Suckers Go To Hell Book # 4 (San Francisco Vampires)

by Jessica McBrayer

  “Yes,” I said. I smiled at him, feeling better.

  “That’s my girl. Let’s get dressed for dinner with the Dragon Lady,” he said, raising his eyebrows. I laughed again. He held out his hand and helped me out of the tub. “God, if I don’t want you right now. But we don’t have time.”

  “Later, big boy,” I said and sashayed out of the bathroom. I could hear the groan as I left.

  I picked out an Armani, little black dress, nothing ordinary about it. An extraordinary dress and some black Louboutins, bare legs. Diel had given me a black diamond choker that went with the dress perfectly, along with two-carat, black diamond earrings.

  “You look lovely. I dare them to find anything wrong with this dress or with you wearing my diamonds,” Diel said proudly. He was wearing a white button up shirt, open at the neck, and a sharp black jacket and jeans. We looked hot together.

  I slipped my hand in his and we made our way down the staircase, my heels clicking and clacking announcing our arrival. It took a long time to make our way down all the stairs then down a long hall from the parlor until we entered a stunning room that I presumed was the dining room. Groups of people, scratch that, Demons, stood around drinking champagne. I quickly scanned the room to see if I had over or underdressed. I fit right in.

  I spied Diel’s parents in the middle of the group. What I saw next surprised me. I felt Diel tighten up at the same moment. We must have seen her at the same time. Josephine. She was standing next to Diel’s mom in a slutty red dress, champagne in hand, head thrown back in laughter, completely at ease. Venomous bitch. What the hell did she think she was doing here? The last time I saw her she had stolen Hades, tortured him and tried to get Diel to mate with her. It had been months since we had seen her.

  “Easy, Hannah. I have no idea why she’s here either. I thought she wouldn’t have escaped the Hell I sent her to for a while. She must be craftier than I gave her credit for. Fuck.” He ran his hand through his hair and then tightened his grip around my waist. “We’ll get through this, Babe.” He plastered on a grin, and I did the same. We made our way to the group.

  A human servant handed us each a flute of champagne and we thanked him. He looked stunned. Apparently they weren’t used to being thanked in this household.

  “Oh, there he is, my handsome boy. Diel come here and say hello to everyone,” his mother said. I felt Diel tense so I eased further into his side. He smiled down at me. His mother scowled.

  “Diel, it’s so good to see you, my boy,” said a man that I assumed was Josephine’s father. He had her flaming red hair. When I said flaming it wasn’t a figure of speech.

  “It’s nice to see you too, Sir,” Diel said, shaking his hand. “May I introduce my mate, Hannah?” As a gentleman he was forced to finally acknowledge me.

  I stuck out my hand and he shook it like it was something nasty.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir,” I said. I smiled with a closed mouth, hoping my fangs weren’t hanging out.

  “Yes, yes,” he said impatiently. Then he turned away from me, literally giving me the cold shoulder. Diel growled a low menacing sound that everyone ignored except Josephine. She actually smirked as she slithered toward us.

  “Hannah, so nice to see you again. It’s been ages,” she purred.

  “Yes, I didn’t think we’d see you for quite some time, Josephine,” I purred back. A flash of furry crossed her face before she regained her control.

  “Well, you know, can’t keep a good demon down and all that.”

  “What are you doing here?” Diel whispered harshly.

  “Claiming what is mine,” she hissed.

  Hades chose that moment to enter the room, he howled, shooting fire at Josephine. His entrance didn’t go unnoticed. Diel had to hold him back by his collar as our Hell Hound started to snap at her. Hades remembered the torture Josephine had put him through. His barks were bursts of fire and Josephine acted like it was all a joke.

  “Oooh, someone holds a grudge,” Josephine said with a sneer. His next bark nailed her Chanel dress. I heard someone snicker. It wasn’t Diel.

  “I’d call you a bitch but that would only insult Hades’ mother! You know what you did to him. How could you hurt him? He was an innocent puppy,” I whispered.

