His Captive Mortal (A Vampire Romance)

There are a few motorcycles in a lot nearby. Their tattooed owners are talking in a group. These guys are all huge, with muscles stretching their white tank tops. It’s January and cold for Arizona, but only one is wearing a leather jacket.

As I scurry past, one of the guys turns. He’s got a pierced lip and a shaved head. In the dark, his eyes seem to glow silver—but that can’t be right. No human’s eyes could glow that way--oh. He’s not human.

I walk faster.

“Can I help you, little lady?” he calls. The group of guys stop talking and turn to see what’s distracted their buddy. Crap on a cracker.

I duck into Eclipse, rubbing my arms. I shouldn’t have come here alone. Without thinking, I throw up my bubble of protection, my trigger reaction to being nervous.

Three heads in the back whip around to stare at me. My blood runs cold.

Oh crap. Vampires.

And Charlie was right. They’re all in identical suits, but they look more unsavory than he does. I look right and left, scanning the crowd for any sign of him. I back toward the door, trying not to look scared. No sign of Charlie, but the vampires stand as one and saunter toward me. I scan the bar one last time and turn, walking swiftly out.

A vampire blurs and stops directly in front of me, blocking my path.

Charlie

Blue-balling it never fails to put me in a foul mood. I try to shake myself out of it, but the darkness creeps back.

The scene back there with Aurelia reminded him too much of Anka. Why I’d thought she was different—or any woman was different, for that matter—baffles me. Love isn’t a genuine concept. People—and vampires—are selfish creatures. In the end, everyone just looks out for him or herself. I was stupid to offer her pleasure without being able to receive my own, stupid to think she would reciprocate with the one thing I need from her.

I stop and rub my face.

No. She isn’t like Anka. Aurelia was scared, and she always lashes out when afraid. I like that about her—enjoy her pluck in the face of adversity. And she was right about me disappearing every time things make me uncomfortable. But if I stayed, I would have said some of the stupid things I’d been thinking, and that would have hurt her.

And despite my assertion of selfishness, I couldn’t stand to see her hurt. Even as I’d traced away, her pain had tripped me.

I walk downtown, the stars and fresh air soothing my frayed nerves. Something makes me stop and listen. Not a sound, more a feeling: fear. And not my own.

Aurelia.

I had her blood, and as my own emotions calm, I can sense hers. Something’s wrong. Before I can move, a scream splits the air, sounding just a few blocks away. I blur to the alleyway behind Eclipse just as another scream sounds. My blood turns cold.

Fuck.

Aurelia, immobilized through a glamour, has her head tilted back to expose her throat, and the vampire Abe Fenman and his two cronies lean over her as she screams.

“Looks like she’s already been bitten tonight,” Abe remarks just before I materialize behind him and yank him back.

The fight moves at vampire speed, bodies blurring, blows violent enough to crack bones. Three against one makes it difficult, but I channel the rage inside me. Forget all concern for myself. I have to get to Aurelia to disable the glamour that left her frozen and vulnerable. I twist and kick the wiry vampire named Andre, but take a hard blow to the gut from Abe, and the third vampire slashes at my throat with a broken bottle.

The glass catches the tendon between my neck and shoulder, missing my vital artery. I catch Aurelia’s face in my hands, taking the few seconds necessary to release her from the thrall. “Bubble up, make no eye contact. Run as fast as you can.”

The distraction costs me, as the three undead attack at once. One catches and holds my arms back as the others kick and punch me in the gut. I lift both feet and kick the immortal in front of me square in the chest then slam my head backward to bash the nose of my captor.

Aurelia makes a bubble, but she doesn’t move; she stands staring in horror.

“Run!” I bellow. Dammit. I should’ve enthralled her to enforce her obedience.

My attention on her causes the vampires to adjust their focus, one of them turning to her while the other two continue to fight me.

The broken glass slashes his forearm, but I tackle Andre to the pavement and bash his head repeatedly against the asphalt.

“Charlie!”

Aurelia’s scream makes me jerk my head up in time to see her hurling a ball of light squarely in Abe’s face. The furious vampire lunges towards her with a roar.