by Vicki Cross
Chapter 1
Shay
We’re many things to each other, among all, we’re friends. Nothing more and nothing less. However, it was becoming clear that Jude Monroe didn’t quiet grasp that concept. Because had he, he wouldn’t be standing at my doorsteps hand resting comfortably on his gun, his sheriff hat tipped just below his brow, and a smile running smoothly across that rough jagged face of his. He was definitely a looker; all the ladies in town fell beneath his feet. Often times, he would get distress calls just so they could gawk at him.
“What is it Jude?” I said as I swung the door open and stepped out onto the porch beside him. The heat from the sun danced across my brown skin, warming me up as it did so. Mississippi heat was nothing to play with. The humidity alone put my normal curly hair into a deep frizz.
His smile widened, and he shifted his weight before responding.
“Well I say, Miss Shay don’t I get a hello? Or how ya been or a cup of coffee?”
I rolled my eyes and smoothed out the edges of skirt before leaning against the banister and looking out into the wooded area before us.
“You of all people should know, I’ve never been much of a people person,” I replied. He chuckled behind me before finding his place against the banister.
“Oh now, I wouldn’t say that.” I caught the scent of him and it sent a shiver down my spine. No other human smelled like him. His blood, the air around him teased my nostrils in a way I wasn’t use to. I had the odd sensation to kiss him. He looked into my eyes before continuing on.
“Anyway, I wanted to let you know some folks in town been asking a lot of questions about you and your family. “
“They’ve been asking questions about me and my family for more than fifty years, Jude”
“That may be so, but Shay try to keep an eye out. It might help if you’d try and act normal once and a while. You know act like you don’t have anything to hide.”
I sighed and folded my arms across my chest. It annoyed me how much the people of Pearl, Mississippi often whispered and made very little contact with my family. They didn’t know of our Vampire linage, but they had suspensions of witchcraft and devil worship. None of which were true, but it didn’t matter much to their small minds. They were content with making us outsiders, and so we kept to ourselves.
They knew very little of the protection we had over this town. We didn’t hunt humans, stayed to small animals and birds. We watched over them, and made sure that no other vampires made them their dinner. But this was something they would never know and would never truly understand.
“My family is protecting those people. If they knew how much they would be on their knees worshipping us.”
Jude nodded in agreement taking off his sheriff hat briefly to run a hand through his dark brown hair, and then placing it back neatly on his head.
Beyond that, normality wasn’t my specialty. I was a curly haired, black girl, living in a small town. Besides my family, there weren’t too many blacks in the town. To top it off, I was the daughter of a vampire prince, but that was something they could not hold against me. Race tensions weren’t too big in Pearl, and it rarely revealed its ugly head.
“You know how us human think, Shay. We are afraid of the unknown. When we have the choice of confronting it or fighting it, we often choose the latter.
“Not all.” I replied and stopping myself before going further. Jude had found out about my family when we were fifteen. Catching me during a hunt one night, and I made him swear to never tell anyone. If not, my father would have him killed, but as the years went by, he had proven himself to be a worthy ally. Whenever someone got too close to finding out who we were, he would often misdirect them. There was certainly an upside to having the Sheriff on your side.
“No, not all” he agreed.
He paused, and leaned in closer. “Come out with me tonight. We’ll go to a movie, and I’ll cook you something real nice.”
“I can’t,” I smile and I wished I hadn’t because he knew his charm was starting to have an effect on me. If I was being honest with myself, there was something about Jude Monroe that made my mind turn to mush. It was unnerving that any man or human would have that effect on me. But it was important that I kept him at arm’s length. His safety meant everything to me. His friendship meant even more.
“C’mon now Shay, we’re friends aren’t we?”
I let out a small laugh, “That’s funny I hadn’t considered us friends since I was in 9th grade and you were that big Senior Jock on campus who hadn’t had anytime, for me.” I teased. I made a mission to never let him live that one down. I still didn’t know the reason for his absence that night.
