Redemption

First published by The Writer’s Coffee Shop, 2011

Copyright © Lindsey Gray, 2011

The right of Lindsey Gray to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the
Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part maybe reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

The Writer’s Coffee Shop
(Australia) PO Box 2013 Hornsby Westfield NSW 1635
(USA) PO Box 2116 Waxahachie TX 75168

Paperback ISBN- 978-1-61213-038-5
E-book ISBN- 978-1-61213-039-2

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the US Congress Library.

Cover image by: Lindsey Gray
Cover design by: Lindsey Gray

www.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/lgray

Lindsey Gray was born with a fascination for the written word. By the time she was 12 years old, she had typed several short stories on her parents’ Apple IIE computer. Like many young writers, her early aspirations were eclipsed by everyday life. The itch to write has always lingered and over the last few years her desire to create has grown to the point it can no longer be denied. She returned to her, now up-to-date, computer and the words flowed in to what has become her first published romance novel, Lies Inside. Shortly after, she decided to take her hand at another genre and delved into the supernatural with the first in her series of novels, Redemption.

To my family and friends. I pay homage to you with my words for your tremendous inspiration and encouragement.

A small, carbon steel blade in the hands of a sadistically cruel animal, was all that stood between her and the only family she had ever known. He had his victim’s hands and ankles tied down to the steel chair in the center of the blackened room.

Lily kept her distance, for fear that any movement she made would make his hand slip, causing the blade to torment his victim further. She could see he was enjoying the emotions seeping into the room; hate and fear exuded from her every fiber. His exhilaration traveled swiftly through him as he reveled in looming over his victim. The tip of his knife caressed the thin sheet of skin that covered her jugular vein, as his tongue slipped across to moisten his more than perfect lips.

The blade caught a tear from his victim’s cheek before it had a chance to fall; its taste so sweet as he wiped the blade across his tongue and stimulated each taste bud.

“Time is running out. Blood will be spilt whatever you decide, you need only to choose whose it will be.”

Lily had a choice to make. She knew she had only moments before he would carry out every threat he had promised to. His one demand was the only thing holding her back.

She took one last long look over him. His eyes, still the same deep blue piercing through her from within the shadows. His smile, still just as perfectly charming. When she looked deeper, she saw something in him more clearly than she ever had before; his soul. Black and corrupted by words she was sure he himself almost certainly didn’t comprehend.

Her eyes narrowed, her jaw clenched. “They will kill me if I do this.” Her words were resolute, but her voice trembling at the incredulous truth of it all.

“Then you have a decision to make. Whose existence is more important?” He brought his cheek next to his victim’s, sealing a tear upon it with a kiss. “Hers or your own…?”

Before he could let the last breath pass through his lips, she replied. “Hers.”

Her hardened flesh was colder than usual. Her body had become accustomed to the Icelandic winters, but even she thought this arctic breeze was ridiculous.

“A hundred years. You’d think I’d be used to the cold by now,” Lily thought to herself, as she precariously watched her steps across the ice.

She had been stalking a mountain goat for twenty minutes. She took her time as she headed for solid ground. As soon as she felt the earth replace the ice beneath her feet, she was off running like gossamer; her chestnut tendrils flying in every direction as she gained speed. She pounced on the goat, not giving it any chance to fight back before she shredded the jugular vein. She drank in every drop of sweet deliciousness she could before the heart could no longer pump it. The poor goat never stood a chance.

Lily’s thirst had become all consuming as of late. Some close calls with the wrong type of prey precipitated her relocation to Iceland. It was easy for her to get lost in a country of only three hundred thousand. Twenty hours of darkness on most winter days gave her the perfect opportunity to blend in and hunt without discovery – the ideal setting for a vampire to survive.

Lily made the short five mile trek back to her home. A modest, but comfortable house that was perfect for her existence. She tried to keep it simple. She had only traveled with a few things, leaving the rest in storage in the States. This move had become increasingly more permanent than she had hoped, and she was longing for a few comforts that were lying dormant in a Massachusetts storage unit.

She had enjoyed her visits to the Icelandic north over the years, but it was always more of a holistic retreat than a final resting place. After the year she had been through she had more than enough retreating to do to remain the vampire she needed to be.

Lily stood in her entryway, dripping with red tinted snow as she discarded her hunting gear. Firstly, her boots, one of her most prized possessions, with leather laces that stood up to any type of weather. Then her down jacket, which had become more of a comfort than a necessity. She paused briefly when her eyes noticed a few specks of frozen crimson blood soaked into the fabric.
“No worries,”
she thought. She had more than enough years of experience removing blood stains from any type of material. After she tossed it aside, she made her way to the bathroom.

This is where she slipped into her ritual of removing the rest of her clothes. The stiff thermal shirt, followed by ice crusted jeans and slightly damp socks, which protected her flawless pedicure. Her black lace bra and panty set were the last items to hit the floor before she entered the steaming hot shower.

Even though her body never radiated any type of heat, she was extremely sensitive to it. The warm water washed over her with a soothing effect as the steam brought the hair on her body to attention. It was an extremely cathartic experience. One she repeated twice daily.

Reluctantly, she turned off the water. A fluffy, pink bathrobe beckoned her from the hook on the back of the bathroom door. She toweled off before slipping the cotton candy body suit over her newly warmed skin.

