I blinked a few times, trying to process what I’d just seen. I’d met quite a few paranormal beings since the whole coming out party over a year ago, but never actually had I encountered a vampire before. What I knew of the race was limited, and the dangerous creature that had been described to me seemed a bit far removed from the hunky guy that sat next to me in a suit, ready to take me to a dance. Seriously, my life is way weird sometimes.
“Maybe this was a mistake.” Liam ran a hand through his already unruly black hair in frustration.
I took a really deep breath. What’s the big deal? So Liam was a paranormal, so what? It might make things easier for us, in the long run. But I did want to eventually find out why he deemed it necessary to hide what he was. I laid a hand on his shoulder, my body still all tingly from his superb kiss. “Don’t we have a dance to go to?”
He arched a perfect black brow. “You sure?”
I nodded, a big smile on my face as he started the car and pulled away from the curb.
I was sure. Better than sure, actually. In fact, I was absolutely, positively, one hundred percent on my way to falling head over heels in love.
My grin spread wider across my lips as I pondered what kissing Liam with his fangs out might be like.
Hot damn, I’d snagged me my own hunky vampire! Bella Swan, eat your heart out!
Vampires Don’t Dance
Hell House Series Book Three
By Christle Gray
Dedication:
To my father, Bill, who also doesn’t dance. Love you, Dad.
Acknowledgements:
ore hugs and thanks to my editor, Darla Grant. You somehow “get” the way my brain operates and I am truly grateful with how hard you work to make me look good.
And to my friends and family, your steady support is priceless. I love you all.
Chapter One
Seriously, I just can’t seem to catch a freaking break. My life is about as far from ordinary as you can get, which some might find interesting, but I find pretty damn irritating, to say the least. I mean, living as a fairy banished to the Mortal Realm made me enough of a freak, but add to that a penchant for my powers to go haywire when I get too emotional, and things could get downright dangerous. Sometimes people even got hurt. Christmas trees, too. Don’t ask.
But at least I’d found a place to call home with a motley crew that chose to claim me as family. Hellsner Halfway House for Troubled Paranormal Teens was the first and best place established to help orphans after the paranormal community made itself known to the mortal world. Mortal kids weren’t the only ones with growing pains, and our problems were definitely what you’d classify as “special needs.” I suppose I was lucky to have finally ended up there. Friends with powers of their own had come in handy when my Mother popped in for a surprise visit recently, resulting in the major butt-kicking of the over-muscled Fae High Guards that decided to tag along after her. Don’t mess with me, my friends, or my family, is all I can say about that.
Now, I was making my mortal high school debut as the date of one totally hot boy who’d just laid a whopper of a secret on me while we drove to the school dance in his dad’s car. Said secret was the reason why I needed a second to gather my thoughts. That, and to keep from throwing up on my shoes.
Butterflies were having one heck of a dance in my stomach when Liam pulled the car into a space in the school parking lot. I was still reeling from what I’d just found out, my eyes bugging out of their sockets as I stared at my date like an utter idiot. Even my tongue seemed to have glued itself to the roof of my mouth.
Liam Crawford was a vampire.
That fact should have probably deterred me from continuing this date or filled me with some kind of apprehension. But instead, little ripples of excitement danced up and down my spine.
Yep. I’m completely insane.
Zoe wasn’t going to freaking believe this little development. In fact, all of the residents at Hellsner House would think I’d lost my mind. Hell House, as we paranormal orphans preferred to call it, already had enough craziness without adding a vampire to the equation. Danielle, the director and mortal “mom” of our ragtag family, might even go ballistic and forbid me to see Liam at all. That meant I’d have to swear my zombie friend, Zoe, to secrecy upon fear of me turning her into a snake or something. Not that I’d ever really do that, mind you. Trans-figural magic was hard, and my powers were temperamental at best. Besides, I kind of liked being able to hang out with Zoe, even if she was technically one of the walking dead. At least she didn’t lumber around trying to eat brains.
