Pretty When She Dies (22 page)

Amaliya sipped her drink and enjoyed the burn as she scanned the crowd of writhing people. Spotting a tall man with long black hair and a heavy beard, she smiled to herself. He kinda had the Rob Zombie thing going. Dangerous and dark. Concentrating, she flung out her power at him. To her surprise, he turned and looked at her. As their eyes met, he nodded at her, and began to move through the crowd toward her .

“See,” Cian said with a smug look.

“That's too easy,” she whispered back.

“You can't see yourself,” Cian said with a wink.

The tall man with the tattoos and dangerous vibe sidled up to the bar next to her and smiled at her flirtatiously. “You look familiar.”

“I'm not,” she said with a wicked smile. ”But we can change that.”

She heard Cian chuckling behind her and ignored him.

Small talk with band guys she could do all night. It wasn't hard. She had hung out in the scene long enough to pick up on what they liked to talk about. As the band thrashed on the stage and their small crowd of fans pumped their fists in the air, she leaned into her prey and drew him in with her sly looks and vampire powers.

After around fifteen minutes, Cian tapped her shoulder.

“Excuse me. My brother needs something.” She turned to Cian and whispered in an annoyed voice, “What?”

“You're here to bite him. Not date him. Get him into the bathroom.”

Cian's eyes were intense.

Sticking her tongue out, she turned back to the guy, who's name was Brant, and hooked her hand into his. “Come with me,” she said and pulled him along behind her. He came willingly, just like she knew he would.

Weaving through the throng of people, she aimed for the bathroom.

Now that she was so close to feeding, she could feel that dark need rising and flowing out of her. It seemed as if others knew this as they pulled away from her subconsciously, letting her pass.

The door to the woman's bathroom opened just as she neared it. Two girls came out, laughing, their lipstick fresh and glossy and their hair brushed and gleaming. Watching them pass, she shoved Brant into the room and up against the wall. As she expected, Cian slipped in behind her and locked the door.

“Okay, this is a little too weird. Your brother is going to watch?” Brant looked ready to bolt.

Cian folded his arms and leaned on the wall across from them.

“Ignore him. Look at me.” She heard her power in her voice and felt it swirling out of her.

Brant's eyes turned to her and she saw his pupils dilate as she hooked him firmly under her influence. She ran her tongue over her sharpening fangs as she pushed his legs apart and pulled him down toward her. He was tall so she had to strain, but he came willing into her embrace. Licking her fangs, she pulled his thick heavy hair back and ran her tongue over his furry throat. His shudder ignited her hunger even more and she drove her teeth into his neck.

His blood was hot and delicious and she moaned with pleasure as she drank it in with huge swallows. Her arms gripped the large man even more tightly as she pulled his blood into her. She felt it renewing her body and her heart began to pump a little more quickly.

Cian's body pressed up against hers from behind and he slid his hand up under her arm and up to cup her chin. “Stop.”

She growled at him and tried to keep feeding, but his fingers slid between her lips and the flesh of her victim. He said again, “Lick his wound and stop.”

Cian's strength of will pushed down on her and she realized he was right. Her desire to drain her prey was strong and she ran her tongue over the wound. Licking the blood away, she drew back as the holes closed up into two tiny circles. Brant's eyes were glossy and half-closed with bliss.

“Drink only a little from each one,” Cian whispered as he turned her around. “Only enough to sate the first bite of the hunger.” Taking her face between his hands, he licked the blood off the corner of her mouth. “Understand.”

Nodding, she struggled to keep her hunger abated. She did want to drain the tall man completely dry. It was a terrible need, but she resisted it.

“Now, let him go. Release him, but place in his mind a wonderful thought of a nice time with you. But make your face hazy in his memory...”

Amaliya turned back to Brant and ran her hand gently down the side of his face. As she had with Pete, she felt herself drawing up her power from the dark place inside of her and pressing it into him.

Concentrating, she created a memory of a hot little interlude in the bathroom, but obscured her own face.

