Exposure: Bloodlust Series Book 1

by L. L. Ash

  There was a silence as he looked over us again.

  “Who is the raven beauty?” he asked absently, eyes trailing over me slowly in a way that made my skin crawl.

  “Mine,” Clarence said clearly and concisely, taking a small step in front of me.

  The man grinned again.

  “I’ve no interest in stealing your woman, daywalker. Relax. It was simply an innocent question.”

  “I’m Addie,” I said from behind Clarence, taking a step around him to face down the man.

  “A brave one, aren’t you?” he asked in a patronizing voice.

  “Brave or stupid,” I agreed. “Who are you?”

  His eyes narrowed and I felt Clarence’s hand on my arm, clasping and squeezing in warning.

  “You don’t know who I am?”

  “Should I?”

  He grinned, leaning forward now.

  “That depends entirely upon whether you would like to live or die this night, Raven.”

  “I’d like to live, as I’m sure pretty much everyone would tell you if you asked them to choose.”

  Tucking his lower lip under his teeth for a moment, he looked me up and down again.

  “How fresh are you, Raven?”

  “Only 4 days,” Clarence chipped in behind me. “I beg your pardon on her behalf.”

  The man put his hand up to silence him.

  “4 days? Did you turn for your man there?”

  “No. He turned me cause I was 1 second from being dead.”

  “How intriguing,” his voice deepened as he sat up in his chair, leaning forward and planting both elbows on his thighs.

  “It’s actually why we’re here,” I told him, sure I was going to either get my head lopped off or thrown out of the club.

  Hopefully the latter.

  “And why is that?” his eyebrow lifted.

  “There are people, vampires and werewolves trying to kill me. Them too,” I threw my thumb over my shoulder. “We need help to defeat them. We’ve got a den of werewolves on our side already, but we need more manpower. Or vamp-power, if you will.”

  His eyes narrowed again.

  “Why are they after you?”

  “Because Mason is trying to make a cure, and has come extremely close.”

  With that the man’s eyes shot over to Clarence and Mason.

  “And which of you is he?”

  “That’s me,” Mason raised his hand wearily.

  “They also want me dead cause I’m a freak of nature.”

  “Explain,” he said, leaning back to sit against the back of the chair.

  “I’m different. I was a werewolf not even 2 weeks ago. I turned back to human before Clarence made me a vampire.”

  The man laughed.

  “Nonsense.”

  “It’s true,” Evelyn spoke up. “And I’ve no reason to lie to you.”

  The man’s face seemed to become angry.

  “It’s impossible.”

  “She can also not be charmed,” Clarence added his two bits now.

  “Obviously. She’s a vampire.”

  “No, when she was human.”

  “It’s her DNA,” Mason said shakily. “It’s mutated. She has a vampire gene and it makes her impervious to a werewolf bite and charms. It’s too early to say yet, but it may make her impervious to vampirism too.”

  “You’re saying that a mere human has such power against the vampire kind?”

  “Yes.”

  “And this cure. You’ve come closer than the idiots before you?”

  “I was human for a week,” Clarence told him and the man’s eyes shot over to him.

  “How?”

  “The DNA,” Mason put in. “I’ve been able to duplicate it so that it goes into the host’s body and makes the host impervious to the virus.”

  The man sat forward again, looking at Mason closely.

  “And does this cure work on my kind as well?”

  “No. The cure works on daywalkers only.”

  The man sat back in his chair, throwing his leg back over the arm, relaxing again.

  “In that case, I wish you luck. It doesn’t affect my people so I am not obligated to act.”

  “Even when people’s lives are at stake?” I demanded.

  “Especially when people’s lives are at stake,” he scoffed. “I don’t care what happens to you day dwellers.”

  “It’s Jasper that’s after us, you cumberground!” Mason said angrily, taking a step toward the man.

  In a flash the man was up and had Mason by the neck, lifting him and choking him two inches off the ground.

