* * *
I knock back my drink and tug at Paddy’s hand. “Come and dance with me!” I plead.
He shakes his head, causing a strand of his dark hair to fall across his forehead, giving me the urge to brush it back into place.
“I don’t dance,” he says stoically, as his eyes roam the club.
I shrug at his rejection and quickly make my way back to the dance floor before I can follow through on the urge to straighten his hair. I’m on a boy’s night out; I can’t act like the needy girl coming onto one of them. I’ll never be asked to join them again.
“Your loss,” I mutter to myself.
I find an empty space and start to sway, losing myself in the music. I can feel bodies brushing up against me, but no one is being inappropriate with their hands. They’re probably only too aware of the three sets of eyes on me. They have all been following Theo’s orders of not taking their eyes off me all night.
When I feel a set of hands grab my hips, I don’t worry about it being some pervert. I know the guys wouldn’t let anyone like that touch me, not after the Vampire. It has to be one of them. Probably Eddie. He’s been dancing most of the night with one chick or another.
Turning to find a familiar face, I can’t hide my look of surprise. “I thought you couldn’t dance?”
Grinning mischievously, he tugs me closer against his body. “I said I don’t dance, not that I can’t dance. After watching those dickheads grinding all over you, I thought I’d better show them how to dance with a lady.”
For the rest of the night, Paddy shows me exactly how well he can move.
Five
THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER
EDDIE
Seeing that bloodsucker with his hands on Ruby had me seeing red. I still haven’t managed to calm myself completely down, having her face between my hands I wanted to lean in and kiss her. When I scented her lust, Jesus…my hard-on still hasn’t gone down. She was probably lusting over the thought of the vampire bite. We all know how good they can make it feel. I shouldn’t even be thinking about her that way, she’s only just turned eighteen. Being twenty-two, Theo would have my balls if I ever make a move on her.
I couldn’t stand watching her dance with the fucking humans, so I sent Paddy to dance with her. She likes him and he’ll look after her, he’s strong enough to protect her and Theo will be happy because Paddy isn’t a ladies man. He’s nineteen, much closer to Ruby’s age than me.
He’s better for her.
It doesn’t mean I can stand watching it, though. I’ve left it to Jared to watch over them as I keep an eye on the exits from the dance floor, while dancing with some of the chicks in the club.
The lights in the club flick brighter and then back to dim, indicating last call. I brace myself as I catch Ruby’s scent, knowing she must be coming up behind me. Her hand touches the small of my back, slipping under my shirt and brushing my skin. A rumble leaves my chest as I release the chick I’d been dancing with.
“Are you going to dance with me tonight? Time is running out, even Jared had a dance with me,” she speaks near my ear, her breath giving me goosebumps.
Wishing right now I’d kept a chick around so I’d have an excuse not to dance with her, whilst telling my dick to behave, I turn and hold her at arm’s length. Having none of that, Ruby stumbles and plasters herself to me. “Jesus Rubes, are you drunk?”
“No. I’ve only had as much as you guys,” she says defensively, her pout makes me want to kiss it away. Fuck!
Masking my lecherous thoughts, I laugh. “Yeah, but you don’t have the metabolism of a werewolf.” Holding her steady against me, I start to sway with the music. “Where did Paddy go?”
“To get me another drink,” she slurs. Water is the only thing she’ll be drinking from now on. The song finishes and the lights come on.
“Drink up,” shouts one of the security guys.
Ruby stumbles in the direction of the table, keeping one hand tight on her hip, I help her along.
“We can’t take her back to Theo’s in this state. He’ll kill us,” I state to the boys.
“How the hell did she get this bad? She’s been dancing all night,” Jared asks, taking in her inebriated state.
“She’s been keeping up with us. We should’ve stopped her.” I’m pissed at the three of us for letting her get into this state. It’s too easy to forget that humans can’t hold their liquor like we can.
Reaching into his pocket, Jared pulls out his phone. “I’ll message Theo saying we’re staying at your place. I’ll spin some story about not wanting to wake Selena and Trudy coming in this late.”
“Don’t mention that woman, dammit,” Ruby grumbles with a deadly glare aimed at Jared. Putting his arm around her shoulders and kissing her temple, Paddy deftly distracts her.
“Come on, Princess, let’s head to the car. These two can catch us up,” he says, leading her out of the club.
Tearing my eyes away from their backs, I turn to look at Jared.
“Follow those two out and get the car started,” he says, throwing me his car keys. “I’ll give Theo a call, he’ll be waiting up for us.”
I step out the club to find Ruby and Paddy playing tonsil tennis next to Jared’s Subaru.
What the fuck?
Storming over, I pull Paddy off her by the scruff of his neck and shove him against the car with a growl. “What the fuck, are you doing? She’s plastered and you’re taking advantage of her, you fucking dick.”
He lowers his eyes in submission, no doubt realising how wrong he was to be caught in that position.
Ruby tugs at the back of my shirt. “We were just making out. You’ve been doing it with chicks all night. Get over it, Eddie,”
“Come on, sweetheart, let’s get in the car and leave these two to their little fight,” Jared says, as I feel him pulling her away from us.
