Not Another Vampire Book

by Cassandra Gannon

  “I’m not. I’m just making sure my bleeding-heart mate doesn’t die from sheer stubborn stupidity.”

  Gee, who wouldn’t love this sweet-talking guy? “Well, can you kill fifteen Vampires by yourself?”

  “If I could, I would make it sixteen and take out Slade, as well.” He growled. “The only way to kill even one of them is with a diamond sword, though.”

  “Well, do you have a diamond sword?”

  “Of course, I do. But, not on me. Diamonds are immune to magicks.”

  Of course. Kara rolled her eyes. “Then why did you come here to kill To’kel in the first place, if you couldn’t really kill him?”

  Damien obviously didn’t have an answer for that. His brow creased into a frown.

  Tanya must have rewritten what it took to kill a Vampire somewhere between that chapter and now, making it harder.

  Wonderful.

  “Bitch.” To’kel staggered to his feet and pointed at Kara. His head faced forward again, but it swayed unnaturally on his neck. “You’ll pay for that.”

  Kara clicked on the flashlight again, trying to look as hardass as possible considering the ball gown. “Don’t make me use this.” She warned with a great deal of ‘I’m-about-to-drop-the-atom-bomb-God-help-our-souls’ menace. “I got it at Target and I’ve been aching to test it out.” What the hell would they know about flashlights? She slowly raised it so the light pointed towards the sky. “It’s an LED. I guarantee you boys, it’ll work just as well on Vamps as it does on all my other victims.”

  To’kel eyed the small beam as if he expected it to turn into a lightsaber. Slade made an impressed ‘oooh’ sound. The other Vampires edged further away from the shaft of light like it might burn them. Even Damien frowned, trying to figure out how the pink aluminum tube inflicted its terrible damage.

  Kara had never felt cooler in her life.

  Not knowing exactly what she could do with her ‘weapon,’ To’kel reluctantly backed off. “You’ve won for now, Witch.” He spat out. “One day you won’t have your led to target, though. Then, we’ll see who has the most real power.” His eyes cut over to Damien. “And you… You’re supposed to be on my side, you bastard.”

  “I am on your side.” Damien sounded disgusted. “Or I was, until you touched my mate. Now, I have to kill you and Slade. I’m extremely bored, just thinking about the added trouble.”

  “I only want that book. I won’t harm your woman. I swear. Force her to give it to me and we can rule over this entire universe.” His expression glowed with fevered promise. “We can finally kill Slade, you’ll have your vengeance and I’ll have the crown. We’ll accomplish all our goals and be unstoppable.”

  Kara glowered up at Damien. “Don’t you dare.” She warned, not trusting him to resist the word ‘vengeance.’ It was like crack to him. “Not if you ever plan on seeing me naked, anyway.”

  That earned her a quick glance.

  She arched a pointed brow.

  Damien’s eyes gleamed. “My cari has made the most persuasive argument.” He decided, his gaze staying on her. “She will keep her book and I will keep her. The Vampires can work out their own monarchical problems.” He shrugged at To’kel. “One of you will kill the other and save me the effort. Honestly, I don’t see the downside.

  To’kel’s face went red with rage. “You’re a pussy whipped traitor!”

  “I would not let him speak to me that way, if I were you, sorcerer.” Slade called, helpfully. “You are not a traitor, this day! You fight for the freedom of the real king. Me!”

  Damien shot him a look that could have withered grass.

  To’kel allowed two other Vampires to lift him gingerly into the air. “Just stay out of this, Damien.” He warned. “Not even you can handle all the enemies you’re collecting thanks to this Witch. You don’t want to get on my bad side, too. Maybe you’ve heard. I’m going to be King of the Vampires tomorrow.”

  “The hell you will.” Kara’s mind was already racing with ways to stop him. Surely, she could think up some plan to save Slade over the next twenty-four hours. How hard could it be to outsmart the frigging Vampires? They were scared of flashlights, for God’s sake.

  Damien kept his attention on To’kel. “If I were you, I’d kill Slade, now. Trust me. Fortune always seems to favor that idiot. He’ll escape somehow.”

