Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 02] Read online

  Picking up one of the fancy looking bottles, she sniffed it, saw that it was body wash, then added a huge dollop to the cloth hanging ready on the rack. She scrubbed it over her body, scrubbing away the prison soap and the stench of the men who had grabbed her. It felt so good to wash everything away.

  And being a vampire wasn’t such a bad thing. So far.

  She lathered up her hair with a shampoo that smelled like roses. Then she simply stood under the showerhead letting the warm water splash over her face. When the water started running cold, she shut it off and wrapped herself in the white towel that was as soft as wool. She dried off and began to dress in clothes that Trinity had lent. They were going to be more than a little baggy on her and she was sure she was going to have to roll up the pant legs, but at least she had clothes.

  And as soon as she could, she was going to get out and grab something more pleasing to her.

  She wished she had her make-up.

  Sticking her tongue out, she removed the stud, then brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth. She washed the stud in some hot water before replacing it in her tongue. Then she stepped back and took a look at herself.

  Not bad, she decided, even without make-up.

  Rolling the legs up on her jeans, she stepped out of the bathroom to find Trinity sitting on her bed, waiting for her.

  She wasn’t entirely sure how to act around Trinity, seeing as she was a queen.

  “Hey.”

  “Enjoy the shower?”

  “Yeah.” She smiled. “It felt really great.”

  “I imagine. I brought you a drink. I wasn’t sure what your tastes were like so I decided to bring up some wine. Wine works the best when mixing blood. Well, and Bloody Mary’s.”

  “For real?”

  Trinity shrugged. “The tomato juice and the blood blend well.” She held the goblet out to Gypsy.

  She wasn’t really a wine drinker and probably would have preferred something stronger, but she took the glass. She looked down into the deep red liquid, hesitating. She couldn’t really see the blood in it, but she knew it was there.

  “Trust me, the first time the blood hits your tongue, you’ll be drinking it down like water. Your body now requires it just like it would any other fluid you drank as a human. You won’t notice it.”

  She wasn’t so sure about that. “How do you know?” Her eyes lifted to Trinity. “No disrespect, your highness, but you’re not human.”

  “I used to be, seven years ago. And I was about your age when I was turned. I was as leery as you the first time I had to drink blood. That’s why I say you really won’t notice it.”

  She took comfort knowing that the woman before her now had been human like her not too long ago. And trusting her, she lifted the cup to her lips and cautiously took a sip. Then another. And before she knew it, she was emptying the goblet.

  “See?”

  Yep, not bad at all. “I couldn’t even taste anything. Are you sure there was blood in it?”

  Trinity smiled and lifted the blood pack from the nightstand. “It’s in there. Want to try a bit of the hard stuff?”

  “You mean straight blood?” She wasn’t sure she was ready for that.

  “We could try a tiny drop on your finger if you like?”

  That might not be so bad. She had on a few occasions, sucked on her finger when she’d cut it. This would be the same. “Is it…good blood? I mean, how do I know it doesn’t have some sort of disease or something.”

  “The blood I get is pure, and even if it wasn’t, you wouldn’t contract anything from it.”

  “I know, but the thought of it gives me the willies. Okay, drop me.” She held her hand out, index finger out and waited. When Trinity opened the packet and let a droplet of blood fall on her finger, Gypsy stared at it for a few seconds before putting it in her mouth. She could feel it on her tongue, the liquid of it and it had a bit of a bitter taste to it, but it didn’t taste like the blood she remembered sucking from her cuts.

  “Well?”

  “It’s a little bitter.”

  “Because it isn’t from your sire. Think of it this way, when a newborn suckles on its mother’s breast for the first time, they become accustomed to the taste of their mother’s milk. When the child is given milk from someone else, they may not take it, or they become fussy at having to drink it. Your taste buds are accustomed to your sire’s taste. That’s why a lot of vamps lace a beverage with the wine. To eliminate the bitterness. I used to add cinnamon.”

