02 How to Date a Vampire - Rylie Cruz

by Rose Pressey

  “Jack, run.” I pulled him forward by his shirt as he stumbled to the ground, but the male vampire was way too fast. If Jack was going to be a vampire now, he had to get the hang of things.

  Sophie laughed. “Guess you have no choice but let him come with us now.”

  With her four-inch heels, she towered over me, then leaned down to my level. Darn flats. How could I be a badass werewolf when she hovered over me like a tall oak tree.

  “And as a matter of fact, the wolf’s coming with us, too,” Nelson said.

  “Leave her out of this,” Jack said. “If you want me fine, but let her go.”

  “Oh, how gallant of him.” She snorted. “No can do, buttercup.” She inched closer, circling Jack as if he was a giant vial of blood.

  “What is that?” I pointed behind them. They turned in unison to search for the mystery thing I’d pointed out. They were too gullible.

  While they were distracted, I made a lunge to my left, pulling Jack with me.

  “Get her,” Nelson demanded. I wasn’t sure how I’d get out of this situation. I was accustomed to confrontation with werewolves, but I’d successfully avoided confrontation with vampires up until this point. Sophie grabbed me by both arms, pulling me forward. The male vamp grabbed Jack and pushed him forward.

  The anger bubbled inside me, starting at my toes, settling in my stomach, swooshing and churning, then finally bubbling to the top of my head. The hair appeared on my hands. I felt the change in my eyes and face. The claws appeared on the tips of my fingers. I let out a long howl, a warning signal that said ‘get the hell off me.’ My natural instincts took over, my eyes changed, the transformation took place and fur covered my body. I swiped at her, and she screamed.

  “I’m going to drain you dry for messing this up.” Nelson stormed toward me. His incisors flashed in the sliver of moonlight.

  Uh oh.

  Chapter Sixteen

  How to Date a Vampire, Rule #16:

  Don’t be a sucker.

  Jack swooped in from the side and sucker-punched him. Probably not a good idea, but what could I do? I had my hands full at the moment. From out of the shadows, a figure appeared.

  “Let them go now,” the loud baritone voice rang out.

  All movement stopped, as if the figure had pressed the pause button. The male and female vampire zipped away so quickly it made my head spin. I swallowed hard.

  Jack moved closer to me. “Are you okay?”

  He didn’t look at me, but stared at the figure instead. I couldn’t take my eyes off the figure, either.

  “I’m fine.”

  I still had hairy hands and a partial beard. Awkward. The figure stared at us. It was so dark that I couldn’t make out any features. He just stood motionless, but I knew his gaze was locked on us.

  “Jack’s coming with me,” the figure said.

  Hell to the no. “Look. I don’t know who the hell you are, but he’s not going with you, them, or anyone else. I appreciate the help with getting rid of the two who were ready to kill us, that was so sweet of you, but… that still doesn’t mean Jack is coming with you. Now leave us alone. Come on, Jack.” I grabbed him and we ran away from the cemetery without as much as a glance back. I was afraid of what I might see if I looked back.

  We sprinted down the sidewalk toward the apartment building. Luckily, Jack’s new vampire skills allowed him to move faster, matching my werewolf speed. That came in handy at the moment. People crowded the sidewalks as we weaved around them. They were lucky, out having a fantastic time. In the meantime, vampires were chasing Jack and me and I was halfway in werewolf form.

  After I figured we’d put enough space between us and the graveyard, I glanced over my shoulder repeatedly while continuing our sprint. We passed a couple jazz bars and more voodoo shops. I expected to see any number of vampires following us. Luckily, I saw none.

  It seemed as if it had taken us hours to run the several blocks home, but in reality only took a couple minutes. People didn’t have time to pay much attention to us as we zoomed down the sidewalk. If they had seen us, they hadn’t seemed concerned, as if they saw people zoom past all the time.

  We made it safely back inside the building. So far, the coast was clear.

  “That was some experience, huh? How are you feeling?” I asked Jack.

