Fin was right. Honey and salt. Cream and beef. Liquor too. Champagne. Sake.
My head spun from alcohol while the perfect liquid flowed, warm and wonderful, down my throat. My stomach sang in happiness.
That’s enough, piccola
, Stella’s voice whispered through my mind.
I growled, tightening my grip on my prey. Ember moaned.
“Ember is quite all right, Stella,” Fin cooed, stroking my hair. “I know her limits. She can take it.”
But could I? Ember’s circulatory system burst to life in my mind’s eye, like shooting neon red stars leaving pulsing trails in their wake. Beautiful. Delicious. Mine.
I curled an arm around her waist and held her flush against my body, enjoying the hell out of her tiny hand clutching my arm. Squeeze, release. Squeeze, release. In rhythm to the pulls of my mouth from her willing vein.
My power billowed out of me like a sail caught by wind. My hair undulated around my head, its softness tickling my face.
Basta,
Stella growled, mind-voice like steel.
Ember’s pulse had slowed, her heart giving a little stutter. Yet I wanted to keep her in my arms, my mouth at her neck, her blood feeding me, stoking my power. What did it matter if she died?
My dark thought broke the bloodlust’s spell and shot me off the couch. I collided with Fin and Stella. They each took me by an arm, cementing me in place when all I wanted to do was hightail it out of the club and hide. It was one thing to want Dixon, that evil kidnapping bastard, dead. It was another thing entirely to kill an innocent, human girl. For a moment, too long of a moment, I hadn’t cared about that.
Thank God I cared now.
Ren stalked over. “I’ll take it from here.”
Stella and Fin gave him stony stares and didn’t budge.
I shook my arms. “I’m okay now.”
Physically, I felt great. Blood from a live source fueled my body like nothing else ever had. Mentally and emotionally, however, my many problems surfaced to stomp all over my heart. As if it needed more pummeling from my absentee father making demands via proxy, my vampire brother fighting through the feral phase of his new existence and quite possibly hating me, Dixon hurting Faith and Kai, and last but certainly not least, Alexander two-timing me with that vampire cougar.
I could do something about that last one. “Stella, give me my phone.”
She sped to the bar. My friends—Shane, Bobby, Gen, Claire, and Milo parted to make way for her. She grabbed my phone from the bar top and returned to me. Until that moment, I’d forgotten about my audience, who viewed me with what looked like sympathy and awe and a touch of fascinated horror. Embarrassment rippled through me, and my face heated.
I shook off the mortification and brought up the message window. My thumbs flew over the tiny keyboard in vampire hyper speed.
We’re done. Don’t call me. Don’t text me. Don’t email me. It’s over. I’d say have a nice immortal life, but I’d be lying. I hope you and your cougar rot in vampire hell.
Send.
A sense of numb detachment descended upon me when the blue bubble appeared on my screen. “I dumped him,” I announced to the room.
Claps and cheers all around. Gen gave me a firm bear hug. Stella gave me an approving nod as I tossed her my phone. Fin beamed at me, flashing fangs.
I snagged him by the neck and planted a swift, hard kiss on his perfect mouth. “Thanks for the fun.”
I stalked to the bar before he could reply, snagged a half full sake bottle, and hopped onto the bar with vampire grace—loved that—raising the bottle over my head. “Now let’s really get this party started.”
Milo and Claire hurried to the turntables, Shane and Bobby
oohed
and
ahed
over my sparkly new fangs, and I forced every bit of feeling I had for Alexander into a steel drum in my head and threw it down a metaphorical bottomless well.
Done and done.
I awakened to the sound of the espresso maker in my kitchen steaming a happy making caffeine tune, and soft snores from a big, warm body curled around mine from behind. I attempted to stretch but the tan and muscular arm banded around my waist tightened its grip and pulled me closer, an erection pushing against my butt.
Mark’s erection.
I wriggled in his grasp and banged my palm on his arm. “Hey, wake up. And get that thing away from me.”
He rolled onto his back, rubbing a hand over his face. “Sorry. Morning wood.” He met my annoyed stare. “How you feeling?”
