Blood Bath & Beyond (6 page)

“Right here on the Strip, down by the MGM Hotel. You can’t miss it.”

“Do you need to visit there soon, Sarah?” Thierry asked.

I placed a hand over my empty stomach. “I am getting a bit hungry. I think I’ll check it out after we’re finished here.”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I keep forgetting that you should drink something every day to keep up your strength.”

“Luckily, I don’t forget. I have a nice little built-in reminder when random necks start to look appetizing to me.”

Yes, vampires and blood. One of the myths that
was
very true, no matter how much I wished I could have a normal diet. The need for blood was like a dull ache inside me, a lot like hunger pains, a craving for food when you were otherwise on a diet, but…different. It was best to pay very close attention to those pains and
do what you could to satisfy them. If they were ignored for too long, then…well, it would become increasingly difficult to be around humans.

He turned back to Victoria. “So, this…Madeline. Do you know where she is now? Does she stay in touch with you?”

The little vampire shook her head. “I haven’t seen her in more than fifty years. I don’t even know if she’s still alive.”

“You parted ways?”

“I ran away from her. She was a kook. Completely insane. She sired me—even though it works for me, she didn’t do it with a clear head. She’d lost three children and she wanted a child who’d never age, never die. She treated me like a china doll, dressing me up and showing me off to her friends.”

“You didn’t like that?” I asked. “I mean, you seem to like to dress up.”

Victoria looked at me sharply. “Do you think I do this for fun, puppy?”

I wasn’t thrilled with the nickname she’d chosen for me. “You don’t?”

“The Little Miss Platinum Vegas pageant is the top pageant in the country. It has a ten-thousand-dollar grand prize. This is how I make my living. It’s not like I have a whole lot of options. Not many Wall Street brokerages want to hire a six-year-old. No, instead I strut my stuff and sing my songs and I have a fifty percent success rate with being named Ultimate Grand Supreme. Other contestants shrivel with fear and awe when they see the name Victoria Corday on the contestant list.”

“We have so many sashes and trophies, we have no idea what to do with them all,” Charles said proudly.

“Congrats.” My stomach rumbled. I was getting hungrier by the minute.

“You can’t continue on in this vein, Victoria,” Thierry said bluntly.

“No pun intended,” I added.

She looked distressed. “Are you telling me I can’t compete in pageants anymore?”

“That is exactly what I’m saying. I know it’s difficult, but you must be able to see how dangerous it is. If a hunter got wind of what you’re doing—and if they assumed that other children around you are also vampires—”

“It would be a massacre,” Charles finished, stunned by this possibility as if he’d never considered it before.

The glass in Victoria’s hand shattered when she squeezed it too hard, betraying her nerves. “So what am I supposed to do? How is a hundred-and-two-year-old vampire who looks like a little kid supposed to support herself?” She paced to the window and stared at the view outside before turning to look at us, her expression already brightening. “Well…I guess I could go to Hollywood and become an actress.”

Thierry crossed his arms gingerly over his injured chest. “Excuse me?”

She beamed, clearly pleased by her new idea. “Kids can’t act worth crap. I could be the ultimate child actor. I’d take direction well, deliver my lines perfectly. I could win an Oscar! I’d considered it before, but—”

“But you don’t age,” I reminded her. “So they’d probably figure out there’s a problem in a few years.”

She swore under her breath and glared at me. “You’re annoying, puppy.”

“Sorry. Just telling it like it is.” Was I supposed to be the good cop or the bad cop? At the moment, I was the tired and hungry cop.

Victoria looked at Thierry. “You’re a master vampire—one who works for the Ring.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re engaged to this fledgling?”

“I am.”

“I find that difficult to understand. She seems dumb as a rock to me. Why would you bother with someone like her?”

I pressed my lips together. I wasn’t sure how pointing out the obvious about her potential acting career made me dumber than anyone else. “Well, forgive me for trying to be helpful.”

“Why would I bother with someone like her?” Thierry repeated, without an ounce of friendliness in his tone directed at the girl. “I’ll have you know that Sarah is the most genuine woman I’ve ever met in my entire existence—and trust me when I say that’s a very long time. She is warm, funny, caring; beautiful both inside and out. That you don’t see this as clearly as I do is entirely your loss.” He was silent for a moment as his words settled over everyone present. “I think we’re done here for now. If I have more questions, I’ll contact you. Please leave.”