  “Well apparently he still has the manners of a puppy, you Vamp trash,” she said. Her “ugly face” came out full force, as she tried to brush off the charred pieces of her dress.

  “Time out, ladies. We’re in the middle of a dinner party,” Diel said. He was angry, but not at me. “I’ll just have someone put Hades in our room.” He handed Hades to a lesser demon, who looked terrified of the snapping, snarling, fire snorting Hound, who was almost as big as my VW beetle.

  Diel’s mother, Millicent swooped over apologizing profusely – to Josephine.

  “This isn’t over blood sucker. You think you can go and mate with my demon. You have another thing coming. I will have Diel. And I will crush you,” Josephine growled. She turned on her heels and walked away.

  Diel joined me again.

  “What did she say?”

  “Nothing important,” I lied.

  “Hannah,” he said, blowing out a breath. “Don’t lie to me.”

  “She said that she will have you and that she was going to crush me.”

  “Freaking demon bitch,” Diel said under his breath.

  I smiled at him. He frowned at me.

  “Why are you smiling?”

  “Because I love you,” I said.

  He bent down and kissed me for an indecent amount of time. When he came up for air I looked up and everyone had given us a wide berth with disapproval written across their faces. I just smiled at them.

  “Please be seated for dinner, ladies and gentlemen,” a servant said. Saved by the bell.

  We took our places. Our names were written on little porcelain name plates. I was down the table at the end next to Josephine’s brother. Diel was seated at the head of the table next to Josephine and their parents.

  “Hi, I’m Brandon, Josephine’s brother. But don’t let that keep you from talking to me.” A chubby, baby faced guy leaned over and confided in me. He had his dad’s flaming red hair. “I know what she’s like and what she’s up to. She’s a royal pain in the ass and she doesn’t have a dream in Hell.”

  I looked at him, shocked and shook the hand he offered. This evening may be looking up after all. I looked up the table at Diel and he was staring at me, his expression full of malice. He was ready to kill someone. I shrugged and blew him a kiss. A small smile twitched at the edge of his mouth.

  “Brandon, what do you do for a living?” I said trying to keep the conversation alive.

  “I’m a lawyer. I specialize in mating ceremonies and their legal ramifications,” he said with a glint in his eye.

  “Oh,” I said, immediately devastated. He would be working for Josephine trying to find a loophole to get Diel away from me.

  “Don’t assume anything. I’ve already drawn up all of Diel’s legal papers. I made them so tight that Josephine, or our parents, couldn’t get through them with a thousand lawyers. I intend to officiate the ceremony too. Diel and I go back a long time. I love the guy like a brother. I think my sister was dropped on her head a few too many times.”

  I laughed loudly and with relief.

  “What do you do, Hannah?”

  “Survive.”

  “Ugh, doesn’t sound very fun.”

  “Well, I usually am this kick ass Vampire, dressed in Goth and I enjoy playing with Hades and spending time with Diel, going to concerts, visiting with friends. It’s hard because I still have to sleep half the day. When I’m two hundred, I can consider a career. I’d like to be a mother,” I said bowing my head, suddenly shy. I’m not sure why I had told this stranger this, but I felt like I could trust him.

  “I think that would make Diel and you very happy. You seem like you would be a great mother. I heard what you said to Jo about Hades. And you’re r
ight; anyone that could harm a hound like that has no right being a mother or a mate. It’s sadistic. I refer back to head dropping.”

  I laughed again, trying to be discrete but apparently not succeeding. Everyone gave us curious looks. Food was served and I let mine get cold while I sipped my wine. It was very rude to serve a Vampire food. I’m sure they knew that.

  Brandon and I chatted throughout the meal and into dessert. He was easy to talk to and I relaxed for the first time since I had entered the room. Diel on the other hand looked miserable. Sometimes we would make eye contact and I would give him an encouraging smile but he didn’t return it.

  When dinner was over, we retired to the parlor for coffee. Josephine tried to sit next to Diel but I saw it coming and planted myself next to him first. She glared at me when she practically sat on me. Diel sighed and kissed me chastely, but his hand had slid down my back in a very protective way. He seemed to unwind again with me next to him. Brandon winked at me as if to say well played.

