by Joshua King
9
Leaving the Shade unconscious on the pavement, I ran out of the alley and back onto the sidewalk. I could feel blood running down my face, but I didn’t care. I looked around for Ashe or the other Shade, but I didn’t see either. Not wanting to go back in the direction of the Tower, I ran in the opposite direction and hailed a cab.
I didn’t know if the driver would know where to find Solomon’s, so I directed him to the neighborhood and bailed out of the car a block from the bar. Darkness had settled by the time I got to the door, and the light from inside felt welcoming when it poured out as I entered.
“Hayden!”
I heard Ashe before I saw her. I scanned the bar for her, noticing the eyes of a dozen patrons who had wandered in looking at me. Finally, I saw her standing against the side of the bar. She rushed toward me, and I opened my arms to her. She hugged me tightly and then grabbed my hands as she stepped back to look at me.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
She nodded. “I’m fine.” She reached up and wiped some of the blood from my face. “You’re hurt.”
“It’s not a big deal,” I said.
“Come on. Let’s go upstairs.”
She pulled me through the bar and back up the stairs toward the room where I’d met Aurora. She pushed me into the bathroom and shut the door behind us. I had wanted the strength and energy I’d felt when I was fighting the Shade to stay, but within seconds of me entering the bathroom, I felt it start to drain out of me. I leaned back against the wall and drew in a breath.
“What happened back there?” I asked.
Ashe grabbed a paper towel and ran it under cold water from the faucet. She dabbed it to my face, and I drew in a sharp breath at the sting. Frustration filled me.
“Another gift of the change,” Ashe said.
“What do you mean?”
“That strength you had? The extra speed? That is part of you now. It’s part of your power as a vampire. That was only a fraction of what you’ll actually be able to do when your transformation is complete. You’ll gain more control over it as time passes. For now, your abilities are still unstable. You’ll experience bursts of energy, strength, and speed, but they aren’t going to last. But each time it happens, it will be stronger and last a little longer. They’ll happen more frequently, but that can be dangerous because they can be harder to control. I have to admit, I’m impressed.”
“You are?” I asked.
Ashe nodded. “I’ve never seen someone have bursts like that so early in their transformation. It was incredible. And it tells me we can’t lose momentum. We need to find Aurora. She either needs to give you her blood, or you need to take it in order to complete the turn.”
“Take it?” I asked.
Ashe tossed the paper towel into the trash can and nodded. “This isn’t an Easter egg hunt, Hayden. Aurora isn’t going to pop out at the end of it and congratulate you before giving you a little vial of her blood to sip like a holiday drink. She also hasn’t forgotten about you.”
“What do you mean?” I straightened up from where I was leaning and grunted through gritted teeth as a sharp pain coursed through my side.
Ashe pushed my hand away from it and pressed her fingertips into the tender area. I growled in protest, but she didn’t stop until she’d made her way around the entire bruise.
“You have a broken rib,” she said. “Maybe two. Don’t worry about it. It will heal in a few hours. My kind heals from injuries like that very quickly, but it will take a little longer for you. You’re still in the middle of the transformation, so the human part of you is going to try to keep you from mending as fast as the vampire part.”
“I guess that’s why a wooden stake through the heart just pisses you off,” I said.
Ashe nodded. “Exactly.” She looked me in the eye briefly. “Alright, let’s just lay it all out.”
My brow furrowed. “Lay what out?”
“We’ve already gone over sunlight. Warm and pleasant. Not going to make you crispy. Wooden stake in the heart—”
“Just pisses you off,” I said.
“Right,” she said. “We also don’t turn into bats or anything else. We don’t fly.”
“That’s kind of a bummer,” I said.
“And we can’t communicate telepathically with each other. Sometimes, the strongest of our kind are able to influence humans, but it’s not a hypnotism situation like in the movies. And very few of us eat human food after our transformations are complete, but those who do can have as much garlic as they want. I know a woman who loves shrimp scampi with so much of it, you can smell her before she’s even in the room with you.”
“So, bulb necklaces aren’t going to do anybody any good?” I asked.
She nodded. “Exactly. So, there you go. All the big old vampire lies the world tells you, debunked by one who has faced it all.”
“Silver bullets?” I asked.
She gave me a disgusted look. “That’s werewolves, idiot. And, no.”
I smiled, but then the grin melted away as I remembered what she said before she noticed my ribs. “What did you mean about Aurora?”
“What about her?” she asked.
“You said I might have to take her blood and that she didn’t forget about me. What did you mean by that?”
Ashe opened the bathroom door and started down the hall. I followed her, waiting for her response.
“Aurora doesn’t do anything accidentally,” she said. “Like I said when I looked at the bite, she knows what she’s doing. She doesn’t do things carelessly. The position you are in is not pleasant.”
“I’m aware,” I said.
“My point,” Ashe said, “is that the human world might like to see our kind as monsters, but vampires really aren’t brutal just to be brutal.”
“Inhuman but not inhumane?” I asked.