“Now go to the bar,” she whispered.

Brant slid from her grasp, let himself out, and the door shut behind him. Cian quickly locked it and turned to her.

“I fucked up.”

“It takes practice.”

Ignoring the smelly toilet and the mirror that would refuse to show her reflection, she leaned against the graffiti covered wall, and sighed.

“Now I want more.”

“You need to feed every night.” Cian said softly. “But a little at a time.”

She nodded.

“Okay. Let's try this again.”

Amaliya licked her lips and smoothed her hair a bit. “Okay. Let's go.”

For the next three hours, she maneuvered through the ever changing crowd, chatting, laughing, partying, and finding three more victims.

Each time, Cian followed her into the bathroom and watched over her as she fed. By the third victim, she was able to pull away without his assistance.

Her last prey, a hot girl, which she saw surprised Cian, was just a small nibble in comparison to the droughts she had taken from Brant.

Even as the girl clung to her, rubbing her body up and down Amaliya's, she had been able to stop drinking and place a wonderfully erotic memory into the woman's thoughts.

The girl seemed less affected by the blood loss and took the time to kiss Amaliya softly before seductively walking past Cian and out the door. He looked at her surprised.

“I had a girlfriend once,” Amaliya said with a shrug.

“Really?”

“She liked me and I thought why not?”

It had been a little more than that. She had figured out that though girls were fun to flirt and mess around with, she wasn't cut out for a relationship with one.

Cian just arched an eyebrow. “We should head out now. The bartender has noticed your last two trips in here.”

“I'll be the talk of the club,” she laughed.

“Something like that,” he agreed. “But we were more conspicuous with me coming in here with you.”

Licking the rest of the blood from her teeth and sucking on her bottom lip, she shrugged, then nodded. “Yeah, true.”

Cian's hand reached out and pulled her toward him. She went willing to him, knowing what he would do. His cool tongue slowly licked the blood off her chin and the edges of her lips. Her own tongue flicked out to touch his and he pulled away quickly.

Despite his grim expression, she could feel his desire to pull her close and bite her throat and taste the rich blood that now flowed through her. Pressing herself past his restraining hands, she rested her forehead against his and laid her hands on his shoulders.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

His mouth brushed over hers, then he easily slipped past her and snagged her hand. Pulling her behind him, they plunged back into the club and the tightly packed crowd parted for them without hesitation.

When they got outside, Cian kept walking quickly, pulling her along behind him.

“I told you I would fuck up your life,” Amaliya said to his back.

He let go of her hand, turned around, and his hazel eyes flashed at her. “I'm the one keeping you in my city. It's my mistake to make.”

“Why are you keeping me here? Why don't you call your old boss up and say, 'Hey, guess who's here. Come get her!'. Or don't you have his number?”

“We both know he already knows you're here. He's probably watching us right now. My question is how long will he let us both go without interfering.”

Amaliya blinked a few times, then said, “Oh, shit.”

“You seem to forget that we are made of the same blood and we are both his little toys. He's left me alone for a very long time and now having you here has drawn his attention back to me. I am in danger, too. And probably the faster I teach you our ways, and then set you free, the better it will be for me. Maybe he'll find my interference amusing.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“No one helped me. I told you that before.” He shook his head and walked on. “I'm trying to help you because no one helped me.”

Hurrying to catch up, she fell into step with him as they walked down the darkened street. They avoided 6th Street this time and ended up walking up a barely populated back street.

“Thanks,” she said, and meant it. He was risking a lot and he had that cute little thing back at his apartment that was madly in love with him.

Amaliya wanted to feed from him again as he fed from her, but she couldn't' say she even liked him that much. She was drawn to him despite him being completely not her type, but she wondered if that had to do with blood and power.

“You're welcome,” he said after a moment.

Her fingers nudged his palm and his hand closed over hers. They walked along in silence for a few minutes.

“Sorry I made Samantha upset.”

“She has a right to be. You have awakened in me long dormant aspects of myself.”