  We drank our coffee in a tense silence.

  “Hannah and I are turning in. Thank you for dinner Mother. It’s been a long day for us. We will see you at breakfast.” He was up and dragging me from the room before we could say goodbye to anyone else.

  “Wasn’t it rude to not say goodbye to the guests?” I asked.

  “No,” he said. Once we got to his room, he turned around and locked the door. He walked across the room and pulled the curtains shut. He started pacing.

  “Diel, sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

  “They are what’s wrong. Do you know what they were talking to me about?”

  “No,” I said. He was making me nervous with his behavior.

  “They were talking about annulling our mating. They said they had lawyers set up to do it. All I had to do was say the word. Josephine had her hands all over me. Gah, I need a shower, I feel dirty.” He started stripping. “My mother gave a veiled threat that if I didn’t agree to the annulment that something might accidently happen to you.” He looked up with an expression I didn’t recognize. It was fear. Burning away at him.

  “How can they annul the mating? Isn’t it as much chemical as emotional?”

  “There are voodoo doctors who can perform ceremonies to break the bond,” he said.

  “Oh no.” Now I was scared. Really scared. If they got one of us alone they could force us into this.

  Diel was instantly at my side.

  “I won’t let them get ahold of either of us. The doctor has to perform the spell on me. I won’t allow it. And I will protect you with my last dying breath, Hannah.” He kissed me like his life depended on it. I broke away.

  “I talked to Brandon tonight. He said he tied everything up so tight that no lawyer could break it.”

  “Yes, Brandon and I go back a long way. He is nothing like his family. If he said that then we can depend on it. We just need to have the mating ceremony. I’m thinking we should do it in private. What do you think?” Diel said staring into my eyes.

  “That’s fine with me. The sooner the better.”

  “I’ll talk to Brandon tomorrow and see when he can perform it,” he pulled me close again. “Right now I have to shower. I can smell her perfume on me and I want to throw up.”

  “I agree,” I said wrinkling my nose. I let him go and got ready for bed. The gown I chose was sure to soothe him. I crawled under the blankets and waited. It didn’t take him long. When he climbed into bed he smelled like himself again.

  “Much better,” I said. He ran his hand up my leg and made a deep humming sound in his throat.

  “I love this new sleep wear and lingerie. You can ditch the dresses but keep this. It’s so sensual. I love the feel of it on my skin,” he said as he ran his hands up and down my leg and then under the gown. Whoa baby!

  10. DIEL

  I woke before Hannah of course. She wouldn’t wake until the afternoon. I had a few phone calls to make and needed to get one of the servants to feed Hades and walk him. I called down to the servant’s quarters first and asked who was available. Having sorted that out, I got to my other calls. First up was Brandon.

  “Hey Brandon, what the hell is going on?” I asked.

  “I know, I know, bro. My sister and our parents have flipped out. I have everything locked up tighter than a Witch’s ass though. No worries.”

  “I’m worried. You should have heard them last night. Voodoo doctors and annulments, I’m afraid to leave Hannah alone.”

  “I wouldn’t let her out of my sight. I don’t trust them at all. I had no idea they had consulted a Voodoo doctor. Shit. This changes everything. We need to do the ceremony right away, Diel,” Brandon said.

  “I know. I was hoping maybe tonight. Can you meet us somewhere? Somewhere no one will be able to find easily?”

  “Yeah, I know just the place. Say eleven? I’ll text you the location,” Brandon said.

  “Sounds good. See you later.”

  My next call was to Dr. Hildebrand. He didn’t have any news yet.

  After our arduous love making the night before I decided a shower was in order and then I would have some food sent up.

  I started the water and climbed in. I was running my face in the warm spray when I heard the crash of shattering glass. I raced out of the bathroom. A Demon who was at least a foot taller than me had Hannah under one arm. She was deep in her sleep phase. He was about to jump out of the window.

