V Is for Vampire

by Eris Adderly

  “We will have time for all of that,” said the Reverend, hefting his cane, “but not here. I have work for you both, and this is no place for Leonide to recover.”

  “What work?” November couldn’t decide if she regretted her snappish tone. Here she was talking to an ostensible figure of legend, but how many more shocks could he expect her to accept in such a short time?

  “I’ve had a Vision,” he said.

  Because of course. Of course the fucking Reverend Zenith Croix had had a Vision. What else could there possibly be?

  “The descendants of the Tenacity crew are returning,” he went on, and the statement hit her like a corridor collapse. Even Rado had looked up, his features open in surprise.

  “The last messages from Tenacity were over two hundred years ago,” said Leo, stubborn. She couldn’t blame him. But after seeing the sky herself? After tasting the first hint of how many lies had built her world?

  “That is correct,” said the Reverend. “But within two years, a crew will return. I have seen it.” He moved his focus from one younger vampire to the next, standing before him in the ruins of old Seattle. “They will see this atrocity for what it is.”

  His eyes traveled upward, and November knew the ‘atrocity’ was everything she thought she’d known. GateSec. The uv at night. The entire reason the Goodnighters had come with their violence and their sunshine.

  “It is worse than even that, young one.”

  Her attention whipped back to the Reverend, who’d spoken as though he’d been in her thoughts. She was sure she could make out a snake head shape to the end of the cane in his hand. Something cold prickled down the back of her neck.

  Real. All real.

  “Worse?” She looked from him to Rado, whose mouth twisted into a scowl once again.

  “Oh, yes,” he said. “You will learn, and you will wish you had not.”

  From the corner of her eye, the look on Leo’s face told her he was not sure he hadn’t made a mistake. Maybe he would have been better off bleeding out on the floor of the van than to accept all this.

  “And when they come back, Reverend, what then?” Rado, at least, seemed prepared to believe whatever the elder Croix had to say.

  “They will help us, Mister Niculescu.” Dark eyes glinted with something older than all of them in the cool, artificial light. “But we must be ready when they arrive. Tenacity left before the lies began. Do you think the powers in place will be eager to welcome them home and explain what they’ve done? And why they’ve done it?”

  The Reverend looked at each of them in turn, inscrutable.

  “You know more than most,” he said to her and Leo. “I won’t make your choices for you. Follow me now and help us prepare for what comes. Or do not. Either way will be difficult.”

  Silence hung, damp and heavy in the air. A tint of the surreal shaded everything. The people November stood with. The ancient walls around them. The truths that had fractured her understanding of the world and promises of more to come. She turned to Leo. Swallowed.

  “What do you want to do?” she said. Neither one of them was the sort to stand around. To shove their heads back in the sand.

  Leo glanced at the man who claimed to be his father and frowned. Moved his focus back to November. There was little space between them to begin with on the narrow walkway, but he closed it without touching her, hazel eyes on dark brown.

  “I’m going with you,” he said. “Wherever that is.”

  Fingers brushed her palm. His hand locked with hers. A ridiculous rush of sentiment made her want to kiss him, but two more pairs of eyes waited in the tomb-quiet space.

  November turned her face to Rado, who took a step toward the man in white, reaffirming his obvious allegiance. She let out a long breath. Nodded at the Reverend.

  “We’ll go.”

  The man raised his chin. “And I am glad of it.” He lifted the snake-headed cane. “Our time below ground is coming to an end. This way.”

  Zenith Croix turned and began to walk back the way he’d come, not a single light to lead him. November shivered and squeezed Leo’s hand.

  Radoslav quirked the two of them something of a smile, and then fell in behind the Reverend, the soft light from his bracelet making the older vampire hover away in the darkness beyond him like a ghost.

  The youngest pair shared a look. She’d been so worried about felonies. This was either a revolution about to happen or a fucking cult, and they were going to walk right into it.

  She did kiss him, now. Stood on her toes and stole it from his mouth before he could speak. He managed to push back, fierce before she stood back down.

  “This will probably also be a dumbass move,” he said, in echoing her jab from that first night in his apartment.

  She smiled. Rado’s light was getting fainter, along with the sound of retreating footsteps. “Well, come on, ‘Leo the Hero,’ ” she said. “Let’s go find out.”

  They moved together, following the receding light further and deeper into the underground. A pair of Moonrise Children. A pair of vampires, awake.

  Thanks for reading V is for Vampire!

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  About Eris

  Eris writes dark, escape-from-reality romance full of criminals and outcasts. Her stories are the stomping grounds for bada** heroines, untameable alphas, a spectrum of sexuality, and a serious disregard for convention. Expect the decadent and filthy, the crude and sublime, sometimes all at once. Pick a safeword and grab a towel before reading. She is a complete nerd and possible crazy cat lady. She will annoy you with puns.

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  Also by Eris Adderly

  The Skull and Crossbone Romances:

  The Devil’s Luck – Lust and discovery, betrayal and secrets in the age of sail. Oh yes, and pirates. Dirty, dirty pirates. A young widow from Bristol is ready to sail for the Colonies, and who’s there to make trouble? Our own fallen Rowland Graves of course. A full-length erotic bodice-ripper novel to satisfy your thirst for adventure and pleasure on the high seas.

  The Maid and the Cook – A light-hearted, bawdy pirate romance novella following Brigit, the widow’s maid from The Devil’s Luck, and her adventures down in the galley when she catches the unexpected eye of the ship’s cook.

  The Decline and Fall of Rowland Graves – A tragic, Gothic romance novella, with a dark, Halloween twist. The origin story of the villainous surgeon who menaced Hannah aboard The Devil’s Luck.

  After Exile Series

  Book One: An Emperor for the Eclipse – A man they call ‘exile’ and a woman they call ‘witch’ meet their fate on the steps of the imperial palace. Neither will ever be the same. A dark, romantic fantasy.

  Flames of Olympos Series

  Book One: The Eighth House: Hades & Persephone – The Lord of the Dead must take a wife. Persephone is more than he expects. An erotic, BDSM mythological romance.

  Blushing Books Publications

  Gallows Pole – A notorious highway thief makes
a dangerous bargain with a hangman in eighteenth century England. A dark, historical erotic romance novella.

  The Last Dominant – He’s the last of his kind. She’s an officer, his enemy, and a rare genetic match. His government wants them to breed. She’d rather murder him in his sleep. An enemies-to-lovers Sci-fi Romance.

  Stand-Alone Stories

  Bass-Ackwards – This was supposed to be a dirty deal with a man she tolerated at best. A wildly inappropriate, blue-collar, erotic romance

  As Flame to Smoke – A dark, supernatural erotic romance novella