They ended up dancing, adding their bodies to the surging crowd that filled the mosh pit. At one point, Sonja was amazed to find herself laughing, genuinely laughing, one arm wrapped about Judd’s waist. And then Judd leaned in and kissed her.
She barely had time to retract her fangs before his tongue found hers. She slid her other arm around his waist and pulled him into her, grinding herself against him. He responded eagerly, his erection rubbing against her hip like a friendly tomcat. And then she found herself wondering how his blood would taste.
She pushed him away so hard he staggered back a couple of steps, almost falling on his ass. She shook her head as if trying to dislodge something in her ear, a guttural moan rising from her chest.
There was a confused, hurt look on his face. “Sonja? Is something wrong?”
She could see his blood beckoning her beneath the surface of his skin: the veins traced in blue, the arteries pulsing purple. She turned her back on him and ran for the door, her head lowered, sending a knot of dancers flying like bowling pins. Some of them hurled insults in her direction, a couple even spat at her, but she was deaf to their anger.
She made sure to put a couple of blocks between her and the bar before she stopped to catch her breath. She slumped into a darkened doorway, staring at her shaking hands as if they belonged to someone else.
“I liked him. I honestly liked him and I was going to... going to...” She couldn’t finish the thought.
Like. Hate. What’s the difference? Blood is the life, wherever it comes from.
“Not like that. I never feed off anyone who doesn’t deserve it. Never.”
Aren’t we special?
“Shut up, bitch.”
“Sonja?”
She had him pinned to the wall, one forearm clamped against his windpipe before she realized it was Judd.
“I’m...sorry...” he gasped out, his eyes bugging from their sockets.
She stepped back, allowing him to drop. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry. More than you realize.”
Judd regarded her apprehensively as he massaged his throat, but there was still no fear in his eyes. “Look, I don’t know what it is I said or did back there that put you off...”
“The problem isn’t with you, Judd. Believe me.”
She turned and began walking away, but he hurried after her.
“I know an all-night coffeehouse near here,” he suggested. “Maybe we could go and talk things over there—?”
“Judd, just leave me alone, okay? You’d be a lot better off if you just forgot you ever met me.”
“How could I forget someone like you?” He was keeping pace alongside her, desperately trying to make eye contact. “C’mon Sonja! Give it a chance! I—damn it, would you just look at me?”
She stopped in mid-step to face him, her expression unreadable behind her mirrored sunglasses. “That’s the last thing you want me to do.”
Judd sighed and fished a pen and a piece of paper out of his pocket. “You’re one weird chick, that’s for sure! But I like you, don’t ask me why.” He scribbled something on the scrap of paper and shoved it into her hand. “Look, here’s my cell number and email address. Call me, okay?”
She closed her fist around the paper. “Judd—”
“No strings attached, I promise. Just call me.”
Sonja was surprised to find herself smiling. “Okay. I’ll call you. Now will you leave me alone?”
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About the Author
Nancy A. Collins has authored over twenty novels and novellas and numerous short stories, and worked on several comic books, including a two-year run on Swamp Thing. She is a recipient of the HWA’s Bram Stoker Award and the British Fantasy Society Award, and has been nominated for the Eisner, John Campbell Memorial, and World Fantasy International Horror Guild Awards. Best known for her groundbreaking vampire series Sonja Blue, which heralded the rise of the popular urban fantasy genre, Collins is the author of the bestselling Sunglasses After Dark, the Southern Gothic collection Knuckles and Tales, and the Vamps series for young adults. Her most recent novel is Left Hand Magic, the second installment in the critically acclaimed Golgotham urban fantasy series. She currently resides in Norfolk, Virginia, with a Boston terrier.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © by Nancy A. Collins
ISBN 978-1-4976-6172-1
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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In the Blood (Sonja Blue) Page 25
