Page 5 of Vanessa’s Bravery

Vanessa disconnected the call and shoved the cell phone back in her pocket. In the bathroom mirror she caught a glimpse of herself. Her face was blood-smeared, one side of her jacket and T-shirt drenched in Ginger’s blood. She was surprised that nobody had stopped her and called the police when she’d brought Ginger here, walking a good four blocks mostly uphill. Without her vampire strength, she would have never made it. But now, even she felt drained. One reason was the fact that she’d fed Ginger her blood. She looked over her shoulder back at Vera.

“Do you have bottled blood here?”

Vera nodded. “In my apartment upstairs. I’ll get you some. And some clean clothes too. You can’t go outside like that, or you’ll draw the wrong kind of attention.”

“Thanks, Vera.”

“Why don’t you take a shower, get the blood off you?” She motioned to Ginger. “She’ll be out for a while. And I’ll be back in five minutes.”

Vera left the room, and Vanessa studied Ginger. She appeared peaceful now. She snatched a clean washcloth from the bathroom, let warm water run over it, and then used it to clean the injured woman’s face and torso. The cuts on her torso were already closing, and no more blood seeped from them. Vera’s saliva had done a good job.

Vanessa carefully wiped crusted blood off Ginger’s face, before gently cleaning her neck around the area where the vampire had fed from her. The wound looked as if the vampire hadn’t known what to do. There were several incisions and tear marks as if he’d had trouble latching on to her.

What the vampire had done to Ginger was barbaric. She understood that vampires needed to feed directly from humans if they didn’t have access to bottled blood like everybody associated with Scanguards. But a vampire’s bite didn’t have to hurt, and it certainly didn’t have to leave such life-threatening injuries. On the contrary, a vampire’s bite could be sensual and bring pleasure to the human host, not just the vampire. So why had this vampire acted so cruelly?

By the time Vera was back with a bottle of human blood and clean clothes, the wound on Ginger’s neck wasn’t bleeding anymore. But it would take a couple of days to heal. Vanessa took the bottle of human blood and unscrewed the top. She took a deep gulp from it, letting the cold liquid coat her parched throat and revive her tired senses.

“I’ll have Ginger transported to Scanguards’ med center a bit later,” Vanessa said. “Mom can take care of her there.” She set the bottle back to her lips and knocked back more of the delicious liquid.

“She’s no bother here, if that’s your concern,” Vera offered.

“That’s very kind of you, Vera. But you’re doing so much already. Scanguards is best equipped for this. She needs to be monitored for a few days. We’ll move her in a few hours. I’ll arrange it a bit later.”

Vera nodded. Then her forehead creased, and she stretched her arm out to touch Vanessa’s cheek. “You’re burning up, Nessie, is it your time?”

She knew what Vera was referring to. “No, it’s not.”

A few times a year, she went into heat like a feline, because she wasn’t just a vampire hybrid, she’d inherited the satyr gene from her parents. It was the gene that equipped her father and her two brothers with a second cock, and sent her mother and herself into sexual heat several times a year. Without sex, the heat would rise to a high fever that was unbearable. But this wasn’t her time. She wasn’t due to go into heat for another month.

“But it looks like it,” Vera said, concern coloring her voice. She took the empty bottle from Vanessa’s hand.

“It feels like it too.” She looked toward the bathroom, feeling as if she was dying of thirst. “I need a cold shower.”

4

Despite the cold shower and the fresh clothes, Vanessa still didn’t feel any better an hour after she’d brought Ginger to Vera’s. On the contrary: she felt like it was getting worse, and the feverish feeling turned into a full-blown attack. She was going into heat, and there was no rhyme or reason to it. She’d always known what she would have to deal with all her life. Her mother had prepared her for it, and drilled it into her to find a man to have sex with as soon as she could when her cycle began, or the pain would become too unbearable, and she would lose control. And once that happened, she could easily hurt a human even though she didn’t want to.

Sex had always been a subject openly discussed in the home she still shared with her parents, Maya and Gabriel, and her brother Ethan. Ryder had moved out four years earlier, when he’d mated with Scarlet, a human woman who’d also inherited the satyr gene. Her mother had told her that nobody would judge her if she had sex with a hundred guys as long as she would take care of herself. Ryder had frequented Vera’s brothel before he’d met Scarlet. That was the reason Vera knew all about satyrs, and how vital it was to not ignore the satyr’s needs for too long.

Dressed in the tight leather skirt Vera had given her, her own black boots, and one of Vera’s frilly tops that showed way too much cleavage, Vanessa cast another look at Ginger sleeping peacefully. Her breathing had normalized, and her heartbeat was getting stronger. She would make it. While she felt a twinge of guilt that she wasn’t staying with Ginger to watch her, Vanessa couldn’t wait any longer. She had to go somewhere to find a man to have sex with. Vera would understand.

Vanessa stepped into the hallway and shut the door behind her. As she walked toward the foyer, coming around the stairs, she heard Vera speaking to a man.

“…a recommendation from Chicago,” the man said, the deep timbre of his voice beckoning her like a lure enticing a fish to bite the hook.

A pleasant shiver ran down her spine as she entered the foyer and spied Vera in conversation with a tall stranger. A flame shot through her core, scorching her from the inside. The man was human, an incredibly well-built human with a tall frame, broad shoulders, and muscular arms, and a butt filling out his pants perfectly.

“Whatever your tastes, I have ladies who can satisfy them. What in particular are you looking for tonight, Mr. Whitlock?” Vera asked.

The man suddenly looked over his shoulder, maybe alerted to her approach by the clacking of her heels on the stone floor. He pivoted fully, his chin dropping, his eyes drinking her in, his body motionless as if frozen in time.

His eyes were milk-chocolate brown, his lips full and plump, his nose straight. His hair was black and just the right length to run her fingers through. As she walked closer, she could smell his clean scent, the aroma of a pure virile man. Everything female inside her responded to him. She wanted this stranger. He was perfect.

He suddenly looked away from her and addressed Vera. “I want her.”

“But, Vanessa isn’t—”

Vanessa lifted her hand to interrupt her. “No problem, Vera.” She bridged the last few yards between them with determined strides, until she stood only a couple of feet from the stranger. “I’m available.”