Dare to Bleed (Emily Sullivan Series) (8 page)

“
Whoa, what are you doing?” Ezra snapped.

“
Really, you think he’s just going to knock at my door and ask ‘oh hey, would you mind doing this spell for me?’” I asked sarcastically. I looked through the peep hole.

“
You’re right, it’s a scary person,” I said as I opened the door to let Kimmy in.

“
Well, it took you long enough, I’m frying out here. You know what happens when my feet start sweating.” Kimmy walked inside, taking notice of Ezra. She looked him up and down like he was prime rib and she was a starved animal.

“
Well, well, what do we have here? I was going to ask you why you weren’t at work but I see the answer to my question right before my eyes. Kimberly Nosemaker, and if you make fun of the name I will slap you across that pretty little head of yours,” Kimmy said to Ezra as she put out a hand as if he was going to kiss it instead of shake it. He accepted and forced her to shake.

“
How did you know I wasn’t at work?” I asked out of curiosity.

“
I tried your cell phone and you didn’t answer so I called you at work and they said you were out sick,” she answered.

“
How did you get my work number?”

She finally drew her eyes away from Ezra long enough to shoot me a dumbfounded look. “Emma, your work number is 911.”

“
You called 911 looking for me? Don’t you know it’s a federal offense to call 911 without a valid emergency?”

“
It
was
an emergency,” she answered.

“
Ok, what is your emergency?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips.

“
Geez, you sound like you are at work. Maybe you could work from home and answer calls here,” she joked.

“
You’re still not answering my question, Kimberly.”

“
Hold your panties, I was getting there. So there I was shopping down town at the strip mall, when I saw Vicky swaying her big ass down the street. She looked abnormally happy for a Tuesday so I decided to follow her. I left the store and kept my distance. She went into a store and I was just about to follow her in when I noticed what the place was.” She stopped for a second, apparently for a dramatic effect.

“
Please, don’t keep me in suspense,” I said sarcastically.

She shot me a ‘go to hell’ look. “Vicky was getting liposuction!”

Although it was the best news I’ve ever heard in my life I still couldn’t believe that Kim called 911 to tell me about it.

“
And that was the emergency? My calls are taped, you numbskull, and Harold listens to my tapes. You could have gotten me fired!” Oh, I wasn’t even mad at her. I would have accepted a firing from ole Harold just to hear that news.

“
So why aren’t you at work today?” she asked, looking over at Ezra who was listening intently like he really cared that Vicky was admitting she was a fatty.

“
I have cramps,” I stated nonchalantly.

“
Makes perfect sense for someone who doesn’t even know what that means,” she argued.

“
I got attacked by a vampire last night. He wants me to cast an evil spell on him to make him all powerful because apparently I’m a witch,” I replied.

“
Oh, ok, well, I can see why you used the cramps excuse. Seriously, is the real reason because you lost your virginity last night?”

“
I’m not a virgin, Kimmy.” I was confused. Kimmy knew every detail of every guy I had ever slept with.

“
I know that, dummy, but I was hoping it would help your sex life with this one.” She nodded he head sideways toward Ezra as if he couldn’t hear her. Normally I would have died of embarrassment but Ezra seemed to take my crazy life in stride and I was really happy for that.

“
I thought that would be motive to not sleep with me?” I asked, still confused.

“
Oh no, honey, once that bastard hears you still got your gift he turns into a five year old on Christmas with only one thing in mind,” she explained.

“
Yeah, that makes sense, I guess. But Ezra is a vampire like the crazy dude out to get me, so he can read my mind. He already knew I was a nonvirgin.”

“
OMG, what’s he doing out in the daylight? We better get his cute butt to safety, pronto. Where’s the closest dungeon around here? I’ll Google it.” I was pretty sure she was joking but you can never tell with Kimmy.

“
Anyways, I have to go, Imma try to find some peeps who would like to rally at the plastic surgeon’s office so when Vicky comes out we can throw tomatoes at her, or bacon, yes bacon would be better.” She gave me a kiss on the cheek and left before I could say anything else, texting like she was on crack as she walked out.

I turned to Ezra and shrugged. “Can’t say I didn’t try.”

He had a look on his face like a five year old on Christmas, I was quite thankful that I wasn’t a virgin at that moment.

“
Where were we?” he growled as he stepped toward me.

“
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Look, I’ve given up men, Ezra, and even though you are not like the normal men I date, I have to realize I’m destined to be alone. I mean, look at you, for example. I find a great, good looking guy who likes me back and bam, you’re a vampire. Then I find another guy who is also not bad to look at and bam, he’s a wizard and has bad taste in women, I might add. I’m sticking to my diet, and I’ve already cheated enough that I’ll be cleaning every waking hour for a week now, thanks to you provoking me.” I poked him in his rock hard chest.

Ah, I had to get him away from me. There was no way in hell he would leave me alone now. Maybe I should just give in, I mean, I’ve already cheated on my diet. Looking up into those big blue eyes, I was almost ready to throw my ambitions to the wind and give Ezra the best night of his life. He started walking faster toward me with one thing in mind. I didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what he wanted.

He pushed me against the wall and slammed his body on mine. Our lips connected like they had never been interrupted. His hands found the bottom of my shirt and this time they didn’t stop, they found my breasts and started massaging them. I could feel his excitement though his pants. He was rock solid down below and it was pushed against my lady parts. I was throbbing with desire, and so ready to go at it when he suddenly stopped with a crazed look in his eye. I started to ask what was wrong when he put his hands to my mouth.

Chapter Eight

“
We have to go now,” he whispered. My inner throbbing was now overtaken by chills. I couldn’t breathe for what seemed like an eternity. I didn’t know what was going on but he was dragging me by the hand toward the bedroom, which definitely didn’t have an exit. He grabbed a pair of my shoes and my purse, then opened my bedroom window and looked back at me.