Her couch was particularly inviting after the vigorous hunt of the evening. She stretched out across the leathery goodness, only to find her journal tucked between the cushions. She pulled the onyx colored book from the grip of the couch, her fingers trailing across the golden numbers scrolled across it.

“What a hideous year.”

She would have never made homage to that year except for the fact she had made one for every other year of her existence. Memories etched in eternity. Some she would never forget, others she would be glad to do so.

The past year was the kind of year she dreaded, the transition year. The better parts of the previous five years were spent around Portland, Oregon. She had passed for twenty-five when she arrived and had left when it became increasingly difficult to pass as a convincing thirty year old.

Being eternally twenty-five had its advantages. She could pass for as young as eighteen or as old as thirty. For the most part, she was able to control her thirst around humans. This enabled her to stay in one place for an extended period of time. It became time to leave Portland and start somewhere new.

She flipped open the cover of the journal to find the first entry. She rang in the New Year in Las Vegas – another city that never slept and she had slipped into the adrenaline based atmosphere with ease. Even though iguanas were not very sustaining, she had felt comfortable in the desert, for a while.

It was in her nature to control her urges, but the time came for her to feel good to be bad. The city brought out her seductive side, which was never a good thing for a vampire. Even though she had no need for a career, she was in Sin City and she had the body for it.

She laughed as she came across a picture of her Vegas alter ego, Cinnamon. The name screamed showgirl, at least to her. She had walked into the hottest club on the strip for an audition – a formality at the very least. Her long flowing chestnut curls danced across her milky white skin and once the owner caught a glimpse of her cinnamon stare, he would have given her anything she wanted.

“So, what do you say?” Lily asked, flashing her smile that would melt butter.

“I think I have something for you.” He winked back at her while he wiped his hand through his greasy goatee.

“A few conditions though.”

“You think you can give me conditions? Look, sweetheart. I’m the boss, you’re the stripper.”

“Dancer,” she corrected him.

“Whatever, but my customers pay for a full show. I’ll be expecting at the very least what I’ve seen today. They’ll expect much more.”

“Fine, just listen for a minute, please,” she said, pulling the chair next to him, and swiveling it around. She came down on the chair backwards, inching it close to him. Her sweet breath filled the inches between them as she spoke again. “I will most definitely be one of the best you’ve ever seen. I will have your customers stuffing so much money into this club, you’ll think you’re the King of Siam. But…no private dances. Only with another girl and a bouncer present. No groping and absolutely, no kissing.”

He licked his already moist lips. “That sounds reasonable, only if you start tonight.”

“Deal.”

She was in for a real change. Her nights were filled with cognac soaked bills passed to her G-string from lawyers, doctors, and very dirty politicians. Her couples dances with the other girls actually became very popular. She hadn’t really realized how much it turned a man on to just sit back and watch.

Lily had no problem controlling her thirst when it came to the girls. The men all had collectively a different scent. Some sweet, others musky. One smelled exactly like the oil from a nineteen fifty-seven Bel Air. He reminded her why she loved cars so much over their hour long conversation. It retrieved all her memories of Martin, her sire.

By late May, she thought it might not be so bad after all. She could spend a couple of years living out her wildest fantasies. She didn’t need much sleep and she fed when she could. It was glorious exercise, even though she had no need for it. As she always kept her body sharp, and her mind even sharper.

“Got a request for you, Miss C. You and Samantha in the blue room, now.” The greasy manager shouted into their dressing room as if the entire world needed to hear.

“I’m on the main stage in five minutes. Can’t it wait?” Lily combed her hair back into a seductive sweep while rolling her eyes.

“No it can’t. If you want to keep yourself employed, you’ll get your ass in there now.”

“Alright!” Samantha screamed as she pulled Lily from her chair. “Come on, C. We’ll do the Double Dutch. It won’t take too long.”

“As soon as the butterscotch comes out, they’re already halfway there.” Lily’s lips parted to expose her glossy white teeth. They both snickered as they made their way to the blue room.

He sat alone in the high-backed leather chair provided for him. His smoldering blue eyes enveloped all that was Lily. His lips created a coy smile while showing off his alabaster teeth. Not the usual customer, draped in a tailored black suit with electric blue button down shirt. Looking barely old enough to even be there, no more than twenty-two, with dark hair cropped short behind his ears. There wasn’t even a hint of a glance at Samantha. This left Lily a bit unsettled, but intrigued as well.

“We can get started as soon as Sonny takes his seat.” Lily spread out the black tarp across the hard marble floor as Samantha retrieved the supplies from behind the bar. His eyebrow rose slightly as his stare stayed on Lily. She glided her fingertips lightly across her left breast to gauge what kind of man she was dealing with. He continued to sit in silence, but she knew she was having an effect on him. He may have been sitting perfectly still, but his heart was beating wildly in his chest.

Sonny entered and took his seat, nodding to the girls. They began their routine with some light nuzzling at first. Samantha’s body heat began to warm Lily’s icy flesh and they pressed their bodies together like fire and ice. A seductive chill ran down their intertwined bodies. He sat motionless, only a bead of sweat running from his forehead.

“Time to take care of business,” Samantha chimed, as she reached for the butterscotch. Surprisingly, the mystery man shifted his position, and she wondered if she was finally getting to him.

As Samantha stepped on the tarp, she slipped, falling back to the floor. Lily sprung to her side a little too fast, as Sonny and the mystery man hurried to her as well.

“Can you move?” Lily asked, as she caressed Samantha’s face.

“I’m fine. I think I pulled something, though.”