  “Basil isn’t your sire?” She took a chair, and pulled her feet up to her knees.

  “Clothes are a bit big, huh? We’ll figure something else out for you.” Trinity leaned against the wall. “Basil is my sire, but we broke up for a bit and I had to drink market blood.”

  “And now you’re back together. That’s great. So how often am I going to have to drink blood?”

  “We call it feeding. Daily. Your body will tell you how much. Some people need more than others. You’ll have to figure out what you need.”

  “How will I know?”

  “The same way you knew when you were hungry before. Your body will tell you.”

  She played with her toes. “You all have been so nice to me. I don’t know how I’ll ever pay you back.”

  “We don’t expect payment.” Trinity stood, leaving the blood bag on the night stand. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to help yourself. And if you need to talk, I’m usually around.”

  “Thanks.” She waited until the door had closed and Trinity was gone before she walked to the bed and lifted the blood packet. Then she opened it and poured a bit into her cup. Lifting it to her lips, she closed her eyes and drank.

  Five minutes later the entire packet was gone.

  ***

  It was mutually decided that the women would stay home while the men went out on patrol. Okay, so Trinity had put up a royal stink but Basil was a pretty persuasive guy and managed to convince her she would do better staying back and keeping an eye on Gypsy and help her with feeding. Ariel was more than happy to stay home, though the idea of having a fresh vamp roaming the halls did freak her out a bit, until she got to know Gypsy.

  The girl seemed easy enough to get along with. And as long as she kept her fangs to herself, they’d all get along just fine, Dante decided.

  “Here we are again, men, out on the hunt while our women folk keep the home fires burning,” Jonah chimed in with his chest puffed out doing a manly walk.

  “If Trinity heard you say that she’d slap you beyond silly.”

  “Yeah.” Jonah nodded to Basil. “Ariel would have my hide, too. I just felt like saying it. So what is the agenda today, gentleman? More bag and tag?”

  “I want to scope out the neighborhood Gypsy ran from,” Basil explained as Dante pulled to a stop along the curb where they’d been the day before.

  Jonah opened the car door. “It would be easier if she could have given us a description of the house.”

  Stepping out of the car, Dante sniffed the air. “Something’s burning.” He nudged his head up and to the left. The prominent smell of smoke was thick in the air. “You don’t think it’s—” Basil vanished before he could finish his sentence. “Well, that was rude. Guess it’s just you and me, Jonah.”

  “I’ll grab the gear from the trunk.”

  Dante popped the trunk then helped Jonah with the weapons, strapping on his weapons belt, more than ready to go. “What are the odds, you think, that fire has anything to do with Gypsy?”

  “I’m thinking pretty high. How come it’s so quiet?”

  Dante noticed that, too, but still kept a wary eye open for any danger as they headed towards the fire. “You got me. Well, that’s a doozy.” The flames shot high into the dark air, illuminating everything around it like a thou
sand watt bulb. Even half a block down he could feel the heat from it. “There’s Basil.” He nudged his head to the left.

  “He doesn’t look happy.”

  No, he didn’t. “What do you think? This the place she was being held?”

  “I would say yes.” Basil scowled as he stared at the fully engulfed house.

  “Why would they torch it? Why not just move out and head somewhere else if they were worried she’d remember the house?” Jonah asked.

  “Clues,” Basil informed him, still scowling. “Chaos wouldn’t want anything to lead to him.”

  “What makes you think this has anything to do with Chaos?”

  Basil turned to Dante wiping the sweat from his brow. “No ordinary vampire would go to this much trouble. They wouldn’t give a shit if she led the authorities, or anyone else for that matter, to this house. They’d hightail it out of here the instant she took off and find a new hidey hole. This reeks of Chaos.”

  “I guess we’re out of here,” Jonah stated when Basil walked off.

  “Guess so.” Dante followed. “You think Chaos sired her?”

