Wasn’t that straightforward and to the point? I always admired that in people, so why was it freaking me out right now? Oh maybe because he sort of just said the “L” word. My defenses shot up; invisible walls came crashing down. I tried to pull my hand away but his grip got even tighter. I knew I could break it, but I still didn’t want to hurt him, fragile little human, amazingly good-looking human, but I wanted him in one piece. I wasn’t a monster, didn’t ever want to act like one. He’d helped me get away from Bronx. He was my knight in shining armor. Surely that merited him a crazy pass right now. “So that’s why you helped me?” I asked, stupid question. Sometimes you do ask them.
He nodded, slowly. “I guess you could say that I fell in love with you through my premonitions. I can’t control what I see. For three months all I saw was you, every night, everyday. After the first few weeks of watching you, I began to develop feelings for you. But I was afraid. You would definitely be a vampire by the time I found you, and I wasn’t even sure how I could help you. I just knew I needed to try. I needed to find you and then we could figure things out from there. I couldn’t just leave you trapped with him.” His answer sank us further into that dangerous emotional quicksand. I was slipping down with him. Just great.
“I really appreciate you helping me,” I said. “I really do.” He looked at me expectantly, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him what he wanted to hear. Everything was too new, happening so fast I couldn’t feel my feet on the ground. “Tyler, I do feel things right now, but let’s face it, we both just had one hell of a night. My animal instincts are much greater than yours. You are attractive; how could I not think that? But I just don’t think we should get distracted right now. I’m already asking too much of you. You shouldn’t still be putting yourself in such a dangerous position.”
“I can’t help you escape and then dump you off. I have feelings for you. Feelings that have grown over the past three months. I want to help you. I need to help you, and I really want to be close to you. You’re intriguing to me. There’s so much I want to know about you. It’s crazy, but I would never even know you’re a vampire without having seen it in my premonition. You don’t act like the other ones I helped. You seem so human. Just like another person.” A broad smile stretched across his face showing sparkling white teeth—just teeth, no fangs. He’s human. I’m a vampire. Did that even matter?
“You’ve had three months to get to know me, but I’ve only had one night of knowing you.” Tears welled up in my eyes; a massive lump formed in my throat. I swallowed, fighting the tears. They won, spilling out down my cheeks. Just great. Real badass vampire, that’s me.
Tyler let go of my hand and wiped my tears with his thumb—gentle, caressing, soft, warm, and alive. Damn it! He looked like he couldn’t believe vampires actually cried, like he didn’t think it was even possible. It shouldn’t be, it’s such a baby thing to do. Not a powerful vampire thing to do. My head fell onto his shoulder. I didn’t even feel the movement. I was just there, sobbing against him.
He rubbed my back with both hands, up and down, slow and gentle. “Shhh, it’s okay,” he breathed, warm air tickling through my hair. “I promise it’s gonna be okay.” His voice confident, reassuring, sexy.
“Wh-what el-else ha-have you se-een?” I sniffled. It was so hard to get the words out.
Tyler kept rubbing my back, calming me down a little. “Based on my premonitions, we stay here for a little while. I’m assuming you find food since you’re smiling in a lot of those premonitions. I haven’t seen anything else yet. I haven’t seen anything new since I met you in person. Everything you saw I’ve already seen. I promise to tell you the second I get another one.”
I lifted my head up and looked at him. His hands cupped my face. I could feel the pulse in his palms, tapping against my cheeks. I softly placed my fingers on top of his. Through the tears, which thankfully had started to slow, I said, “I miss my life. I hate this. I hate what I am. It’s not like I had that much going on when I was human, but I’d take that over this any day. I’m a freaking monster. How can you have feelings for me? You’d never have a normal life with me.”
“I don’t have a normal life anyway. I haven’t been close to anyone in years. Helping people requires me to move around a lot. I’ve been living here for a couple months on a month-to-month lease. Then I decided to help you and headed to Florida.”
