Blood Hunger (An Adult Paranormal Romance) (Deathless Night Series #1) (4 page)

     “I fear I don’t have much time for more questions. The important one is answered. The rest I’ll figure out as we go.” As his eyes started to glaze over, his lips barely moved as he whispered, “Go on then.”

   
 
Luukas lowered himself down to his knees and sat back on his haunches on the bloody, mud-covered ground. He pulled Aiden’s body gently onto his lap, his fangs lengthening. “This will only hurt for a moment.”

   
 
At the terrifying sight of those dagger-like fangs, a last spark of life flickered in Aiden’s eyes, widening them in fear. But too late.

     Luukas gripped his head, turning it to the side and exposing his throat. Striking fast as a cobra, he latched onto Aiden’s neck, sucking his old life from his body and replacing it with the new.

     They never did figure out exactly which side Aiden was fighting on that day, if any at all.

***

     Speaking of the devil, the bang of the bathroom door announced Aiden’s presence. “All set?”

   
 
“Yup. One sec…” Nik tossed his bag’o blood in the recycle container and picked up his cell phone. He hit speed dial for the number he’d programed in there earlier and waited…one ring…two rings…three rings…Had he missed her?

     “Accounting, this is Emma, how may I help you?” Her soft-spoken voice finally came across the line.

     “Meet me at The Vineyard. 9 PM sharp. Don’t be late. I have information about Keira.” Nik disconnected the call, set his phone down on the counter, and followed Aiden out into the cool night, both of them barefoot and wearing nothing but sweats and T-shirts. Silently, without a word or look between them, they split up and walked the perimeter, checking for anything threatening or unusual.

     They had found a clearing in a secluded area of the woods, not far from Emma’s house, to park their mobile unit. Not your average recreational vehicle, this one was specially made. It had started out as a Fleetwood Pace Arrow, which was then worked over to include things like steel shutters over the windows, technology out the ass, weapon caches, and a souped up engine (think
Meet The Fockers
).

     Though the vampire Council for North America was based in the state of Washington, they had numerous modes of transportation such as this throughout the United States and Canada. They also had some pretty jazzy jets, hideaways, etc.

     Needless to say, they did not have money issues. After living so many lifetimes, you quickly learned which investments were good ones. Making money was a bothersome, though necessary, evil. However, in this modern day and age, it was needed more for their protection than for materialistic reasons.

     Luukas had been Master over the North American territory since arriving with his acquired colony of vampires shortly after finding Aiden. The colony was ruled by the Council, whom he’d hand picked his from his strongest, most useful and most loyal Vampires. 

     Nikulas, as his brother, was his second in command. The two brothers, as the most important members of the Council, each had a Guardian, who was never to be far from their side. The rest of the group consisted of the Hunters. Although they hadn’t been used much in recent years, their job was to foresee any and all threats to the council, and to annihilate that threat as quickly as possible.

     Together they made the laws and enforced the rules for the smaller colonies that now were spread throughout the country, by force if necessary.

     Luukas was a hard, but fair, Master. Very few have challenged him for that position over the years, and the few that had dared didn’t survive the Hunters to challenge him again. With the exception of Leeha.

     When they had spared her life after burning her father (and maker), who knew what a pain in the ass she would become?

     Nik walked to the center of the clearing and waited calmly for Aiden, who was now busy doing his Muhammad Ali dance. Such a showboat, that guy. But Nik wouldn’t want anyone else with him when it came to a real fight. Aiden was a powerhouse. The fact that he was a complete lunatic only brought an extra element of surprise with them.

     “All right princess, let’s go. Time’s a wastin’.” Nik raised his fists in front of his face, sinking down into a solid fighting stance.

     “Princess?
Princess??
That would be
Queen
to you, you Estonian bastard!” Aiden charged across the clearing, arms and legs pumping like pistons. Jumping high into the air at the last minute, he caught Nik in the head with a hook kick. With barely a stagger, Nik went with it and then ducked low and caught Aiden around the waist, tackling him to the ground with a
whoop!

     In less than a second, they were both on their feet again, circling each other. And then, it was Game. On. Taunts and fists flying, they eagerly went after each other, only avoiding face shots. They saved those for their enemies. After all, why mess up their pretty mugs if it wasn’t necessary?

     Thirty minutes later, Nik called a halt to the fun. “Much as I enjoy kicking your ass,“ he grunted, “I need to shower and get ready to go see Emma.” Holding Aiden’s head between his legs in a scissor hold, Nik gave him a noogie, burning his knuckles across Aiden’s head and eliciting a string of curses from said head. Releasing him, Nik jumped to his feet and ran into the RV, laughing aloud as Aiden rolled onto his stomach in the damp grass, yelling after him, “You’ll not be getting away with that, Nikulas!”

Seattle, Washington

    
“Is Dante coming, or what? I’m really getting tired of constantly waiting on his ass. I have things to do.” Christian threw himself onto the oversized leather couch by the window looking over the city, propping his head on one end and his dirty boots on the other.

     “Hey! Easy on my furniture, manwhore.” Shea scowled at his buzzed head. The only female vampire on Luukas
’
council, she was also the only one who cared about such things as clean furniture.

