Damned and Dangerous (Damned and Dangerous Quartet Book 2)

by S D Hegyes

  Then she heard the crunch of popcorn. “Alright,” he said. “Anything you’d like to talk about instead?”

  She spun around, shock flickering across her features. She’d expected him to badger her about her response until she spoke. The way Irene had. He seemed to know what she was thinking for he shrugged. “I figured you’d tell me when or if you’re ready.”

  “Thank you.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Let me get changed and then I want to know more about vampires.”

  Larz grinned at her. “There’s leftovers in the fridge. Want me to heat some up for you?”

  “Sure. Be back in a min.”

  She snagged her purse and jacket, carrying them to her room to hang on the back of her door before she changed. When she returned to the living room, there was a bowl of curry waiting for her on the coffee table, steam curling up from it. She grinned as she snapped up the popcorn bowl from Larz’s lap instead.

  “Hey!” he protested, but she ignored him as she sank down next to him, shifting back and forth with a loud sigh as she settled deep into the cushions, making him laugh.

  “Alright, I’ll forgive you this one time.” He reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn.

  She grinned and tipped the bowl toward him, munching on a few kernels as she did. “Tell me about vampires. You mentioned eyes and teeth. Anything else I need to be on the lookout for?”

  “You planning on going up against a vampire sometime soon, Sorsha?”

  She half-shrugged. “If you’re right, and that’s what killed Gloria, yes.”

  He studied her for a moment. “Guess I should have expected that.”

  “Probably.” Would he regret telling her his thoughts about Gloria’s killer being a vampire? Only time would tell.

  “So, Stoker had one thing right. Dracula was the original vampire, but he wasn’t anything like Stoker’s version. I might have told you that Dracula invited Stoker to tour his castle as inspiration?”

  Sorsha nodded. “You did.”

  “Good. The original Dracula was more a villain in regular history.”

  “Vlad the Impaler.”

  “Correct. I’m not certain what happened, and as far as I know, Dracula’s not alive to tell us himself.” He grinned at her, as if sharing a joke, but personally, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief that she wouldn’t have to worry about a five-hundred-year-old vampire popping in to say hi anything soon.

  “Anyway, his thirst for blood finally led to him becoming the first vampire. All vampires that can trace their lineage back to him are known as Dracula’s children.”

  “How is that?”

  “That’s where the stories get it right. Dracula drank the blood of his victims until they were near death and then gave them enough of his own blood to create more vampires. Later, those vampires learned to do the same, and the line continued.”

  “Gotcha. So all of Dracula’s children relate back to him, even if he wasn’t their creator?”

  “Yes.”

  Sorsha pondered that while she chewed some popcorn. There wasn’t much left in the bowl between the two of them eating it. She passed it back to Larz and picked up the bowl of curry.

  “I’m afraid it’s not as good reheated,” Larz warned her as he watched her spoon some into her mouth.

  She closed her eyes with a low moan of pleasure. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This tastes just as good as it did earlier.”

  Larz wrinkled his nose at her. “You have terrible taste.”

  “I think you do,” she said, pointing at him with her spoon. “This is delicious. What about the second kind of vampire? You called them Kazal’s children?”

  At first, he didn’t respond, and Sorsha started wondering if he would. Then he smiled at her. “Kazal’s children are a little different than Dracula’s children. While all of Dracula’s children can trace their lineage back to him, they aren’t all his creations. There’s generations of vampires that flow down from Dracula, and there’s none around—that I’ve heard—who are a direct child of him.”

  He turned away for a moment, a frown on his face. “Kazal’s children are just that. Kazal’s. Any related to him were his creations.”

  “Are they the same otherwise?”

  Larz grinned and opened his mouth, leaning toward her. Sorsha looked down at her food and shrugged, scooping some of the curry up and holding it out for him. He accepted the bite, chewing with his eyes closed. “You’re right. It’s not as bad as I remember it.”

  She rolled her eyes and pulled her bowl closer to herself. “You want some more, get your own. You were saying?”

