I grabbed a tray and filled some glasses quickly, while he watched, waiting for me in the hall.
“I don’t know why all the humans can’t be like you. You’re the only person I don’t find irritating,” he said under his breath, as we walked down the hallway.
“Why can’t all the shifters be like you?” Ricky was the only shifter I’d ever met that I liked. He might’ve also been the only one I’d talked to for any length of time. Still, he was impossible to not like.
“You mean vegetarian, gay, or stunningly handsome?” he asked, smiling with teeth so white that he looked like he chugged a bottle of bleach every night.
“I say all. You should start another revolution. I could get behind a government you ran.”
“You sure about that? The last one we had didn’t turn out so hot for your people. And talking about a bum lot in life, steer clear of the vampires tonight. We’ve got some real assholes coming. That says a lot, since the bar is pretty low with them to begin with.”
“Anyone in particular to watch out for?” I asked.
“There’s one real asshole. His name is Mallard. He has dark hair and Groucho Marx eyebrows. He’s been busting my chops about the accommodations like we’re a fucking hotel.” Ricky stopped right outside the dining room, peering in.
My heart skipped a beat and then picked back up like someone had hooked me up to jumper cables.
He was staying the night? Could I be that lucky?
“How long you stuck with him for?”
“Week, maybe? Not sure.” He motioned to the room. “Talk later. They’re waiting.”
Five
Donovan
“I, for one, am happy they’re putting the bill to a vote,” Mallard said as he sat across from me. He was the head of the vampires in the area, my vampire counterpart of sorts, except with less pull and a lot less respect. No one liked him, not even his own kind, but things on their side of the line worked differently. Age meant everything to vampires, so no matter what level of douchebag you were, eventually you’d rank high if you weren’t killed off.
“If they’re sick, it only makes sense to put them down and get them out of the population,” Carina said, a lower-level vampire who spent most of her time telling everyone Mallard was right about everything. It was a political move, because the whispers were she didn’t like him either. “They could have the Sucking Sickness. It’s not right we could be exposed to it, especially when they’re just going to die anyway.”
“Don’t you think that might be a bit severe, considering they also might have a case of bronchitis?” Huddy asked, his tone calm, even if I knew better.
“No,” Mallard said. “Not even a little, and neither do the rest of your people. Word is it’s going to pass the vote easily.” He sipped on some fancy claret he’d insisted my mother have on hand for him.
“Why shouldn’t they be put down? They serve no purpose,” Carina continued. “We can’t have them corrupting the herd, after all. You werewolves only use them to fuck. We’re the ones who need to drink from them. Ever taste rancid blood? It’s not fun.” She smiled as she watched for Mallard’s approval.
A chuckle spread around the dining table, my mother laughing heartily. Kia, one of my lieutenants, rolled her eyes as she looked at me. She knew better than to pick a fight. Huddy continued to eat, giving up the argument.
I didn’t bother joining the conversation. Humans weren’t important enough to bother defending, and the less I spoke to Mallard, the better if I was going to get through this meal. It had been two hours and we’d barely started dinner. It was as if we were in a time warp that stretched out seconds into hours.
The worst part of it all was that Veronica sat beside me, in her trademark virginal white as if she were practicing for her bridal day. Blonde hair fell without a single bend, ending in a blunt cut right before her shoulders.
“How is the pack fairing?” she asked, as soon as an opportunity to talk presented itself.
“Good, thank you,” I said. This was the tenth mundane question she’d asked in under thirty minutes. It was as if she were storing them up to lob my way every time a lull in the conversation occurred.
“I’ve been traveling, or I would’ve been around the club more.” She looked at me from beneath thick lashes, as if she were truly remorseful for her absence.
It was a total lie. She hated the club. Not even for me would she set foot in that place. It had too much grit and reality for her taste. She much preferred staying in her house high on the hill, being catered to, than taking shots with her kind at the club. It was no wonder that she and my mother got along so well.
“I’m sure you would’ve,” I replied.
She inched over slightly, her perfume filling the air, so overly sweet it was like walking into a candy store after a sugar binge.
I leaned away, trying to escape the cloying scent. She was one of the only female shifters I knew that would douse themselves in perfume. Made you wonder what she was trying to hide.
That was when I saw the girl from this afternoon stroll into the room. The little chit with the steel backbone began circling the table, offering dressing to each diner. Her hair was pulled back into a severe bun knotted low, instead of the wild curls from this afternoon. The boxy service outfit was hiding her form completely, but the bones of a nice female specimen were there nonetheless. It was the large whiskey eyes that stuck in my memory the most, though, not that it mattered.
I’d never slept with a human and had no intention of it now. Too many headaches to be had with them, and I enjoyed the heartier, more athletic build of my own kind. Still, she was hard to miss. How had I sat here for hours and not noticed her?
I couldn’t quite seem to stop watching her, as she made her way around the table, finally stopping beside Mallard.
Instead of asking the servant girl to put more dressing on his salad, Mallard wrapped a hand around the girl’s wrist. His thumb rested on her delicate pulse as he manacled her to him.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like some more,” he said. He tugged her forward, an inch or so, before he released her wrist to allow her to pour.
