Hunger Within (A Sable Hart Vampire Slayer Novel Book 1) Page 2

  “I know her friends, Valerie. Dane Douglass is a dhampir, and a very powerful one, too,” Anastasia said. “Gabe Preston is an alpha werewolf. The others are human, but very good at what they do.”

  For a second I felt intense envy of Dane. The vamps couldn’t handle me so easily if I was like Dane. Being a dhampir meant he possessed greater strength and endurance than a normal man, but had no vampiric magic. They couldn’t hypnotize Dane or Gabe.

  “No problem,” Valerie said. “My security people are mostly vamps, backed up with wolves.”

  "Valerie has our backs, Olaf. We have time for a little fun," Anastasia said. "What do you say, Claude?"

  Claude was too beautiful to be anything but a vampire. His highly styled blonde hair was shoulder length. He had light brown eyes that twinkled with a hint of mischief, and an athletic body. He reminded me of Yves.

  "She is pretty." His French accent wasn’t as thick as Yves’. "I think it would be amusing for us to drain her together."

  The twins' blue eyes lit up. One of them smacked her scarlet lips loudly.

  "Darcy and Darby like that idea," Petra said. “Why don’t you go find Yves? I think it would be amusing to see his reaction to being tagged by her.”

  “Yes,” they said in unison, and hurried away.

  I watched them depart with a cold hard lump forming in my gut. When they found him, and pulled out the two wooden daggers, he would fly into a bloodlust.

  "Dinner time. Don’t move a muscle, Sable," Anastasia said. I was still entranced, so her words were law. She knelt behind me and pulled my head to the side. "I caught her, so I get first bite."

  I tried to move. Nothing. Couldn’t move a finger. It was the oddest feeling.

  "No. Wait." She didn't wait. Anastasia kissed my neck right over the jugular, then pressed her tongue on it. "Don't you have questions? Don't you want to know if… oh God."

  Her warm lips pressed against my neck, and then her fangs pressed against my skin. I gasped at the pain of her penetrating my flesh, driving swift and sure into my vein. An intense cold flowed out of Anastasia and into me, consuming my body for several long seconds. Euphoria washed over me.

  She sucked on my neck a long time. It hurt like hell, but was so wonderful all at the same time. When she pulled her fangs out, her control over my mind and body vanished.

  "Why did you Claim her?" Olaf said. He cocked his head, eyes narrowing as he looked toward the front of the club. The other vamps turned and looked too, all frowning. "We're still going to kill her."

  I dropped my head low the second she pulled her fangs out, breathing fast and deep. My heart had never pounded like that before. Hot blood trickled down to my chest, dripping off my exposed breasts to splatter on the cold tiles between my knees. I heard the commotion out in the club: shouts, a few startled cries and screams. Valerie headed toward the VIP lounge’s entrance.

  "Don’t worry, Olaf. I just want to feel her terror, her helplessness as her life bleeds away," Anastasia said. "I love to feel them die."

  I ground my teeth. These vampires were so damned cocky. Even knowing my friends were coming, they acted as if nothing and no one could touch them. They were in for a rude awakening.

  "Yeah?" My voice sounded hoarse, deep. "Feel this!"

  I whipped my head straight back, head-butting Anastasia in the mouth. She cried out, and the other three vampires jumped to their feet. Fangs exposed, they stepped towards me. I jumped to my feet, dropping into a Krav Maga fighting stance.

  "Slayers!" Valerie cried from the VIP entrance, before being bashed aside.

  "Run, Sable!" Dane said. He was leading Gabe, Wendy, and Anson.

  "There are at least seven vamps!" I cried. “Four in here and three more out in the club.”

  My friends all wore Army uniforms dyed black, with knit ski masks hiding their faces and mirrored sunglasses protecting their eyes. They carried pistols and silver-headed javelins, with blessed crosses hanging from their necks. The vampires cried out and averted their eyes.

  Ka-boom!

  That first shot startled everyone, myself included.

  Anastasia's head snapped to the side. Something warm splattered my face. The vampire stumbled away from me, before turning toward the arriving slayers.

  “Dane?” Anastasia said. “Is that you?”

  “Anna?” Dane said. “Oh my God.”

