Forgotten Kisses (SuperNatural Sharing Series Book 1)

by Rena Marks

  She was right. I knew nothing of vampires. I was once careful to keep my distance from them and I’d forgotten that distance.

  She had one long, pointed fingernail in her mouth and was sucking it thoughtfully. Quick as lightning, her fingernail sliced a gash along my neck. She brought the finger back to her mouth, tasting my blood.

  “You’re so sweet, Anjelia,” she whispered. “No wonder you attract everyone. Perhaps I should drain you dry? You’d like to share that sweetness with me, wouldn’t you?”

  “Go to hell.”

  She reached her hand out and grabbed me by the throat. “I’m going to give you a little information, sweetie. You think you have Julian all to yourself? He wanted your sweet blood all right. But only after you were destined to become the wolf queen.”

  I couldn’t help it. A morbid fascination wanted her to go on. I wanted to know more.

  “We all know you were marked by the wolves to become Leo’s queen. You were being sold by your husband and would have been if not for his death.” She leaned and slowly licked my cheek. “Who do you think killed him, Anjelia? It was Julian. He killed him just to take something from Leo. Your blood being so sweet was just a lucky bonus. Do you want to know how he was killed? Did you even know that we knew you back then? We did. Julian kissed you at your husband’s funeral. It was a kiss of death. It made you forget our existence and the fight between the two species. You thought you met him when we opened Bang’s next door to you, didn’t you? Surprise, sweetie. We opened Bang’s to keep an eye on you.”

  Her hand tightened around my throat. Black dots began to swim before my eyes.

  “Julian will kill you, you know.” My voice was flat.

  I knew that any second she’d snap my neck.

  “I don’t think so. He’ll be angry but when you’re out of the scene he’ll forget you. And I–another vampire–will be there to pick up the pieces.”

  I’ve had enough of a connection with Julian to sense when he’s nearby, just as he can sense me. Right then I felt him. If my blood didn’t know it was Julian, I wouldn’t have guessed, because he felt different. The danger was palpable, explosive–and it wasn’t all emanating from Danielle. I tilted my head to one side in slow motion, puzzling over its source. Danielle lessened her grip on my neck.

  My mind reached out and tried to get a feeling for what was out there.

  She watched me curiously, her eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out what I was doing. Then I watched panic settle into the emerald green eyes.

  Her face stiffened, morphing into something else. Her skin drew taut over her eyes and cheekbones. Suddenly she seemed centuries older than normal. Reaching a hand out slowly, I noticed that her hands were longer fingered, the fingernails stretching out like claws toward the air.

  “No, Master, please…I was just talking to her,” she called out in desperation. Her voice was raspy.

  Morbidly fascinated, I watched her skin color change. Her creamy, pale complexion looked hideous. It was spotted, with a color crossed between brown and gray. The moisture had leached out of her skin, leaving it looking as though it may peel off. Her hair was dry and brittle, crackling in the soft breeze. The deep red color was fading enough to resemble hay.

  “Please,” she called out still.

  I looked around. There was no one in sight.

  Her breath caught in her throat as she choked. She dropped her claw-like hand from around my neck and had a little relief. She fell to her knees.

  Julian appeared, suddenly standing before her as she bowed to him. There were several vampires surrounding him, including Johnny. Gigi came from the gym.

  Julian never looked so dangerous. It gave me a glimpse of the vampire that I sometimes forgot he was. The dark color of his eyes shimmered slightly with a red hue.

  The glow of a vampire’s eyes.

  “What were you ladies discussing, Danielle?”

  He didn’t look at me and I didn’t mind. He was frightening in this mode and I reeling from what I’d learned.

  “I apologize, Master. I didn’t hurt her,” she begged.

  Julian raised his arm and struck her without ever coming in contact. Her head whipped around, and blood immediately appeared on her dried, wrinkled cheek.

  “Then why is she bleeding, Danielle?”

