Chapter 8 #2
“How’s Harper? I haven’t heard from her since the first murder.”
“She’s a little shaken up from everything that happened with Steven, but she’s getting by.” I chose my words carefully.
Harper and Neve weren’t close, but they were family. She hadn’t said anything, but it seemed safe to assume that it was wrecking her to know that her own mother would have her killed if she found out what had happened.
“I figured.”
There were three black wristbands on the table. Neve tracked how often every single vampire fed, and since I’d skipped two previous gatherings, I’d be required to feed on three humans to make sure I replenished the blood my body had burned through.
“Let me know if you need help dealing with the Alpha. The Guild has a few contacts in the city’s government that might be able to send a message.”
It was almost laughable to think about the human government trying to tell an immortal Alpha that he couldn’t be possessive of the woman fate had all but thrown at him. If someone was going to help me deal with him, it sure as hell wasn’t them.
“Thanks. I will.” I slipped out of the booth, carrying the wristbands.
One of the vampires noticed me and jogged over.
Green.
Ugh.
He looked like a human version of Maverick, with orange hair, light, freckled skin, and an average build. He was a vampire, but like me, not one that looked special.
His personality was what bugged me. He was so… nice. Too nice. It was probably messed up that I even thought that. But he was nice to the point where sarcasm offended him, which made conversations between us endlessly awkward, because I couldn’t shut my sarcasm off.
At least Velour wasn’t there. I wouldn’t have been able to act normal around him.
I didn’t see Timber either, but that was typical. He was careful to leave when I got there. We had a history, and avoided each other for the most part outside of meeting up to fuck once or twice a year.
Screwing humans wasn’t completely safe, as Velour had just proven, so my ex was the only person I could really turn to for that. Unless I wanted to screw someone I liked even less.
Like Green.
“Hey, Bloom.” Green fell into step beside me as I beelined it toward a human guy with a red wristband. I remembered the human for not being weird after I bit him a few times.
Some of them got weird. I avoided those ones.
“Hi, Green.”
“Is there anything I can do to help? I heard about your werewolf problem.”
“I’m sure everyone did. It’s a small Guild.” And a smaller group of vampires.
“My mom thinks sealing a mate bond with me would break whatever connection exists between you and the Alpha,” he said.
“Yeah, it probably would.”
“We could do it here and now.” He sounded way too cheery as he offered me his hand.
I took a giant step away. “If you touch me, my werewolf problem is going to kill you.”
Green grimaced. “If we were bonded, I don’t think he—”
“He thinks I’m his soulmate, and he absolutely would even if you and I were bonded. Werewolves are really possessive.”
“Alright. Just let me know if you change your mind.”
I might actually rather mate with Maverick than Green if I had to pick one.
Holy fuck, that was a dark situation to imagine myself in.
“Bye.” I took a seat next to the human I recognized. His name was… Kyle. Or Lyle? No, I was pretty sure it was Kyle. He was a good one.
He wordlessly offered me his arm. Like many of the humans did, he knew I didn’t play with my food like some of the other vampires.
Poem and Velour must’ve screwed their way through most of the humans in the Guild at that point. There was a decent chance Green had, too. He was just quieter about it.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Any time.”
I sank my teeth into his vein, and nearly gagged at the bitter taste of his blood.
Not vanilla.
Definitely not vanilla.
That wasn’t his fault. It was Maverick’s. I hadn’t even tasted the werewolf, and I was already addicted.
I managed to get the first mouthful down, which made the second a little easier to swallow. It was a struggle, but I slowly managed to keep feeding through the timer that let us know we’d taken enough.
The guy tapped the table when his alarm went off. I detached my fangs from his wrist and handed him one of my black bands. He handed over the red.
My hunger had abated significantly, but it still remained.
“Thanks, Kyle.”
“Like I said, any time. Make sure the werewolf Alpha doesn’t come after me?”
“You’ve got it.”
As long as I didn’t touch the humans I was feeding from with any part of me but my hands, I should be able to wash their scents off completely.
Reluctantly, I found another human I recognized, and fed from her. She tasted even worse than Kyle.
And a third, who I also fed from. It took everything I had not to gag at the taste of him.
Feeding wasn’t usually this hard.
Fucking Maverick.
Poem slid into the booth, sitting across from me just as I finally tried to get up and leave. He had brown skin and curly black hair that was shaved on the sides but long on the top.
“If you touch me, the werewolf Alpha will kill you,” I warned.
I could get used to having a werewolf threat on my side. I had been tired of handsy male vampires who wanted me as their mate since I was a teenager. All of us were told over and over again that we had to take a mate when we were young, and I was the only eligible single vampire chick in the city.
“I have an offer,” Poem said smoothly.
I was positive that he’d had a conversation with his family that was similar to the one Green had with his. “No, I’m not interested in mating with you to break whatever weird connection exists between me and the wolf.”
He scowled. “You’d rather mate with a werewolf than spend immortality with me?”
Honestly, yes.
“Both options are unappealing. The wolf isn’t interested in sealing a bond, though, so he’s the lesser evil right now. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I walked away.
After a stop in the bathroom to scrub any possible scents off my hands, I made it through the doors and to my car without any other problems.
Crisis averted.
Now, I had approximately two hours before Maverick was going to get to my house.
I picked up groceries and Italian food on the way home, forgoing mine and Harper’s preferred dishes in favor the smelliest possible meals.
Garlic for the win.
I was glad the stories about vampires and garlic weren’t true, because it was the perfect tool for hiding scents.
What it wasn’t, was a magic wand to make Harper human again.
I couldn’t help but tear up a little as I processed everything she’d told me. The facts of the matter hadn’t completely set in when I talked to her earlier. I’d been too hungry, and too shocked.
But Harper could die.
She would die.
My best friend, who was basically my sister. I was closer to her than I was to Whimsy or Mouse, and I’d spent a lot more time with her than I had with either of them.
Being a turned vampire was a death sentence. There was no other way to look at it, or put it.
What would I do if I lost her?
She was the one person who understood that I didn’t actually want to be alone when I said I needed time alone, and the only one who had been there for all of my worst moments.
I’d always known she was human and therefore had an expiration date, but I had never actually considered losing her.
It was more than a possibility, now.
It was almost a guarantee.
Though I wanted to pull into a gas station and cry as I worked through that, I couldn’t allow myself to let more than a few tears free as I drove.
Harper didn’t need me to mourn now, or lose my shit.
She needed me to hold it together—and try to come up with a way around the inevitable.
So I swallowed my emotions down like a good fucking friend and tried like hell to think of an alternative.