As my internal thoughts rambled on and on, Liam turned off the car’s engine and fell back against the supple black leather of the seat. His Dad had let us use this cherry-red Mustang convertible for our first date. The car was a beauty. Honored that Liam thought I was worth such special treatment, a warm glow filled my body and I found it hard to sit still. I was also truly geeked to be able to arrive at my first dance in style. I hoped all the popular girls were extremely jealous. Yeah, I have moments of pure selfishness. Sue me.
Liam cast me a sideways glance as a nervous smile turned up the corners of his mouth. My insides went all gooey instantly. Lord and Lady, but he was just…yummy. “Looks like we’re here.”
I smiled back, my excitement changing to nervousness as I stared through the windshield at the couples dressed in all their finery parading into the school gymnasium. The tip of my tongue touched the end of the black stud in my lip. Typically, I wore a small silver ring. But I had traded that piece of jewelry for something a bit less obvious. I swallowed hard against a sudden lump in my throat. “Uh-huh.”
Liam opened the door and climbed from the car. Crossing to my side, he swung the car door wide and helped me to my feet. I teetered for a moment as I got my bearings in my new, very expensive heels. Shoes were my kryptonite, driving all reason from my brain with a good dose of must have. These shiny red babies had cost me a three-week advance on my allowance. So totally worth it, especially since they matched my red and black strapless dress perfectly. Zoe had even tucked some red streaked pieces of hair into my mass of black tresses as she piled the strands on top of my head. Liam’s slick outfit was icing on our couple’s cake, with his tailored black slacks, red silk shirt, and black tie. His ever-present black leather jacket completed the ensemble, and made my “bad boy” radar short out with glee. The downside to my magical shoes was that they added so many inches to my height, I had to pay more attention to the act of just walking. The last thing I needed was to fall flat on my butt in front of the entire school.
My hand firmly clasped within Liam’s, I couldn’t help but let my mind wander back to the kiss we’d shared earlier. My first kiss! It almost felt like a dream, but as my face heated from recalling how his lips softly rested against mine, reality made its presence truly known. A tiny pang of regret at not being able to share this moment with my mother twisted sharply inside me, but I pushed it away with a deep breath. After all, my mother and I had dealt with our problems, and I was determined to move on with my life, despite any questions that still needed answered about my past. Time and place, Sora. And now, I was definitely more interested in the hottie holding my hand.
Liam led me toward the entrance, through the grassy courtyard of the school grounds, which were dotted with light posts and picnic tables. Music wafted out of the gymnasium doors as couples entered the building. I concentrated hard on not tripping as my spiky heels dug into the spongy earth. One foot in front of the other, isn’t that how it goes? Each step ramped up my nervousness quotient exponentially, questions bombarding my brain like a pellet gun.
What if Liam’s friends didn’t like me? Had Liam even told them I wasn’t a mortal? What if that made everyone act weird around me? What if I did something stupid?
Caring what other people thought was a foreign concept to me. I marched to the beat of my own drummer. Did what I wanted. Said what I thought. Part of that fact was why I had such a difficult t
ime fitting in with my own people. Sure didn’t help my defense when I was banished from the Hidden Realm of the Fae, let me tell you. So why the sudden acknowledgement of others?
I answered my own question with a glance at the guy at my side. I cared about Liam. A lot. And if I wanted to be a part of his life, I had to make sure I found a place to fit in. I couldn’t do that if I didn’t have all the information I needed.
All the concerns churning in my gut threatened to get the best of me. I needed a second to gear up for this. After all, Liam had laid a big one on me by sharing his vampire secret. I had a butt-load of things to process, which overwhelmed me to the point where my chest tightened and I found it difficult to breathe.
