Page 2 of Wicked Bite
“First, I’d cover up the fang marks you lot have left behind. Then I’d get these two to the hospital for a transfusion.”
His face paled. “A human hospital?”
It was appalling to bring made vampires into this world and not teach them how to live properly. I pulled a card from inside my jacket pocket. There were many layers to the Vampire world, the least of which was finding ways to keep our indiscretions a secret. “Call that number. Tell them what’s happened. They’ll come and help clean it up. Even Vampires know how to help the humans out occasionally and keep our secrets.”
He snatched the card from my hand and smiled down at it. Blood coated his teeth and ran over the side of his lip. “Thanks.”
I pointed to my own teeth. “You’ve got something . . .” I sighed and motioned to my whole mouth. “. . . well, everywhere.”
Before they could say anything else I turned away from them and darted from the alley. The last thing I needed was to be cleaning up dead bodies and drawing the attention of my uncle. Instead, I once again locked on that sweet scent and followed it. I was here to get lost in the oblivion of mundane nothingness, not to make a political statement for my family.
I turned another corner and crossed a street toward a shady pub. The doors were thick dark wood that stood wide open. The entire front wall was made of windows that allowed people on the street to peek into the bar. Booths were set up along the side walls and closer to the windows. High-top tables were spread throughout, and big screen TVs hung over the bar facing outward. A warm light glowed from behind the bar, illuminating the many bottles on the shelves.
I wove my way through the heavy crowd of people gathered around the tables and paused, staring at the beauty behind the bar. Her fragrance was intoxicating. She was sultry, with wild midnight hair that fell nearly to her hips and bangs that framed her face perfectly. It was the kind of hair that was meant to tangle around my fingers in a night spent together. Her eyes were dark green with flecks of brown in them that matched the warm tan color of her skin. A waiter came at me, and I easily stepped around him heading right to the bar . . . right toward her.
Her words flowed together like a song I’d never hear before but sounded like heaven to my ears. She hadn’t noticed me yet, but she had my full attention. When she turned toward the other bartender with her, I glimpsed a tattoo below the hem of her white crop top. It was a little bumblebee dressed up like a ghost with the word boo writteb under it. When the other girl faced her, I saw that she, too, had the same tattoo except under her bee it said bees.
Boo bees. I chuckled to myself.
Besties then. Interesting.
“So, there I am, buying into his usual line of bullshit. You know how they do. Painting that pretty little fairytale of happily ever after. I’d love to spend my days with you, just hanging out, watching TV. I mean, it’s not like I was asking for a ring or anything.”
She reached into the bin of half-melted ice in front of her and pulled out an ice-cold bottle. She popped the top and slid it across the bar to the guy waiting. “That’ll be six dollars.”
He slammed a ten down on the bar and smiled at her over the rim of the bottle before he took a sip. “I won’t give you that line of bullshit. Give me your number and I’ll let you keep the change.”
“Right, like I’m only worth four dollars, Stew. Can I call you Stew?”
His mouth dropped open to answer but she continued. “Had I accepted your four dollars and given you my number, there are a few possible options here. One, you would think I was worth the four dollars you have spent and treat me as such, and let’s face it, Stew. I’m worth way more than your four dollars and the inevitable two pumps it would take for you to get there in a night full of passion.”
“But—”
“Now, Stew. I’m doing you a favor here. I’m saving you from embarrassing yourself while at the same time giving you enough material to fill your spank bank just by wearing this outfit alone. So, your four dollars just got you four minutes of conversation from me. A whole four minutes that you have spent staring at my bellybutton. We all win here, Stew. Now go back to your table and tell them I was oh, so nice to you.”
Sassy little creature. So much life to her. I found myself drawn to it.
She glanced at her friend. “What is it with guys these days? They love to lay down that same old song and dance.” She made change in the register and shoved it into her tip jar. “Do better, Stew. Just do better.”
I pressed my lips together to stop from laughing at the poor sod while I leaned my elbow on the bar. I watched as her hips swayed with each of her steps. A smile played on my lips, and I took in every bit of sassy attitude she had to offer. How refreshing.
“You know I love you.” The guy made a show of reading her name tag for a little too long. “Piper, darlin’.”
He winked and turned to head back to the table of guys he was with.
“I love when you do that.” The girl next to her chuckled and scooped ice into a glass. She was the same height as Piper but the opposite in looks, with blond hair, milky skin, and pale blue eyes. “Yeah, so then what did the other bozo say? The one you were talking to.”
I found myself getting comfortable just listening to her voice and watching the way she moved. There was an underlying rhythm to it that was nearly irresistible.
“So, then he texted me and says I shouldn’t have built things up in my head. Like I’m the one over here painting pretty pictures in my own mind. Meanwhile, I was thinking we could just hang out and have fun. I wasn’t asking for forever. I was asking for a little dependability, though.”
“Dependability is a four-letter word to some guys.” She rolled those big blue eyes of hers and finished off the drink she was making with a lemon. “Typical.”
“Right? They hear the words foster kid and it’s automatically talking about the family we never had.” She leaned over the bar to the guy across from me. “What can I get you?”
He just stared down her crop top without saying a word. She snapped her fingers in front of his face, getting his attention. “Eyes up here, princess.”
The guy licked his lips and eyed her up and down. “Um, rum and Coke.”
