Not Another Vampire Book (5 page)

That
actually made her pause for a beat.  His younger sister had been killed in the
Vampire Wars.  Whatever the hell those were.  It was still a clichéd reason for
vengeance, but it seemed much less stupid now that she’d heard the agony in
Damien’s voice when he spoke of her.  Bad guy or not –fictional or not-- he’d
loved his family.  So far, he was the best character in the book.

“Who
are you?”  A feminine voice demanded.

Kara
flashed her a distracted glance and snorted.  “Oh, you’ve got to be Melessa.” 
The girl looked like Liz Taylor circa
A Place in the
Sun
.  The double
X-chromosomed version of Slade’s he-man beauty.  The unanimously voted for
title holder of ‘Miss Prettiest Girl Who Ever Lived, 1892.’  Of course, she
wasn’t
really
‘alive.’  No one
alive
had a body like that,
outside of a plastic surgeon’s office.  But, if she’d been really real, she’d
be paparazzi and red carpet famous.  Dressed in a white ball gown, her black
hair framing her heartbreaking face and violet eyes shining, Melessa could have
made about a billion dollars in Hollywood.

If
only Hollywood wasn’t currently an empty orange grove.  Edison might have been
showing moving pictures down at the Fair, but the age of movie premiers and
US
Magazine
was still a long way off.

“I’m
Lady Melessa.  Are you a servant here?”  One dark eyebrow rose imperiously as
she took in Kara’s position on the floor and
non
-ridiculous, modern clothing.

“No. 
I’m…” 
Shit.
Kara didn’t have time for this.  Who could she say she
was?  Her eyes flicked back down to the book.  “I’m a drunken party guest.” 
That seemed sort of reasonable.  “Sorry.  Just do what you were doing and
ignore me.”

“Oh.” 
Melessa didn’t seem to know what to say to that.  She stared at Kara blankly
for a moment.  Then she drew in a deep breath and launched into a dramatic
monologue.  “I’m running away from my marriage and no one can stop me.  I can
no longer pretend that I belong in this world.  Eugene will never make me
happy.  I must be free of the stifling confines of society and be true to my
restless heart.”

Since
Kara was still staring at the manuscript, she couldn’t help but notice that
those exact words were right there on page seven.  She blinked and read them
again, just to be sure.  Yep.  Melessa said that exact speech to her best
friend, Christine.  Christine, who was supposed to come looking for her and
talk her into staying.

Kara
looked over her shoulder, back towards the door.

No
Christine.

Right.

“Uh…” 
Melessa was still staring at her.  Not knowing what else to do, Kara took a
chance and read Christine’s line.  “But, what of your father, Melessa dear?”

“Father
doesn’t understand!”  Melessa threw her hands up like the film star she should
have been.  “Eugene isn’t the man for me.  He can never fulfill this aching
passion in my blood for something more.  For a man who can master my very
soul.”  She turned pleading eyes on Kara.  “Promise me you won’t tell them that
I’ve gone.”

“Sure.” 
Christine’s next line was something about money and position and Melessa’s
sainted, dying mother.  Personally though, Kara could see Mel’s point.  Who
would want an arranged marriage to a guy named Eugene?  Why not run off and
join
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
, instead?  It was all just a dumb story,
after all.  Mel might as well enjoy herself.

Besides,
Kara supported any idea that got Melessa out of the barn so she could concentrate. 
“I’ll keep your secret.  Absolutely.  I don’t care where you go.”  Karalynn
went back to reading.

Melessa
was silent for a beat.  “Really?”  She finally squeaked.  “You’re just going to
let me… leave?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Because,
I’m really going to go, then.”

Kara
ignored that and turned the page.  She swore.  More crap with Christine.  In
fact, the chapter ended with Christine going back to the house and Melessa
still in the barn.  Wait… Kara frowned.  Was Christine the name of the girl
she’d knocked down outside?  That must be why Christine wasn’t in the barn
lecturing Melessa.  Kara had interrupted her back on page five.

That
probably… wasn’t good.

Melessa
got a horse from one of the stables, already rigged out with its saddle, and
climbed up onto his back.  Tanya St. Clair’s sloppy writing leaking into the
story, no doubt.  No one put their horse away still wearing a saddle, right? 
At least, they didn’t on TV.  Kara had never been within ten feet of a horse
herself, but it just made sense.