  I reached up to my neck where she had grabbed me. My fingers came away sticky.

  “You stupid vampire. You can’t just leave well enough alone, can you? You know she has my mark of protection. You know she is my human servant in every way. You dare to touch her, to threaten her, to frighten her?” He screamed at this point and my stomach clenched in a horror I’d never felt with Julian.

  “I thought it was a pretense, like at first.” She stammered. “And you can’t blame me for being jealous, I was your favorite for a quarter of a century.”

  “That was a century ago. I could not care less if you ceased to exist.”

  “Please, Julian. I apologize. I apologize to Anjelia. Please don’t kill me.”

  “It’s not a matter of killing you, Danielle. It’s a matter of not sustaining your existence. If I punished you, would I allow your full strength to return by feeding you my blood? Or shall I leave you weak and feed you as you deserve? The blood of a pig.”

  There was silence. Julian motioned to his other vampires. “Take her as she is. Lock her in the coffin. Do not allow her to feed.”

  Danielle was taken away, her piteous sobs rending the night air. Then Julian turned to face me.

  My heart thundered and my breath came in quick, short pants. His eyes still glowed red. He reached out a hand and I took a step backward, adrenaline shooting through my limbs.

  “Don’t be frightened, Anjelia. What has she told you?”

  He reached out a hand and took my arm. I panicked and put a hand on his chest to stop him. Johnny was suddenly there and took my other arm. I was trapped between the two of them.

  “Relax, my sweet. She’s poisoned you, that’s all. I need to take the poison from you. That’s all you’re feeling,” he crooned.

  Yet his eyes still glowed red.

  I vaguely remembered her fingernail slicing my neck. I listened to my breathing. My lungs clenched and my breath came in short, shallow gasps. Was it fear or was it the poison?

  “Tell me what she told you, my sweet.”

  I shook my head, gasping now. I fought to draw air into my tortured lungs. They seemed too small for my body, as if the internal bags wouldn't inflate. Feeling like I was wheezing, I fought the uprising panic. Julian leaned toward the slice in my neck and began to suck. I stood stock-still, letting him. Truth be known, I couldn’t have protested much anyway. He sucked and spat and sucked and spat out the poison. When he was done, he leaned forward to brush a kiss against my lips. Moments or minutes later–I don’t know which, I spaced out a little bit, he pulled away.

  “Are you feeling better?”

  “Yes.” My voice was completely calm.

  My breathing had slowed, my chest no longer seized. Something niggled at the back of my mind but I didn’t quite care. I just felt better, like I was in a dream-state. I knew something scary had just happened but I couldn’t recall the vivid details. I knew I’d had a confrontation with Danielle but could no longer remember our exact words. The harder I tried to remember, the more it slipped away. Utterly confused, I pressed myself to Julian’s chest while he held me. Suddenly it no longer mattered.

  I didn’t know why.

  Chapter Eleven

  Danielle was in her coffin for three months.

  A lot had changed in that time. The weather outside was colder, since we were in the middle of winter. The days were shorter, which meant the vamps were out more in the evening hours as it now darkened by five. Because of this, I was spending more time with Julian and less with Leo. Johnny, visiting friends in England, had been gone for two months. The hypnotist hadn’t officially started, he was still wrapping up loose ends wherever he was from.

&n
bsp; More curious was that he was gone and no murders had occurred.

  Furthering Danielle’s punishment, since this was her second, Julian did not allow her to feed from his own blood like he did the last time. She remained an ugly, weakened old woman although she looked much better than when she first entered her punishment. She seemed to be repentant and avoided me as commanded. Of course, without her vamp powers and strength, I could easily take her. I wondered how long Julian would leave her without his blood. I was assured by other vamps it would be permanent. I certainly didn’t mind her being old and weak.

  Finally, Johnny returned from England and Merrick arrived to start work. Things were nearly back to normal when another murder occurred.

