched whine escaping his throat.

  I smiled at Jasper, making sure he got a good look at my razor-sharp fangs. “Time to eat,” I said, leaning in closer.

  “Have you lost your mind?” Granny yelled. “Does he look like someone who could do something like this? The pervert left the book in the library. That’s why I thought it was a smut book.”

  “The pervert?”

  Granny pointed up the stairs, blowing an exasperated sigh. “The smut-writing pervert that Paige has been drooling over all week.”

  “Hey!” Paige exclaimed. “I was not drooling.”

  Granny grunted, rolling her eyes.

  I dropped Jasper to the floor and looked up the stairs. Reginald looked down at me, his handsome face twisted by an ugly, evil smile.

  “The old woman has a way with words, doesn’t she?” Reginald said. “Maybe she should become a writer.” He held up a book. “After all, words have such power.”

  I glanced at the cover, which showed a huge demon standing over a town in flames.

  I swore under my breath. We were screwed. Even with vampire speed, I’d never reach him in time, especially since that nutjob witch made one of my shoestrings evaporate. The stupid shoe kept trying to fall off my foot every time I took a step. I’d barely made it to the kitchen and back without losing it.

  A lightbulb came on in my brain. I smiled. The stupid shoe. That crazy witch.

  I approached the foot of the stairs slowly.

  “That’s quite close enough, Ms. Dreadful,” Reginald said. “I’ve seen what you and your family can do. Very impressive.” He waved the book. “But I bet I can still open this book before you get to me.”

  “I just want to know why,” I said, looking up at him. “The clown at the produce market? Killing Mr. Sheldon? Why?”

  Reginald narrowed his eyes, glancing quickly at my sisters and Granny before looking back at me. “Sure,” he said. “Why not?” He lifted the cover of the book slightly with his thumb, smiling as I gasped. “After all, it’s not like you can do anything to me.”

  He chuckled, shaking his head. “It all started innocently enough. I was looking for a new angle for my next book, and a little bit of research led me to Transylvaniatown. I was in the library, learning about the history of the place, when I discovered an old, dusty parchment tucked behind a row of books. I knew immediately that it was something important, something powerful.” He shrugged. “My great undoing was being honest.”

  I laughed. “I somehow doubt that.”

  He took a step down the stairs. “But it’s true. I should’ve just stolen the parchment, but instead, I asked the librarian – that irritating, greedy librarian – about buying it. I could almost see the dollar signs in his eyes when he realized how interested I was. He said he’d sell it to me for ten-thousand dollars.”

  Reginald chuckled, shaking his head. “Stupid, greedy fool. I told him I didn’t have that kind of money and asked if I might be able to sort of rent the parchment.” Another shake of his head. “Two hundred dollars for half an hour.” An evil smile formed on his face. “I spent six-hundred dollars and learned what I needed to know. That night, I created my first enchanted masterpiece… and then left it at the library the next morning, hoping that stupid fool would open it.”

  “And the clown at the produce market? An innocent woman was almost killed.”

  Reginald shrugged. “Playing with my new toy… and making it look like the librarian was a random murder among many instead of the actual target.”

  I shifted my body slightly, hopefully improving my aim. “You won’t get away with it.”

  Reginald laughed. “I already have. All that’s left is getting rid of the witnesses.” He glanced down at the guests that were still crowded around. “Which basically means getting rid of the whole town at this point.”

  “You’ll die, too.”

  He shook his head. “I’m the demon’s creator. It won’t hurt me… and I’ll be long gone by the time this town goes up in flames.”

  He reached for the book, deciding the time for talk was done. He was right.

  I kicked my leg forward hard, snapping it through the air. My untied shoe flew off my foot, sailed through the air, and knocked the book from his hand. It tumbled, pages fluttering slightly as it tried to open, looking like a bird thinking about spreading its wings.

  Paige jumped for it, snatching the book out of midair, snapping it shut in her tight grip. She crashed to the floor, held the still-closed book high in the air. “Got it.”

  “And I’ve got him,” I said, but before I could move, a gust of wind blew past me, shooting up the stairs like a comet; a senior citizen comet with glasses and white hair pulled into a bun.

  In the blink of an eye, Granny had taken Reginald up to the second floor. Now he was on his knees with her hand wrapped around his throat.

  Granny glared at him. “I don’t give a fart in the wind about this silly little town… but you tried to hurt my girls.” She leaned closer to him, baring her fangs. “I don’t like that.”

  I turned quickly, shooing the guests away. “Alright folks. Nothing to see here. Show’s over.”

  “Everybody,” Anthony called out over the grumbling and complaining, “if you’ll follow me to the kitchen, I believe Pita made a special batch of brownies that are normally reserved for family… but I think they’ll make an exception just this once.”

