CHAPTER 11 #2
“Dealt with?”
“Yes, what you’re thinking.” Cassia giggled.
“And as for the rest, let’s get through it quickly because I’d like to make you come again tonight before I turn you.
We live forever, as you know. Silver stakes and knives through the heart can kill us, as well as beheading.
Just remember, not wooden stakes like everyone tells you; silver only.
That silly thing about us not being invited inside a building actually stopping us from going in is false.
We can go wherever we want, but if we walk on consecrated ground, we tend not to last long, if you catch my drift.
Holy water burns, but garlic and crosses don’t hurt.
We heal from everything other than what kills us.
Sometimes, it takes longer, depending on the wound.
We can eat human food, and it’s delicious sometimes, but we need blood to survive.
Vampire blood can sort of hold us over, but human or animal blood in general is needed for survival.
Oh, and the very important one that everyone always worries about: we can be in the sun.
We don’t need to constrain ourselves to the night.
After a few days, though, we do get weak, because we get our energy, if you will, from the Moon, not the Sun.
Yes, vampires can have special abilities, but it’s very rare, and we don’t know how or why.
We have heightened senses, but not as much as you might think, and we’re stronger than humans, but we can’t throw someone across a football field.
You can think of me being as strong as a really, really strong guy, and that’s about it. Did I miss anything?”
“I… don’t know,” Zara replied.
“Then, I must not have.” Cassia patted Zara’s stomach and added, “Zara, you’re about to be in horrible pain that will be unrelenting until you die. I can save you from that. You can stay alive, and you’ll never have to worry about cancer or any other sickness again.”
“You’re really saying that you’re a vampire and that you want to turn me into one? Why? Just because I’m sick?”
“No. I’m selfish, too, Zara. I have an ask of you as well in exchange for my gift.”
“What?”
“Iro and Arwen are getting close, and I’d like to keep an eye on them, but I can’t all the time because Iro will know I’m there. She can smell me if I get too close. She knows all my scents. Anyway, she doesn’t even know I’m in the city. You told me you work with Arwen and you’re her best friend.”
“You can’t hurt Arwen,” Zara told her.
“I don’t want to hurt Arwen,” she said, not promising that she wouldn’t.
“I want you to be with Arwen, and I want my love back. Simple math, really. Once I have Iro back, you can turn Arwen if you want or let her live out her life as a human and watch her die one day after you’ve had a long life together. ”
“You’re assuming Arwen would want that.”
“I think you can convince her. I know she’s under Iro’s spell right now, but Iro and I are bound. We have been since she turned. Nothing will break us apart.”
“You’re apart now.”
Cassia glared down at her and said, “Be careful, Zara. I want to turn you, not kill you.”
Zara swallowed and said nothing as Cassia pressed down on her chest a little harder.
“We’re apart because Iro likes to take little breaks from time to time, and I let her. We get back together, though, and we always will.”
“And you’ll leave Arwen alone?”
“Of course. I don’t want to kill her,” she partially lied. “I mean, if I did, Iro would be terribly angry, and I’d have to wait another century for her to calm down. I don’t mess with the women she beds while we’re apart. She doesn’t mess with the ones I do. That’s how it works.”
“I don’t…”
“Zara, you have two choices, really. One is that you let me turn you, and you live a long, immortal life and never feel real pain again. The other is that you don’t, and the smart thing for me to do would be to kill you, but you’re too close to this annoying Arwen, so Iro would know, and I’d be in the same spot as before, waiting at least a full century for her to cool down.
So, I’d have to let you go, but I would not be happy about it, Zara.
I’d be forced to keep an eye on you for the few months you have left, and I have friends who would do the same.
If you step out of line and tell your friend about me, or even Iro, I’d have to take action, which would not be pleasant.
If I turn you, on the other hand, I can make it quick.
I won’t drain you. Your blood will taste terrible anyway.
It’ll be a quick drink for you, and then, a neck snap. ”
“Neck snap?”
“Yes. You have to die to be reborn, dear,” she replied. “Now, what will it be?”
“You expect me to decide this right now?” Zara asked.
“Well, you don’t exactly have much time, do you?
” Cassia ran a fingertip down between Zara’s legs.
“I have the best idea. What if I’m making you come, you drink, and then, a neck snap right when you’re in the throes of passion?
Fuck. That would be hot.” She slipped a finger inside Zara, whose body seemed to welcome her.
“Oh, there’s a good girl,” she added when Zara’s legs opened to her. “You want this, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Zara said. “I’m tired. I don’t want to die.”
“And you will keep a little eye on them for me?” Cassia asked. “Let me know how things are progressing?”
She slipped a second finger inside.
“Yes,” Zara said with her eyes closed. “If this is real, if you can do this, then just do it. I’m done. I’m ready.”
“That is excellent news,” Cassia replied and climbed on top of Zara, pressing in deeper. “Wait until you have vampire sex, Zara. It’s so much better than human sex. You can come an infinite number of times and never get tired, never get sore after.”
“Oh, fuck,” Zara let out.
“Yes, like that,” Cassia said before she leaned down to lick Zara’s neck. “Now, I have to bite you because your blood needs to mix with mine, but I won’t drain you.”
“Okay.”
“It will only hurt for a second, darling. Just think about how good my fingers feel inside you.”
She bit down more gently than she normally would.
“Ouch!” Zara exclaimed.
Cassia giggled as she licked at the blood that didn’t taste delicious or sweet and then leaned back while she still fucked Zara. She bit her own wrist and let their blood mix before she held her wrist to Zara’s mouth.
“Open up for me, sweetheart.”
Zara opened her mouth, but very slightly, so Cassia had to push down harder until she was sure Zara had had enough.
After that, she pulled back, lay back on top of Zara, and continued to fuck her hard until Zara screamed Arwen’s name into the air.
Cassia snapped her neck at that very moment and pulled out instantly, wiping her hand on the sheet.
She stared down for a second at the now-dead woman beneath her and then rose and walked out into the hallway, still nude.
“She’s going to wake in a few hours. She knows, but she will still be in shock. Just come get me when she wakes,” she told the guard she had at the end of the hallway to keep out the unsavory types she’d met over the years.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied and resisted looking down at her, which he knew was in his best interest.
Cassia walked down the hall to the room she’d given to Gigi and Miranda, and when she pushed open the door, she found Gigi’s head between Miranda’s legs.
“I thought I heard you two fucking. May I join you?”
Miranda nodded rapidly and said, “Yes! Yes!”
“Want me to fuck you, Gigi?”
Gigi moaned.
“Very good,” Cassia said, not giving a second thought to the naked, dead woman in her bedroom.