  “More likely one of his men,” Basil added as he continued to walk. “She said one of the men who took her was big. Sounds like Moose. He’s one of Chaos’ men.” Fire engines roared in the distance. “She seems really comfortable with you, Dante. She might open up more to you if you got her talking.”

  Dante shoved his hands in his pockets. “She said she didn’t see the guy’s face who she was feeding from. Don’t see how me talking to her is going to have her seeing a face she never saw.” He heard crashing glass in the distance. “Looks like trouble ahead.”

  “Everyone gear up,” Basil instructed as he rushed forward. “Remember, we want to take some in for questioning.”

  “Guy doesn’t waste time. You go left, I’ll go right,” Dante instructed Jonah.

  “Man, I hate this.” But he pulled out a wooden stake and a taser and went left.

  As always, when Dante got into a situation like this, he scanned the men for his brother. Danny had to be out there somewhere. Yeah, then how come you didn’t see him for twenty years?

  Pulling out his taser gun, Dante headed right. He saw the gang of—he was so hoping it was vamps and not humans—looting a near by store. “Let’s make some noise, boys.” More than ready for a fight, Dante lifted his arm to aim at one of the looters and felt the fresh stitches pulling on his shoulder, reminding him he was still injured. “Damn it.” He wished the damn thing would just heal already.

  “Behind you, Jonah.” Despite his sore shoulder, Dante aimed his taser at the man racing towards Jonah. He watched Jonah spin around, lift his weapon then freeze. Jonah was not a fighter. The guy had spent his life sitting behind a computer either plucking it apart trying to fix it or figuring ways to break through encryptions and walls. He was soft and Dante couldn’t help himself but like the guy.

  “Jesus.” His hand shaking, Jonah fired the taser…and missed.

  Dante was there and, pulling the trigger, sent the electrical jolt right into the vamps body. He did a little twitch ditty, his arms and legs quivering as he went down. The guy didn’t scream but gurgled instead. Everyone always had their own sound.

  “Thanks, D.”

  “I’ve always got your back, Jonah. Two more heading our way. Ready?”

  “Hell no.” But Jonah lifted his taser anyway.

  “So how come you don’t mind shooting the taser, yet you cringe when holding a gun?”

  “This is different. It’s not really a gun. Shit, shit!”

  “Just relax. You’ll be fine.” And to make sure he would, Dante kept an eye on him while he fought his own demon. The guy that came at him was wiry but Dante had a feeling he was not going to be an easy fight.

  And he was right. The first shot of the taser did absolutely nothing, and before he could get it ready to shoot another, the guy was on him. The first fist shot hit him square in the jaw and had him seeing stars. But he still kept his senses and pressed the taser to the guy’s gut and pulled the trigger. This time he did react, and grabbed Dante by the sore arm and threw him to the side. Dante bounced off of the wall of a building, stumbling before he fell to the hard ground. The taser was knocked out of his hand and flew off into the darkness.

  He saw the vamp come at him, saw that he had his fangs ready, and Dante was sure this was the end for him. A split second before the guy reached him, he saw his eyes go wide, then he was dust in the wind. Jonah stepped out of the shadows and held out his hand.

  “Now I got your back, D.”

  Taking his hand, Dante stood. “And I am mighty grateful for that. Where’s Basil?”

  “Still working the shop. Your arm’s bleeding.”

  Dante glanced to his shoulder and frowned. “Damn it. I am getting tired of having that stitched up.”

  “We’ve got a car load, boys. Let’s head out of here,” Basil stated as he appeared before them.

  “I hate when you do that.” But he was damn glad they were calling it a night. His shoulder was on fire.

  Chapter Five

  “The cells are starting to fill up,” Trinity stated as she began to undress in their bedroom. “We’re going to have to figure something out.”

  “Yeah, and we need to get a truck. Hauling five vamps in a small compact car just doesn’t work well. But I think I have an idea what to do about the overcrowded cells. Damn, you’re sexy.”