  “Stop helping the bad guys.” Kara hissed. God, he just couldn’t stop himself from the villainy, could he?

  “Thank you for your confidence in me, sorcerer.” Slade nodded, shifting through Damien’s statement and somehow coming up with a compliment. “You know, you are not so bad for a creature. I forgive you for earlier your treachery. Your species cannot help its evolutionary limits.”

  Damien’s jaw clenched.

  Kara grabbed hold of his arm, afraid he might ask To’kel to borrow a diamond sword and finish Slade off himself.

  “I’ll execute my cousin how I want to.” To’kel retorted. “After all, I’m the one who finally caught him. For hundreds of years, I’ve been a nothing but a pawn. You and Slade have always thought you were the only ones with brains. But, I see everything now. Now, I’m in control and finally I have a scheme that will actually work.”

  “I never thought Slade had a brain.” Damien corrected as if To’kel just insulted him.

  “You can’t be at the center of this, To’kel.” Slade whined. “It just isn’t done. Have you a tragic back story? Have you a noble, misunderstood heart? Have you a love of animals and small children? No, you don’t. So, how do you presume to be a true hero without these things? You are not even possessing an uncontrollable sexual magnetism that women are helpless to resist, but which you are too manly a man to feel vain about.”

  “Can’t someone just kill him, now?” Damien asked the world at large.

  “I’m the star of this show, cousin.” To’kel bit-off, his too bright eyes fixing on Slade with total hatred. “Things have changed. Tomorrow, you and your constant, sickening heroism will be nothing but a memory.” His head snapped around to Damien. “And if you interfere, you’ll join him in the beyond, sorcerer. You and your Witch. I won’t go back to being anyone’s flunky.”

  He and the other Vampires took off into the sky, dragging poor Slade with them. All they left behind was gold pixie dust, a bunch of zombies and the Slade’s echoing voice declaring that they were all going to face the wrath of the mighty Witch.

  Kara groaned as her big, dumb, return-ticket home disappeared into the stratosphere. There was no way she could catch-up with them and rescue Slade, short of growing wings. She turned to Damien, hopefully. “I don’t suppose you can fly, right?”

  “No.”

  “Have you ever tried?”

  “Give it up, Kara Lynn.”

  “Well, that’s just perfect.” She sat down heavily on the ground. “Now what?”

  “Now, I’m going back to my lair.” Damien stood above her, his patience apparently at an end. “It’s been a tiring, aggravating evening. You have driven me to the edge of madness and then pushed even further. I’m done debating that book, enduring idiots of all species, fixing ceilings, and fighting zombies for you. I’m going home and you’re coming with me.”

  Unbelievable. “What about Slade?”

  “He is not invited.” Damien held out a hand to her. “He will live or die tomorrow. I’m also finished discussing Vampires for the night. We’re leaving before you find more trouble to embroil yourself in. I want my mate. In my bed. Now.”

  Just like that the arousal came flooding back. “You think I’m going to have sex with you?” She demanded, anyway. “That’s what you’re focusing on, right now?”

  “With you, it is all I ever focus on. Now more than ever. You run off and nearly get killed, without any concern for your safety, and I will not have it.”

  “And sleeping with me will fix that?”

  “Making you admit that I’m your mate will fix it. It will make you listen to me.” He loomed there, immovable and
commanding, standing over her like a conqueror. She felt her heart rate pickup in response, her desire growing bigger at his primitive tactics. Damn, but he should come with a sexual warning label. “And you will mate with me, Kara Lynn. We are passed the point where anything could save you from your fate.”

  Kara looked up at his beautiful black eyes. “You think you can hypnotize me with sex?”

  “I’m certainly willing to try.”

