Page 2 of Love Bites
Flashes of red eyes and fangs, yellow eyes and canines, and even the shadowy flashes of demonic ire was a norm here. Ignacio usually loved the diversity that milled about in his favorite bar in Madrid.
Tonight, he couldn’t bring himself to muster even a smile.
Ignacio blew out a cold breath and downed a drink, then another, and another, until his face was flushed and burning and perspiration showed on his temples. It probably wasn’t such a good idea to drink so many shots back to back, but he couldn’t bring himself to give a fuck.
“Okay, what’s going on?” His best friend seated next to him eyed the various glasses with curiosity and worry.
Ignacio shrugged and poured himself another, already feeling the huge rush through his brain. If he spoke, his words would more than likely slur together. He furiously downed it.
“Whoa,¿Qué pasa?” Antonio reached to the bottle of Blood Whiskey and pulled it out of Ignacio’s reach, trying to catch his attention. Ignacio regarded him with narrowed eyes.
“What?” Ignacio snapped.
“What’s your problem? You’re acting strange today…”
Ignacio sighed. If he knew his friend—which he did—Antonio wouldn’t stop bugging him until he knew all the details.
“My mom wants me to ‘settle down.’” He used air quotes around the words, showing his distaste for them.
“So?”
“So,” Ignacio began. “She wants me to find a wife and have kids…and stuff.”
At this, Antonio cringed, his cup paused halfway to his lips. Ignacio nodded.
“And when I refused, she said she’d not only anticipated that but she’d already set me up on a date.”
Antonio’s eyes widened a fraction before he slammed his cup on the bar. “With who?” he demanded, almost angrily.
“With Rosa…”
Ignacio shuddered. As soon as he’d walked through the door the previous night, his mother had confronted him with that nonsense about finding a wife and having children. A wife? At his age? It was ridiculous! Though the thought appealed to him a little, there was still a long way to go. First, he had to meet the right girl, a girl he wouldn’t mind spending time with—being with—for a long time. Marriage and kids would come later.
But when his mom had told him he was to go on a date with Rosa—Rosaof all people—he’d wanted to scream.
It wasn’t as if hedidn’tlike her. She was nice, sure, but she was insane. The whole, “climb up a tree and wait by your bedroom window as she watches you sleep all night” type of girl that he wanted to avoid. Not that she’d ever done that, but she stalked him enough and he feared it would come to that level of insanity.
His mother, bless her soul, didn’t know what Rosa was capable of and Ignacio would rather not dive into the why’s of it all. His mother didn’t need to know he’d slept with her. The chorus of wedding bells wound ring in her ears if she knew.
While Ignacio felt annoyed with his mother’s meddling, he could understand why she wanted him to settle so badly. She was a human, and he was a vampire. The future was looming before her, promising death. Ignacio would live forever, and he knew she wanted to meet his children before old age took her.
“It seems like you need to take your anger out on something…or someone…” Antonio’s smile was lopsided and revealed his protruding fangs.
Ignacio didn’t have to ask him what he meant. His best friend was a trouble maker of epic proportions and Ignacio was feeling the same mischief deep in his bones. He downed the last of his drink and let his fangs slide out.
Ignacio turned to the vampire next to him, a stranger, who smiled a dull greeting. Ignacio was usually calm and collected, but tonight he was itching to fight out his frustration. The simple act of sitting next to him meant this vampire was in for a rough night.
“What are you looking at, asshole?” Ignacio snapped.
A brief flash of clarity settled over the other vampire’s face, followed by anger. “Fuck off,” he snapped.
And, well, that was all the invitation Ignacio needed to wipe the look off his face.
3
“Katheryn Meyers, pick up your phone! Where the hell are you? What happened between you and Hunter? He won’t tell us anything until he finds you. Call me back, bye.”
Katheryn deleted the voicemail and laid back on the hotel bed, trying to drown out her mother’s voice from her mind. She shouldn’t have listened to that message, but what was done was done. She turned off her phone and pocketed it, letting her mind go to more pleasant thoughts.
