Awaken (Vampire Nights Book 1)

by Sharon Stevenson

  Table of Contents

  AWAKEN

  A Vampire Nights Novella

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Author’s Note

  AWAKEN

  A Vampire Nights Novella

  Sharon Stevenson

  Sharon Stevenson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  Copyright © Sharon Stevenson 2017

  All rights reserved. Thank you for buying an authorized edition and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning or distributing any part of it in any form without permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction and includes the creation of fictional towns. Any resemblance to real persons or places is purely coincidental.

  Awaken is set in the world of The Gallows Novels but it is a romantic paranormal suspense featuring new characters so it can be read as a standalone story.

  Chapter One

  Waking up on the cold hard floor wasn’t an entirely new experience for Skye. She remembered being in Haven the night before, being plied with their famously delicious Mud Slides by a very hot, very interested guy. She remembered dancing and she remembered the heat of his hard body as he scooped her into his big, muscular arms. The kiss, she couldn’t seem to recall. He’d stared down at her for what seemed like forever, and then... She groaned and pushed herself up. The bathroom floor felt weirdly slick under her hands. Had she thrown up? She grimaced at the thought of that, she wasn’t together enough to even think about cleaning up right now. Her head was swimming. She’d definitely gone past her limit the night before. When she took a good look around she knew something was really off. Her vision was totally messed up. There was no way she was seeing what she thought she was.

  Sitting up, she closed her eyes tightly and rubbed every trace of sleep out of them, along with the last of the mascara she apparently hadn’t bothered to take off the night before. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes again. Nope, something still wasn’t right. She got to her feet and walked to the bars in front of her. They were cold in her hands. She shivered, rubbing at her bare arms. The top and skirt she was wearing were perfect for a night out, not so much for whatever freezing layer of hell this was.

  She touched her wet hair and realised she felt slightly damp all over. She glanced at her arms. The wet patches on her skin appeared to be water. As relieved as she was that she hadn’t puked her guts up, she was too stunned to properly appreciate the small mercy. Her gaze whipped around the cell. The tiled floor under her feet was wet, just enough to give her shivers now that she noticed it, with a big drain in the corner. When she glanced upward she saw there was what looked like a showerhead embedded in the ceiling.

  She groaned. “What the hell is this?”

  When she turned to her left she could see a row of cells just like the one she was in, each of them with people in them, most of them inert; sleeping, she wagered. She pulled at the bars, unable to find a way to open her cage, and unwilling to believe that any of what she was seeing was real.

  “Don’t do that,” a girl in the cage next to hers said quietly. “The guards don’t like it. Some of them will use any excuse to hurt you.”

  Skye’s eyes flitted to the guy across the room, sleeping in a chair with his feet up on a desk. A ring of keys dangled from his belt. She looked at the girl.

  She was leaning against the back wall of the cell, long, dark hair mostly covering her face as she slowly turned her left wrist about, right fingers tracing her skin.

  “How long have you been here?” Skye flinched as the girl scraped a sharp fingernail down her wrist.

  The girl shrugged, her dark eyes trained on the bead of blood that swelled where she’d split her skin. “A few weeks, months, who knows? They don’t feed us regularly so it’s hard to tell. I got one of the good ones. He agreed to make me his shade so they can’t let one of the others drain me.” She sighed softly. “I’m his.” She bent her head and licked the blood from her arm slowly.

  Skye shook off the disturbing image, zeroing her attention in on what the crazy girl was saying instead. “What are you even talking about?”

  “Vampires,” she whispered. “Don’t tell me you live in White Oaks and you don’t know about them. Don’t make me laugh.”

  Skye stared at her. She’d gone stark-raving mad, obviously. Though, those little bloody holes in her neck did look kind of like a vampire bite. “So, what’s a shade then?”

  “I’m like...his property. I know it sounds bad, but it’s awesome really. I get to leave when he does. With him.” She spoke in hushed tones, her gaze flitting to the guard and back again. “It means I won’t die in here. Like some of the others.”

  Skye was shocked into silence. The thought of dying in this cell made her chest tighten. She was only twenty-three, she’d barely lived, and now she might die? She swallowed. It couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t let it. She’d do anything.

  The crazy girl had started to chew on her nails.

  Skye rested her head against the bars between them.

  “Hey,” she whispered.

  The girl looked up.

  “How do I get one of the good ones?”

  “You just have to hope,” the girl said, with a shrug of her shoulders. “You won’t know who they’re taking you to until it happens.”

  Great, Skye thought, my life is in the hands of fate.

  Chapter Two

  The face staring back at him in the mirror was that of a monster. Theo turned his head this way and that, but the image never changed, never showed him who he used to be. Squinting his glowing amber eyes didn’t help. He sighed as he looked away. It didn’t matter. He’d never be the man he was before. Inside and out, he’d been changed.