“Wait, this is your place? You shouldn’t have brought me where you live. What if, what if Bronx finds us? You’ll have to move...”
Tyler put his index finger on my mouth, hushing me.
“Abby, don’t you listen? I’m with you now. I’m a hundred percent committed to helping you. If we need to leave, we leave together.”
That’s when I knew I had to get up. He was going to kiss me if I didn’t, and I just couldn’t let that happen. Not yet. It was just too soon and I still had questions. Bronx was out there looking for me. I started to get up, to move away from him, but he grabbed my arm, pulling me back down beside him. I knew I was stronger than him. I knew I could easily get away, but I didn’t want to hurt him, even though he was now starting to cross a blatant line—one I’d just drawn in the sand. Sand. Was that solid enough not to cross?
His face inched closer, steady and slow, eager eyes on me. My body sunk deeper into the cushions, the leather squeaking and groaning. I swallowed hard, lumps still stuck in my throat. Tingles shot up my spine, cold and prickly along the back of my neck. The cold sensations morphed into heat and waves of fire flushed my face. Could I be blushing? Did vampires blush? My stomach was doing somersaults with heavy weights. I wanted Tyler—to kiss him, hold him, feel close and safe: such a human thing to feel. Maybe vampires really are a lot like people. I scooted closer. He did too. My attraction for him reached a level I’d never felt before. I bit my bottom lip, instantly tasted blood. It jolted me out of the moment. I can’t do this! Get away from him now!
I jumped up in a flash of movement. The sofa half-swallowed him as I pushed away. He gasped, eyes wide with fear. Then I was across the room, staring at the fireplace, wishing I could crawl in there with that unburned log.
“Abby,” he called out. “Abby, I’m sorry.”
I didn’t look back; I couldn’t. The lust was still there, clinging to my insides like superglue. “Don’t do that again.” I said each word slowly, stretching them out. “I could’ve hurt you.” Oh my God, did I hurt him? I turned around fast, finding him on the sofa. He was frowning, but he didn’t look hurt. But the next time he might get hurt. Next time? No way! There couldn’t be a next time. I turned back around, buried my face in my hands, and cried.
Moments later, two strong arms came up from behind and wrapped around me. I let out a deep, long sigh, turned around, and pressed my face against his chest. It was soft, warm, his heart beating fast, alive. It felt so good to be close to him, inside his arms. He gave me a tight squeeze. I reached my arms around his waist, pulling closer into him. My body relaxed. A calming wave washed over my inner tension. His chest moved as he breathed. It felt like sitting in a rocking chair. A short time ago I’d wanted to be far away from him, but now I couldn’t get close enough. I finally stopped crying, but I wasn’t ready to let him go. So we stood there, holding each other for what seemed like an eternity.
“I know this is a lot for you to take in,” he said, voice soft, warm breath tickling my ear. “But please know I’m here to help you. I’m here for you. You can trust me.”
I thought about what he’d said for a minute. I was very thankful that he was helping me. And that he was here with me so I wouldn’t be alone. But so much was happening so fast. I needed some time to collect my thoughts and figure things out. “You really need to get some sleep. I’ll keep an eye on things while you do. You want me to trust you, but you also need to trust me.”
His grip loosened, and I let go of him. He took a few steps back toward the sofa. “You’re right. I’ll try. Will you please lie with me for a few minutes? Please?�
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“You’re not going to give up, are you?” I rolled my eyes, turned my attention back to the lonely log.
“No, I won’t. But I promise to respect your space. I won’t try to kiss you again.”
“Ever again!” I exclaimed through gritted teeth. “Do you even realize what happened to me tonight? Back at Pulse?” I swung around to glare at him.
He nodded, the features hardened on his face. “Yes. I saw the whole thing before it ever happened. That guy’s a jerk. He would’ve tried again. He would’ve succeeded.” He sat down, patting the empty cushion beside him. I’m not sure why, but I listened to his invitation, sitting down right beside him. Maybe I still needed to feel close, safe. Maybe vampires do get lonely, just like Bronx said. I, on the other hand, had zero intention of turning Tyler into one of my kind for my own selfish reasons.
