Hunger Within (A Sable Hart Vampire Slayer Novel Book 1) Read online

  "A pimp," I said, mostly out of surprise. I'd never seen one before. All four of them looked at me. "You disgust me."

  I noticed their auras then. His aura was the largest I'd noticed so far, but darker: kinda gray: tainted. Figures: stinking pimp. Strangely enough, the hookers' auras didn't have that gray taint. Their auras were perfect white circles, while his wasn't actually a circle since the middle was also filled in with gray, like backlighting.

  The three girls narrowed their eyes at me, but said nothing. He remained silent too, looking intently at me. He couldn't take his eyes off me as I stalked by. I was determined not to grace him with any more of my time or attention.

  Walking out to the street, I looked left, then right. The hookers were out in force along that stretch of road. There were six just in front of Crazy Girls, not counting the three girls with their pimp. Good marketing strategy: get the men while they're coming out of the strip joint all hot and bothered.

  The low, deep-throated thunder only a pack of Harleys could create filled the night air. I scowled at them, remembering the bikers from earlier. It was Yuri's fault, but they were the stick he had used to beat me with first. Two lines of bikers rolled up and turned into Crazy Girls’ parking lot. They passed to either side of me as they entered, trying to scare me I guess. I wasn't impressed.

  A moment later, I heard the crunching of heavy-booted feet. I slanted a look over my shoulder to find one of the bikers approaching. He probably thought I was a hooker. Who else stood along the shoulder of the road in front of a strip joint?

  "It is you," he said. His voice was familiar. "Sable Hart."

  I blinked and turned to face him. It was Randy. My fists curled tight and my eyes narrowed. I stifled the growl that wanted to erupt from my throat.

  To my surprise, the bikers' auras were all pearly white. No hint of gray. Randy and a couple others had really big auras, but otherwise their auras were no different from that of an ordinary honest man.

  "Randy," I said. As I watched his aura started to change, to quiver and pulse. Instinctively, I understood it wasn't good. It seemed angry, menacing, but I didn't know why. I had the oddest urge to show him my fangs and hiss at him. "What do you want?"

  Randy entered my personal space and looked me up and down. I could smell stale beer on his breath. His heart was pounding, blood surging. It wasn't from desire. He might've been the only man I'd met so far that night that didn't smell as if he wanted me.

  "Revenge." He backhanded me.

  My head was knocked to the left, then snapped right back into place. It was so unusual that it startled me. How did I do that? I tasted my own blood, but realized my torn cheek was already healed. The blood tasted good. Real good. I swallowed hard and clenched my fists tighter, mostly to hide the tremble in my hands. But I wasn't afraid; I was hungry.

  Randy snarled and seized my left wrist. "Come here."

  I yelped despite myself. I never dreamed he would do that. Now that I was a vampire, I thought he couldn't manhandle me. After all, I was incredibly strong.

  Turns out, I was also wrong.

  He dragged me towards his biker cohorts. Yanked off balance, I was forced to stumble along behind him. Randy kept me off-balance until he thrust me into the middle of the outlaw biker gang. The other bikers were all glaring at me menacingly. Big men. Hairy men. With the cold hard eyes of killers.

  I wasn't frightened. What could they do to me? I was a vampire. It didn't get any worse than that, right? Besides, I was at least as strong as five of them. Maybe even ten of them. Did anyone really know the true strength of vampires?

  "Here she is," Randy said. I rubbed my wrist more out of instinct than anything else. It didn't hurt in the least. But I'm sure it made me look weak and pathetic to their unmerciful eyes. "This is the bitch that killed Hagar and Junk Dog."

  "Junk Dog? That's a name? Really?" My face screwed up in distaste. "I'm sure his mother was so proud."

  The biker behind me slammed a fist into my back, above my left kidney. It hurt for all of five seconds. Didn't even knock me down. I turned and offered him a staredown.

  He stuck out his chin. "Don't you go trashin’ on Junk Dog, bitch. He was good people."

  "What? Any member of your gang couldn't possibly be good anything." I was feeling my oats. He tried to punch me in the kidney again. This time I was ready, and blocked his punch. "Oooh, looks like I'm not totally defenseless, boys. Be afraid. I know Krav Maga."

