Midnight Dream Girls 2: The Scent of Revenge

by Savanah Madanelle

  The men shared their own set of grim smiles of recognition. Briefly Morgan wondered what it must be like to love someone who had been turned into a vampire against their will.

  “All right,” Brianna began in a brisk, business like tone. “Everyone here is either a direct or indirect victim of Kilo’s. Did any of us ask for this to happen?” She waited as each woman emphatically shook her head no. “Exactly. I don’t know what the vampire community would think about his actions, or if there even is a formal vampire community. But I do know for damn sure how I feel about it.”

  “Like you want to kill the bastard?” Pamela suggested, one brown penciled in eyebrow arched.

  “Yes,” Brianna agreed, and every person at the table nodded in agreement.

  Morgan could hear the grating sound of Jonathan’s teeth grinding and cringed. Noticing her expression, he stopped and reached for her hand under the table. After lacing their fingers together, he rested their linked hands on his hard thigh. Morgan forced her attention back to Brianna as a warm glow suffused her body and loosened some of the tightness in her chest.

  “So I think it’s time we do something about our little…problem,” Brianna suggested.

  Morgan waited for the redhead to say more, but Brianna simply stared at the rest of them as if waiting for ideas.

  “Like…what?” Sammie asked, her pixie-like black hair swinging around her chin.

  “Jonathan, you’re the vamp hunter here. Any suggestions?” Brianna asked, turning all eyes towards him.

  Jonathan shook his head. “I’ve never actually killed a vampire before. It’s taken me ten years to get this close to Kilo. I do know what I’ve heard from other vampires that supposedly works.”

  “Yeah, fire, a stake through the heart, or cut off our heads,” Brianna answered.

  Morgan cringed along with the other MDG vamps at her use of the word “our” in that statement. To Morgan, it made her new situation all the more real. She didn’t want to think about herself as being anything like Kilo.

  “So how do we use this to our advantage?” Steven asked, leaning in to place a hand on Brianna’s shoulder while searching the circle of faces around him.

  “He’s too strong,” Morgan said, remembering all too well how painful and unyielding his grip had been around her body during his attack. “We’d have to surprise him. Maybe hold him down while using one of the other methods.”

  “Yeah, trap him somehow, then set him on fire and cut off his head,” Jonathan said, a dark smile spreading over his face.

  “And stake him, just for good measure,” Steven added. The two men shared evil smiles that made Morgan shiver. No wonder men were in charge of the nation’s military. They seemed to have a natural ability for vengeance, no matter how nice their personalities were otherwise.

  “If fire’s involved, rope won’t work,” Brianna said.

  Morgan nodded. “He’s too strong to hold down with rope anyway. We need something stronger, like wire.”

  “Steel cables,” Jonathan said. “That’d do it, don’t you think?”

  Steven nodded. “Yeah, that’d do it.” His voice lowered, and Morgan noticed the muscles in his jaw clenching. “But what’s the bait?”

  “Bait?” Brianna frowned at her fiancé.

  “Yeah, what’ll ensure he shows up when and where we want him to?” Steven stared back at her, and Morgan could’ve sworn they were talking together without words.

  Brianna nodded and looked away. “The other two MDGs should do it.”

  Pamela scooted her chair back hard from the table. “What the hell? Bianca and Emily aren’t fucking bait. They’re MDGs. Or doesn’t that matter to you, Brianna?”

  Brianna’s face grew hard, her eyes glittering dangerously towards Pamela. “Fuck you, Pamela. You know good and well they matter. But they’re going to be sitting at this table with us for some future vampire MDG meeting if we don’t do something. Do you realize he’s turned a MDG once a week for the past four weeks? And what have you had to do during that time to take care of your own vampire needs?”

  Red bloomed in Pamela’s cheeks and she averted her gaze.

  “Yeah. Do you want the same thing to happen to Bianca and Emily?”

  Pamela shook her head, her blonde hair swaying like threads of gold around her shoulders. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair,.

  “All right,” she said. “So how do we set up the bait?”