Victoria placed her hands on her hips and pouted. “I want to compete tonight. One last show. That’s it.”

“That’s not a good idea.”

“I’m not asking your permission, sourpuss. I’m doing it. It will be my swan song. If you feel like you
need to call in an enforcer because of that, you can feel free to do so. You can also feel free to kiss my sequined butt. Come on, Charles. We’re out of here.”

She stalked to the door with her assistant right behind her. Charles looked over his shoulder. “Sorry for stabbing you earlier, Thierry. It’s been a pleasure meeting you both.”

They left.

Thierry finally looked at me to see I was staring at him.

“Warm, funny, caring, and beautiful?” My heart had swelled with every compliment he paid me in front of the nasty little vampire.

He nodded. “Did I forget anything?”

“Nothing comes to mind.” I smiled as I drew closer to him on the sofa. “You know, if you hadn’t just barely escaped death, I would be crawling onto your lap right now.”

“Promises, promises,” he whispered against my lips just before I kissed him. The kiss deepened quickly, but I was careful not to jostle him too much. I knew the wound would still hurt him for another hour or two as it healed. After a moment, he groaned. “Sarah…there’s a problem….”

As I pulled back from him, I drew in a sharp breath when I saw that his eyes had darkened from gray to black. Black eyes signified that a vampire was hungry to the point of losing reason. Thierry was injured and his body instinctively wanted blood to help speed along his recovery.

At this moment, his body wanted
my
blood.

As a master vampire, Thierry didn’t need to drink blood regularly to survive. In fact, he really shouldn’t
drink blood at all anymore if he could help it, since he was a bit of an alcoholic when it came to the red stuff. When he got started, it was very difficult for him to stop. It was like a darkness descended over him and changed him into somebody else: somebody scary as hell. I’d experienced this up close and personal a couple of times when he’d drunk my blood and nearly lost his mind completely.

He’d worked very hard on his control since I’d first met him, but it was still shaky. Better for me to be safe than sorry. Or dead. Death-by-fiancé would be a very bad way to go.

“What should I do?” I asked tentatively.

He swept my hair back and traced his fingertips along my jugular before sliding the strap of my dress off my shoulder to bare it, his gaze locked on the pulse at my throat. “I suggest you leave. Now. Before I can’t control myself any longer.”

My breath caught. “Will you be all right?”

“I will. But I won’t be all right if you stay here for much longer. My head feels cloudy and…you smell so good, Sarah.” His eyes moved to mine and I could see the dark hunger there. “I’ll need at least an hour to recover before you can return…before you’re safe this close to me again.”

A shiver went through me. It was a strange dichotomy when Thierry got hungry. While I knew that it was dangerous and I was putting myself at risk the longer I stayed near him, the way he looked at me was just so…exciting. So primal. Like he wanted to devour me. Which, really, wasn’t far from the truth.

It was a moth-and-flame thing. Thierry was the fire and I was the hapless insect that wanted to feel a little
heat. I just didn’t want to get completely incinerated in the process.

He slid his hand over my bare shoulder and curled his other hand around to the small of my back and pulled me closer to him so his lips could brush against my throat and up to my ear.

“Why are you still here?” he asked, his voice raspy. “Go while you still can. I’ll be better soon, I promise.”

“Okay.” I stroked the dark hair off his forehead, desire and concern teeter-tottering inside me the longer I stayed on this particular playground.

Then I struggled to escape from his tightening grip. It was a halfhearted struggle at best. Hungry Thierry was extremely appealing to me, despite what I already knew he was capable of in this state.

“I’ll be back soon.” I forced myself not to look over my shoulder at him. I grabbed my purse and went to the door, let myself out, and moved down the hallway. I leaned against the wall as I waited for the elevator to arrive and tried to breathe normally.

The moth had escaped the flame once again. But she’d be back after a quick bite.

B
lood Bath & Beyond was a vampire-lover’s paradise. The three-level store was laid out like a wax museum with Madame Tussauds–like statues of every famous vampire and vampire hunter you could think of, from Dracula to Edward Cullen; Lestat to the Count from
Sesame Street
; Buffy to Van Helsing. They were set up so customers could have their pictures taken with them as they browsed the ten thousand square feet of retail space.