“Ah, I see you hadn’t let that go.
“I believed a certain somebody promised to take me out to the spring dance, but was a no show.”
“Shay-,” he began but stopped short hearing the sound of a car rolling up in the distance.
“Expecting company?” he questioned. He gathered himself in a more protective stance motioning me behind him.
“Not really.” I answered.
A black Cadillac stopped in the drive way, with a bejeweled hand hanging out of the driver’s side window. It took only a few seconds for me to register that that arm belongs to my overly fashioned Aunt Sheila.
“Don’t see too many of those around here,” he said under his breath.
“Well you know Aunt Sheila, she’s a very fashionable woman.” He let out a low grunt in agreement.
“My, oh my is it hot in here or what!?” she exclaims as she exits the car. Aunt Sheila’s black hair was neatly pinned up in a bun. She wore a long elegant purple dress that hugged her body in ways that I would even be afraid to pull off. My Aunt was certainly a woman with the southern flair and a city girl attitude.
I swing my arms around her once she made it to the porch and she planted a kiss, on my cheek. I could feel the imprint of her lipstick as she pulled away.
“Look at how my little Shay has grown,” she replies putting me at arm’s length. “Beautiful as always,” she adds. She turns to Jude with her big brown eyes and smiles.
“Ma’am,” he replies tilting his hat at the front to greet her.
“Well, I’ll be. What a fine young man you’ve turned into.” She gave him a quick survey before turning her sites back to me.
“You’re early. We didn’t expect you for another week.”
“Yes, I know. Do to some…unforeseen circumstances, I had to take the first flight out to this hot land-dwelling you call Mississippi.” I roll my eyes. Aunt Sheila had never liked Mississippi. She says she was too much of a free spirit for the place.
“Sheriff Monroe, please come in, over.” the radio echoes startling Aunt Sheila who placed her hand to her chest causing the bracelets on her wrist to dangle against each other as she did so. Jude takes a step back and grabs the walkie from his shoulder
“This is Sheriff Monroe. Over.” he responds.
“The Thrulows on Woodmiere has reported a disturbance, over.”
Jude rolls his eyes letting out a loud sigh. “Alright, I’m on my way. Over and out”
Turning towards us he placed the walkie back on his shoulder and said, “Well, I best be going. Y’all ladies be safe.”
“We will,” Aunt Sheila replied playfully all the while sizing him up. He gave her a playful wink before leaning in towards me.
“The next time I’m up here Miss Shay, I’m going to want that cup of coffee.”
He walked away but not before winking at me. A rush of blood filled my checks as I waved him off. We watched him pull off into the day and I couldn’t help but wish him to safe.
When he had gone, Aunt Sheila warps her arms around my waist and placed her head against mine. “I see Jude still has his heart set on you.”
“He doesn’t,” I assure her before picking up her suitcase and heading inside.
“Sure, whatever you say,” she teases as she walks in behind me.
Chapter 2
Shay
Mother greets us as we enter the house. My mother was a very wise woman, a princess in her own right. She held a great range of knowledge. In many ways I resemble my mother. Our brown skins matched perfectly, and her curly hair although pulled back today, reign free often times, like mine. I was every bit my mother’s daughter.
“Sheila, I hadn’t known you were coming so early.” Mother points out, her voice unevenly toned. Something I took note of while I placed the suitcase I had been clenching too tightly on to the floor.
Aunt Sheila fans herself with her hand as she gave the place a quick look around. My father kept our home very simple. Although we held much wealth, you wouldn’t know it from our house. We owned a large property, but nothing reflected wealth. Just a simple family, and its values. A façade among many things. It was for our protection to not draw too much attention to ourselves.
“Still living the simple life I see,” Aunt Sheila breaths. She made room for herself on the couch before sitting down. A look of disgust mirrors her face as she dusts off the dirt that had gathered at the edge of her dress when she made her way up the drive way.
