“Yes, Grey, you should calm down.” The man bares his own fangs.
Grey studies him bewildered. He’s not a vampire, but what is he. “Who are you?”
“I’m the one who will kill you if you ever lay a hand on Mila.” He grinds out pushing Grey back with ease, catching Grey off guard.
He’s not accustomed to violence and rarely runs into anyone that can physically move him when he doesn’t want to be moved.
“Mila?” Grey whispers, “is that her name?”
“My betrothed. I am Elomere of The Underworld Fae, and she is promised to me.” He holds his head high with arrogance.
“I don’t give two shits who you are.” Grey attacks him with speed and acuity. He’s stronger and faster than Elomere slamming him into the wall. Drywall and dust crumble behind him.
Elomere recovers quickly and goes straight for Grey’s throat. Grey dodges him swinging him around by the arm into the wall across the club. Tables and chairs go airborne as rage courses through Grey, like he’s never felt before. He’s lost all control, and he will see Elomere dead.
He slowly stalks across the room looking Elomere in the eyes, “You’ve made a grave mistake.”
“Grey!” Angus calls out from across the club. He’s trying to get to the bouncer before the bouncer gets to Grey.
Grey turns around and grabs the bouncer by the head ready to twist and break his neck.
Angus comes to a halt next to Grey, “Grey, stop!”
Grey pauses, his chest heaving with the desire to destroy anything in his way from finding his Bloodmate.
“If you do this, it’s all over,” Angus warns him, trying to talk him off the ledge.
Grey’s breathing doesn’t regulate, he continues to imagine the bouncers head all but disconnected from his body so he can drink freely on his blood.
“But, I have to --”
“Have to what?” Vash’s voice fills the room with warning. “Kill him? Drink from him? I don’t think that would be wise.”
Grey releases the bouncer, “Go outside.”
The bouncer makes for the door in a half daze.
“I’d like to know what you were doing?” Vash approaches Grey. “I thought you weren’t going to be a problem.”
“I’m not the problem, it’s…” Grey turns toward Elomere to find he’s gone.
“It’s what?” Vash asks expectantly.
“Blood fairy.” Angus chimes in. “There was a blood fairy here, Grey was trying to stop him from feeding on this guy. I’m thinking he’s the one responsible for your killings.”
Grey marvels at how fast Angus is on his feet with the lies and diversions.
“Blood fae? How do you know?” Vash looks around the empty club.
“He said he was from The Underworld,” Grey says a matter of factly. “We were following a lead here. Found the guy drinking this guy nearly dry.” Grey motions to Doug still unconscious on the floor.
“Where is the blood fairy now?” Vash asks.
“He disappeared, they can do that,” Angus says with authority.
“But why would a Blood fairy be here, they are strictly forbidden.” Vash blows out a breath. “This is much worse than I thought. I’m going to have to bring in the home office, now we’re talking treaty violations.”
“Vash,” Angus reaches up to put his arm across Vash’s shoulders, “Don’t be so hasty.”
“I have to report this,” Vash says with certainty.
“You can report it, but first why don’t you catch him. You stop the killing, you catch the bad guy, and the home office will know you’ve got your city under control.” Angus plays on Vash’s ego.
Vash takes a moment to think about it, “I have to call it in now.”
“Suit yourself. But, do you really want Clarence Collins all up in your business?” Angus sidles up to Vash, “Now that I think about it...you really don’t want Clarence sniffing around here.”
Vash considers Angus’ warning. “I think we can hold off. But we have to wrap this up fast.”
Grey struggles to maintain his control. All of his needs and desires are taking over, driving him and he won’t stop until he gets what he wants. He walks away from Angus and Vash toward his car without saying a word. He has to get away from this place and toward her. Wherever she is.
Grey starts the car, and Angus knocks on the window, “Let me in.”
Grey unlocks the door, and Angus slides in, “What was that?”
“I have to find her.” He says with determination.
