H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (6 page)

“So, you think I’m going to kiss you, huh?
And why would you think that?”

“I don’t know...maybe it’s because you’re
pressed up against me so tightly that, by now, I’m pretty sure you
even know if I’m circumcised or not.”

“Oh, you’re circumcised.” Yari winked at me.
I felt myself blush, damn her.

She leaned in and gently pecked my lips. I
gently pecked her back. That seemed to be the invitation she was
needing. She moved in even closer and now used the tip of her
tongue to lick my lips. I stood there like a trained tiger. I
wanted to pounce, but I allowed her to play her game. She licked my
top lip first and then my bottom lip. She reached her hand down and
slid it up my thigh, stopping just short of touching my
livelihood.

“I think I’m going to save some for later,”
she said. She then eased off me. “We should probably go back.”

“Really?” I said, completely shocked.

“It’s probably a good idea.”

I adjusted myself and hid the disappointment
in my voice. “Hey, it’s your party.”

She patted my cheek. “Trust me, when I tell
you that it will be well worth it. But I do want a taste.” Yari
leaned in again and kissed me passionately. It was the perfect
kiss. She came in slow and intensely sensual. Then there was a
slight build-up, with just enough passion that it ignited all my
senses. Now my hormones took over. I pressed her up against the
tree. I grabbed her thigh with my left hand and slid my fingers
slowly up her dress. I was just about to touch her panty line when
she grabbed my hand.

“Like I said, I want to save some for
later.”

“I guess you’re the queen of this
jungle.”

“That I am.”

“Wow...what a night.” I adjusted myself and
did a little shake dance to get the blood to other parts of my
body.

Yari looked over at me. “You’re cute,
Josiah. Almost too cute.”

“You should see me fight. In the ring.
Against one guy. Trust me, there’s nothing cute about that.”

“Someday, I will.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

Chapter Seven

Yari and I walked back to the party, which
had devolved into something that looked straight out of Lord of the
Flies. Shirts off and barefoot, people were dancing around fires in
a ritualistic way that raised my eyebrows and sent a chill down my
spine. Either that, or they were drunk out of their gourds. Also,
there seemed to be a lot of birds flying overhead. I hadn’t noticed
that before. The birds were large and black, and they appeared to
be ravens. Maybe they were attracted to the fires? I didn’t know,
and I honestly didn’t care—especially after that amazing kiss.
Hell, it was all I could do just to keep my feet planted on the
ground.

Still in a daze, we walked together to the
same log, I had previously sat on. Atticai saw us and came
over.

“Hey, Josiah,” he said, “Let’s have a little
chat.”

Was Yari part of his harem? Did I just make
a monumental blunder that would probably get me killed? Yari patted
my hand reassuringly. I wasn’t scared of Atticai. Hell, I wasn’t
scared of anyone. If that weird bastard attacked me, I knew I was
in for the fight of my life, especially with all of his friends
around.

I reluctantly parted from Yari and followed
Atticai over to his van. He got into the driver’s side, and I got
into the passenger’s side. He turned the key in the ignition just
enough to power up. He turned the radio on. “What’s your music of
choice?” he asked.

“I don’t care. Choose whatever you
want.”

“I like classical. But the stations out here
on the West Coast would rather go under financially with some
God-awful hip-hop station than to give Mozart and Bach a
chance.”

“I love classical.” And I did, too. I had a
music appreciation class back in high school and had been
introduced to all the greats in classical and jazz.

Atticai said, “You don’t strike me as the
classical music type.”

“You’d be surprised what I like. Now about
the real part of the chat you requested. Let’s get to it,” I
said.

Atticai looked directly at me. I found his
stare slightly unnerving. After a second or two, he said, “I see
Yari’s made your list.”

Oh great, now he was going to give me the
low-down. “Look, Atticai, I meant no disrespect. She wanted to
walk, and quite frankly, I needed to clear my head. If you’re
seeing her—”

“Relax my friend, it’s not like that. I’m
just letting you know that you might not want to get too close to
her.”

“Let me guess: for my own good?”

