“You have no idea how far those two things are from my mind.”
“I hate you!” From the sanctuary of my bright orange bathroom, I rubbed calamine lotion on my stinging ass. “I’m going to kill you for that!”
“I would like to see you try!” he yelled from the other side of the closed door. “At least then I’d know you are taking me seriously!”
While he had been spanking the hell out of my rear, he’d kept repeating: “This is life or death. And you will obey me. This is life or death. And you will obey me…”
I pulled up my purple PJ pants, reached for the door, and jerked it open. “I know exactly how serious this is. Do you?” This outdated…T-rexhad just treated me like a child, and somewhere in his ancient, tiny dinosaur brain, he thought smacking my back porch wouldscare me straight.
Well, it hadn’t. If anything, I was more determined than ever to mow him down like a bad weed.
His eyes narrowed. “If that were true, I would not have to resort to such barbaric, yetextremelysatisfying, measures.”
“You’re such an asshole. And stop drugging my family with that moonshine garbage!”
Stark went silent for a moment. “An asshole,” he said calmly, “would not risk everything he has worked for. Five hundred years. All because of a woman who has absolutely no clue how to listen. Or trust. Or love.”
Wow.“I know how to love, and it don’t mean eatin’ people.”
“I do not know what you have been told, but the only person I have eaten in the last century is standing right in front of me.” He shrugged. “Never been one for tongue sex until you came along.”
I made a sour face. Did he really think this was the time to get all cute on me? “That is not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Dear God.” He groaned with frustration. “If you would simply listen for a minute, you would understand everything, including why I may—or may not—have instructed your father to give your family moonshine. Is sixty seconds truly too much to ask for? All right, ten minutes. But I promise if you do, everything will change.”
Stark stood on my very last inch of trust. “I’ll give you two minutes. And it had better start withwhy you lied and made me think I was a vampire.” I remained standing in the bathroom doorway.
Stark took a seat on the edge of my bed and ran his hands over his long black hair. “Vampires are planning a takeover—”
“You’re turning us into pigs. I knew it.”
He held out a hand, urging me to remain silent.
Anger in my eyes, I folded my arms over my chest and clamped my lips shut.
He went on, “The truth is, there are many vampires who refuse to cease the practice of killing humans. They believe it is our God-given right because we are apex predators. Others simply enjoy the screaming while they play with their food.”
Gah…That explained the waking chambers.
He continued, “What you do not know is that my coven are such vampires, and they have powerful influence over the other covens.”
And Stark is their leader.So I’d been right about everything. “And you thought to just take over the world so you can snack on screaming humans whenever you get a hankerin’ for it?”
“No. I mean yes.Theywant that. Me, I am merely going along with the plan, and it is why I had to ensure the Kicklighters were not kicking up problems. Which they were threatening to do if I did not bring you home immediately.” He drew a slow breath. “When the moment is right, I hope to change my coven’s minds—to help them realize their efforts are futile—butI cannot take such a drastic stand from a weak position. I must garner more support, powerful support.”
“Why don’t you just spank ’em, then?” I snapped sarcastically.
“They would enjoy it too much,” he said dryly.
Of course they would. Damned vampires. “You’re their leader. What’s more powerful than that?”
He rubbed his hands up and down his thighs. “My coven is not working alone. This past year, several well-respected vampires from other covens have joined the cause and have been conspiring with your human politicians, lobbyists, and manufacturers of pharmaceuticals to assist in this takeover.”
Wait. What?“Humans are in on this?”
He nodded. “Thousands of people a day are being cured of chronic illnesses with the use of vampire blood. That, and Korean boy bands. Seems laughter is the best medicine after all. Either way, these big companies want it to stop—they are going bankrupt.”
“I knew it. I knew they’d get all pissy.” Leave it to big pharma and those corrupt psychos in DC to stab humankind in the back. Not that they were all bad, but it just didn’t shock me that the worst of them would go there.
