Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 52247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
When it’s over, I huddle in the shelter of his strong arms.
“Let me stay,” I murmur.
“I can’t,” he murmurs. “Even if I wanted, you don’t belong here.”
Selene
A pale face greets me in the mirror. A month as a vampire’s sex toy has left my cheeks pale and bloodless as a ghost’s, not that I’m complaining. Any exhaustion is wiped away as soon as I drink Lucius’ blood.
I apply red lipstick--the color of blood and vampire dreams--and check the fit of my collar. Lucius has me wear it almost constantly, now. Our nights have become one long scene. Our time together is frenzied, desperate, both of us aware of the countdown towards the end. Lucius has me so well trained, I’m wet and dripping as soon as I hear his voice. He says my name and I’m on edge. He snaps his fingers and I come. We spend every waking moment together, and we exchange blood almost every day.
In a few days, it’ll be over.
Lucius strides past my door, looking delicious in his suit. He’s promised me a night on the town, a night of pretending to be a couple. We’ll end at Toxic, like usual. He’s opened the top half of the club, so his sired can mingle with humans and sip from the victims in the dark corners. The dungeon is still reserved for him and me. In a few days, his sired will gather and I’ll have my first public scene. Our last scene together.
A phone rings in the house. I exit my room in a rustle of fabric, still slipping my earrings in.
Lucius is in the foyer, on the phone. “Theophilus?” he answers and pauses. My ears prick. Lucius’ has shared the names of his sired and Theophilus is one he respects. “Where are you?”
“At the club,” says the vampire. I hear him as clearly as if he was in the room. Werewolf ears are great for eavesdropping.
Lucius turns and meets my eyes. He knows I’m listening and if he cared, he’d leave. He doesn’t care. In the past few weeks, we’ve shared everything.
“You should come here, now,” Theophilus says, his voice tense. “There’s something you should see.”
We hit the club at half past nine. The dance floor is already a crush, the bar four people deep.
Lucius stops beside coat check. Ever the gentleman, he helps me out of my wrap, his face a stern mask as club employees rush around, eager to do his bidding.
He guides me to a private booth overlooking the dance floor. “I have to deal with something. I’ll be right back.”
“It’s all right,” I tell him, sliding deep into the booth. “It won’t ruin our night.” The way his jaw is clenched makes me think heads will roll. Literally.
“Keep everyone away from her,” he tells the guard, and strides away, straight through the dance floor. He looks neither left nor right, but the crowds part for him as if by magic. As soon as he disappears, I sink back in the booth, toying with the glass of Merlot a waitress delivered, suppressing my growing sense of foreboding.
Lucius
“What is it?” I snap as soon as I enter my office. Most of my sired have jobs at the club, and even if they don’t, I require them to report to me in person regularly. I have a list of vampires who avoid or delay these meetings. Theophilus isn’t on it, but he better not disappoint me tonight. I have little time left with Selene, and I don't’ want to waste it.
“It came in an unmarked package, delivered to the club’s doorstep an hour before opening. We’ve got footage of the delivery, but the person was on foot in a ski mask. Male, Caucasian, probably human. We’re still tracking him.”
“So what was the package? A bomb?”
“No. This.” He holds up a jump drive. “We’ve already done a virus scan and it’s clean. Empty except for one video.”
“Play it.” I cross my arms and turn to the blank TV at the end of the room. To the side of my desk, a row of screens give me a view of the entire club via security feed. People gyrate on the dance floor, human and vampire alike. It’s impossible to tell the vampires apart unless you are one yourself. By midnight, the vampires will have chosen their victims and herded them into a private booth to enjoy a drink in private.
“Sire,” Theophilus calls my attention to the main screen. The mysterious video starts with a flash of familiar white blonde hair. Selene strides on screen, dressed in fatigues and a black sports bra. She’s barefoot, unarmed, except for a wooden stake in her hand. Someone off camera must direct her, because she nods and turns, heading to a man chained down on the floor. She grabs a hank of his hair and draws his head back far enough I see his fangs. He’s a vampire and she has a stake. In one movement, she plunges the weapon deep into his heart. She cuts off his head and holds it up for the camera. The shot ends, and another begins. Same set up. This time, the vampire is female.