My life was simple until I met the Hightower Enforcer, Tamara. Since then, I’ve been turned, spelled and married. Now, I’m on my way to Texas to find Tamara’s sister, Kaley, while their mother, the Vampire Matriarch Katherine, invades my thoughts and resides in my head. If you think you hate your in-laws, try mine on for size!
Oh yeah, did I mention that my wife Tamara, the enforcer is dying because of me and I’m the only one who can save her, but I don’t know how?
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Dying to Live
Copyright © 2009 Annie Alvarez
ISBN: 978-1-55487-418-7
Cover art by Angela Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Dying to Live
Hightower Three
By
Annie Alvarez
Dedication
To all of the very nasty friends I have, and you know who you are, for challenging my creative side. Love you all.
Chapter One
I have a reoccurring nightmare that latches onto me like a pit bull attacking his last meal. I see myself lying on a lounger on a white sandy beach in Jamaica. The wind is softly blowing a cool breeze while the sun shines above. Its delightful rays are warming me while shadowing a gorgeous cabana girl who is approaching me knowing she will tend only to my wishes. Her bright smile relaxes me.
“Can I get you something else, Ms Izzy?” she asks with a flirtatious Island accent.
I am tempted to let go of the hold I have on reality and forever spend the rest of my undead days lapping up the sun and the care that this beauty offers. Then I snap out of my delusion and realize that after everything I’ve been through, I ended up in Texas—not the Islands, where I could enjoy the sun and the fun while searching for Kaley Hightower. Oh no, that would have been asking for way too much. Instead, I’m stuck here where everything is supposedly bigger and I have yet to see better. What I have seen is that the lack of Kaley’s blood donor centers has made Texas a free-for-all-vampire-feeding-frenzy state.
A few months ago, Kaley, and her human girlfriend, Jules, had a major fight. Afterward, Kaley showed up at our house with her hunger raging for blood and she attacked me. Tamara, my vampire girlfriend and Mistress of the East Coast, fought her off, but in the few seconds Kaley had me, she drained too much of my precious elixir, leaving me near death. Welcome to the Hightower Clan. If you think you’ve got it bad with your in-laws, try mine.
I never doubted Tamara would preserve my humanity. I never even had a fear and maybe that’s what got me into trouble. I trusted vampires, especially the Hightowers, and even though it was a stupid thing to do, let my guard down. Imagine my surprise when Kaley, Tamara’s sister, bled me. In an effort to save my life, Tamara took me to the Hightower estate and turned me into one of them. Yeah, she said she couldn’t bear the thought of losing me forever and took matters into her own hands. Even that wasn’t easy. The half-witch in me complicated things and I turned into the first living vampire to walk on the Earth. My heart still beats, but my lungs don’t breathe and my magic is fizzling out while the vampire in me grows. Oh yeah, and I don’t die when the sun comes up. That’s right…I’m a day walker, which means, most importantly, I don’t burst into a ball of fire when sunlight touches my skin.
As for how I’m handling my transformation, some moments are better than others. I still have the undeniable urge to latch onto and feed from the first available donor—willing or not—and I have a hole in the pit of my stomach that regularly reminds me no amount of nourishment will satisfy my new needs. I pass normal, everyday people who are oblivious to the monsters walking beside them. We are the monsters that want their blood, their lives, even their souls. Monsters, like me, who feel their tempting warmth and focus on the pulsating artery on the side of their necks that calls to us to feed and fill our needs—when our needs arrives.
After Tamara turned me, we married vampire style, which consisted of making a concoction of our blood and drinking it. My genetics for being half-witch are wrecking havoc on Tamara’s vampire system and now, after hundreds of years, she can’t sleep. Believe me, you haven’t seen chaos until you’ve seen a Mistress Vampire afflicted with insomnia. She’s cranky, irritable, and emotionally unstable. A trip to Jamaica would have benefited me greatly.
That’s why Lady Katherine Hightower, Matriarch of the Hightower Clan and my new mother-in-law, sent me, not Tamara, to find her other beloved daughter, Kaley, and bring her home. I’m no match for a Hightower, especially a rogue one, so Katherine had the bruja, Shamana, a witch from days past, brew up some mojo, and I now share Katherine’s experiences. Talk about not being able to get away from your in-laws. Can you feel my enthusiasm?
Katherine provided me with a recon team to help me in my quest, but Texas is such a big state, we had to separate to cover most of it. Raven, whose black hair, dark complexion, and fluid movements adequately describe her nickname, is in Austin. Tank, a tall, handsome, well-educated, black man and ex-football player whose remarkable muscle mass would intimidate the entirety of the Dallas Cowboys team, is in Houston. Hummer, the epitome of an ex Hell’s Angel biker, wearing Italian tailored suits trying to blend in, is in El Paso. That leaves me in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, alone.
