Blood Descendants (Vengeance and Venom #1)

Chapter 1

I t’s been a week since I learned that vampires exist.

As I walk through the party, I see more evidence here. They’re not being obvious. There isn’t blood cascading down any throats. I don’t see fangs flashing in the neon lights. But if you pay attention, the tells are there.

That man’s lips are locked on that woman’s throat. They look like they’re in the throes of a passionate prelude to a wild romp in the bedroom. But she’s sitting stark still. Her eyes aren’t closed; they stare at the wall vacantly.

There is a woman who has a man pushed up against the wall. She’s flirting with him, but her eyes are fixed on his neck, watching his pulse. The man looks nervous. But even though he’s pushing against her, trying to make his way out of there, she doesn’t falter even one step back. Because she’s stronger than him, even though he has at least four inches of height on her and likely forty pounds.

But the biggest giveaway is when I watch as a man guides a woman by the wrist to the far back corner. She giggles as he pulls her in close. And one tiny yelp of surprise escapes her throat when his eyes flash brilliant, blood red. I barely catch it as his canines elongate, and he goes in for her neck.

Her body tenses for a moment. But just two seconds later, she relaxes. And she stands there, still, docile.

I’ve lived in New York City my entire life, all twenty-four years. And until last week, I would have told you that the city was inhabited only by people, pigeons, and rats.

But that’s not true anymore.

What else exists out there? Are all the fairytales and nightmares true? I’m not sure I want to know.

Unease seeps into my skin as I walk into the crowd, scanning faces. At first glance, I’m not sure how you tell a regular person from someone who sucks blood. They all look the same to me. Until they’re ready to feed. I’m in danger. Every nerve in my body is screaming it. They’re stronger than me. And every inch of them, once they’re zeroed in on a target, screams predator.

I don’t know how it works. Once you’re bitten by a vampire, are you dead? I don’t think so. Because that woman looks woozy, and not in a drunk way. Will she also turn into a vampire soon? Will she be under the vampire’s thrall?

I don’t know how the hell this all works. I just need to keep any fangs away from my neck tonight.

My eyes scan the crowd, searching for auburn hair, pale skin, and fiery green eyes.

“This your first Red party?”

My eyes slide over to a man sitting at the bar. He’s dressed in a dark red suit. His shirt is night black, and the top four buttons are undone. He scans me with intense blue eyes. Golden hair flops onto his forehead.

“No,” I answer.

“I rarely miss them,” he says. He stands, and I realize how tall he is. He takes a step forward, and he towers over me. The predatory hunter’s look in his eyes tells me exactly what he is. “And I don’t recognize you.”

“I didn’t think regulars were common at these things,” I say. I’m making the bullshit up as I go, but I know I’m in dangerous territory. Yet I need information.

The man shrugs, cocking a smile. “There’s always the groupies chasing the nothing bliss.”

I barely suppress a shiver. People go looking for this on purpose? Being totally zoned out while a vampire feeds on them?

“Need a fix tonight?” he asks, his tone expectant. His eyes drop down the length of me, over my exposed shoulders, over the tight fit of violet fabric over my chest, over the drape of the dress on my hips. He leaves little wonder what’s going through his head.

“Not yet,” I defer, faking every confident tone in my voice. “The night is young.”

“I’ll make it worth your time,” he purrs. “You won’t find a gentler offer in here, sweetheart.”

“Who ever said anything about gentle?” The reckless words leave my lips before I can think how dangerous they are. I walk off into the crowd before he takes them as an invitation.

I’ve been to far larger parties before. This is a private venue, though being on the second floor, it’s not hard to find. A bouncer was situated outside the door, but as I watched for a solid ten minutes, he never turned anyone away, and he wasn’t checking names to a list. So, anyone dumb enough to wander in is allowed. But there’s probably only eighty or so people in here. It only doesn’t feel like a small crowd because the space isn’t very large.

A man tugs a woman down onto his lap as he falls back into a couch. She gives an excited squeal. He traces the back of his knuckles along her jaw, his eyes fixed on her throat. She lifts her face to the ceiling, her eyes sliding closed, reveling in his touch.