Amaliya pondered this. “Huh?”

“I've been playing human for a long time. You make me remember that I am a vampire in every sense of the word. That is why you need to learn to take care of yourself and leave.”

Though his words hurt her, she understood completely. Fighting back the sense of rejection, she nodded. “Yeah. I know.”

“I survived this long. So can you,” he said softly. “You're smarter than you give yourself credit for and if you could just curb your tendency to take the easiest route-”

“I do not,” she protested.

He looked at her pointedly. “You don't just go with your whims and take whatever option seems easiest?”

“Okay, when you put it like that,” she admitted. “But my need to run away seems to be coming in handy.”

Laughing at this comment, he reached out and took her by the shoulders. “You just need to not depend on your good luck to pull you through.”

“Good luck! Give me a freaking break. I have the worst luck known to man. Or woman. Or small dogs and cats.” She shook her head and broke away from him to keep walking.

“You have better luck than you think you do,” Cian said firmly.

Turning back toward him, she said, “Yeah? Prove it?”

“You found me.”

“Yeah, and awakening your inner vampire, scaring the shit out of your girlfriend, and screwing up your life.”

“Then that's my bad luck,” he corrected her. He smiled and walked up to her.

In her heels, she was a little taller than him.

“I train you. You leave. I go back to planning my wedding. You get smart and outwit The Summoner and we both live happily ever after.”

“I think happily ever after is bullshit,” Amaliya responded.

Cian hadn't known what to say to Amaliya after she declared happily ever afters as bullshit and resorted to walking in silence. All night he had felt on edge with her, as though he was standing on uneven ground and about to crash. Watching her hunt had made him want to take her so badly and taste her new blood, that he had to concentrate with all his will to restrain himself. He had only broken down a few times, but had luckily pulled himself back.

He had to admit to himself that being with another vampire was liberating and intoxicating. It made the night seem that much more vibrant and the world around him so much more alluring. He had been locked away in his tightly controlled world with Roberto and Samantha and had removed himself from the predatory need that he now felt rippling through him.

Amaliya walked slightly ahead of him, drunken with her new blood, and obviously feeling pretty damn good from the alcohol that had laced it. She seemed a bit tipsy to him. Twirling around on her high heels, she gave him an alluring smile. He wasn't even sure if she was aware of her seduction of him. She just seemed to flit along on her whims. Flipping her hair back over her shoulders, she returned to walking along before him.

The enormous man was on her before Cian could even blink. The human form came out of the shadows and punched her hard across the side of the face. She staggered back, her expression startled, but then it grew horrified.

“Rob!”

The man gripped her by the throat and lifted her off the ground. A terrible gurgling noise came from the man that almost sounded like speech. Cian realized the attacker was actually dead and that could only mean The Summoner was nearby.

Amaliya twisted in the creatures grip as its dead fingers began to sink into her flesh.

Cian rushed forward and struck the creature with a brutal blow to the temple. It barely faltered as its fingers crushed Amaliya's throat and blood began to spout from her neck. Unable to scream, Amaliya's hands and feet scrabbled at the creatures body as she tried to wrench herself free.

Gripping the creatures fingers, Cian began to try to pry them free of her throat. Blood streamed over the dead man's hands and made Cian's grip slippery. Growling in frustration, he began to break the digits one by one. If he didn't hurry, the dead thing would decapitate Amaliya and end her.

Struggling in the shadows, the three supernatural creatures fought with desperation. Amaliya gasped as one hand came free from her throat, but the creature immediately began clawing at her ribcage, trying to push its broken hand into her flesh to rip out her heart.

With a furious cry of frustration, Amaliya hissed, “Let me go!”

Cian was breaking the creatures wrist, when it staggered backward and shook its head. Her hands covering her gashed neck, Amaliya's eyes were glowing not red, but white.

“Rob, fuck off,” she growled.

The creature was actually a very large man that was obviously very dead. His vivisection scar and the damage Amaliya had inflicted on him just a few nights before were clear on his white, enormous belly.