Great. 
That must have been what happened with Damien’s cane, too.  Tanya St. Clair
forgot to actually
write
it into the scene for long stretches of time,
so it just kind of popped up out of nowhere.  What other ridiculous errors
could
Eternal Passion at Sunset
come up with?  What if they started
affecting her?

Come
to think of it, should she really be altering the plot, at all, no matter how
crappy it was?  Maybe she should have kept reading Christine’s dialogue and
told Melessa to stay put.

Reconsidering,
Kara got to her feet.  “Listen, Mel…”

Melessa
cut her off.  “Thank you, my drunken friend, for showing me my freedom.  I
shall never forget you!”  She kicked the sides of the horse and charged out of
the barn, into the night.

Kara
stared after her for a long moment.  “Uh-oh.”  She had a terrible feeling she’d
just screwed up.

And
that was
before
a rough hand grabbed her arm and pulled her around.  “I
am Slade.”  He whispered.  “At last, I’ve found you my Eternal-One.”  Then, he
kissed her.

Passionately.

Damien and Slade faced each other, consumed with a centuries
old hatred that had fermented into a thick and bitter wine.  Like a cheap
merlot.  Terrified by the violence charging the air between the two powerful
males, Melessa hurried to Slade’s side for protection.

He swept her behind his massive body with one huge
hand.  “Fear not, Eternal-One.  I shall protect you from this monster.”

Eternal
Passion at Sunset- Chapter Three

Kara
froze in shock as Slade the Vampire slammed his lips against hers.

Oh
yeah.  This was definitely even weirder than the bird.  Her wide-open eyes
stared straight ahead in panic as he bent her backwards over his Paul Bunyon-y
arm.  Undead or not, he was certainly the best looking man who’d ever kissed
her. 
Ever
.  And he was actually pretty good at it, even with the
fangs.  Given the fact that none of this was even real and Slade was hotter
than hell, you’d think she could get into the passion of the moment just a
teeny
bit.

So,
why did she just want to slug him?

Kara
didn’t like this guy.  He wasn’t… right.  He didn’t look right.  Didn’t feel
right.  He didn’t cause the warm jittery feeling in her stomach she’d gotten
when Damien watched her take off her coat.  Not that Damien, the bad-guy psycho-stalker,
was friggin’ Sir Lancelot or anything, but that wasn’t the point.

The
point was, Kara didn’t want Slade.  At all.  And he needed to stop touching
her.

Now
.

She
wrenched free of his clutches, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. 
“Are you nuts?”

He
hadn’t been expecting that.  Kara registered the total shock on his handsome
face as she backed away from him.  “Eternal-One, what’s wrong?”

He
thought she was his vampire bride. 
Shit
.  “Look, Pal.  I’m really sorry
to have to tell you this, but I’m not the girl you want.”  Kara looked towards
the door, scanning for any trace of Melessa.  She and the horse were probably
halfway to Jackson Park by now.  “The girl you want –Your
real
Eternal-One--
just left.  Seriously, you can probably catch-up to her with your Vampire speed
or whatever, if you hurry.”

Slade
squinted at her.  He had on a stupid looking, open-throated, pirate-style shirt
and tight fitting ‘getta load of
this
’ pants.  Had he been wearing that
get-up before?  Surely, she would have noticed.  Tanya St. Clair must’ve
switched Slade’s costume between the dance floor and the barn.

“You
are the only woman in this stable?”  He said, as if asking for clarification. 
His not-so-perfect blue eyes scanned around, suspiciously.

 
“Yeah.  Well,
right now
, I am.  But see…”

“My
Eternal-One is in this stable.”  He interrupted, importantly.  He tossed back
his long blond hair like a barbarian god out for some pillaging.  “I know this
with my Vampiric instincts.  Honed through generations of my people and utterly
infallible, they guide my noble path.  Therefore, my Eternal-One
must
be
you.”

Dear
Lord, he’d really just said ‘Vampiric instincts’ without even a hint of a
smile.  “Right.  But, see Melessa left a second ago, so…”  Kara trailed off
with a yelp as Slade caught hold of her, again.  Men in this book loved
grabbing her.  First Damien and now the Terminator.

Damien’s
hand hadn’t hurt, though.  Vlad had pressed her up against the building, but
Kara hadn’t been intimidated by him.  He’d threatened all kind of badness, but
when she’d been having her breakdown, he’d said her name softly in that rusty
sounding voice and tried to calm her down.

