The Darker Side of Me (Ravana Moon Book 1)

by S. L. Perrine

  That room was more what I was looking for. The bar in the middle of the space was buzzing with activity. The house lights were down in there, leaving the usual lights of the nightclub. I guessed they hadn’t opened for the evening yet, what with the fashion show parading past me to the backstage.

  “Hey, Red. What’ll it be?” Travis, the usual bartender looked me up and down as per his normal. I couldn’t fault him, I usually dressed to get noticed. Though I just wanted to get my drink and find a dark corner.

  “The usual.” I winked at him, and he started whipping up my drink. A dark and stormy, complete with goslings 151 black rum and ginger beer, on the rocks.

  “Here ya go. We’re not really open to the public tonight. Might be slow.” He was no stranger to the nightwalkers, or me.

  “Well, you could keep me company.” I gave him a wink and he shook his head.

  “Sorry. I have to man my station. Too many starving models to ply with alcohol.” He laughed and walked away as one of those starving models sauntered up to him and asked for a vodka tonic.

  The club was quiet. The events stage was bustling with activity when I passed back through. An entire horde of guests was beginning to arrive for the show. I downed my drink and slipped out the back door.

  “Fancy running into you here. Out for a midnight stroll, love?”

  My reflexes were faster than my mouth. I clenched my fist and punched Massimo in the trachea crushing his windpipe.

  “Why,” he growled, “do you keep doing that?”

  “What can I say, you bring out the aggression in me.”

  He glared at me as his vampiric powers healed him. Or was it his hunter powers? This was starting to get complicated.

  “I have questions.”

  He put a hand up to me and I heard the snap of bones moving back in place. He swallowed a few times then looked down at me. “Why would I help you after that? That’s the third time in as many days that you’ve broken me.”

  “You weren’t complaining the first time, if I remember correctly.”

  “True, very true. However, if you want my help, your first instinct should not be to sever my vocal cords.”

  I looked down at his legs. “Ok, I’ll aim elsewhere from now on.”

  He crossed his legs backing away from me. “No. Ravana, not that.”

  I flipped my hair over my shoulder and turned away. “Fine, never mind.”

  “So, you know?”

  “No, what?”

  “The Order contacted me. That’s why I’m looking for you.”

  “Already? For shit’s sake.” My arms went up in the air and down to my sides. I thought I would have more time. How could they have gotten a hold of him so quickly? “Or did you contact them? Is this your lame-brain idea?” I turned to face him crossing my arms over my chest. He was forced to look at my gaze and shook his head, then began to nod. “Massimo, why would you want to be in the Order? They won’t let you go once you’re marked. You know that, don’t you?”

  “I do. I figured if I joined up, you’d have no choice but to hear me out.”

  “For what?”

  “This.” In a flash of movement, his arms were around me, his hand splayed in my hair at my nape, and his lips crushed against mine. I fought the urge, then found it hard to resist. My arms moved to the backs of his shoulders. My fingers played with the short hair, and I breathed his scent in. Musk and blood. I pushed him away so that he ended up on the other side of the alley.

  “Well, that lasted longer than the first time.”

  “You’ve fed. You reek of blood.”

  “A bag. I won’t touch another human’s flesh if that’s what it’ll take.”

  “For what?”

  “To get you to work with me. Ravana.” He moved to my side. His hands found mine, his eyes glowed amber. “We can work together, find Emerick, and get the answers you deserve. I have a few questions of my own. Don’t you see? If you can get him to share what it is he did to make you, he could…change me.”

  “Seriously? I thought you didn’t want to change. You said you came to terms with what you are.”

  “Well, if it means getting closer to you, I’ll consider it.”

  I started to smile and brought my knee up to connect with his manhood. “I think you’re thinking with your cock. Now how do you feel about it?”

  “Damn it, Red. Why do you insist on making me suffer?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think about it. I’m just a natural.”