I settled on my side and propped my head on my hand. “Thirsty as hell. Pounding headache.” I ran my tongue over my teeth. At some point last night, my fangs had retracted. Would I be able to summon them at will? “Stomach is okay, muscles fine. Teeth back to normal. Not too shabby all things considered.”
“You mean considering the fuck-load of bottles you plowed through last night?”
I shrugged. “Yes, but you know, sake is the easiest of all hangovers.”
“True that.” He snagged a water bottle off the nightstand and handed it to me.
“Thanks, Mom,” I teased but drank down half of it before setting it on the nightstand closest to me.
“Want to talk about it?” Mark stretched his long frame, showing no sign of getting out of my bed anytime soon.
I flopped back against my pillows. “Gee, you really have turned into the mom I never had.”
That snarky comment earned me a glower and stony silence.
Fine. “Are you referring to my brand spankin’ new fangs or my ex?” I winced at the sound of the “e” word, the finality of it.
Mark snorted. “Fangs, schmangs. You know what I meant.”
Indeed. I could never fool my best friends. It was a Hail Mary miracle I managed to keep the whole Dixon debacle a secret from them for so many days.
I smoothed my hand over the silk duvet cover. “It’s done, Mark. I can’t dwell. I won’t let it suck me under.” Easy words to say but my heart remained unconvinced. I changed the subject to quash the sadness spearing my insides. “Do
you
want to talk about that morning hard on?”
He chuckled. “Dream. Not starring you.”
I elbowed him. “Well, of course not.”
Though we’d decided long ago, back in college, to lose our virginity to each other, we were then and still are, friends.
Platonic
friends. He gave me a lopsided smile, telling me without saying a word he was remembering our first time. We told no one, not even Faith, Kai, and Ren, though given Faith’s psychic mojo, she probably knew.
In the kitchen, Ren whistled off-key. The microwave beeped, and the scent of bacon wafted down the hall.
I rubbed my hands together. “Hot damn, he’s making coffee and brekkie. Hurrah.”
“Yeah, little bro is handy like that.”
I shook my head every time Mark called Ren
little
brother. His huge twin was only a few minutes younger. “Yes, thank all that’s holy he managed to get out of bed and make it happen.”
I, for one, didn’t want to leave my cushy bed. Rising meant facing the day. Facing the day meant talking to nosy family, dodging well-meaning friends, and above all ignoring my cell phone.
Mark clasped his hands behind his head and stared up at nothing. “Want me to hunt down Alexander and behead his sorry ass?”
Speaking of well-meaning friends… “No. But thanks for the love.”
“Anytime.”
Footsteps pounded up the hall. Ren strode in, breakfast tray in hand. I sat up and cracked a grin. “My hero.”
He winked. “At your service, sexy.” He sat the tray across my lap then thumped down next to me on the bed.
He had gone all out, as usual. A heaping plate of bacon, same with scrambled eggs, pile of buttered sourdough toast, three coffees, and three forks. Communal breakfast. Big, shared plates, like we used to do pre-Alexander. My broken heart mended a smidge at Ren’s efforts. He snagged a piece of bacon and ate it in one go. Another two followed.
“Pig.” Mark grabbed three pieces and shoved them in his mouth.
I snorted. These two made everything a contest. “My turn.” I picked up one piece and ate the end in a blatant show of neat and tidy.
Mark huffed in mock disgust. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
He shoveled down some eggs, and I formulated my reply.
Avoid everyone. Stop thinking about Alexander. Try to find a work-around for my Dixon problem. Save Faith and Kai. Drink another vial of blood. Keep lying like a champ.
“Nothing much.”
Ren belched. “Right. Is payback on the agenda? Please say payback is on the agenda.”
Another tiny corner of my heart mended. “No. No carnage. It’s done. Besides, I have a new club to open, and since you’re the head of security for Club Destiny, I need you alive and functional.”
Ren sat up straight and snarled. “I can handle both, and you know it.”
Mark harrumphed in agreement around his mouthful of toast.
I raised my hand, flopping my bacon at them. “I know you guys can kick vampire ass but that’s not the point. Though I do appreciate the sentiment. It’s over.” I finished the bacon and picked up my coffee cup. “Here’s to new, drama-free beginnings.”