I pulled at Liam’s arm and guided him over to a picnic table. After fighting with the full skirt of my dress for a few minutes, I managed to arrange myself on the bench seat, my clutch bag beside me. The toes I’d crammed into my fabulous shoes immediately sighed with relief. Worth the pain, though—I admired the way the moonlight mirrored in the red glossy surface.
I glanced up to find Liam’s dark eyes filled with questions. “Have you changed your mind about the dance?”
I shook my head. “No. I just need a minute.”
Liam ran his hand through his black hair, messing it up. Why was it that guys could do that and end up looking sexier? If I did that, it usually made me look deranged. So not fair. “I shouldn’t have told you my secret.”
His voice yanked me out of my internal dialog. Now he thought I was freaking out over him being a vampire. I had a bad habit of keeping silent around him, which only served to give the guy the wrong idea. Like when he’d asked me to this dance, I had clammed up and lost all ability to speak. Clearing up that misunderstanding was a conversation I could have done without.
I grabbed his hand and tugged him into the seat across from me. “It’s not that. I just know that once we go inside, there won’t be much time for us to talk, and I think that after what you told me in the car, we need to do that.”
He arched a dark eyebrow in question. “First date, and I’ve already gotten the ‘we need to talk’ speech? This doesn’t bode well.”
Though he made a joke, I could still hear the apprehension in his voice. I took a deep breath, and just couldn’t help but add a little eye-roll. “Ha ha. It’s just…well…” I struggled to find my words. Since I found it difficult to express myself around Liam, I didn’t want to say the wrong thing. “I want to get a few things clear so I don’t embarrass you or myself in front of your friends.”
He squeezed my hand reassuringly. “Sora, you could never embarrass me. My friends will love you as much as I do.”
I opened my mouth to reply, then snapped it shut. Lord and Lady! Did he say what I think he just said? He couldn’t have meant it that way. But logic did not stop my heart from nearly leaping from my chest with joy. Calm down, girl. “Oh yeah, how about if I get mad and blow something up?”
He made a face at me. “Are you planning to blow something up?”
“No,” I announced firmly, arching a brow, “but you know how weird things tend to happen around me. And you also know that my brain-mouth-interface doesn’t always function properly, so what if I make a joke about your fangs or something else vampire-ey?”
His expression sobered. “Well, that could be problematic. My friends know about you but not about me.”
Well, that was one mystery solved. He had let his friends in on my fairy status, at least. But keeping the fact that he had been turned into a “creature of the night” secret, seemed like a big thing. Not that I could really blame him. Paranormals weren’t allowed to attend school with mortals openly. Something about us being too dangerous. Whatever. Guns and gangs were more deadly than any spell I might screw up.
Still, I figured that he’d have told at least one of his friends. He told you, stupid, remember? Silence settled between us as a light breeze rustled the trees and tossed my hair around. I batted one red-streaked strand away from my cheek. “Why haven’t you told your friends you’re a vampire?”
I shivered as I waited for him to answer. The night was cool, and my shoulders were bare, and now dotted with goose pimples. I probably could have picked a warmer location for our chat. That, and the plastic seat of the picnic table was also hard as rock under my backside. “If I said that the subject never came up, would you let it go?”
I’d spent hours perfecting the long glare I turned on him just then. It was my signature move. “That’s hardly fair. You know all about my banishment and my life at Hell House. I think I deserve at least a little reciprocation, here.” Liam had been privy to my magical mishaps at Hell House since his father was often called in to help clean up the messes. His dad owned Crawford’s Construction.
He sighed and dropped my hand. “Fine. What do you want to know?”
So, he was giving me carte blanche to ask what I wanted, eh? Might as well start from the beginning. “How long have you been a vampire?”
Liam stood up and thrust his hands into the pockets of his nicely snug black pants. Even in the dark, I could admire his finer attributes with ease. I sighed a little, forcing my gaze away so I could concentrate on what he was saying. “Not long. My dad and I went on a cruise last summer to Italy. My mom had died a few months before. The trip was supposed to be a way for Dad and me to reconnect. Her death had caused a large rift between us.”