  For some reason, Morgan thought about the visions she’d seen, undoubtedly of Kilo’s life as both a human and a vampire, and thought about how he’d changed his name before killing that elderly lady as a young man.

  “He likes to hide behind things, like nicknames,” Morgan said, staring at the table, still trying to push away the rest of the visions. “Maybe he’d like a little masked ball?”

  Brianna smiled. “Perfect. We’ll have a Masque Night next week, and require all customers to wear masks and costumes. We’ll promote the hell out of it.”

  “What’ll we tell Bianca and Emily?” Pamela asked.

  Brianna looked at her, her smile turning grim. “We’ll tell them we’re practicing a new dance routine where all of you pretend to be vampires feeding on them. We can practice out in the alley during a break that night. Kilo will see us practicing without music and think it’s the real deal…”

  “He’ll be unable to resist,” Morgan whispered. Oh lord, she could see it playing out already. He’d never be able to resist such a lure as what appeared to be a feeding frenzy among his vampire creations.

  “And when Bianca and Emily see what we do to Kilo after he makes his appearance?” Pamela asked.

  “I’ll make them think they drank too much and had a bad dream,” Brianna said, her voice firm with confidence. “After all, my new vampire abilities ought to be useful for something.”

  Jonathan leaned back in his chair, squeezed Morgan’s hand, and looked around the table. “It’s a plan then. How about next Thursday night? That’ll give us eight days to get ready.”

  * * * * *

  Morgan followed Jonathan back to his hotel room, having no desire to return to her empty apartment and the scene of so many of Kilo’s seductions anytime soon. She was also pretty sure she was going to have to buy a new bed. The thought of climbing back into her old one made her sick to her stomach.

  “Sure you don’t want to eat something?” Jonathan asked, gently rubbing warmth into her bare arms.

  Morgan shook her head, took off her clothes, and climbed into bed. All she wanted, all she needed right now, was to be held by him. Maybe he could somehow erase her fear that the group’s newly concocted plan would backfire on them all. The words “eight days” kept echoing within her mind like the death knell of a church bell.

  He undressed down to his underwear, then climbed in under the covers with her, pulling her back against him in the comforting spoon position she’d yearned for the last two days. As the warmth from his hard body seeped into her, erasing the chill she’d felt since she’d thought she’d lost him, Morgan felt her body finally relax into the mattress.

  “I missed you,” Jonathan whispered in her ear, making her sigh with a smile. “I’m sorry I was such an ass.”

  She nodded and rolled over to face him. She didn’t know what to say, so she just slipped her arms around his neck and hugged him. He crushed her against his chest, buried his face in her hair on top of her head, and inhaled deeply.

  Morgan didn’t care how strong vampires were supposed to be. Here, within her arms, pressed against her chest, his legs tangled with hers, was all the strength she needed. She’d been a gypsy for too long, never putting down roots, always ready to move on with Joey to somewhere better. Held within Jonathan’s arms, she was home.

  She kissed him, softly at first, just wanting to show him how she felt and how much confidence he’d given her tonight. As she became aware of the sensation of her breasts pressed against his chest and his hardening cock touching her lower abdome
n, she deepened the kiss, tracing the seam of his lips with the tip of her tongue until he granted her access.

  He let her take the lead, patiently waiting as she explored his mouth, the ridges along the roof of his mouth, and the slick, bumpy length of his tongue. It was like kissing him for the first time all over again. She tilted her head to the right so their mouths fit more perfectly together, and he nuzzled the tip of her nose with his own.

  Unable to resist his curls any longer, she threaded her fingers through his hair and he moaned, his cock bobbing once against her stomach. Sliding a hand down his neck, chest, and over his firm abs, she gripped his cock and stroked him, feeling his hips pulse toward hers with her hand’s every caress.

  Morgan scooted up higher on the mattress, bringing her pussy even with his dick, then guided it to her moist heat. He moaned into her mouth again, rolled her onto her back, and took one of her nipples into his mouth. The rhythmic suction had her legs separating and wrapping around him, her hips arching, sliding the rounded head of his dick over her pussy entrance repeatedly until they were both moaning. Bracing himself on his forearms and elbows, he let her grasp his cock and guide him into her.