  He chuckled and seemed to settle back in his seat, but then he struck with the viciousness of a snake when she relaxed, yanking the bowl from her hands. “Mine now,” he teased and took another bite. “What are you going to do about it?”

  Her mouth dropped open and she stared at him. “You did not just steal my food.”

  “Totally did.” His eyes twinkled as he took another bite.

  Rising from the couch, an evil thought crossed her mind. She straddled his lap, knees tucked in on either side of him and planted her hands on the back of the couch, effectively trapping him in place.

  His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. She leaned forward and took the bite on the spoon he’d been holding in the air, ready to eat.

  “This really is good,” she said. “You are a great cook.”

  “He swallowed. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.” She waited until he gathered more on the spoon and took that too. Then she grinned. “Thanks. I think I’m full now. You can have the rest.” She slid off his lap and returned to her seat, a satisfied smirk on her face.

  He cleared his throat. “I think I’m full as well.” He leaned forward and put the bowl on the table. “If we had a dog, clean-up would be so much easier.”

  “Always wanted a dog but never had one. Maybe someday.” She frowned. “You were telling me about Kazal’s children. You mentioned Dracula drains and then does transfusions to create new vampires. Is Kazal the same way?”

  If her theory was correct, and Larz was a vampire, that meant he knew Kazal, right?

  Larz shook his head. “Kazal’s different. Dracula was a monster with a thirst for blood, and just became more of one with the curse that requires him to continue taking blood to survive. Kazal? He made a deal with a demon. In exchange, he became the demon’s vessel. His children are. . .” He paused, glancing over at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

  Sorsha tucked her legs under her, facing him and giving him her undivided attention.

  He shook his head. “Kazal has been around a long time, demon-possessed in exchange for near-immortality. His children are more like him. There’s no blood exchange. Just a bit of demon possession.”

  Sorsha laughed. “You say ‘just a bit of demon possession’ like it’s a simple thing.” She alternated her voice as if speaking as two people. “Oh, good morning, Kazal. What are you up to today?” Her voice deepened. “Oh, not much, Sorsha. Just calling a few demons to possess people.”

  She grinned at Larz, but his expression didn’t reflect her humor. His face had turned stormy instead, his dark eyes flickering scarlet even as she watched.

  “Larz?”

  He blinked a couple times before he rubbed at his eyes, sighing. “Sorry. It’s not funny to me.”

  “Sorry.” She didn’t understand what she was sorry about though. Confusion flooded her as she thought about what she’d said that might offend him. Then it clicked. “It’s not voluntary, is it?”

  He didn’t answer right away. He dropped his feet to the floor and leaned forward so that his elbows were braced on his thighs and clasped his hands together. “No,” he said finally. “It’s not.” His shoulders sagged, and the sigh he released was so full of weariness, Sorsha felt it herself. “Kazal wasn’t a good man. As a demon, he’s worse.”

  One thing bugged Sorsha. “If he’s a demon, why are him
and his children considered vampires? They aren’t the same thing at all.”

  “No, they aren’t.” Larz’s smile was thin. “I think it started because people who saw either confused them for each other. It just became easier to accept the name rather than correct the mistake. The features are the same: red eyes, elongated canines. The difference is vampires can’t hide their features without taking over someone’s mind or other outside measures.”

  “Like filing their teeth or getting contacts.”

  “Exactly. Kazal’s children are different. They’re demon-possessed. They are normal people most of the time. The only time they have ‘vampire features’—” He held up his hands and mimed air quotes. “—is when the demon is at the forefront.”

  “So, no one knows if they’re in front of one of Kazal’s children unless they see the vampire features, which are actually demon features, I guess.”

  “Correct.” Larz nodded and sat back, relaxing once more. “Some of Kazal’s children fight the demon, as they are—well, they’re demons. What do you think they want?”

  “Death and destruction.”

  “Death, destruction, blood and sex.”

  That explained a few things. She fought to keep the smile off her face. “What’s with the blood? Are they like vampires and need it to survive?”

