“Were you aware there are scary ghosts haunting the catacombs?”
“You saw a ghost?” Her voice rises in pitch.
“I didn’t see her per se. I felt her, and she was nasty. I think she wanted to do some serious damage to me.”
“That is very troubling news, Vaughn. Where’s Niko now? Is she safe?”
“She’s back in the house, but… her boyfriend is with her. I just thought you should know.”
“Honestly, out of everything you told me, that’s what concerns me the least.”
“Wow. That’s very forward-thinking of you. Do you think it’d be okay if I went home? I don’t believe they’re going anywhere else tonight.”
She sighs. “Yes, whatever Niko wanted at Bloodstone, she already got it. Thanks for keeping an eye on her and for telling me about the ghost.”
“No problem. Glad to help.”
We end the call, and I don’t feel guilty about putting my car in gear and driving away. If Isadora isn’t concerned about herdaughter spending time alone with her boyfriend, then I’m not either. I have bigger problems to worry about.
What am I going to do about Sophie? I wish I had gathered more information about her, like her last name for starters. Although, maybe Gerard knows the towering vampire named Igor. He had an accent, maybe Russian. He’d be hard to miss.
He called herMissSophie. That tells me she’s someone important, probably a Blueblood. Hell, I wonder if she’s related to Tatiana. Wouldn’t that be my luck to become involved with a relative of the hateful shrew. At least Sophie hated Boone. That’s something in her favor.
I touch my neck. Her bite is already healed. That’s the second time now that she’s done it, and on both occasions, it left me horny as hell. I shuffle in my seat and adjust my pants. My dick is getting ideas again, and I can’t have that. I’ll develop a serious case of blue balls at this rate.
I should feed when I get home. I’d kill two birds with one stone, but as hungry as I am, I don’t want to fuck my food. I’ve done it once since becoming a vampire, and I felt too weird about it afterward. Now I keep it in my pants, even though it isn’t normal for vampires to not mix feeding with sex.
Just do it, dumbass. You need to stop getting boners whenever you think about Sophie. It isn’t healthy.
Despite my sage thoughts, I know I won’t feed from a live source. I’m on edge, ready to explode. I’ll end up fucking the blood donor but wishing the whole time it was Sophie. Blood bag it is.
I’m already looking forward to seeing her again. She evaded all my questions tonight because she had the upper hand. I should return the favor and capture her this time. If blood remembers, then all I have to do is drink from her to uncover all her secrets.
My dick stirs again, getting harder. I don’t even try to stop it from happening. I recognize that it’s already too late for me. I’m obsessed with her because that’s how I roll—always picking the most toxic relationships. “Glutton for punishment” should be my middle name.
Gerard is around when I get home. Working for vampires means you must adopt a nocturnal schedule. I don’t even need to call on him—he comes to greet me as soon as I step foot inside the house.
“Good evening, sir.”
“Hey, man. I already asked you to not call me ‘sir.’”
“My apologies.”
“You don’t happen to have information about the vampire I met at Night Crawlers, do you?”
“No, s—I mean Vaughn. I’m still waiting to hear from my contacts in London. You said she had a British accent, correct?”
“Yes. Well, I have more intel. She has a friend named Igor. Super-tall dude built like Arnold in his glory days, possibly Russian.”
Gerard’s face seems to drain of color. “Are you certain?”
“Yes. What’s with the grimace? Do you know him?”
He swallows hard, and it’s audible. “Yes. Igor Svechnikov works for Jacques Tellier. He’s a deadly enforcer.”
“Fuck.” I pull my hair back. “That’s definitely not good. I had the impression he was Sophie’s bodyguard.”
“How did you get that impression? Have you met him?”
