by C. J. Pinard
She began unbuttoning his shirt as he slipped his hand over her smooth shoulder and slid the straps of her silky camisole down. He eased the other side down, and it, too, pooled at her feet. As she stepped out of it, he broke the kiss and led her to the bed by the hand. He looked at her bared body, wearing nothing but a pretty white lace bra and panties, then sat her down.
“I suppose we should have talked about this before we got married, but is it safe to assume you are not a virgin?”
A little insulted by the question, but then remembering how eagerly she had practically torn his clothes off with well-rehearsed moves, she smiled, then looked down in mock demure. “No, David, I am not.” She lifted her eyes to his. “Is that okay?”
He smiled. “Yes. I love you and it doesn’t matter. Today is the first day of our new life. We are both new to each other and neither of us will ever be with another, so the clean slate starts now. Deal?”
“Deal,” she said, fighting back tears.
What had she done to deserve such a perfect man?
Her thoughts were disrupted by him kissing her again. This time, his mouth got a bit more aggressive, as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, and this only excited her more. She reciprocated and he moaned his pleasure.
He fumbled with the back strap of her bra and freed her, reaching his hands up to caress her. This caused an involuntary groan, which turned him on further. She had released the last of the buttons of his shirt as she freed him from it by tossing it onto the floor. She started at his belt buckle as his hands continued to wander.
“Oh, Kathryn, don’t stop,” he said into her mouth.
“I was just about to say the same to you,” she said, smiling against his words.
He stood up briefly and lowered his pants, kicking off shoes and peeling off socks so the pants could be freed. She smiled at his obvious arousal. He pushed her back on the bed and kissed her some more, running his hands over every available inch of her body, plundering her mouth greedily.
Kathryn gripped David’s arms with her red-lacquered nails, digging slightly into his soft flesh. He began to fumble with her panties and slid them off her as she lifted her tush off the bed to assist him. He propped himself up on his knees and slid them off, taking in the sight of her bare body.
“You are a vision,” he said, raking over her body with his wanting eyes.
She reached both arms up to him, missing his warmth and touch. “Make a woman out of me,” she breathed.
It was practically his undoing. Positioning himself on top, he joined them as one and as he moved, a small tear slipped out of Kathryn’s eye and soaked into the pillow under her head.
She had found her Prince Charming. She was loved. She was home.
∞∞∞
Portland, Oregon – Present Day
“Who the hell is that?” Brandon cried as Angel lumbered into the house carrying Darius.
She glared at him and said, “Just help me, will you? Take him upstairs and lay him on my bed and I will explain everything.”
Brandon let out a huff but complied. He spied the dried blood on the inside of Darius’s wrist. “Did you kill this human by draining him?”
“No, I did not. Please, Brandon, please. Just go put him upstairs on my bed and lock him in the room. Then come back down.”
He nodded, carrying Darius upstairs with ease.
She watched him ascend the stairs, then looked back into the living room. Bryan and three others were all on the sofa watching her curiously. A reality singing competition was blaring from the flat screen. She looked at it, then back at them. “What?”
Bryan laughed. He stood up, his Black Sabbath T-shirt riding up his pale torso, revealing his hipbones peeking out from low-riding jeans. He was barefoot and his messy brown hair was sticking up. She thought he looked kinda hot until she remembered he was a snitch and a traitor.
“You drag an old dude in here and don’t expect us to wonder what’s going on?” he said.
Brandon came down the stairs. His blue nylon athletic pants had a yellow stripe up the side and he was wearing a Portland Trailblazers T-shirt. He folded his arms while giving her a once-over. “Start talking, girl.”
She blew out a breath and told him to sit. She sat in a red leather La-Z-Boy chair and rocked it slightly. “That is Darius.” She paused for effect, then realized these damned kids probably didn’t know who Darius was.
At their confused looks, she rolled her eyes and continued. She aimed the question at Bryan. “Did Joshua ever tell you who sired him?”
Bryan thought for a minute. “Yeah I think so. A black dude. Oh, my God! Is that him?” he asked, pointing at the ceiling.
She nodded. “Yes. Pascal stole some Enchantment from the sylph and made him drink it at the Vortex. That,” she said, also pointing at the ceiling, “was the result.”
Brandon shook his head, and picked up a beer bottle, pausing it at his lips. “I don’t understand, he became human and you, what, found him and brought him here? For what reason?”
“Leadership. I hate to break it to you, but Darius is now going to be running the house and the clan. You all are far too young, I am not up to it, and Mike has no interest. Besides, I owe it to Darius. What Pascal did to him was not right. He didn’t deserve that.”
“But, he’s a human…” Bryan started.
A lopsided grin found her full lips. “Not for long. About three days, give or take, and he’ll be a vampire again. Oh, and I was sure to turn him inside the Oregon Vortex in case you decide to tie him to the tether pole at high noon.”
Vania, the only other female in the room, spoke up. Her jet black hair was in two low ponytails and she wore black lipstick. “Does that even work? Turning him back into a vamp after he’s been… humanized?”
They were all glued to Angel for a response.
She just shrugged. “We’ll see.”
