Almost Human (7 page)

He smiled. “One I’ve gained over
the years. I’m good with a knife. Besides, it’s so much cooler than
my given name. Not to mention easier to say.”

He pushed the hood off his head.
He had a pair of mirrored, black sunglasses covering his eyes. His
spiked, black hair stuck up at odd angles because of the hood. “Do
you know where the zombie is going?”

“Alaric’s house, to complete its
mission to kill my sister and all the brothers.”

He snickered and lowered his head.
“Me coming to Alaric’s rescue? He’s not gonna like
that.”

The breeze ruffled my hair. The
vampire’s head snapped up. He stepped forward and cradled my face
in his hands. He licked the corner of my mouth and I gasped. He
took advantage and slipped his tongue into my mouth, exploring it
thoroughly. His mouth had the distinct taste of vodka
and…butterscotch candies?

I jerked away from him and he tightened his grip on
my face a second before he reluctantly released me.

“What the fuck did you do that
for?”

A sly grin curled his lips.
“Sorry, poor impulse control. You’re hot and afraid. Combine that
with the smell and sight of blood and it was too much, especially
when the breeze blew the scent in my face. You’re a good kisser, by
the way. If we had time we could—”

“Don’t finish that sentence. Not
unless you want a knife in the heart.”

He leaned forward and whispered in
my ear. “You don’t have any knives.”

He stepped back. “But don’t worry
about that. I’ll give them back to you when we reach our
destination. Now get on the bike.”

“What?”

“You need a ride and I’ll need
backup to kill this thing. Get on the fucking bike.”

I trudged toward the motorcycle
and muttered. “Imagine, going in with a vampire as backup. It
sounds like a bad plan.”

“Well, I don’t feel good taking
you as backup either.”

I turned to him when I reached the
bike. “Do you have a helmet for me?”

“Honey, I don’t even have a helmet
for me. I’m pretty much looking to get into a crash and kill
myself. You’ll have to hope I don’t do it with you.” He straddled
the bike.

I glared at him for a split second before I mounted
the motorcycle and wrapped my arms around his waist.

“Could you put those hands a
little lower? Maybe get a little massage going?”

“Don’t be gross, just
drive.”

“Whatever you want,
honey.”

Chapter Six

We rolled to a stop on the street
in front of Alaric’s house.

“You got any kind of plan,
huntress?”

I shrugged and got off the bike.
“I figured I’d break in and talk to Casey. She can warn the boys
and get them to skip town.”

Dagger chuckled. “You ever tried
breaking into a vampire’s house? Super hearing gives us the
advantage, and the brothers aren’t exactly known for being heavy
sleepers.”

He nodded at the cobalt blue
muscle car parked across the street. “The Dodge Charger is Fallon’s
car. Only met the man once, but I get the feeling you can’t sneak
up on that fucker.”

I crossed my arms over my chest.
“For your information, yes, I have broken into a vampire’s house
before. Granted, none were as old as these, but I’ll manage. And
I’d appreciate it if you didn’t give me you’re unsolicited friendly
advice.”

I turned and walked toward the house.

“Okay, I hope they ask you why
you’re there before they kill you. I’ll wait here for you to die.
Think they’ll let me have a taste of you?”

I ignored the bastard and kept
walking. “Stupid, blood-sucking jackass.”

I tiptoed up the porch steps and
glared at the doorknob. I didn’t have any lock-picking tools. I
could force the door open with little effort, but a lot of noise.
On a whim I tried the doorknob. Surely they locked their doors
during the day?

The door swung inward. Wow, guess
not. But then, vampires didn’t have to worry about armed robbers or
axe murderers. They could take on any psychopath who doomed himself
by stepping into the house.

Doomed. What a terrible way to put things as I was
about to waltz over the threshold. I took a deep breath and stepped
in anyway. I had to warn my sister.

