Carver’s warning echoes Mama Lisette’s.
The darkness is coming for you, Aurora. You can’t outrun it. You can’t hide from it. And you can’t defeat it.
She’s right. Darkness is coming for me—and even with my newfound speed—I’m not going to be able to outrun it.
Chapter 4
The aroma of a café au lait wakes me the next morning. Strong coffee and frothed milk with a splash of vanilla. Otherwise known as, heaven in a mug.
Though no one had died, I was in mourning. Mourning for the life which had been stolen from me. How many more sunrises would I have left? Would I be restricted to stalking the night like vampires in movies? I have yet to be informed of the rules of my new existence, and yet, I didn’t want to know. For some reason, that makes it all too real.
So far, much of my needs and desires have remained the same. Well, aside from the ravenous libido which continued to turn my sheets into a sweat drenched prison. I could eat food, drink water, though nothing sated that other craving.
I’d lain awake long after I’d crawled into bed. Reina had come in sometime in the early morning, just after I’d gotten home, to check in on me. I’d apologized for being a shitty person and making her worry. She told me she understood and then left me alone to process and sleep. She always knew my moods and when to and when to not press me.
My head had been consumed with thoughts and questions. Many of which involved Carvell ‘Carver’ Marceau. I should hate him for forcing me to do something against my will, but I can’t. The slutty vampire in me claims that I should just bang him and everything would be alright.
Yeah, she makes a whole lot of sense.
And the early morning, panty ripping, bloodletting, sex dream I’d had about Carver, didn't help my rational mind’s argument. I sit up in bed and drop my head in my hands. Before I can start in on a pity party of epic proportions, there’s a soft knock at my door. Reina peeks her head in, and I give her a faint smile.
“Hey.”
She smiles back and steps into my room. “I brought coffee.” She twirls a lock of her long black blue hair around her finger and shifts from foot to foot. “Oh,” she says, glancing down at the mug. “Do you still want coffee or only. . . you know. . . ?”
Blood. She means blood. And yes, I seem to always want blood, but for now, coffee would do.
“Coffee’s great.”
She watches me timidly. “Is it okay if I sit down? I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
“Me?”
“Yeah,” she says.
“It didn’t happen last night—if that’s what you’re worried about.” She knows I’m referring to the change. The one we both know is coming.
“I’m not scared of you, Aura.”
I frown. “I’m scared of me. How can you not be?”
“Because I know you won’t hurt me.”
“Reina.” I look at her flatly. “I attacked you twenty-four hours ago.”
“But that was before.”
I shake my head. “Before what?”
“Before you acknowledged what’s happening to you. Hell, before I acknowledged it. Now we both have, it feels like things will be okay.”
This early in the morning, she’s still in her PJ’s, but normally, she tends towards gothic princess chic. Her PJ’s are black with dancing pink skulls on them this morning. I’d bought them for her last Christmas.
“So, do you want to talk about it. . .” She trails off.
I shrug. “I don’t know.” I grab my mug of nirvana and take a fortifying sip, praying that it will still taste just as good as it did two weeks ago. It does.
Part of me is afraid to be so close to her again. Afraid that I’ll flip my shit and attack her like the other day, but it seems as though she is right. Knowledge and fear have ripped the bloodlust from me—at least temporarily.
“We don’t have to, but . . . where did you go?”
“After I freaked the fuck out?”
She nods.
“I just ran. I needed air. I don’t know.” I shrug. “I just needed to be where no one else was.”
“I get it.” She tilts her head to the side. “What happens now?”
“It’s a long story.”
She leans further into the doorjamb. “So, tell me.”
I stand up and walk toward her. “Let’s go make breakfast, and I’ll fill you in.”
“Just tell me now,” she says, and I watch as the puzzle pieces begin to snap together in her mind. “Oh my god, did you find another vampire?”
I don’t say yes, but the answer’s written all over my face.
“Holy shit!” She jerks off the frame. “What happened? Did they attack you? Talk to you? Was it a guy? A girl?”