  That’s when Gabe stepped up beside him and shot Anastasia again.

  I don't know what he carried, but that pistol's report echoed through the room. It sounded like a cannon and left my ears ringing, and it left a big hole in Anastasia's left temple. She looked a little dazed, but not anywhere close to being down. No one ever killed a vampire with bullets, not even sanctified silver ones. But silver bullets neutralized a vampire’s magic, making them easier to kill.

  When the shooting started, people in the club started screaming and scrambling to get out. I hurried over to my friends and accepted a javelin from Wendy. I really wanted to thrust it through Anastasia’s heart.

  Three more bullets struck Anastasia – two in the chest and one in the neck. She staggered back, growled, and ran toward a fire exit. Petra followed two steps behind her.

  “Watch out for vamps behind you,” I said.

  “We’re not finished with you, Sable Hart,” Olaf said.

  Only then did Olaf and Claude depart. They didn't bother running either. I swear, the silver bullets didn't seem to even hurt them as they left.

  My friends gawked at them, and wisely let them go. The crosses might keep them at bay, and the silver bullets shot into their bodies nullified their vamp powers, but they were still super strong and fast.

  "I emptied a nine-round magazine into that mother fucker's head and he just stood there," Gabe said. "Fucking Euro-vamps."

  Dane rushed over to me, pulling his ski mask off. His dark, shoulder length hair stuck out in odd directions, but those blue eyes I loved so much were filled with worry.

  Dane hugged me tightly, and then stroked my face. "Sable, are you all right?"

  "Define all right, baby," I said. I hugged him fiercely, finding comfort in his broad shoulders and thickly muscled arms “We have to get out of here.”

  "Hey, Sabe’s tits fell out of her costume," Gabe said. He was standing behind Dane, leering at me. Only that lecher could find naked boobs in a dark room. "Looking good, Sabe. All kinky and sexy."

  “I will poke your eyeballs out,” I said.

  Dane glared at him. “Stop being an asshole, Gabe.”

  I stuffed my boobs back into my corset. Gabe would never let me forget he’d seen them, either. The bastard.

  “Ah, but it’s what I’m best at,” Gabe said, chuckling. “Ain’t that right, Sabe?”

  “Don’t call me Sabe.”

  Sabe, rhymes with Gabe. He liked to call me that. I despised it and he knew it.

  "Did they bite her?" Anson said. He at least sounded worried. “She’s awful bloody.”

  "Yes, but only Anastasia," I said.

  Dane seized my head and turned it aside, examining the bleeding bite wound on my neck. I wanted to snap out an angry reprimand to be gentler, but concern filled his eyes. His hands were trembling, so I choked my angry words back down.

  “She only half healed it,” Dane said. “Does it hurt?”

  “Hurts like hell.”

  Wendy stepped up and looked at the bite. “We have bandages in the cars. Let’s get out of here. Gabe, lead the way out. Anson, back him up.”

  Gabe charged through the fire exit like a commando on a raid. Anson followed, with Dane hanging back to ensure Wendy and I got out safe.

  There weren’t many left in the dance club and no one tried to stop our departure. Even Valerie and her bouncers had run away with the vampires. I wondered how she would spin that with the media, if the incident got out. Vampire related crime rarely made the news if no one died.

  Valerie was the local president of the Vampire Anti-Defamation League. She worked longer and
harder than anyone to keep them out of the news, and painted as pretty a picture as possible when it was unavoidable.

  Chapter 2

  Dane got me home before three. Anastasia left me feeling incredibly dirty. I spent forty minutes in the shower. It didn’t help. So it was closer to four before I got to bed. Alone.

  Dane really wanted to stay with me. I declined and sent him on his way. Sometimes a girl needs to be alone. It would've been even better if it was Friday. That's my last day off, until my sister Yvette returns. I volunteered to cover until she felt up to coming back from maternity leave, and then I’d go back to being a full-time vampire slayer, living off the spoils of battle.

  The bite on my neck throbbed something awful, and my shoulder ached, but Anastasia filled my thoughts. She Claimed me. I didn’t know what that meant and the possibilities terrified me. Was I hers to call at will? Would I obey her every command? Vampires in Texas called such people thralls or minions, but on the East Coast they were called servants. False and misleading information riddled vampire lore, making it all but impossible to truly know all of their powers.