     His amber eyes flashed as he sat up. “Why? It’s not like
you
ever bring any dates home to see it.”

   
 
She plopped down next to him, just far enough away that they didn’t accidentally touch. “Let’s not fight, C. Fun as it always is, we have other things to worry about right now.”

   
 
He reached over and smacked her jean-clad knee in agreement. “Speaking of which…like, seriously, where the hell is Dante?”

   
 
Hiding the pain caused by his touch, she only said, “He’s on his way up. Give him a minute.”

   
 
Shea leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees. She was tired of having this same conversation with Christian over and over again.

     Christian mimicked her position, turning his head to look at her. “What the hell is up with him, Shea? You’re closer to him than all of us. What’s his deal?”

   
 
She sighed inwardly. It looked like they were going to have it anyway.

     “I really don’t know,” she told him honestly. “He’s been like this since Luukas was taken. Hell, we’ve all been affected.”

   
 
“Well, sure, but you don’t see me living underground like a creature of lore. We don’t have to do that anymore.”

   
 
“He feels safe down there…if a bit wet.” Shea smiled and changed the subject. “So, who’s the floozy of the moment for Christian the Lady Killer?” She threw a hand up. “Don’t tell me! Let me guess her name. Candy? Bambi? No? Wait, I know, Porsche!”

   
 
“Lay off, Shea. You know you’re just jealous.” Playing it off, Christian got up and walked over to the kitchen.

     Shea regarded his broad, muscular back, now hunched over the counter; thumbing through the newspaper she’d left lying there. She wondered if he ever got tired of the endless parade of females sashaying in and out of his life. She wasn’t kidding when she called him a manwhore. She’d never seen one guy get so much action from so many different females.

     He was right, however. The bastard. She
was
jealous, though she would never admit it. She hadn’t had a male companion since Luukas disappeared.

     Something had happened to her when that had happened. She’d first noticed it when Nik had gathered them all together to let them know their Master had never returned from his meeting with the she-bitch. After he’d filled them in, she’d gone up to him to give him a hug, show some support. But no sooner had his arms gone around her to return it, when excruciating pain had blasted down her spine, shooting out her limbs and hitting every nerve ending along the way. She’d pulled away with a hiss, and the pain had immediately gone away. Assuring Nik she was fine with an apologetic smile, she’d hurried out of the room, and hadn’t purposely touched any male since.

     Strange, but it seemed to
only
be males who affected her. Now, she fed exclusively on females. Sometimes she even fucked them, just to have some skin on skin contact, but she’d never admit it to her comrades. She didn’t need the harassment. She wasn’t gay, just lonely.

     And she definitely didn’t want to give the guys she hung out with any fuel for their sex lives. They were like her brothers, and she’d worked hard to build that relationship with all of them. She didn’t want to ruin it by stirring up their girl on girl fantasies, with her as the star.

     They all seemed to be dealing with Luukas
’
disappearance in their own ways.

     The front door was suddenly thrown open, smashing into the wall behind it, Dante’s imposing figure filling the entire frame. Dressed in biker black, and with his latte colored skin, his presence seemed to suck all of the light in the room into the black void that was his existence.

     His lifeless black eyes scanned the room, lighting briefly onto Christian, and finally coming to rest on Shea. A tiny spark of life appeared as he gazed upon her, and was just as quickly gone, not hanging around long enough for anyone to notice. Tribal tattoos covered the left side of his body. Running down the side of his face and neck, they vanished under the neckline of his tight T-shirt, contributing to his chilling appearance.

     Christian calmly raised an eyebrow. “Is that really necessary, dude?”

   
 
Dante’s lips lifted into a scary semblance of a smile, as he ran a hand over his smooth skull.

***

Rural Pennsylvania

     Emma’s phone rang right as she stood up to leave work. Leaning her head back and tiredly closing her eyes, she seriously considered not answering for a few seconds, but then, with a heavy sigh, picked up the receiver.

     “Accounting, this is Emma, how may I help you?”

   
 
“Meet me at The Vineyard. 9 PM sharp. Don’t be late.” A pause. “I have information about Keira.” A very deep, very masculine…voice said.

     Emma’s breath froze in her lungs as she stared unblinkingly at her cubical wall. Information about Keira? About her sister? Could it be? After all this time?

     Suddenly remembering she was on the phone, she snapped herself out of it. “Who is…?” but the caller had already hung up. She glanced at the clock on the wall - 7:09 PM. She’d get there in plenty of time.

     She started to reach for her purse…Wait. What the hell was she thinking? She didn’t even know who that
was
on the phone. She hadn’t recognized the voice, and they hadn’t identified themselves as an authority of any sort. It could just be someone playing a cruel joke. It had happened a few times when Keira first disappeared.

     She pushed the memories determinedly out of her head. That was seven years ago. Why would someone do that again after all this time?

     And…what if it wasn’t a joke? What if it was for real? Could she take that chance? Could she believe that maybe it was an actual lead about her sister? After all these years?

     You bet your ass she could.