  She considered that challenge. He was kidding himself, obviously. But, she did love it when he got all sexy and primal on her. It was a shame to waste the opportunity to see him in action. And it wasn’t like she could do anything about To’kel, right now, anyway. She wasn’t going to think of her new plan here in Zombieland. “What the hell.” She took hold of Damien’s palm and let him pull her up. “Let’s go prove you wrong. But, I’m warning you, if you try anything too kinky, I’ll have to flashlight you.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Slade’s body held hers gently. “Fear not, Eternal One. I will not claim you fully until tomorrow at our bonding. Then, we will know the bliss of a perfect sexual union. For now, I shall just cradle your sweet body against mine and hold you close all the night long.”

  “Oh, Slade.” She gazed up at him worshipfully. “You are such a considerate man. I never worry that your passions will frighten me, though I am but a young and innocent girl.” Her eyelashes fluttered down, shyly as he petted her soft red hair. “You treat me like the shy flower I am, beneath my spirited exterior. To think, I feared you would be disappointed by my shyness.”

  “Melessa, my dearest heart, I understand and respect your wishes. I would never ask you submit to my urgent, primal desires as though I was a dark kidnapper and you my helpless captive. Only a woman who truly favored villains would enjoy that. It would terrify any good human girl, to give a blackheart such trust.”

  Eternal Passion at Sunset- Chapter Fourteen

  Damien slammed the door to his bedroom, not particularly caring that Miranda and some blond male were asleep in his sitting room. They could just stay down there until morning. He had a more important problem to deal with.

  One small, curvy, human problem.

  He crossed his arms and watched broodingly as Kara looked around his dark bedchamber looking oh-so innocent. “How many times did you search this room while I was at that bar?”

  “Just the once.” She smiled at him, but she was nervous. He could read it on her face as she stood before him. Apprehension and anticipation and trust. Knowing everything and nothing about him, she would mate with him. Knowing he couldn’t care for her, she still felt safe with him.

  How the hell had such an innocent being survived in the world?

  How was he going to keep her surviving?

  Damien had always felt superior to Slade, because he knew the Vampire’s Eternal-One would ultimately be his weakness. Well, actually, he felt superior to Slade for many reasons, but the fact that a human girl would be the thing that finally destroyed the mighty king had always brought Damien a lot of satisfaction. He appreciated the irony of it. He’d planned to take the woman and lure Slade to his death via the Vampire’s bond with her. Slade would want to protect her. He’d fail. Damien would kill him. It had seemed very simple and neat.

  Now, it didn’t seem that way, at all.

  Now, Damien had the fragile, human girl to protect. Now, Damien had the plotting enemies and a blatant, curly-headed weakness. Worse, his mate was the most reckless, illogical, stubborn being alive. She ran into danger without any thought to how vulnerable she really was. Keeping Kara safe meant constant vigilance and killing many people.

  He could accept that.

  After they were mated, Damien could convince her to listen to him and pay more attention to her own safety. A cari wouldn’t ignore her mate’s wishes. After all, what he wanted wasn’t unreasonable; just common sense: Don’t die.

  How hard was that to comply with?

  In return, he would do anything the woman asked. Anything to make her happy.

  Almost anything.

  There were some things that he just couldn’t compromise on. Not even when he knew it would upset her. Not even if it went against the customs of his people to deny her requests. She needed to understand his limits right from the beginning.

  Damien sighed and cut right to the heart of the matter. “Kara Lynn, I cannot feel anything beyond my vengeance.”

  “So you’ve said. Repeatedly. I don’t want to believe that, though.”

  “Well, it’s true.” He scrapped a hand through his hair. “That is why, tomorrow, I know you will ask me to save Slade and I will not do it.”

  Kara stared at him.

  “A better mate would put your desires first, but I cannot. I can’t give you what you need.” He shook his head. “By tomorrow, you’ll think up some plan to get onto the Vampire Isle and stage a rescue. It is inevitable. I would lock you up, but I know it would do no good. So, I will go with you to ensure that you are protected. But, I won’t lift a hand to save that Vampire. I will not help him to draw one more breath. Not even for you.”

  She was silent for a long moment. “Alright.”

  Damien clenched his jaw. “Alright?” He repeated, harshly. He’d expected an argument. Was ready for one. Her easy acceptance annoyed him. “I tell you that I will not help you with your quest and you say alright?”