My heart broke for Liam at his loss of a parent. A loss I was all too familiar with, having lost my father not long before my banishment from the Hidden Realm of the Fae. The High Council of Elders and my father hadn’t ever been on what you could call “good” terms. Though his death was considered and accident, I had my own suspicions. Either way, losing a parent sucked. “I’m sorry about your mom.” I dropped my head and peered up at him shyly, my voice small and quiet in the night air.
Liam managed a small smile and shrugged. “Thanks. I think she would have liked you.”
That one statement touched me, making me yearn for that kind of relationship with my own mother. The death of my father had stolen the one person from my life that I could count on without fault, who made me feel special for just being myself. At the same time, I was battling nostalgia, I wanted to grab Liam and kiss all his wits away, letting him see how amazing he made me feel. But, I compelled myself to remain seated so he could continue his story. “What happened on the cruise?”
His smile transformed into a grimace. “The ship docked in Venice for a day. Dad and I started out spending time together, but as one argument followed another, we went our separate ways. I found a few locals to hang with, and before I knew it, the day had passed and it was time to leave. I got lost on my way back to the ship and ended up in an unfamiliar part of the city. And that’s when I was attacked.”
The hairs on the back of my neck electrified as a wave of uneasiness slithered through me. I had to know, yet didn’t want to know the rest of his story at the same time. I kept my mouth firmly shut, regardless.
Liam kicked at the leg of the picnic table with his shoe, deliberately not meeting my gaze. “I don’t remember a lot about the attack itself, just the fact that there was an intense amount of pain and a descending wave of blackness that I couldn’t break free of. It was as if every atom in my body was trying to break apart and shatter me into a zillion pieces.”
A shudder rippled through me as I pictured Liam in such pain, fighting for his life. “How did you figure out what really happened to you?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, staring off into the night sky. It must be easier for him to talk without looking me in the eye. I could relate, having had to bare my soul about my own past to Zoe and Danielle just days before. My mother had come to the mortal realm bearing an offer from the Council of Elders to rescind my banishment, forcing me to come to terms with the sordid details. And share them with my Hell House family. Not exactly my idea of a fun time. “The paranormal community hadn’t been out in the open very long, but the doctor
at the hospital where I was taken luckily had experience with vampire attacks before. He explained everything to my dad and got me through it. When we came back home, it was dad’s idea to keep my new status as a vampire a secret. Can’t say I blame him, really.”
He managed to meet my gaze, then, and the hurt inside the brown depths of his eyes was as fathomless as the deepest cave. Again, having a parent you thought was ashamed of you—I could relate. Been there, done that. Got the t-shirt and the battle scars to prove it. “But obviously, your lives changed after this happened. I mean, what did you tell your friends? Didn’t they notice you were different?”
“It’s not as difficult as you might think.”
I chewed on that statement for a beat or two. I had absolutely no prior experience with vampires. Hell, I didn’t even know they actually existed before my banishment to the mortal realm. But from what information I’d managed to gather on my own, I didn’t see how that vital tidbit could be kept a secret. “Don’t you have to glamour humans and drink their blood? And stay out of direct sunlight? Not to mention needing to steer clear of churches.”
I thought my observations were pretty spot on, but Liam’s sudden burst of laughter proved me wrong. “You’ve watched too many movies, Sora. Being a vampire isn’t like that at all.”
“Then what’s it like?”
Liam placed his hands flat on the table in front of me and leaned forward until he was mere inches from my face. “It’s not magical and mystical as much as it’s medical. There’s a protein in vampire blood that boosts the body’s immune system and keeps it working at peak performance—extra sensitive hearing, fast healing, pronounced strength. Since the cells are working overtime, they need replaced more often than normal. So, extra blood is needed.”
Hell House Books 1-3: The First Three Hell House Novellas in One Box Set Page 9