Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
“You brought a vampire to our home?” Antonio’s still looking in the direction Xavier went.
“I mean, yeah. Kinda obvious, right? Those boxes are heavy for a human.”
“But he didn’t get in, right?” Leo asks.
“He did. I invited him, so either the house still thinks I live here or it’s not protected like a home.”
“You’re acting like you trust him,” Leo goes on, voice low. “It’s an act, right? We are your family.”
“No, you’re not,” I reply, shaking my head. “Just ask Vivian about the Blackwoods.”
“Who?”
“Just ask.” I turn the dagger over in my hands, feeling emotion start to bubble inside of me. “I have to go,” I rush out, falling back on avoidance. This is awkward and uncomfortable and I just want to leave.
“They’ll never accept you,” Leo tries. On some level, I know he’s saying that to make me doubt everything and not leave him. But his words hit a little too deep.
“Sounds familiar,” I scoff.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he quickly adds.
Blinking back my feelings, I look into his eyes and then Antonio’s. “I have to go,” I tell them and then turn and hurry to the car. There’s nothing more I can do now other than hope my brothers will see the truth once they ask about my family.
My real family.
“Stay close,” Xavier tells me, lacing his fingers through mine as we weave our way through the crowd. We just walked into The Velvet Vein and it's everything I thought it would be and then some. It’s campy and over the top, with gothic-style decor and low, red lighting.
Vampires dance in cages and “blood donors” walk around, carrying trays filled with shot glasses of their own blood. Places like this are very controversial. Supposedly, vampire bars have been around for centuries, with some vampires claiming it was just a place for vampires to gather and hang out without having to hide who they really are. But for as long as the vampire myth has been talked about among humans, there has been a lot of curiosity and people willing to push the limit—including being bitten.
Now that vampires are out and capitalism is alive and well, a place like this is crazy profitable. Humans and vampires alike are charged a ton to get in, and with places like this marketed as “safe for exploration”, it opens the door to all kinds of people.
Though I can tell just from the thirty seconds I’ve been in here, there’s nothing safe about it. The energy coming from most of the vampires is muted and chaotic, letting me know a lot of them are young. While younger vampires aren’t as powerful as the ones with a century of afterlife under their belts, they often lack the impulse control a vampire like Xavier has.
“What exactly are we doing here?” I ask Xavier, who has a hold of my hand.
“Business,” he replies shortly and I just roll my eyes. Several vampires turn and inhale, looking at me like I’m a juicy steak and they’re all starving dogs. Right. They can smell the magic and it’s enticing, even if they don’t exactly know why. The music is so loud the bass reverberates off the walls, and I almost bump into Xavier as I walk, distracted by two humans grinding up against a male vampire. He’s making no effort to hide that he’s turned on. Both his fangs and his hard-on are quite visible.
Classy.
We’re almost to the back of the bar when a vampire speeds up to me and grabs me by my arm, pulling me out of Xavier’s hold.
“Hey!” I snap, instinctively summoning a string of magic to throw right in the vampire’s face. But before I can get the chance, Xavier is in front of me and the vampire that grabbed my arm is on the floor.
“She is mine,” Xavier growls and I just shake my head. Vampires are stupid possessive, but they seem to respect an unwritten honor code of keeping their fangs off a claimed human.
“I don’t see any marks on her,” the vampire who grabbed me says, getting to his feet. He has a thick southern accent and is dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans with a dark red flannel shirt overtop. His dark hair is slicked back, and his country-Dracula look is complete with red and black snakeskin cowboy boots. “Unmarked humans are up for grabs.” He tips his head up and inhales. “And I want to know how this witch tastes.”
Despite the loud music, the vampires around us have no problem hearing every word he said. They freeze at the mention of the word witch and another vampire, dressed like a long-lost hillbilly Cullen cousin, speeds over. Xavier punches him in the throat, sending him flying back.
Country-Drac lunges, fangs barred, and goes right for my neck. I don’t even have time to react. The magic I was holding sparks, but Xavier is there, in front of me, before I can even raise my arm up enough to defend myself. He pushes Country-Drac back and punches his hand right through his chest.