I gritted my teeth. “I just risked my life to get off the stuff and escape vampire Sandals.”
“I didn’t know they have one, but this isn’t about you, now is it?”
I hate you.“If I drink it, what good is that? You’re not a vampire. You can’t command me.”
“Our ally is standing by.” Charlie pulled his cell from his back pocket and set it on the table.
My brain played a quick match of pickleball.
Yes.
No.
Don’t be selfish.
Yes, be selfish. That stuff is dangerous.
But so are tornadoes, and I live in Tennessee.
“Fine,” I said. “But you’d better not make me do sex stuff.”
“Masie,” he snapped, acting like I’d kicked him straight in the heart.
“What?” I snapped back. “I trust absolutely no one right now, and that includes you. Well, okay, I trust you more than a vampire, but what’s to say you’re not on moonshine, convincing me to drink moonshine, so that I’ll make more moonshine, and you and your evil vampire buds will use it for nefarious purposes?”
He slowly bobbed his head, mulling. “You need proof.”
“Does a possum like bananas?” I said.
“Errr… I really don’t know.”
“Yes. The answer is yes,” I said.
Just then Ashley came up with my order. “Well, hi there.” She batted her eyelashes at Charlie. “Who’s your friend here, Masie?”
Not now, Ashley.Couldn’t she put her chick-boner away for ten seconds? “Table ten is waving atcha,” I grumbled.
“I’ll be back in a sec to take your order,” she said with adumb giggle to Charlie.
Dear Lord.I loved that girl, but she was definitely on the clock. The one that demanded a virile man, a big wedding, and a baby or two. Lately, every break she had was spent on Pinterest, perusing wedding dresses and baby rooms. Not that I could fault her. If it weren’t for Stark derailing my life, I might be perusing with her.
Charlie fixated on Ashley’s bun cakes as she walked away.
“Stop it. Ashley has a boyfriend, and we have serious work to do.” I pressed my finger into the table. “Show me your proof.”
He took his phone, tapped the screen, and slid it across the table. “My plan is already underway.”
I reluctantly grabbed the device. On the screen was a video feed, and though the image was dark, I could make out a wet stone tunnel with bars on either side. There were several pairs of pale hands reaching out from inside the cells.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Like I said, any vampires on the wrong side are quietly being rounded up. But I can’t tell you more. The less you know, the better. It’s for your own protection.”
Seriously?Stark also subscribed to this mantra. “Oh, baby woman-thing, your tiny brain is much too fragile to understand the male complexities of war. Also, your big tits get in the way of my superior thinkin’. You run off now and make me a quesadilla. Extra spicy!”
Yes, yes. Vampires didn’t eat those, but that was what my imagination came up with. In truth, for an ancient vampire, Stark wasn’t all that chauvinistic. He didn’t care what I wore, as long as I felt comfortable. He didn’t say weird archaic garbage like, “No woman of mine will work or have her own money. And dammit, take off those shoes! Get a baby in that belly, or I’ll throw you into a volcano.” He’d even cooked for me once. It had been vile and inedible, but he’d done it all the same. As far as I could see, Stark’s biggest flaws were his inability to tell the truth and then sheltering those lies under an umbrella of chivalry.
Chivalry, Mas?I argued with myself. The man had me thinking I was a vampire. He’d drugged and starved me. Then he’d hypnotized me and made me believe I’d had all that fun.