  It was a vicious attack and happened in the back alleyway behind Bang’s. The victim was female and a frequent visitor of the bar. As usual, her blood was drained and a business card of Julian’s was left in a pocket of her clothing.

  The only difference with this murder was Merrick was the primary suspect. Officer Gearman called to tell us that he was being interrogated and we needed to come quickly.

  Julian and I arrived at police headquarters and walked up to the front desk where Officer Oser was waiting. He led us directly to the interview room where Merrick was being questioned about his hypnotic abilities.

  As we walked through the station, other officers looked curiously at us. Some already had antagonistic looks. Others looked at me in disgust, the same look I’d come to expect from public places where the population was primarily human.

  Oser kept his eyes lowered as he walked us through the offices and cubicles to a larger conference area. It had two doors and we entered one to find we were on the other side of the large room, a huge one-way glass window covering one wall. We could see Merrick being questioned on the other side of the glass.

  “I am not a murderer. I have nothing to do with those humans,” Merrick spat out.

  “Those humans have names. Do you think because humans have shorter life spans than you they are unimportant?” The detective questioning him angrily threw the photographs on the table. Images of death stared back at us. It was a common police practice but it didn’t work on vampires. Show them a dehydrated body instead, and they’d crack.

  “We know that someone extremely strong, supernatural and vampire is the murderer. The punctures match fangs, they’re not just look-alikes. You are the best suspect.”

  “Why would I be the best suspect?”

  “Because of your ability to hypnotize. You hypnotized others to do your dirty work while you remained innocent at work in full public view.”

  Merrick said nothing.

  “He couldn’t have done it.” Julian whispered.

  “What?” Oser asked.

  “Merrick is not a master vampire. He is not strong enough. That psychic ability alone should be strength enough to make him a master. Something does not make sense.”

  The answer came to the both of us but Julian spoke first. “He can only mesmerize humans!”

  I finished. “And humans aren’t strong enough to do the murders, plus they lack the fangs. It was definitely a vamp, so that rules out Merrick.”

  Officer Oser scratched his head. “Let’s take you in to ask him. All the vamp stuff confuses me.”

  We entered the room and both the questioning officer and Merrick looked up. Merrick's eyes flashed red.

  “Julian Bax has a question pertinent to this case,” Oser said.

  The officer shrugged, then nodded.

  “Merrick, do your hypnotic capabilities work on everyone? Humans and vampires alike?”

  There was a pause, like the answer was a dirty secret.

  “No. I am only able to hypnotize humans,” he admitted.

  Merrick was released into our custody. And we were back to square one. But we had the darkened limo, at least, to take him home. During the ride, my cell phone rang.

  “Anjelia Romere.”

  “It's Barbara. Leah, I thought I should warn you. We’re taking lots of calls just as Grove predicted. Worded exactly as Grove pointed out, actually. We’ve released a statement to the press about how your private life is just that, private.”

  I sighed. “So it won’t be long before they’re hounding me, also.”

  “Afraid not, my dear.”

  “Thanks for letting me know.”

  “Good luck.”

  I disconnected and we rode to the bar in silence. After a while, Merrick broke it. “Thank you for bailing me out with those ignorant creatures.”

  Julian’s voice was cool. “You pay for fealty.”

  I was slightly distracted. “I’m one of those ignorant creatures,” I reminded him.

  He flushed. “I’m sorry. I forget. You don’t seem like one, you see.”

  “Yet I am.”

  “Once again, I am sorry. I merely wished to thank the two of you for coming to my aid when it would have been so easy for me to take the blame.”

  “But you didn’t do it,” I said, confused. “Why would you take the blame?”

  “The killer may have stopped or moved on if there was someone else available to blame. And I am the reasonable choice, the newest vampire added to the group.”

  “Merrick, I could never let someone take the blame for something they didn’t do. Just as I could never sit and watch another being treated unfairly,” I said, appalled that he would think that.

