A Wind of Change (A Shade of Vampire #17)(22)

“My sister. She’s not well. She has asthma. At least take me to see her!”

“Don’t worry about your sister,” he replied calmly. “She’s in capable hands.”

Whose hands?

Withdrawing a key from his pocket, he opened the door and stepped inside. I shivered as he locked it behind him. We were standing in another apartment that looked similar in luxury to Jeramiah’s. He carried me down the hallway, pushed open the door at the end of it, and stepped into a bedroom. He placed me down on the large circular bed in the center of the room.

As soon as I hit the mattress, I scrambled away from him and ran for the door. He whizzed across the room and shut it before I could reach it. I staggered backward, moving toward the far corner of the room and looking for anything that I could use to defend myself.

“What are you?” I breathed.

A smile curled his lips, his brown eyes fixed on my face.

“Come here and I’ll show you.”

I grabbed hold of a table lamp and pulled it from its socket, brandishing it to create as much distance between him and me as I could.

Calmly, he removed his jacket to reveal a thin shirt beneath it. He walked toward me slowly, like a lion stalking its prey. Then his arm shot out so fast I didn’t have the speed to react in time. He ripped the lamp from my hands and threw it out of reach. Now defenseless, I stood flush against the wall.

“Do as I say, and you have nothing to be afraid of.”

As he took his final step, his body pressed against me, pinning me to the wall. He gripped the collar of my shirt and ripped it downward, baring my neck and collarbone.

“No!” I screamed, clutching my ripped shirt with one hand while trying to push him away with the other.

He pinned my hands up against the wall and held them there, then lowered his head to my neck. I tensed up as his lips pressed against my skin. I thought he was kissing me at first, then two sharp stabs punctured my flesh. I was too shocked to even scream.

What is happening?

His tongue brushed my skin, and he began sucking. He groaned deeply, and I felt his entire body begin heaving against me.

He’s… drinking my blood?

I felt close to passing out as he continued to take deep gulps of me.

Wake up, River. Please… wake up.

When he finally raised his head, my head was faint. His lips were covered with deep red liquid. My own blood. He smiled, revealing sharp fangs.

“Do I still need to answer your question, treasure? Or have I shown you enough?”

He had shown me enough.

These people were vampires.

Chapter 7: Ben

I’d been trying to keep my head down as much as possible. Jeramiah had consulted with Michael and Amaya, and he’d given me a few other jobs—mostly menial tasks like tending to the lily pond. I did them dutifully. My plan was to do as I was requested until I felt the time was right to propose that I accompany them on one of their hunts.

I had to gain their trust first. It seemed like the most obvious thing that a vampire would ask if he wanted to escape—to accompany them beyond the boundary. I needed to be patient and show Jeramiah that I was committed to being a good citizen of The Oasis.

I was invited to join more parties at night, but I declined. I just told them I was a recluse and had never been one to party. Nobody seemed to raise much objection to it. Marilyn didn’t bother me again either. Nobody other than Jeramiah sought me out, and even then just when there was a specific task he wanted to talk to me about, or to deliver more blood. There never seemed to be any shortage of it—indeed, he encouraged me to drink as much as I wanted. Though I didn’t, of course. I just drank the minimum required to survive without climbing the walls from hunger. I was just grateful that I hadn’t needed to do any killing myself. The moment I did that again, I’d be plunged back into the same black state I’d been in while drifting in the submarine.

When there was a knock on my door in the early hours of the night, I assumed it would be Jeramiah. I was right.

“Jeramiah,” I said.

“Would you come with me?” he said.

“What is it?”

“It’s easier if I just show you.”

“All right.” I wasn’t wearing a shirt, but I just went with him as I was. I doubted he’d keep me long, whatever it was.

He was silent as we walked along the veranda. He stopped eventually outside the door of an apartment.

He knocked on the door. “Michael,” he called.

So this is Michael’s apartment. I wondered why he was bringing me here of all places.

There were footsteps and the door opened. Michael appeared behind it, his lower lip stained with blood. Perhaps we’d interrupted him during a meal. The traces of human blood on his mouth made my stomach lurch, even though I had already downed three glasses earlier this evening.

“Come in,” Michael said—more to Jeramiah than to me. He opened the door wider and stepped aside as we entered.

I still didn’t understand what Michael found so objectionable about me—I’d never done anything to insult or harm him. Not that I gave a damn.

“Through here,” Michael said, leading us along the long corridor. He took a left down another hallway and stopped outside a door at the end of it. He drew out a small key from his pocket and opened it. Before I even realized what was happening, Jeramiah had stepped behind me and pushed me through the door into what turned out to be an unheated sauna room. Following closely behind me, he slammed the door shut after us.