  “For better or worse,” he mumbled, ignoring the hunger pangs that made his stomach spasm.

  No-one had ever told him how long he could last without blood. Three days was longest he’d gone before in five long years as a vampire. He was close to the edge now, he could tell. One more day would make it a week. The pain in his gut had been getting sharper, more frequent. His undead body couldn’t possibly hold up for another day without blood. Could it?

  He groaned as he moved back into his bedroom. It resembled a luxury hotel suite without windows, but was in fact a room within White Oaks one and only vampire brothel.

  He lay on the bed and waited. Losing track of time was never a good idea when it was your job to service clients, but he’d already called Stacy and told the girl to cross out his week. He was entitled to the time off. Being there voluntarily had its perks.

  The agony of unslaked thirst made his body shudder. He closed his eyes. It wasn’t going to be long n
ow, surely…

  A quick-fire knock made him sit back up, slowly. He controlled the shudder, leaning against the headboard as the door opened. His mouth opened to immediately complain to whoever was entering that he’d taken the week off, that he was entitled to be left alone. When the brothel’s manager walked in, he held his tongue. Brody was the one who’d found him. He was the reason Theo had made it through his first months as a vampire. He was the reason there was no demon for Theo to fight against daily inside his own skin. If he owed anyone anything, this guy was top of that list.

  “Theo,” Brody started, squinting and stumbling over his own feet as he entered the room.

  The lights were out. Theo’s enhanced vision had adjusted to it. He reached for the lamp and found the switch. His fingers trembled as he flipped it.

  Brody blinked slowly. His expression flickered from neutral to suspicious and back again. He sighed. “What are you doing? We all thought you signed out for the week.”

  Guilt kicked in as Theo considered his reply. Lying to Brody felt wrong, but he couldn’t let the truth spill out. He was too close to achieving oblivion. A cry for help now would ruin everything.

  “I came back today,” he said, hoping his voice wasn’t as shaky as he felt. “But I’m off until tomorrow.”

  Brody frowned at him. “You don’t look well.”

  “I’m fine.” He couldn’t look the guy in the face as he said it. He’d never been a good liar, and apparently dying hadn’t changed that.

  “You don’t look fine.”

  He shrugged, fighting off a wince as his stomach clenched. This had to be it. He had to be close.

  “I don’t think you left this room all week,” Brody said, his arms folding. “And that means you haven’t fed in all that time. Mind telling me what’s going on?”

  He let the wince show this time. Clearly Brody had come here knowing the truth already. He tried to pull together an explanation, but he didn’t have one that wouldn’t sound weak and pathetic. “Maybe you should never have let me put my demon to sleep.”

  “Or maybe you should have told me something was up.” Brody sounded pissed. “Since you didn’t, and you won’t, I don’t think I have any other option.”

  Theo started to stand up, wondering if he’d even make it out of the brothel before he died of starvation. Was it daylight outside? The quick death sunlight would give him was probably something he should have thought of before now. It was so much more sensible that slowly wasting away.

  Brody turned and left without another word, leaving Theo wondering what the hell he’d been talking about as he collapsed back onto the bed. Sleep wasn’t something vampires usually needed, but his weakened state let it claim him and he submitted to it without complaint, praying silently that this was the end.

  Chapter Three

  Skye wandered the cell, folding her arms as she considered every detail of her prison. There wasn’t much to see, truth be told, but she had to keep her attention off of her impending doom. Death by vampire. Definitely not the end she’d expected for her life. Accidental death, maybe, death by misadventure.

  “Does this even fall under misadventure?” She muttered to herself as she paced.

  Her feet were getting used to the cold, damp floor. But her hangover was starting to crave the high fat breakfast foods she usually fed it. If she didn’t eat soon, her stomach might revolt and decide to empty its contents all over the floor. She rubbed at her stomach, trying to tell herself not to think about it. The longer she could ignore the hunger, the better for her general well being. She did not need to be trapped in this prison with the smell of vomit lingering in the air. She dry heaved just thinking about it.

  The sound of footsteps in the dimly lit room swiped her attention. She moved to the bars and peered out until the shape of a muscular man came into her sight. The closer he got, the more she recognized him. Her mouth dropped open.

  “It’s you!” Her grip tightened on the bars as he got closer.

  He smirked slightly as he jangled the keys in his hand. “You remember?”

  “I remember you were coming on to me last night,” she said, wanting him to come closer so she could slap him. “But I’m guessing you had ulterior motives.”

  He laughed as he reached out and unlocked her cell.

  Her heart pounded as a plan rushed to form in her head. She’d gouge out his eyes and run as fast as she damn well could to get the hell out of there. She withdrew her grasp from the cell door and ran her nails across her palms. They were sharp enough to do some real damage.

