Blood Hunger (An Adult Paranormal Romance) (Deathless Night Series #1) (11 page)

     Shea locked the door behind Dante. It was ridiculous, she knew. Locking doors. She was an immortal, after all. Very few things could fatally harm her.

     And a locked door wouldn’t keep out the things that could.

     She leaned back against the door and gazed at her tidy apartment without really seeing it. Well, that meeting had been a complete waste of time. Why did she even bother going through the hassle of trying to get them in the same room?

     It was just that they were all so distant with each other now. They used to hang out together, feed together, fight together, like any other dysfunctional family. What the hell had happened? 

     Shea heaved a sigh. Why did she even care? Maybe she was just tired. Weird, huh? A vampire feeling tired. But she was. She probably just needed to feed, as Dante suggested. She’d hit the streets as soon as she checked and loaded their weapons and gassed up the Hummer.

     She thought back to Dante’s little speech. That had really thrown her for a loop. It was unlike him to be so revealing. Actually, she couldn’t remember a time where she’d ever heard him say anything on a personal level about any of them. Much as she appreciated the gesture, it made her nervous. Why had he decided to go and get all mushy now? Did he know something he wasn’t telling them?

     The little hairs on the back of her neck tingled as a feeling of foreboding suddenly overcame her.

     Dismissing it as nothing more than her overactive imagination, she shook off the feeling, and walked back to her room to start preparing for the mission.

***

     “So, who is Leeha? And what does she have against…what’s your brother’s name again?”

   
 
Packed and ready to go, Emma took a last look around. She had left a message for Mark at work explaining that she’d had a family emergency come up and wasn’t sure how long she’d be gone. Hopefully she’d still have a job when she got back.

     If not, well, she was used to that, wasn’t she?

     Other than locking up the house, there wasn’t anything else she needed to take care of before leaving. She had no family or friends to call, no close neighbors; she didn’t even have a fish.

     “His name is Luukas. He’s the Master Vampire over our colony. Leeha is a vampire who, with a few others, broke off from us to form their own Council. The problem with that being, she’s completely fucked up in the head, and set her sights on Luuk to be her ‘king’ and rule next to her, even though vampires don’t usually take other vampires as their companion. When he wouldn’t give in to her, she got pissed. I guess she didn’t take the rejection very well.” Setting her suitcase and backpack by the door, Nik told her, “Lock your door behind me. I’ll go get Aiden and we’ll come back and pick you up. It shouldn’t be any more than a few minutes, so if you think of anything you’ve forgotten, don’t waste any time getting it. We need to be on our way.”

   
 
Standing in the kitchen doorway wondering if she should grab some food, Emma asked distractedly, “Aiden?”

   
 
“Have I not mentioned him yet?”

   
 
Emma shook her head.

     “Aiden is my best friend and partner in crime. He came along to help me out on this trip. He’s a pain in the ass Brit, but you’ll like him. The girls always do.” A sour look suddenly came across his face as he looked at her, like he just had an unpleasant thought.

     She raised an inquiring eyebrow, but he didn’t elaborate, continuing his original train of thought. “We’re camped out just a few miles from here. I’ll run there. It won’t take me long. Do not open this door to anyone but me.”

   
 
She was going to be alone with not one, but two vampires? One of which, if what Nik had told her earlier was true, didn’t drink from a bag but from a body. Emma didn’t know if going with them was such a bright idea, but what choice did she have? This was the first honest to goodness lead she’d had on her sister since her abduction, there was no way she wasn’t going to be in on it. And if her own life was on the line doing so? She would happily take that risk.

     Her emotions must’ve been written across her face as usual, for he paused on his way out the door to tell her, “It’s ok, Em. Aiden won’t hurt you, I swear it.”  His words did nothing to reassure her, but she nodded anyway.

     “I’ll be right back.” Leaving her stuff just inside the door, he took off to go get the RV.

     Emma locked the door behind him, and went back to the kitchen to grab some snacks to bring with her, just in case. She doubted these guys were used to having a human around long enough to worry about feeding one. Grabbing a recycled bag, she threw some travel ready stuff in, trying not to dwell on what she was getting herself into. Instead, she tried to focus on seeing Keira again after all this time.

     It’d been seven long years since the two girls had ran hand in hand through the long grass. That day had been the first time they’d had fun since they’re parents had died in an accident earlier that year.

     A car accident. Not some weird, witchy accident…Right?

     Setting the bag of food down by the rest of her things, she sat down in the kitchen to wait, and thought about what Nik had told her. It couldn’t be true, could it? The witch thing? She wanted to disregard it, but the more she thought about it, the more sense it made.

     Unlike Emma, her sister had always been involved in “extracurricular activities” growing up. She’d told Emma they were dance classes. But, how could she stand to take all of those “dance classes”, when she had all of the same social issues that Emma did?

     Unless, it wasn’t dance class she was going to at all. Now that she really thought about it, weren’t there usually recitals when you were in dance? Performances? They’d never gone to anything like that. And she didn’t remember any tutu’s laying around either, for that matter.

     Yet, twice a week, without fail, her mom would pack up her sister and off they would go for hours at a time. Keira would come home so exhausted she’d go right to bed. Where else would she have been going if not to dance classes?

     Emma thought hard, trying to remember. And of course, there was always the fact that the two sisters just weren’t ‘normal’. Although, as they got older, it did seem that Emma’s ‘incidents’ were more common than Keira’s.

     Was it true then? Did she really come from a family of witches? And they’d kept it from her all this time? Why would they not tell her?