  “Absolutely,” I agreed. “It’s a one-time offer, though, so don’t miss out.” I reached out, giving a mental push to enforce the idea. I could feel Paige and Pita doing the same.

  The grumbling quieted and everyone followed Anthony, talking excitedly about the fresh brownies waiting for them, the drama upstairs forgotten in a mental fog.

  I leaned against the wall, feeling like I’d just ran a marathon. Influencing that many people at once was a lot of work.

  “Smooth move with the shoe,” Paige said.

  I nodded towards the book in her hand. “Good catch with the book.”

  Paige smiled. “We make a good team.”

  “Hey,” Pita called from her position on the floor. “Don’t forget about me. I distracted wolfie with my oh-so-sexy leg.” She looked down at her mangled leg. “Not so sexy now, though.” She frowned. “Going to leave an ugly scar.”

  Toby stepped away fro
m his family, still pressed against the wall, evading their frantic grasps for him. I didn’t know if the whole family was immune to suggestion or if they were just out of range since they hadn’t been standing with the main group.

  He moved forward, two bright pink splotches on his cheeks, his eyes locked onto Pita. He glanced at her leg, grimaced, and returned his gaze to her face. “Does it hurt?”

  “It doesn’t exactly feel good.”

  He nodded, ran a hand nervously through his hair. “You’re really a real vampire, aren’t you?”

  “Yep.”

  He shifted his weight back and forth, from one foot to the other. “Ummm… I’ve seen a bunch of vampire movies. Like… a bunch. In the movies, vampires always recover from injuries when they feed. Is that true?”

  Pita nodded.

  Toby stepped closer to Pita and rolled up his shirt sleeve, thrusting his arm close to her mouth.

  Pita gasped, leaning back, shock in her eyes. “Oh,” she exclaimed. “Thank you, Toby, really.” She offered him a smile, a real one with no fangs in sight. “But I can’t. I don’t take blood from kids. Not for any reason.”

  “But I want to.”

  Pita took his hand and kissed the top of it, smiling up at him. “And I appreciate it, but I’d rather live with an ugly scar on my leg than know I broke one of my personal rules just because things got rough.”

  Toby’s father joined his son. He looked from Toby to Pita’s leg, and then back to Toby. He sighed, rolled up his shirt sleeve, and extended his arm. “You saved my family. I don’t know exactly what’s going on but I do know that.” He moved his arm closer, trying to hide his nervousness. “I suppose there are worse things than being turned into a vampire as a way of saying thanks.”

  Pita chuckled. “I appreciate the sacrifice you’re willing to make, but you wouldn’t be a vampire. You’d just lose a little blood.”

  Toby’s dad breathed a sigh of relief, a weak smile on his face. “Then definitely do what you need to do. I don’t mind. My family is worth it.”

  Toby’s mom joined her husband, offering her arm. “Our family is worth it.”

  Pita looked from one to the other. “Are you sure?”

  They both nodded.

  Pita glanced at me, unsure of what to do.

  I looked at Toby’s parents. We had made rules when we moved here. No feeding on the people in town, and no feeding on guests. We had a refrigerator filled with bags of blood that Anthony got on a regular basis from a contact who worked at a hospital in another town. It could restore Pita’s strength but it wouldn’t heal her leg. Only fresh blood had that kind of potency… and they were volunteering. I nodded.

  Pita smiled, extending her fangs, already picturing a disfigured leg as nothing more than a bad dream.

  Toby’s sister moved next to him, watching with wide, fascinated eyes. “Best vacation ever.”

  Toby nodded, smiling.

  Granny Mags came walking down the stairs, licking something red off her fingers. She looked over at us and snorted in disgust. “Don’t think I’m not aware of the fact that somebody just gave away the brownies that were made for me.”

  Paige looked over at her. “You’re ruining the moment.”

  Granny grunted, headed towards the kitchen. “If someone didn’t leave at least one brownie for me, I’m going to ruin a lot more than that.”

  Chapter 13

  I sat in the den with my sisters and Granny Mags, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace. Winter was dragging its feet but it would arrive soon enough. The Dreadful Inn was quiet, with most of the guests having checked out. New arrivals wouldn’t be here until tomorrow.

  Pita’s leg looked flawless and beautiful, which she made sure to mention at least once every half hour. Paige’s sunstone necklace was once again around her neck and her arm was as unblemished as Pita’s leg, after she finally gave in to the urgings of Toby’s mother to take advantage of what they were offering.

  The ink stains had been cleaned from the rug, thanks to some magical cleanser that Granny had whipped up in the kitchen. The stains on the second floor would take a little longer to deal with.

  Despite everything that had happened, there was some incredibly good news. At least as far as Granny was concerned. She had managed to talk a guest into giving her one of their smutty paranormal romance books, Wolves Knocking at My Backdoor. She was thrilled to share with us that it was just as filthy as she had imagined it would be.

