Bloodthirsty Bastard: A Hero Club Novel

by T. L. Christianson

  My vampire gazed at me, and I saw something fierce in his eyes—not the monster but the avenging angel. “If I’d compelled him, he’d still be alive.”

  I frowned and opened my mouth to speak, but wasn’t sure what to say.

  “I could’ve forced him to stop.” He ran a hand over his stubble. It had now grown into more of a closely trimmed beard.

  “Why are you torturing yourself like this? What if it hadn’t worked? He would’ve just kicked us out and driven off that cliff anyway.”

  He spun on his heel and paced the street in front of me.

  “I am not a good man. I’ve done things…You asked me if I’d killed anyone before—I have. I could see it in your eyes like you knew. I’ve made a promise to myself not to compel humans unless absolutely necessary.” He ran his hands through his styled hair, mussing it out of its perfect upward wave, making a strand fall into his eyes. “I’m selfish and greedy…”

  I breathed out a silent laugh, “What are you talking about? You made all the housing equal on your estate. You’re trying to better humanity with your technology and coding.”

  He stopped pacing, his eyes wild. “It’s all been for money. I wanted you to think that I’m this great guy. A guy who is selfless and righteous, but that’s just not me. Today, I almost bit you.”

  I sucked in a breath, almost finding it funny how his words matched my earlier thoughts. “Ethan, no one is selfless. No one is perfect. I see that you’re trying and that’s all any of us can do. You’ve given me a lot of grace, it’s time for me to return the favor.”

  He contemplated my words. “I don’t want you to get hurt. I couldn’t live with myself if I ever hurt you.”

  Closing the distance, I reached up to frame his face with my hands. “We aren’t going to let that happen.”

  Clasping my hands in his own, my vampire leaned down and kissed my cold lips. “My little fighter,” he whispered. “You make me a better man.”

  After a heartbeat, I shivered. “Let’s get back to our room. Did you ever talk to Alina to get your own room?”

  He sighed, “No, but would it be so bad if we shared a room?”

  “Hmmm…okay.” I smiled, “I guess I’ll put up with you for now.”

  My fingers had become stiff, and the cold made me ache. I didn’t speak until we were back at the castle.

  Still bundled up, I watched Ethan light a fire in the fireplace of our room. The castle had been renovated with heat, and modern bathrooms, but it was still a bit drafty.

  “I guess you’ve done that a few times,” I said, watching him stack logs onto a fire starter.

  Looking back at me, the corner of his mouth lifted, “You could say that.”

  “Will you tell me about the mind control thing? You said that you’ve never done it to me.” I pursed my lips and held my hands out to the fledgling fire. “Will you ever do it to me—compel me?”

  “You, no, not unless I absolutely have to.” He took a seat on the sofa next to me.

  “So, you don’t do it at all?” I asked, examining him in the flickering light. He looked dark, like the vampire he was—dangerous and sensual.

  “I don’t need to use it. My donors come to me willingly and well-compensated.” He shrugged.

  “How does it work?” I pulled off my coat.

  “I don’t really know. I think it works in varying degrees based on the human.”

  I wasn’t sure what else to say, so we sat in silence.

  Pulling a receipt out of his pocket, Ethan tossed it into the fire.

  “You didn’t want to recycle that?” I asked, teasing.

  He smirked. “You know, not too long ago there weren’t dumps. There wasn’t very much trash, and what we did have, we’d give to the pigs, compost or burn.”

  I stared into the fire. “Yeah? Like in your fireplace?”

  He laughed, “No, not in a fireplace but a kind of firepit in the back garden.” He settled into the other chair and stared into the flames. “A long time ago, back in Brussels, I had a neighbor with three children. The children were always curious and would come to my back door and talk non-stop. I had some grapevines, and, in the fall, they’d hop the fence and eat grapes until they were sick.” Ethan’s voice trailed off. “Every time I burned my trash, I’d wrap potatoes in foil, and they’d throw them into the coals—this was before plastic, of course.”