“Yeah, you’re not going to find her if you end up in The Directive’s crosshairs.” Angus’ irritation comes through in his tone.
“Fuck The Directive.” Grey grinds out.
“Fuck you. You’ve got me all bound up in this.” Angus shakes his head, “Let’s just find Michael, then we can find your mystery girl.”
“First, Charles got you bound up in this. Not me.” Grey pulls out onto the road, “Second…” He pauses and releases a breath, “I can’t control this thing burning inside me. I have to find her, or it’s not going to be good for anyone.”
“Just settle down,” Angus says holding his hands up. “If we look at this logically, we can assume we could find her at another strip club.”
“What makes you say that?” Grey asks, offended that his Bloodmate would be so deeply involved in strip clubs.
“Because she’s in it for the blood and the money,” Angus says.
“You don’t know that.” Grey grips the steering wheel to bear the brunt of his anger.
“I do, and honestly, it’s brilliant. She finds a mark with some money, feeds from a willing donor and then lifts their cash.” Angus is impressed with the scam, “The simplicity is beautiful.”
“You think she’s stealing from them?” Grey asks astonished.
“Yeah, first she’s a blood fairy, the guys have no idea they’re being fed from. That’s stealing in my book.” he nods, “Second, the guy’s wallet was lying empty on the floor.”
“She took his credit cards?”
“No, she’s smarter than that.” He pulls a wallet out of his jacket pocket, “But no cash. She took it.”
“How do you know he had cash, people don’t carry cash.” Grey thinks about it for a minute. “And why do you have the wallet?”
“Every guy at a strip club carries cash. You can’t slide your card in a tart’s gash and get a lap dance. He had none in his pockets and none in his wallet.” Angus slides the wallet back into his jacket. “I’d hate to see how they’d handle the new chip cards.”
Grey blows out a disgusted breath, “You haven’t answered my second question, why you have the wallet.” Grey glowers at Angus.
“Because I do know how to use the credit cards,” Angus says. “The Bubblegum Factory is on the left.”
Grey surveys the outside of the club, repulsed at the dilapidated building. He sniffs at the air hoping to catch her scent, but all he smells is the rancid humans, the worst kind.
As they walk through the door, Grey notices a flock of women around a man. “Is that him?”
“How'd you guess?” Angus asks.
“Because unless he's got a hell of a lot of charisma or money, he'd not draw that kind of crowd unless he’s a vampire.” Grey's control is slipping fast, and he's too distracted by the naked women to be disgusted. He wants to fuck every last one of them. A wave of jealousy comes over him that this young vampire has all their attention.
“Grey?” Angus questions trailing behind. “You've got that look again.”
“I'm fine.” Grey balls his fists at his sides.
They reach the group of women and sitting at the center is another vampire. “Michael?” Grey inquires.
“Who wants to know?” The vamp answers flippantly, without looking away from one of the women.
“Michael,” Angus says with warning. “We're here to help you.”
Michael looks up and in a split second darts from his chair toward the door.
>
Grey easily reaches the door long before Michael, blocking his way. “No, you're coming with us.”
The inexperienced vampire has little control over his enhanced movements. He's no match for an ancient vampire.
“You don't know what you're dealing with, you'd be smart to mind your own business,” Michael warns.
Grey balls Michael’s t-shirt in his fists and lifts him up, “Listen to me you little shit. I don't want to be in this dump, cleaning up Charles' mess, but I don't give a flying fuck whether I kill you here or get you to the Company House. The choice is yours.”
Michael’s eyes widen, and the bouncers in the club start to close in on them. His eyes shift wildly. “But I’m hungry.”
“Grey, take him, let’s go,” Angus says nervously.
Grey looks around, he’s thirsty and ready for a fight. Without a word, he dashes out of the club with Michael in tow. He gets in the car and drives off without Angus.
Michael sits slightly dazed in the passenger seat, “Where are you taking me?”