  The walk back to my building was refreshing. I could still smell the musk Massimo wore. It clung to me where his body made contact with mine. It was also following me from behind. A measurable amount of distance between us was the only way he agreed to follow me back to Belltown. I figured Delia would be interested in talking with him. She’d probably ink him as soon as we entered the door.

  I made sure to stop at the closest café and ordered her a half-caf with no milk. Then got me an expresso, black, and extra hot. I started to sip it on the way out and Massimo gave me a curious look.

  “What?”

  “You’re drinking coffee?”

  “Yes, it’s what I do to stay caffeinated.” I rolled my eyes and started walking.

  He ran to catch up when he finally decided to move. “No, it’s just. How is it you can drink coffee. If I try, I get sick.”

  “I eat food and drink coffee, tea, soda, and water. Although not much water. I don’t need blood. Not like you do. I need all things my human-self needed.”

  “Fascinating.”

  “I thought you knew all about me from your mentor. You seemed to know more about me than I did about you.” I kept a few feet between us. Though he tried his best to keep up. He slowed each time he started thinking. It was as if I could see the wheels in his mind turn.

  “I was there when you turned. I watched it all happen, right before my eyes. I was there the three years he kept you close to him, and I was there when he broke down into an empty shell of a man when you escaped. He was heart broken. He loved you.”

  I stopped dead in my tracks and was about to confront him when Harold stepped forward.

  “Evening, Ms. Moon.”

  “Harold. How’s Beth?”

  “She’s fine. Thanks for asking.” Harold held the door for us as we passed into the building and then let it close behind us.

  “You know your doorman?”

  “Yes, I know all I employ. This is Christopher.”

  “He’s sleeping.”

  “I’m aware. Be quiet. He’s a grad student and needs his rest. Do you really think I need surveillance from a human?”

  “I hear subtle hints of annoyance.”

  “No, I’m not annoyed. Keeping up pretenses so I can own this building is important. I can’t have anyone questioning it, now can I? What would you know anyway? You probably live in an abandoned building on the wrong side of town.”

  “As a matter of fact, I do. The roof’s caving in and the toilet leaks, but it’s home.”

  I sneered at him and pushed the button on the elevator once inside. The doors closed and the retina scanner slid out behind a hidden door. The silver plat moved to the side and I placed my eye in position. The green light moved up and then down making the elevator shift into gear and begin the climb to the top floor.

  “I guess you don’t need humans for surveillance.”

  “I’m a hunter and a vampire, of course, I don’t. How is it you don’t have the means to live like this?”

  “I do. I tried it once, it just made me feel more alone than I was.” His eyes bore into me. I could see him inching closer little by little.

  “Don’t.”

  “Why? Because I’m a vampire? Damn it, Red. You have fangs just like mine. What makes you so damn unattainable?”

  “I don’t know what it is. I want you, but I feel sick when I think of it.”

  “Sounds like a psychosomatic block. Get over it.”

  He blurred before me. God, he was fast
. Maybe even more so than myself. Before I could stop him the cups I’d been carrying were on the floor and his lips crushed against mine, his hands found my backside and pushed my hips into him. I gasped, my head falling back, mouth open to tell him to stop yet the words never came. He braced me against the wall, my knees pulled up to his waist. I clawed at his back, and I could smell the blood as it pooled from him. He hissed and backed away in a flash. I looked down at my nails forgetting I’d changed my color to include iron flakes.

  The elevator chimed, and the doors opened. I bent over to retrieve the coffee, expecting to find the room as neat as usual, and Delia tucked away in bed in one of the guest rooms. The little minx was sitting in the middle of the living room, much as I had left her. My coffee pot sat on the island; enough black sludge resided inside to fill one of my over-sized coffee mugs. I forgot I’d even had a coffee maker.

  Delia’s blonde hair was usually neatly straightened down to rest on her shoulders or in a neat ponytail. It sat in a crumpled mess atop her head. Stray pieces fell haphazardly around her face making her look like she’d been pulling at it for hours. Her beige suit jacket was thrown on the floor. Her white blouse untucked. She had one sock on and one off and was sitting in the middle of a hundred or more books. They looked as though she’d been tossing them without care.

