Devour

Devour

Andrea Heltsley

Calli
e is a royal vampire. She hunts by taking the blood from her victims and erases their memories afterwards. She goes undetected until a victim named Chase approaches her with all his memories intact. He is intrigued and attracted. She is terrified. What happens when a human mixes with the immortal world? Chaos.

Callie
’s 18
th
birthday has passed and she is coming out at the annual blood ball. Will she find a mate or will she suffer the repercussions of her indiscretion? She is brought to the vampire council and they must decide what to do with Chase. Do they kill him, or turn him to protect their secret?

Present day

I s
it in the bed cross-legged and gently bang my head against the bars behind me. The sheets are stiff and scratchy. The pillow is flat and the room is sparse. The only amenities accessible are a bed and a small, basic bathroom. Fortunately, I don’t have to pee in public. That’s something, at least.

My hair feels stringier than usual and
the desire to wash my face with something other than plain soap is strong. It’s hard to believe how much I actually miss the normal creature comforts I’m so accustomed to. I don’t think I’ll ever take them for granted again, if I live that is.

Things ha
ve gotten desperate. I never thought something like this could ever happen, let alone to me. Due to the bizarre set of circumstances, I’m being held for possible treason. The thought that anyone would ever purposely betray our kind is unthinkable and makes me shudder.

Then there’
s the fact that this is dragging two royal families’ reputations through the mud. That means I have practically ruined four council members in the process. I can’t help but be ashamed of myself. It’s not really my fault, but that doesn’t change the situation.

Being royalty br
ings with it so many expectations to uphold, but being a teenage vampire is what really sucks. Ha, ha sucks. Anyways, I digress. I close my eyes and let my mind take me back to a time when things were simple, before
him.

Less than a week ago

Sitting at the kitchen table, it’s time to drink my evening cocktail of bagged blood infused with vamp blood and caffeine. This concoction is one that only the royal family is privy to. If word ever got out, we would have a whole legion of super vampires on the loose. The vamp blood and caffeine boosts our abilities, making us superior to our followers. The ingredients can’t be ingested separately or they would have little to no effect.

Bagged blood, even this mixture
, is something to loathe. Blood fresh from the source is much more filling and tastes so much better. My best friend, Jane, and I have a theory of sorts. The hotter the guy is that we feed from, the better the blood.

This could
be false, although we’ve never tried to disprove the theory. We always go for the hot guys. I mean, why not? We are fledgling vampires, as well as part of the royal court. Our looks are at their prime even though our aging is slowing altogether. This gives us three years of youthful magnetism before we stop changing completely at the ripe age of twenty-one.

Jane turned eighteen last week and
my birthday was the month before. It used to be a cake walk to get blood. We simply preyed on the male population of Lunar High. Now, we’ve somehow managed to graduate and are scattered out into the world.

Well, that’
s not totally true. We will both go to U of V in the fall. I know the name is cheesy. Who would name a school University of Vampires? Anyway, I’m always going off on tangents. It’s an annoying habit my mind has.

U of V isn’t like your normal college
for a few reasons. One, it is nestled deep within the royal lands. The campus is nearly impenetrable. Two, only royalty gets to go there. It is an elitist university rooted deep in centuries of pure breeding.

I know what you’re thinking
. Vampires can’t breed. That’s a complete misnomer. We can and do breed with our own kind. There are strict rules in place to prevent diluting the lines and everyone follows them to the letter. Breaking the rules brings a stiff penalty and a visit to the vampire council. The less they know you, the better. Once you are in their clutches, you are marked and could become a required breeder at some point.

Hmm, a required breeder you say.
It isn’t quite as bad as it sounds, yet I fear it. It means that you basically have a window of time to settle down and become pregnant. This would be impossible for us if we didn’t have vamp guys waiting in line for a chance at a royal. The benefits to become royalty are worth it alone.

Breeding as a royal is supposed to be a big honor and a way to carry on our heritage.
It should be a blessing, but sometimes when the council orders it, that feels more like a curse. Being told what to do with your life is never fun.

