Pretty When She Destroys (Pretty When She Dies #3)(61)

Amaliya nodded her head, then flinched in pain. “Yeah.”

“Also, I brought back Roberto.” Samantha forced a smile onto her face. “He’s right there.” She pointed to a spot just outside the ring of zombies.

“I can’t see him.” Jeff squinted.

“Neither can I.” Cian’s accented voice was clipped.

“You won’t unless I want you to,” Samantha said. “It’s probably better if I deal with him on my own until everyone calms the f*ck down about me recruiting him to our cause.” She nailed Cian with a glower.

The vampire turned away, shaking his head. “You can’t trust him.”

“Yeah, well...” Samantha trailed off.

“I feel deliciously drunk and hung-over at the same time.” Amaliya touched one of her zombies gently on the shoulder. The male creature turned toward her, waiting. “Keep watch for me. Let me know if you sense any dangers.” The zombies nodded, then as one they sank into the earth.

Jeff gawked at the spot where the zombies had stood. “Things are different now, aren’t they?”

“My zombies can help us keep watch. Samantha’s ghosts can, too.” Amaliya gave Samantha an affectionate squeeze.

Samantha’s fingers in his hand felt strange. Almost as if she wasn’t completely in this world. Gazing at her, she looked like her same normal self, but he sensed a difference.

“Are you okay?” Jeff asked.

Samantha tilted her head to smile at him. “Oh, yeah. Just...freaked a little.”

Jeff sighed with relief when she came into his arms, snuggling into his chest. Closing his eyes, he rested his cheek on her soft hair. Jeff hated to admit it, but for a second he had feared he had somehow lost her. As her warm lips touched his, those fears were vanquished.




The music in the small club pounded with violence and anger. Most of the audience gathered around the narrow stage was long haired, drunk, and thrusting their fists into the air while whipping their heads back and forth. The smoking ban was in full effect, but plenty of people were puffing away on electric cigarettes. Fragrant mist floated through the air mixing with the stench of sweating bodies, cologne, weed, and alcohol.

Amaliya pinned the beautiful brunette with vibrant green eyes to the wall, her body stretched out over the other woman’s. Her victim’s fingers stroked Amaliya’s waist as they chatted and flirted. The vampire and mortal were dressed very similarly in black jeans, tank tops with metal band album art printed on the front, deep red lips, and leather bracers. The metalheads brushed past them on the way to the bathrooms and bar, a few casting admiring looks, but kept walking when Amaliya gave them her piercing glare.

“My boyfriend would totally be into you,” the human purred against Amaliya’s ear. “You really should come home with me. He likes it when I bring pretty girls home.”

Amaliya grinned, tilting her head seductively. She was famished instead of revitalized from the events earlier in the evening. After three feedings, she was still hungry. “I want to have fun now,” Amaliya said seductively.

The other woman giggled as Amaliya’s fingers gently tugged on a loop on the waistband of her jeans. Acquiescing, the mortal let Amaliya escort her down the narrow dingy hallway covered in flyers and graffiti to a small bathroom with a female devil painted on the battered door. Since it was a weekday and the band performing was local, the crowd was small so the bathroom was empty. Pushing her beautiful victim inside, Amaliya ignored the repugnant odors of mildew, shit, urine, and a whiff of vanilla from an air freshener listing on the badly battered sink. There was only one stall and the door was ajar. They were alone. With a grin, Amaliya shut and locked the door. A brief glimpse of a shadow out of the corner of her eye betrayed Cian’s presence.

The dark haired beauty pulled Amaliya close and her lush red mouth pressed against the vampire’s lips. She tasted of cigarettes, liquor and mint. Amaliya appreciated the woman’s desire to get right to business. Pressing the mortal against the sink, Amaliya kissed her fervently, the hunger inside her building. Lightly sucking on the tip of her victim’s succulent pink tongue, Amaliya slid her hands into the woman’s dark hair that was damp with sweat. Sliding her mouth along the curve of her cheek, Amaliya relished the taste and smell of makeup and salty flesh. Unable to wait anymore, she bared her elongating teeth and slid them into the woman’s neck. Feeding thoughts of pleasure into her victim’s mind, Amaliya drank deeply. The warm liquid rushed through her undead body restoring her, giving her life, and replenishing her power.

The woman in her embrace gasped loudly, her breasts rubbing against Amaliya’s as she locked her legs around Amaliya’s waist. The human and vampire were lost in the ecstasy of the feeding.

“Enough,” Cian’s voice said sharply.

Amaliya ignored him, wanting more. The blood was so rich, so delicious. The soft body of the woman in her arms elicited the desire for so much more. The more the girl writhed, the more Amaliya wanted to take her fully.

“Enough!”

To her dismay, Cian’s fingers pried her teeth out of the girl’s flesh and he shoved Amaliya into the wall. Clutching her shirt, he scowled at her.

“I’m hungry,” Amaliya moaned, licking her lips.

“I know. But we do not kill.”

“I wasn’t going to...” Amaliya’s voice trailed off as she saw the girl slumped over on the sink. “Is she...?”