Bliss (The Custos) (15 page)

              I walked over to him, his coat so big it was heavy to lift my arms but I got them around him. He rested his chin on my head as my arms went around him. "Tell ya what, when we get back to Preachers, we can take a bath. I bet your creative enough to find a way to get us both naked in that bath."

              Before he could answer I could hear Preacher in the distance singing. It was an Irish love song, Love you till the end. And he sounded wasted. "I thought he didn’t drink?"

              "Not drunk." Cash said and slapped my ass. "And yes, I am creative enough."

              He walked towards Preacher, who was not swaying, but dancing, kind of. Now more than ever he reminded me of a leprechaun which was funny because he was as big and tall as Cash and just as attractive. It must have been the singing Irish ballads and his accent thick while he danced in circles.

              I'd sworn off drugs at eighteen but seeing Preacher this high, singing and dancing in glee made me want to reconsider. "Coooookie…." He said in his sing song voice as they reached the van.

              "Hi Preacher, I take it you had a good night." He stumbled and I went to help catch him but Cash was too fast, swooping him up over his shoulder he walked to the van and kind of...tossed him in. Preacher only laughed.

              "I had as much fun as you did Cookie." He said and then made a move like he was sniffing the air in the van. "I can smell you Cookie, you’re all over Cash."

              "Night night Preach." Cash said and slammed the door.

              "He can smell that we had sex?" I asked kind of grossed out.

              Preacher busted up laughing when I asked and Cash just shrugged his shoulders. "Yep, Vampires smell everything."

              I followed Cash to the van and hopped in and looked at Preacher who was leaning between the two seats like a dog on a trip. "Thanks a lot Preacher; you spoiled the one good thing this whole nightmare had."

              He only laughed and kept singing. It was a long drive back to Preachers house and luckily his song faded out and he fell asleep. "Was he high?"

              "Yeah, probably didn’t feed from the waitress and sex makes bloodlust worse." Cash reached for my hand and kissed it. "He'll be ok though."

              "Should I give him some of my blood?" Cash didn’t need to answer; the blast of cold that came from him told me it was a no.

              "Fuck no." was all he said and he looked calm but I knew he wasn’t.

              "Ok, but I will if he needs it." Cash slammed on the breaks and jumped on top of me; opening my door he lifted me out and slammed the door. His body caged me against the side of the van, he reached for my neck and I flinched.

              "Fuck...." He stepped back and ran a palm over his head and down his face. "I scared you, I’m sorry."

              Vampire thing I guess. "It's ok. What’s wrong?"

              He came back to me, still caging me in he tipped my chin and kissed me. "Vampires are very possessive and territorial, we don’t share very easily. In a way I marked you tonight, as mine and by offering to let Preacher drink from you....." He let the words fall because 'Makes me bat shit crazy' was already implied.

              "Were you going to hurt me out here?" I asked but I knew what he wanted and he had damn well fess up.

              "No, I was going to mark you again, make a point." He reached for his cock and palmed it a few times; even through his jeans he was magnificent.

              I leaned back and undid my pants. "Better hurry Vampire."

              He did. Five minutes later we were back in the van and Cash's point had been made.

*

              The rest of the drive was quiet as I looked out the window. If someone had told me a week ago that I would soon be abducted by good guy Vampires because my dad had a contract on my life I would have laughed. If they added that I would spiral, fast into love with my hero Vampire, I would have had tears in my eyes from laughing. Talk about curve balls.

              "Cookie, did I ever tell you I was in love once?" Preacher asked. I don’t know if he was awake and thinking same as I or if he picked up on my thoughts. I looked at Cash who just shook his head.

              "No, who was she?"

              "My wife of course."

              I looked at Preacher. "Whoa, hold up. You had a wife?"

              Nodding he said “Her name was Emigen, her hair was golden and long, and her eyes were green as envy." He didn’t elaborate and I wanted to ask but something inside said to keep quiet, so I did. A few minutes later he spoke again. "The good lord blessed us with two children, my daughter Mary and a son, Peter. Both looked like their mother god bless em'."

              "Preacher why not try and rest." Cash said.

              "Sod off, I’m tellen a story here." He sat up and leaned forward and rested his head on my shoulder. "They're long gone now; dust to dust that’s why Cash sired me."

              Whoa. "What?" I asked Cash. He only nodded because Preacher talked over me.

              "The great depression made life harder than what people bitch about these days. There were no jobs and it was the winter. A man named Angelo said he had work, long hours but good pay. I accepted but the work was wrong, he was bootleggin' liquor and cigarettes off of the trucks and selling it on the streets. I had left my priesthood the minute I met Emigen, one look at her and I knew she came before my faith. But I was a God fearing man and I would not work unless it was an honest living."

              He looked at Cash then, his eyes were so sad. "Turns out, once you take a job with Angelo Caprecci you don’t get the right to quit. He thought cuz' I was Irish that I had what a lot of my blood brothers did, but I wanted nothing to do wit it. So one night while I was at confession, he came in our home....... He killed them while they slept in their beds. I pray to god they felt no fear or pain."