  “Of course,” I smiled at him.

  “After an hour or two, they’d be ready to eat. There peeking over the fence, like three cats, were the children. I’d go inside and pretend to forget about the potatoes.”

  “I never thought of you as a kid person,” I said quietly.

  “Yeah, well, it is what it is. I watched them grow up and go out into the world…” He trailed off.

  “What happened to the mother?” I sniffed and gazed at the fire.

  “I don’t know, she moved away.” He crossed his ankles.

  I began looking through Instagram while we sat there in the dim light from the fire.

  “Mobile devices worry me. People don’t connect like they used to,” he stood to add a large log to the fire.

  “What? You’re in the tech industry? You write code and design electronics for a living.” I told him, my eyes still on the screen.

  “They offend me.”

  I set the offensive device down.

  Ethan still knelt before the fireplace.

  “Do you want attention?” I teased, reaching out with my foot to tap his leg.

  “I thought you were different from all the mindless masses attached to their phones.” His voice had a slight edge to it, and I wasn’t sure we were bantering any longer.

  “All right. I’m sorry. If it bugs you, I’ll put it away,” I told him bitterly.

  “Why are you in a bad mood?” He stood in one fluid movement.

  I stood to meet him. “You’re a hypocrite. The one and only date we’ve ever had, you were on your phone the entire time.”

  This time he did crack a bit of a smile, “That is true. However, it was business.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Okay, okay. From now on, I’ll keep my mobile put away. Is that fair?”

  I groaned. “Why did you get all freaked out after telling me about the kids?”

  He slid into his chair across from me and rested his head in his hands. “I fear for humanity. I fear for the world. You talk about all the great things I’ve seen? What about all the horror I’ve seen? I worry that history will repeat itself.”

  “You think people’s smartphones are to blame?”

  “I don’t know. I fear that I’m making it worse by some of the software I’ve designed.”

  I let out a breath, “I think you almost biting me was more traumatic for you than it was for me.”

  I stood and sauntered over to him. He pulled me onto his lap, his expression devilish. “Why are you good to me?”

  I laughed and rested my head against his shoulder. “The question is, why has it taken me so long to come to my senses?”

  16

  Stumbling up the next morning, I showered, dressed, and brushed my long blond hair until it was smooth. Then I rolled it into a tight bun and pinned it in place.

  Just as I picked up my work bag and coat, Ethan pushed his way inside the door.

  “Hey sleeping beauty, are you about ready to go?” He handed me a travel mug filled with coffee.

  Sipping tentatively, I smiled at his thoughtfulness and followed him down the stairs.

  “Out of curiosity, can you teach me how to be immune to the mind control thing?” I asked, knowing I’d caught him off guard.

  “No.”

  Ethan’s quick steps ate up the pavement as I struggled to keep up with him.

  “No?”

  “No, I’m not going to teach you to be immune.” He didn’t even gaze my way.

  “Can you slow down a bit! I’m wearing heels!” I spat out, irritated.

  “Why won’t you teach
me?” I asked, tugging on his sleeve.

  He didn’t answer but sucked in a deep breath before letting it out gradually.

  “Ahh!” I moaned, “Why aren’t there any cars in this town!”

  Frustration gnawed at me even though I tried to push it down.

  Rounding a bend, we came upon an old renovated mill. It’s large stone lay like a sculpture in front of the building.

  Ethan immediately went to work while I was relegated to a small cubicle off the main workroom. After running through various tasks for Ethan, I took on the job of transcribing his digital voice notes. Sitting there, listening to his rapid speech, I was kind of shocked.

  He was dictating code.

  Several times I had to pause and hit the ten-second rewind to catch a word I’d missed. It made me wonder when he recorded this—last night? It had to have been on this trip.

  While I slept, he dictated code?

  When I finished one section, I uploaded it onto the Dumont servers.

  Ethan remained behind closed doors with Freddie and a few of the Romanians all day. I was given a wide berth by more of the employees, and I wondered why they weren’t friendlier.

