Rose narrowed her eyes at him. “You were not just talking to her,” she corrected. “You were using your I-am-trying-to-sleep-with-you smile on her.”
Erik grinned arrogantly. “It is a particularly charming smile, isn’t it?”
“She’s my best friend, Erik,” Rose said between clenched teeth.
“Exactly,” Erik said, smiling, “you can sleep with my best friend, and I can sleep with your best friend. It sounds like the perfect arrangement. It’s fate.”
Rose pointed her forefinger threateningly at him, nearly jabbing him in the chest. “I will not have you corrupting my best friend with your slutty ways.”
Audrey choked on her beer. “Rose, did you just call him a slut?”
“Yeah, she did,” Erik answered. He grinned at Audrey. “Isn’t it great?”
Audrey snorted at him, raising her eyebrows as she sipped her beer.
“No flirting with my best friend,” Rose told Erik sternly.
Erik pouted at her. “Hey, that’s not fair. I flirt with everyone. Even you. And I obviously don’t want to sleep with you,” he said, wrinkling his nose. “I mean, I would, but only because you’re a woman, and I’ll sleep with any woman.”
Rose scowled at him. “You’re such a pig.”
Erik grinned. “I know. I come from a long line of them.”
Rose looked at Audrey. “Stay away from him. He’s bad for you.”
“So is this pizza,” Audrey mumbled with her mouthful of pizza.
Erik grinned at Audrey. “Believe it or not, deep down, Rose loves me.”
“It’s more that you’re like family,” Rose informed him. “I’m obligated to care about you, but at the same time, you make me want to pull my hair out.”
Erik grimaced at her. “Don’t call me your family. Then, I’ll have to stop looking at your breasts, and it’s literally the only appealing thing about you.”
“Don’t women ever slap you for saying things like that?” Rose asked.
“Oh, they do. Quite often, actually,” Erik said, nodding.
Rose sighed, “And have you ever considered not saying these things?”
Erik frowned thoughtfully. “Er…no. It’s never crossed my mind.”
Rose threw up her hands in defeat. She pointed her finger at Audrey. “Seriously, stay away from Erik. He’s much worse for you than pizza. He’s like,” she paused as she tried to think of a good analogy, “drugs…and alcohol.”
“I’m literally drunk right now,” Audrey reminded Rose.
Rose scowled worriedly at the beer in Audrey’s hand. “Oh…right.”
An alarming, dizzying wave of hunger suddenly washed over Rose, and she staggered, her hand clutching her stomach as the hunger pains came back with a vengeance. She gasped as the hunger gnawed ravenously at her stomach.
Erik grabbed her arm to steady her. “Go to Kallias. Now,” he whispered.
Rose nodded. She tried to take a step toward Kallias, but she felt too weak and sickly to move. Luckily, Kallias sensed her pain and came over to her.
Kallias caught Rose against him as her knees began to buckle. Her face looked paler than before, and her breath came in quick, harsh pants. He cradled her face in his hands, staring into her bright, azure eyes, watching as they flashed with feral hunger and deep, desperate pain. “You need to feed,” he said quietly, supporting her weight with his arms. “That taste of blood you had earlier only intensified your hunger. We need to get somewhere private so that you can feed.”
The sight of Rose stumbling seemed to sober Audrey for a moment. She stood, swaying a little on her feet, and frowned. “What’s wrong with Rose?”
“She’s sick,” Erik lied. He grimaced as he tried to remember the name of a human illness. “She has that sickness…where you run a fever and faint…”
Audrey stared bewilderedly. “Um…what? Like the flu?”
“Yeah, that one,” Erik said quickly.
Rose clutched Kallias’s arms as she tried to hold herself up, despite her quickly fading strength. She felt weak, as if she’d been injured or awoken during the day. Her mouth watered as she stared at the pulsing artery in his neck, as she listened to his blood course rapidly through that artery, as she smelled the sweet, powerful scent of his blood, the blood that called out to her, the blood that bound her to him. “Audrey,” she breathed. “I can’t just leave her. She’s drunk.”
Erik, unlike Audrey, could hear Rose’s quiet murmuring. He called to them, “I can drive her home.” He glanced at Audrey and added, “if she wants.”
