Crimson Rush A Vampire Romance (Crimson Book 1)

by Lorraine Kennedy

  “Why do you say that? Is it because we kill?”

  I nodded.

  “Don’t humans kill to stay alive?”

  “Yes, but we don’t kill and feed on other humans.” I pointed out.

  “We don’t feed on other vampires. Understand darling … we are something more than human once turned. But you are right about one thing … it is not the same power that gives us life.”

  “Is it an evil power?” I asked with a shudder.

  “I guess that would depend on how you look at it, but to get back to what you want to know. A vampire does have some limitations. We are allergic to vervain and the sun. Silver will burn our flesh.”

  “What about holy water and garlic?”

  “There’s heaps of vampire misinformation out there, which in a lot of ways is good for us.”

  “How do you kill a vampire?” I asked.

  Laughing, Luke gave me a wink. “Wouldn’t it be foolish for me to tell you that?”

  “Not if I’m going to be working with Marcus.”

  Smiling, he cocked his head to one side. “Since you put it that way, I suppose you’re right. The sun and fire will kill vampires, as well as beheading … and yes, even the old stake through the heart tactic.”

  “That’s something else I don’t understand. If a vampire heals quickly, how can staking them in the heart do anything?”

  “It interrupts whatever magic it is that gives us life … but I wouldn’t go trying to stake Marcus … if that’s why you’re so interested.”

  I frowned, but said nothing. There was no doubt I wanted to be able to protect myself from Marcus, but it wasn’t like I had a hankering to kill him.

  “I doubt a human could kill him,” he told me. “Truth is, even for vampires it would probably require more than one to take him down. He’s too old.”

  The more I heard about Marcus, the more fascinated I was. I wanted to know more. “How old is he? Who was he before he became a vampire?”

  Luke shrugged. “Couldn’t tell you. Him and I have never been real close mates, but rumor has it that he’s over a thousand years old.”

  I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to live for a thousand years.

  “What about you?” I asked.

  Though he masked it quickly, I didn’t miss the anguish that fell over his face.

  “I’m sorry,” I spoke up promptly. “I shouldn’t be getting into your business.”

  “No, it’s all right,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s only that it is not something I like talking about.”

  “Don’t then. It’s okay,” I said, jumping up from the chair. “I’m starving. Care for some frozen pizza?”

  Luke shook his head. “But you go ahead.”

  I didn’t really understand it myself, but Luke chatting with me at the kitchen table while I was eating supper, seemed completely natural. It was like I’d been visiting with vampires my whole life.

  I couldn’t keep from giggling out loud.

  “What’s so amusing?” he asked.

  “It’s just so bizarre. Here I am … sitting at my kitchen table … with a vampire. Who would believe it?”

  He gave me a lopsided smile. “It’s really not as odd as you think. Lots of people socialize with vampires and don’t even know it. Haven’t you ever known anyone you never saw during the day?”

  I shook my head, swallowing a bite of pizza before answering. “No, but I’ve hardly ever been out of Cookson Springs.”

  “It happens all the time. Some people even become feeders without realizing it.”

  “Really?” I asked, my eyes widening. “How’s that work?”

  “It’s done by compelling them with the eyes. They never remember what happened to them, and since we can heal their wounds with our blood … all they know is that they’re weak for a few days.”

  “Wow! That’s kind of spooky.”

  Luke nodded and gave me a smooth smile. “Would you like to be my feeder?”

  I realized he was flirting with me. Maybe he’d been doing it all night, but on account of me being so inexperienced, I just didn’t pick up on it.

  “I said no biting,” I reminded him.

  He gave me a sheepish smile. “It was worth a try.”

  “How does this compelling thing work? Try it on me.”

  “No,” he shook his head. “It wouldn’t be right, especially with you being Charlie’s niece.”

  “If I wasn’t … would you?”

  He smiled. “You wouldn’t be safe at all with me. For certain your innocence would be in peril.”

  I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. “I’m not a virgin.”