  She thought about the fact that Larz could eat human food fine. Was she wrong about her theory that he was one of Kazal’s children?

  “Kazal’s children are just demon-possessed humans. If the demon ever decided to leave them, they’d be mortal again. As such, their mortal shells still require sustenance. They still need food.”

  That explained Larz’s eating habits.

  “However, the demons feed off everything I mentioned earlier. They only need one to survive, and Kazal’s children haven’t lived as long as they have by going around killing everything in sight.”

  Somehow, Sorsha knew that was a lie. Maybe it was the way his eyes flashed crimson for a brief second, or maybe it was a remnant from growing up around her mother. She didn’t know. All she knew was that Larz lied when he said Kazal’s children didn’t kill. Maybe he didn’t, but she knew there were others that did.

  “Thanks to the canines, Kazal’s children find surviving off blood to be the easiest, and their sex drives are through the roof.”

  A smile twitched at the corner of Sorsha’s mouth, but Larz didn’t seem to see it.

  His voice lowered, and Sorsha got the impression his next words were spoken from personal experience. “Destruction can happen on multiple levels, but again, Kazal’s children are experts at hiding their true nature, so you’re less likely to see those results over anything else. If they deny what they are, resist the demon inside, there are consequences, and they aren’t pretty. It’s possible to resist, but it gets more and more difficult over time, and the results are enough to expose them for what they are if someone knows what to look for.”

  Silence settled between them as Sorsha processed everything he’d told her. After several minutes, she asked, “What about diseases?”

  He shook his head. “Vampires never have to worry about them. Plus side, I guess.”

  “Neither type?”

  “No. I imagine demons see diseases as pesky mortal inconveniences and help their shell stay healthy. A healthy shell can cause more problems for other mortals, after all. As for Dracula’s children? I guess it was just a by-product of the curse. Why would you want to drink blood if you had to worry about getting some kind of blood-borne disease?”

  “There’s also viruses,” Sorsha pointed out. “But I get your point. Immortals can’t get sick.”

  He shrugged. “We’ll go with that.” He yawned. “Any other questions?”

  She couldn’t think of any, although she was certain she could come up with more once she’d thought about what she’d already learned. “I think I’m good for the moment. Anything else I need to know?”

  “Don’t try to find a Kazal. They blend in, and they should be avoided at all costs.”

  Her brow furrowed. He was a Kazal. Or had he forgotten she’d given him his last name? Maybe he had. The name on his worktag had been something different now that she thought about it. Richardson. Huh. Maybe he thought he’d given her the same name. It was something to ponder another night. “Why?”

  He leaned close to her, his breath hot on her lips. Was he going to kiss her? His gaze drifted down to her mouth, and it seemed, for a moment at least, he might. She didn’t know how she felt about that. They’d been dancing around one another for as long as they’d known each other.

  “Trust me.” His dark eyes flickered scarlet, and she blinked, wondering if he knew what was happening. Did those possessed with a demon know when the demon took over?

  “I do.” Despite him warning her against meeting Kazal’s children, and knowing he was probably one himself, she did trust him.

  He reached up and thumbed her bottom lip, the barest of touches, but it was enough to send every hormone in her body into hyperdrive, and she gasped, straightening her back. His hand fell to his side, and he sat up, smirking at her. “You’ve got work tomorrow. Goodnight, Sorsha.”

  She watched as he stood and carried the bowl to the kitchen, scraping the leftovers into the trash before he rinsed the bowl in the sink. He glanced back at her, as if he felt her watching, and smiled once more before he went to his room.

  Sorsha frowned, her gaze falling on the TV, even though she didn’t really look at it. Why had his last expression seemed so forlorn?

  14

  By lunch time the final workday before the holiday break, Sorsha determined it had been the longest shortest week of the year. She looked forward to getting a few days off. Just as she was about to snag Irene, Cathy let Sorsha know she had a visitor.

  “It’s not Larz,” Cathy told her with a knowing grin.