“She’s having my room tonight. You’re not going anywhere near her until she’s sober, even in the car.” I push away from him, not caring how hard I do it.
“Anyone would think you have a thing for her,” he mutters, as he opens the passenger door.
They’d be fucking right.
Ignoring his comment and the voice in my head, I slide into the back of the car next to Ruby; who’s snoring with her head leaning against the window.
Only a few minutes pass and Jared pulls to a stop outside our two-bedroom duplex. Paddy exits the car silently and heads straight to unlock the door, as I walk around the car and pick up our sleeping beauty.
Carrying her into my bedroom, I place her gently on the king-size bed. Stepping back, I stare down at her. She looks so small on my bed but so perfect; like she belongs there. My wolf is more than happy with her being there, he’s nudging me to join her. It takes all my willpower to ignore him and turn away from her.
It surprises me to find Jared standing in the doorway with his arms folded across his chest. “You want her!” His words are a statement, not a question.
“I can’t have her. I’m too old for her, no one would let me near her,” I say, hoping to end the conversation.
He shakes his head. “You’re a good guy, Ed, and you’re only what…four years older? That’s not too old.”
“She has a thing for Paddy, so it’s pointless even discussing it.” I edge forward to leave the room, forcing Jared to step back in the hallway to give me space to close the door behind us.
We hear Ruby moan through the closed door. “Eddie, I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Look after her, she’s going to need it. Is there anything I can get you?” Jared offers, as he starts down the hallway.
“No. We don’t have any paracetamol. We never need the stuff,” I say, as I quickly grab a bucket from the bathroom; which is just across the hall from my room.
Paddy likes to try and save water by placing it in the bottom of the shower when he uses it. It just pisses me off and gets under my feet. I usually end up kicking it over, so he hardly ever gets to p
our it on the plants like he means to.
Placing the bucket beside the bed I sit down. Holding her hair back with one hand, I rub gentle circles on Ruby’s back with the other as she vomits over the edge of the bed and into the bucket. Once she’s emptied her stomach, she lays back and closes her eyes with a whimper.
I watch her for a minute and when her breathing evens out, I get up and pick up the bucket to clean it out before she needs it again.
“I like you too, Eddie,” she mutters.
Six
UNWANTED GIFTS
DOMINICK
Closing the door to my private quarters, I breathe a sigh of relief. Today has been a harrowing day. Being the King has its drawbacks some days. Thankfully, once the younger vampires die for the day, I finally get a reprieve before I have to turn in myself.
A knock on the door tells me I’m getting no respite today. “I hope it’s important because you know your life isn’t worth anything less,” I call through the door.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, sir. But there’s been an unexpected delivery,” Niko my head of security announces, as he opens the door and enters, carrying what looks like a young girl’s body hung over his shoulder. The lack of heartbeat tells me she’s dead. It’s the third body I’ve been gifted in as many weeks.
I sigh and ask a question I already know the answer to. “Let me guess, nobody saw him?”
“Not a thing,” Niko answers, with a shake of his head.
“What’s he getting from this?” I ask, not really needing an answer because it’s obvious. He’s getting a kick out of pissing me off.
“He’s getting a nice fill while he drives you crazy as he disrespects your laws,” Niko answers me regardless, dropping the body to the floor with a thud.
We don’t have many laws but not killing for food is one of our oldest and most important ones.
“I wasn’t in need of an answer, Niklaus.”
“Sorry.”
I dismiss his apology with a wave of my hand as I crouch over the body. A single bite to the artery; completely drained, late teens, blonde. I pull her eyelid back to see her eyes are green just like the others. I don’t know why I even bother looking.
“I think we can officially say he has a type.”
Leaning as close to the wound as possible, I try to catch his scent hoping to recognise it so he can be stopped before another innocent life is ended. I know how addictive it is to drain a body completely, there’s nothing like drowning in someone’s life force, and when you hit that point of no return…The laws are there for a reason. Could you imagine if we were all free to kill when we feed? We’d start to run out of humans in no time.
“Do the usual. Disguise the wound and put her somewhere she’ll be found.” A beautiful young thing like this is bound to have someone missing her. It is better they find her and be placated with some explanation of what happened to her, rather than be searching for a missing person and digging for anything they can find.
Niko picks up the girl with a nod and leaves without a word. He still has a short time before he’s dead for the day. The older we are, the longer we can last, but like humans we need sleep to recuperate. He’ll most likely do the job himself leaving his feeder to just dispose of her. He’s one of my most loyal men. I didn’t sire him, so he has no real tie to me but he’s as loyal as any vampire I’ve turned myself. Even more so. Niklaus has been by my side for a long time. He’s never left, even after he turned his lover over one hundred and fifty years ago.
As I close the door behind me, I pull my phone out of my pocket and make my way to my desk perching against it. I hit call on the relevant number and put the phone to my ear as I wait for an answer.
“To what do I owe the honour that the head bloodsucker called me himself?” Theo answers, as snarkily as ever. I thought our recent fight against the Controller had brought us closer together. I guess I was wrong.