  They were not impressed. So I showed them my fangs.

  "Shit! She's a vampire," the big biker cried, backpedaling.

  My roundhouse was too quick for any mere human. The impact to his cheek spun him completely around. Blood burst out, spraying across my face and chest.

  It smelled delicious. I licked some off my lips and groaned. So good. My hunger tormented me, begging to be sated with his life's blood. Demanded…

  Randy looked warily at me. "But you weren't…"

  Thank goodness Randy caught my attention. It was the only thing that saved the other biker from my fangs.

  "Things change."

  They'd all moved back, giving me plenty of room, when I’d cold-cocked their friend. I looked around the widened circle and noticed the pimp, his hookers, and several of Crazy Girls’ patrons were all staring at me.

  "So Yuri caught you?"

  "Yuri caught me."

  "Good."

  "Not for you."

  Randy put more distance between us. His big brave biker buddies did the same. I didn’t feel like chasing them down just for vengeance. They weren't worth the effort. Not anymore. But they couldn't go unpunished.

  I grabbed Randy's bike. I didn't know much about Harley-Davidsons, but I could appreciate a pretty motorcycle. Randy might be a sleazy dirtbag, but his ride was immaculate. It was painted a dark burgundy, which I liked. A lot. The fender over the front wheel said, Road King. It had a windshield and those saddlebag storage bins on the back. It was very clean, unlike Randy, and all of its chrome decorations were polished.

  I’d planned to just break something, maybe pull some parts off, but I found the whole bike wasn't that heavy to me. Not anymore. Not exactly light, but manageable. It was light enough to pick up with two hands. That amazed me, since it had to weight seven, eight hundred pounds or more. It was a Harley-Davidson, for chrissake.

  I cut a wickedly smug look at Randy. His eyes were wide. I liked the fear on his face. I liked the smell of it even better. I turned like a shot put hurler, round and round, while holding that big Harley-Davidson in both hands. Once I got up enough speed, I let go. It flew up and up and over on top of Crazy Girls. Onto the roof. I was just as impressed as the bikers.

  Within a few minutes, more Harleys had joined it. The bravest bikers dared my wrath to jump onto their bikes and speed away. I got to toss five motorcycles total. All of the bikers were gone by the time I finished.

  "Very impressive," the pimp said. "Do you do any other tricks?"

  He was standing remarkably close considering my little demonstration, and he had to know I didn't like pimps. I guess he wasn't too bright. What he lacked in intelligence, he more than made up for in physical attractiveness.

  The guy had to be at least six foot six. He was slim but not skinny. The parking lot lights showed off his pretty blond hair which fell down past his shoulders. His goatee and mustache were a darker shade of blond. Yep, he looked just like an evil Jesus.

  His steel gray eyes met mine bravely. Apparently, he didn't know about vampire gazes. I tried to capture him, but he wasn't affected by my gaze. Maybe I wasn't doing it right. Was I too new? Had that power not manifested yet? I glanced at the black girl standing beside him in the short-shorts and boots. She returned my gaze without fear, and I had her.

  Capturing her with my gaze was every bit as profound as when Anastasia had done it to me. Once again, my body became energized. My libido sprang to life as well. Only now I was in control. I owned her body and soul, and the stench of her desire filled my no
strils and poured down into my lungs. Her heart raced and she started squirming, panting. She would do anything for me. Anything at all. The power left me breathless, with butterflies dancing in my belly.

  "Desiree never was very prudent," the pimp said. "She's such a fang whore. She absolutely loves being mesmerized."

  Desiree was shorter than me. Light-skinned, with big brown eyes and red-dyed, shoulder-length, straightened hair. She had large boobs that still managed to look natural, and a slim body. Quite stunning actually. Dressed in that skimpy red and blue leather outfit, I'm sure she made the pimp a lot of money.

  "Is she a vampire, too, Bone Daddy?" one of the blonde hookers asked.

  Bone Daddy? What the hell kind of name was that? Then I remembered his chosen occupation. Pimp name. Shouldn't he be wearing purple velvet and a purple fedora or something?

  I released Desiree to look the blonde over. She was a very unnatural looking platinum blonde, with big blue eyes and she was actually a little on the plump side.