  I tossed and turned in bed, so hot and sweaty I stripped naked. Even cranking the A/C down didn’t help. Anastasia’s magical violation burned through my veins, making me antsy and aroused. I dreamed of Anastasia and wicked sexy acts I would never dream of doing. Shame only stoked the fire, so that I awoke tangled in sweaty sheets.

  I sat on the edge of the bed in the dark, with no desire to dress. My nipples hardened and my heart raced whenever I thought of Anastasia. I needed a cold shower.

  "I'm going to stake you, Anastasia."

  Speaking her name was profound. I stood up and faced southeast. My right hand rose slowly, and I pointed straight at her. I knew where she was. I knew.

  A cold chill slithered down my spine.

  Picking up my smartphone, I dialed. Two rings, and my father answered, "Holy Salvation United Methodist Church, Senior Pastor Fred Hart speaking, how may I help you?"

  "Daddy, it’s Sable. I can't come in today. Dane and I have to stake a vampire. She knows who I am, so we have to get to her first."

  "How does she know you?"

  "We went out trolling last night, and I got caught by her gaze. Dane had to rescue me, but I gave her my name and address. I have to stake her today."

  "Oh my! Didn’t your mother and I warn you about —"

  "Daddy, I don't have time. Please, I have to call Dane and make arrangements. I have to go do this, Dad. I'm sorry."

  "Don't be sorry, sweetheart. Just take care of that vampire." He sounded worried. "You and Dane do what you have to do."

  He was much more understanding of my job than my mother; but he didn’t like it any more than she did. Who wants their child risking her life to stalk the ultimate predator?

  "Thank you, Daddy. Love you, bye-bye." Then I called Dane, and woke him up. "Dane. It's Sable."

  "Morning, baby. What time is it?"

  His voice sounded so bedroom sexy it made me regret sending him away last night. Then I remembered why I called, and my little moment of bliss was over.

  "Too early, and maybe too late. Anastasia can find me. We’re linked somehow."

  "How do you know?" He sounded fully awake now. And frightened.

  "I don't know; you tell me, but last night she did… she did something to me. I can't describe it, but they said she Claimed me. The other vampires mocked her for it. Anyway, I felt her power surge through me." I said it all in a rush. "And this morning, when I woke up, apparently I can point straight at her. I know where she is right this instant."

  "Oh shit, she made you her minion? Why didn’t you tell me?"

  “I was scared and ashamed,” I said. “Let’s argue about this later. I know where she is, so we have to go stake her. Now.”

  “Where is she?”

  I didn't explain it correctly. "Southeast. I can't give an address, but I can find her. She's like a homing beacon to me, and we need to go stake her. Today. Before your ex-girlfriend wakes up and comes to claim your current girlfriend as a sex toy," I said, maybe a bit viciously. Anastasia would truly own me if she got her hands on me. I knew it like I knew my name. It scared the shit out of me, too. "I'll stake her by myself if you won’t come with me."

  "Like hell you will." He sounded angry. "I can't believe Anna… never mind. I'm on my way. Don’t worry, baby, we’ll fix this. I promise."

  I turned and stared in Anastasia's direction. She could be fifty miles away, or fifty feet and heading my way. I had no way of telling. Garland was southeast. Then Mesquite.

  "I’ll be waiting."

  "Be there in twenty," he said. "Love you."

  I pulled on a pair of faded black jeans. I chose a sports bra and pulled on an old green polo shirt over it. Then I headed for the bathroom to put on my face. Even with my world crashing around me, I despised the idea of going out without makeup on.

  ~**~**~

  Dane got there in fifteen minutes. He wore his usual faded jeans, scuffed up cowboy boots, and a blue polo.

  I met him at the door, kissed him, and said, "I like a man who knows when to move with a sense of urgency."

  He wasn't in a joking mood. Dane shoved a greasy Jack in the Box bag into my hands, which contained two Supreme Croissants. My favorite.

  “You stopped for breakfast?”

  “I don’t want to be distracted by hunger pangs,” he said with a guilty shrug. “Besides, I think vamps can hear rumbling stomachs.”

  “Yeah, right.” I pulled one out and tossed him the bag.