  He nodded. “I’ll be all right. I'm sorry. I guess I'm a little distracted.”

  “You have every right to be distracted.”

  “I shouldn’t have gone there,” Jack said, as he glanced over at me.

  I wasn't going to argue with him over that one. I completely agreed.

  “I’d really like if you stayed with me tonight. Just knowing you’re in the room will make me feel better.” Jack grasped my arm and eased me around.

  His touch was still cold, but it made my arm warm at the same time. That didn't make sense to me. It was either one or the other, but not both. As for his question, I couldn’t think of any place I’d rather be.

  “I’d love to stay over with you.” My stomach tingled. A bit of happiness amongst the chaos. “Why don’t you lie down and get some rest? You’ve been through a lot,” I said as we made our way up the stairs.

  “I don’t think I can,” he said as he unlocked the door.

  After he opened the door, I slipped inside and over to his living room window, peering out. Nothing unusual popped out at me, so I hurried back over to him. He was walking back and forth along the hallway.

  “Come on. Let’s go in your bedroom.” I looped my arm through his and guided him toward the back of the hallway.

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel as if I’ve downed a case of Red Bull and chased it with some coffee. My skin’s crawling.” Jack paced. He was like a caged animal, looking for any way to escape. From what, I wasn’t sure. His own body?

  Hmm. That didn’t sound like much fun.

  “I need the vampire antidote. Like yesterday,” he said.

  Unfortunately, I knew all too well there wasn’t one. I sat down on the bed and watched Jack pace. In a way it made me sad to know he’d finally accepted his fate.

  “Here, why don’t you take a shower? Maybe the water will make you feel better. I’ll go check on Jennifer and be right back.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. Okay. Maybe you’re right.”

  It wasn’t much, but I didn’t have any other options for him at the moment. Next I’d be tucking him into bed and offering him chicken noodle soup.

  After leading Jack into the shower, I slipped back into my apartment to let Jennifer know what had happened. I had locked his door so no vampires could get in, but then again, would a thing like a locked door stop them?

  When I walked through the door of my apartment, Jennifer was lounging on the sofa.

  “What? No Ghost Hunters?” I tried to sound calm and casual. No need to freak her out.

  “It’s on.” She pointed to the TV. “It’s a rerun. I watch them, but since I’ve seen all the episodes at least three times, I know what happens. What’s going on with Jack?”

  “He’s worse. I was trying to tell him what happened to him, you know, being a half-turned vampire, but he walked right to the cemetery. As if it was a giant magnet. Anyway, these vampires showed up, then another thing—a creature. Then this shadowy vampire came… I guess it was a vampire. He made the others run away like scared little puppies. He wanted to take Jack away too, but we took off. He didn’t follow us as far as I know.” I was exhausted just from recapping the events.

  “As far as you know? As far as you know?” she repeated with a slight panic in her voice. “There was already some crazy woman in here. Vampires are hunting you, and this man… vampire… whatever he was. I gotta tell ya, Rylie, I’m not feeling all that safe here. I love you, but there’s only so much I can take of this paranormal stuff.”

  I didn’t blame her. I was probably going to lose her as a roommate. But she didn’t deserve to be involved with this.

  “Oh, about the va
mpire who was here with the note. She knows Jack. She was in his apartment right after you gave me the book. She also came by this morning and wanted me to fix her up.”

  “She wanted you to match her?” Jennifer’s eyes widened.

  I nodded. “She claims she’s friends with Jack from high school. Well, actually he said that.”

  “This is too weird. What is going on?”

  Before I answered, the doorbell rang and we both sucked in a breath.

  “See,” Jennifer whispered. “This is what I’m talking about. I don’t want to be a vampire, or a werewolf.” She glanced over at me. “No offense.”

  “None taken,” I said dryly.

  “Can’t we hang crosses around the house to keep them away?”

  “That only works in the movies.”

  “Stephen’s supposed to pick me up. I pray that it’s him.” She sucked in a deep breath.