She paused in front of a closed door nearly at the end of the hallway and turned to smile at me. “Yes. We don’t make people, human or otherwise, suffer just for the sake of doing it. I mean, obviously some do. That’s just reality. There are humans who are horrible and cruel, and there are vampires who are as well. It’s not the norm, but it happens.”
“I don’t know where you’re going with this,” I said.
Ashe opened the door and stepped through. She gestured for me to come inside, and I walked into what looked like the front room of a small apartment.
“In our world, it’s considered a major taboo to just leave somebody in your condition. When we bite someone, we either do it with the intention of going through with the complete transformation, or we completely drain them and let them die quickly and easily. We don’t just let them linger in this limbo to suffer such a horrible death.”
“It feels like you’re about to tell me Aurora doesn’t know about that specific cultural norm,” I said.
“Oh, she knows about it.” Ashe headed farther into the apartment and dropped down onto a dark blue couch. I sat down beside her, and she looked over at me. “She just doesn’t care a lot of the time. As royalty, she doesn’t bother herself too much with doing things the way others do it. She has a nasty habit of simply discarding her victims when she feels like it. Especially if she gets distracted when something or someone better comes along. She has her fun and then just walks away without giving a second thought to the person, or what’s going to happen to them.”
“Does she always do that?” I asked.
“Not always,” Ashe said. “There are some she changed on purpose. And there are some she killed on purpose. And there are some she abandoned and allowed to suffer on purpose. She won’t pretend otherwise. She does what she wants. But most of the time, it’s not that she wants to do it. She just doesn’t care enough not to do it.”
“Which is why I might have to take the blood from her?” I asked.
Ashe nodded. I was still letting it all sink in when she stood up.
“Come on,” she said. “I want to change.”
; I got up and followed her through the apartment into a bedroom in the back corner, sitting down hard on her bed.
“How did it get to this point?” I asked. “How did all of this get so complicated?”
Ashe kicked off her shoes. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“I didn’t even know what was happening to me when I woke up. But somehow, the Shades knew about me and what happened with Aurora. How is that possible?”
Ashe drew in a breath. “I don’t know. I have no idea how they would know who you are or that you would try to find Aurora.”
I wanted more of a response from her. She was my source for everything I knew about what was happening, and I needed her to give me an answer. Instead, Ashe looked like she was at a loss. It didn’t exactly make me feel better about the unique situation in which I found myself.
She reached down and grabbed the bottom of her shirt. In one movement, she pulled it off over her head and tossed it aside. Her full breasts on display, she reached for the button on the front of her tight jeans and released it. She slid her zipper down and hooked her thumbs in her waistband.
My mouth watered as I watched her wriggle her jeans down her curvy hips and let them drop to her feet. I could feel my blood pumping through my body, swelling my cock until it ached. My mind raced with thoughts of grabbing Ashe and bending her over the bed so I could plunge into her.
I climbed off the bed and wrapped my arm around her waist, yanking her up against me. My mouth crashed down over hers. Her lips parted so I could thrust my tongue between them, and I felt her arms wrap around my neck.
Keeping one arm holding her tight, I used the other hand to start working at my fly. I had just gotten my pants open and was starting to work my way out of them when I heard a heavy knock on the apartment door. I kept kissing Ashe, but another loud knock made her step back away from me.
“Later,” she said, patting me on the chest.
She walked toward her closet, and I left the bedroom to go to the front door. There was no peephole, so I just pulled it open. Ty stood on the other side.
10
“Oh, hey, Tybalt,” I said. “Ashe is getting dressed, but I’ll go get her for you.” I started to turn away.
“No,” he said. “Actually, I didn’t come here to talk to her. I came to talk to you.”
That struck me as odd. “Why did you come to Ashe’s apartment, then?” I asked.
“I didn’t know where else to look for you. You two seemed pretty friendly when you were down in the basement. I knew she came back here after your run-in with the Shades, and I figured if you survived, you would be here with her.”
“If I survived? Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said. Ty didn’t look moved, and I stepped back to let him the rest of the way into the apartment. “Come on.”
We walked over the couch and sat down. I looked expectantly at him.
“Who are you?” he asked. “Why are you here?”
That wasn’t the question I was expecting him to ask. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but somehow that wasn’t it.
I shrugged. “My name is Hayden. I came here last night because I was supposed to go to my high school reunion and I didn’t want to go in. I decided having a drink by myself had to be better than mingling with a crowd of people who would only want to talk about all the shit I haven’t done in the last ten years.”
“How old are you?” he asked.
I grinned. “It’s a little late to be carding me, don’t you think?”
He didn’t laugh. Ty was a tough crowd. “How old are you?” he asked again.
“Twenty-eight,” I told him.
Ty drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Who are your parents?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“Stop bullshitting me,” he said, a hint of anger spiking in his voice. “Tell me about your parents.”
“I’m not bullshitting you,” I insisted. “I don’t know anything about my parents. I was orphaned when I was a baby. I never even knew their names.”
Ty looked at me like he was trying to decide if he believed what I was telling him. “Where did you grow up?”
