His gaze lingered on my lips. Holy hell. He was going to kiss me. Every fiber of my undead being begged for it, wanting to be set on fire by those perfect, full lips. I was dying to feel the dark scruff rake across my face as I discovered what he tasted like.
Instead, his words washed me in cold fear. “I will end you.”
3
“You’re— you’re Death?” she asked. “Like actual death? The grim reaper Blue Oyster Cult sings about?”
I grinned. It made things easier when I was recognized. “Exactly, andyouare an abomination.” I gripped the back of her neck, still debating whether I should kill her right away.
“Let’s not be hasty, sire,” Timothy said from behind me. “We must question the subject first.”
Timothy came up with his tablet in hand. The man was glued to that iPad, yet his eyes kept sliding up to regard the vampire.
I couldn’t blame him. She wasn’t beautiful by the plastic sparkle of Vegas standards, yet neither of us would deny the glow emanating from her. The vampire shone, soft, alluring yellow light that made her as brilliant as a beacon. Any human who passed by would be blind to her gleaming aura, yet I was loath to tear my eyes away from it.
Something at my center pulled me toward her. Though it had been centuries since I’d last been near such a being, I didn’t remember the draw to be so powerful.
Underneath the grime, I could just make out the woman underneath. She had a heart-shaped face and a short, even nose, but what struck me was her eyes.
I’d place the woman to be early or mid-twenties. She wore ill-fitting pants, a beat-up jacket, and a baggy tank top. They looked like they belonged to a man. The dark, stringy hair that had slipped out of her ponytail showed a desperate need for a proper washing. There was an allure to the curve of her lips and hooded eyes.
Staring into the vampire’s emerald green irises, my core shifted, warming and responding to the haughty set of her chin. The reaction was overwhelming, and my immediate instinct was to rip her head off to stop this feeling.
Instead, I released her arm. She blinked, then narrowed her eyes at me.
“Move one muscle, and I’ll kill you in an instant,” I said, my voice a low warning growl.
She looked at me in wide-eyed astonishment.
“There,” Timothy said. He finished typing and looked up, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Who turned you?”
“What?” she stuttered, looking back and forth from Timothy to me.
“This is an exit interview,” Timothy enunciated as if speaking to a child. “Please tell me who turned you into a vampire.” Her eyes fell back on me and I saw uncertainty there. “I don’t know.”
Timothy’s fingers remained poised over the screen.
I asked this time. “The question is, who is your master and how many more of you are there? How did you come to be a bloodsucker?”
She blinked. “I don’t know.”
I exchanged a look with Timothy.
“Memory loss after a turning is not unusual. Perhaps she’s the only one,” he said with a small shrug.
“Then this problem will be solved before it has barely begun,” I said. We’d dispose of her and the problem would be contained with very little effort. Why couldn’t all jobs be this easy?
Still, a part of me bucked at the idea of extinguishing such an inviting power.
When I looked back into the vampire’s face, there was something curious about her expression. Like she was caught between being resigned to her fate and wanting to fight or run. I’d seen every reaction to death, yet this vampire gave me pause.
Probably because I hadn’t seen one in so long.
Something crashed behind us.
“Oh dear,” Timothy said. “Perhaps not.”
I turned to see three figures surrounded by an ethereal glow. More vampires. There were two men and a woman—blood smeared their lips as they hissed at us. Their eyes were crimson. They had been feeding. Unacceptable.