  I could feel all three of the women intimately. Their blood called to me. I could hear it surging through their bodies. I longed to taste it. They were all highly aroused. And their arousal stoked my own. Desiree let her head roll back a bit. She swept her hair back over one shoulder, inviting me.

  "You wanna go somewhere for a bite?" she asked in a husky voice.

  "I'm not interested."

  "Not yet. But soon." Desiree sounded confident.

  Desiree frightened me. I was afraid she might be right. She wanted me bad. Her desire fed my libido. Vampire libidos were legendary.

  Desiree smiled knowingly. "Your hands are trembling." She tried to catch my eye. "I'll be ready whenever you are."

  The other girls’ blood called to me too, but not the pimp. It wasn't because I found him morally repulsive, either. I was a vampire – the very bottom of the moral barrel. He still had a chance for redemption.

  I looked Bone Daddy in the eye. He really had beautiful eyes. I took in how handsome he was, too. Even with the long blonde hair, there was nothing feminine about him. His gaze was demanding, and he oozed confidence. I was more than a little turned on.

  He returned my gaze steadily, so I tried hypnotizing him. Nothing. Why couldn't I capture him in it? It wasn't happening, and that could only mean he was either a vampire or a werewolf.

  "You're a vampire," I said. Now I understood why his aura was different from his girls. I wondered if my aura was "tainted" like that.

  A vampire pimp? It boggled the mind. Apparently, his "girls" were all minions. His stable of hookers must provide him with a steady supply of blood and money. What more could a vampire ask for? I was only surprised there weren’t more vampire pimps. Hell, maybe there were.

  "And so are you: a vampire. Do you mind if I have your name?"

  "Why would I mind?" Wait, was there power in a name? Like in those fantasy stories I read as a teenager?

  "Most vampires hesitate to give their real names for security and privacy. That is why I'm called Bone Daddy, among other reasons. Shocking as it sounds, it is not the name my parents gave me."

  I smiled despite myself. A vampire with a sense of humor.

  "My name is Sable Hart."

  Desiree's eyes were huge. "The vampire slayer?"

  They knew of me? My life was getting better and better. "In the undead flesh."

  "You're a vampire and you kill vampires?" blonde number two said.

  "Is that irony?" I asked, grinning. I don't think she was amused.

  "No. This is Sable's first night as a vampire," Bone Daddy said.

  "You can tell?" I said.

  "Well, yes." Bone Daddy grinned as he moved in close. So close I could feel the heat from his body. So close I could smell his expensive cologne. I had to swallow hard to maintain my composure. "You aren't ripping out throats in your overwhelming hunger. You don't seem to want to even bite anyone, so that means you haven't starved yourself enough to go crazy. In three nights you'll be ripping out throats left and right."

  "No!"

  "Yes. Unless you accept your fate and feed."

  "I can't."

  "Then you're in for a very short unlife, and good riddance." He indicated my body, then ran his hand down across the front of my shirt, right over my boobs and everything. He showed me his palm, pink with blood. "Look at you. You're already covered in blood. I bet it's filling your vampire senses, driving you mad with hunger and desire. I know all that blood has me riled up."

  I nodded. "Yes, the smell of blood is affecting me." He gave no outward indication of being "riled up."

  He understood how the Change was affecting me, but he didn't know me. I was all that he said, but I was also stronger than he thought. Strong enough to keep my unnatural hunger at bay.

  "I thought so," he said, locking eyes with me.

  I felt that gaze in my bones. And in my crotch. Libido went from twenty to two hundred in three seconds flat. I couldn't breathe. My heart thundered, and I could not break free of his eyes. Those eyes consumed me, and I rejoiced. No vamp magic, just pure animal attraction.

  "Wow, so this is your first night?" Desiree said, breaking me free of his gaze. She stepped towards me, hand out to touch my face. I jerked back, beyond her reach. I could tell she was a little disappointed, but she didn't follow. She just purred, "I could be your first."

  "No," he said. "She'd kill you."

  I didn't want to feed on her, but his quick, sure statement offended me.

  "I would not!"