  “What do you want me to say?”

  “I want you to...” care. He wanted her to care that he wasn’t a good mate. He wanted her to care that he couldn’t care for her properly. He wanted her to be angry or to invoke cariNa and forsake him. A cari should not accept this. Not unless she viewed the relationship as meaningless. Something not lasting. Something that merely happened in a book. “I just want you to understand.” He finally muttered. “So you will not be hurt tomorrow when I refuse you.”

  “I do understand.”

  “Do you?”

  “Of course. So you wanna mate now?”

  Damien’s temper sparked. “You do not see this as real.” The words were out before he could stop them. “To you, I am a character from a novel, living in the past. I have waited for you my entire life and you don’t even think I exist. You give no thought to the future, or you would not be so cavalier about how I’m failing you. Or about your own safety. Or the irrevocability of this mating.”

  Kara squinted at him, like he was the one behaving irrationally. “The future? Did you notice how many pages are left?” She held up the manuscript. Damien could see that the new chapter she’d marked was very near the back cover.

  Too near.

  A cold sensation slid down his spine. “The book is ending.”

  “Exactly.” Kara tossed it onto the nightstand. “Tomorrow the story is gonna be over. Either, I’ll die trying to save Slade, or you’ll die trying to kill him, or we’ll all die when To’kel screws-up the plot so badly we’re sucked into a wormhole. Or –hey!-- maybe I’ll even finally go home. Now, I do understand what all that means.” She stepped closer to him. “It means you and I will get exactly one night together. That is our future.”

  The cold feeling spread through his whole body. “I don’t accept that.”

  “I know you don’t.” She gave a strange smile. “And I know that you won’t accept this, either, but I’ll say it anyway because I don’t want to regret not telling you.” She laid a palm on his cheek. “I love you, Damien. I love you so much, it scares me.”

  Damien’s mind went blank. For the first time in his memory, he couldn’t think of anything to say. For an endless moment, he experienced true peace. Perfect and pure. He wanted her to say it, again. He wanted to hear it forever and let it soak into his mind like a balm. Having Karalynn Donnelly love him was vital. He hadn’t realized how much he needed it until she said the words.

  Then, reality crashed in.

  Damien’s luck would never sustain such a gift.

  Whatever gods had forsaken him would ensure that he lost in the e
nd. He knew that. Saw it so clearly it blinded him. Nothing this good would ever happen to him.

  Something close to panic began to claw its way through him.

  “I wasn’t going to ask you to save Slade tomorrow.” She continued as if Damien wasn’t standing like a statue in front of her. “That’s why I must have seemed cavalier. I just expected you to say no. I understand that I asked too much back at the Fair. I’m sorry. I just freaked out and I put you in that situation and...” She shook her head. “If Vampires killed my family, I wouldn’t want to save one, either. I get it. I do.”

  That was exactly what his argument would have been.

  It sounded wrong.

  When she said it --accepted it-- it seemed wrong.

  Something wrenched inside of him, shifting, wanting to tear free.

  Karalynn wasn’t done. “Anyway, I really do appreciate you offering to come with me to the Vampire Isle to make sure I’m okay. That’s way above and beyond. Whatever happens, I’ll always remember you did that and you remember that it meant everything to me, okay?”

  Damien realized where the sensation of foreboding came from. Why his body was tensing for a fight and why he could hear his pulse beating in his head.

  She was saying goodbye to him.

  Karalynn was preparing for the end, before their mating had even begun.

  Something snapped inside of him. A fundamental alteration. The fog that sometimes seemed to confuse and control him melted away entirely. Damien drew in a deep breath. It felt as if he was bobbing to the surface after spending a lifetime underwater.

  Whatever had twisted with painful joy when Kara said “I love you,” abruptly broke free and shot through his system like an electric current. For the first time, Damien started feeling a fresh emotion. Not vengeance, but even more obsessive. He had no idea what it was, but it shattered the coldness lodged in his chest and filled him with something scalding hot. It burned its way through every fiber of his being.