I shut the door behind me as
silently as possible and tiptoed to the stairs. I crept up and
prayed to the gods that they wouldn’t squeak.

When I reached the second floor
landing, I breathed a sigh of relief. No loud, creaky stairs. It
was a miracle in a house this old. I glanced down the hall. All was
clear, except that the second door was open. I’d have to be extra
careful not to wake the room’s occupant.

I slinked to the door and peered
in. Fuck, of course it would be Alaric’s room, because the universe
was trying to kill me. He lay on his stomach, spread eagle in
nothing but leather pants. His peaceful face was turned toward the
door. He didn’t snore, which was another tally in the perfect
column.

No. He was not perfect. He was an
evil, blood-sucking leech. I nodded, took a deep breath, and
skulked past him. I reached my sister’s room and cracked open the
door. Light from the hallway hit Casey’s face. She groaned, rolled
over, yanked the pillow out from under Misha’s head and covered her
face.

My heart pounded. He was going to
wake up and see me standing there. He moaned, but made no move to
take the pillow back or get out of bed.

I silently shut the door. Fuck. I
was a dumb ass. Of course the boy toy would be in there with her. I
kept my annoyed sigh to myself. What now? It wasn’t as if I could
talk to Alaric.

I’d go get Dagger and make him
talk to them. From what he’d said they didn’t get along, but it was
better than me trying to get a word in. I spun around to head back
out but came to an abrupt halt.

Alaric frowned down at me from less than three feet
away.

My slowing heart redoubled its
pace. “No chance you’re a sleepwalker?”

He smiled. “Nope. Now, are you
going to come quietly, or are you going to wake the house? My
brothers wanted to hunt you down. Imagine their joy if they find
you right here.”

I went for the knife at my back
and found nothing. “Fuck, that leech didn’t give me back my
weapons,” I muttered.

His grin widened. “Perfect.” He
jerked his head toward his door. “My room, get moving.”

I stepped around him while he eyed
me like I was prey. Could I make it to the front door? There were a
few tables I could put in his way, but he could probably jump over
them without much effort and I’d have to make it down the stairs
first.

But giving up and going into his
room wasn’t an option. Not unless I wanted more holes in my
neck.

Alaric seized my upper arm in a
bruising grip and I jumped. He jerked me to him and pressed his
lips to my ear. “Don’t run. The chase is exciting. I’m faster and
stronger than you, and I’m famished. I only took a taste of you
last night. I haven’t fed. You’d never make it to the door, and I
might hurt you accidentally for trying.”

His grip loosened and he ran his
other hand through my hair and released a shaky breath. “I don’t
want to hurt you.”

We walked to his room, his hand
still on my arm, as if he didn’t trust me not to run. Hell, I
didn’t trust me not to run. I wasn’t raised to be compliant, and I
got the feeling that I was about to become the midday
meal.

He shoved me into his room and I stumbled against
the bed. He shut the door silently and turned to face me.

I stood and backed around the bed,
away from him. “Alaric, I have to talk to you. I came to warn
you.”

He stalked me slowly, waiting to
strike. “We can talk later. After.”

“After?” My voice came out high
pitched and squeaky and I cursed myself.

“You know what I crave, witch.
Tasting your blood made me hunger for you, ache for you. Should I
tell you what I’m dying to do to you?”

“No.” The word was almost a shout
compared to our lowered voices.

He stopped walking toward me, and
ran his hand slowly down his chest. “I want to feed from you. Strip
you buck naked. Tie you down—”

“No, no tying down again.” But my
pussy creamed at the thought.

He took a deep inhale through his
nose and slid his hands under the waistband of his pants. “I smell
your need. Let me sate you.”

Yeah, why not?
My libido purred.

Alaric sprang forward, closing the distance between
us in three strides. He wrapped his arms around me, pinning my
hands. I gasped as his lips crashed over mine, hell bent on
possession. His tongue thrust into my mouth. God, he tasted
good.