“Blending in,” my mother proclaims as she moves gracefully to the arm chair that faced the couch directly. My mother was a proud woman, which often gave way for heated discussions between the two of them.
Aunt Sheila didn’t quite believe in “blending in”. She wore her wealth and status proudly. Her home was large, her lifestyle matched and she did very little to blend in. Being seen was something Aunt Sheila was good at.
“Well then, where is my beloved brother?” Aunt Sheila questions.
“Father is out of town on business.” I answer as I made my way to the chair next to my mother.
Sheila raised her brow eyeing my mother as she utters something under her breath. “Well,” she began. “As I told Shay, I had to come early. The Langston’s wants an answer.”
“We haven’t talked about it yet.” My mother whispers in a harsh hush tone.
“My goodness Louisa, you haven’t told the girl yet!” Aunt Sheila shouted clearly aiming for my attention.
My mother quickly gives me a worried look. She was hiding something, and it troubled her. My mother rarely kept secrets.
“Told me what?” I questioned turning slightly in my chair to face my mother better whose face was losing its normal composure. She pinched her nose and shot Aunt Sheila a hard look that sent a shiver down my spine.
“Mother?” I shrieked to draw her attention back to me. I would lose my mind if I didn’t get an answer to my question.
“Shay,” she began timidly. “Your Father and I meant to discuss this with you together.” Her cold stare found Aunt Sheila again.
“What’s going on? Discuss what with me?” I push harder this time, my angst growing deeply.
“The Langston’s has asked for a truce. They’re willing to stop the unnecessary human bloodshed. End the fight we have been fighting for the last fifty years.”
I nod listening carefully, unsure what any of it had to do with me. A truce, would certainly make our lives better, and those that were under our protection would be safe. My mind flashes back to Jude. He would be safe from harm but at what cost.
I chew my bottom lip before responding, a nervous habit I had grown to develop. “That’s wonderful, but what does it have to do with me?”
“Everything,” Aunt Sheila replies throwing her hands up as if she had been exhausted by the discussion.
“Enough from you!” Mother demands. Her tone was harsh and threatening, which caused Aunt Sheila to fold her arms across her chest in a silent protest.
My mother stands from her chair and with two short strides closed the distance between us. Kneeling beside me, she took her cold hands inside my own, and I could feel her regret. She was going to say something she didn’t want to say. It was written all over her face. “The Langston’s has agreed on a truce if you should marry their eldest son Sebastian.”
I shake my head in disbelief. I could see the disappointment in my mother’s eyes. “Darling, I am sorry your father and I wanted to tell you earlier.”
“I-I don’t understand.” I shook my hands from my mother’s grip and stood up. “Sebastian is a monster. Father wouldn’t dare-,” I assured myself, although my Mother’s casted eyes told me otherwise.
I knew very little of Sebastian Langston, but the whispers and news that circled our clan weren’t good ones. From what my father’s scouts would report, he was exactly like his father Charles. Cruel, and evil, caring little for human life.
Aunt Sheila made her way towards us, and reached her hand out to me.
“Come now Louisa, don’t treat her with kid gloves. Shay is nearly twenty-five, and a princess who must do her civil duty.”
Mother stood up beside me as I placed my hand in Aunt Sheila’s open one. She coaxed me to the couch and sat me down beside her.
“Listen to me Shay, what we ask you to do was not meant to hurt you. We are trying to stop a war and preventing people we care about from being caught in the middle.” She reveals. Suddenly, I could feel burning in my eyes as tears began to form. Crying wasn’t like me. Although many humans paint vampires as cold unfeeling beings, it was quite the contrary. We felt just as much as they do.
She placed a hand on my back rubbing it in slow circular motions carefully as she continues, “Think of that sweet boy Jude. If things go on the way they’re now, Jude could be killed. He is your friend, and our job is to make sure him, or any other human doesn’t lose their life.
The pure mention of Jude’s name broke whatever barrier I had to hide my tears. She was right, Jude deserved to live. He had given up so much for me and my family. He cleared our hunting paths, made sure we weren’t bothered by pesty neighbors, and above all he cared for me. I wasn’t sure how deep that friendship would carry.