  Sorsha rolled her eyes. The women at the clinic had all joined Irene and Regina’s bet—thanks to Irene—about when she and Larz would become an item. She didn’t bother denying it anymore. They wouldn’t believe she and Larz were nothing more than roommates, so what was the point? Especially when the only thing proving them wrong was Sorsha’s own stubbornness?

  Her curiosity rose at Cathy’s words though. Who else would visit her?

  Saving the file she’d been working on, Sorsha stood and walked to the front, glancing around.

  “Oh, it’s you.”

  Sorsha’s gray eyes met wide blue ones. The woman before her was tall and thin and carried herself with the same air Irene usually did. Her blond hair flowed down her back, ending near her lower back.

  A sense of familiarity flowed through Sorsha, but she didn’t know the woman. “I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “Do we know each other?”

  The woman grinned at her, pink lipstick only emphasizing the brightness of her smile. “We’ve never officially met, but I remember seeing you a couple times. Ten years ago.”

  Sorsha’s brow knit together. “What?”

  A flash of a memory flickered through her mind, and she watched the scene unfold before her as if she were reliving it.

  Four people climbed out of a car. One was a black man with short curly dark hair. Another reminded her of a norse god. The last two were a tall blond woman and—

  She gasped “Larz.” Except he hadn’t had tattoos or piercings back then.

  The woman nodded. “That’s right. I’m his cousin, Ella Kazal.” She held out her hand.

  Sorsha hesitated, glancing down at Ella’s hand. “Kazal?” She remembered Larz’s warning. He’d wanted her to avoid Kazal’s children. Her gaze met Ella’s again.

  “You seem surprised.”

  Shaking her head, Sorsha took the other woman’s hand. Her power flared up, and she hoped Ella didn’t notice how quickly she released her grip. Her power reacted to one of his family members. Interesting.

  Was Ella one of Kazal’s children? Something told Sorsha she was.

  “I
am,” she confessed. “The way Larz talks about you, I never imagined I’d meet you.”

  Ella grinned. “He has been a bit secretive about you, like he didn’t want us to know you. Still—” She shrugged.

  Sorsha glanced at the clock on the wall. Larz would still be asleep since he had work that evening. “Are you trying to find Larz?”

  Ella shook her head. “No. I’m here to see you. Call me curious. I wanted to know who’d drawn my younger cousin’s attention.” She gave Sorsha a once-over. “I see the attraction. You’re cute.”

  “Thank you?” Sorsha wasn’t certain if her words were meant to be a compliment.

  The other woman laughed. “Oh, man! You’re adorable. Want to get some lunch? I’d love to get to know you.”

  Larz’s words ran through her head, but she shrugged them off. This was his cousin. Surely she didn’t mean her harm? If she was even one of Kazal’s children, that was.

  She nodded. “Sure. Let me get my jacket. I was about to head to lunch anyway.”

  Ella sat in a lobby chair to wait. Sorsha joined her a few moments later, pulling on her jacket and slipping her purse over her shoulder. “I know a little cafe within walking distance if you’re interested,” she told Ella.

  “Sounds good. Lead the way.”

  Sorsha pushed the door open and a cold breeze tossed her hood up on her head and whipped the loose strands of Ella’s hair around. Ella wrangled it and tugged it beneath her jacket.

  A laugh rumbled out of Sorsha’s chest before she could stop it. “This is why I sometimes envy Cathy’s short hairdo.”

  “It does make it easier to handle.” Ella glanced at her. “How far away is this cafe?”

  “A couple blocks that way.” Sorsha pointed. “It doesn’t take long to get there, I promise.”

  “So, why do you work at the clinic?”

  “What do you mean?” Confusion flooded Sorsha.

  “Doesn’t the smell get to you?”

  “No?” Sorsha glanced at the woman. “Should it?”

  Ella stopped and looked at Sorsha, studying her. Her eyes searched Sorsha’s, but Sorsha hadn’t a clue what she was looking for or why.