  “Maybe not, but I’m sure even a human man could tell you are not too experienced. You carry an essence of purity that’s hard to miss.”

  Clearing my throat, I steered the conversation away from my sex life. “Where are you staying?”

  “I’m sure I’ll find me a nice cozy crypt.”

  It was hard to disguise my distaste for the thought. “We can black out the basement windows, and you can stay down there.”

  “That’s not at all proper and safe, is it?” he asked, a humorous tone to his voice, but his eyes flared with a different kind of emotion, one that I couldn’t really identify.

  “Should I be afraid of you?”

  His smile was seductive and dangerous. “Maybe,” he said before adding. “I’m going to tell you something for your own good. Never ever let your guard down with a vampire … not even me.”

  Chapter Five

  I didn’t mind a warm autumn, but I could have done without the sizzling heat wave.

  With the temperature reaching well beyond scorching, I was no way going to dress up for my first day of work. Besides, Savoy hadn’t given me any instructions about how I should dress, or even exactly what I should do. Instead of pants and a fancy blouse, I wore a pair of blue shorts and my white – Cookson High Panthers T-shirt. I didn’t really look the part of a professional assistant, but it would have to due.

  I pretended to be engrossed in a fashion magazine while I waited for Sheriff Jud to see me.

  Terry Jean Randall, one of the girls I’d gone to high school with, now worked for the Sheriff’s Department manning the front desk. It seemed like a boring job, though I imagined it had to be better than manning the cash register at Westland’s.

  As soon as I put the magazine down, Terry jumped at the chance to ask me about Dusty, which was exactly why I’d been looking at useless pictures of dresses and makeup I could never afford.

  “How’s Dusty doing?” she asked.

  I forced a smile. “Same as always … working at Uncle Basile’s shop and getting into trouble.”

  Terry smoothed back her red hair and tightened her ponytail “Well Jud hasn’t put him in the drunk tank for a few weeks, so I was kind of wondering if maybe he’d straightened up?”

  I shook my head. “I doubt it very much.”

  If there was one thing I could be sure of, my cousin Dusty DeBlanc would be breaking hearts and raising hell until the day he died. It sort of made me feel sorry for some of his female victims. The only thing they’d be getting out of Dusty, was a major headache and lots of regret.

  I stood when I saw Sheriff Jud step into the lobby. “Sorry to keep you waiting Star. It has been a mess this morning.”

  After following Jud into his office, I sat in one of the two plastic chairs he had in front of his desk. Apparently the city couldn’t afford to furnish the Sheriff’s office with real chairs.

  Jud leafed through a manila folder and pulled out the typed version of the statement I’d given the police at the scene. “I appreciate you coming in to sign this,” he told me.

  “No problem sheriff. Any word on Jaycee?”

  “Afraid so,” he said, a grim expression marring his lined face. “Surprised it isn’t on the news yet, but they found her body in the river near Tahlequah.”

  My mouth fell open. “What happened to her? How did sh
e die?”

  His frown deepened. “Star, you know I can’t tell you about that.”

  “Oh no way sheriff! If there’s something out there I need to be worried about, you should be telling me about it.”

  “This is an ongoing investigation,” he stated, but then the sheriff leaned over his desk and added in a low voice. “She didn’t have a mark on her. It’s like she just dropped dead.”

  Suddenly I was hit with the realization that Jaycee was really gone. Up until that moment, I’d been unable to dislodge the picture I had in my head of Jaycee the monster, but now that her body had been found, it became real.

  “Did someone get a hold of her son?” I asked.

  Jud nodded. “Now … if you want to sign this? I have my hands full with all kinds of messes. We’ve had nothing but trouble since that freak show club opened up.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked absently, as I proceeded to read through the typed statement.

  “Just a lot of drunks and fighting … you name it.”

  The detail about my seeing Jaycee eating Johnny wasn’t in the statement. “Sheriff, what about what I told you I saw when I found Johnny? You know … what Jaycee was doing?”