I leaned back on the couch and let out a long breath. “As far as I can remember, I was with a foster family. I don’t have too many memories from before I was about four or five, but my foster family had pictures of me from when I was younger than that. As far as I know, I was always with them.”
“And when you got older?” Ty asked.
I wanted to make a joke about his probing questions, but the effort would be wasted on Tybalt. So, I just answered. “When I was in middle school, I started playing football. I stuck with it in high school and was really good at it. I was the star of the team. I got a full scholarship into college and was on the fast track to a professional career. Then I got hurt, and my entire life went to hell.”
We had gone from casual conversation to mid-afternoon talk show real quick. Ty didn’t say anything, but his expression changed as he stared at me. Now, he looked at me like he recognized me, but he couldn’t figure out who I was or how he knew me.
I tilted my head at him. “Do you know me?”
I didn’t know why I asked it. The question just came out of my mouth, and I wasn’t aware of it until I actually heard myself ask it.
Tybalt’s eyes didn’t move away from me. It looked like he was trying to burrow into me to find out something hidden beneath my surface. He didn’t answer my question, and before he was able to say anything else, the bedroom door opened and Ashe came into the room.
She was wearing fresh clothing, and it looked like she had brushed out her hair and applied a new coat of makeup. My stomach tightened as the underlying hunger I always felt for her reared up again. I wanted her naked body back in my arms.
“Hi, Ty,” she said brightly. “It’s a surprise to see you here tonight.”
Ty didn’t say anything. He stood up from the couch and walked out of the apartment without another word. The whole interaction struck me as very odd, and I turned to look at Ashe, expecting some sort of explanation. She rolled her eyes and shook her head as if she wasn’t surprised by Ty’s weird behavior at all.
“What was that all about?” I asked.
She narrowed her eyes at me slightly. “I think I should be the one asking that question. You were who he came to talk to apparently. What did he say?”
“He asked me who I was and why I’m here,” I told her.
“That doesn’t seem all that strange,” Ashe said. “I told you, he doesn’t take too well to new people. He probably just wants to know more about you.”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t like, ‘hey, what’s your favorite team, and do you like peanut butter and jelly’.”
“Are those questions you frequently ask people when you’re trying to get to know them?” Ashe asked teasingly.
“It’s important information,” I said.
“You never asked me,” she said.
I took a step closer to her. “What’s your favorite team?”
“I don’t have one,” she said. “I find sports insufferable.”
I grinned. “Do you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?”
“I never had one,” she said. “Way after my time.”
“Interesting,” I said.
“So, what did he ask you?”
“He asked how old I am and about my parents.”
A quizzical look passed across her face. “About your parents?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, and he didn’t seem terribly pleased when I told him I actually don’t know anything about my parents because I was orphaned.”
“You were?” Ashe asked.
I nodded. “Before I was even old enough to be aware of anything. It’s not some sad, dramatic story. It’s just like anybody else, only the first memories I have are with my foster family.”
“I wonder why any of that would matter to Tybalt,” Ashe said.
I shrugged, then too
k another slight step toward her. “Is something going on between the two of you?” I asked.
“Between Ty and me?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “He didn’t seem very happy when you brought me down into the basement, and he was really digging into me, trying to find out more about me.”
Ashe scoffed. “You’ve got to be kidding,” she said, then shook her head. “No, there isn’t anything going on between Ty and me. He’s the portal keeper, and he’s been a bouncer for me for years. That’s it.” She gave me a teasing look. “Why? Are you jealous?”
I took the two strides to get to her and pulled her up against me, holding her the same way I had before Ty interrupted us.
“Why don’t you show me why I shouldn’t be?” I said.
Ashe looped her arms around my neck and brought her mouth up to mine. I bit her bottom lip, and she ignited. Our mouths played hungrily across each other as she walked backward toward her bedroom, pulling me along with her. I kicked the door closed behind us to create another barrier. I didn’t care if Ty came back to the door with another round of Hayden, This Is Your Life. I wasn’t going to answer. I felt like I’d been waiting far too long for Ashe as it was, and I was going to explode if I had to wait for her any longer.
Her hands pulled at my clothes, casting my shirt aside so she could rake her fingernails down my chest. I repeated the favor and was surprised to find she had put on a bra beneath the clingy white T-shirt she changed into. The last two times I’d seen her take off her shirt, it had been the only thing keeping me back from her luscious tits. This time, there was something else, and somehow, that added layer was even sexier.
I cupped my hands over the flimsy white fabric, running my thumbs across the lace edging on the cups. I could feel her breasts becoming heavier in my hands as her desire built up. Ducking my head down, I sucked one taut nipple into my mouth through the fabric. I flicked my tongue over it and then gave a brief bite before moving on to the other one.
Moans of appreciation slipped through Ashe’s lips as she fought to get her pants over her hips. I let go of her long enough to step back and wrestle out of my own clothes. Then I yanked her against me again. I could feel the heat of her body through her bra, and I finally reached around behind her to flick the hooks open. It loosened, and she let it slip down her arms and drop to the floor. I could finally feel the pressure of her tight nipples pressing into my chest, and as we kissed, her breasts rose and fell against me.