Thicker than Water (Fangs and Feuds #1)

Somewhere more private

SOMEWHERE MORE PRIVATE

Celine

It’s been almost a week since I staked that vampire. There’s been no retaliation from Lazarus Gray’s gang, but I can’t assume that there won’t be.

I have to be careful about becoming too complacent. I’ve been a vampire for just over three hundred years, and I’m faster and stronger than most magical beings. Here at the Succumb club, I’m surrounded by my own family and our night guard, who will fight to the end to protect me. But I have to remember that I could still be easily overpowered, especially by an older vampire, or a large number of younger ones. I have to stay vigilant.

A woman by the bar catches my eye, her short curly hair grazing her neck temptingly. She gazes at me through long-lashed eyes as she sips her drink, then she looks away teasingly.

I have to stay vigilant…but that doesn’t mean I can’t have any fun.

I’m feeling a little peckish, so I take the bait, making my way through the crowd. Everyone here knows who I am, so they part as I go by.

“Enjoying your evening?” I ask the woman, taking in her sweet smell. I tune my senses to the hummingbird flutter of her heartbeat.

“I am now,” she replies. Her voice is barely a whisper.

I don’t see any bite marks on her neck, although that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have any. There are plenty of arteries that can be tapped by a seasoned vampire. Many that are normally hidden under clothes .

The woman moves closer to me nervously, her bare thigh slipping between my legs. A different sort of hunger grows inside me.

“Would you like to go somewhere more private?” I ask.

She nods, her eyes wide. She finishes off the rest of her drink in one gulp and puts the empty glass down on the counter. The bartender eyes us warily before taking it away.

Without another word, I take the woman by the hand.

I’m hungrier than I realized, so I decide not to dance with her first. We can always come back to the dance floor afterward. The night is young.

I take her to my private suite at the back of the club. She giggles nervously as we enter the large room. It’s encircled by a ring of red couches, low and wide for all sort of activities. There’s a long, narrow table in the center, for drinks when breathers want them, although I prefer it for other things. I wonder if that’s how this evening will go.

I shut the door behind me. “Please, take a seat. Is this your first time at our club?”

“I’ve been here a few times before,” she says. “With my friends. But this is my first time, um…”

“With a vampire?”

“Yes,” she blushes deeply, the flush making its way to her chest and neck as well. Before my eyes turned permanently to violet, they would change from their original colour when I was hungry. Now my hunger isn’t so easily revealed. Which I prefer. I like to keep my cards close to my chest.

But in other matters, I prefer to be explicit. I sit down beside her, keeping a small distance between us for now.

“You can tell me to stop or slow down at any time,” I say to her, and the anxious thump of her pulse becomes more even and relaxed. A sign that she trusts me and feels comfortable. “Would you like me to kiss you, or bite you?”

“Oh! Um, both, if that’s all right…”

“It’s more than all right.”

I move closer to her, putting my hand around her waist. I kiss her first, easing her into our dance and whetting my appetite. It makes the bite so much more satisfying. My hands move over her body and she pushes herself onto me, sitting on my lap .

When my hunger becomes more pressing, I break our kiss.

“I’m going to glamour you, like putting a spell on you,” I tell her. “It will help the bite feel good, but you’ll still be able to stop me if you want to, just let me know.”

She nods eagerly, brimming with anticipation.

I stare into her eyes. I’m so old, and she’s so willing, that the spell is fast and smooth. She falls into a pleasant lull, her body going slightly limp in my arms. She pulls her hair back to offer her long neck to me.

My fangs pierce her skin easily, and her blood flows out in a strong gush. Edged on by the delicious scent, I wrap my lips around her neck and suck in the thick nectar, revitalizing myself.

Her blood is sweet and tangy, and flows quickly because of her excitement. I imagine that I’ll do more than drink from her before the night is through.

Suddenly, the door to my private room bursts open. I break away from the woman’s neck, shocked at the interruption. There’s only one person who would have the gall to intrude upon me so rudely.

“Daughter, I need a word,” Tudor Thornblade says sternly, slamming the door behind him.

“Can it wait?” I snap, licking the woman’s neck with a healing charm so that her blood stops flowing. “I’m preoccupied at the moment.”

Tudor glares at me. “Did you stake Lazarus Gray’s newest progeny?”

I roll my eyes. “Yes, but-”

“Celine, what were you thinking?”

“I hate it when they sneak around like that,” I hiss. “Lazarus is throwing his victory in our faces…”

Tudor clicks his tongue dismissively. It only fans my fury.

“Well, he was draining one of our customers!” I take the woman on my lap and place her down on the couch beside me. She frowns in confusion, but she’s still dazed from the spell.

“And?” Tudor raises his blond eyebrows at me. “What does it matter? Do you have any idea how many breathers have been drained by vampires over the years? They’re our prey , Celine.”

I have to stop myself from wincing at his words. “It’s bad for business. Too many bodies show up and the politicians start to notice. Do you want to have to move our operation again… ”

“We’re not moving,” says Tudor firmly. “Our business is well-established in Silverlake City. Nobody will care if one or two breathers lose their lives. It’s more important to maintain the peace with Lazarus and Cedric.”

I bristle at his name.

My Creator frowns. “We can’t risk angering the the other vampire gangs. Not now. We have to focus on the witches.”

I rise to my feet, my anger boiling over. “ How can you just sit back and let them taunt us this way?”

Tudor’s nostrils flare slightly. And I can see it, just behind his eyes. A hint of that same anger, that same sadness.

“How can you not be upset?” I ask. “After everything he did to us…”

“Of course I’m upset,” says Tudor, his voice harsh. “But there’s nothing we can do about it now. Let it go, Celine.”

I have no more words for him, and he has none for me. In the past three hundred years, we can communicate without them. With a final, fierce gaze, he steps out of the room.

The girl beside me sighs as she comes out of her daze.

But I’ve lost my appetite.