  Jud shook his head. “Now I know you think you saw that, but … it just couldn’t be. Keep in mind this is an official statement.”

  “Which is why that detail should have been included,” I said, narrowing my eyes to glare at him.

  “You had to have been in shock,” he insisted.

  Sighing, I grabbed a pen from his Oklahoma Sooners cup and signed my name. I felt guilty doing it, but he was right. No one would believe it.

  I stopped in on Max on my way to Club Crimson. As expected, his condition hadn’t changed. I wanted to wave a magic wand and make everything right again, but that wasn’t going to happen. In the real world, people got sick - people died, and sometimes there wasn’t a thing you could do to stop it.

  Before pulling out of the Parkers’ gravel driveway, I rolled down all the windows and blasted the air conditioner. A Lynyrd Skynyrd song came on the radio and I turned it up the volume. Losing myself in music was one of the best ways I’d ever found to escape.

  As soon as I turned onto the main highway toward Club Crimson, the car stereo went crazy. It was impossible to hear the music over the static. I tried fiddling with the tuner, but nothing helped.

  A sudden movement in the passenger seat sent my heart clear up into my throat. Panicked, I slammed on the brakes. The car fishtailed before coming to a stop just off the side of the road.

  Jaycee sat in the seat next to me, staring straight ahead. She had muddy water dripping from her clothes and blond hair. Without taking my eyes off her, I reached down with my left hand to feel for the door handle.

  Jaycee jerked her head in my direction. “Run from the him Star! Run!”

  Even before the scream ripped from my throat, she was gone. I blinked rapidly, no longer sure I’d seen her at all.

  It was my gift, or more accurately, my curse. There were times when I could hear the dead, and on occasion even see them, but never had it been so dramatic, or so frightening.

  What had she meant? Who had she meant?

  I breathed in as much oxygen as my lungs would take, and let it out slowly. As soon as my hands stopped trembling, I put the car in gear and pulled back onto the highway.

  Rarely did the dead make contact without a damn good reason. In view of Jaycee’s ominous message, it might be time to reconsider my involvement with vampires.

  * * *

  With there still being a few hours left until sunset, I decided it would be best to leave the information with Aaron. I wasn’t thrilled with the thought of waiting around until nightfall for Marcus to wake, or whatever it was that vampires called coming alive once the sun went down.

  This time when I knocked, Aaron opened the door quickly and stepped aside so I could enter.

  “I just wanted to leave some information for Marcus,” I told him.

  Aaron held up his hand. “Don’t be leaving any messages with me. Your business with him … is between the two of you. It doesn’t have anything to do with me,” Aaron said, before spinning on his heels to stalk away.

  “Wait! Marcus isn’t around is he?”

  Stopping, he turned back to face me. “Vampires sleep during the day. That’s a no-brainer.”

  “Well that’s what I figured. That’s why I was thinking I’d just leave the info with you.”

  Scowling, he shook his head. “Why are you being so stupid? If you keep hanging with Marcus, you’re going to end up getting hurt. You seem like a nice person. I’d hate to see that happen to you.”

  I stared at him, wide-eyed and at a loss for words.

  When I didn’t respond, he continued, “One way or another, all vamp lovers end up dead in the end.”

  I decided it was time to set him straight. “You’re mistaken. It’s not like that.”

  He gave me a smile, but it was a sad smile. “Are you really trying to lie to me, or yourself? I’ve seen that starry eyed look on hundreds of women, including my sister. Not once has anything good come of it.”

  “What happened to your sister?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t overstepping.

  “She is dead now … or at least she’d undead, but she’s gone either way. They’re never the same once they turn.”

  “Marcus turned her?” I didn’t know why I was surprised. When I thought about it, I couldn’t imagine a vampire as old as Marcus, having any humanity left in him. Why wouldn’t he be vicious?

  Aaron’s long sigh made me think of a ravished soul, too tired to go on.