Slade’s
grip was too hard.  He probably didn’t mean it, but he was so gigantic that he
couldn’t help his strength.  His tanned fingers bit into her arm, as if he was
getting impatient with her.  “My darling.”  He sounded like he was reading
cue-cards, now.  “I have searched for you beyond time itself.  Can’t you feel
that we are meant to be?”

“Back
off.”  Kara snarled, she wrenched free of his hold.  “Now, listen and try to
understand this in your caveman-ish brain.  I am
not
your Eternal-One. 
I am Karalynn Donnelly.  I’m a book editor.  You want Melessa Fairmont or
Fairfield or however Tanya’s spelling it this chapter.  She is a debutant,
beauty queen, rodeo rider.  Alright?  Trust me, you’re gonna like Mel better
than me, anyway.”

Slade’s
eyebrows slammed together in bewilderment.

What
a dunce.

Kara
rolled her eyes.  Damien had also caught on a lot faster than Slade.  Sure
she’d confused him, but when Kara went off-script, Damien had followed along. 
He’d tried to figure out who she was and what she was saying.

Slade
seemed utterly lost.

And
why did she keep thinking of Damien?

Kara
shook her head.  She didn’t have time for any of this.  Especially not Damien’s
questions or Slade’s ‘Me Tarzan’ act.  She scooped up the manuscript, again. 
“Oh my God!”  To her delight, she quickly saw that chapter two was back! 
Somehow the next eight pages of the book were all present and accounted for. 
How had that happened?  Who cared how it happened?  At least, it was more good
news.

Forgetting
about Slade, she began flipping through the new blocks of text.  Crap.  Was it
all Slade and Melessa almost having sex?  No wonder he was pissed that she’d
changed things around.  How much did these characters know about what
should
be happening, anyway?  They all seemed thrown when she began messing with their
plot points.

Slade
clenched his jaw.  “My Eternal-One, you must be wondering what I am.  What sort
of creature would seek you out for his own, even knowing you are engaged to
another.”

“You’re
a Vampire.  I know.  Also, I’m
not
engaged to another and
I’m not
your damn
Eternal-One
.”

“I
am a Vampire.”  Slade continued gravely, as if he hadn’t heard any of that. 
Only he
had
heard it.  She could tell by the fisting of his left hand. 
He just didn’t care what she had to say.  He was stubbornly sticking to the
script.  “Be not afraid, my love.  I will not hurt you.  The Vampires are a
noble race.”

“Humble,
too.” 
Moron
.

“Since
the birth of the world, we have protected you weaker beings from the creatures who
haunt the darkness.  The Wizard Warlocks, who are the enemies of everyone.  They
twist magicks to their own ends and seek to enslave us all.”

“Wow. 
That’s really… incredible news, alright.”  Kara flipped the page in
Eternal
Passion at Sunset
.  More heaving chests and taunt bodies, straining for
release.  Yeah, it totally wasn’t going to happen between her and Slade.  No
way.  He’d just have to wait for Melessa to get back.

“The
Wizard Warlocks are unimaginably dangerous.  Sorcerers.  Not Vampire or man,
they exist between them.  The worst parts of both races, they forsook the codes
of The Good People and surrendered to the darkness.”

“Wait.” 
That had the potential to be interesting.  “Wizard Warlocks are part Vampires
and part humans?”

“
No!
” 
Slade was appalled.  “They are abominations.  They are
nothing
like the
Vampires!  Their ancestors and ours were the same, but they broke our laws and
now we are different species.  They are half-breeds.”

That
just didn’t make any sense.  “Okay, so if a Vampire and a human had a kid
together, would it be a Wizard Warlock?”

“Of
course not.  It would be a Vampire.  The superior race.”

“Right.” 
Tanya St. Clair had
really
put a lot of thought into the details of this
mythology.  Whatever.  Kara went back to reading about Slade’s huge, throbbing
male member and Melessa quivering flesh.

Yikes.

Slade
resumed his lecture.  “The Wizard Warlocks are unnatural.  Primitive creatures,
without humanity or morals.  Living by elemental, animal instincts.  Yet, they
have so many powers.  They can read thoughts.  Travel instantly from place to
place.  Their skills are constantly shifting.”

“Probably,
because Tanya can’t keep track of what they’re able to do from chapter to
chapter.”

Slade
ignored that, too.  “My people have long sought to eradicate their black souls
from the earth.  The Vampire Wars we fought killed nearly all of them.  Yet one
remains.  The darkest and most powerful of all the Wizard Warlocks.  My greatest
enemy.  Damien.”  He spat out the name.

“Yeah,
we met.”