  "I like that little flash of vampiric anger. It’ll get worse before it gets better." He sneered, inadvertently flashing his fangs. It was rather terrifying, and I moved back another step. He was a bigger, stronger, and older vampire. "After you bite her, and suck out your fill, what next?"

  "I don't understand."

  It was a stupid conversation. I didn’t want to bite anyone. Her blood was the last thing I wanted, but I guess it was still on the list. It was his tone that aggravated me. It was such a superior-than-thou tone. He was fixin’ to get another dose of my “vampiric anger.”

  "Desiree here so graciously gives you her throat. You feed, only taking a pint or so. No more. You don't want to kill her, and truth is that is enough to fill most vampires," he said. "You have sated your dark thirst, so how do you stop the blood flow? How do you keep her from bleeding to death?" He gave me a quizzical look. He looked like he honestly wanted to know. "I don't think you want to kill anyone."

  "I… I don't know."

  I was dumbfounded. I knew vampires could heal the bite wounds of their victims; but apparently, it was a talent that had to be learned.

  "Did Yuri Change you?" Bone Daddy took a step closer. He loomed over me, big and scary and dominant. "Or someone else?"

  The undead pimp had a knack for coming up with hard questions. I wondered if he was a lawyer before his Changing.

  "I don't know. Not really." That night was crystal clear in my mind. I wish it wasn't. Forgetting it would've been nice. I suspected I'd have nightmares about it for decades, if not centuries, to come. "I was bitten twice in two days, but I didn't share blood with anyone. I don't know how it happened. But more importantly, how do you know about me and Yuri?"

  “Yuri put the word out he was after you,” Desiree said.

  Bone Daddy took a step closer, looking at me intently. He was definitely in my personal space bubble now. "Do you know when you were bitten? Remember, it takes exactly seventy-two hours to Change. To the minute. You can set your watch by it."

  “What day is it?” My mind was reeling. It hadn’t occurred to me that I could have spent several days in the safe house. It felt like the next day to me. How could Dane not find me there? Weren’t they looking for me?

  “Saturday.”

  I ground my teeth as I thought about the big battle at Gabe's place. Which one of those godforsaken vampires Changed me? Oh, the twins did lick and suck on my wounded breasts, and one bit my wrist. It was possible the bite on the wrist C
hanged me, but unlikely.

  "It was one of three vampires then," I said. I pulled out my cell phone and turned it on. I checked my messages, and found a mind boggling number from Dane, Wendy, and my mother. I did not want to tell my mother what had happened. She would be so disappointed in me. "Yuri, or maybe Darcy or Darby. Those two kissed and licked my wounds, but they weren’t bleeding."

  I checked missed text messages next. Those were mostly from Dane and Wendy, telling me to meet up at the Lancaster house. They expressed increased signs of worry: asking, even begging, and then demanding that I contact them.

  "Did any of their blood get on you?" he said, pulling me out of my dark thoughts. "All it takes is a single drop in an open wound."

  That kinda irritated me. Like I didn’t know about vamp blood. I wasn’t an idiot. Dane shot the twins while they were crawling on me, so some of their blood could’ve splattered on one of the wounds on my boobs. Was Dane to blame? Then another thought hit me.

  "I recall tasting blood once." I shivered at the thought. "Yuri kissed me toward the end of the fight. He tasted like blood, then my mouth went numb."

  "Blood kiss," Desiree whispered, nodding.

  "Yep," Bone Daddy said.

  Minions wrote poetry and songs about Blood Kisses. They thought it was the most romantic way to be Changed. Usually, the victim and vamp each bit their own lips or tongues, and then kissed. Three days later, a brand spanking new vampire.

  Yuri kissed me after my cheeks and tongue were torn up from being brutally backhanded. Thank God it wasn't Dane's fault.

  "I'm going to kill Yuri!"

  Just like the morning after Anastasia “claimed” me, I suddenly knew where Yuri was. I could point straight at him, but this time I felt something flow back through that link – joy and triumph. Yuri sensed me, too.

  I clamped down on it, severing the link. Yuri could find me, just as I could find him.

  "You just felt him, didn’t you?" Bone Daddy said. “A sire’s link to his children.”

  All I could do was nod. Fear still gripped me, but that fear was quickly turning into anger.