  He entered her slowly, never breaking eye contact with her in the room’s semi-darkness. She wanted to believe she knew what made his eyes go soft, but wouldn’t let herself really guess. He’d tell her how he felt when he was ready.

  Then he was stroking the insides of her pussy, reclaiming her from the inside out. The climax built slowly within her, like a storm rolling in, until it broke over her and left her gasping wordlessly over and over. His orgasm followed closely behind hers, and she could have sworn she heard him gasp “I love you” in her ear.

  He rolled to the side, brought her with him, continuing to hold her close as their breathing slowed. Just before she fell asleep, she heard him whisper again against her temple that he loved her. A happy tear slipped out of her eye, and she gave herself over to her exhaustion.

  The next eight days seemed to move too fast for Morgan. She talked to Joey and her mother every day, but didn’t return to her apartment except to change clothes and pick up her laptop. She and Jonathan played paper-rock-scissors for first use of the Internet each day, since he wanted minute by minute updates from his vampire network tech, and she had numerous emails and online marketing events to take care of with the release of her latest romance Ebook. Her editor wanted to know when she’d be starting a new romance, but she refused to set a deadline. She didn’t know what was going to happen with the trap for Kilo, and didn’t want to make any promises in case…well, just in case.

  Then the designated night was upon them, and Morgan was so nervous she couldn’t think straight. She wanted to beg Jonathan not to be involved, but since Kilo had killed his sister, she didn’t feel she had the right to ask such a thing. And he probably wouldn’t have stayed out of it anyway. Jonathan had quite a stubborn streak when he put his mind to something.

  She didn’t know who had taken care of the steel net. Maybe Steven? She only knew how nervous she was as she slipped her red sequin encrusted mask with its exotic pheasant feathers over her face at the door of the saloon, adjusted her purple satin corset one last time, and prepared for the customers to come.

  Within an hour, the bar was more packed with customers than any night she’d worked there, the room quickly filling with a variety of the crazy, exotic, regal, and wild in a dizzying array of sequins, glitter, feathers, rhinestones, and face paint. And underneath it all ran a tiny thread of something dark. Something seductively malicious.

  “Brianna,” Morgan whispered halfway through the evening. “I…”

  The redhead nodded, her crimson lips pressed hard together. “I know. I feel him, too. He’s here. Listen, he can read minds. So you’ve got to focus on something else.”

  “Like what?” Morgan asked, her voice rising in fear.

  “Think about the vampire dance routine we came up with. And get ready. After this next performance, we’ll go outside to…practice the routine.”

  Morgan stared at her employer and newfound friend, saw a matching fear in the woman’s blue eyes, and nodded.

  She watched Brianna casually talk to all the MDGs, including the still-innocent Bianca and Emily. Every lady adjusted her jewel toned bustier, nodded, then climbed onto the bar and hit their poses.

  As the music began to the loud wolf whistles and shouts, Morgan couldn’t stop herself from anxiously scanning the crowd, looking for the source of her anxiety. She found Jonathan’s face grimly smiling up at her. But no sign of anyone who resembled Kilo.

  All too soon, their routine was over. The MDGs climbed down from the stage, some of them making a show of fanning themselves in the heated room. One by one, they trickled out to the alleyway, allowing the two backup bartenders hired for the occasion to temporarily handle the crowd’s drink orders.

  “Okay, ladies, good performance,” Brianna said once they were all gathered in the alleyway, which for the first time ever had been cleared of most of the crates and boxes which usually lined it. Morgan noticed that the grill was fired up and running, though, sending up a steady stream of smoke from its small chimney pipe. And she couldn’t help but notice the few remaining crates were all flipped open side down, as if they might be hiding things underneath. The trap appeared to be set.

  “We need to do a quick run through of the vamp number.” Brianna’s voice was very low, almost a whisper as the women circled around her. “So ladies, take your positions, and just like when onstage, no matter what—don’t stop dancing.”