              He went silent, said nothing more and I didn’t push. My heart ached for Preacher and his family, and I would ask Cash later why he never told me he sired Preacher. Yeah, he would give me the answers. I'd make him.

*

Chapte
r
Twelv
e
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London

              Turns out Cash never got the chance to tell me the story. That was three weeks ago. That’s right three long weeks. When we got back to the house that night Leushus was waiting. Two hours to sunrise meant two hours of recon at a local Pharmaceutical company that had been doing business with my Father.

              I don’t know how Leushus found out so much in such a small span of time, but he did and Cash barely had time to shower and change. He kissed me good bye and promised to call, and he did. He filled my mind with all sorts of promises of what exactly he would do when he got back. Did I mention it's been three weeks?

              Last night they were in Texas still and had been for the last week. Leushus was using Infatuation on Cindy, my Fathers personal secretary. Every night they took more files and more names of people who were working with him on a secret drug, pre named bliss. The components in the formula had a key element that made Leushus twitch but made Cash homicidal. Vampire blood and what seemed to be a little too similar to my AB positive. Both Cash and Leushus believed that this not only had to do with why this Conlin guy wanted me, but that it had everything to do with me. They believe I would be his lab rat. Ew, right?

              Preacher never elaborated on the story from that night in the van and I didn’t ask. We packed up that following night and drove to Vegas. Woo Woo. That's where Cash lives permanently when not on assignment and I had to say, I liked the night life and loved to boogie. So did Preacher.

              "Stop day dreaming and get ready would ya?" Preacher said from behind me. Cash told him about a lead he had and I was bait, again.

              "Preacher it is ten o'clock. This is the city that never sleeps. Hell in Texas we don’t start clubbing till then, here it's like midnight."

              Preacher rolled his eyes. "Cookie how quickly you forget. We Vampires are lucky to get a few extra hours in the summer, unlike humans we don’t have the option of hangin’ out till the sun comes up." I stifled my laugh, but it was hard. With Preacher everything was funny. He was a great teacher but he tended to ramble. "We are looking for a Vampire who keeps running his mouth about the new leader in town. That leader could be our missing Conlin."

              I slammed the laptop I was playing on and turned to face Preacher. "It's always the same Preacher, go to the bar, dance and drink and come home with nothing. Cash has been gone for three weeks and nothing has come from it."

              Before Preacher could Tsk me for my bad attitude his cell phone started ringing. "Cookie, just humor me and get ready please." He didn’t wait for my reply when he opened the phone. "Cash what’s up?"

              I immediately ran to Preachers side hoping to overhear the convo, but Cash knew I would be eavesdropping and spoke to quiet for me to hear. "Cookie, Now!" He said and pointed at the stairs leading away from him.

              Accepting defeat I stomped upstairs pouting the whole way. Unlike Preacher, Cash didn’t have a prejudice against a mirror, and I had no problem finding one here. I went shopping with Preacher when we arrived because my new wardrobe didn’t include bar clothes and I needed them here. Tonight I chose a denim skirt that looked worn out, but I paid for that look, a navy blue wife beater tank top and my moccasin boots. I looked like every easy girl on the strip, but the outfit was still amazing. Before I reached the door to meet Preacher, he knocked.

              "Jeeze give a girl a minute Preacher." I said annoyed, but seen the look on his face and knew that another piece of this fucked up puzzle just found its place. "What now?"

              "Good or bad news first?"

              Like I had a choice here? "Bad."

              "As Leushus and Cash suspected, they have proof Conlin is in Vegas." Preachers’ voice was detached, as if he were reading a script.

              "That’s great Preacher, why so doom and gloom?" It wasn’t like Preacher to be down about news like that, he had an answer for everything, and that told me there was more he wasn’t telling me. "What else?"

              "Well Cookie, I’m doom, as you say, because he's here, where you are and I don’t have a sodding clue how old he is or if I can even keep you safe. I’m gloom because any bastard stupid enough to go to war, unaware of his opponent always ends badly, like taking a knife to a gun battle." he sat at the foot of my bed, well Cash's. I chose to sleep here because it smelled like him.

              "Preacher look at me." I said my voice stern. "I am not one of your blessed meek. I am a fighter and I refuse to sit back and let this asshole get the best of me. I want him to find me, I want to see you and Cash rip him apart, but I will not sit in fear waiting so why should you?"

              "Your remarkable Cookie, you know that?"

              "I do actually." I said nodding and standing tall. Preacher shook his head and laughed.

              "Of course, what I was I thinking."

              He stood and turned to the door when I grabbed his arm. "Preacher what do ya say we just go have fun tonight, no Vampire espionage steak out shit. Let’s go dancing and have fun."

              "Did you not hear what I just said?" He asked shocked.

              "Of course I did, did you not hear me? We know he's here, we know he's looking for me but the chances of him going where I want to go are very unlikely."