I think of the mirror in my bathroom and touch the shimmering glass.
Just like before, we are wrapped in magic and darkness and sucked through a portal that shakes up my insides and sends me spiraling into the cosmos before depositing us on my bathroom floor.
As I pull myself to a standing position, I notice my floor needs a proper mopping and my shower drain has bits of hair trapped. Everything here looks so mundane after where I’ve been.
And seeing Sebastian, this tall, gorgeous, vampire god standing in my bathroom is utterly absurd.
"I’ll need to check all your exits and entrances," he says. "We don’t want him getting in without us knowing."
I nod and show him around. It’s a small place. One bedroom, one bathroom, a cozy living room, and open kitchen with a two-person dining table. It’s usually only me, and sometimes Molly or the occasional short-term boyfriend I might bring home for dinner and a movie. Netflix and chill, I think the kids call it.
There are a few windows, a back door and a front door. He locks everything and comes to stand in my living room, looking entirely out of place.
I pick up the bag he brought with him through the portal. "Time to get to work," I say with a mischievous grin.
It doesn't take us long to implement our plan, and I wash my hands when we're done, making sure none of the particularly dangerous substances got onto my skin or clothing.
"Be careful not to trip the traps yourself," he says seriously.
I roll my eyes. "Please. Give me more credit that that. I've got this. Trust me."
He moves closer to me, his hand coming up to cup my cheek as his eyes penetrate mine. "I do trust you. And I don't want to lose you when I've finally just found you."
My heart flutters at his words. At the implied promise in them. Could this mean there will be an 'us' when this is all over? Dare I hope for the impossible dream? He leans in and his lips brush gently against mine in a feather light kiss that is everything and yet not nearly enough. "Stay alive, Ember. We have some plans to make when this is all over."
Chapter 6
The house feels intolerably lonely once Sebastian leaves. In the quiet of the night, as I wait for a psychopathic vampire to try to kill me, I consider my life choices that have led me to this moment. If you’d asked me a few days ago if I regretted anything in my life, I would have said no. I’ve done all the things I set out to do by this point. I got my degrees. Traveled widely. Landed my dream job. What more could I ask for? But, as I look around, I realize I have kept everyone at a distance. And the only person I let close was a murderer. What does that say about me?
I head to the kitchen to make a pot of tea, hoping that will help pass the time as I continue to think through things. I don't know what will happen between me and Sebastian after this is over. He's not the one-night-stand I thought him to be. He's a relationship I've cultivated over time and many letters. He's someone I feel I know in a deeply profound way, and now he's someone my body responds to in a way I've never felt before. Something in me agreed to marry him that night. Something in me wanted more than a solitary existence defined primarily by my job as a librarian.
When the teakettle whistles, I pour the hot liquid and let the tea steep for a few minutes before bring the cup to my lips. The smell of hibiscus sends me back into my memories of that night so sharply that the cup falls from my hand and shatters on the ground.
I am with him. With Sebastian. We are dancing and seem high on life. "Is this how it always is?" I ask him.
"How what always is?" His eyes are alight with a joy that matches how I feel inside.
"When you turn someone."
He laughs. "So the stories say. To turn someone, you have to drain them completely of blood, infecting them with a poison in our teeth, and then give them your blood to reanimate them. The process apparently creates a high in both people. But you’re the only person I’ve turned, so this is all new to me."
I’m surprised to hear that. "Why me?" I ask as the music turns to a slow song and he pulls me tighter into his arms. I feel at home against his chest, as if all the pieces of my life have finally snapped together.
"I don’t know," he says. "I saw something in you I couldn’t let die."
"I’m glad. That you didn’t let me die. I want to live." And I realize it’s true. I want to live. I want to do all things. Love and be loved and travel with someone, sharing those memories of our adventures together. My parents died my first year of college. I have no siblings. No aunts or uncles. No grandparents. So, when they died, a part of my past died with them. They were the only ones who had known me as a child. And since then, I haven’t let anyone else close enough to know me as an adult. Not even Molly, not really. Not until tonight.