He splays his hand on the side of her neck, brushing his thumb over her pulse point.

He pulls her in close, and she seems all too eager to be in his embrace.

But I catch sight of it as his eyes flash red, and sharp fangs are exposed for just a fraction of a second before his lips lock into her flesh.

Just like all the others, the woman tenses for just a moment, and then relaxes into a frozen state.

When I’d witnessed this very nearly same event happen two weeks ago, I’d been so horrified I’d immediately left. My hands had shaken the entire walk home. I didn’t get a moment of sleep that night.

Then, for an entire week, I was in hard denial about what I’d seen. I reasoned that something had been slipped into my drink, even though I hadn’t had one. I had definitely hallucinated. But I knew the truth in my gut.

Fangs plus blood plus victims being immobilized equals vampire.

I still can hardly believe what I’m seeing.

It took me another week to track down the location of another one of these parties. I only found out about it three hours ago.

And now here I am .

I scan the crowd again. I don’t know if I really expected her to be here. If she were okay, I would have heard from her. She’s not the type to simply disappear on me. So, I shouldn’t be surprised when I don’t find her face in the crowd.

The last thing I want is to draw attention to myself, but I’m desperate.

I pull my phone out and open it to a picture of Ophelia.

“Excuse me?” I say to the woman closest to me. “Have you seen this woman recently?”

“I don’t think so, but this is my first time coming to one of these parties,” she answers.

“Thanks,” I mutter as I move on. I ask the next man I come across. He says no. I ask two more women, and neither of them recognizes Ophelia.

I turn, scanning the crowd. If I can figure out who is working this party, they might be my best bet.

There, at the very back of the room, I see a man in a black suit open a door. He leads that first woman I spoke to through it and closes it behind them.

I take a step forward, something in my gut pulling me in that direction.

“Trust me, you don’t want to find out what’s going on behind that door.”

The deep voice behind me immediately stops me in my tracks.

Alarm bells go off in my brain. Something tingles along my skin. But a shiver runs down my spine at the timbre of the voice.

I turn, and the man is a perfect match to the voice.

He wears black from head to toe. Black motorcycle boots. Black jeans. Black tee shirt. Black leather jacket .

A wash of tattoos spreads from the neckline of his shirt, climbing up his throat, wrapping around his neck. There’s a thick, heavy silver chain around his neck. He has a wicked jawline and a clean-shaven face. Both ears are pierced with silver studs, and a matching silver hoop is through his left nostril.

Strong and vicious. That’s how I’d describe all of his facial features. Lips of an incubus. A nose every sculptor envies. Dark eyes and thick brows. And the most perfect dark wavy locks I’ve ever seen in my life.

He’s inarguably the most tempting man I’ve ever laid eyes on. But every inch of him radiates the same feeling: dangerous.

“You work here?” I manage to ask, even though my mouth is suddenly inexplicably dry.

“No,” he answers simply. He does a quick scan of me, but it’s entirely different from the way the man in the red suit looked at me. I feel as if this man is… evaluating me. Sizing me up.

I recognize that look. It’s the same one I use when I evaluate my clients at work. It’s the one I use to decide if they can handle themselves on the mat.

“Then how do you know what’s in that room?” I ask. I stand a little straighter. Even at my full height and wearing three-inch heels, he still towers above me. “How do you know I don’t want to find out?”

“Instinct,” he says simply.

I take half a step closer to him, never breaking eye contact. “The only instincts I trust are my own.”

I step around him, away from that door. I aim for the bar, the opposite end from the man in the red suit.

“You ever seen this woman around?” I ask as I show Ophelia’s picture to a woman sitting there .

When she looks over at me, she seems slightly dizzy. I scan her neck for bite marks but find none. She blinks hard, as if trying to clear her vision. But she takes my phone, taking a closer look. “Maybe,” she says. “She looks kind of familiar.”

“These parties are a semi-regular thing,” I say as hope flashes through me. “Did you go to one three weeks ago?”

