Charleston Past Midnight (19 page)

“Before we begin, Calla, I’ve given it some thought, and if there is ever any hint of danger or threat, I want our meeting point to be the front lawn of our home. Trace there and I will always come for you, am I clear?”

“Yes. Do you think I can trace that far?”

I grin at her question.
She has much to learn
. “It’s not ever the distance, it’s the focus that enables us to trace. Anyplace that you have ever stood is fair game. You can trace with other vampires, willing or not on their part, and you can also physically hold back and distract other vampires who are about to trace. Break that much needed concentration and they’re staying put.”

Her thin brows are drawn together closely as she mentally catalogs everything I lay out for her. If she had an inkling of how powerful our skills are, she would be astonished.

In a determined voice she says, “Okay, got it. I think I’m ready and I
know
that I’m hungry. The urge is getting stronger with every passing minute.”

“Excellent. Then that should make your first feeding go smoothly. Remember, hesitation and tentativeness are things you’ve left behind with your past life. All right, my lovely one?”

Her glittering eyes flick to mine then back down to the street level. “Tell me what to do.”

“I will choose for you this first time. I’m looking for a male, one who is alone and will easily succumb to your glamouring. Remember, when I tell you to pull away, you must not fight me. I’ll do everything in my power to keep you from killing. It will make it much harder on you psychologically if you do, Calla, so try to focus as you feed.”

“I’ll do my best, Severin, I promise.”

“Okay. There.” I point down at a large male who is coming out of a street level apartment building. There are people on the dark sidewalk, but the closest are over a block away from him, heading in the opposite direction. Perfect.

“I want you to step off the building, land on the sidewalk, cross the street and touch his arm while looking into his eyes; then I want you to draw him into the shadows of the narrow alley between those two buildings, understood?”

“I understand everything but the first part. I can’t just step off the building, Severin.”

“Oh, but you can and you will.”

She stares at me as if I’ve just spoken Japanese.

“Do you trust me, my love?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then step off the edge and see what happens.”

She peeks over the side and her eyes widen. I add, “Also, your dinner is getting away.”

That caught her attention. Her shoulders square off in determination right before she steps out into the air. I watch her drift down and land so smoothly it’s as if she just took her next step during a leisurely evening stroll. She hesitates for a second, turns and looks way up at me watching her. Her happy smile is absolutely radiant. I tilt my head in the direction of the human who just ended his cellphone conversation and is now on the move. She crosses the street gracefully and instantly catches his admiring gaze as he slows his stride. She was stunning before the change, but now she is absolutely irresistible, especially to a human. Her hair shimmers with luster and her delicate features seem more prominent. When we turn, everything about us becomes more enticing. A longstanding trait meant to draw in willing prey, because what human would ever comply with basically being assaulted by a wretched being? No, with how we are perceived, it’s almost a mutually enjoyable experience, with the human languishing in the ecstasy that the bite brings to them, similar to an orgasm but more psychological. Also, their egos are inwardly stroked to have one such as us—someone undeniably attractive—so completely attentive to them, however brief the encounter. Yes, the intimacy of feeding is definitely mutual. This fact alone is what aided me in coming to terms with the initial guilt I had about feeding. I felt like a parasite but it didn’t take long to accept it for what it is—a requisite.

Stepping off the building I follow her while keeping ample distance between us.
She’s smart. I’ll only intervene if absolutely necessary.

I watch her step up onto the opposite sidewalk beside him, her eyes never leaving her prey’s as she slowly ambles toward him in a seductive manner. He slows even more, already quite interested in the possibility of a chance meeting with one such as her. I stifle my raging possessiveness, mentally reminding myself that this will inevitably occur countless times in the centuries to come.

I hear her speak to him as she touches his bicep, “Hi.”

Fuck!
She’s trying to do what feels natural to her, to seduce him as a human female would.
She shouldn’t be speaking to him at all … she needs to simply act!
I get closer, concerned that this could head south in the blink of an eye.

The large male stares down at her, “Hey, babe, where you headed?”