  “So Jasper was writing an exposé on Transylvaniatown?” Pita asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah, his original piece was about the town being a tourist trap and a con job. I guess the poltergeist didn’t like him bad-mouthing its home so it kept causing problems for him.”

  “I’m guessing he changed his mind,” Paige said.

  I chuckled. “Yeah, the new piece is going to talk about the town being the real deal and that it’s the perfect place to vacation if you don’t mind being scared to death.”

  Pita laughed. “Not the best endorsement for most places but it works perfectly for us.”

  “It does help the Dreadful Inn live up to its name,” I agreed.

  Peter Vincent flew down and landed on my shoulder, looking eagerly over at the fruit bowl sitting on the table next to my chair.

  “Mango me,” the little fruit bat squeaked.

  I gave him the side-eye. “Getting bossy, aren’t we?”

  “I deserve it,” Peter Vincent explained. “I was very brave during all that mess… and I still taste werewolf hair. It’s disgusting.”

  I chuckled, reaching over for a piece of fruit. “Yes, you were very brave,” I said, holding the tiny mango cube out for him.

  He snatched it in his little paws and started chewing immediately. “Heaven,” he sighed.

  I groaned when someone knocked on the door. “I didn’t think we had any new guests coming until tomorrow.”

  “We don’t.” Paige said.

  “I’ve got it,” Anthony said, rushing to the door and trying to stand in a way that blocked our view when he opened it.

  “Hi,” I heard a soft female voice say.

  I grinned. It was Broomhilda. I could’ve listened in but that would’ve been rude so I didn’t. Still, I wasn’t surprised when Anthony said he was going out for a while and wouldn’t be back until late.

  “Just be back before guests start coming tomorrow,” Paige shouted.

  He promised he would be, closing the door quickly behind him.

  “Our boy’s in love,” Pita said, staring at the front door for a second. She glanced at me. “How about you? What’s going on with your new guy?”

  Before I could answer, there was another knock at the door. “Seriously?” I grumbled.

  I slowly climbed to my feet and made my way to the door. Alec’s handsome face greeted me when I opened it. All of a sudden, I didn’t feel quite so tired.

  “Hi, Sheriff. What a pleasant surprise.” I stepped back, telling myself to stop drooling like some love-struck teenager. “Please come in.”

  He removed his hat and stepped inside. “Thank you, Penny.” He looked around nervously, rolling the brim of his hat in his hands.

  “Everything okay?” I asked, noticing his discomfort.

  He nodded, his eyes finally meeting mine. “Yeah, it’s just that I’m here on business. I’ve received a very odd complaint.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “About us?”

  “Well… I believe it’s about you, actually.”

  I braced myself. “Okay.”

  His cheeks turned an adorable shade of pink. He ran a hand through his hair. “Well… a girl stopped by my office… and she swears a woman on a powder-blue scooter rode by and stole her book.” He looked me in the eye. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

  I laughed. It was my turn to have the red cheeks. I couldn’t help but wonder if he thought my blushing was as cute as his was. “Yes, I’m afraid I’m the guilty party.”

  Curio
sity was all over his face. “I don’t suppose you have a good reason for it, do you?”

  I motioned towards the den. “Why don’t you join me and my sisters for a cup of coffee? I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

  A note from Piper:

  Thank you for reading THE VAMPIRE AND THE INK OF DOOM. I know there are a lot of books out there to read and I truly appreciate you taking time to read the Dreadful Vampire series.

  The adventures of Penny, Pita, and Paige continue with THE VAMPIRE AND THE PRINCE OF ROSES. Keep reading for a sneak peek to see what happens.

  Also by Piper Alexander

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  DREADFUL VAMPIRE MYSTERIES

  The Vampire and the Ink of Doom

  The Vampire and the Prince of Roses

  The Vampire and the Silent Knight (coming soon)

  The Vampire and the Prince of Roses

  ~ Dreadful Vampire Mysteries #2 ~

  Chapter 1

  “Hello, book thief.”

  I smiled, shaking my head. Two weeks ago, that little nickname would’ve made me angry, but enough time had passed that I was able to appreciate the unique sense of humor behind it. “Good afternoon, Sheriff. Looking for something to read? A book on manners, perhaps?”

  I was more thrilled than I wanted to admit that he had stopped by. We had just started tip-toeing towards that ‘let’s see where things might go’ stage when I got slapped with community service. That tends to cramp one’s style when one of the parties involved wears a badge.

  It didn’t help that he was probably stressing himself out by looking into an unsolvable murder. How did I know it was unsolvable? Because my grandmother had taken care of the murderer. In a way that local law enforcement probably wouldn’t appreciate.