The woman starts tipping sideways, and I lunge forward to steady her. She giggles stupidly and pushes her hair out of her face. “I really should stop coming to these things. But forgetting? Nothing else makes the voices stop like the bite.”

Shit. She’s not even trying to hide anything. Have vampires always been this obvious, and I’ve just somehow been oblivious?

“Did you go to one of these parties three weeks ago?” I ask again, removing my hands from her when I’m sure she won’t fall over again.

“I did,” she says as she leans against the bar, her elbow to the wooden surface, her chin resting in her hand. “I think. I don’t know. These things all kind of blur together. You should ask Felix. He’s always at these things.”

“Who is Felix?” I ask as adrenaline starts burning in my blood. Finally. We might be getting somewhere.

“The one who looks like Apollo and Hades had a love child,” she says, waving in the direction of the man in the red suit.

Great.

“Thank you,” I say. “And you should probably head home, don’t you think? Do you want me to get you a cab?”

She offers a smile, one that’s kind of sad and hopeless. She shrugs one shoulder. “There’s no one waiting for me there. At least here, I’m not alone. ”

My heart breaks for her a little. And I understand what she’s saying just a little too well.

There isn’t much more I can do for her, though. So, I turn and, with a determined, deep breath, head down the bar toward Felix.

The adrenaline in me spikes harder when Felix catches my gaze, and he has a cocky smile that curls his lips. He’s shameless as his eyes drop down the length of me again, and he stands.

I don’t know exactly how much stronger a vampire is than a human. I can defend myself better than just about any woman in this city. It’s the only reason why I have the guts to walk into a party where I’m sure my friend went missing. But a vampire? I’m not so sure I can take him down if he decides not to take no for an answer.

When I’m just four steps away, a massive body steps between Felix and me. Mr. tall, dark, and tatted glares at me with dark eyes.

“Unless you’ve got a death wish, it’s time to call it a night,” he growls. And then his hand clamps around my upper arm, and he steers me toward the front door.

“Get your damn hands off of me,” I seethe. I try yanking out of his grip, but it’s like steel.

“You don’t know what the hell you’re getting yourself into here,” he says, low and cold. “Trust me, if you knew the truth, you’d be thanking me.”

He shoves the door open and hauls me out onto the sidewalk.

“What truth, that this is a party full of vampires looking to feed off of idiots with some seriously twisted kinks?” I bark as he lets me pull out of his grasp.

His expression goes tight and cold .

He didn’t expect me to know the truth.

“Or that you’re one of them?” I ask with ice in my voice. I walk up to him, determined he’s not going to push me around, even if he is a dangerous supernatural being that shouldn’t exist. “So why pretend you’re any different from them? You think you’re some savior? That you’re saving a sweet, innocent girl from being bitten unknowingly?” I shake my head as he stares down at me darkly. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“Who is she?” he asks. And his tone is more even than I’d expect, but there’s a surprising amount of regret and maybe anger in his tone.

I hesitate for a moment. I don’t know this man. I don’t know what he’s capable of. Everything in me tells me he’s dangerous, that he’s no knight in shining armor. But he did think he was protecting me by making me leave the party. Do I dare tell him the truth?

“Ophelia Bennett,” I answer. “She’s my best friend. And I’m pretty positive she went to one of these parties three weeks ago. She’s been missing ever since then.”

“You know what kind of party this is, and you still walked in there after her?” he asks. He’s impressed. Shocked. Maybe a little horrified. He doesn’t hide any of the emotions from his tone.

“Of course,” I say, my brows furrowing. “We’re all each other has. So, if you’ll excuse me, I need to keep looking for her.”

I turn to walk back inside, but he catches me by the arm, stopping me in my tracks.

“Your heartrate says you’re scared,” he states .

“But that’s not going to stop me,” I say, determination steeling my blood.

He studies me for a long moment, and I can see the wheels turning in his head. “I can help you find her,” he finally says. “But I need your help in return.”

Wary nerves coil in the pit of my stomach, prepared to strike if need be. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Come on,” he says, taking a step forward. He doesn’t let me go, but his grip loosens just slightly, feeling less threatening. “You and I need to talk.”