She’s flying a thousand questions at me. “More caffeine first.”
“You’re going to make me wait?” She grumbles. “Fine, I hate you. Let’s go.”
“You love my face, bitch.” I laugh, and we head into the kitchen. It’s nice to still feel like us. Reina and Aura, best friends, dirty sailor mouths, and polar opposites who are exactly alike.
Maybe I could still be me. That was my greatest fear after all. Losing myself and becoming someone else—something else. Maybe that won’t be the case.
I say a silent prayer in hopes that god, or someone, will hear my plea.
An hour later, I’d filled her in on the events of the evening before, while we’d eaten through a half-dozen homemade pancakes with a pecan maple syrup, spicy breakfast sausages, and eggs over easy. I sat back into the barstool, resting my hands behind my head to alleviate the five pounds of food I’d added to my stomach.
“So, you’re Kresova? That name is totally badass.” She pours herself a glass of orange juice. “Did he tell you what the other kinds of vampires were called?”
“Nope. We didn’t talk for long.”
“Did he say exactly how he found you?”
“No and I didn’t ask.”
“But you still have to go see some queen.”
“Apparently.”
“When?” she asks.
“Tonight, when he shows up again.”
She swirled her finger around the rim, “So, if vampires exist and voodoo queens are like, legit, does that mean it all exists? Shifters, and witches, and all of it?”
I shrug. “Probably.”
“The world just got infinitely cooler.”
“I don’t know if I’d consider this cooler.”
She sighs. “I’m sorry, Aura.”
“It’s okay.” I winked. “I get what you’re trying to say. By the way, I thought you believed in voodoo queens? You were the one who insisted we see Mama Lisette.”
“Well, I figured it was worth a shot.” She grabbed her plate from the counter and scraped the leftover food into the trashcan. “What about daylight? Like, can you go outside anymore in the sun?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”
“And food? You’re such a foodie, Aura. Can you still eat afterward? It would be so sad to be stuffing my face all alone.”
I raise my fork and slip the last piece of sausage into my mouth. “I am right now”
“Yeah, but I mean after it.”
I shake my head. “No clue.”
“I think it’s like any other magic,” she says as she leans onto the counter. “Like maybe being a vampire isn’t like dying as much as it is transforming, you know?”
“Maybe.” I push away and hop off the stool. “Alright, I’m gonna take a shower. I can still feel the crap in my hair and on my feet.”
“Good, cause I wasn’t gonna say anything, but. . .” She pinches her nose closed. “You look like a hot mess—and you smell even worse.”
“Thanks, bitch.” I laugh, making my way down the hall.
She flips me off. “You’re welcome, bitch.”
I turn and stick my tongue out at her before disappearing into the bathroom for some much-needed TLC.
I don’t l
ike long showers.
After ten minutes, my skin begins to itch and become uncomfortable, and I feel like I’m wasting time rather than getting on with life. If I want to linger in water, I go swimming or take a bath.
But today, I toss all that aside and let the scorching hot water trail down my back for a good half-hour, steaming up the bathroom and turning it into a makeshift sauna. I’d splurged on the nozzle head, setting myself back a good three-hundred bucks on a Moen rain-style nozzle. The strong pulsing jet massages into my tired, stress filled, shoulder blades, and I can’t help but moan at how good it feels.
It was pure heaven.
By the time I’d hit the forty-minute mark and my fingers had become pruney, I turned off the head and stepped out. I had just wrapped a towel about my waist when I heard the low hum of our doorbell ringing. Reina’s footsteps echo across the apartment, and then I hear barely audible voices. Minutes later, there’s a knock on the bathroom door.
Reina comes in as I’m brushing my teeth and closes the door, leaning her back against it. “Um, Aura?”
“What’s up,” I ask through a foam filled mouth.
“A sexy as fuck guy with a French accent is sitting on our sofa asking to talk to you.”