  “For an intelligent man you’re an idiot, Mason. Insulting a prince will get you nowhere but dead.”

  Mason’s eyes began to pop out of his head when I stepped in.

  “Please, I may not know who you are, but the man you’re holding means something to me. Please put him down.”

  The man turned his head to me, studying me for a second before I heard a loud SNAP as Mason lost consciousness and his head popped to the side. Evelyn shrieked and ran to him as the man dropped him to the ground.

  His blue eyes were shining like moonlight as he looked down at me. Clarence tightened in behind me, as if he could protect me, but I knew that against this man at least, I was the only one who could save me.

  “I regret that I cannot help you,” he said to me, his face inches from mine. “I like you, and I would have you myself if you weren’t already stained with their blood,” he nodded behind me to Clarence.

  “Surely for a man like you this war would be easy and quick to bring justice on the man who ordered me starved and tortured for days before stabbing me.”

  “Everyone has a story of pain, Addie,” he said, voice dropping to a bass tone. “But your battle is not my battle, and I cannot bring my people into it, nor endanger myself. I sympathize. Jasper is a powerful, brilliant, old vampire and we’ve never gotten along. He’s lucky my father likes him or he would have been dead centuries ago.”

  Taking his seat again he found the strings to the woman’s dress playing with them again in his fingers.

  “But I will do you one favor, Addie. I will tell you my name. I am Calix Spiro Drakos of clan Drakos. I am a prince, master of thousands and protector of just as many. Your plight, though sad, is nothing to me. You are beautiful and I would hate to see you come to such a gruesome end, but it’s not my business. My help would cost you more than you could ever pay back in a lifetime of slavery. Try to convince your brother daywalkers to help you and surely you can defeat him.”

  He paused and curled his finger at me. I leaned forward and he touched my face, eyes watching his thumb as it trailed down the bridge of my nose.

  “And I will do another thing for you besides advice, Raven. Surely you’ve not had proper food, being only 4 days old. Take my slave for the evening and enjoy yourself. You only must bring her back to me alive.”

  “We thank you for your offer,” Clarence said from behind me, “But we must decline.”

  “I did not offer her to you, daywalker,” Calix said, not taking his eyes from mine.

  “Thank you,” I told him, trusting my instincts. “Your generosity is appreciated.”

  Calix pulled the strings around her neck at the top of her dress until the bow untied, gaping open the bodice as he handed me the strings.

  “Such a shame,” he said in a regretful whisper. “You would have done so well with me, Raven.”

  “You may be a prince, and a powerful man to boot,” I told him, standing straight again, holding the laces. “But I doubt you could handle a woman like me for longer than a few hours.”

  The man grinned, laying his head back against the chair as he watched, eyes sparkling like ice.

  “Is that an offer, Kopelia Mou?”

  “No. I wouldn’t want to hurt your carefully inflated ego.”

  One side of his mouth twisted up in amusement as he waved me off.

  “I’ll not see you again until it is.”<
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  With that I waved at him and turned, my gut turning in nervousness as I walked away. Clarence walked beside me stiffly until we were off to the side of the building, finding where Evelyn had taken Mason. Mason laid still on a table, and for a second I had the horrifying thought that he was dead. But Evelyn explained that he would be fine once he healed, I felt only relief.

  “What do you expect to use her for?” Clarence asked angrily as he looked at the woman attached to the laces I still held.

  “I couldn’t turn him down,” I told Clarence in a whisper. “That’ a great way to get us all killed.”

  “The vampire is a scumbag nightwalker,” he growled out. “And his advances on you were impolite at best, knowing you were taken.”

  “He wasn’t flirting,” I stopped his ranting. “He was testing me. And I think I passed.”

  “Asking if you propositioned him?” he demanded. “That is not inappropriate?”

  “He’s a nightwalker prince. What do you want to do about it?”

  He ground his molars before stomping away.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I followed him into an empty room to the side of the club. A man waved us in and gave us a key. Going into the room Clarence sat down heavily and drummed his hands on the table.

