Kill Me (25 page)

Gregor was at once by my side. “I am sorry Claire, truly. But this has to be done. He is right, if the vampires in his territory learned that we held more power than Clive, it would mean world-wide war.” He held onto my other shoulder, only it felt a lot less loving when he did it.

“I don’t understand.” I said, fear beginning to burn in my gut. I really should start to pay more attention to my instincts. If I did, things would probably go a lot better for me in general.

Before I got my answer, Clive was on top of me with his fangs bared. He bit into my neck without finesse or tact, tearing my flesh. And unlike the times I’d let Bette and Gregor feed, there was no pleasure in feeding Clive. It burned like a thousand fires in my veins and I struggled against the attack, but I was pinned, defenseless and at the will of three vampires— the most powerful vampires in the world.

Oh, god. Was I going to die for real this time? Panic seized my chest and I struggled to fight it off; to fight them all off.

My teeth snapped like a hungry jackal, my body bucked like a mustang. I growled and hissed like a cornered animal. Pretty, I’m sure it was not. Thankfully, I wasn’t going for beauty queen at the moment.

Fighting was futile and I could feel myself weakening with each gulp Clive took. Worse still, he was enjoying it, as evidenced by the erection pressed against my arm. I promised myself if I lived, I would gladly pay him back in kind.

But it felt like I would never get that chance. I was out of blood and out of time.

I could think only of Quinn... my precious daughter, who would only know that her mother was gone for good. That she’d left for work one day and never come home. My body might never be found. Would my baby girl grow up thinking her mother had abandoned her?

I couldn’t bear the thought.

My body almost drained, I slumped as they released me and backed off at once. My mind reeled under a blanket of confusion. I was tired. And hurt— in more than one way. My neck was sore, but the betrayal by Bette and Gregor cut much deeper than fangs.

How could they let Clive drink from me?

They had to know how much I hated him. I’d rather stake myself than to willingly let him touch me. And they’d held me down like a sacrificial offering. They had violated me. I was fully clothed, but nonetheless I felt raped.

I’m not sure how long I sat there, wounded and dazed, staring at the white floor, speckled with blood. It was presumably mine and I thought it odd that a part of me could just be sitting around independent of me. I tried to see patterns in the droplets, like reading tea leaves, but the only shape I plucked out was that of a turtle, so that couldn’t mean anything.

My blood looked lonely laying there and I wondered if it missed me? I pulled a finger through my life-force and made a smilie face. Then I wondered if I was crazy or just dying.

“Clara, stand up please,” Bette said. She was standing in the corner to my right. I managed to get to my feet, though I’ll admit the wall supported me for the most part.

“Now, come to me.” Bette said and felt the vibrating cord between us once again.

I shook my head, refusing her. I wasn’t sure I’d ever go to her again. Hell, I couldn’t even look her in the eye. She betrayed me.

“Come to me,” commanded Gregor, standing in the corner on my left. The connection to him hummed to life, but I refused him as well.

Clive cleared his throat and I spied him in the corner on the other side of the room from me. “Come.”

The new connection to him twanged like a plucked string on an acoustic guitar—a blood chord. My chest tightened and he visibly stiffened. He felt it too, the bastard.

“No, I said quietly and with finality, “I am not property. I am not one of your puppets, any of you.” I swept my arm out to the group, letting my gaze fall to each of them, one at a time. If my eyes could have thrown stakes they’d all be piles of dust. A thought flitted across my mind as soon as the words were out of my mouth.

Without considering how they would react if I could pull it off, I tugged at the blood cords stretched taught between us. First gingerly, just to get a feel for it. The three of them gasped at the nudge. Fear flickered across Bette’s face and Clive growled a low threatening rumble. Gregor pulled back slightly as if to test the chord that bound me to him.

Then I let my anger get the best of me. “Why don’t you all come to me instead?”

At once, I jerked on the chords with all the mental-strength I could muster and the three big, bad vamps flew to me like children on a zip-line, stopping inches from the blinding white aura I was putting off.

So it wasn’t the best idea, corralling myself with vampires to see if I could, but it was fun watching the surprise on their faces. I could control them and they didn’t seem happy about it.

Well too bad, I thought as I pushed my way past the glowering vamps. I was electrified and recharged. And finally in control.

“Now, if you three will excuse me I have a plane to catch if I’m going to get back to my daughter before sunrise. I’m sure you’ll all be in touch.”

I breezed out of the room without so much as a backward glance. I’d had enough of their vampire politics and circle-speak. I’d figure things out on my own and I didn’t want to see any of them, including Bette, any time soon.

Quinn was my only concern. Given my growing abilities, I began to see all the ways in which she could be in danger and I wasn’t about to let that happen. I had to get home and circle the wagons, so to speak.

I took the dark stairs two at a time, surprising even myself with how quickly I broke out into the balmy night air. I found Domino waiting outside by the limo, just as I’d left him.

“Change of plans. Take me to my hotel, then the airport.”

I opened my own door as Domino looked back to the shadowed entrance, clearly waiting for Bette.

“She said to come back for her. They have business to go over.”

Domino took my words at face value and shut the door after I climbed in the car. I thanked the heavens that he couldn’t see my entire body shaking or the splattered blood on my dress. The cover of darkness served me well and concealed my fears until I could get a handle on them.

When the limo began to move I relaxed and pulled out my phone, satisfied that I wasn’t being chased by angry Vamps. First, I called the airline and changed my flight to the next available one, leaving in exactly two hours. That would put me at the airport at 5 am and back at my house at six-thirty. Too bad sunrise was at six according to Virginia weather forecast. Thank god my car had tinted windows. I’d only have to worry about the sprint to the house.