He wasn’t going to eat the damned thing. Some newer vampires ate, not because they needed to but because they enjoyed the experience. Mallard wasn’t one of them. He’d lived too long. That human desire was long gone.
My eyes shot to her face, then the rapid pulsing vein in her neck as she sensed the threat. She drenched his plate, probably hoping it would rid him of the excuse to draw her near again. She was wrong. Once Mallard took an interest, he rarely let it go.
He wanted her. Not to fuck but to feed on. From what I’d heard around town, he didn’t fuck at all. His foreplay was mind games, like he was playing now. His intercourse was draining them, bringing them as close to the line of life and death as he could without killing them. Sometimes they’d last a few feedings if they were hardy, but more often than not, they wouldn’t. If he fed on her, she’d never make it. Backbone of steel or not, she was too weak, underfed, and scrawny.
I turned my head. It wasn’t my concern. If you took a job working for my mother, you knew what you were getting into. The girl had known she’d be serving all sorts. She’d made the choice. She probably enjoyed it on some sick level.
Still, I couldn’t stop watching her as she moved around the table. She was a human. She was a human that was probably here on the hunt for a vampire to turn her. Most importantly, she wasn’t my problem. There was no logical reason why I felt the need to protect her from a threat she threw herself in front of. My little pep talk might’ve held up if I hadn’t still been watching her as she exited the room.
She paused in the doorway and glanced back at Mallard, giving him a stare that could’ve turned Mexico into the frozen tundra. Wallowing in a sea of groveling humans, her rights stripped away, outfitted as a servant to her conquerors, she stood looking across the room at him like a scorned queen. Something about her poked at my hardened insides.
“Excuse me for a moment,” I said to the table in general as I dropped my napkin. I made my way to the kitchen, scanning the staff before I waved over Ricky, the shifter who ran the house for my mother.
I pointed at the girl. “What’s her name? The little human with the tight bun and big eyes.”
“Penelope?” he asked, his eyes flitting back and forth as if he wasn’t quite sure I’d really asked for a name. His shock was natural. I’d never inquired about the staff—ever.
“Send her home. I don’t want her serving anymore tonight.”
“Is she fired? Did she do something wrong?” he asked, seeming too invested in the fate of the servant.
I shrugged. “I didn’t care for her smell. It killed my appetite. She’s not fired. Feel free to use her again, just not until this gathering is over.” Mallard would be gone, and so would I.
“Of course,” he said, nodding and heading over to her.
She had no idea I’d saved her hide tonight.
Six
Penelope
Donovan stood in the door of the kitchen, staring right at me. Figured the arrogant man would turn out to be Larissa Tessa’s son. It was bad enough I’d taken his coin earlier today, but now I’d have to wait on him all night as they’d all clamored for his attention. He’d had better not want his hundred credits back. He wasn’t getting it.
His stare moved off me, to Ricky, whom he waved over. They both disappeared back into the hallway while I peeked over at the bones Molly had piled up on the side. I pointed at them, and she gave a quick shake of her head.
She glanced around before she leaned forward and whispered, “One of the guests wants them for their dog.”
Fucking hell. Hated these bastards. Even their pets ate better than us. I pushed it out of my head, remembering I still had that hundred credits from earlier today. I loaded up my tray with more dishes that needed to be delivered.
Ricky walked back into the kitchen alone. “You,” he said, pointing in my direction. “You’re done for the night. I’ll have a word with you outside before you leave.”
That fucker Donovan had screwed with me after all. Well, if he was sending Ricky after his credits, he was beat. I didn’t have them on me, and I wouldn’t be fetching them, either.
I grabbed my jacket, and Ricky followed me out.
He shoved some credits into my hand. “Here’s tonight’s pay. Donovan wants you gone for the duration of the party. You probably won’t be able to return for a week.” He glanced over his shoulder through the back window, into the house. “It’s probably a good thing. I think you caught that vampire’s eye.”
I’d already feared the same, but the confirmation sent a slithering feeling down my spine. “Thanks. Hey, did Donovan say what I’d done wrong? Why he wanted to send me home?”
“It was stupid. Nothing important.” He shrugged and waved his hand.
That bad? “Why don’t you tell me anyway? I deserve to know whatever criticism he had.” It shouldn’t make a difference. Whatever Donovan had against me was his problem.
Ricky rolled his head before giving up. “He didn’t like how you smelled or something or other.”
He. Didn’t. Like. How. I. Smelled. Calling me a clumsy buffoon would’ve stung less. I didn’t lose my shit because I couldn’t. “Okay.”
“I told you it was stupid.” He gave me a pat on the shoulder. “I’ve got to go in. I’ll shoot you a message when it’s clear to come back.”
I nodded, doing my best to not look as bitter as a pile of lemons, all the while telling myself Donovan had done me a favor. I took a few steps away from the door before circling around and going in the other side of the house.
Was I really going to do this?
Yes. I had to. This was Sassy’s only shot.