They heard the front door open and Mike came trudging in, a gym bag in his hand. They all stared at him. “What?” he asked, annoyed.
Angel looked at the group, then at Mike. “Go upstairs and look what’s on my bed, then come back down so we can talk.”
He looked at her curiously, then shook his head. “Ooo-kay…”
Vania let out a giggle but Mike only glowered at her. He had definitely not forgiven her for the jab to the neck with the needle from a few months ago.
They watched Mike tromp up the stairs and Brandon said to Angel, “Why didn’t you consult me on this?”
She looked at him incredulously. “You’re not serious. Nobody put you in charge. You put yourself in charge.”
“I know. But we could have at least talked about this.”
She forced a smile at him. “Not here, Brandon. Just accept this, okay? You have forever… you can go start your own clan somewhere in about fifty years when you have some more experience under your belt.”
Mike rushed down the stairs and looked at Angel. His blue eyes were wide. “Is that who I think it is?”
She grinned. “Yup.”
“Is he in transition?” he asked, excited.
“Yup!”
Mike smiled a huge, genuine smile. “Angel, ya done good.”
He didn’t need to be told what this meant. He knew Darius was now in charge. He was the oldest. It was the code.
Chapter 9
∞∞∞
Los Angeles – 1919
A week of sightseeing and nonstop lovemaking caused Kathryn and David to seemingly glow as they walked around Phoenix, hand in hand. They would stop to kiss at random places. Passersby would look at them in shock at their public displays of affection, but neither one cared in the least.
After dinner at a small Mexican diner, they walked back to their posh hotel, and once in the room, David poured them each a glass of champagne.
“What’s this for?” Kathryn asked, taking the glass.
“Do I need an occasion to drink champagne with my beautiful wife?”
She shook her head and
laughed. “No, I suppose not. Why are you so good to me?” She swirled the bubbly in her glass then took a swig.
He set his glass down. “Because there’s something I need to tell you.” His face was serious and this alarmed her.
“Uh, what is it? You been in prison or something? You a wanted criminal? You have a terminal illness? What?” she joked.
He laughed a little. “Well if you think that lowly of me, then perhaps what I tell you will actually make you a little happy – or relieved.”
She looked at him apprehensively. “What is it, David? You’re scaring me.”
He closed the gap between them and took her hands. They were sitting on the red satin comforter of the freshly made bed. Her eyes swam in concern as she flicked them back and forth between his brown ones.
“Kathryn, this is going to sound strange, even unbelievable, but I need you to listen to what I tell you and not interrupt me until I am finished. Deal?”
She slowly nodded and swallowed hard, now terrified. I knew he was too good to be true, she thought, preparing herself for the worst. By his expression, she knew it was serious, and that terrified her. All her clients used to bare all their deep, dark secrets to her. As if, by chance, confessing their sins and problems to the local whore would somehow remove or absolve them of their iniquities.
“Kathryn. I’m immortal.”
She laughed. “Wha –”
“Let me finish. My boss, Andrew, and my colleague, William – while it’s true we are stockbrokers, we also have another job. We monitor the activity of the local vampire and shapeshifter population of the Greater Los Angeles area.”
“You can’t be serious,” she said, suppressing a laugh.
This was it, the other shoe had dropped. This is why he seemed so perfect. He was mentally ill. Certifiable. Insane.
Dammit, she thought.
“Look, I know you think I’m crazy, but I can prove it to you.”
She folded her arms. “How? I assume I won’t have to wait ten years to see if you start aging or not, if you are supposedly immortal?” She forced back a snicker.
He stood up off the bed and grabbed a hardback Gideon Bible from the drawer of the nightstand. Gripping it in both hands, he easily ripped it in half and set the pieces on the bed.
She was quiet for a minute, then determined it was a trick. “I’m pretty sure you can go to Hell for that,” she said.
When that did not illicit the response he was hoping, he lifted the entire bed up with one hand – with her on it – and then set it back down with control and ease. The headboard was solid oak and had to weigh several hundred pounds, combined with the columned footboard.
She gasped at being lifted in the air and didn’t breathe again until he set the bed back down.
“Oh, David, what is going on here? You say you’re Immortal – but are you the Strongest Man in the World, too? I saw one at a circus once, he was pretty strong but not that strong…” she rambled.
He sat back down. “Each Immortal is granted a gift with their immortality. Mine is superhuman strength. Will? His is what we call flashing. Ever seen him move really quick?”
Kathryn thought about how quickly he’d lit her cigarette the day they met. “Actually, yeah. He lit my smoke pretty quickly one time.”
“Andrew, my boss, he can read minds. It’s very convenient.”
She immediately stiffened at that one. God, how she’d hoped he hadn’t heard anything about her real past. Had she thought about it in his presence?
With an amused grin, David said, “Don’t worry, he doesn’t delve into people’s brains without their permission, or unless we’re interrogating a suspect. He says other people’s thoughts are annoying.”
She let out a laugh, feeling like she was going crazy. “Okay, let’s say I believe in this immortal stuff. What did you say about vampires? And what-shifters?”
“Shapeshifters. They can turn from human to animal.”