I refocus on the here and now, breaking my internal train of thought.
Looking up, my mother has come into the kitchen and is pouring herself a glass of our cocktail. I was so distracted that I didn’t even hear her come in. When our eyes meet, she gives me a gentle smile that crinkles her blue eyes slightly.

“Good
evening, sweetheart. How are you? Are you prepared for the blood ball tomorrow night? It will be your first official outing as an unmatched female now that you are of age. I really am so excited for you.”

I groan inwardly.
The ball is the last thing on my mind. It isn’t that I don’t want to meet someone special. I just don’t want to hit my first year of college already attached. Desire fills me to experience college life the way it is meant to be.

“
I already have my gown hanging in the closet. The courier brought it just after sunset. I have to say, you have outdone yourself. It’s absolutely gorgeous. My only hope is that I can do it justice.”

“Oh, honey.
It’s going to be stunning on you. I have no doubt the boys will be tripping over themselves just to score a dance with you.”

“Thanks
, Mom. I appreciate your positivity.”

“On another note, what are you planning to do tonight
, young lady? Are you going hunting again with Jane?” she asks me.

“Yep, we are go
ing to hit The Racing Heart and get our groove on first. Then we will find our targets. I hope there are some cute guys there tonight.”

“You two are absolutely shameless.
Never-the-less, I hope you have a fantastic time tonight.”

“
There is no doubt that Jane and I will have a great time. It is us that you’re talking about,” I joke.

Sucking
down the last of my blood and wiping my lips off with a napkin, I throw my empty bag in the trash and exit the kitchen. It’s time to get ready before Jane comes over in an hour. I practically glide up the steps in my haste to make it to my room.

Stripping off my shorts and tee, I slip into the shower and spend as little time as possible getting cleaned up.
We have to use unscented soaps and hair products because our noses sense of smell is as sensitive as that of a normal human. The chemical scents are too overpowering and I prefer the smells around me instead of smelling myself.

Once finished,
after stepping out of the shower and wrapping a plush red towel around myself, it’s time to figure out what to wear. The outfit in question should be as sexy as possible. My rule of thumb is the sexier the better. The desire to hook a real hottie tonight is strong and I need the perfect outfit for that.

I settle on a lavender slip dress that brings out the color in my violet eyes.
Smiling at how awesome my body looks in this dress, I slip on a pair of dark purple, strappy mules and head to the vanity. Some makeup to accentuate my flawless features and a few accessories finish my look. I pull a brush through my straight, brown hair and add shimmery hair pomade to it.

Soon,
the bell rings and Jane is here, waiting on me. Finn, the butler, will let her in. She hates to wait though. Jane is one royal that acts like royalty to the nth degree. None the less, I love her.

I slip my I.D. and credit card into my bra
, along with my cell phone and head out of my room. Making my way to the bottom of the stairs and finding Jane in a silver, sequined dress is no shock. It hugs her curves and makes her look like a movie star. Her silver grey eyes seem to sparkle under the lights. I also love her blonde up do. She’ll definitely stand out tonight.

Wrapping her in a hug, I feel giddy.
I always do when we go hunting. Then again, any teenage girl would be excited to go looking for that perfectly hot guy. Just because we do it for sport and survival doesn’t mean we don’t absolutely love it.

“I’m so ready for tonight.
Let’s go before all the yummy guys are gone. I get first pick tonight.”

Jane scoffed and cracked a smile.
“Fine, but I get first pick at the blood ball tomorrow night.”

“That won’t be a problem.
You know I don’t want to be attached. I could care less about the vamp guys trying to get to me for my royalty.”

“Seriously
, Callie, I think you should reconsider. You get your pick of all the most fabulous guys to breed with. They’ll be yours. Isn’t that enough of an incentive?”

“I just don’t want to be attached right now.
I’m not ready for breeding. I want to get through college minus a boyfriend, mate or whatever.”

“Yeah, but you are royalty.
You know perfectly well that the council can decide to change your status at the drop of a hat. At least then you would be ready with a hot guy of your choice.”