  They took their beginning poses, the two innocents in the middle with the others crouched in a circle around them. Bianca and Emily had been told that they would be portraying two innocents being surrounded on top of the bar by the rest of the MDGs who would pretend to be vampires. Brianna’s instructions had specified that they were to look petrified. But perhaps Brianna also used a little mind charm to add to their practiced performance, because Morgan thought they truly looked terrified, their breaths heaving from their chests in quick, shallow spurts as they clutched each other.

  Morgan was one of the MDGs approaching from the front side of the innocents. She put every ounce of thought into the act, pretending Bianca and Emily were evil women she was looking forward to dispatching from this world with her fangs. Maybe she pretended a little too much, though; she was horrified to feel a real set of fangs sliding down out of her gums. Fangs she hadn’t even been aware of having.

  A glance around at the other vamps showed that they too had their fangs extended, which was probably why Bianca and Emily suddenly began whimpering for real.

  Morgan wanted to call a halt to the entire charade and damn the consequences. But then she remembered her fate would be in store for these innocent women if the vamps didn’t continue to lay their trap. So she focused on the pulsing veins in their innocent necks, and could swear she heard the increased surge of blood within their veins.

  “Did you forget to invite me to the party?” Kilo hissed, suddenly materializing behind them.

  Morgan fought to remain calm as every cell in her body screamed at her to run. She couldn’t have run if she’d tried, though. Her feet felt glued to the spot, and her arms wouldn’t move no matter how much her mind lectured them. He must have been using his older, better honed vampire skills on her.

  He tossed his head, making his greasy black strands of hair flop over his forehead.

  “Hello, my pretty Morgan.” He drew close to her and licked his fangs. “Mm, I can still taste your blood. Has it only been a week since we danced?”

  Then he turned to each woman, drawing close, whispering something that made each either blanch or blush. Even Brianna didn’t seem immune to his charm, although Morgan could see her mental struggle in the widening of her eyes.

  How could they possibly win? They had all been fools, and they would all pay, innocent and vamp alike.

  Suddenly the bar’s exit door slammed open, and Steven and
Jonathan ran through it carrying what looked like a stiff coil of cable. They spread out to either side of Kilo, attracting his attention. As soon as he began hissing and spitting at them, Morgan found she was free of his paralyzing hold on her mind and body.

  Remembering her part, she turned to the barbecue pit behind her, threw open the lid, and reached inside for the handle protruding from the grate. When she pulled it out, a long burning rag trailed out after it. Simultaneously scared and determined, she brandished the stick and burning rag strip like a whip, carefully snapping it through the air to lick at Kilo. He turned to face her, stalking forward with a furious, fang baring growl.

  Dear lord, help me, Morgan prayed.

  “Stupid girl, you are one of the damned,” Kilo hissed. “God no longer hears your prayers.”

  Behind Kilo, Brianna threw a crate aside, picked up a plastic bottle with a red lid, and squirted a long stream of something foul smelling all over Kilo.

  He turned, apparently forgetting Morgan and her fiery whip. She popped it at him again, and the lit end touched him, setting him ablaze.

  Kilo screeched a monstrous howl and lifted into the air in an attempt to fly to safety, but Jonathan and Steven threw the steel cable net over him.

  “Grab the ends,” Jonathan yelled.

  Each MDG vamp grabbed the end of a steel cable and held on for dear life. It was like trying to keep a fully inflated hot air balloon from taking off. Each woman sat on the ground in an effort to keep Kilo within reach.

  “This is for my sister, Charlotte,” Jonathan yelled at the trapped screeching form. He lifted a machete high over his head and stepped dangerously close to the blazing vampire.

  Morgan opened her mouth, afraid he was too close. Then before she could say anything, Jonathan brought the machete down in an arch and cut off Kilo’s burning head.

  Instantly the flames around Kilo’s dead form died down. His body turned a smoldering red, then black, and the fire disappeared. His body crumbled to pieces in a pile on the smooth cement like a charred log.