“I don’t know,” Rose said breathlessly, wincing at the painful hunger.
“You have to feed, Rose,” Kallias said in her ear, “or you’ll lose control.”
Erik straightened and stepped away from the white, wooden column. He slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out his keys. “Let Kallias take you back to the hotel room,” Erik said. “I’ll make sure your friend gets home safely.”
Rose sighed. She wanted to see Audrey home herself, but with such intense, overwhelming hunger coursing through her, she knew that spending any extra time around Audrey before she fed would only put Audrey in danger. She shifted her gaze toward Audrey. “Are you comfortable with this?” she asked.
Audrey jumped up, her beer sloshing out over her hand, and grinned at Rose. “Am I comfortable with a hot guy taking me home? Hell, yeah, I am!”
Rose rolled her eyes. “I’m going to regret this later, aren’t I?”
Kallias placed a hand at the curve of her back, pulling her closer. He leaned into her, his lips brushing against hers, his eyes darkening with lust as he watched the feral hunger burning in her eyes. “Come on,” he whispered, smiling. “Let’s get you back to the hotel. Then, you can have as much blood as you want.”
Rose hated to admit it, but…her mouth watered at the thought.
—
Erik pulled the car into a parking lot in the middle of three, identical apartment buildings. He glanced at Audrey. “This is where you live?” he asked.
“Yep,” Audrey said, lounging lazily in the passenger seat. “But I don’t really want to go inside yet. My head is spinning, and you have a really nice car.”
He snorted, “Take your time. Just don’t puke in my car.”
“I’m not that drunk,” Audrey laughed.
Erik leaned forward in his seat, one hand still wrapped casually around the steering wheel. He squinted as he peered up at the small apartment buildings. Several doors lined each floor, and the doors seemed awfully close together, considering each one represented a different apartment. “No offense,” Erik began hesitantly, glancing at Audrey, “but these apartments look awfully small.”
Audrey suddenly burst into laughter. “They are! They’re so small!” She clasped her hand over her mouth as she hiccupped. “Our apartment is so small that Rose and I can cook—and burn—our Ramen noodles from the bed!”
Erik watched her with raised eyebrows, amused that she found that so hilarious. “Burn?” he repeated, suppressing a laugh. “You burn Ramen noodles?”
Audrey waved her hand as she continued to laugh, hiccupping every few seconds. “Rose and I are both terrible cooks!” she admitted, snorting. “Terrible!”
He laughed at her. “Right,” he said. “Well, I actually love to cook.”
Audrey suddenly stopped laughing, and she twisted in her seat, staring at him with wide, golden eyes. “Really?” she said. “Because…that’s kind of hot.”
His bright green eyes sparkled with amusement. “You think so?”
“Yeah,” Audrey said with a wide smile. “Do you want to come inside?”
He snorted, “To cook?”
“No,” she said, grinning. “No, that’s not what I’m thinking at all.”
His grin widened as he understood, and then, he turned away from her, sighing as he looked up at the apartment building. “Rose would kill me.”
“Rose?” Audrey repeated incredulously. “Why would she care?”
> “Because you’re her best friend,” Erik said. He blew out a shaky breath as he stared up at the apartment building. “And…because she knows how I am.”
Audrey raised an eyebrow at him. “How are you?”
Erik shifted his gaze back toward her. “Oh, you know,” he said, offering her a charming smile. “Attractive. Charming. Funny. Seductive. Irresistible…”
She chuckled. “Rose thinks you’re all of those things?”
“No. She thinks I use those things to have sex with a lot of women,” he corrected. He grimaced. “And…she’s absolutely right. That’s exactly what I do.”
Audrey offered him a lazy smile. “Is that supposed to bother me?”
He glanced at her, his eyebrows lifting. “It doesn’t?”
She leaned toward him, her amber-colored eyes gleaming mischievously. “I sleep around, too,” she said quietly, as if she were telling him a secret. “I’m too wild and free-spirited for relationships. I like sex. No-strings-attached sex. Rest assured, Mr. Hottie: you won’t break my heart. If anything, I’ll break yours.”