We sat in silence for a minute, and then he slowly laid his head on one of the cream-colored decorative pillows propped against the armrest of the sofa. I stood up, giving him room to stretch out his legs and get comfortable. He scooted over, making just enough room for me to squeeze in beside him. The sofa was big enough for both of us to lie next to each other as long as we were spooning. I nestled in behind him and draped my arm over his waist. This time, in the instant we connected, I was in another one of his visions.
Darkness danced with tiny flames as the room materialized in front of me. There were two red leather loveseats set adjacent to each other, dark blue walls, and there was a human man sitting directly across from me. I was in a back room at a donor club. A glass filled with a clear liquid sat on top of a dark wooden table positioned between the sofas. The floor was jet black and textured, perhaps an upgraded carpet. It felt like it had a thick, springy pile underneath. My boot squished further into it as I crossed my left leg over my right.
The human looked up at me and asked, “I don’t mean to be rude, but aren’t you gonna bite me?”
I was completely famished. Why hadn’t I bitten into this donor yet? Getting up from the loveseat, I grabbed my drink and walked over to the man. “Sorry, I must’ve been lost in thought. I’m Abby Tate.” My hand reached out for his, but he didn’t return my friendly gesture. He sat there staring at me as if I needed to get on with things. “Well can you at least tell me what your name is?” I demanded. Zero response; he just stared at me impatiently. By this time my need to eat had extended well beyond my ability to control it any longer. A meet and greet could easily be skipped.
This human obviously had nothing else to say to me. Remorse toyed with my emotions as I grabbed his head. Oh well, it’s not my fault he doesn’t want to talk. He didn’t fight me but he also didn’t help me. I pulled him closer, and while doing so I leaned over him. His body was limp. No anticipation of my bite, no increased heart beat, nothing. My fangs located the vein in his neck and sunk into it. The blood from this inexpressive donor still quenched my thirst. He wasn’t as sweet as Lily, but his blood was making me feel better by the second.
I finished quickly, then laid the donor on his side. Tyler was out in the club waiting for me. I needed to get back to him and get out of here altogether. I couldn’t risk someone that knew Bronx seeing me. Surely they’d turn me over to him without thinking twice. I headed out of the VIP room and down a narrow hallway. Two security guards blocked my way into the main part of the club. They almost looked like twins—short, but still taller than me, and both had stocky builds. They sported shaved heads and the typical black-on-black attire.
“You’re going to need to wait a minute, Blondie,” one of the guards with a New York accent threatened.
“What do you mean?” Hoping that confidence was all that I exuded in my somewhat shaky voice.
The other security guard with a similar accent chimed in, “You heard him. You need to wait here for a minute.”
There was no way I was getting around these two guards that appeared to be former UFC fighters. Old mottled and gray scars decorated their faces from injuries prior to being transformed into vampires. For whatever reason, you brought any old battle scars with you in your new vampire life. Anything on the exterior of the body—even tattoos. New injuries, however, would heal within seconds of infliction without any scarring at all. Any kind of internal issues would also mend, whether old or newly inflicted.
Desperate to understand what was going on, I demanded, “I think you need to tell me what the hell is going on here!”
The guard that spoke first pushed me back against the wall. “I think you need to shut the hell up!”
That movement was all I needed to see past these two morons and into the main area of the club. Tyler was sitting at the bar on the far side of the vast room. He sipped nervously at whatever he was drinking. In a flash the bartender, a vampire, jumped over the bar and grabbed Tyler around the waist and threw him to the ground, knocking two barstools over. I could hear a frantic cry escape Tyler’s mouth as he hit the hard concrete floor. He demanded to know what was going on but no answers were given to him either. As I listened, anger coursed through me.
The bartender began securing Tyler’s hands behind his back with some kind of rope. The other people in the club just stared. No one got involved. No one tried to help.
