Considering what Griffin told me about this man’s feelings regarding vampires, I couldn’t imagine the lack of cover was coincidental. I got out of the car and locked it with a beep and then did it again just to be sure.
It was a super expensive car. My vampires might not care about money, but I did.
I grabbed my purse—which contained my wallet, my phone, and the stake—to head for the front door. One of my vampires had put cash in my purse, too, I noticed upon inspection. My guess was Griffin or Tanner, since I was still pretty sure the others didn’t know I planned the trip.
Walking toward the door, I stopped when it flung open before I made it to the first step. “Stop.”
A balding man in his thirties stepped onto the porch. Like me, he had a stake. Unlike me, his was visible.
I stared at the wooden device. Okay, I wasn’t a vampire, but if he shoved it in my chest, it would kill me just the same. At the very least, it would do serious damage.
I held up my hands in the universal sign of surrender. “I’m not a vampire. It’s the middle of the day. The sun is shining, and I’m here for a book.”
He stared at me but didn’t move. Apparently just saying I wasn’t undead didn’t mean he was going to believe me.Smart. I wouldn’t necessarily believe me, either. For all he knew, I might be the most ancient vampire ever, so I could just drive cars and skip around in daylight if I wanted.
I took a step toward him and dropped my arms so I could pull my sleeves up. I’d gotten good at wearing long sleeves no matter the weather. I didn’t bother with the vampires but otherwise I didn’t need the whole world seeing my wrists. I did, however, need this guy to see them or this whole drive would be for fucking nothing.
I held them up. Hopefully he had good enough eyesight to see my scars. “They hurt me. The vampires? Over and over. My boyfriend is in hiding because he tried to stop them.” Okay, so I lied a little bit. Truth and lies mixed together. Whatever, maybe he’d believe me. “We need that book.”
He dropped his stake, and his stance relaxed a little. “I have to be careful. They come looking for me sometimes. Not lately. I’ve given most of the stuff they want to people who wanted to defeat them. Or did.” He ran a hand through what was left of his brown hair. “They had my girlfriend for a long time, too. Then she escaped. Or they let her go? I’m not sure. She took off with a lot of their stuff, most of which they wanted back. What you want, they don’t seem to care about.” He shrugged. “Probably because no one can read it. It’s written in an old language we don’t understand.”
Griffin would understand it. He was amazing like that. “Okay. Well, my boyfriend wants it, so I’ll take it and go.” I paused. “What happened to your girlfriend?”
I don’t know why I asked. Maybe it didn’t matter, or maybe it was one of those questions where I didn’t want to know the answer.
He visibly swallowed. “She’s dead. Not because of them. She just wasn’t the same when they let her go. She couldn’t survive how she felt afterward, because it was almost like she still needed them to bite her. The doctors thought we were crazy. The one guy who would finally see her was no help.”
Should I tell him she probably was addicted andhadneeded them? That they did that to her? “What was the name of the doctor who saw her?”
I had a feeling that I already knew, but I wanted him to confirm it.
“Lamar.” He looked away. “I never liked the man.”
No, I bet he hadn’t. Lamar worked for the vampires. Whatever he did for his girlfriend, it wasn’t to save her. I almost told him so, but I closed my mouth to say nothing instead. I didn’t want to show my hand. Too much was at stake with keeping our secret.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. If I were you, I’d get out of this area of the country. Why stay close to them? Why not go far, far away?”
“Sometimes staying in their backyard, where I can keep an eye on them, is the best thing.” He shrugged. “Also, she died here. I like being close.”
I could certainly understand the sentiment and actually agreed. We were obviously staying close, too. I took the book from his hand and handed him the money Griffin gave me. A crawling sensation strode up my back, and I spun to look around.Is someone staring at me?I rubbed my arms.
“Maybe don’t stay here too long.” I didn’t owe this man anything except the money I’d just paid him, but the vampires already took so much from him. In a sense, we were in this together. Vampires had taken from both of us.The difference is I have four of them on my side and this man is alone.
Besides, my fate was always determined in this fight. I blinked. Where had that thought come from? Was I doomed already?
I wasn’t particularly fatalistic. Or maybe I was.
Those thoughts plagued me, sucking the joy out of the drive back. A few hours remained until sunset, and I really did need to study, so once I was officially home and showered, I resisted the urge to look through the book Griffin sent me to fetch and instead studied for my GED. The book was vampire business. Although I might be wrapped up in their world, I was determined to have a human life, too, which meant I had to pass my GED. Well, at least I wanted to. That had to amount to something.
I was about three quarters of the way through the review when I started to feel them waking up. None of them were hungry, not particularly, but my subconscious remained fully aware of them. Ace first, then Caesar, Tanner, and then finally Griffin. They stumbled out of their rooms like they’d all been on a bender the night before and I had to smile. Waking up wasn’t easy for vampires, akin to coming back to life in its own sick way.
When Tanner entered, I spun in my chair to extend my neck to him. Whether he was hungry or not, he needed a fix of my blood to get his voice back. It was a daily need, and I could at least count on having a small amount of venom as well as the pleasure surge he gave me.
He bit down and I smiled.I never would’ve believed I’d love it this much.
Griffin leaned against the wall. “How did it go?”
“How did what go?” Caesar rubbed his knuckles on my cheek gently. I smiled at him as Tanner pulled away from my neck.