  “Well, I guess I won’t need to worry about buying a feeder since the prince of blood loaned you his,” he said bitterly. “Have you had anything to eat today, woman?”

  The woman looked uneasy as she turned from Clarence to me.

  “Y-yes,” she nodded, “Only a couple of hours ago. They treat me well at the castle.”

  Clarence sighed deeply, rubbing his hands over his face.

  “My lady, I don’t mind if you partake. My master loans me often to his friends.”

  “It’s no way to treat a human!”

  “Are you unhappy?” I asked her.

  She shrugged.

  “I’ve always been this way. I enjoy a family, a home. I have everything I could ask for.”

  This had Clarence looking up in curiosity.

  “And you’re sure you don’t mind?” I asked her, starting to feel the bloodlust seeping through me at the smell of her fresh, sweet blood.

  “No, not at all,” she shrugged, putting out a wrist for me.

  I looked up at Clarence as if for permission before he nodded, turning away from us.

  “You may partake, as well,” the girl said, holding out her other hand.

  “No, thank you for your offer,” he declined.

  I took her small, dainty hand in mine as I could literally hear the pumping of her heart, the throb of her veins as her lifeblood flowed through her.

  Unable to take another moment of temptation, I bit down on her wrist as Clarence had done so long ago to me. I bit down and tore into her, causing her to shriek a little. Clarence came closer to watch as I devoured her sweet, coppery blood. It felt beautiful and warm going down my throat. My body warmed a little in a good way, and I fed and fed until Clarence stopped me.

  “That’s enough, Darling,” he told me, touching my shoulder. “You don’t want to weaken her too much.”

  I tore back, afraid I’d hurt her but she just gave me a weak smile.

  “I am fine, though I do grow weak,” she admitted.

  I nodded, licking at the stray streaks of blood running from the holes gashed in her wrist.

  “I can give you some of my blood,” I told her. “It’ll make you feel better.”

  “Only my master’s blood,” she said faintly.

  I nodded and took the girl’s arm, guiltily leading her back to where the prince of prickhood sat.

  He saw us approach and grinned again.

  “Have you reconsidered then, Raven?” he asked as the girl sat beside him again.

  “No. But I wanted to make sure she got back safe,” I told him in as stern a voice as I could manage. “She wouldn’t take my blood.”

  “No, she wouldn’t,” he shook his head, putting a finger to his mouth before biting down on the tip.

  He pressed the torn finger into her mouth and she sucked eagerly on it as his eyes drifted back to me.

  The girl’s color came back and she didn’t have the gash in her wrist anymore.

  “Thank you Master,” she said in a breathy voice and he grunted at her before waving me off again.

  I was grateful.

  At that point, I just wanted to go home.

  Clarence waited a few paces behind me, arms folded across his chest as he watched the interaction with a stoic face.

  “I don’t like him,” Clarence grumbled when I got back to him.

  Calix looked over from his chair, playing gingerly with the strings around his slave’s neck again.

  He’d heard Clarence’s comment but obviously chose not to do anything about it.

  “Can we go?” I asked.

  “Please, let’s.”

  Leaving Evelyn and Mason to find their own ways back when he regained consciousness, we went back through the long hallway, up the stairs and across the black room before heading out of the last door. The large man closed it behind us and I heard a big lock slide into place as we stepped back into the street.

  “Come, we’ll take a taxi home,” he said taking my hand and leading me out of the alley.

  We took a taxi back to the apartment complex where our temporary home lay and slowly made our way up the three flights of stairs to the top. He let us in with his key before tossing it onto the coffee table and dropping his wallet in the same place.

  “What a night, huh?” he asked as he headed back to his bedroom.

  “More like a night-mare,” I grinned and he turned for just a moment to smile at me.

  “I didn’t know you made puns, Addie,” he chuckled, getting into his room before propping up the lid to his bed and dropping in with a sigh.