And so I tell Sebastian everything. I share my whole life with him. And he shares with me. He tells me of the night he was turned. He, too, was on his death bed. A plague that had wiped out his village. But one man came to him and offered him a way to live forever, but at a cost. "He was a prince on another world," Sebastian says. "An inventor who was always looking for ways to help people and often came to this world for ideas. He said his name was Ace, and that he could help me. I agreed. Though, I was so close to death I’m sure I didn’t know what I was saying. When he brought me to life, I understood. He taught me everything about being a vampire. We were close for many years. I spent some time in his world, and he came to mine. We haven’t been in touch for years, but I think you would like him. I know he’d love you."
Somewhere in all that, in our bonding, we made it to the altar.
Of course, now I know that he needed to do that to protect us from the council, but at the time it seemed spontaneous. It made sense. And in my heart, it still does. And I cannot change the reality of what I feel. Of what I know to be true. I will never love anyone like I love him. And maybe… just maybe… he feels the same.
I’m ripped out of my thoughts by a voice in my kitchen. "So here’s the bitch who stole my brother from me."
Fear surges through my veins as I open my eyes and see the spitting image of the man who nearly sucked me dry and left me for dead. The Rendali brothers are twins. And this one hates me with a deep passion.
He will make me suffer. I can see it in his eyes. How did he get in? What happened to Sebastian?
As if reading my mind, he laughs. "Wondering where your rescue squad is? My boys ate them. But I saved my appetite for you. I’m going to enjoy draining the life from you."
I take a slow breath and remember our plan. I can do this. I have to do this. First, I pick up the second cup of tea I made. The one I didn't drink, and I throw it at his face. The hot water splashes into his eyes, but that isn't what makes him scream. No, it's the steeped rose petals and blackthorn root that does that. Some medieval ways to fight vampires are actually valid. This won't kill him, but it will slow him down a bit, and give me time to set up the next part of our plan.
From lore, you kill a vampire through sun exposure (which I'm lacking and would also be not great for me), by stabbing them in the heart with a wooden stake, through fire, or through beheading.
This bastard will die by one of those methods tonight.
It's kind of a choose your own death adventure party. He just doesn't know it yet.
I run towards the pantry in the kitchen, reaching for the handle as he grabs my leg and pulls. Hard.
My hip joint grinds and a scream tears from my throat as the pain penetrates my adrenaline fogged mind, but I don't let go of the door handle. Instead, I use his strength against him and twist, letting the door swing open as I duck and roll into myself.
I hear the hiss of the sharpened stake flying through the air and the meaty thunk as it lands in his torso.
He screams, releasing my leg, and I scoot away, the pain still gnawing at me. A wooden stake sticks out of his chest, but damnit, it missed his heart.
"You bitch!" he screams, spittle flying out of his mouth, laced with blood.
My heart
is pounding against my ribs and my breath comes in jagged fragments, but I keep moving, grabbing a cast iron skillet from the stove top as I dart through the hall and into my bedroom.
He chases me, and I turn on him and use all my strength to swing the skillet against his head, crushing an eye and part of his skull, exposing bits of bone.
This doesn’t stop him, but it slows him long enough for me to set up my last chance.
I grab the can of aerosol hairspray and a lighter and hold it up like a gun ready to fire. When he's close enough, I spray and then hold the open flame to it.
The effect is instant. He's set ablaze, fire burning brightly, devouring first his clothes, then his skin. He lunges for me, but I dart out of his way and run out the room.
The bastard still has the strength to chase me, setting pieces of my house on fire as he does.
By the time I reach the front door, my whole house is burning. Smoke fills my lungs and burns my eyes. I fiddle with the lock, trying to open my front door, the handle already hot.
Steven reaches for me with an arm that is more flame than flesh, and I feel it singe my skin.
Finally the door opens and I tumble outside and into the arms of Sebastian, who looks franticly at me, then into the house, where Steven has collapsed to the ground.
He groans and screams, but my heart feels no pity as I think about all the innocent women he tortured and killed.