I needed to help Tyler! Rage unlike anything I’d ever felt rushed through my veins. My chest was tight, my throat constricted. My body seemed to harden like drying clay. I shrugged to loosen my shoulders, rotated my neck until it popped. But the tension was so tight nothing could help ease it. Wait for it, I thought. Don’t act on impulse. Wait for an opportunity. There’s always an opportunity. I concentrated as hard as I could on these two idiot security guards. I was in. I could feel their minds. See their next moves. They wanted to hurt us, kill us, but I couldn’t tell if Bronx was involved, or how they knew Tyler and I were together. But they knew and they meant us harm.
The second guard turned around, watching all the drama unfolding on the other side of the bar. Quickly, I grabbed the first guard’s shoulders, his hands still pushing my back against the wall, and squeezed as hard as I could. My fingers pressed into his skin deep into his muscles. He growled, fangs showing, eyes glaring at me. I jerked him to the side and then thrust him backwards. He flew away, gasping, eyes widened in surprise. He hit the ground hard and stayed down. I knew that wouldn’t last long, that he would heal quickly and come after me. But I took him down. Holy crap! I took him down!
Then his twin sidekick rushed me, but I was faster and dodged him completely. He charged and passed me, like a speeding bullet. His head slammed into the wall, making a loud crushing sound, and blood splattered everywhere. Then he fell to the ground slowly, leaving a crimson trail behind.
Guard number one jumped up, snarling violently, spittle shooting through his teeth, and lunged at me. I flashed to the side, barely missing him, and his clothes brushed my skin as he soared past. He smacked the wall. Blood sprinkled about—a little less than the other guard—and then he joined his unconscious buddy on the floor.
Holy crap! I just knocked both security guards out! I didn’t have long though. They’d be up and after me soon.
I flashed through the club to where Tyler was. Since everyone’s attention was on Tyler and the bartender, no one had noticed my fight on the other side of the bar. Everyone loves watching a good fight—I couldn’t believe they’d missed mine. Oh well, it’s best they did miss it. I balled my right hand tight, rock hard, and then swung it at the bartender’s face. It collided with his cheekbone, crunching and breaking bone, and he flew back a few feet. He crashed to the floor and stayed there. He was out—for now. I sighed deeply and shook my head. I’d just taken out three vampires back to back. That should be impossible, shouldn’t it? These vampires weren’t young like me. There was no way I’d just kicked their butts. But I had. I swallowed hard, smiling.
In the back of the club, there was movement to one side. The twin security guards were standing up, glaring at me and ready to charge. I grabbed Tyler, his hands still b
ound behind his back, and threw him over my shoulder. Faster than a flash of lightning, I was out of the club, running far, far away.
The computer beeped. I was out of that vision, lying on the sofa next to Tyler. Sleep had finally overpowered him. I pulled my arm away and sat up quick. He didn’t move. He was out cold. I shook my head. That vision. When would that happen? I couldn’t let that happen. Too dangerous—anything could’ve gone wrong. And then everything would be worse, much worse.
I reached forward, fetching the laptop. I brushed my finger across the mouse pad, relieving the beach scene screen saver from its duty. There was a blank gray screen with a few small icons along the bottom. One of them was a mailbox. I clicked it twice and saw an e-mail address, [email protected], with the subject line, Here is the info you requested. Highlighting that subject line, I then clicked open and a message materialized:
Abby,
You’ll need to download the attachment and that
should provide you with what you need. I’m still
really worried about you and please don’t do anything
stupid! I mean anything ELSE stupid! Bronx called
here again wanting to know if any of us heard from you.
Adam is all over me, convinced I’m hiding something.
I’ll do my best to cover for you.
Lily
Thank you, Lily! The file download didn’t take long. It alerted me that it was done and I clicked “open” to view it. It was a list of every blood donor club in the entire US. I quickly skimmed over it. There were six of them in Georgia. Four of the six were within an hour’s driving distance. I wished Tyler’s vision would have given me some kind of indication what club we were in. That one would be avoided at all costs.
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