“What, like a werewolf?” she asked, remembering one of her clients, Skip, who had a serious comic book fetish and would spend the most of his hour talking about mythological creatures and showing her comic books. Man, how she hated that guy.
He grinned. “Yes, kinda like that.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “And the vampires? You talking about ones like Dracula? I read that book on a train once. Very weird.”
“They’re not a myth, Kat. They are real.” He paused, measuring his words carefully. “Remember our first picnic and those guys on the beach?”
“Yes,” she answered slowly.
“Those were vampires. Well, at least the guy who got close to you was. Didn’t you notice how quickly he came up to us? Vampires can move very quickly, and are very strong, but they only come out at night. The sun will kill them. And the worst part is, they need human blood to survive. They consume nothing else. Not even food.”
“And that… vampire… on the beach, he was trying to kill me?”
The floodgate to her memories came crashing open as she now looked back on that day with a more open mind. The guy had reached her very fast. David had been unusually strong when throwing him as far as he did. The other two around the bonfire did seem to disappear into thin air, and then she wondered if they could turn into a mist, like Count Dracula had in the book. She remembered cutting her foot on the rock.
“My blood,” she murmured, staring absently at the cream blanket on the chaise lounge.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I cut my foot on the rock. Maybe he smelled it? Can they smell that far?”
He smiled a huge, genuine smile. “Yes, my love. That’s exactly what happened. I don’t think they were gonna hurt us until you cut yourself. The smell drove him crazy. Why do you think I drove so fast out of there? I wasn’t afraid for myself. I wanted to get you out of there.”
“And that’s why you said he wasn’t dead.” She looked up at him. “He didn’t die when you shot him and broke his neck?”
He shook his head. “No. If he had truly died, he would have turned into dust at his true death. But he did not, and I did not want to kill him and have you see that, so I just incapacitated him for a while. Trust me, he was hurtin’ when he woke up later.” He looked up and put his hand to his mouth. “Hmm, I sure hope his vampire buddies came and got him before the sun came up.” He laughed.
“What does this have to do with me? Why are you even telling me?”
He looked at her in disbelief. “Why do you think?”
She cocked her head to the side. “Because you’ll be working long, strange hours? Because you’re tired of hiding your super strength from me? What?”
“Because, Kat, I’m going to petition the Zie Council to make you an Immortal, too.”
∞∞∞
Portland, Oregon – Present Day
A line of mostly men trailed across the sidewalk in front of The Pole Cat. A red velvet rope cordoned them off, and a large bouncer with biceps the size of cantaloupes stood with his arms at his side. He wore a lime-green T-shirt with a huge black panther on the front, and “The Pole Cat” scrawled across the back. He was watching the crowd.
The squat building had a flat roof, but perched high on the top was a green and white neon panther with her legs wrapped around a pole. She had giant breasts and the sign was flashing on and off like a beacon, calling all the sleaze out from under their rocks.
The moon was full, and drifted playfully in and out of thick, white clouds that were quickly turning into what would promise to be a very rainy day tomorrow.
Jonathan, Tyler, and Jason Swift, all dressed in their club best and all smelling very manly, approached the bouncer.
Thomas was at home, refusing to leave Malina’s side. It had been a week since she announced that Seth and Malachi would be released, and had remained to herself, for the most part.
“I would like to speak to the owner,” Jonathan said to the man in the green shirt.
The bouncer, whose nametag proclai
med him to be “Dawg”, snorted, “Yeah, and I want to win the lotto. Get the hell outta here.” He jerked his thumb towards the street, then walked over to the red velvet rope and released its brass hook, letting five customers inside.
Jonathan took a deep breath, but kept his cool. “Could you at least tell me who the owner is?”
Dawg again looked him up and down. “Who wants to know?”
“Look, man, I don’t have time for this. Just tell me who the owner is or I might have to embarrass you in front of all these paying customers, is that what you want?”
Dawg threw back his bald head and laughed. “Seriously? Now you’re threatening me? Maybe I should call Portland P.D. down here, have you arrested for trespassing.” He pulled a cellphone from his pocket but just held it. “Now get in line like everyone else, and if I’m in the mood, I’ll let you in when it comes your turn.”
Jonathan stared him down, then nodded and went to where Tyler and Jason were standing. “I could take him out but that would obviously cause a scene. As much as I hate to do this, we should probably get in line.”
Jason raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? And if he doesn’t let us in?”
Jonathan smiled. “Then I will make a scene.”
Tyler shook his head and grinned, walking to the end of the line.
Thankfully the line moved quickly, and fifteen minutes later, they were the first three at the front. Dawg eyed them up and down. They all stood still and smiled like choirboys, and eventually with a huff, the bouncer opened the rope and let them through.
Entering through the front door, they encountered a ticket booth. An older, thin man with a cigarette clamped between his teeth said, “It’s twenty bucks apiece, boys.”
The men each pulled out a twenty dollar bill out and slid them under the glass partition. A younger man, overweight but tall and wearing the lime-green Pole Cat shirt, stood next to the booth and stamped their hands with a fluorescent stamp, only visible under black light.