  “Shoes and all, huh?” I asked, peeling off my heels and dropping the skinny shoulders straps of my black silk gown.

  “Have you need of me without my shoes?” he asked, tucking his hand behind his head as he watched me undress with a satisfied look on his face.

  “Is your appetite really so insatiable?” I asked him, pressing the door closed before I went over to the bed.

  “You’ve no idea, Darling,” he grinned as I unlaced his black dress shoes, tossing them over my shoulder.

  “Since when did you become bold?” I asked before stripping off his black dress socks and working my way up to the belt on his dress pants.

  “Since you told me you wished for all but a gentleman in your bed.”

  “Do you even know how not to be a gentleman anymore? You seemed to have latched onto the idea pretty firmly.”

  He unhooked his arm from behind his back and took the buttons of his shirt one by one in slow succession.

  “It’s true,” he said in a low voice. “I embraced lordship and haven’t quite removed myself from the idea. I’ve never had a reason to.”

  “And? Do you remember?” I asked, grinning as I stepped over the side of the box and sat at the foot of the bed.

  “You seem to forget I used to be paid for this,” he shot me a half smile, sitting up and peeling the shirt slowly off his chiseled arms and shoulders.

  “You saying I gotta pay?”

  He laughed

  “No, I’m saying I can be anything you want me to be. Gentle lover, love-stuck stranger, alpha beast.”

  “Oh! And I get to chose?” I teased him.

  “No. Only a gentleman would let a lady chose her lover.”

  With that he drew my hand over his chest and laid back, pulling me with him slowly.

  “So what’ll it be tonight?” I asked in a whisper, wondering at how quickly I was overcome with his sensuality.

  “You’ll see, Darling. Maybe a little of each.”

  Words choked in my throat as I laid out on top of him and his mouth found mine, hand instantly sliding into my black panties, the only article of clothing left on my body.

>   No other words were said, and they didn’t need to be. The night of newness and fright and Calix disappeared in his touch and I almost forgot the prince’s name.

  Almost.

  “I don’t feel good,” I moaned from my spot on the bed 2 days later, turning back and forth at the heavy cramping in my stomach.

  “What do you feel, Addie?” Mason asked as he, Clarence and Evelyn all knelt at the side of the bed with worried faces, arms propped on the box rim.

  “It feels like I’m dying,” I moaned.

  “Some blood?” Clarence asked Mason who shrugged.

  “You can try it. I don’t know what’s going on with her.”

  Clarence was gone and back within a minute with a mug of blood in his hand. He helped put it to my lips and I almost wretched at the smell. The thick, ice cold liquid slid down my throat and hit my stomach with a shock.

  I was instantly up, running my weak, hurting self toward the bathroom where I managed to drape myself over the toilet before throwing my guts up.

  Clarence was right behind me, holding my hair, stroking my head as I vomited every last thing from my stomach.

  “Does it feel like your stomach is being torn out?” he asked in a whisper.

  I nodded, trying to catch my breath in the toilet bowl.

  His hands jerked, and he placed one over my upper chest, feeling my lungs go up and down.

  “You’re breathing, Addie.”

  I gasped, holding my breath until my lungs felt like they would explode.

  His fingers slipped to my neck and he put his ear behind my back.

  “Your heart is fluttering. You’re becoming human again!”

  Clarence looked over his shoulder and Mason whooped before disappearing out of the bathroom. Evelyn stood there with a look of astonishment on her face.

  Mason squeezed back in, dislodging Clarence from around me as he stuck a needle in me quickly.

  “I need to try and catch the process!” he said eagerly, taking syringe after syringe of blood.

  I hardly noticed the needle pricks against the gnawing in my stomach. It almost felt like something was inside me, eating me from the inside out.

  “It’s how I felt when I became human and when I turned back,” Clarence told me when he scooped me into his lap on the bathroom floor.

  I collapsed into him and let him hold me, wishing he could take my pain away.