I can tell that she is trying to glamour him, but she’s vibrating with nerves and can’t focus. Her eyes break from his to find mine. I shake my head once, signaling that she needs to walk away. It’s too risky. There are people getting close and she isn’t ready to do this on her own.

He keeps talking to her. “You need a lift, sweetheart? Tell you what—I’m your man if I can get your digits. Your call, babe.”

She shakes her head, angry with herself. Releasing his arm, she brushes quickly past him.

I watch as he turns around and throws out an arm as he calls out loudly to her, “What the fuck? You drunk college bitches are so fucking confusing! Whatever, your loss.”

She’s trembling as she reaches me. Both hunger and shame are written on her lovely face.

“Let’s get out of here, Severin. Damn it! That was an epic failure.”

“Come, let’s walk.”

My arm is wrapped comfortingly around her as we walk together in silence. Turning right down Beaufain Street, I stop her. “Calla, don’t beat yourself up over it. It’s not productive. Now tell me, what happened back there?”

She presses her pink lips together and says, “I thought I had it, but nerves got the best of me and I floundered. I didn’t think that I could glamour him; it was too foreign for me. Shit, maybe I’m not cut out for this lifestyle, Severin.”

She looks off down the dim street and I can see the distress in her eyes.

I lean down and whisper against her lips, “You, my beauty, are spectacular. Give it time, and it will come to you.”

She murmurs, “I sure hope that’s the case, because this hunger is so strong it’s starting to gnaw at my stomach.”

* * *

It’s just after four in the morning when we pass the entrance to MacPherson’s Pub on Prioleau Street. The multitudes of partiers have begun to noticeably thin out, leaving only a few stragglers and scattered couples staggering in and out of the late night bars. It’s amusing to watch them constantly lose their balance on the rounded stones and uneven slate sidewalks. Back in my time, men were far better at holding their liquor.

We still have close to two hours until dawn, but I’d rather she feed now than cut it too close. I’m cautious and want to have her back to the safety of the house by five a.m. Suddenly I detect a familiar voice. My face whips to the right and I listen intently.
Impossible. Could we be so lucky?

I stop, grasp her shoulders, and speak low and fast, “I’ve just found
exactly
what you’re looking for tonight, Calla, but you must remember to keep a rein on your anger when you feed.” I tilt my head in the direction where I want her to look and add, “Now turn around.”

We’re about a hundred yards away from him, standing against the long shadows of a brick building. As she turns to see whom I’m referring to, a long, low hiss escapes her parted lips. She recognizes him immediately and without a word or glance to me she heads straight toward the man named Kane. He’s alone tonight. His friend must still be recovering
. Now it’s his turn to pay up.

I hear him speaking into his mobile, his voice a drunken slur, “Yeah, we’ll see about that, baby. You’d better get ready to take it hard, ’cause I’ll be over in fifteen and you’d best be wearing that black lace shit that gets me all fired up. What? Fuck no, I’m not stoppin’ on the way for a bottle of wine.”

The instant he catches sight of Calla in his peripheral vision his jaw drops and he mutters as he disconnects from his call, “See ya.” His features tighten in hatred as she closes in fast. He starts to speak, “No boyfriend to protect—”

His sentence is cut off as she grabs him by the front of his shirt. His feet nearly lose contact with the ground beneath him as he’s dragged to the side of the building. I focus my gaze and watch as she immediately shoves him hard against the brick wall. A large steel dumpster and the heavy shadows shield them from the few people meandering along the street at this late hour.

She doesn’t yet know the superior strength that she possesses, but he’ll soon
feel
it. I jog across the street because there is simply
no way
I’m going to miss this. I edge into the mouth of the alley, not wanting to interrupt what is about to go down.

He quickly recovers from the shock of being manhandled by a petite woman and growls at her, “You dumb cunt, you just sealed your fate.”

Without a word she brings her arm down and I watch it cut up and across her torso as she deals him a vicious backhand that drops the towering man to his knees before her.