I spit the toothpaste and water out of my mouth. “What!” I screech. Then whisper, “He’s here? You let him inside?” I glance to the small window above the shower. Daylight still shines through. “What time is it?”
“Ten-thirty.”
I’d expected an entire day of relative normalcy before Carver showed up again this evening. Now that he’s here, during the day no less, dread courses through me, and I practically drop my towel. “At least that answers, that,” I say.
Reina glances at the window. “Holy shit,” she says, finally getting the reasons behind my freak-out. “It’s him. The fucking vampire from last night? He’s inside our house.” She rubs a hand through her hair. “Oh my god, I invited him inside. Is that how he came in?”
“Reina, that’s how everyone comes in.”
“Right.” She takes a deep breath, “Well, what do I do now?”
“Why did you let him in?” I lower my voice knowing that Carver can probably hear us. Not that I thought in any way Reina could stop him if he really wanted inside. But maybe the movies had it right, and he needed an invitation.
“He said you guys had coffee the other day, and that he’d walked you home, and you mentioned him stopping by to finish your conversation?”
“And you just believed him?”
“Well yes, he’s dressed nice, and he’s hot as fuck, and he has an accent.”
“What does his accent have to do with it?”
“I don’t know.” She waves her hands in the air. “I trust people with accents!”
“Lower your voice,” I tell her.
“Are you coming out?”
I wrap my arms around myself. “Obviously not like this. I need to get dressed.” I glance in the mirror. “Just tell him he has to wait.”
She does a few hand calming movements. “Okay, shit, I can do this.” She puts her hands on her hips and shakes out her hair.
“Are you scared?”
Reina blinks her pastel green eyes a few times “What?” She scrunches up her nose. “No, I mean yes, but good scared. Like excited.”
I drop my head into my hands as I lean on the sink.
“What’s the problem?” she asks coming up behind me and rubbing my back. “Are you scared?”
I sigh and shake my head. “Honestly? Yes, I’m scared of everything that’s coming, but I’m not afraid of him. I don’t get any indication that he’s going to hurt me.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“Because in case you haven’t noticed, my hormones are out of fucking control, and my vajayjay needs a leash now, apparently. I think in my craze, I may have dry humped him last night.”
A saccharine sweet smile crosses Reina’s face, and she bursts out laughing.
“What?”
“Oh, I’ve noticed. I just didn’t think you’d admit it out loud.”
I lunge for her and smack her ass harder than I intended. She used to be faster than me, not anymore. “Hey, no attacking the innocent human.”
“Just go, okay?”
“Fine.” She opens the door and leaves, but then peaks her head back in. “But hurry the fuck up, because if you aren’t out there in a few minutes, I’m sending him in.”
I open my mouth to throw a dire warning her way if she even contemplates doing that, but she slams it again before I can reply.
I look around at the clothes I’d grabbed and set on the toilet. Nothing fancy, yoga pants and a v-neck tee. I wasn’t going for glamorous, but now that Carver was here, I couldn’t help the desire to look semi-nice. I decided to plot on some bronzer, mascara and lip gloss. Then I shook my hair out upside down, letting it fall into mild waves down my back. Clothes on, I gave myself one last look and headed down stairs to face a vampire.
Chapter 5
When I come around the corner, I stop and lean up against the wall. I listen as Reina peppers Carver with questions. Judging by his annoyed tone, she’s not going easy on him. I’d feel sorry for him if I didn’t want him out of my house.
Carvers rubs at his temples before he responds to Reina’s latest question. “You’re quite inquisitive, Snow White.”
Reina snorts. “Snow White?”
“A compliment, chérie.”
Of course, he was the kind of man to call every beautiful woman chérie. I didn’t want to admit how annoyed—and jealous—it made me feel toward my best friend.
Carver clears his throat before he speaks. “No use in hiding, ma belle. I can hear your breathing.”
“I am not hiding.” I walk into the living room and into Carver’s line of sight. “Why are you here right now?”