  Julian was silent through our conversation and Merrick continued, his curiosity piqued. “Why is that?”

  “Because I’ve been in a position of being treated unfairly. I would never sit back and watch something without taking action.”

  My cell rang again. I sighed. “Romere.”

  “Councilmember. I asked you to attend one of our meetings to save your soul. You ignored me. Now you’re damned.”

  “Who is this? How did you get my number?”

  She hung up on me.

  “Who was that?” Julian asked.

  “I think it was a woman I met at a coffee shop ages ago. She gave me her card. She was with Human Hierarchy and asked me to attend one of their religious meetings.”

  “Human Hierarchy? You never told me about that.”

  I shrugged. “Must not have seemed important at the time. Who are they?”

  “Just that. Religious fanatics who think the human race is the only one that shall enter heaven. Remember how you could tell a skinhead by their shaved heads? Human Hierarchy members are all excessively tanned, showing off their ability to utilize sunlight. Distinguishing them from the pale vampires. Some are vegetarians also, because they know werewolves exist.”

  I remembered the woman in the coffee shop. She was darker than a coconut, her skin dry and leathery. Her bleached blonde hair brittle from overexposure.

  I smiled. “So I just need to avoid people who are tanned. And vegans. Oh, and bald.”

  The list was growing.

  * * * * *

  I was helping Julian with the lights on stage when Johnny called out that I had a phone call.

  “Leo.” Julian grumbled.

  “Who else would call me at Bang’s?” I laughed at his disgruntled face and kissed his nose.

  I walked over to the bar and knowing Johnny intended to eavesdrop, stuck my tongue out at him.

  “Hello?”

  “Anjelia? It’s Leo.” Thankfully, he’d stopped the habit of yelling into the phone.

  “Hi, Leo. Are you getting ready for your wolf-howl?”

  Connie and I laughingly referred to Leo’s human gathering before the wolf change at the full moon as a wolf-howl. He thought it shockingly indecent.

  We referred to it as a wolf-howl because of one of the traditions of mating. You couldn’t see a whole lot, as it happened after they changed but it was still uncomfortable. Hell, the wolves were thrusting, after all. Connie and I jokingly referred to it as the howling of the wolves, as we’d snickered between ourselves, because they howled at completion. It changed to the wolf-howl.<
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  I hadn’t been to a wolf-howl since Julian saved me from the first one. And I certainly didn’t get to see a mating ritual then. So technically, I haven’t been to one, although I was invited to Connie’s when she and Ajay mated. I refused the invitation to attend even though Leo promised I’d be safe.

  “Actually, I was just called out of town. There’s an emergency surgery scheduled in California and the doctor there will be facing his full moon. He has to call in sick. Unfortunately, there’s no one else qualified to perform this type of surgery.”

  “How can you keep from changing?”

  “I’m a wolf king. I have more strength than the normal wolf, much like your master vampire has certain abilities beyond his normal vamps. But I will pay for it. My change will be harsher next month, and I’ll certainly be changing in a couple of days when I return.” There was arrogance in his tone, and that alone reminded me that he was indeed pack leader.

  “Well, I’ll miss you.”

  “And that brings me to the point of my phone call. You know I let all of my staff off for the monthly meeting, right? It included my chauffeur. I don’t suppose you’d take me to the airport?”

  I laughed. “Of course, I’ll take you. Do I get to drive the Lamborghini? Are you ready now?”

  “I’m finishing up with my packing. I should be done by the time you get here. And I told you, when you become my queen.”

  I asked for that one. “Okay, I’m on my way. Don’t leave me stuck at those big old gates.”

  “You need your own password. I’ll leave the gates open for you, and we’ll make you one on the way out.”

  “See you soon.” I hung up the phone and whispered to Johnny. He was across the bar, and I knew he was eavesdropping with that super-vamp hearing.

  “Since you are obviously listening in, it’s your punishment to tell Julian where I went.”

  I laughed when his head snapped up, proving my point.