  I lunged, tackling him around the knees. He let go of Hannah and fell face first into the glass and carpet. I could feel the glass grind its way into my skin. I held on. He flipped up and twisted like a wrestler. Almost got away, until I bit him. He howled. I grabbed his arms pulling him back into the room.

  He took a fighter’s stance, blood dripping from his arm. I backed up so I could kick. Being naked and wet was not to my advantage. He pounced. I dodged and spun and punched him in the kidneys – oops no kidneys. I’d been away for too long. He grinned. My punches barely slowed him down, the son of a bitch. He spun around. His kick connected, sending me to the floor and into more glass. It also knocked the air out of me. He went for Hannah.

  I rolled across the floor and pulled his feet out from underneath him. He landed on Han and that just pissed me off. To have that fucker’s foul skin on her sleeping body. I jumped him and took his head in my hands and twisted until there was a sharp crack. I had broken his neck. I pulled him off of Hannah and sat down breathing hard.

  Sounds started to register again. Hades was at the door barking like a wild hound. Scratching at the door. No one else had raised the alarm confirming my suspicions that my parents were behind this. I lifted Hannah gently into my arms. She had some cuts on her face. I burned with anger. My whole body shook with adrenaline and rage. I didn’t feel the glass I’d rolled around in.

  I laid her on the bed and put on my robe. Then I let Hades in. He leaped to Hannah and started licking her hand.

  “Yes boy, I know. I got the bad guy, though.” He started growling when I said that. I used a wet wash cloth to wipe away the blood on Han’s face. She had already started healing. She looked so peaceful in her sleep. A goddess. My heart tightened thinking about almost losing her. While I cleaned Hannah up, Hades sniffed the corpse before raising his leg over it. I couldn’t help chuckling, a little.

  I left Hades to guard Hannah and went to the bathroom to stand in front of the mirror. I took my robe off and assessed the damage. I was a mess of cuts and scrapes and was going to have a nasty shiner. When did I get hit in the face? I searched for a tweezers and alcohol to begin the long process of removing all the glass. Hannah was going to be pissed she missed the action. That made me smile. I took the tweezers and a mirror into the bedroom afraid to leave her alone.

  It took forever to find all the pieces. I took a short, cold shower to wash off the blood and stop the bleeding. I knew Hades would defend Hannah with his life but I was still uneasy. Once out, I got dressed in record time, picked up Hannah and moved her to the room next doo
r. I called my parents on the phone.

  “You missed.” I hung up the phone before they could say anything else.

  Then I called the kitchen. I needed to eat. A

  Demon has a high metabolism and I had just expended a lot of energy. Two Human servants brought me a huge breakfast. I instructed them to move all of our things to our new room and that my mother would need to take care of the mess in my old room.

  After I ate, I invited Hades up on the bed and we lay next to Hannah, protecting her. Hades kept inching his way up the bed until he was between us. I didn’t mind. I knew he was nervous and needed to be next to her.

  We lay that way until she woke up.

  11. HANNAH

  I woke up with Hades’ hound breath in my face and Diel giving me a look of deep concern. His face was swollen and bruised and we weren’t in the room I’d gone to sleep in. I sat bolt upright.

  “What the hell happened!?”

  “A Third-tier Demon broke in through the window and grabbed you while I was taking a shower. I broke his neck. I didn’t think you would want to stay in that room anymore,” he said. He talked predator to predator. Damn right. My predator.

  “Hell no I wouldn’t. Are you alright? What happened to your face? Where else are you hurt? Let me see, honey,” I demanded.

  “I’d have to strip to show you everything.”

  “That’s not a problem,” I said.

  He chuckled and started taking off his shirt. I gasped as I saw all the cuts and scrapes. He was covered in them. As he took off more clothing I could see they got worse.

  “Didn’t your clothes protect you at all? You look like you rolled in glass.”

  “I was naked, just out of the shower, and I did roll in glass. Quite a bit of it, I guess.”

  “Oh, Diel. Come here. Let kiss every one of them better,” I said.

  “Honey that would take all night and I have plans for us. We’re going to get hitched tonight. Brandon is going to perform the ceremony at eleven.”