Of Blood and Sorrow

by Christine Rains

  I took my time chewing. I wasn’t going to reply to that. I couldn’t.

  “Well, anyway, I chased him off. Told him they’d kill him if he stayed. These are really good, by the way. Thank you,” I said after swallowing. “Aleo sent the Allu after him. So it’s only a matter of time before he’s dead for good.”

  “Good riddance to bad rubbish. And you’re welcome.” The Lady smiled and rubbed my back. “You’re such a sweet girl, so good. I’m glad you weren’t hurt badly when that monster attacked. I assured Bolona that you’re very safe here. Any vampire who dares to step onto my property would find himself in a dire situation.”

  “Are vampires really that flammable?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking.

  “Of course they are, sweetie. Eat up.”

  “But have you ever seen one on fire before?” I took a sip of juice, heart pounding a little harder.

  “No, but I’ve never even seen a vampire for obvious reasons.” The Lady chuckled and leaned back in her chair, one arm lazily draped over the back. “Are you thinking in terms of self-defense? Unless you could conjure fire, and I know you can’t, I don’t think it’s reasonable to think in that direction. Perhaps a vial of holy water. Or… oh!” She hopped up and clapped her hands together once. “I have the perfect thing for you. Eat up while I go get it. Bolona says you’re not eating enough, and I agree.”

  Before I could protest, the Lady skipped from the room and down the hall. I sighed and went back to my pancakes. I wondered if Nicolas could still eat food. I shouldn’t be thinking of him at all. I pushed the plate away, but then thought better of it and pulled it back to keep eating.

  I was almost finished by the time the Lady returned. Licking the syrup from my lips, I looked up curiously. I wondered what exactly a demon who gave heatstroke to people would give me in terms of self-defense.

  The Lady held out a make-up case carved from a seashell. It was beautifully crafted and obviously very old. And totally not me.

  “Take it, sweetie. Carry it with you everywhere. Vampires are littering our streets these days.”

  “It’s a compact.” I took it. It barely had any weight at all. I held it uncertainly in my hand and glanced at her.

  “Open it.” A sly smile curved her ruby lips.

  Did she expect me to scare vampires because they couldn’t see their reflection? Puff dust in their face? I clicked it open and looked inside. I was immediately blinded by a bright warm light. What the hell? I could hear the Lady’s merry laugh as I quickly closed it.

  “You’ll literally have a pocketful of sunshine now.” The Lady hummed merrily as she went over to the stove. “Another pancake?”

  “Wow. Thank you.” It was ingenious. An inconspicuous object any woman might have disguising a weapon fatal to vampires. And I knew this for certain after Nicolas had said the sun had hurt him. My stomach flipped and I shook my head. “No, thank you. I’m full already. This is an amazing gift, Demi. I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “Don’t you worry about that, sweetie. Just stay safe. You’re such a precious girl.” The Lady started another pancake despite the reply she’d gotten. She then gave me a toothsome grin and looked like a much younger woman for a few seconds. “You could bring Cort or Connor over one morning. Invite them to breakfast. I’ll have a feast for them.”

  “I’ll ask them.” Even though I already knew what the answer would be. The Putzkammer men tried to have as little contact with the Lady as possible. She scared them as much as the Allu scared me, but for completely different reasons.

  I didn’t know if I should have been surprised to see Nicolas again that night. I hoped and then tried to drown that hope in coffee and work. I brought out a bag to the trash bin at the back of the funeral home, and he grinned at me from the shadows. If only I could smile and glower at the same time.

  “I’ve been researching and experimenting. Some things are true while others are way off.” Nicolas leaned against one of the posts by the bin and waggled his brows at me. “I thought you and I could do some experimentation together.”

  “What are you doing here?” I whispered, though I still sounded too loud. “Go away.”

  “I just want to talk to you. Come to the motel room after you’re done?” Nicolas never gave up, did he? He had on another new outfit. More casual this time in jeans and a sweater under a bomber jacket.

  “No.” I tossed the bag into the bin and meant to go immediately back in, but I stood there like an idiot. My feet betrayed me and I knew it would only encourage him.