     She grabbed her purse and practically ran out of the office, yelling to Mark that she was leaving for the night, and nearly falling on her face when her Payless heels hit the slick floor in the reception area.

     She was out the door and halfway across the parking lot before he’d managed to rush to her desk.

     Hopping into the driver’s seat, she tossed her bag over to the passenger side and started her eco-friendly Prius. Executing some hand over hand action backing out of her parking space, she caught a whiff of herself and wrinkled her nose…
Ew
.

     Hitting the gym at lunch for her kickboxing class was a necessary evil, but the time crunch didn’t give her much time to clean up afterward. So, she drove home to shower and change into more comfortable clothes, making it there in record time.

     Jumping out of her car, she locked it with the key fob as she ran up the steps to her porch. The keys fumbled in her hands, and she almost dropped them three times before she finally managed to get the front door unlocked.

     Bursting into her house, she ran upstairs, flicking on lights as she went. At her dresser, she yanked open the top drawer and grabbed some clean underwear. Wrenching open another drawer, she yanked out the first pair of jeans she found and threw them both on the bed.

     Her work clothes were halfway off by the time she reached her closet. Hopping on one foot at a time to remove her heels, she threw her clothes in the hamper and her shoes into a corner.

     Spotting her comfy lavender sweater, she tossed it on to the bed with the rest and streaked into the bathroom to shower, clenching her teeth as the cool water hit her skin. Dumping some shampoo on her head, she scrubbed her head and body with the same suds. Clean and rinsed, she shut off the water just as it was starting to warm up.

     Dressed and (sort of) blow dried, she threw on her sneakers, grabbed a Lara bar to eat on the way, and ran out the door again, barely remembered to lock it behind her.

     By 8:20 PM she was walking into The Vineyard, stopping just inside to let her eyes adjust to the dim lighting. She’d never been to this place, even though it was only five minutes from her house. Taking in the shoddy interior, it looked like every other small town watering hole. Same old red, leather booths. Same kerosene lamps along the wall.

     Dance floor, if you wanted to call it that, was to her left, complete with a drunk couple slow dancing to a fast song.

     Bar straight ahead.

     She proceeded that way, deciding a drink to calm her nerves would do her good. Other than the inebriated dancers and a few stragglers, the place was fairly empty for a Friday night.

    
Strange.

     Finding an empty stool at the end of the bar, she sat down and turned it slightly sideways so her back was to the wall and she could keep an eye on the entrance.

     The bartender put down the glass he was cleaning at the other end of the bar and shuffled down to her, “What’ll it be darlin?”  His voice was as ragged as his grey hair, but his pale, blue eyes twinkled merrily. Grabbing a cloth, he sprayed the bar with disinfectant and wiped it down.

     She liked him immediately.

     “I’ll take a Jack and Coke, please.” She set her bag up on the now clean bar and made herself comfortable.

     “Strong drink for such a little girl,” he teased, giving her a contagious smile. She saw he was missing a tooth, right in front.

     She smiled back.

     As he shuffled back down the way he had come, Emma looked around again. Upon further

inspection, she saw that although the furnishings were old and the floor was beat up from all of the boots that had trod across it, the place was at least clean.

    
Maybe I should come hang out here sometime. Socialize and shit. S
he snorted and rolled her eyes at herself. Like
that
would ever happen.

     Emma never went anywhere except work and the gym. And honestly, she was surprised she still had this job after being there a full year. Usually she didn’t last at any one place more than a few months, before she’d have to quit and move on. And not always because she wanted to. She’d had some really cool jobs in the past, and had worked with some really nice people.

     But, inevitably,
it
would happen. She’d get irritated with someone over something stupid, a stapler would fly off their desk and into a wall all by itself, and then the sideways looks and whispers would start. Her co-workers would now be afraid of her. They would stop coming by her desk for small talk. Stop inviting her for lunch.

     It would be her childhood all over again.

     Once, they’d even started a petition to have her fired due to “feelings of unease and inherent creepiness.”

   
 
…Inherent creepiness?
Emma snorted to herself again.
Really?

     Her more recent regular workout routine helped though. She found that if she wore herself out physically on a daily basis, the “incidents” happened much less frequently. So she jogged and went to kickboxing class, sometimes doing both in the same day. Unfortunately, she hadn’t figure this out until after Keira disappeared. What started out as a way to help her cope with the trauma, ended up having a life changing side effect.

     The bartender shuffled her way again. “Here you go pretty lady.” His elderly hand set her drink down in front of her, without spilling a drop. “That’ll be $3.50. Wanna start a tab?”

   
 
“No, thank you. I’ll just go ahead and pay it.” Emma pulled her wallet out of her bag to dig out some cash. “I’m really not much of a drinker, you know. Just needed something to calm my nerves.” Handing him a five, she told him to keep the change.

     “Thank you, darlin.” He turned around to ring her up. “So! What brings you into our fine establishment tonight? I don’t recall seeing you in here before…though you do look kind of familiar…” Propping his elbows up across the bar from her, the old man settled in for a chat.

     Emma turned her stool around to face him fully, not wanting to be rude. Taking a sip of her drink, she revealed, “Um…I’m meeting someone here actually.”