“
You’re going to have to trust me, Emma, I’m going down and then you jump.” He turned and leapt out.

I live on the freaking third floor of my apartment building, and Ezra wanted me to jump out of my window. He seriously was insane. I’m not scared of heights or anything but this didn’t seem safe.

“
Are you kidding, Ezra? This is how people actually kill themselves. They jump out of a window this high off the ground,” I yelled as I peeked out my window to see if he was alive.

He stood staring at me and waving his arms for me to follow him as if I could scale the building with no problem. I heard a knock at the door and figured that was what we were running for. Fear got the best of me, and I leapt out the window like I was superman.

I didn’t fall gracefully either. I flopped around like a fish out of water, trying to grab anything my little arms could grasp. I had an entire two seconds of self-doubt, freefalling, when I fell into Ezra’s arms. Had the situation been any less terrifying, this would have turned me on, but as soon as I hit his arms I pushed off and took off running. It didn’t take a mind reader or a genius to know that the person knocking on my door wasn’t there for a social visit and was more than likely named Damon.

We jumped in Ezra’s car, and he started it up. I searched around for anyone who looked like a crazy, vampire killer. The place was a ghost town. Ezra threw the car into reverse and hit the gas. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my seat belt on and my head met his dashboard, hard. I sat up quickly, rubbing my forehead. Noticing that the car was no longer moving, I looked over to see what the holdup was. Ezra was staring at me intently, as if waiting to make sure I was ok.

“
What are you waiting for? Go,” I yelled.

He threw the car into gear, and we both looked up to see a hooded figure standing about ten feet in front of the car. I screamed. Ezra hit the gas, and the car screeched forward.

The car hit Damon, and he rolled all the way over the roof. I looked back to see if he was laying on the street but he was kneeling down, as if he was tying his shoe, and then stood up slowly as if he hadn’t been touched. Strangely enough, I was more curious about how in the heck his hood stayed in place the entire time. Perhaps magic, or the two-sided tape models use the keep dresses in place so they don’t give the crowd a peep show. Seemed like a big effort to be cool and mysterious, but whatever floats his boat.

We were zooming in and out of midday traffic before I finally started breathing normally again.

“
That was a close one. How did you know he was there?” I asked. We had been silent for about an hour, and I was tired of not talking.

“
Humans give off brainwaves that I can hear and translate. Vampires are dead so we don’t have brainwaves, hence a big blank gap that sounds like interference. Which is why it’s important that I stay with you at all times,” he answered, not taking his eyes off the road.

“
That’s going to be a little awkward, especially since I have to pee,” I joked, but he didn’t laugh. “Lighten up, we made it out alive. He can’t get us now.”

I felt something from Ezra, almost like regret or disappointment. It didn’t make any sense but I figured he felt like he failed, Damon had found me.

“
We’re going to have to relocate you. I’m taking you to a safe house. I need to call your father.” He gripped the steering wheel harder.

For once in my life I felt a serious case of compassion, I actually cared for Ezra. He was the peanut butter on my jelly sandwich. He looked out for me and had saved my life three times now. Funny how at one point I thought he was a stalking murderer and now I looked over at his beautiful face and all I wanted to do was make sweet nookie with him. His eyes got big, and he looked over at me.

“
Hey, I thought we talked about that. Stay out of my head,” I pouted.

“
I could pull the car over. It’s not like Damon’s going to look for us on the side of the road making sweet nookie,” he joked and I was so happy to see him settle down, even if it did take my nasty thoughts to smooth him out.

“
Let me have your phone,” I said, keeping my thoughts clear, which is really hard if you’ve never tried. He gave me a suspicious look but handed it over. He was being true to his word and not prying into my head. I almost felt bad for what I was about to do. I punched the button and scrolled through the contacts down to the ‘R.’ I hit send and waited, getting nervous when it started to ring. Ezra sighed and gave me a knowing look.

“
What do you report?” the voice on the other end answered.

“
Hello, Dad. Long time, no hear,” I replied.

“
Emily? Where is Ezra?” he asked dryly.

“
Oh, yeah, nice to hear from you too, after twenty two years. I’m doing good, thanks for asking,” I said sarcastically. He made me so angry, at that moment I hated him more than I have ever hated anyone in my life, even more than Vicky, which is saying a lot.

“
Emily, can I have my phone back please?” Ezra begged, smiling. I reluctantly handed his cell phone back

“
We had a run in with Damon. She’s not safe anymore. I’m taking her to a secure area, and I’ll report back in a few hours.” He was quiet for a moment and answered, “I understand, I’ll keep the line clear.” He ended his call, tossed the phone aside and wrapped his hands around the steering wheel tighter.

“
Did you get in trouble?” I asked, worried.

He looked over at me with a confused look. “Em, I am a vampire, what’s Robert going to do, ground me?”

I wanted to laugh at the idea but I couldn’t even picture what my father would look like, or him grounding anyone. “Well, he is your boss. You’re not going to get fired, are you?” I asked.

“
My mission was to find Damon, and I did, Gavin is the one in trouble. That’s why he left your place this morning, to deal with the consequences in person.”

“
He did his job. I’m alive.” It sounded ridiculous as I said it, and Ezra gave me a questionable look. “Granted, I almost died a few times, but in my life that’s actually pretty normal. I am just an unlucky person. It’s almost expected that I nearly get killed every day. Ask anyone.”

He gave me a second questionable look. “Pa-lease, besides this Damon crap going on, and the mugging, when was the last time you almost got killed?”

“
Ok, how about two weeks ago? I was shaving in the shower and ran out of shaving cream so I had to use soap. The bathtub got slippery, and I slipped and cut myself. I almost had to have stitches.”