On Tamara’s advice, I found Pinky’s, a small, grey, square building with limited parking, and Fort Worth’s only gay bar. It seemed that it was common practice for patrons to mingle in the parking lot as couples hid behind cars making out and women gathered in small groups listening to the music emanating from the bar while catching a breath of fresh air. Not exactly what I would have expected, but hey, not every club is as nice as Club Red, the club I own in Florida.
The smell of sage, flee dip and hormones stopped me at Pinky’s front door. A mixed club, just grand! Witches, weres and humans, it couldn’t get any better. I knew Kaley wasn’t here. After she killed me, I had developed a weird connection with her. I don’t know where she’s at, but I know where’s she’s been and she’s been here, of that I’m sure. As I stood at the door debating whether to enter, a group of women brushed past me, leaving the aroma of hormones and excitement lingering in the air. What the hell? I might get lucky—gathering information about where to find Kaley—and we could all head home soon.
All eyes turned to me as I walked in. It was an awkward moment, trying to figure out whether I was something to look at or if they saw their next meal. It’s a long-standing rule that vampires and weres don’t mix well and with my luck, they were probably thinking the latter. So I did the next best thing—I smiled, flashing a toothy grin and my pearly whites in a nerdy manner. The dance floor was small in comparison to my club and their décor was, well, it’s actually not much. Liquor posters were plastered on the walls in no particular order. Large plastic beer bottles decorated
space behind the bar and Christmas lights strung across large mirrors, but the club seemed to draw in a big crowd. Elbowroom was in tight demand tonight as a first-time author’s book debuted—a lesbian vampire series—attracted most of the crowd. If she knew anything about us, she wouldn’t be here writing about it, instead, she’d run for the cold Northern weather where she’d be safe from us.
Everyone casually moved away from me while I headed to the bar. My newfound abilities tended to slow things down for me and I wasn’t sure if that’s what was happening or if people were being obvious about pulling in the welcome mat. Yeah, learning how to be a vamp was interesting. If I focused on something, everything slowed down to a crawl. It’s not that people slowed down, but rather, my perception sped up, making everything else seem slow. I took a seat on the stool, kitty-corner to the dance floor, and casually but quickly did an armpit check—you know the move—where you half-raise your arm and pretend you’re looking at the floor while taking in a deep breath. Did I really smell as bad as the werewolves did?
An attractive woman in her mid-forties, smelling like the clean scent of a dewy morning, bumped into me. “Bartender—rum and coke please,” she yelled over the music while waving a twenty-dollar bill. She flashed a smile that said, I know you’re a vamp and then got comfortable on the stool next to me. “It’s finally nice to meet you.”
“You must have me confused with someone else,” I mumbled, partially ignoring her and glancing around the bar.
“Oh, I don’t think so.”
I watched her casually adjust her shirt, allowing more cleavage to show.
“Keep the change, sweetheart.”
Then I felt her gaze on me.
“I’m Natasha and she’s not here,” she proclaimed, self-confidence oozed from her while she gulped down half the drink.
“Who’s not here?” My attention now focused on the dance floor.
“Katherine’s daughter, of course!” she blurted, tossing back the last of the alcohol.
I expected her to say many things—whomever you seek, the love of your life, best fuck you’ll ever have—anything but that. My curiosity and attention were now devoted to her. “Have you seen her?” I raised my brow, facing her, waiting for an answer, but a woman who smelled like flee dip walked up and started humping and grinding on Natasha’s leg before she answered. God how rude! Did wolves have no common courtesy?
“I really like it when they do this,” Natasha leaned in close, yelling over the music that had gotten two octaves louder. “You can tell how good a lover someone will be by the way she dances. Did you know that?” She hopped off the stool, holding her drink up, so as not to spill it, and returned the stranger’s rhythmic humps as they moved toward the dance floor.
Maybe, it’s me. Maybe my underexposure to werewolves has developed into a dislike of them, but either way, my patience was running out. The easiest way to find out if anyone has seen Kaley was to search their memories and that was something that with Katherine’s experience, I could do.
I leaned against the bar and quieted my mind, drowning out the music, but not my surroundings. I wouldn’t leave myself completely open for a surprise attack. Wooden stakes weren’t the only things that were fatal. I focused my attention on a cute little redhead swinging and jerking her way around the dance floor. She wouldn’t even know I had entered her mind. Once I was in, I would search her memories, much like flipping through a Rolodex. I would be in and out, jumping into the next person before she even finished her sentence. I bowed my head concentrating on my task. Slowly, images started appearing—home life, a pet, friends, sex and then they rolled through me until the memories flooded my psyche.
