Before Daybreak (Love Bitten)

1

Braeden

“Too bad Cian, Aura, and Abel took Ronan out for a drink. I’m sure he would have been more than happy to help,” Narkissa, my brother’s consort, said with a decidedly unsympathetic grin.

I’d been stuck with the job of playing nursemaid for a bunch of teenage girls who were celebrating the eighteenth birthday of my cousin’s daughter, Sheridan. Her older brother, Ronan, had skirted the duty because he only recently turned twenty-one, and they had whisked him away, taking him out for a drink. I mentally groaned at the thought of all the fun they’d have without me.

“I should’ve gone with them,” I muttered. “At least then I would’ve done something to earn the headache I’m sure to end up with tonight.”

I couldn’t really be annoyed with Ronan, though. Narkissa was right that he would have been more than happy to help. He adored Sheridan and wouldn’t have complained for a second about staying to babysit the girls.

My brother and sister-in-law were about to take their children home, so I wandered off to check in with Sheridan about the plan for the night—so to speak since it was nearly five in the morning. Though our kind of vampire could walk in the sun, we preferred the nocturnal life due to our incredibly pale skin and sensitive eyes that were much sharper at night. It also helped keep the fact we weren’t aging less noticeable.

Sheridan stood with ten young girls—okay, to be fair, most of them were eighteen, and the rest were only a year younger. Still, compared to my five hundred and forty-three years, they were practically in diapers. My eyes strayed to the female my cousin was speaking with, and I immediately revised my generalized categorization.

The dark-haired daywalker was clearly young, but she had the body of a woman with curves in the right places despite her slender frame. My body had absolutely zero reaction to her, but I still appreciated her beauty.

They both turned to look at me when I approached, and I was struck by the woman’s incredible eyes. They were hazel, but the greenish-brown was so bright they appeared gold. The maturity in them and the way she held herself with confidence took me aback a little. Most girls her age retained some childish qualities, still developing and finding themselves. But while this female had an innocence about her, she obviously knew who she was.

I smiled, a little relieved because I had a feeling she would be interesting to talk to, so I wouldn’t have to suffer through a night of inane teenage chatter.

“Hey, Braeden,” Sheridan greeted me happily.

“Happy birthday, cousin,” I said, giving her a side hug and a kiss on the top of her head, which only came to my shoulder. I liked to tease her about being short, but in reality, the height discrepancy was because I was six-foot-six.

“Thanks!” She beamed up at me, then gestured to her friend. “This is Callidora—we call her Callie—Yellen. She lives a few blocks away from me.”

I inclined my head and smiled, “Very nice to meet you.”

“You, too.” Callie cocked her head to the side and smirked. “You got stuck with babysitting duty, huh?”

I laughed and shrugged, holding my hands out to the sides. “Guilty.”

She sighed dramatically. “Well, there went our plans to sneak out to a strip club.”

Sheridan snorted with laughter, and I shook my head with an amused smile. “And what exactly would be fun in that for you girls?”

“Shock value.” Her tone and expression were completely serious, and I wasn’t sure what to think until she winked.

I laughed and began to reply when suddenly, she pitched forward from someone bumping into her from behind. I reached out to catch her, but it turned out, she didn’t need any help. With an agile move of her body, she caught her balance and stayed upright. However, the cup she’d been holding had been crushed to her chest, and red liquid was splattered on the bodice of her dress.

“Oh, crap,” she sighed, looking at the blood rolling down the front of her clothes. “My mother is going to kill me. She loves this dress.”

“We can get the stain out if we take care of it right now,” Sheridan assured her and grabbed her hand, about to drag her off. “Braeden, will you take her drink, please?”

Callie smiled gratefully and held out the almost empty glass of chilled bagged blood. Daywalkers found the taste of warm human blood incredibly distasteful, especially when it was fresh. Most of us used a service that delivered bagged blood.

I reached for the glass, and our fingers brushed.

The cup dropped from my fingers and shattered on the hardwood floor. My body sprung to life, my blood turned hot, my pulse raced, and my cock hardened to steel.

Callie’s golden eyes had gone wide with shock as we stood there with our hands hovering between us, our fingers just barely touching.