Chapter One
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Saffie
The music is so loud I can feel the floor thumping underneath me. Every song is about fucking, getting fucked, or wanting to get fucked. It’s honestly making my head hurt worse. The forced smiles aren't helping either. I'm miserable.
I allowed a co-worker to talk me into coming to this party, an adult party. Not in the way a lot of kink goes down and afterward everyone walks away to be bankers and lawyers. I think I would have more fun at that kind of party. Not that I would know what to do at one but from what I've read they pretty much leave you alone unless you want to play. No, this party was supposed to be adult as in grown-up, mature, not eighteen-year-olds getting drunk and wasted in the corners. Turns out adults are just like teenagers, they just don't have anyone to answer to for being stupid and crazy the next day.
I shouldn't have come. I shouldn't have let her talk me into showing up. I definitely shouldn't have let her dress me up as a sexy witch. Not only can I not breathe because all of my curves are shoved in a corset but if this dress gets any shorter everyone is going to be able to see all my business since I’m wearing a bright red thong.
I've already been hit on by three men who could have been my father and every woman here who is showing just as much as I am - and sometimes more - is shooting me dirty looks that I don't understand. I'm not dressed any more scandalously than any of them so what have they got to look down their noses about?
I'm about to make my excuses and call an Uber when my eye catches a handsome vampire at the door. We're not talking about the ones that glitter and have so much angst dripping off of them it oozes from them. This vampire is hot and seriously built. And his eyes!
Even from across the room I can make out what color they are. He’s outlined them in black eyeliner making the blue almost glow. His hair looks like he's raked his hand through it all day and it falls wherever, he doesn't care. He's dressed all in black with the typical cape and when he grins at something one of the women he came with says I can see fangs peaking out from under his lips.
The girl he’s with is one lucky girl. I can't help but compare myself to her. She's taller than me I think even though it's hard to say from this distance. Most people are taller than me. She's in a devil costume that’s not nearly as revealing as some of the costumes but still effortless and sexy. Meanwhile, I'm over here having to fight to keep the girls from popping out, I'm flushed because of all the people, and I can't be sexy because I don't have a fucking clue about how to go about being sexy.
I'm not being catty. She's just really pretty and I'm, well I'm just plain old me. She's blonde and looks like she’s ready to have fun and I am trying to decide if I’ve stayed long enough for my co-worker not to be offended. I would date her if I was a guy. And they go together so perfectly. He with his good looks and sexy body and her with her...well, her good looks and sexy body. Yep, it's time for me to go home. I look around trying to catch a glimpse of Christy. She's dressed as a sexy cat but when I look I find three of those and none of them are her.
I'm so caught up in finding Christy that I don't notice Mr. Hot Vampire walking into my path before I've already plowed into him. I brace myself for the fall I know is coming but all I feel are strong arms wrapped around me. When I open my eyes to look at who saved me from my fall I’m staring into eyes the color of melted silver with cool blue chips throughout.
Why does he have to smell good too? You would think God would give us plain people something. If we can't be as drop-dead gorgeous, the very least he could do is make them smell awful. But no, this guy smells way too good.
"Hi." It's the most perfect word out of the English language now because of how hot he is when he says it. So I do what any sane nineteen-year-old wallflower would do - I turn and run the other way. I don't stop until I'm in the kitchen where the din of music is a little quieter and there aren't so many people.
I didn't say hi back, I didn't pretend to be a normal person who is aware of social cues, I didn't even give him a smile. I just turned and ran. Like he was a real vampire instead of just a sexy guy dressed up as one. I'm such a geek.
The lights flicker and I remember where we are. This is the Mayborne House. It is reported to be really haunted. According to local stories, Mayborne was a wealthy businessman who married a woman who was little more than a girl. She never really loved Mayborne but he loved her to obsession. Rumor had it that when she started a relationship with the gardener, Mayborne was infuriated. He confronted the couple and ended up killing them. He went to jail even though he owned half the town. When he got out he tried again to start a family with a woman but she went missing. Some say it was his first wife's attempt to keep him from the happiness he had denied her.
Everyone in town knows of the Mayborne murders and the rumors that the big house is haunted by the ghost of Sarah Mayborne and her lover. It’s even weirder that the foundation that bought the Mayborne place had just found old papers and letters of Sarah's that alluded to her hiding a necklace Mayborne had given her as a wedding present so that she and her gardener could run away and be together. Thinking about the drama that went down in this house I can understand how it might be haunted. That much emotion has a way of imprinting on a place.
A hand lands on my shoulder making me squeal and jump.
"Lord, Saffie, what the hell is the matter with you? You're as jumpy as a virgin in a brothel during business hours." Christy doesn't understand how close to the truth she is. "Everyone is about to pick partners for the midnight dance."
When I give her a look that clearly says I have no idea what that means, she continues, "It's the last dance of the night. It's the dance you want to do with the guy you want to take you home." She pulls me by the arm.
"I don't want to take anyone home though, Christy. I'm good not having a partner."
"Oh please. Monks have more sex than you have. I've never seen you with a guy and you don't date. Now you told me you were going to come with me and try to make a friend for the night so the least you can do is try."
"Christy, I don't sleep with my friends. When I said I wanted to make a friend I wasn't talking about finding someone for easy sex."
She just keeps pulling me so that I have no choice but to follow her out to the crowded dance floor. No one is dancing and everyone is milling around waiting. Suddenly a scream splits the air and the crowd starts pushing. A space opens up and out stumbles...the sexy vampire. Only this time he's not smiling and laughing. A knife is stuck in his chest and blood is falling out of his mouth. Everyone stops and no one talks waiting to find out if this is a prank. He stumbles into a few people before falling to his knees in front of...me. Blood is pooling under him and if he is acting he is a really good actor because it sure looks like he is in trouble.
"Do something?" Christy pushes me forward causing me to stumble and lose my balance in the heels I'm not used to wearing. He motions for me to come closer to him, some other people are down on the ground trying to help him. I slide a little closer but he just keeps waving for me to come nearer.
When I'm all but kneeling over him waiting for him to tell me what I can do for him he...rears up and latches onto the back of my head pulling me closer. Our lips meet and for just a moment I don't care what’s happening. Then I hear the people standing around us, laughing and clapping. And all I can think about is running for the second time tonight.
Chapter Two
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Cooper
I don't know how my sisters talk me into things like this. Not only did they talk me into taking them to this ridiculous party but they also convinced me to be the entertainment. I just have to keep reminding myself that it’s for a good cause. The money from the ticket sales and the dinner that we missed goes to the food bank in our town. With the weather getting colder and Christmas not too far away, the agency that handles the meals for families on Christmas and Thanksgiving needs all the help they can get.