For a moment, Erik just stared at her, smiling. Then, he looked away, dragging his sweaty palms against his thighs and breathing out a long, shaky breath. “Wow,” he laughed, shaking his head. “You’re like…perfect for me.”
Audrey leaned back in her seat and smiled at him. “Then, come inside.”
Erik sighed, “There are things you don’t know about me. Bad things.”
“Like what?” she asked. “Do you have an STD or something?”
“A what?” he asked, frowning. “Oh, that’s a human thing, isn’t it?”
“Huh?” Audrey asked, her brows furrowing at what she thought he’d said.
“No,” Erik answered, shaking his head. “It’s nothing like that.”
“Then, I don’t really care what it is,” she said easily. “Let’s go.”
Erik glanced at her, grinning at her eagerness. “Really? What if I told you that I stole this car?” he tested, patting the steering wheel with his right hand.
Audrey shrugged. “You wouldn’t be the first criminal I’ve slept with.”
“Wow,” he snorted. “Is there anything that would change your mind?”
“Nope,” Audrey said, smiling, “so you might as well give up.”
Erik dragged his fingers through his wavy, blonde hair. “If I manage to get out of here without having sex with you, I should get a medal,” he sighed.
Audrey opened the door and swung her leg out of the car. “Well, I have to walk up a ton of stairs…by myself…while drunk. So, if I lose my balance, topple down the stairs, and wind up in the hospital, I’ll just tell Rose that it was your fault.” She flashed a wobbly smile and then proceeded to fall out of the car.
“Shit,” Erik sighed as he flung open the door and raced to her side.
Audrey grimaced as Erik lifted her up off the pavement and set her on her feet. “I think I’m a little drunker than I thought,” she complained miserably.
Erik kept his arm around her, worried that if he let go of her, she’d fall flat on her face again. “I’ll walk you to your door,” he muttered, “but…that’s it.”
Audrey leaned so heavily against him that he might as well have been carrying her. “But…why?” she whined. “I promise I won’t puke all over you.”
Erik grimaced. “Well, I’m…eh…grateful for that promise,” he said, wrinkling his nose, “but…still, you’re drunk. I’m like the least virtuous person to ever exist, but even I can’t accept a yes from a girl who’s too drunk to stand.”
Audrey grunted irritably as he guided her toward the apartment building. “What if I wasn’t drunk?” she slurred. “Would you sleep with me, then?”
Erik groaned miserably, “I really shouldn’t answer that question.”
“Why not?” she asked loudly, her mouth very close to his face.
Erik was practically dragging her by this point. “Rose would kill me,” he sighed. When Audrey scoffed at that, he added, “She’s scarier than you think.”
“Rose is the least scary person on the planet,” Audrey laughed.
Erik lifted his eyebrows. “Yeah, let’s just agree to disagree about that.”
Audrey squeezed his bicep. “You’re pretty muscular for a skinny guy.”
Erik snorted. “You should see me without a shirt on,” he bragged.
“I agree,” Audrey said easily. “I should.”
Erik grinned at her. “You’re so much more fun than Rose is.”
“Yes, I am,” she said, nodding…a little too dramatically. “I’m so fun.”
When they reached the top of the stairs, Audrey began to search through her pockets. Erik watched her with a frown as she searched her purse as well.
“Oh, no,” Audrey groaned miserably. “I think I lost my keys.”
“Er…do you want to go back and look for them?” Erik asked, frowning.
“No, no, no,” she sighed. “I’m too tired. Let’s just bash in the door.”
Erik raised his eyebrow. “That sounds like a very bad idea.”
“A very drunk idea,” Audrey corrected, smiling crookedly at him.
He sighed and placed his hand on the doorknob. He turned the locked doorknob, the lock clicking loudly as it broke under the force of his hand. He held the open door for her, smiling warily at her shocked expression. “It’s open.”
Audrey glanced back and forth between him and the broken doorknob. “I’m so drunk,” she muttered, swaying unsteadily, as she started to walk inside.
“Before I leave,” Erik said, stepping toward her, his eyes darkening.