Both men stared at me, assessing the veracity of my words. I watched their need to argue with me work in their expressions. I knew I’d won when, without another word, they lifted their coffee cups and clinked them with mine.
~ * ~
I should have known it wouldn’t be so easy to dismiss Alexander.
After breakfast and a long, hot shower, I dressed and grabbed my phone off the nightstand. I wanted another look at that picture of Faith and Kai. Maybe I’d find some clue to their location, something I missed the first time I looked at it.
Instead, I found myself glaring at a megaton of messages, every damn one of them from Alexander.
It’s not what you think. I love you. She means nothing to me. Talk to me.
Platitudes. Empty words that made me want to throw up my breakfast. I deleted his texts, followed by every voicemail without listening. My hand shook as I erased him from my contacts.
Go to hell, you unfaithful jerk
.
A sob escaped my throat. I crawled onto my bed and curled my body around a pillow. Tears trailed from my eyes. I cried for way too long.
When I finally managed to get a grip, I spent the rest of the day in my living room sipping water and blood and avoiding solid food. Emotional upheaval had my stomach on lockdown. I glared at my cell on the coffee table by my laptop. I’d put Alexander’s number on my block list—no more text or calls.
Thank God we couldn’t communicate mind-to-mind. It was bad enough in my head with Jonas and the rest of my well-meaning vampire family trying to check in. I’d ignored them all so far and focused on my laptop and the Club Destiny shared spreadsheets Adrian worked on in real-time while I watched. Every once in a while, he would ask me a question—about work only, the good boy—and I gave him a yes or no.
I couldn’t manage any more than that. Cross-legged on my couch, clutching a puffy throw pillow against my aching gut, it was all I could do just to sit here and breathe and
not
think about that beautiful vampire with her perfect ballerina body pressed close to Alexander’s. Her lips pressed to his. His smoky blue eyes smoldering as he looked at her. The two of them dancing chest to chest. Kissing in the limo. Arm in arm waving at the preternatural paparazzi.
“
Porco dio!
” I grabbed my phone and hurled it across the room. It clattered against a bar stool by the kitchen counter. I hoped to hell it was broken. Just like my fucking heart. My eyes burned, but I refused to shed another tear on that Benedict Asshole and his pretty harpy.
My door opened, and Stella stalked into my top-floor sanctuary. She scooped up my phone from the floor and planted herself next to me on the couch. My laptop beeped with multiple texts from Adrian, pinging me without stop since I failed to answer his last few questions. Too busy tossing my phone. Too busy feeling my gut churn, my heart break over and over and—
Stella thwacked a folded piece of pale pink paper against the pillow in my arms. “Add them to your guest list.”
I relinquished my security pillow and took the paper. A cat with a pink and white polka dot bow stared back at me from the lined paper. “Hello Kitty.” I arched a brow.
My centuries old, warrior bodyguard shrugged. “I like the Hello Kitty. She is…cute.”
Laughter bubbled out of me. “
You
went shopping at a store in Japantown? And bought Hello Kitty stationery?”
“And this.” She whipped out a red and blue Hello Kitty pen, clicking the tiny plastic cat topper. The pen point appeared and disappeared.
More laughter escaped me. “Ohmigod. You, of all people, like Hello Kitty.”
She shrugged. “Who doesn’t?” She pocketed the pen and pulled out something else hidden in her fist, then leaned forward and placed it by my laptop. An inch tall, porcelain Hello Kitty in a red dress and bow.
A lump formed in my throat. Stella, one of the scariest, badass vampires on the planet turned out to be one of the kindest. I put my thanks in my watery as hell eyes and whispered more through her mind. “
Grazie, amica mia.
”
She snorted and tilted her chin at the paper. “Invite them.”
I unfolded it and scanned a half dozen names—all men—with email addresses and phone numbers written in surprisingly curvy handwriting. I would have expected all sharp edges from Stella. “I don’t know any of these guys, Stella. Why should I invite them?”
“Revenge is sweet, little vampire.”
My computer beeped with another message from Adrian.
I put the paper on my lap and sent him a quick reply.
Sorry for the lag, Stella is here. Break time.
Okay, babe. Walk-through after dinner?