  “Marcus didn’t do it, but he might as well have. When he tossed her aside, Shelia was willing to do anything to get his attention, even die. She convinced another vamp to turn her.”

  “I’m sorry,” I told him.

  “It’s done and over with,” he said with a shrug.

  “Did it work? I asked. “Did he notice her then?”

  Aaron’s smile was hard and bitter. “He ordered her sire to take her away.”

  “So why are you here? It’s plain as day you’re not happy.”

  “I’m Grace’s feeder, and she hasn’t released me.”

  Frowning, I asked, “You mean you can’t just leave?”

  His shoulders lifted in a careless shrug. “Maybe I could … and maybe she’d even let me, but I don’t have anywhere to go. Shelia was my only family, and she’s gone now.”

  “Yeah but still … there’s got to be something better than this.”

  “Who knows? Maybe one of these days.” He forced another smile.

  “Are you afraid of Marcus? Is that why you won’t relay my message?” I asked.

  “The less I have to deal with him, the better I like it. He’s too unpredictable. At least with Grace, I know when to expect her to be mean and bitchy, but with Marcus…” Aaron paused and shook his head. “He can go dark on you before you even know what hit you.”

  The more I learned about Marcus Savoy, the more uncomfortable I was with the idea of working against him in his own nest.

  What would he do to me when he found out?

  Thinking about it filled me with images of my body parts being scattered all over town. Not a pleasant thought, so I quickly focused on something else.

  Max.

  I had to remember, I was doing this for him.

  “Well maybe I’ll just come back later and talk to Marcus,” I told Aaron, a smile straining my mouth.

  I wasn’t about to force the issue of him relaying a message to Marcus. He already seemed miserable enough.

  “Well you could always stay here and help me setup for the night.”

  There was a trace of loneliness in his voice that I couldn’t bring myself to ignore. “Okay … what do you need help with?”

  There was a lot more prep work involved than what I’d imagined. Not that I could complain. It was the type of work that I’d originally come to Club Crimson to do. It
also gave me the opportunity to get to know Aaron better. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my first impression of him had been wrong. He wasn’t just some vampire groupie. There was a lot more to Aaron Chandler than met the eye. He seemed like a nice boy. Unfortunately, he had gotten involved with the wrong people, just like his sister.

  Aaron was from Minneapolis, and a college dropout. Before vampires derailed his life, he’d had a bright future in video game design. Video games seemed to be the one subject that put sparkle in his eyes.

  With two of us working, the prep was done way ahead of schedule.

  “We still have some time. Want to play a game with me?” he asked.

  I wasn’t real good at video games, so I tried to come up with some kind of excuse to get out of it. It was the look on his face that changed my mind.

  “Sure,” I told him.

  “Cool!” he said, leading me into a room in the back that appeared to be some kind of lounge. There was a large, flat screen TV with a game system hooked to it.

  “It’s been forever since I had someone to play games with. I think I’m kind of glad you came to work here,” he told me.

  Aaron sat on a brown couch, which had been strategically placed for optimal viewing. Picking up the remote, he switched on the TV.

  “Really? You don’t have anyone to play games with?” I was a little surprised. With so many people hanging around Crimson, how could he not have anyone to play with?

  Aaron shrugged. “Grace plays with me once in a while, but she’d a sore loser, and she only does it to keep me from bitching too much.”

  It was funny to think of a vampire as cool and sophisticated as Grace, playing video games.

  “So if it isn’t Marcus’s new groupie.” The unfamiliar male voice came from behind us.

  Aaron’s smile instantly disappeared.

  I recognized the vampire who stood in the door as one of the members of Night Reign. He was the one with the dark hair, and if I remembered correctly, he’d been one of the guitar players. At the moment, he was sizing me up like I was a new flavor of milkshake. Like Grace, he looked the part of a vampire. He was tall, and beneath his tight fitting leather, it was evident he had a rock- hard body. His wavy black hair reached to just about his shoulder blades. His skin was so pale that his eyes seemed like pools of shimmering dark water.