“I’m in no mood to bite, Theo. He’s killed again. Same MO. And I’m no closer to finding him. He’s good at covering his tracks, but he’s getting braver and dumping them closer. Someone is bound to catch him soon,” I explain, getting right to the point.
Theo’s voice thunders down the line. “Soon isn’t good enough, Drake!”
“What have your wolves found, Wilson?” I snap, addressing him by his surname as he had me. I take a moment of his silence to calm myself down. Not enough to stop myself making a remark. “I thought as much.”
He sighs. “Fine. Just because neither of us is close to pinning him down, doesn’t mean we have time to waste. The longer this takes, more innocents die. That is unacceptable,” Theo admonishes, as if I don’t already now this.
“Do you think I don’t care about that?” I don’t give him time to answer, pausing for just a second before carrying on. “Just because my morals are different to yours, it doesn’t mean I’m completely heartless.”
“Huh...” he pauses, as if not knowing exactly how to reply, before carrying on without acknowledging my previous statement. “Thanks for updating me. I’ll make sure my guys search harder.” He hangs up without saying goodbye. And people call me rude. I deserved an apology there.
Throwing my phone on the desk, I make my way to the king-size bed, getting comfortable before calling my feeder in. “Sam, send Gerry in now.” I don’t raise my voice knowing Sam will hear me well enough with her acute vampire hearing.
Only a couple of minutes pass before my tall, dark, and handsome feeder and lover for the night enters the room. Closing and locking the door behind him.
Seven
HANGOVERS AND FLASHBACKS
RUBY
Someone’s going at my skull with an ice pick. I try to lift my head off the pillow and instantly regret it; the ice pick becomes even more persistent. Grabbing my head to secure it in my hands, I can’t help but groan.
If I survive this, I’m never drinking again.
The door bursts open and I turn my head to find Eddie barging into the room, wearing just a towel around his waist and shaving cream on his face. His ginger hair looks almost brown, wet from the shower.
“Jesus. I thought you were dying.”
Even the sight of him practically naked doesn’t take my mind off the hammering in my skull. “I am,” I complain, as I squeeze my eyes shut hoping to ease the pain.
“How are you feeling, beautiful? Do you need some painkillers?” he asks from beside me. I feel the bed dip as he sits beside my legs. He’s almost naked next to me on the bed and he’s as cool as a cucumber.
Freaking werewolves and their immunity to embarrassment over nudity.
Taking a breath to calm my hormones. I gulp in the smell of food coming through the now open door. “Oh my God! What’s that smell? I think—” My stomach heaves at the smell, stopping me mid-sentence.
Seeing my predicament, Eddie pulls me to the edge of the bed where I can see a bucket strategically placed on the floor. I lose what little I have left in my stomach while Eddie holds my hair and strokes my back. I vaguely flash to something similar happening throughout the night.
Did he really look after me all night?
“Do you think you could keep some painkillers down?” he asks, still stroking gentle circles on my back. I grimace at the thought of swallowing anything.
“I think I have some Alka-Seltzer in my handbag. They should settle my stomach and ease my head,” I answer, as I close my eyes and enjoy the comfort of him rubbing my back.
His hand stops and his weight lifts off the bed. “I’ll see where your bag got to. It might have been left in the car.” I hear his footsteps pad through the room before the door closes with a click and all goes quiet again.
I shuffle just enough to lay my head on the side of the bed, rather than having it hanging over the edge and close my eyes as I wait for Eddie to come back.
I wake up to find a glass of water and a double packet of Alka-Seltzer on the bedside table. I have no idea how much time has passed since Eddie left. Moving slowl
y, trying not to set the ice pick to the skull again, I sit up and mix the tablets with the water, drinking it down when it stops fizzing.
Feeling marginally better, I decide to find the others, after a visit to the bathroom. I really need to brush my teeth even if it’s only with my finger. It doesn’t take me long to freshen up, and soon I’m walking into the lounge to look for the guys.
“Eddie? Paddy?” I call out as I walk through the duplex. Seeing no sign of anyone. Looking at my watch, I notice it’s ten in the morning. I open my mouth to call again as Paddy comes in through a door leading outside from the kitchen.
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty has woken up,” he says, as he reaches into the fridge, pulling out a bottle of orange juice.
“How’re you feeling?” Jared asks, as he enters through the same door and stops to lean his back against the worktop.
I grimace at the sight of the acidic orange juice. “I’m okay. It’s nothing a glass of lemonade and a packet of plain chips can’t sort out. I guess Mum managed to teach me a few things in her drunken predicaments.” It’s ironic really; in my anger at my mum I went and did one of the things I hate her for. Turned to the booze. I don’t think I could feel any more disgusted with myself.
Obviously putting two and two together Jared pulls me into a hug. “You’re not a drunk, sweetheart, you just had a night out and let loose. We all need to do it sometimes.” Kissing me on the top of my head, he releases me.
“Where’s Eddie? I think I owe him a thank you for staying with my vomiting arse last night,” I say, as I peer around, thinking his name will conjure him. Werewolves tend to turn up when they hear their names, even if they’ve been in an entirely different part of the house.
Mount Roxby Box Set Page 26