  As the sun dipped behind the mountains, I watched the staff gather their things and leave just like back at Dumont. The main conference room remained closed, the yellow light escaping underneath and through the transom in the door.

  My stomach growled, but I waited for my vampire. Finally, around 8pm, Ethan slipped out. His eyes darted around the room, distracted, which meant he was still in work mode.

  I tugged on the collar of his button-up shirt. He wore no tie and rolled up sleeves. “What’s going on? How much longer will you be?”

  “I called Luca. He’s on his way to pick you up. I’ll be working late,” he told me, finally meeting my eye.

  “All right. Is everything okay?”

  “Don’t wait up for me.” He kissed my forehead, that faraway gaze still lingering on his face.

  Sucking in a breath, I nodded and watched as he returned to the large conference room. Behind him, a whiteboard was filled with code and diagrams. And around a large table sat several men, including Freddie. They sat on their respective computers, tapping away at the keys.

  Gathering up my things, I waited at the window until I spotted Luca driving up. Running through the cold, I jumped inside the car. Luca chatted away to me in Romanian, and I smiled and shook my head, having no clue what he said.

  Once inside, I took my dinner in my room. Sitting at the small round table by the window, I propped my phone on its side to watch a movie while I ate.

  Ethan told me not to wait up, but the room seemed empty without him.

  Finally, around 1am, I fell into a deep sleep.

  Ethan sustained impossible work hours, and I continued to eat dinner alone. He’d wake me up freshly showered and bright-eyed with kisses and coffee, and then I wouldn’t see him again unless I brought him water or a sandwich. Sometimes I woke up when Ethan came to bed because he’d pull me into his arms and hold me until I fell asleep again.

  As time went on, I began working in the hotel room. It didn’t make sense for me to go into an office only to talk to no one. The castle had decent wifi, so I came up with a routine of bringing Ethan lunch and every day over at Balaur before returning to the hotel.

  After being there for almost two weeks, I rang Aubrey on video chat. We’d been messaging but hadn’t talked.

  I held the phone before me and watched it ring a few times. When her smiling face popped up, she greeted me.

  “Hey!” She called, drawing the word out. “How’s Romania?”

  “We had a crazy start, but now it’s super boring,” I told her more about the car crash, followed by getting back together with Ethan and then his long work hours.

  Her face went through several emotions while I detailed the events of our trip.

  Pausing, I tilted my head to the side, “What?”

  Aubrey’s brow was wrinkled, her eyebrows reaching toward her hairline. “I mean, this is just crazy. You slept with Ethan Dumont. Ethan freaking Dumont! In a cabin in the Carpathian Mountains! It’s just a lot to take in. I’m not even going to ask about your feelings because I can see them written all over your face.”

  “I know you don’t understand him, but I do. We think alike, and he makes me laugh.” I told her, trying to share what I saw in him.

  Her face told me she was unconvinced, and the slight shake of her head told me I wouldn’t be able to sway her at this point.

  “Have you been able to see any tourist sites?” She asked, changing the subject.

  I frowned. “I’ve been around the village. It’s super cute and historical. Have you seen the pictures I posted of the castle where we’re staying? Apparently, it’s a big deal. They have the fossilized finger of a saint in the chapel. People make pilgrimages here to see it.”

  “To each their own.” She said with raised eyebrows. “What about all those pictures from the graveyard? Where is that? It’s so spooky.”

  “Yeah, that’s behind the castle. But this weekend, Ethan has something special planned for me. It’ll be nice to finally spend more time with him, since he’s working such long hours.”

  “Yeah, Caro, that’s what he does. He’s a workaholic. I could’ve told you this.” She pursed her lips.

  “Aub…please. Can you just try to be supportive?” A knock sounded from the hallway. “I have to go; someone’s at my door.”

  She shook her head and sighed. “I’ve been trying to be supportive—this is me being supportive. I’m sorry that I can’t fake happiness for you. I’ve told you how I feel; the guy gives me a bad feeling.”