  “Then somewhere? I want to tell you what I found out. Coffee has never tasted so good, but I don’t get the caffeine rush and it comes out like it went i—”

  “Too much information.” I covered my ears and then pointed to the highway. “You need to be three states away already.”

  “Come on, Erin. I know you’re curious.” Nicolas moved closer, keeping his voice low. He ran his fingers along my forearm. I stepped back before he could take my hand. “I was thinking about what you said and you’re right. I need to do something good with my new life. I just don’t know how.”

  “That’s very nice and everything, but the point remains you can’t stay around here or you’ll die.” I managed to get my feet moving toward the door. I was about to say something else when there was a sharp rap on the glass. I spun around to see Connor waving frantically at me to come in.

  Oh shit! Did he see me talking to Nicolas? It was going to take more than a pack of cigarettes to convince him to not say anything this time. I glanced back, but Nicolas had disappeared. Fear mingled with disappointment. What was wrong with me?

  I opened the door and hurried inside.

  “You have to come to the front foyer. Dad’s facing off with a vamp!” Connor snatched my arm and dragged me along.

  Another vampire?

  It couldn’t be Nicolas. My heart pounded. And I hoped he wasn’t responsible for whoever it was being there, but the chances were slim.

  We ran down the hall and turned into the foyer. Aleo stood with his arms crossed, barring the vampire’s way farther into the building. Cort stood to one side with a hateful glare, and Paul hid his face, hugging a wall near the entrance to the showroom.

  The vampire was not what I expected. She was an exotic beauty. Not tall, but her long legs gave the appearance of it. Tight pants with laces down the sides revealed pale skin through the gaps. She wore expensive heels and a short cropped jacket. Her silky shirt showed far too much cleavage.

  Despite how she was dressed, the vampire held herself regally, as if she were a queen disguised as a clubbing college girl to get a night of freedom outside the palace.

  Her dark gaze swung in Connor’s and my direction.

  “Ah, more demons.” She sighed. “This town is swimming in them.”

  “Your kind isn’t welcome here.” Aleo had none of her lazy patience in his tone. “We will remove you by force if need be.”

  “My kind isn’t welcomed. Your kind isn’t welcomed. Lucky thing for us the humans know nothing, hm?” She waved a hand flippantly. “I’ve come here for something’s that mine, Mr. Putzkammer. I’m not leaving without it.”

  “There’s nothing here for you except a bloody end to your unnatural life.” Cort snarled.

  “And you’ll do it?” The vampire laughed, light and feminine. Intoxicating. “You’re just a boy. Your father, well, he’s a little more, but the rest of you have barely learned to walk in this world.”

  “The Allu are on their way, Hessa.” Aleo informed her through clenched teeth.

  I breathed in wrong and started coughing. It was such an unusual name. A name that Nicolas had mentioned more than once. I had no doubt she was Nicolas’ sire. I knew why Hessa was there. The bitch had come to claim him. I had to warn him.

  Everyone was staring at me.

  “Sorry.” I breathed out, stifling any further coughs.

  “The Allu have no beef with me.” Hessa turned her attention back to Aleo af
ter giving me a scathing look. “In fact, it’s because of them that I know you do have something of mine. He’s about six feet tall, messy blond hair, gorgeous body.”

  “The vampire who attacked Erin?” Cort frowned.

  “Ah, it seems he is here. Perfect.” Hessa purred. “I’m his sire. By all rights, he belongs to me. Just let him out of whatever box you put him in. He’ll be happy to see me. And then we’ll be out of your hair. Or what you have left of it.” She smirked at Aleo.

  It took every bit of will power to not run back down the hall and outside to locate Nicolas. Hessa wanting to find him wasn’t at all a good thing. He wanted to change his life, or rather, un-life around, to do something worthwhile. From what I’d heard about Hessa, it was clear there wasn’t anything good about her.

  “If you truly learned about your fledgling from the Allu, you would know we aren’t keeping him here.” Aleo’s voice had become dangerously low. “In fact, we hired the Allu to hunt him down and kill him since he has a particular liking for Erin. We’ll make sure she remains safe at all costs.”