“Where Charles should have taken you, to begin with. They will help you acclimate.” Grey says looking straight ahead. He can only focus on dropping Michael off and getting back on the hunt for his Bloodmate.
“I’m hungry,” Michael complains. “This sucks, I have all this power, and you’re going to take me somewhere that they’re going to lock me up? Give me cold blood? Fuck that.”
Grey can no longer contain his anger, “Shut up.”
Michael opens the car door and tries to jump out while it’s still moving. Grey grabs him and pulls the car to the side of the road. He gets out and yanks Michael from the car by the neck. His grip tightens, and he’s working hard to not snap his head right off. “I don’t care what happens to you. At this point, I’d like to kill you myself. Apparently, Charles did not teach you the discretion necessary for our kind. If you’ve been killing, that causes problems for all of us, but if I kill you, it solves all of our problems. I have no patience for your bullshit. So your choices are, get in the car, be quiet and behave yourself, or I can end you now and get on with my life.”
Michael is unable to speak with Grey’s hand wrapped around his neck. Grey says lowering his eyes to Michael’s, “You can nod yes if you want to live.”
Michael trembles in Grey’s hold and nods his head once. Grey throws him in the car and resumes his course.
Chapter Ten
Mila bursts through the door startling Hera, “We have to go.” She looks around the empty suite and begins going from room to room looking for Hera. “Hera!”
Hera comes in the front door of the suite rolling a room service cart. “What’s with all the yelling?”
“What the heaven is that?” Mila motions to the cart.
“Room service,” Hera says it like it’s obvious.
“How did you get room service?” Mila’s amazed by her friend’s constant resourcefulness.
“Easy, I phase into another room where the occupant is gone and order food.” Hera lifts the cover off one of the plates, “Fruit?”
“No.” Mila looks around the room at three other carts with leftover food. “Been hungry?”
“Not for long. The food is delicious here.” Hera pumps her brow.
“Nevermind that.” Mila resets herself, “We have to go.”
Hera barely moves, “Why?”
Mila balls her fists at her side, she knows there’s more to what she’s feeling than just the panic of Elomere finding her, but she can’t put her finger on it and definitely doesn’t have the patience for Hera right now. “Because we have to, please just get your stuff together.”
“Is this because of the Vampire and his creepy brownie?”
Mila freezes in place, “Vampire?”
“Yeah, the vamp was hot as hell with this british accent that was just…” Hera licks her lips thinking about him.
Mila loses control grabbing her friend by the wrist, “Get your dirty little mind off of him.”
“Oh, so you do know who I’m talking about.” Hera pulls her lips to the side.
Mila lets out a groan, “I didn’t know, I don’t know. We just have to go.”
“You’re not making sense.” Hera widens her eyes.
“I know. I’m not making sense to myself. I’m so hungry...for blood and…” Mila trails off.
“And what?” Hera’s intrigued.
“It doesn’t matter. We’re leaving.” Mila get serious again.
“But it’s so comfortable here.” Hera whines. “Are we going back under?”
“No, I’m not ready to give up.” Mila insists as she hurries to the bedroom to pack her small bag.
“Fine,” Hera packs her things, and they meet in the living room. “Okay, where to and how are we getting there.”
“I was thinking we could take a bus, maybe go south.” Mila pulls an old paper map out of her backpack and studies it.
“Is it warm there?” Hera asks, “Because I don’t do well in the cold.”
“I think so.” Mila continues to look at the map.
“I’m telling you, we really should get one of those phone things that everyone has here. All the information you could ever need, right at your fingertips. It’s amazing.” Hera says, excited at the thought. “If we got two, we could communicate instantly.”
“You seem to be getting quite comfortable here.” Mila remarks.
“I could live here for a while.” She shrugs. “I’m sure I’ll survive for as long as it takes for you to find your mother.”
“I would love if you stayed longer.” Mila hangs her head relaxing her shoulders. “I just hate the thought of being alone.”
“I know. Take your time to decide if you want to stay or not. I’ll stick with you at least until then.” Hera laughs.