  I had to explain all over again exactly what I could feel. It was twilight, the sky starting to brighten in the east, so we sat at my little round table and ate while we went over what happened the previous night.

  ~**~**~

  The sun had risen above the eastern horizon when we left my apartment and struck out southward on Jupiter. Central Expressway wasn't too far from my apartment, but it would be bumper to bumper. Taking the interstate could make it over an hour to reach Mesquite in rush hour traffic. Of course, she might be closer, like in Garland or even Richardson.

  It took us an hour and twenty minutes to reach Miller Road, which was just shy of Loop 635. Yes, traffic was that bad due to a wreck on Central. I felt Anastasia due east from there, so straight down Miller we went, past the old Sherwin-Williams plant and straight into the stabbing rays of the rising sun.

  "Turn in there." I pointed at a strip mall. Dane drove slowly until we came to an abandoned store. "Here."

  I was calm, right up until that moment. Now that we were there my heart was racing. I always suffered a mild panic attack before staking a vampire. So many things could go wrong, and there were no “do-overs” in vampire slaying. I took slow deep breaths to calm myself before Dane noticed.

  "Inside the supermarket?"

  It was an old Safeway, with an arched glass and steel entry/exit way.

  "Yes."

  "Humph," he grunted. "Well, let's go stake her."

  Except for the six cars and two pickups parked along Miller, all with For Sale signs in the windshields, Dane's blue Ford Explorer was the only vehicle in the parking lot. It would be a few hours before any of the other stores opened for the day.

  This was it: the end game. We were going in. There was no telling if there were any human minions inside guarding the undead. Hell, there could be twenty vampires in there for all we knew. We could be minutes away from death.

  We went to the back of Dane's SUV. I pulled out my small black nylon backpack and opened it. On the left side, low, was a hidden holster with my Beretta Px4 Storm 9mm. I had silver crosses worked into the handgrips and etched into the slide. All blessed by my father. No vampire would use my own pistol against me. Dane had a similar pistol, except his was a Glock 31, firing .357 rounds.

  Inside the main section of the backpack was a bundle of five wooden stakes and a small five-pound sledgehammer. There was a bag of surgical masks, a box of rubber gloves, and two sets
of mirrored sunglasses. And a cheap, clear plastic rain suit – to keep the blood off. Dane had a similarly stocked backpack.

  We pulled out our rain suits. In less than a minute I was in mine, with the large cross necklace out. Then I pulled out a pair of rubber gloves. They were a deep burgundy.

  Dane did a double take on the gloves. "When did you get purple gloves?"

  "Burgundy." I raised the glove up to my lips. "Matches my lipstick. Duh."

  He looked at me like I'd gone insane. I grinned.

  "I found a medical supply store that sells them in all kinds of cool colors." I wagged my brows at him. "I also have electric blue, fire engine red, hot pink, royal purple, and emerald green."

  "Why?"

  "Why not?"

  He tried to speak twice, then gave up and returned to his preparations. I enjoyed that little victory as I got ready. It took my mind off being a vampire's "pet."

  I pulled my waist-length hair back into a tight bun. With my hair secured, I pulled out a hospital mask and put it on. Ready to spill vampire blood.

  Most people thought vampirism was spread by being bitten. Not true. All body fluids carried the "curse." Only one in a thousand people bitten became vampires. Saliva actually doesn't carry much of the Taint. Semen isn't much better. The best and surest way to become a vampire is sharing blood. A lot like AIDS, I guess. If vampire blood comes into contact with an open wound, it’s a better than average chance you’ll be Changed.

  "Let's send that undead demon to Hell." Dane's voice was muffled by the mask.

  We shouldered our packs, pulled our pistols, and moved up close to the door. Guns were more for self-defense against minions than killing vamps. We carried silver-plated bullets, with tiny crosses etched into them. Also blessed by my father. Sanctified silver burned like white hot pokers and suppressed their ability to use magic. Debilitating, yes; but like everything else about those evil monsters, the older the vamp the better he was able to endure the abuse.

  Dane had his locksmith tools. He had worked his way through college as a locksmith. But they were also useful for, shall we say, less than legal endeavors. The various tools were completely foreign to me, though I thought I should have him teach me how he did it.