     Headlights coming down her driveway interrupted her musings for now. Getting up, she turned off all of the lights except the one over the stove and waited for Nik to come to the door.

***

     “Just pull up here along the side of the house,” Nik told Aiden.

     As soon as the vehicle stopped, he jumped out and leapt up the steps onto the porch. Opening the screen door, he lifted his hand to knock, but the door swung open before he had the chance, and a backpack was shoved at him.

     Scowling at Emma around the bag, he told her, “I told you not to open the door until you knew it was me.”

   
 
“I did know it was you,” she informed him. “Who else would be driving an RV down my driveway at one in the morning?” Picking up a recycled bag she’d added to her stuff and grabbing her coat from the hook by the door, she waited for him.

     He slung the backpack over his shoulder and picked up her suitcase, then led the way back outside, waiting on the porch as she locked up the house. He heard her heart starting to pound as they walked up to the waiting vehicle, and was about to stop to reassure her, but as he turned to do so, she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

     Ok, then.

     Opening up the side door, Nik indicated for her to enter first, and then followed with her stuff. As he handed off her suitcase to Aiden, he made the introductions. “Emma, this is Aiden. Aiden…Emma.”

   
 
“Hello.” Emma smiled timidly, a blush creeping across her cheeks.

     Nik looked over at his friend, trying to see him through her eyes. Just slightly shorter and smaller than Nik, he was lean and muscular in black, nylon running pants, tank top, and a grey hoodie with the hood up. Long lashed grey eyes bore into her from underneath dark brows. His nose was straight, his cheekbones high, his lips sinful. With skin the color of a creamy latte and a slightly dimpled chin, he had the look of a desert prince, and he carried himself like one also.

     Aiden looked from Emma to Nik and back to Emma again, appraising grey eyes wandering over her small frame from her bright head to her sneakered feet and back again.

     “Bloody hell.”  Muttering to himself something about “women” and “death of us all”, he left them to take her suitcase to the back bedroom where she’d be sleeping.

     “Um…” Emma looked over at Nik, probably hoping he’d shed some light on his friend’s greeting…or lack thereof…but he just shrugged his shoulders in agreement and followed his friend.

     As he walked into the back sleeping area, he grinned a little as he heard her mumble sarcastically, “Nice to meet you too.”

***

     Emma looked around, checking out her new digs. At least they would be for the immediate future. “Wow.”

   
 
From the outside, the vehicle looked like any normal family vacation nightmare. From the inside?
Gutted completely and remodeled for their use, it was like a combination of spaceship control room, modern living quarters and bank vault.

     Stainless steel and black leather dominated the masculine decor. Instead of the usual chairs and TV set up behind the drivers seat, there was a corner desk with multiple computer monitors.  A keyboard, mouse, cell phone, notebook, and satellite phone were all laying on the desk, and a swivel chair was bolted to the floor in front of it. A map was tacked to the wall above, red pins stuck into it here and there, including one smack in the middle of the location of her house.

     All of the windows throughout the RV were covered with what looked like some kind of steel coverings, except for the front windshield and front door windows, which she was pretty sure were tinted darker than the legal limit. There was the usual driver and passenger seats, and a third seat behind the passenger’s.

     Behind her, there was a counter, a small fridge, some cabinets and a sink. Towards the back end, there were some sofa seats lining the sides with narrow tables parallel to them, a doorway which led to what she guessed was a bathroom, and the back room where the guys had disappeared with her stuff. To top it off, all of the doors seemed to be made of reinforced steel with multiple locks, even the driver and passenger doors.

     She wondered where they slept during the day. She didn’t see any coffins laying around.

     Setting her bag of snacks on the counter, she opened the fridge that was just to her right, and found it stacked full of bags of blood.
Guess he was telling the truth about the bagged blood diet.
More surprisingly, there was some bottled water in the door. And in the crisper? She found her favorite fruits. She stared at the apples (Fuji), and pears (Asian), and ignored the feeling in her chest at Nikulas
’
thoughtfulness. After a moment, she added her own pieces that she’d brought with her. Opening the top cabinet, she found more of her favorite foods, even her chai tea and the agave she liked in it.

     She was still staring into the cabinet when Nik and Aiden wandered up from the back.

     Nik cleared his throat. “I had Aiden run by the store while we were talking earlier. I gave him a list. Just some stuff I know you like.” Rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably, he wouldn’t look at her when she tried to catch his eye.

     Reaching over her head, he closed the cabinet door. “We need to get going Em. Unless you’re hungry?” he asked.

     “No, I’m good. Thanks.” Stepping back from the counter, she discreetly cleared her throat, berating herself for getting so emotional over some stupid fruit. She just couldn’t remember a time that someone had been so thoughtful towards her. Not since her parents had died, actually.

     As Aiden settled himself in the driver’s seat, Nik told her, “We put your stuff in the back bedroom. Aid and I will crash out here on the couches come sunup.”

   
 
Leaning forward, he got right down in her face. “When you wake up before us, do NOT leave this vehicle. Do you understand? Not for anything.” He waited until she’d confirmed that she heard him, and then added, “There are some books in the back room, satellite TV. Shower items and towels are in the closet. Oh, no cell phone calls, and don’t touch the computer.”

   
 
“I don’t have a phone, or anyone to call.”

   
 
As Nik went up to join Aiden, she got the distinct feeling she was being dismissed, “Nik?” Sitting down, he twisted his torso around to look back at her. “Um. Thank you… for the food.”