  “Have you heard from Todd?” I asked as Jennifer grabbed the fire poker and stood beside the door. “Maybe it’s him.”

  “Thankfully, no,” she whispered.

  “Careful with that thing,” I whispered as I jumped from the sofa and made my way to the door. Jennifer holding that metal poker and having that wild look in her eyes was most disconcerting. Why did I feel I’d be the one accidentally smacked in the head with it?

  I pressed my cheek against the door. “Who is it?” I called.

  “Police,” the voice boomed.

  “The police.” I raised a brow. “I didn’t call the police,” I whispered. “Did you?”

  “What if Lily is up to her old games again?” Jennifer asked.

  “Oh, she wouldn’t do that. She’s too busy with her new honey man.”

  “If you say so,” she said.

  I sucked in a deep breath and eased the door open, ready to pounce. Stephen, Jennifer’s new boyfriend, stood in front of the door in his typical military stance.

  “Rylie.” He nodded.

  “Why did you say police? Why didn’t you say it was you?” I asked.

  “Just playing around. Why are you so edgy?”

  I scowled. “It kind of freaks me out when the police pound on my door.”

  He chuckled.

  “Stephen, you freaked me out. I was ready to knock you over the head with this poker,” Jennifer said.

  “Good thing you didn’t.” He slipped the poker from her hand and placed it back in the stand next to the fireplace.

  “I’ll leave you two alone.” I gave a fake smile to Stephen, then walked out into the hallway.

  When I reached Jack’s door, it was open again. If Isabella was back in that apartment, I would lose it. She was as bad as Lily. If she wasn’t a vampire, I’d swear she was related to Lily. Jack attracted the female vamps like Justin Bieber attracted teen girls.

  Unfortunately, it wasn’t Isabella. I froze on the spot.

  “I’ve come for Jack,” Sophie said.

  Oh no. This was getting out of hand fast. Sophie stood in the middle of the room. Jack was at the entrance of the hallway. His hair was wet and he wore shorts and a T-shirt.

  How had she gotten into the apartment? The better question was how would we get rid of her. I didn’t see a way out of this without one of us suffering serious bodily harm.

  Chapter Seventeen

  How to Date a Vampire, Rule #17:

  Don’t wear silver jewelry. Not even silver with gold overlay.

  “Listen, this is really getting old. He’s not coming with you. Why don't you just tell me what you want with him? Maybe I can help.”

  She snorted, looking me up and down. “I doubt it. I bet his muscles are hard,” she said looking at Jack. “I already know he tastes good.”

  “Well, you'll never know how hard his muscles are, will you?” I glared.

  Jack stepped forward. “All right. This has to stop. I don’t like the idea of people talking about what I taste like, smell like, or how hard my muscles are, for that matter. This is all too weird. I feel like I'll be someone’s dinner.”

  “Why are you here?” I demanded.

  “Look, I'm trying to help Jack.”

  “Is that why you tried to kill us in the cemetery?” I asked.

  “We told you to be at the French Market and you ignored us. Now it's just going to get worse. And this is all your fault.” She pointed at me.

  Ouch. She had me there, but did she have to remind Jack? I was hoping that he'd forget. No need to remind him.

  “Why do you want us there? And who wants us there?”

  Jack moved over beside me. “Wait, I didn’t know anything about the French Market. Does that have anything to do with the men who showed up today? What about the other vampires in the cemetery tonight?” Jack asked.

  “There were men here today? And you went to a freakin’ graveyard. You should have known better.” She smirked, then looked at me. “What is wrong with you, anyway? Why did you take your boyfriend to a graveyard? Crazy-ass werewolves.” She moved closer to Jack.

  “I didn’t take him there. And yes, a couple of vampires were here earlier. Friends of yours, I assume? Jack accidentally went to the graveyard. I figured it was some of the vampire tricks that made him.”

  “No one else with the organization is supposed to be on this case but me, if someone came out, it's a very bad thing. I have to protect Jack right now. He'll need to come with me.” She motioned for him to follow her.