I wipe the tears from my face and stood up abruptly to face my mother. “W-when?” My voice cracked as I tried to hold my composure.
Neither one of them answered, so I ask again, this time my voice did not crack.
“When?!”
“Two months from now,” my mother offered up. Her voice was low and I could feel disappointment.
“Two months,” I repeat, not hiding the bitterness in my voice. “Two months, I will marry Sebastian Langston and unite our clans.”
Chapter 3
JUDE
I placed my dirty sheriff hat on the bar beside me, taking in the scents of the old wooden bar as I did so. Reed’s was the oldest bar in town and sought out often by any tourist the small town of Pearl would get. If you wanted an authentic southern bar experience with old wooden stools, top notch moonshine, and the best square dancing girls in town, you came to Reed’s.
None of that appealed to me like the moonshine did. It was something, I often turned a blind eye too. Hell, we were built on the backs of bootleggers and whores. This town wouldn’t had made it through the Prohibition years without my great granddaddy’s bootlegging business. Growing up, my grandfather would tell me stories about the time my father made sure there was enough alcohol for all to drink at his wedding. Shit, even the police weren’t against prohibition.
Nonetheless, I found myself back at Reed’s needing to drink the long events of today away. Two distress calls which only ended up being a cat stuck in a tree at the Thurlows, and Old Lady Bransen mistaking her broom for an intruder. She was a sweet old lady, but one more call tonight from her, and I swear I’d blow a fuse.
“Howdy Cowboy,” a sweet voice called to me as she made her way around the bar. Sue Reed was carrying a few dirty mugs she had no doubti
ngly collected from the group of men just exiting the bar. Sue’s long blonde hair flowed perfectly around her shoulders. She was wearing her daisy dukes, which left very little to the imagination, her blue jean halter top tied around her waist giving just a peek of her belly button and creamy flesh. She was without a doubt beautiful.
“Howdy Sue,” I smile pretending to tip my nonexistent hat towards her.
Sue inherited the bar from her father a few years ago before he passed. Now she ran the bar along with her younger brother Lewis, who was often too busy getting drunk to truly run it with her. So everything was left up to her. She never really seemed to mind. From our past discussions, she liked things that way. Said it reminded her of her father every time she turned on the OPEN sign. And I couldn’t blame her for that.
“So, let me guess,” Sue began as she placed the dirty dishes behind her. She spun around playfully back to face me, with those big blue eyes. “Double shot of whiskey?”
“You got it,” I smile doing my best to be polite. I’ve known for a long time, Sue had her eyes on me. Partly, my fault. I had kissed her one night when I was drunk and thinking of Shay. Fucking Shay was more like it. But that fantasy was just that.
“Well, I do believe I know what a man wants, and you Sheriff Monroe, is no different.” She coos. She pours herself a glass before clinking hers with mine and throwing her head back along with the shot of whiskey.
“Is that so?” I reply deciding tonight I would play her game. If only to get my mind off Shay Dansfield, for a little bit. The smell of the whiskey hit my nostrils immediately as I took in the scent of it, before downing the warm liquor in one quick gulp.
“Shit,” I muttered slamming the glass down next to hers. “Another,”
Sue quickly obliges and pours herself and I another round. She was good at holding her liquor, though, I suppose it came with the territory of being a woman bar keep. Never, let the men out drink you.
I threw back the glass of whiskey just as I had done before and placed it back on the bar beside hers. Sue’s eyes widen with amazement. “Slow down their killer,” she giggles.
“I’m not much for going slow,” I tease giving her wink which sent a blush straight to her cheeks. As if she had new found courage, she leaned in and caresses my hand with hers. She lightly strokes her fingers up and down my large ones and looked up at me. An action I had hope would give me some sort of feeling in my cock, but it didn’t. Maybe it was the alcohol already starting take an effect on me.