It would save time not to go too far back so I only focused on the last couple of months. I finished scanning the redhead and jumped into the next mind. The memories came upon me quicker and I found myself scanning the unsuspecting minds at the bar faster than I had thought possible. It was mostly of numerous bad days at work, upset lovers, betrayed confidences, friends and excited hormones. Everyone I skimmed had the same memories of sharing secrets and interrelating with friends. How I missed being normal and that’s when the dark cloud of loneliness rolled over me and claimed me as another victim. I felt lonely primarily because I was alone. Pushing my self-pitying thoughts aside, I kept at the task at hand.
I was on a roll, examining for memories of Kaley, when I hit a mind that not only denied me access, but also slammed me out of my trance with an impact that jolted me in my seat. Lifting my eyes, I saw a woman standing in front of me, smiling and touching my arm. My black eyes locked onto her amethyst eyes. I couldn’t stop myself from staring at how her eyes, which swirled with golden colors amidst the purple, radiated an inviting energy.
“You shouldn’t do that here,” she warned with a smile. “You are outnumbered and others,” she motioned behind her, “don’t like your kind. It’s not safe for you considering…” She paused, then leaned closer, whispering, “That there is only one of you.”
Her warning was clear. I needed to be careful of my new surroundings. Apparently, there were issues that I wasn’t aware of and something as innocent as scanning memories, they could perceive as a prelude for an attack. Shifters had started to get on my nerves. “I meant no disrespect.” Interestingly, I sensed nothing behind her purple eyes—no life, no memories, nothing and yet she captivated my interest in a most unusual manner. I had to find out more about her. Slyly moving my energy toward her, she pressed her lips tightly together in a disapproving scowl.
“Izzy, don’t press your luck,” she whispered, barely audible as if knowing I would be able to hear her over the extremely loud music.
I found it strange that she knew my name and my attempts at mind scanning. I wondered if she had any idea of whom and what I am. It’s not as if I had worn a tee shirt that stated I’m a vamp. “How do you know?” I asked, still unable to break my gaze, but more importantly, feeling an immediate connection with her.
“I know who you are,” she answered with a smile, leaned closer to me, and softly caressed my face with her cheek. “Don’t try to figure me out, you haven’t met my kind yet,” she said, sliding her hand over my thigh. “Natasha sent me to keep you safe while you are here.”
With her hand brushing against my crotch, I should have lost myself to her completely, but my instincts screamed that something was wrong. I had been too distracted to notice that what little personal space between the patrons and me had disappeared. The women at the bar were banding closer together as a group, surrounding me.
“I smell a dead leech!” A voice snickered. “Someone forgot to take the garbage out.” A chorus of laughter followed.
I knew this is where things escalate and someone inevitably gets hurt. Since I was the only vampire in the club, which, from my perspective, had too many pointed wooden objects readily available, I knew that I was the dead leech. I stood and faced the crowd of flee-dipped shifters that gathered behind me, snarling. Suddenly the group of women stepped aside, creating an opening in their ranks, and a young female with an assertive gait approached.
“Abby,” she said, shaking her head and frowning. “I should have known it would be you interfering.”
“Rosalie, you of all people should know that I have not interfered.” Abby took a step forward, putting herself between the woman and me.
Rosalie waved a finger at me. “She came very close to breaking the treaty and you stopped her. It would have justified our actions tonight without retaliation from Adele’s clan,” she replied angrily. “You ruined our fun.” She pouted, puffing out her lower lip.
Rosalie’s demeanor was powerful. She carried an air of strength and self-confidence that made the other woman appear as weak puppies that were first learning how to run and frolic without stumbling over their own paws. It wasn’t surprising that the pack was acting subservient to her. In my world, she had potential to be a Mistress.
Abby interjected, “She’s not from here. She doesn’t kno
w about the treaty.” She then took a step toward Rosalie. “It would start a war if you killed one of them without their knowledge of the treaty. Is that what you want?” Her tone was even not to mention, majestic in nature. “A war?”
I just love when people talk about me as though I’m not even there. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling all over. Katherine’s experience told me that I shouldn’t interfere so I stayed quiet, listening and learning as Abby and Rosalie ironed out my fate. If Abby won, I would walk away without an incident, but if she lost, I would find certain doom within these walls. The one thing I knew Rosalie wouldn’t count on was that I wouldn’t be an easy target. With Katherine’s experience mumbling in my head, I would surely hurt their numbers.
Most of the pack held their breath while Rosalie thought about what Abby had said. The moment was tense as Rosalie took half a step back and laughed.
“No, we are finally at peace.”
The pack took a collective breath as she waved her hands around. “Tell her what she needs to know,” she added while turning to face me. “Make her understand that she’ll get no second chance here.”
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