He backed me up until we tumbled on to the bed. He
skimmed a palm across my nipple and I arched against him. His hand
trailed farther down my body.

I broke the kiss and he moved his mouth to my
neck.

“Alaric, stop. This is not what I
came here for.”

“Just a taste.” He ran his tongue
up my throat and sighed. “A little taste.”

He slipped his hand into my
panties and rubbed my clit. The breath exploded from my lungs. His
fangs pierced my throat. After a brief sting, the pain faded away
and a blinding wave of pleasure lit me up like a Christmas tree. He
drank from my throat in long, desperate pulls while he played with
the bundle of nerves between my thighs.

I threaded my fingers through his
hair and pulled him closer.
Shove him
away. What kind of a person lets a vampire drink from them?
He took another long drink from my throat. I
started to feel dizzy, and still he didn’t stop.

I moved my hands to his shoulders
and tried to push him away, but he wouldn’t budge. “Alaric, you’re
taking too much.” God, he was going to kill me.

Shhh, be easy. I won’t hurt
you
. His mind whispered inside of mine. He
took one final draw from my vein before he pulled away.

He braced himself on his forearms
over me. “Are you okay? I was a little crazed.”

“I’m…God, how much did you take?
I’m laying down, and I’m still dizzy.”

His eyebrows came together and he
frowned. “I took more than I should have, but you’ll be fine. Stay
still. I don’t want you to be sick.”

“No problems there. I think if I
sat up, I’d pass out.”

“I’m so sorry. I waited too long
to feed. And you came in here, smelling good and afraid. I was
angry that you had come back, but glad at the same time, and I
snapped.”

Glad? He’d been glad to see me? I
frowned at the giddy, girly feeling I got. “How long did you go
without feeding?”

“A month. There’s been so much
going on lately. I haven’t had time, or been in the
mood.”

A month? Holy crap. “I’ve never
heard of a vampire going more than two weeks without feeding. By
then they’re like rabid animals, and they usually kill their
victims.” A chill went down my spine. How close had I come to death
this day?

“Yeah, but have you met that many
over a hundred? I’m like eight hundred. I have control. I would
have more if I deprived myself more often to test my limits, but
I’ve gotten spoiled. It’s a lot easier to find willing victims in
the twenty-first century than it was in my time.”

The light bounced off something
metal behind Alaric’s head. I braced my hands on his shoulders and
shoved, rolling with him.

“What the fu—”

The double-sided axe bit into the
bed. Before the zombie could lift it out, I kicked her in the
stomach. She flew into the wall with enough force to dent the sheet
rock.

This had to be Sherra. She looked
pretty good for a zombie. Mother must have poured a lot of magic
into her. But you could still tell she was a corpse. Her skin was
almost grey and stretched taut across her bones. Her limp hair hung
well past her shoulders and a small patch was missing on the side
of her head. Thinned lips pulled back from her rotting teeth and
the stench of her was enough to make me gag. She must have been
cloaked in magic for Alaric not to have noticed it well before I
spotted her.

Stuffing flew as I yanked the axe
out of the bed. I shoved myself off Alaric and spun around. I swung
the heavy axe at Sherra’s head with all I had. She ducked, and the
blade struck the wall.

She kicked me in the stomach and I
tumbled across the bed and onto the floor on the other side. I lay
there for a second, relearning how to breathe. Nausea swelled up in
my gut. Oh gees, not now. I didn’t want to be vomiting up
everything I’d ever eaten when this bitch decapitated
me.

There was pounding on the door and
the doorknob rattled. “Alaric!”

“Can you hear us? What’s going
on?”

“We can’t break down the
door.”

Jet black, pointy-toed boots came
into view. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and looked up
at the evil dead.

She stared down at me with solid
white eyes and I felt her disgust. Her lip curled back from her
teeth. “Why do you defend this creature, daughter? You’re of my
line. You should be hunting it.”