Page 43 of No One’s Daughter

But I could wait.

Maybe I should have been more grateful for the way he had protected me but then again, I would never have been in the position to need protection in the first place if it wasn’t for him. So as far as I was concerned, it was all his fault.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, though realistically couldn’t have been more than an hour or so, he’d led us to the outskirts of a sleepy little village.

“Don’t get any ideas,” he muttered, pulling me to his side by the elbow. “Stay at my side and do as I say.”

“Sure thing, boss,” I yawned.

He grunted but apparently decided against taking the bait, instead ushering us into a dusty old pub. I’d guess that the pub had been here longer than the village itself.

It was low beamed and not quite straight, its stone exterior darkened by years of weather erosion and neglect.

The door groaned as Davien pushed it open, the sound cutting through the low murmur within and I was sure everyone’s eyes turned to us.

I hesitated before stepping inside, following Davien. The air inside was thick with the smell of stale beer, damp wood and something sour beneath it, like it had seeped into the very walls over decades.

We headed straight for the bar, ignoring the stares of the locals. I’m sure we must have been a bizarre sight in a village like this, and that was without noting that Davien was walking around shirtless in November. And they’d probably not seen anyone below the age of fifty in just as many years. They were straight up leering at me. One of them even had the audacity to lick his lips suggestively at me. I knew the types of men these were, came across them far too often in life, and this, this right here was one of the reasons I embraced my newfound vampiric nature so readily. I was no longer prey to them, and never would be again. Truth was, had Davien not been here right now, I probably would have happily drained every single last one of them. And I would have enjoyed it too.

Heck, I still might. Maybe Davien would let go of that restraint he carried like a shield and join me.

“Stay here,” Davien warned, planting me on a stool at the bar. The barman was about to open his mouth but Davien cut him off. “She’ll have a double vodka. Don’t suppose I could use your phone?”

“It’ll cost you,” the man behind the bar said eventually, after he was done glaring at the pair of us, lazily preparing the drink. “There’s a payphone through those doors,” he vaguely gestured to the left, then he turned to me. “Here you go love, you need anything else, let me know,” he said, his eyes not leaving me as he spoke.

Davien didn’t respond, instead making his way to make his precious phone call. Probably to the people he worked for. I really should make a run for it. I downed the vodka, not that it did much of anything. I supposed this was why vampires in movies were always drinking. Feels like I’d need a gallon of it just to feel a buzz.

“Sure you’re safe with that weirdo?” The barman said, gesturing at the doors Davien had disappeared behind.

“I’ll keep you safe, doll,” a middle aged, overweight creep taunted from the corner.

“If she’s to be sittin’ on anyone’s lap it’ll be mine. I call dibs,” the barman drawled and my gaze caught on his ugly neck. I cocked my head as I watched the pulse beneath his skin calling to me. I could use a real drink. Davien had taken too much earlier. I still wasn’t quite right.

I didn’t bother responding. I didn’t need words to end them. I licked my lips—the fool actually thought he had the power here—and my fangs descended. The sharp point of them poked into the soft of my tongue as I wondered how long it would take for me to immobilise them all before they could make it out, or their screams woke the neighbours.

My pulse echoed in my ears and I decided, fuck it.

I leapt across the bar and sank my teeth into his neck.

Blood filled my mouth in an instant. It felt so wrong, yet so fucking right.

Power thrummed in my veins, and before the fatso to my right had the chance to piss himself, I lunged myself at him, tearing into his neck so deeply that I knew he’d bleed to death in the next minute. I was making a mess, but I didn’t care. These men were pieces of shit and they chose the wrong woman to leer at tonight. I doubted they’d be missed by anyone other than each other.

For the first time in my life, I wasn’t at the mercy of men. Of anyone.

I was the one delivering mercy… or well, the lack of it.

My grip on him remained effortlessly strong as I sank my teeth into the next throat, the pulse there frantic, fleeting. I drank deeply, steadily. This time not stopping until his body went slack in my arms, until the last trace of life left him and there was nothing more to take.

This wasn’t like the other times.

I wasn’t draining him because I lacked control or because I was desperately trying to satiate my hunger.

No.

This time… I did it because I could.

Because I wanted to.