  I cringed. I knew it was a mistake the second he said it. I loved the Putzkammers for looking out for me and for being the loving family I’d never had, but sometimes they were too exuberant about it.

  Hessa’s gaze turned to me anew. Interested now, she drank me in. She then smiled and shook her head.

  “A wisp of a woman. You’re pretty in an innocent, kind of sad way, but you’re not what Nicolas likes.” Hessa lifted her chin and ran her hands up over herself. All of the men groaned, panted with each breath, and trembled. Even I felt awe dawning on me from Hessa’s vampiric charms until I bit my tongue.

  “If he comes back, tell him to come to me. He knows where to find me.” Hessa sashayed toward the doors. She glanced back over her shoulder at me. “Perhaps if my new toy wants one for himself, you’ll do. Though for the life of me, I can’t see why anyone would want to be around the stench of demons.”

  The vampire was gone, and Connor and I sank to our knees. Cort and Paul only remained standing because they leaned against the wall. Obviously it took more will power from them to resist the bitch than it did for me, but I had no desire for women to begin with. Paul dripped with sweat and buried his face in his hands.

  “Holy shit.” Connor breathed heavily.

  I trembled so much I couldn’t get right back on my feet. I looked back down the hall to the side entrance. I had to find Nicolas before Hessa did.

  “Lock all the doors.” Aleo ordered Cort. “When the Allu show up, let them in. Svetla was the only appointment for this evening. Paul, call her and reschedule for tomorrow during the day. Connor, help Erin to a chair and stay with her.” With that, he marched to his office and shut the door.

  “Can I just say again? Holy shit.” Connor pushed himself up off the floor and took my hands, tugging me up with him. “You okay, E? That was one bad bitch. She made me feel like she was the only woman in the world for me.”

  “Shut up, Connor.” Cort growled and slid the bolts in place for the front doors. “In case you don’t know, and you don’t since you never pay attention to anything except when you’re going to get your next smoke, Hessa is the top vampire in this region. We can only imagine how powerful she is.” He rumbled deep in his chest. “And she threatened Erin. Holy shit isn’t going to do it tonight.”

  “I better go make that call.” Paul recovered enough to speak. He wiped his hands on his pants and scurried off downstairs. I wanted to follow, to give him a hug, but likely Paul only wanted to be alone at the moment.

  “He shames us more than you do.” Cort shot his youngest brother a hard look and went to lock the other doors into the building.

  “Don’t listen to him.” I said softly and managed to make it to a padded chair. “She affected him as much as the rest of us.”

  “Yeah, I know it. He’ll go to his office later and jerk off to some porn. Sorry, E.” Connor flopped into a chair beside me.

  “Nah, don’t worry about it. You’re likely right.” We shared a quiet and uneasy laugh.

  “Dad’s going to lock you in a room until this is all over, you know?” Connor said after a moment of silence. “Can’t say I blame him either.”

  “Don’t you dare think about helping him wrangle me like that.” I reached over and socked him in the upper arm. “I’m not going to be some little princess locked up in her tower for her own good, or basement, wherever I am.”

  “You could tell them. They’d understand.”

  I turned my head and looked at him. Connor was closest to my twenty-three years but still a few years younger. No matter how much of a slacker image he had, I knew he was as loyal and strong as the rest of his family. He was the only one who knew what happened with my mother. I’d told him one day when we had a funeral for a small child and I couldn’t carry the burden alone any more. I reached over and squeezed his hand.

  “Maybe they would, but then they’d never see me the same way again. Not in the pure way they do now. Everything would change.”

  “So? You don’t want them to be so over-protective.”

  “I don’t want them to see how tainted I am.” My voice was barely a whisper. Shame gurgled in my gut. I needed to think about something else. I shifted in the chair and leaned forward. “What if I told you that I saw the vampire again?”

  “What? Did he hurt you? I’ll kick his ass.” Connor’s hands squeezed into fists.