That
actually broke through Slade’s rock-hard head.  “You… What?  You’ve
met
?” 
He echoed, dumbly.  “You and Damien?  Where?”

“Outside. 
He’s not so bad.  Except, for the theatrical speechifying.  But, you really
can’t be throwing stones about
that
, now can you?”  Kara blew out a
‘yada, yada, yada’ sort of breath as Melessa, overcome by maidenly reticence,
reluctantly broke free of Slade’s manly hold on page fourteen.  In the next
paragraph, he began the Vampire back-story spiel he’d just given Kara.  Melessa
was shocked and appalled.  Kara was just bored with him.  The guy was like
watching paint admire itself in the mirror as it dried.

“You
saw Damien here?  Outside?  Tonight?”

Damn
,
Slade was quick, wasn’t he?

Kara
shot him a frown as he stalked closer.  “I told you, yeah.  He doesn’t like you
much either, so I got quite an earful about his side of the story.”

“He
has no side of the story!”  Slade was angry, now.  Possibly the first real
emotion he’d shown.  The guy was going through the motions, but he wasn’t dying
of love for her no matter what the text said.  Somewhere inside, he had to
realize she wasn’t his destined bride.  “Damien is a
creature
.  Twisted
and evil in ways your innocent mind can’t imagine.”

Kara
actually smirked at that.  “Try me.”

“He
is already stalking you.”  Slade continued, dramatically.  “We must consummate
our Eternal Bond, my love.  We must bind our energies together, so I can always
find you.”

“Consummate
our Eternal
what
?”  Whatever it was, Kara didn’t like the sound of it. 
“I don’t think so.”

 This
time Slade grabbed both of her arms and gave her a shake.  “You must trust me,
Eternal One.”  He pulled her into a sheltering, suffocating embrace.  “I have
never lost a fight.  Never failed at a task.  I am the greatest solider and
leader of my race.  I must have your blood and we must enjoy the sexual bond of
my people, if you are to be safe from…”

“Oh,
hell no!”  Kara slapped the manuscript against his midsection.  God, the guy
was like hugging a brick wall.  A girl could smother in the rippling
pectorals.  “We’re not sexually bonding
anything
, buddy.  And there’s no
way
you’re gonna suck my blood.”

“You’re
being difficult.”  Slade scowled down at her.  “Did you not hear what I said? 
You should be pressing your body against mine, unable to resist our mutual
attraction, and asking for my unsurpassed protection.  You are an innocent
flower caught in a storm.”

Kara
hissed out an oath.  “You’re the one who’s going to need help, if you don’t let
me go.  I’ve
had
it with being manhandled.  I’m warning you.”

“Lean
against my mighty shoulder and cry, Eternal-One.  You are overwrought.”

“No,
I’m pissed off because you won’t listen to a damn thing I say.  You’re just a
macho nut, who wants to bite me!”  She jerked against his hold.  “Let me go!”

Slade
didn’t listen to that.  Big surprise.  “There, there, my dearest love.”  He
bent over her as if to kiss her, again.  He wasn’t going to stop.  Clearly he
thought her traitorous body would melt in the onslaught of his passion and
she’d submit to the Eternal-Bond-bloodletting thing.  Well, maybe in Tanya St.
Clair’s world, but not with Kara running the show.

No
meant
no
.

She
slammed the heel of her shoe into the top of his foot and twisted down with all
her weight.

Slade
gave a roar of pain and released her, shoving her away from him.  Kara tumbled
to the floor, belatedly realizing she’d just pissed off a really big Vampire.  Not
smart.  She scrambled backwards as he jumped around on one foot, swearing in
some other language.

…And
that’s when she felt that ridiculous dark aura, again.

The
creepy vibe that she’d gotten near Damien back in the garden.  The unmistakable
miasma of evil intentions and lost dreams.  Kara’s head whirled around to see
Dr. Horrible himself looming in the doorway of the barn.

Damien. 
Dressed in black and still carrying the raven.

He
looked even better in the light.  The angles of his face should have belonged
to some jaded aristocrat, dissipating on his private yacht.  His scar had
somehow moved to his forehead, though, probably more of Tanya’s brilliant
continuality in action.  Still, it wasn’t impacting his overall gorgeousness.  Elegant
and alluring, Damien’s presence quieted some of Kara’s anxiety.  A calm feeling
of authority clung to him.  No matter how out-of-control things were getting,
Damien wasn’t going to panic.  That made her feel… better.