“I appreciate it. You coming with me and being able to get me back made the decision to leave a lot easier.” Mila puts her bag down. “The thought of leaving my father still saddens me, but knowing that for now, as long as you’re with me, I can go back goes a long way.”
“Your mother was one of my dearest friends, and I know she wanted you to be happy above all else.” Hera eyes the plate of fruit and grabs a bunch of grapes. “Did you want some?”
“No, I just want to go.” Mila swallows hard, feeling an intense hunger, but it’s not for food. It’s for that Vampire. When she phased back in at the club, he was gone. Nothing left but the scent of him.
She didn’t get a chance to really hear him speak, she was so terrified when she’d been caught that she phased out. The thought of his accent dances in her mind. She shakes her head, focus, Mila.
Chapter Eleven
Grey had not anticipated rush hour traffic in downtown Atlanta. The sky is beginning to lighten, and the clock is ticking. There’s a time bomb sitting in his front seat and another sitting in his mind. He has to get to her, now.
If he doesn’t get Michael to the safe house soon, he’s going to leave a horrible mess in the front of his Bentley. Grey can walk in the sun, but a young vampire like Michael won’t last a minute.
He glances at the sidewalk, there’s only a few people straggling by. Apparently, no one walks in Atlanta anymore.
Michael glances in Grey’s direction, he’s starting to tremble. “Hey, I don’t mean to be a pain, but the sun’s coming up. Is it much further?”
Grey knows they’re in trouble, it’s not going to end well. He doesn’t answer Michael evaluating if it’s safe for him to just go on foot.
He can’t leave Michael on the side of the road to explode in a bloody mess, and he can’t just leave his car in the middle of the road unmanned. He’s caught between a rock and a hard place. They’ve already sat for two cycles at a traffic light and have at least two to go.
He considers popping up onto the curb, but that would draw too much attention. He can’t pull off the road until he gets through this light, then there’s a place for him to leave the car.
“Angus!” Grey yells
out giving Michael a start.
“What about him?” Michael says shrinking in his seat.
Grey picks up the phone and dials, “Angus.”
“What happened to you?” Angus says in a hushed tone.
“I had to get Michael out of there, but now I’m stuck in traffic.” Grey’s tone is riddled with panic.
“Shit.” Angus hisses.
“Shit is right. The sun’s coming up.” Grey says.
“Double shit,” Angus says. “Can you leave the car?”
“Yes, I can, but I need you to meet me at the safe house. I don’t want to be stuck there talking to anyone. I need to go find her.” Grey says.
“That’s the thing. I’ve found her.” Angus says.
“What?” Grey yells, “Stay away from her.”
“Calm down, I’m outside their hotel room, and I can still hear them in there,” Angus says with excitement at his achievement. “I figured you were taking Michael to the safe house, and I should follow up on the girl.”
“Don’t you dare touch her.” Grey threatens.
“I have no intention, but we’ve got a blood fairy here, and that’s a real problem for my city. I need to make sure she stays put--”
“You’re turning her in?” Grey’s blood boils with rage, “I’ll rip every rancid vein from your body one by one.”
“Calm down. I’m not turning her in. I was keeping tabs on her until you got here.” Angus is exasperated. “You know, you’ve never been so irrational before.”
“I’m sorry,” Grey says breathing a sigh of relief. “It’s the Thirst.”
“It’s okay.” Angus says, “Do you want me to meet you at the safe house or stay here?”
There’s a long stretch of silence while Grey considers the options. “Stay put, don’t let her go anywhere and don’t let anyone near her.”
“You got it. I’ll stay here, you get Michael to the safe house and make sure you talk to Barb. Charles has already made arrangements for Michael.”
“Yeah, I’m sure the kind of arrangements that keeps him out of hot water for a rogue youngling.” Grey disconnects the call and glances at Michael with an air of pity. “You’re going to be okay. You just have to learn control and understand the rules.”
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