It wasn’t all self-sacrificing, either. If anything, I was being selfish. I’d lost too much already. I couldn’t lose her. They didn’t get to take her from me too.
Fuck. Them.
I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with air and my nerves with iron. I could do this. I would do this.
I stepped closer and knocked on the door that led to the guest suites. It opened, and the guard posted nodded when he saw me. He looked down at his clipboard. “I don’t see you on housekeeping tonight.”
“I was on service but one of the guests didn’t like the looks of me. They switched me over here instead. I’m supposed to turn down the beds.”
His hand went to the mic hanging near his lapel.
“I told them to call you and let you know, but Ricky was too busy with dinner service. He said it would be fine, since I was already on the roster.”
The guard’s brows bunched as he looked down at me again.
“Okay. Go ahead,” he said, backing up to let me pass.
I wouldn’t normally smile at the guards, so I didn’t smile as I passed him. Nothing different. Get in, get out, and for fuck’s sake, stay calm.
I walked down the hall, feeling the guard’s eyes on my back. I took the first right. I’d been on housekeeping enough times to know exactly where Larissa would put Mallard. He’d be in the best room, right down this hall.
I tried the knob, afraid the door might be locked. It was open. It would be here. I’d been told he brought it with him everywhere. I stood inside his room, like I’d been waiting to do for months, and I wasn’t leaving without it.
The place looked too empty—no bag, no belongings about. I opened a drawer and found nothing inside.
Shit. It was the wrong room.
I ducked out, shut the door, and found Mallard walking down the hall. I ignored him like I would any guest. I turned, continuing on while I listened for a door to open and close.
A breeze hit me right before he was in front of me. I gasped as I stopped short and then wobbled back another step.
“Where are you heading? Dinner isn’t over yet.” His eyes trailed from mine down to my bow tie, and I didn’t think it was the uniform he was interested in. He was looking for a meal that wasn’t on the menu.
“I’m being sent home early.” I zipped my jacket all the way up and turned, heading in a different direction, knowing there was another door down this way.
He jumped spots again, blocking my way for a second time.
“Your name is Penelope, right?” I wasn’t sure how he knew my name, but it made me think he’d been paying more attention to me than I’d realized.
I nodded, wanting desperately to take a step back but refusing to show anymore weakness.
“I insist you stay.”
I swallowed hard. Stay calm. You can get out of this.
“I can’t. I was told to go. I can’t go against orders—”
“Orders?” He leaned close enough that I could see his fangs had descended. “I’m the boss. I outrank Larissa, and I’m telling you to stay. Now, turn around and go in there,” he said, pointing to one of the other guest rooms.
I was going to die. I couldn’t fight him. I couldn’t outrun him. Did I scream? No one would help anyway. It might simply speed up my fate. If a vampire gave you an order, you did it. If you angered them enough, not only might you die, but there’d been stories of entire families wiped out.
Sassy’s face appeared in my mind. Fighting wasn’t an option. If I went along with him then maybe he’d let me live.
I opened the door to Mallard’s room with him crowding my back. I came to a stop, torn between facing him and not making any further moves at all. He continued past me.
He took a seat in the armchair in the corner, staring at me. “This place is dirty. Clean it.”
I took my eyes off him long enough to scan the room. Everything wa
s in perfect order, nothing out and the bed already made.
“Well? Are you deaf? Do. Your. Job.”
Not knowing what else to do, I turned and began remaking the bed. I fluffed up fluffy pillows. I used my hand to wipe down the tops of the dressers, anything to keep busy. He watched every move.
What do I do? What? I needed a plan, but I couldn’t get past the panic that had me continuing to straighten up nothing. A weapon. There had to be something here. A stake would work, but he wouldn’t have that lying around. Would a pencil stab kill him? Pencils were wood. Why couldn’t that be a stake? I’d just need to drive it deep enough.
Of course there wasn’t a single pencil lying about either. Duh. Why would he possibly leave anything out in his sleeping quarters that could injure him? It was idiotic. This vampire might be a monster, but he was also a genius from what I’d heard.
“There’s something on the floor,” he said when I was fluffing his pillow for the fourth time.
I looked about the floor. “I don’t…”
“There,” he said, pointing to a spot on the hardwood floor. “Get down on the floor, you stupid human. Are you blind as well as deaf? It’s right there.”
The thought of running crossed my mind for the fiftieth time. If I ran for it, I’d be dead. I needed to ride this out and swallow back every survival instinct I had. “Down,” he said.
I fell to my knees. He’d commanded my body as if it were his own.
“Now do you see that?” he asked. My waist bent, my palms went flat to the ground, my nose pressed to the floor. “Do you see it now, stupid human? Forget it. Don’t answer that. I don’t want to hear you speak.”
I didn’t try, but my insides clenched in fear. I wouldn’t be able to say anything if I wanted to. It didn’t matter anyway. When he was through humiliating me, he was going to kill me. This was how I was going to die. Kneeling on the floor in front of this monster. Tears dripped from my eyes, puddling on the floor. Sobs racked my body, but no one could hear them.
Gut Deep: Torn Worlds Book One Page 3