His eyes flash to Reina and back to me again. He’s telling me to keep my mouth shut without actually telling me.
“I thought vampires can’t come out in the day,” I say.
“Merde!” His outburst makes me jump. “The Kresova have been kept in the shadows for thousands of years, and you’re telling all your friends. Our first subject to address is caution and discretion.” He points a finger at me and then at Reina. “You, Snow, are not to breathe a word of any of this to anyone.”
“Relax, she’s cool,” I reassure him, but he doesn’t take his eyes from hers.
“Or what?” Reina taunts, putting a hand on her hip. Now Reina isn’t stupid, but threatening a vampire seemed like a really stupid thing to do.
“Carver,” I warn him.
They continue to glare at each other for much too long, and I’m becoming genuinely worried for Reina’s safety before Carver breaks the tension and chuckles darkly.
“I appreciate your fire, chérie, but be warned, you won’t like what will happen if you don’t heed my advice.” His tone makes the hair on my arms stand up, and I shiver.
“Mouth shut. Got it,” she says. “Anything else?”
I sit on the arm of the couch, and Carver looks me over. He takes in my wet hair and flushed cheeks and smiles. His dimples momentarily distract me. He’s too sexy for his own good. “Was I not clear last night? I told you I would come today, yes?”
“Yes, and apparently you meant to-day,” I say with air quotes. “So, vampires can walk in the daylight?”
He laughs. “Yes, chérie.” He raises a hand in the air to stop me from speaking. “And no, we do not have issues with crucifixes or holy water. So please do not insult me by asking such things.”
“I don’t care about the rest of it as long as I can keep the sun.”
He looks to me. “Yes, you will keep the sun, but clearly, you cannot keep secrets. I see you let the cat out of the sack with Snow over here.” He points at Reina accusingly.
“Cat out of the bag,” I correct with a chuckle. “And there is nothing to let out of the bag. Reina knows everything.” I take a deep breath.
“I almost munched on her neck a couple of days ago, so I couldn’t really keep it from her.”
“Don’t call me Snow,” Reina says at the same time. She does kind of look like Snow White, but she was teased when we were growing up, so she hates the nickname.
Carver taps his hand on the seat beside him, but I move and take up a spot on one of the barstools. I’m nasty fantasizing again, and I need to keep my distance.
Carver just shakes his head. “May I speak now?”
“Go ahead.”
“Since the queen will expecting you to be presented this evening”—he sits forward, resting his elbows onto his knees— “there are few things you need to know in preparation.”
“I have some questions first.”
Carver raises a brow. “Which are?”
“What’s next?”
“How do you mean?” he asks.
“Do I have to sleep in the dirt? Suck the blood of virgins? I don’t know how to be a Kresova or a vampire in general. Christ, I just finished college. I’m supposed to be starting a life.” My voice rises in pitch as I stand up and pace.
“Goddamn Hollywood.” Carver hangs his head. “None of what they say is real. It’s all a fabricated lie based on what most humans can’t comprehend or fathom.”
Reina pipes up. “So, can you eat garlic? And do you always have to be invited in?”
I raise my hand in the air. “Anyone else feeling fucking ridiculous with this conversation or just me?”
“No, I enjoy Italian food.” Carver’s face is a mask of disgust with each answer. “And no, I do not need an invitation.”
“And the church?” I ask.
“We are creatures of magic like any other, chérie. Not demons.”
I squint at him. “So, we’re not evil?”
Carver looks at me as though I’ve sprouted two heads. “Evil lives in every lifeform, Aurora. Including humanity. It is about how you choose to live your life—not about the life you were born with—or given.”
I feel like a child being educated by an adult.
“What about the blood thing. How does that work? And when will I change? Will it hurt? How did this happen?” My words all jumble together in one breath, and I look at Carver with panic. My limbs shake, and my chest tightens. Just saying the word blood this close to Carver has me aching to slam my mouth over his jugular and suck—hard.
Thirst: The Kresova Vampire Harems: Aurora Page 4