There were T-shirts of all sizes and colors sporting various vampire movie-poster or book-cover images; DVDs of past movies and TV shows; Goth jewelry; joke jewelry with huge silver crosses; blatantly fake fangs and legitimate-looking porcelain ones that could be cemented onto normal teeth if someone was so inclined.

The carpet throughout the store was red and black. The red part looked like spilled blood. The walls were red and plastered with huge movie posters. Realistic-looking bats hung from the ceiling, some automated so they swooped overhead, low enough to make me want to duck when they catapulted toward my head. The scary swell of organ music filled my ears as I browsed
the shop, feeling equal parts stunned and amused by everything I saw.

However, there was no indication that this was anything but a tourist trap. There was even a flank of six vampire-themed slot machines at the front of the store near the cash registers. I slid a quarter into the first one I passed and pulled the handle. Two bats and a wooden stake came up. No jackpot for me today.

I ventured farther into the store. Charles had said this was the go-to place for a little vampiric sustenance, but now that I was here, I wasn’t sure who to talk to about that. The three employees I’d seen so far—one dressed as Elvira with enough cleavage to merit an R rating, and the other two generic Draculas—were busy with other customers.

Finally, I spotted someone who might be helpful. He had a feather duster in hand and was cleaning a wax statue of David from
The Lost Boys
. Quite honestly, Kiefer had never looked so good as when he’d done that movie. The platinum blond mullet totally suited him.

“Excuse me,” I said.

His shoulders tensed and he glanced at me. He had red hair, freckles, and a college-guy air about him. I’d guess his age at about twenty-four. “Hi there.”

“Hi. Can you help me?”

He turned to face me and I saw that he was wearing a T-shirt that read: “I Bite on the First Date.”

“Of course. Are you looking for something specific?”

“Yes.” I smiled at him enough to show my sharper-than-normal teeth.

He cocked his head a little. “Are those our new porcelain fangs?”

“No.”

“They’re real?”

I hesitated only a moment before I answered. “They are.”

“They look good. Very petite. I’m sure you fit in just fine out in the real world, don’t you?”

“I try my best. So I’m asking again…can you help me?” I refrained from giving him an obvious “get my meaning?” wink.

“Come with me.” He walked away without another word. I followed him, feeling wary, but my hunger pressed me onward. It was getting worse with every passing minute and giving me a headache and stomach cramps that made it hard to think straight.

“What’s your name?” I asked as I followed him.

“Vladimir.” He grinned over his shoulder at me and I noticed that he had very natural-looking fangs, too, which helped ease my mind a little. “Vladimir Nosferatu.”

I stared at him. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“That’s just my stage name. I have a magic show at a little club four blocks from here called Club Noir. Real name’s Josh Sanders. And you are?”

“Sarah Dearly.”

“Nice to meet you, Sarah. Glad you found Blood Bath and Beyond. We’re here to serve.”

We’d reached the very back of the store on the main level and passed through a red beaded curtain into a small circular room. I eyed the unusual merchandise back here, all upright and leaning against the wall.

“You sell coffins?” I asked with surprise.

“Yup.” He glanced around. “Five thousand dollars for this one.” He touched a mahogany coffin with a
rose carved into the lid. He opened it up to show me the padded red satin lining. “It’s very comfortable if you’re not too claustrophobic. This one has a lock on the inside, an MP3 stereo system built into the lid, and a recharge jack for your cell phone.”

“Fancy.”

“It is. But this is the one I think you’re looking for.” He stood in front of a very large coffin, shiny black, with a cross set into the lid that looked like it was made from mother-of-pearl. Crosses didn’t actually bother vampires at all. Since we weren’t necessarily evil or fearful of the Great Almighty, or, for that matter, possessed by a demon, that myth-buster was just common sense.

“Maybe you didn’t understand me properly.” I tried to find some patience, but my tank was nearly empty. “I’m not looking for anything like this—cool though it is. Maybe I’m in the wrong place. Somebody told me I should come here, that you might be able to help me.” I eyed him, trying to judge whether I was making a mistake. It wouldn’t be the first time. “Maybe I should leave.”