I cling to Sebastian as the monster in my living room lets out a final scream and then turns to ash.
In the distance I hear the sound of fire trucks approaching my house. A neighbor must have called 911. The street fills with curious onlookers gawking at the scene.
"How do I explain this?" I ask Sebastian, who's still holding me tightly in his arms. I never want him to let me go.
"You don't." He takes my hand and pulls out a mirror from his pocket. It looks to small to travel through, but he proves me wrong by touching the reflective glass.
Darkness.
The smell of smoke and burning flesh subsides.
And we land in Sly's library in The Black Lotus.
Sly himself stands by his desk, cocktail in hand, a wry smile on his face. "It is done, then?" he asks, eyeing us with amusement.
Sebastian nods. "They're all dead."
"And my hunters?" Sly asks.
"Most of them lived. They should be returning shortly. You'll need to send cleaners to Ember's house. Well, what's left of her house."
Sly nods. "Already handled. Now, allow me to show you to your room. You both are in serious need of a bath and some provisions."
I walk hand in hand with Sebastian, my mind numb, my body aching, into a suite fit for a king. Sly leaves us and the moment we are alone, Sebastian pulls me into his arms and kisses me so deeply he steals all of my words. His hands dig into my flesh, his lips probe mine, and I feel his need growing. This is just adrenaline, I tell myself as he carries me to the bathroom and turns on the shower. As we both step in, more memories from the night we married resurface.
Passion. Ecstasy. All the things I’ve ever read about and more, coming to life inside my body.
Just as it is now. We take our love making from the shower to the bed, and I lose track of time as we lose ourselves in each other.
When we are both spent, and cleaned of all the blood, we lay spent and naked on the luxurious bed. I want to sleep forever in his arms, but there are things pressing on my mind first. I turn to him and look down at my wedding ring.
"What does all this mean?" I ask.
"Don’t you know, Ember? You have stolen my heart and soul, if such things exist for a creature like me. I’m yours. Forever. If you’ll have me."
I see the truth of his love in his eyes, and my heart breaks open, flooding my eyes with tears of joy as I hold him close. I fall asleep dreaming of a life full of mystery and magic, full of books and laughter and deep discussions with the man who is my soul mate.
That night we sleep long and deeply, and when morning arrives with breakfast in bed, I feel my life turning into something entirely unexpected and new.
"What do we do now?" I ask.
"I’d say we should take a honeymoon," he says. "That would be the proper human thing to do."
I smile over my goblet of blood in agreement. "But where to go?"
He grins. "I fancy a visit to my creator, Prince Ace. What do you think? Want to see a whole new world?"
I can barely contain my enthusiasm. "I’m ready when you are!"
And so, our adventures begin. Oh, the libraries I will see. The books I will read. The lives I will live. And all with this man beside me.
THE END
Also by Karpov Kinrade
In the Vampire Girl Universe
Vampire Girl
Vampire Girl 2: Midnight Star
Vampire Girl 3: Silver Flame
Vampire Girl 4: Moonlight Prince
Vampire Girl 5: First Hunter
Vampire Girl 6: Unseen Lord
Vampire Girl: Copper Snare
Of Dreams and Dragons
The Nightfall Chronicles
Court of Nightfall
Weeper of Blood
House of Ravens
Night of Nyx
Song of Kai
About the Author
Karpov Kinrade is the pen name for the husband and wife writing duo of USA TODAY bestselling, award-winning authors Lux Karpov-Kinrade and Dmytry Karpov-Kinrade.
Together, they write fantasy and science fiction novels and screenplays, make music and direct movies.
Look for more from Karpov Kinrade in Vampire Girl, Of Dreams and Dragons, The Nightfall Chronicles and The Forbidden Trilogy. If you’re looking for their suspense and romance titles, you’ll now find those under Alex Lux.
They live with their three mostly teens who share a genius for all things creative, and six cats who think they rule the world (spoiler, they do.)
Find them online at KarpovKinrade.com
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Vampire Girl: Crimson Cocktail Page 4