  Basil came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her body, nuzzling her neck with his nose and Trinity felt the love pour out of him with that simple gesture. “What’s the idea, Basil?”

  He skimmed his hands over the length of her body, stopping as he cupped her breasts in his hands. “Trackers. You smell delicious.”

  Smiling, she let him arouse her. She loved his hands and what they did to her. “What do you mean, trackers?”

  Nibbling on her neck, he slid his hands down her hips before dipping them into her silk thong underwear. “I figure Jonah would know how to create some that we could inject under the vamps skin. Then all we’d have to do is monitor where they go.”

  “Great idea. Oh…” She leaned her head back on his shoulder as his fingers toyed and teased her clit.

  “You like that?” He swirled his fingers, rubbing her nub.

  “You know I do.” She spread her legs a little wider, hoping he would slide a finger inside and finish her off. Then she could toss him on the bed and fuck his brains out.

  “I’ll talk to Jonah later and see if he can manage it. You want something more, my love?”

  He was tormenting her and knew just how much it drove her crazy. “Yes. You.” But when she tried to move, he pulled her against him harder and the feel of his erection pressing to her butt only made her wetter.

  “In a moment. I’m having too much fun.” Now he used both hands on her, spreading her lips with one set of fingers while the others stroked.

  “Basil, finish me.” She pumped her hips against him, the feel of his hard-on making her crazy, the touch of his fingers driving her wild. “Now!”

  “So demanding.” He slipped the thong over her hips, sliding along the length of her body as he drew them down. His mouth kissing all the way down before stopping on her ass. When he bit her left buttock she screeched. “Spread,” he demanded.

  She was more than happy too and slipping one foot out of the thong, she spread her legs wide. Then his tongue slid out between the folds to dip into the crack and she moaned with delight. She bent at the waist to allow him easier access.

  “So tasty.”

  His tongue was so hot she wanted it to touch her everywhere. Then his hand came up between her legs to touch her dampness. He penetrated her with his fingers as his tongue flicked over her anus. She gyrated, wanting him to finish her but wanti
ng it to never end. “Yes, sweet fucking yes.” He pumped his fingers inside of her while his tongue did wonders to her ass. She felt her climax building and bending completely over, let it wash over her. “More, more.” She panted.

  Releasing her, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. “You want more?” He undid his pants and let them drop to the floor. “Then more you will get.”

  He lifted her legs and spread her wide then plunged. “God, yes!” she cried out as he drove her over and over again.

  ***

  Gypsy was restless and tired of sitting in her room. She felt like she had ants under her skin, crawling aimlessly through her veins. She needed to move, needed something to stop this restless feeling inside. She’d always been an active person, but now she felt like she might just go insane if she didn’t do something.

  She had all this energy inside that needed dispersing.

  She wondered if the guys had come back from patrolling yet. They’d explained it to her, including why the sun was hidden and what had caused it and it all kinda fogged her brain. She couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she had died in that cold basement a few days ago and that this was all a dream.

  What a fucking bizarre dream it was.

  In bare feet, she walked down the long hallway from her room. Maybe she’d take a stroll on the grounds and get the lay of the land. Or maybe she’d just head out and do some shopping. She was dying to wear something that belonged to her and that fit. These jeans and t-shirts she’d been lent weren’t really her fashion.

  She heard the sound of moaning coming from a door to her left and was curious enough to stop and listen. Her hearing seemed to be keener now since she’d become a vampire. Without having to press her ear to the door, she could hear just fine what was happening behind it. Someone was having sex.

  The sounds of penetration were evident by the slapping of bare flesh upon wet slippery flesh. She could hear a male grunting and a female panting. And she could smell the scent in the air.

  It went right to her core and her body reacted as it normally would. She was aroused and the longer she stood there listening, the more it affected her. Running a hand over her body, she had a fleeting thought to run back to her room and get herself off.