His lips peeled back into a dark grin.
“Yeah, something like that.”

“Thanks, but I’m a big boy. I can handle
myself.”

“Consider yourself warned.”

“Like I said, ‘thanks.’”

He nodded and put his seat back, and waved
his hands in the air like a maestro. He rolled his head in my
direction. “So what’s your story, Josiah?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’ve seen a lot of stuff in my
time. But I can only count on one hand how many times I’ve seen
someone like you.”

“There can be only one,” I joked, wondering
if he would get the cultural reference to Highlander. He
didn’t.

He paused and I wondered just how old he
was. He made it sound as if he was ancient. He couldn’t have been
more than a few years older than me. He went on, “When we arrived
to get Lena, there were five guys sprawled on the ground, all beat
to a pulp by you.”

I shrugged. “It doesn’t take much skill to
beat up a few drunk, horny assholes.”

He was staring at me again. Someday I was
going to wipe that weird stare off his face, but now was not the
time. “Maybe,” he said. “But you also took care of Rubidoux, too.
Do you know how tough Rubidoux is? He’s no pushover.”

“I can fight. I don’t know what else to say.
That is the one thing I do know how to do and do well. It’s my
greatest passion, my lifework, my pulse. I live to fight. I fight
to live.”

“I like that. I like that a lot.” Atticai
got real quiet. “Hey, check it out.” He finally found a classical
music station. He cranked up the volume real loud. I didn’t
recognize the piece, but it was classical, and that seemed to be
all that was vital to Atticai. Presently, the long-limbed creature
of the night seemed to be in a trance. He clenched his fists and
raised them to his forehead. With his eyes closed, he tilted his
head back and seemed to be experiencing each note individually. The
music was doing something to him. It was ministering to his soul.
For a brief moment, I envied him. I envied anyone that could be
moved in this way over anything. The song ended, and Atticai opened
his eyes. He looked at me. “That was pretty intense.”

“No kidding,” I said. “I guess you have a
passion, too. I fight. You feel the music.”

He was staring at me again. Amazingly, I was
getting used to it. “I like you, Josiah,” he said. He nodded, and
then opened the driver’s side door. “Let’s head back so no one
thinks anything homoerotic is going on.”

“I would hope not.”

“Oh, you have no idea around here, Josiah.
You have no idea. Just remember what I told you about Yari.”

“Like I said, I’m a big boy; I can handle
Yari.”

Atticai laughed. “Famous last words.”

We stepped out the van. I once again headed
back to the clearing and planted myself on the same log next to the
same bonfire. I looked around for Yari, but she was nowhere to be
found. Lena, however, walked over to me and sat next to me on the
log.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

“With Atticai? I have no freaking idea. I
think he was just trying to feel me out.”

“Atticai is like that. He doesn’t trust
anyone. He likes you, though. I can tell. You have no idea how rare
that is.”

“Well, one thing at a time. I’m still having
a hard time digesting this entire night.”

“Why? Did Yari freak you out? Don’t let her
do that.”

Lena almost seemed a tad jealous. I looked
at her. She was beautiful, too. No, not everyone was beautiful
here. There were some real creepy-looking guys and girls. Lena
wasn’t one of them. So, how the hell did she get caught up in this
world?

I asked, “So, is this what you do? Hang out
with these people in the woods?”

“You mean since Eisenhower High?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

She shrugged. “More or less. This lifestyle
isn’t the norm. I know that. There’s a lot about this you’ll never
fully understand.”

“What does that mean?”

“Trust me when I tell you that it is best
not to know.”

Atticai, who had been talking to some guys
near the van, high-fived a couple of them, and then headed over to
us. No matter what, the man was a striking figure, and he seemed to
command everyone’s attention. He was clearly the King Goth in this
party of Goths. Of course, that wasn’t saying much. Still, as he
headed over to us, just about everyone in the clan watched him at
some point. And as he approached, Lena got up immediately, and
Atticai slipped a long arm over her shoulders.

“I should probably get you two back home,”
Atticai said. “It’s going to be sunrise in about two hours.”