  “My books. Delia.”

  The girl didn’t look up from what she was reading. She put up her hand and pointed toward the ceiling. “Not now. I need twenty, no, thirty minutes to complete this.”

  “I have coffee.”

  She looked up, jumped to her feet hoping over books scattered about and grabbed the coffee from my outstretched hands. She made her way back to her book the same way she’d jumped out.

  “Thanks.” She started chugging the hot liquid all while reading the book in front of her. It was kind of bizarre.

  “Well, how about a tour?”

  I looked over at my keeper and shrugged. “I guess so. She looks wrapped up.” I stepped back out the front door and Massimo raised an eyebrow in question. “You don’t need to see my apartment. You need to see what’s downstairs.”

  “Do tell.”

  “You’ll see.” I pulled the boots from my feet. I caught him glimpse at the tattoo on the top of my foot. The one marking me for eternity as a member of the Order. The swirling lines and black shading made it look less ominous than it made me feel having it pressed into my skin like a brand.

  “This way.” I padded through the hallway to the elevator and pressed the down button. “This is the only door on this level. I’ll give you a tour someday. Right now, you need to see the rest of my space.”

  “That girl, she was a Keeper?”

  “Yes, and so much, not herself at the moment. Normally she’s rude, tidy, annoyingly rigid, and insanely loud. She can talk your ear off, quite literally.”

  “So, what was that? She looked like she belonged in a padded room.” He laughed.

  I sneered at him. She may have been an uptight prude bitch, but she was my Keeper.

  In the Order, Keepers were assigned to the soldiers. They provided valuable information to help the soldiers do their job without getting killed. She researched all the demons I’d ever come across and told me everything I needed to know about them; weaknesses, strengths, and more importantly how to kill them, and if I should. Some demons shouldn’t be killed, for fear of them coming back in duplicate. That was a neat trick I’d love to figure out. I could only imagine there being more than one Ravana. One could slam Massimo against the elevator wall and not feel the guilt I had vibrating through my body from our earlier confrontation.

  He looked at me with his dark eyes, and I had to suppress a sigh.

  She was doing well to hide her feelings. Her utter lack of interest was mind-boggling. Until I realized she was posturing. Then it was seductive.

  I stood on one side of the elevator, while she bit her lip. I don’t think she knew her fangs had dropped until the realization that she was tasting her own blood hit her. I could see the internal monologue playing out as her eyes moved, and her facial expressions changed from excitement to disgust. It was sexy as hell.

  She stood off the gold metal wall when the chime announced we had come to the selected floor. She moved to the door quickly, but not at vamp breaking speeds. When it opened she looked back at me. The look was more of a dare than a summons to follow. Challenge accepted.

  The hallway didn’t look much different than the one on the floor above. It was lined with silver. The floor was ceramic tile in a black and white checkered pattern. The only difference was the number of doors and length of the hall. Three on one side, and four on the other. She wasted no time using a key to unlock the first door. She held it open for me, realizing her safeguards were against my kind. Those with an allergy to silver. I stepped into the room and waited for her to turn on the lights.

  The room was washed in white. White walls, floor, ceiling, and furniture. There was a sofa, coffee table, armchair, a desk, and a black flat screen television anchored to the wall.

  “These are guest apartments. Nobody besides me and the Order has access to this floor. The only person who is allowed on my floor is the Keeper. If you’re nice I may bring you back up.

  “I save these for guests who can’t really handle the silver as much as you can. Surely you know the variance.”

  “Yes, and I also know I don’t have it that bad. Though it’ll sting if I touch it.” I pressed a hand to my shoulder and rubbed the spot her heel slid through. I hadn’t been able to clean the wound and silently thought her love of iron shavings may be the reason for the continued pain.

