“It makes sense now. You obviously have a fetish for guys with brown hair.”
“I do,” she says with a smile. Unlike the others, only two of her fangs show, making her look a lot like a sexy TV vampire.
I hate her even more.
“Though I don’t think it’s fair for you to judge. It seems you have quite the fetish of your own.” She inhales, eyes fluttering closed. “Mhhh,” she breathes, as if she just smelled freshly baked cookies. “It smells like sex in here. Two—no, three different men? A girl after my own heart. Too bad I have to rip yours right out of your chest.”
“You can try,” I retort.
She makes a face. “Actually, I’d rather not. I just got my nails done.” She looks at her long, pointed nails. They’re painted black and have clusters of jewels on each one. “Oh, boys! She’s up here!”
“You’re making them do your dirty work?”
She shrugs. “That’s why they’re here, darling.”
“So you’re like the female Charles Manson of the vampire world.”
Her full lips curve into a smile. “I like that. Maybe I’ll use it as a catch phrase.”
“Catch phrases won’t work when you’re dead.”
“Too bad for you, then.” She yawns, acting bored, and moves to the mirror to check her hair.
“I saw you. During the day.”
She lets out a high-pitched and girly laugh. “Don’t trust everything you read on the internet.” She shakes her head. “You really are dumb, aren’t you?”
“But sunlight…” I blink. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is killing this bitch.
With a sigh, she turns back to me. “I might as well tell you. You’re going to be dead soon and dying with this knowledge in your little brain will be like salt on the wound.” Her lips curve into a smile. “We learn to tolerate sunlight in small doses. Not direct light, but cloudy days like today are as good as twilight for us older vamps. Remember that as I drain the life out of you. Everyone you hold dear…everyone you care about…they’re not safe at night or on days like today. Which seems to be most days around here.”
I swallow hard. “So the nurse at the free clinic is a vampire,” I think out loud. This is bad. Really fucking bad.
She laughs again. “That idiot? No. Well, not yet. He doesn’t fuck well enough for me to want him around forever.” She turns back to the mirror. “I suppose he has time to learn. And Iama good teacher.”
I look her up and down, weighing my options. Jacques told me the older a vampire is, the more powerful they are. And not just physically. Some have abilities and can kill you without even touching you. This woman has sired an army and has her back turned. She knows I’m not a threat, not in the state I’m in.
Keeping the stakes out in front of me, I circle around the room, going to the window. It’s my only way out. I can’t fight five vampires, but I might be able to get out and get away long enough to figure out how to recharge my magical batteries.
And we’re closing in on sunset.
Never in my life have I admitted to needing someone. I’ve appreciated help. I’ve allowed them to ease the burden of something I’m more than capable of doing alone. But right now, I know in my heart I need them.
And they need me.
I reach behind me, feeling for the lock. I flip it and slide the window open. I’m halfway out when the bedroom door opens. My eyes widen in terror and I bring my arm back, chucking one of the stakes at the first vampire to enter the room. It hits him in the arm, tearing open his flesh. He yells and clamps his hand over the wound.
“What are you waiting for!” Vampire Barbie shouts to the others. “Kill her!”
I back up and topple out the window. My head throbs, and more blood drips down my neck. Clambering away, I look through the fog and see the outline of Jacques’s wings.
He’s still frozen in stone.
I get up onto my feet and hold the stake out in front of me. I’m fighting with myself not to get dizzy from blood loss. A vampire comes through the window, his tall frame rising in the fog. I recognize him as the one I burned back at the bar. His wounds haven’t healed.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” he says with a sneer.
“A long time? It’s been days, buddy. You’re immortal. You need a better sense of time.”