I shrugged. “Sounds reasonable to me. I was
just going out for a jog and seven hours later... here I am.”

“You guys are going back?” a voice said,
from behind me.

I turned around and saw Yari standing there.
I had no idea where she came from and why she would be behind
me.

“Apparently, we’re leaving right now,” I
said.

She smiled warmly at me. “Then I guess I’m
going with you since neither Atticai nor Lena can drive.”

“Neither of you drives?” I blurted out,
nearly laughing.

“Hey, I never got a license,” Atticai
responded, shrugging.

Now, I did laugh. “Okay, now I’ve heard
everything.”

If Atticai minded that I was laughing at
him, he didn’t show it. A moment later, we all piled into the van,
with Yari getting in the driver’s seat and me next to her in the
front passenger’s seat. Lena and Atticai disappeared behind the
back seats, in the space I had found myself in when I came to after
passing out, post-blood sucking. I took only a quick glance at
them, but they appeared to have disappeared under a blanket. What
they were doing under the blanket, I didn’t want to know, but I
could probably guess.

Yari reached out and touched my hand. “Put
the seat back and get some sleep.”

I did as I was told, since I was utterly
exhausted. And as I settled into the cushions, Yari drove the van
out of the flatland rocks and made for the highway. As we drove, I
found myself staring at her. She was acutely focused on the road.
No surprise there, since there was a light fog over the winding,
mountainous highway. She was an extremely fascinating woman. She
was amazingly complex. I closed my eyes. I listened to the sound of
the motor. The thrum of the pistons under the hood, in the absence
of talking or music, was hypnotic and soothing.

“Wake up, Sleepyhead. We’re here.” I had
clearly fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes, we were in
front of my house. I said goodbye to everyone and stumbled out of
the van.

Atticai called out, “Hey, Josiah?”

“Yeah,” I answered sleepily.

“When’s your next fight?”

“Next month.”

“Cool, I’ll check it out.”

I wasn’t sure what to think about that. A
part of me was hoping that this was going to be the last I’d see
any of these guys. That is everyone, but Yari. And maybe Lena.

I nodded at Atticai and turned around and
trudged off toward my front door. The van drove away, and I could
feel many sets of eyes on me. As I opened the door, something
occurred to my sluggish, sleep-deprived brain.

How did they know where I lived? Okay,
that’s freaky. Then again, so was the entire night.

I shrugged. Maybe Lena knew someone from
high school, who themselves knew where I lived. Or not. I was too
tired to care, truth be known.

When I unlocked the door, I found Tommy
doing sit ups in the living room. Tommy had an incredibly strict
workout routine and this morning was no different.

Tommy stopped in mid-crunch and looked up at
me. “That was some run.”

“You have no idea.” I went to the fridge and
grabbed the milk carton.

“You okay?” Tommy seemed concerned.

“I’m okay. Why?”

“You’ve got a bandage on your wrist and a
hickey on your neck the size of a basketball.”

I had forgotten about my injuries. Tommy got
up from the floor and walked over to the kitchen table and sat
down.

“What can I say? It was a night to
remember.”

“Jo, you need to take it easy on the
partying. Don’t forget, we find out who we’re fighting today.”

“This coming from the guy who partied away
all his money,” I said.

“That was before, Jo. You know I have been
working hard on getting myself back on the right track.”

“I know. I just need to get to bed right
now. I’m utterly wiped.”

“So, you’re going to skip your morning
workout?”

“As far as I’m concerned, it is still last
night. Besides, I had quite the mixed martial art workout last
night.”

“Ah, hell. Don’t tell me you got into
another fight.”

I was quiet.

Tommy added, “You know we can get sued if
anyone finds out who we are. We’re pro fighters and we can’t just
go around fighting ‘regular Joes.’ You’re not fifteen anymore, bro,
and you can’t just go around bashing people’s heads in.”

“I know. Trust me, I wasn’t intending to
fight.”

“But let me guess: You just couldn’t help
yourself, right?”

“Tommy, look, when I wake up, you can rip me
ten new assholes, but right now I need to get some sleep.”

“All right, bro. Go to bed.”