Next, I called Morgan and postponed her flight. I needed time to get home, find a house and make sure that I had Quinn safely tucked away with me. To do that, I’d need a certain amount of anonymity so I told Morgan I wanted to treat her to a day at the spa. I suggested she’d be a beautiful blonde and maybe she should try out some sort of drastic hairstyle change. Go short, maybe. I hoped that my power of influence was still strong so that Morgan would arrive in my hometown a much different girl than the one people in Florida knew her as. I made a note on my phone to order her a more conservative wardrobe as well.

Once I’d taken care of necessities, I dropped my phone into my bag and rested my head against the window. Neon signs and streetlights blurred by as I considered all that had to be done. It was overwhelming to think about, but I would do each and every thing I had to do. And that included killing anybody, human or vamp that tried to use my daughter to get to me.

We would be alright. I’d make sure of it.

Epilogue

I took in a deep breath of steamy night air and looked to the moon. It was full and bright and I felt myself calm under its silver, shimmering light. I slipped off my shoes and felt the cool earth under my bare feet. I stood there, still and quiet, rooted to the earth. I wiggled my toes in the dirt and a pervasive sense of peace came over me. I’d never felt as alive as I did in that moment, not even when I was actually one-hundred-percent alive.

My soon-to-be-ex headed out the door the moment I’d stepped into the house, feeding me some line about staying for a few days with his fishing buddy. I didn’t believe him, but I really didn’t care where he went. Without Pete around I had one less complication to deal with. And I had my privacy to do the things that needed to be done.

When I’d arrived home Quinn had been so happy to see me that we’d spent the day cuddled on the living room couch watching movies and eating junk food.

Well, she ate and I pretended to, except for the bowl of “tomato soup” I had mid-day. During my travel home, I’d learned that anything can be bought for the right price, no questions asked.

On a side note, you wouldn’t believe how pungent cheese curls and pizza are to a vampire. I made a mental note to buy less smelly groceries for Quinn in the future, once I figured out which foods I could tolerate. In the mean-time, I’d become very adept at holding my breath while around offending odors.

After my baby fell asleep on the couch, I’d popped open my laptop and scoured the local realtor websites for our new home. I had an impressive list of needs that had to be met and it had taken me half the night to come up with a short list of houses.

Arranging to see them in the dark was my next task, right behind setting up a dummy corporation to protect the money I’d need to live on for the rest of, oh, forever. So much to do; it’s a good thing I don’t need to sleep anymore.

Feeling better than I had in days, I smiled to myself. I wasn’t sure how, but I’d make everything work out. I’d get my house in order, I’d raise my daughter up right and I’d somehow learn to control my gifts and be a Vampire Mom that my daughter could be proud of.

Yep, that’s just what I was going to do. And maybe, just maybe… have a little fun along the way.

About the Author

Alex Owens is a woman with little free time, which means she stays up all hours of the night putting pen to paper. By day she’s June Cleaver in jeans, and by night she writes. Somewhere in the middle of all that she finds time to tend ‘dem babies, fry up the bacon and curl up with a good book (or ten), much to the chagrin of her family. She’s currently at work on her Blood Chord Series, with book two slated for release in the summer of 2012.

You can find out more about Alex and her books by visiting her Publisher’s site, Quirky Gurl Media. While you’re there, be sure to sign up for the mailing list or blog notifications so that you can get the scoop on freebies, contests and new releases — including the follow up novel to this book.

Don’t forget to visit:

The Blood Chord series site

Twitter!

Facebook Page

QuirkyGurl.com

Closing

If you enjoyed this novel, please consider leaving a review for it on Amazon, LibraryThing or Goodreads, etc. Any artist, or in this case an author, is only as successful as her fans deem it, more so without the publicity budgets of The Big 6 Publishing Houses. It makes the success that much sweeter though—when an author gains fans based on merit alone, instead of the deck being stacked with blitzkrieg advertising campaigns. So, how can you support an Indie Book or Author?

You could:

• Post a review on one or more book sites, your blog, etc. Reviews are golden for an Indie book

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• Post a link to the book or review on Facebook. Spread the word through cyberspace.

• Mention the book to your fellow readers.

• Visit the author’s website and leave a comment. (Authors are an insecure bunch at times. You just don’t know how much it means to hear from someone that you enjoyed their novel!)

However you chose to support Indie’s, just know that it is greatly appreciated!

Dedication

I’d love to dedicate this novel to my supportive family, but since they don’t even know that I’ve written it, that would be absurd. Don’t get me wrong, they know I write. What else would I be doing up all hours of the night tapping away at my laptop? Well, KindleBoards and Facebook aside, I spend A LOT of time writing. Then rewriting. And writing some more. I just hope that all my toil and trouble has produced something that my family will be proud of—once I finally tell them!

So this one’s for you—Tater, Bug and George!

Also, I’d like to offer a special thanks to Staci and Vicy—my brilliant beta readers who were both instrumental in helping me hone and polish this novel. I couldn’t have done it without ya’ girls!

~Alex

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without expressed permission in writing from the publisher. If you have received a copy of this book without paying for it, please consider the author’s hard work and effort and purchase a legitimate copy. Thank you.

Kill Me (A Blood Chord Novel)

Alex Owens

Copyright 2012 by Alex Owens

Quirky Gurl Media

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Owens, Alex

Kill Me / Alex Owens.-1st ed

Formatted by CyberWitch Press

Cover Photo and Design by Karen Fowler Photography

Quirky Gurl Media

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Table of Contents

Kill Me

Chapter 1