Audrey gasped as Erik shoved her against the doorframe, his hands sliding down to her hips and his long, lean body pressing hard against hers. She stared up at him, moaning as he slid his hand beneath her sweater, caressing her thin hips with his thumbs. He moved his face closer to hers, as if he were going to kiss her. She blinked up at him, shocked by his sudden change in attitude.
“Rain check?” he asked, his lips brushing hers.
“Really?” she asked breathlessly, her eyes wide with shock.
Then, suddenly, Erik kissed her. His lips pressed harshly against hers, causing her head to fall back against the door as she lifted her mouth to meet his. His tongue slid into her mouth, caressing her tongue and coaxing another moan from her lips. He pushed his hips against hers, causing her to gasp as he pressed the bulge of his groin against her. Audrey felt his lips curve into a smirk as he kissed her. And then, finally, he pulled back and looked at her, his green eyes sparkling with amusement as he watched her pant for air. “Really,” he said.
Audrey watched as he stepped back, releasing her, and flashed her one last charming smile. Then, he spun around and began to descend the metal stairs, taking two or three steps at a time. For a few moments, her mind felt too sluggish and sleepy to react. Then, finally, as she watched him climb into his shiny, red car, she managed to mutter, “Holy freaking magnolias. That guy is good.”
The Woman from the Dreams
Cold, shapeless darkness surrounded Rose. It had no beginning or end, no sense of direction. It felt like a deep, bottomless hole, like a vacuum that sucked out all light and happiness, leaving only this terrible, hopeless abyss. With a nauseating sense of dread twisting at her stomach, Rose remembered this place. She’d come here before, but only in dreams. No, not dreams. Nightmares.
As if her body had a mind of its own, Rose felt her feet move forward, slowly, sluggishly, one foot in front of the other. Although there was no floor in sight, she walked forward as if there were one, and somehow, she didn’t fall. She held her breath in dreadful anticipation, knowing that each step brought her closer to something horrific. She froze as the tips of her toes hit something solid.
“No,” she whispered hopelessly. “Not this again.”
She wanted to turn around and run the other way, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t in control in this dark abyss. Something else was in control. Somet
hing dark and evil. Something that wanted her to suffer. As slowly as possible, she looked down at the cold, solid object that brushed against her bare foot.
A strangled cry of pain escaped her lips as the corpse suddenly became visible in the darkness. Blood covered his body, seeping from a gaping hole in the middle of his chest, a cavernous hole, filled with blood, where his heart should’ve been. His dark eyes were open and glassy. Dead. His skin looked pale and grayish. His short, brown hair looked wiry and dead. It was Theron.
And as that realization washed over her, her clean, dry jeans and T-shirt changed right before her eyes, shredding and tearing, soaking with blood in an instant, even though nothing had touched her. Blood dripped from her hair, the warm, sticky liquid sliding down her face, dripping onto the nonexistent floor.
The scent of blood and charred flesh suddenly filled her senses, and she reluctantly looked up to find not one but fifty or so corpses lying in front of her, burnt and unrecognizable, the black smoke still rising from the charred bodies.
Rose fell to her knees, weeping in despair. “Please. Get me out of here,” she whispered, her body shaking with sobs. “I need to wake up. Please. Please.”
“Wow,” a woman said. “You’re even more messed up than I am.”
Rose froze in shock. This wasn’t part of the nightmare. No one had ever been here with her before. No living person anyway. Only the people she’d killed.
“Aren’t you going to turn around?” the woman whispered in Rose’s ear. Her breath warmed Rose’s ear, raising chills on her skin. “Or are you too afraid?”
Rose didn’t recognize the woman’s voice. It sounded soft and feminine, breathy and seductive. Rose didn’t even recognize the woman’s accent. It lilted like a European accent, but it sounded totally unlike any European accent Rose had ever heard. The way the woman spoke—it vaguely reminded Rose of medieval, Arthurian legends—melodic and articulate, like soft, classical music.
Rose raised herself to her feet, feeling absolutely nothing beneath her bare feet and yet, still not falling somehow. Terrified to find out what new horror this nightmare had conjured up for her, Rose reluctantly turned toward the woman’s voice. She gasped as she found herself face-to-face with the woman.
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