  “Yes, well, stay clear of the hallway walls and you’ll be fine. This apartment is filled with nothing but plastic and glass. You should be safe.”

  I took her words in as slowly as I could to process their meaning. “You’re giving me an apartment, under you?”

  “The Order wants you to be my partner. We have to find Emerick, and you said you were game. So, this is the obvious choice. The doorknob can be changed out, so you can at least open the door. For the time being wear gloves.”

  She moved through the apartment. Her blood red hair stuck out like a sore thumb. Her green eyes bright within the confines of the bright white.

  “Can I add some color?”

  “Like what?”

  “I’ve always had a sore spot for red.” I half laughed and stopped at the look on her face.

  “You’ll get a Keeper who will stock your fridge with blood bags. There is a microwave to heat it up in if you’d like.”

  She turned around and headed to the room in the back. I followed her watching her hips move side to side and suddenly felt like Rodger Rabbit following Jessica. My head cocked as her hips moved. We stepped into the room, and I swear I heard her gasp. Her eyes were wide, and I desperately wanted to know what was inside her head the moment she looked into the room with the large king-sized bed.

  “Self-explanatory.” She moved past me and out of the room. I followed seeing her halfway through the front door. “Come. There’s more.”

  “More? Really. Do the beds get larger?”

  She must not have found that funny because she left the room and let the door close. I had to move my hand inside my shirt and wrap the handle to open it. I had to watch myself until a few alterations were made. Chances were if the Order wanted me here, then she couldn’t kill me. I was betting she didn’t want to as much as she wanted to feel our bodies pressed together in that very large bed.

  By the time I caught up with her she had moved to the third and last door on that side of the hall. The handle was brass, great no way to kill me with this room.

  “The middle room is Delia’s.”

  “Wait, the Keeper lives here?”

  “Yes, of course. I need her on call, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”

  “Really. Then why is she in a frenzy in your apartment?”

  “The library is only accessi
ble from my floor. I’ll show you later.”

  She pressed on the door and moved out of the way, letting me pass. I slid past her, keeping my eyes locked on hers as she hit a switch on the wall beside me. The light flickered, and when the room came into view I had to gasp, which made her laugh. It was the size of my apartment, only the walls were lined with gold plating and wooden shelves. Each shelf had an assortment of weapons on it. A pegboard on one wall held an abundance of knives, daggers, and swords. Several bows, and quivers filled with arrows. Grenades, assault rifles, and pistols. If there was such a place as Heaven, then I was there.

  “Are you crying?” She placed a hand on my shoulder as I passed by into the room.

  “There, I mean, it’s just so much. Can I have one?”

  “Pick your poison.”

  “Oh, these will do nicely.” I grabbed the set of silver Sai. The handles were covered in black leather and a small ruby sat in the middle of the hilt.

  “You sure? You’re bound to get nicked with one of the blades.”

  “Worried about my health all of a sudden, Red?”

  “No, just don’t want to clean up the mess.”

  “You’re a real bitch. I mean, I think I realize now that it’s not an act.”

  “About time.”

  “Yeah, and something else.”

  “What?”

  “It makes me want to take you right here on this table of assault weapons.”

  “Oh, Massimo, you’re such a romantic,” she said with a toss of her hair and a roll of her eyes.

  “What? Not interested?”

  She rolled her hips and turned to face me. I was so close I could just reach out a hand and have her pinned down to that table, but I didn’t. I played it cool and let her turn and walk away.

  “Come on, there’s more.”

  The minute we left the room and she moved across the hall, I regretted that decision. She started to move differently. Letting her hips move a bit more as they went side to side with every step. She pulled her hair up and secured it with a tie of some sort. I’d never seen the back of her neck before. She had a small crescent moon tattooed just under her hairline. I didn’t think before tracing the outline with the tip of my finger. She shuddered at the contact but did nothing to stop me. I pressed my hand against the back of her neck, letting her hair fill my hand. It was soft and smelled of Christmas time. Peppermint and nightmares. That’s what this woman was.