  “No, it’s not like that.” My mouth bobbed open and closed as I thought of exactly what to say. The situation was worsening. I couldn’t do this alone. “He’s a good guy. He wants to help people. He’s showed me that most of what we know about vampires isn’t true.”

  “Shit, E.” Connor shook his head and sighed. “You know most of what vamps say is a lie. He’s using you. Maybe Dad should really lock you up for a while.”

  “No, listen to me.” I pulled him closer to speak in an intense and hushed voice. “I know he’s not lying. I know it. He wants me to help him. I can’t do it if I’m locked up somewhere. I have to warn him about Hessa. You trust me, don’t you?”

  “I trust you, but you can’t trust a v—”

  “I know what I’m saying. I felt certain things from him.” I didn’t have to explain how. “Emotions don’t lie.”

  Connor groaned and went limp in the chair. He kicked at the air and mussed up his hair.

  “Dammit. All right. I’ll do what I can.”

  “Thank you.” The relief that went through me made me want to laugh and weep at the same time. I wasn’t going through this alone any more. A wave of guilt followed. I was doing something I shouldn’t be and now I had Connor involved. I wanted to say it was his choice, but he wouldn’t say no to me.

  Aleo, Cort, and Connor escorted me home. None of the Putzkammer men came inside with me even though it was night, but they watched from the car until I shut the door behind me.

  I’d done a convincing job promising them I wouldn’t leave the house until daylight. The fear wasn’t the difficult part. I was afraid of Hessa and whatever she might bring my way. I bet Hessa would do something whether Nicolas came to her or not. It was the look she’d given me. Like all the scheming women on those reality shows.

  The most difficult part was trying to get Connor to let me go looking for Nicolas on my own. I was certain he’d return to the motel to wait, but if he wasn’t there, I needed to find him. No doubt that Hessa would put Nicolas back on a self-destructive path, or destructive of other folks. Innocent people.

  I didn’t own a car. Connor did. So we compromised. He would be my driver—like Jason Statham in The Transporter as he so declared—and I would get to talk to Nicolas alone.

  I changed into warm clothes: black hoodie, jeans, and boots. Thinking of the wind, I added a long scarf. Munching on a brownie the Lady had left for me, I watched out the window for Connor’s car. Yet it wasn’t my driver who showed up first. Nicolas strode up the cobblestone walkway.

  What wa
s the idiot thinking?

  I cursed and raced out of the kitchen to the front door. It didn’t matter about the noise as I threw open the door. The Lady would sleep soundly through the night. Nicolas was just about to step onto the first step of the porch.

  “No!” Desperation made me screech.

  Nicolas froze in place, eyes darting from side to side.

  “What? Someone here? Should I run?”

  I charged down the steps and pushed him back lest his foot move those last few inches. I didn’t know if the wards extended to the porch, but I wasn’t going to take that chance. I gave him another shove because of the terror I felt for him.

  “What are you doing here? You could have died!”

  “I’m a little confused.” Nicolas caught my hands as I attempted to push him a third time. “I had to talk to you. So I waited around and followed you home. Is it so messy in there I’ll die of disgust?”

  “No.” I huffed and yanked my hands out of his hold. “Nothing is wrong with the house other than the fact it’s warded against intruders, most particularly after what happened the other night, against vampires. You step on the porch and you’ll fry.”

  “All right then. I won’t ask to come in for a cup of tea.” He smiled, a hint of his fangs showing. “I still want to talk. Can we go get a coffee?”

  “What? No. I mean, yes, we need to talk, but you can’t be around humans.” My heart only slowed slightly.

  “And who told you that? If I’ve had a nip to eat, I’m fine around people. All some do is stare a bit. But, being as gorgeous as I am, I’m used to it.” He chuckled in a way that led me to believe he wasn’t entirely joking.

  “Oh.” Another thing I believed about vampires proved untrue. I wondered if humans had it right when they considered all the old tales fiction.

  A car slowly approached from down the street and pulled to a stop. Connor dashed out of the driver’s side with something in his hand. His expression was hard and determined.