Page 7 of Ouch! My Vampire Doms Keep Biting Me
Fuck, that isn’t bad. I raise my eyebrows at Will, nodding in approval. We should write that shit down to use in the future.
The woman’s ride rolls up and we help her safely into the back seat. Will and I stand at the curb while she drives off. She waves goodbye through the window.
Will and I return to our building. The three-story library has a multitude of secret rooms, our living quarters being among them. The hidden entrance at the back allows us to come and go as we please, without arousing any human suspicion.
Will unlocks the door and we step inside. He pauses in the hall. In one direction is his room and office, in the other direction is mine.
“Don’t you want to know her name?” he asks.
“It’s better if I don’t know,” I grumble. “Better if you don’t, either.”
He grips the back of his already-messy black hair. “I can’t be like you. I can’t fuck without any connection.”
“Do you think I enjoy this?” I ask.
His pale blue eyes brighten with anger. “I don’t know, maybe. Or maybe you’re just fucking scared.”
“Shouldn’t I be? Shouldn’t you be? Do you wish to repeat what we did to Elisabeth?”
He looks as if I’ve struck him. In a way, I have. Neither of us has said her name since we lost her, and that was over a century ago. I don’t know what has compelled me to say it now, other than the aching of my heart. Every woman since Elisabeth has been a temporary stand-in for what we lost, and it feels a betrayal to her memory and to the promises Will and I made to each other in the aftermath.
“Never again,” I remind him. “We saidnever again.”
“Learning the name of a playmate isn’t the same as offering her a permanent place in our lives as our amant,” he says.
“Yes, well, that’s how it starts.” I turn around and stride to my room, the new blood in my system energizing me and giving me life…yet doing nothing to ease the heaviness in my chest.
“You’re a bloody arsehole,” Will mutters, just loud enough for me to hear.
I flip him off over my shoulder, not knowing or caring whether he sees the gesture.
Autumn
The debate with myself over whether to hide my money in my crappy motel room or take it with me out into the city is a long one. Walking around with what’s left of my ATM withdrawal—about a hundred fifty dollars after paying cash for two nights in this crappy-yet-somehow-expensive motel—seems foolish. But leaving it here sounds even worse.
I tuck it in my bra. I’ll take everything with me.
Two nights in San Esteban. My money’s dwindling fast. I’ve never been more scared in my life. I’ve never been so alone. Even at college, Clarissa came with me and was my roommate the whole time.
What I need is a way to earn money. All day yesterday, I walked up and down the closest streets, asking businesses if they were hiring any short-term employees. Some were, and they offered me applications…but I would have to give a fake name. Plus, I have no address. I have no phone number. I can’t use my ID unless I want Dale to find me.
No doubt, he’ll kill me if he does. Cold, hard logic will guide his next move.
The scents of baking bread and savory breakfast fill the street when I step out of my motel room and onto the second-story walkway. The diner next door is too tempting for words. My mouth waters. I clench my fists and close my eyes. Food is not optional right now. I need this money more than I need to eat.
“Look out, girl,” a tall man says as he brushes past me.
My eyes shoot open and I immediately pat down my belongings.
He looks over his shoulder at me and laughs. “I didn’t steal your shit, girlie, but you best pay attention in this neighborhood.”
I nod wordlessly and hurry down to the sidewalk. This, what I’ve been doing, is not sustainable. I’m hungry, tired, and running low on resources.
This part of town hasn’t been forgiving, so I pick a street—Caro Boulevard—and walk down it.
The shops are just starting to open for the day. I walk into a few and look around, but they don’t look like the kind of places that would pay someone under the table. In fact, the farther I walk, the nicer the stores get.
The next shop I go into is a jewelry store. Cases display a wealth of gleaming jewelry. In my previous life, the one I left only two days ago, I might’ve done some shopping here. I might have bought a birthday gift for Clarissa, or even treated myself. Now, everything is out of reach.