His head hangs low, inches from the filthy cobblestones. I watch him spit out a tooth and grate out, “What the fuck!” while struggling to get back up to his feet. She doesn’t give him the chance. Before he’s halfway up, she grips the back of his dark hair in a cruel hold, bringing him up to face her. When they are inches apart, she whispers softly, “Now I’m a sporting girl, asshole, so I’m going to let you go, and if you can get to the top of that alley before I take you down, then you’re free.”

I grin inwardly. Even half-asleep she could beat him. He done for and she knows it well.

“You stupid whore! Get your fucking hands off me! I’m gonna make you bleed. You’re the one who’s gonna be leaving this alley in a damn body bag, bitch!”

“Do your best, big talker,” she hisses as she releases his hair.

I tense as he lunges for her. She stops him cold with a palm planted right into the center of his thick chest. She shoves hard and he lands once again up against the brick, completely stunned by her power. Before he can move or make any sound, she attacks. Her fangs plunge right into him, and he begins to scream in pain before she wisely plants her hand across his mouth to shut him up. She’s too furious to bother glamouring him, knowing that he deserves every ounce of pain and discomfort that her bite will bring. As she drinks from him I watch his struggle cease as the pleasure takes over. He’s moaning continuously from the wave of sexual excitement that is working its way through his overwrought system. I don’t like watching it, but at least she is feeding, and this time there was no hesitation whatsoever on her part. Good for her.

I hear his heart slowing and I know that I need to intervene before she drains him completely. I move in and place a hand on her bare shoulder. She quickly tries to shrug me off, not wanting to be interrupted.

“Stop now.” I demand sternly.

That catches her attention. She retracts from his neck and steps away, not concerned in the least as the human moans and slides into a heap, one shoulder slumped against the battered dumpster.

“Seal his wound or he’ll bleed out, Calla.”

She turns to face me, his red blood still staining her full lips. “I couldn’t care less.”

Shaking my head, I explain, “You will in time. Now do as I say or
I
will.”

She’s furious as she points down at him in disgust. “This piece of trash was gonna
rape
me that night, Severin! Explain to me why I should show him mercy? Tell me!” Her eyes are shimmering with rage as I say calmly, “Because you’re nothing like him, and you never will be. That’s why.”

She knows that she doesn’t have a platform to argue with me on this point. Reluctantly she turns toward the slouched man, huffs out a breath, and drops down into a crouch to swipe her tongue against his seeping wound. It begins to clot immediately as she stands and spits once onto the stone, obviously not liking the taste of his skin and perspiration. She wipes her lips with the back of her hand and tells me, “I got what I needed, even though his blood tasted like alcohol. Now I want to get out of here. Let’s go.”

“Wait.”

I crouch down and pry his eyes open, stare deeply into them and wipe his recall of the last several minutes. This is a must, each and every time. Glamouring takes care of that, but seeing as how she cut straight to the action, it has to be handled before we leave.

Taking her hand, I lead her back onto the street where intoxicated partiers are coming in and out of the three popular spots on the lamp-lit street. My mobile suddenly goes off, vibrating repetitively in my pocket. I reach in, fish it out, and read the name ‘Case’ on the screen. My blood runs cold. He never calls me, as in
ever
.
Something is very wrong ….

I draw her up against a corner wall, my arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders as I touch the screen. He begins to speak to me immediately, his low voice pulsating in fury, “They’ve got her, Valdon’s men. Was chillin’ at one of her outside tables as she finished her shift. Saw her walk into the ladies’ room. She never came out. Fucking got concerned and busted the lock open. Nothing but her scattered purse left on the fucking floor. Tell me you got a plan, Severin, ’cause I have an idea where they live and I’m about to go solo. He takes her down, he’s gonna fucking pay up, and that’s no lie.”

“Easy, Case. Meet me at the house in twenty minutes. If you haven’t already, contact Ambrose and Alina and have them meet us. I have a stop to make first.”

We both disconnect and in an instant the night has gone from entertaining to harrowing. An icy shiver slithers up my neck, knowing that the human named Kiana is as good as dead. She’s nothing but a pawn in Valdon’s sick game—an attractive, disposable one at that. There is
no
way I’ll ever permit Calla to get within range of him. He knows that she cares for this human and will most likely do everything within her power to try and rescue her doomed friend.