  “You’re going to follow me and do exactly what I say.” He opened the door.

  She attempted to lunge at him and he stepped back.

  “You’re not going to attack me.”

  She made a second attempt and gasped as she found herself entirely unable to move. What the hell? She wanted to lash out, but it was as if she was paralyzed, suddenly and completely. Fear shuddered over her, making her quiver.

  “That’s better.” He snatched her by the hand and pulled her close. Closing the cell door, he locked it and shoved the key into his pocket.

  The usual warm, fuzzy feelings of being so close to a good-looking man rushed through her before she managed to remind herself this guy was a complete asshole, a criminal and something else she couldn’t even name. He’d stopped her from attacking him somehow. He held some kind of power over her that she didn’t comprehend. Was he a vampire?

  She grabbed her hand out of his grasp. “What the fuck is going on?”

  He smiled. “Oh, yeah. He’s going to love you.”

  She frowned at him. “I can’t believe I thought you were hot.”

  Hindsight was all well and good. Had he really been attractive enough to wind up in this kind of mess over? Was any guy that hot? He turned around.

  “Follow me.”

  She moved after him, his gaze drifting. Oh, he’d been worth it. Or he would have been if they’d gotten anywhere before this turned into a nightmare. She couldn’t deny how good looking he was. If she’d gotten warnings about him, she’d have brushed them off. He was exactly her type. It wasn’t her fault he’d turned out to be some kind of freak.

  “Who the hell is this ‘he’ you mentioned?”

  “You’ll find out.”

  Shit. She couldn’t seem to make herself run away. He’d asked her to follow him and she couldn’t stop herself. “What are you?”

  He stopped at a closed door and turned to her. “Just call me cupid.”

  She snorted and her stomach grumbled. “Don’t I get any last requests?”

  He pushed the door open and she gazed inside. The lighting was dim but it looked like a nice hotel room. “Go in.”

  Her feet moved at his order. He closed the door when she was inside the room. She heard it lock and her panic flared. Running to the door, she fumbled with the handle. It turned but she couldn’t pull it. It was locked. She was trapped.

  Turning as her heart rate accelerated, she scanned the room and gasped at the figure on the bed. He was pale and muscular. Exactly how she would picture a vampire, though probably wearing less clothes. His face was planted in the pillow, jet black hair contrasting starkly against his skin. She watched him closely, but he wasn’t moving.

  Holding her breath, she approached the bed. Her hand reached out to touch his back. It was icy cold. She shivered as she moved back, folding her arms. Her gaze refused to leave the half-naked mystery man on the bed. He was something she’d only just found out existed, something she wanted to know more about, but he was also dangerous, someone who could want to hurt her. She knew nothing about him. Forcing her stare away from him, she glanced around the room, looking for an alternate escape route. There had to be a way.

  No windows, she realized, rolling her eyes. Of course. Why would there be? Vampires were hardly the sun-worshipping type.

  She spotted another door and rushed to it, glancing back to the bed only once. He hadn’t moved. She hoped he never woke
up. At least not until she found some kind of weapon.

  The bathroom was nothing unusual. She did a quick check through the medicine cabinet, finding painkillers alongside packets of toothpaste and brushes in their wrappers. A fit of the giggles hit her after she popped a couple of ibuprofen. She supposed vampires needed to brush their teeth as much as the next person, but the thought of it made her laugh a little too loudly. Her hand clamped over her mouth and her gaze drifted to the door. She hadn’t found a weapon yet. Waking the vampire would be a bad idea before she did.

  She rushed to the door, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief as she confirmed he still hadn’t moved. Maybe he’s dead? She slapped her palm against her forehead. Getting drunk really didn’t help with her blonde moments. Of course he’s dead, dummy, he’s a freaking vampire!

  Her gaze drifted across the room. There were no obvious weapons just lying around, not that she really expected there to be. She’d do anything for a nice fireplace poker right about now, but there didn’t seem to be anything like that in the room. Sighing softly, she stepped quickly over to the wardrobe. Her only chance might be finding the right kind of clothes hanger…

  A muffled groan made her stiffen as she opened the door. Glancing back, she reassured herself he was still asleep before she reached in and yanked out a hanger.

  “Damn it!” She looked at the shitty plastic thing in her hand and tossed it to the carpet. The wardrobe was full of the same damned hangers, some of them holding clothes no doubt belonging to the vampire. The suit she found had a fine layer of dust on it. Clearly he didn’t get out much.

  She contained an irritable noise of disgust and headed back into the bathroom. Worst came to worst, she could lock herself in there until she could think of a way to turn one of the spare toothbrushes into a shiv.

  As she closed the door, she realized that plan wasn’t going to work either. There wasn’t a lock. She cursed under her breath, felt her bladder moan at her and decided at least she was in the right room for one thing.