  “Like I said, he's not going anywhere. So why don't you take your pleather pants and beat it. Now you can make this hard or you can make it difficult, your choice.” I stood my ground.

  “I'm not playing games with you, little werewolf. This is serious. Do you want them to get your little boy toy?”

  “Stop.” Jack stepped forward. “I don't appreciate the way you're talking to Rylie, or to me. Not to mention you've broken into my home. I can call the police and have you arrested right now.”

  “I wouldn’t advise that if I were you.” She smirked.

  “It doesn’t seem as if you're leaving me any choice,” Jack said.

  I shot daggers her way with my eyes. I liked this tough side of Jack. Very take-charge and very sexy.

  Sophie let out a deep breath. “We don't have time to argue. Now if you'll just trust me and come with me, we can get this over with. Trust me, I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here.” She rolled her eyes. “I have more important things to do than hang out with a werewolf…” She snorted. “And a vamp...” She cut herself off. “Oops. Mustn’t use that word around your delicate ears.” She covered her mouth with her hand.

  She was a smarmy vampire. I was glad she’d refrained from using the “v” word. She might be rude, but at least she'd given me that courtesy. I didn’t want to remind Jack of his new status over and over again.

  “Why did you come to the cemetery and try to bully us?” I glared.

  “What? You call that bullying? You’re too sensitive.” She waved her hand dismissively.

  “Where is the other bully from the cemetery?” I asked. “You guys really know how to be persuasive. A real people person, aren’t you? Maybe you should work in customer service,” I said smarmily.

  “You like my people skills? I think I have natural talent.” She smiled.

  “Do we have to come with you now?” Jack asked.

  “It would be wise, yes. Don’t make me use force.”

  “We get it, you’re a tough vamp. You’ve said that a few times. I’m shaking in my new shoes,” I said.

  She looked down at my black flats. “Cute shoes,” she said.

  “Thanks.” I looked down at my feet.

  Jack stared from one of us to the other. “Fine. Let’s just go see what she wants, Rylie.” He ran his hand through his hair. “This is crazy. I can’t have people breaking into my home. I don't want this to affect my clients and I especially don't want this to bother you in any way.” He stared at me. “I need my life back to normal.”

  “Jack, don’t worry about
me. I’m not bothered by these thugs.” I smirked at her. “Are you sure you want to go with her?” I asked Jack.

  “You’re coming too,” she said. “As much as I don’t want you to, I have orders to bring you along. Why, I have no idea. I guess they have their reasons.”

  “Me? I have no problem confronting whoever wants to see us. I’m not scared.” Much. “I don’t think Jack should go, but if he wants to, I guess there’s nothing I can do to stop him.”

  “Good. I’m glad you see it my way. That makes things so much easier. Less messy too.” She smiled.

  “Okay. Enough with your stupid attempts to be witty,” I snapped.

  “We’ll follow you there,” Jack said as he held the door open. A gesture that said for her to get the hell out.

  “Oh, no. I have to make sure you really go. You’re coming with me.”

  “This is ridiculous. You can’t tell us who you are, what you want, or where you’re taking us?” Jack demanded.

  “You’ll find out soon enough.”

  I stepped forward. “I’m warning you, this had better not be any funny business, or you’ll be dealing with a bunch of pissed-off werewolves. And trust me, you do not want a bunch of angry werewolves after you.”

  “I’m terrified,” she said drily. “Oh, my fangs are chattering.”

  As she made her way to the door, she stopped in her tracks.

  I looked to Jack, then to her. “What is it now?” I asked.

  “Someone is around. I can sense them.” She was probably just smelling my creepy neighbor. He had a distinct smell that the wind carried over quite often. And it wasn’t a good smell either.

  “Someone?” Jack quirked a brow.

  “Another vampire. I can sense him.”

  “Now that you mention it. I do get a strange vibe.” Jack looked around as if a vampire would pop up at any second.