  “If he freaked you out so much, then maybe you shouldn’t have set me up to work with him!” I threw up my hands as I walked to see who the visitor was.

  The knocking continued.

  “Look, I’ve warned you to stay away from Ethan. I’m trying to protect you. Who will be there to pick up the pieces when you guys break up—me, it’ll be me. Between working and this baby, I have my hands full right now. I don’t need another mess to clean up.”

  Tears sprang to my eyes. Was she right?

  I stood at the door. “So, I’m just another mess for you to clean up?”

  “Caro…no…”

  I cut her off, “I ask for just a little support, and you can’t even try to give it to me. I have to go.”

  Tapping the end button, I felt a bit guilty for hanging up, but I had no intention of hearing another lecture on my choices.

  Opening the door, it was Alina with my breakfast tray.

  “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting,” I told the woman, holding the door wide for her to enter and set the tray down.

  “All right. Will you work all day again in the room?” She wiped her hands on her apron.

  “I’m going to go for a walk around the village after breakfast,” I said as I sat down and poured creamer into my coffee. “Alina? I can’t find any history about this castle on the internet, is there anything you can tell me about this place?”

  Sitting across from me, Alina pulled the spare cup off the tray and poured herself a cup of coffee. “I was born in this village and have lived here my entire life. What do you want to know?”

  I blew across my cup, “When was it built? What for? By whom?”

  “This castle was built in 1397—the date is carved in the beam in the great room. All these old castles were built by Basarav the First to protect against the invading Hungarians.”

  “I’ll look that up,” I told her, asking for the spelling as I jotted the name down.

  “If you are looking for real vampires, they are here—at Balaur.” She leaned back in her chair.

  “Real vampires?” I asked, trying to act reasonably skeptical. “Tell me.”

  “You hear that name, Balaur? They are vampires who have lived in this valley for centuries.”

  I couldn’t help the smile that flitted across my lips. Oh, if she
only knew.

  Shaking my head, I huffed a little before speaking, “More than half the village works for Balaur. I’ve been around the people there, they are not vampires.”

  “No, but the boss and…the man you are. Mr. Dumont is a vampire.” She eyed me sadly. “I thought you were his wife, but you’re human. You work for him too? A sweet girl like you should find a nice man and get away from these monsters.”

  A long breath whooshed out of me. Just what I needed.

  More advice.

  “What makes you think they’re vampires? How can you tell?” I felt my brow furrow. I’d like to know myself.

  “They don’t mind the cold. Look at your man, he wears only jacket. No hat, no gloves, no scarf. Then once he has come, there are whispers.”

  “Whispers about what?” I cringed, realizing that with two extra bloodsuckers in a small town like this, there would have to be more donors.

  “Whispers about containers full of blood being delivered to Balaur, even more than before.” She eyed me suspiciously.

  I laughed, “That isn’t proof, those are just rumors. Ethan’s alive; he has a pulse, has a reflection in the mirror, and eats garlic.”

  She just stared at me with her beady brown eyes, “None of those things disprove what he is. In this village, we know the truth about such things. People have gone missing—young women like you—who get close to vampires.”

  I narrowed my eyes. I wanted facts and I wanted to be able to identify moroi on my own. “If these demons or vampires you claim exist, tell me how to spot one.”

  She’d finished her coffee, but I poured her another cup, emptying the small carafe.

  “I see you wear silver. Your ring. Silver hurts them. They are powerful, and you know those myths about vampires turning into wolves?”

  “I don’t, but tell me…” I leaned forward.

  “Vampires, real vampires can follow a scent just like a dog. That is where the myth came from.” She added sugar to her cup and stirred cream in. “But they’re hard to spot because…”

  I cut her off, “Because they’re so human-like?”

  She nodded.

  If I’d have had this conversation at any other time in my life, I’d believe Alina was just an old superstitious woman. However, I knew that what she said was all true.