Vampire Mate: BBW Paranormal Romance (14 page)

He dismissed her with an
agitated wave of his hand.

“
Get me the signed
contract soon, Charlene. I want that land,” Kron snarled.

Charlene stood and gave a deep
curtsey. “Don't worry.”
Start worrying.
“You'll
get it.”
Over my dead body.

With a tight smile, she
teleported away.

She materialized at a street
corner in the middle of the city, not far from where she had been
mauled to death by a rogue werewolf little more than a year ago.

She rubbed her arms, shivering
involuntarily. She bore no physical scars from the attack. All her
wounds and scars had disappeared when she became a blood demoness.

She began to walk slowly down
the street, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the city. New
Moon City hadn't changed much. She had walked down these familiar
streets as a human, going to work, rushing to Charlene's school
events, picking up groceries. All the little things in life. The
little things that made up a full life.

She kept walking, staring and
marveling at the city she had lived in for thirty years. If she
succeeded in destroying Kron, she would not be going to a better
place. There was no better place than New Moon City. Her sister was
here. Her mate was here. Her life was here. Too bad she wouldn't
be here long.

If she succeeded in destroying
her demon Maker, she would soon be screaming in the Abyss.

If not, if she failed, which
was realistically speaking, the more likely outcome, she would be in
a dark soul globe, sitting on Kron's shelf beside his fireplace.

The sun rose high in the sky,
then began to make its descent. She had been walking for hours,
trying to see and remember as much of this beautiful city as she
could. She glanced up at a large clock at a train station and
started. It was already evening.

Nervously, Charlene turned and
began to make her way towards the PAC Headquarters. There was
someone she wanted to see—from a distance.

From what Glenn had told
her, Charlotte was paired with Bryn Ellis, a vampire Enforcer on her
patrols. That meant that she would walk the beat at night. Charlene
stood at the street corner, staring at the tall building in the
middle of the city that was the PAC Headquarters. She had never
stepped foot in that building as a human, and she didn't want to step
into the building now as a demon.

The PAC Enforcers might
apprehend her on the spot. She had taken those shifters' blood and
had dragged them away to Kron. She had broken God knows how many PAC
rules and laws. She would be captured and taken down as a rogue
paranormal.

She didn't want to put
Charlotte, who was now the Alpha's mate, in a spot. She wouldn't be
able to bear the shock and shame on her sister's face. But she just
had to see her little sister one last time.

Charlene withdrew into the
lengthening shadows and waited. Office workers began to knock off
work and stream out of the office buildings. People rushed past her
to hurry to the train station, bus stops and cab stands. Charlene
folded her arms and pressed her back against a shop window, trying to
keep her eyes on the entrance to the PAC Headquarters. The overhead
street lamps had flicked on, and the sky was a pretty shade of
purple, gradually deepening to black.

Time and the tide of harried
city folk rushed past. Charlene kept on waiting. Then she saw a
gleaming black Porsche pull up in front of the PAC Building, and
something made her tense and lean forward. A tall, handsome man with
dark brown hair was at the wheel, and when he stopped the car, he
leaned over the passenger side for a long time. It was obvious that
he was kissing whoever was sitting at his side, and the kiss was a
long, lingering one. At last, the passenger door flew open, and
Charlene saw her sister's strawberry blond hair and beaming, blushing
face.

Charlene stood rooted to the
spot, unable to blink or breathe.

It was her little sister. Her
Charlotte, standing across the street, waving and blowing a kiss to
the departing Porsche. Her hair was pulled back in a simple pony
tail and she was wearing well-fitting leather pants and a black
jacket, the standard uniform of the Enforcers.

“
Charlotte! Wait up!”

Charlene followed the voice,
and saw a slim, pretty young woman with midnight blue hair run up and
throw an arm over Charlotte's shoulder. She was holding a plastic
cup with a straw. Charlene saw her sister squint at the cup. “Bryn,
is that...?”

“
Yup, my third cup of
blood milk shake today. I'm trying to be more...voluptuous,”
Bryn answered with a loud slurp. “You don't know how lucky you
are. I can't seem to put on any weight!” Bryn grumbled,
tossing her empty cup into a bin as she pushed through the revolving
doors into the PAC Headquarters.

Charlotte shook her head and
laughed. “I know I'm lucky. I am the luckiest girl in the
whole world! And you my friend, you just don't...”

Charlene couldn't hear the
rest of Charlotte's words as her sister hurried into the building
after her vampire partner. But she certainly heard the contentment
and pride in her sister's voice.

And she had seen how that male
had kissed her in the car. Proud and possessive. He loved her, and
he wasn't afraid to show it. He would kiss her whenever and
wherever, and he didn't care who saw. In fact, he was proud to show
the world that she was his mate.

Charlene stared dazedly at the
doors to the building, rotating and revolving as humans and
paranormals walked in and out. Memories and images flashed before
her, as she saw Charlotte as a child, then a teenager, and now a
confident, competent, beautiful woman.

She started when she saw Bryn
and Charlotte stride out of the building, their stance and posture no
longer playful and relaxed, but alert and professional. They were on
the job now, starting their patrol.

Charlene was about to push off
the wall and go after them when she saw that same tall, dark haired
man walk out the door and stare at Charlotte's departing back.
Charlene hung back, staring at Lucas Rieve, the PAC Alpha. Lucas was
as tall as Glenn, powerfully built with a handsome, rugged face. His
brown hair was tousled and his dark eyes shone with pride and love as
he stared after his mate. Charlene reached out to him with her
heart, and whispered, “Take good care of Charlotte, Lucas. I'm
so glad...that you're my brother-in-law.”

Lucas Rieve seemed to stiffen,
but before his eyes could swivel to her, she ducked back into the
shadows and held herself perfectly still. Lucas Rieve was an alpha
werewolf. He had superb shifter hearing and he could probably scent
her presence. She should have been more careful. But she had wanted
so badly to see Charlotte.

She waited for a full minute
before she dared to even exhale. Very slowly, she peeled herself off
the wall and chanced a peek out at the street. People were still
jostling along the sidewalk, and cars and cabs were honking and
trying to beat the lights. But Lucas was gone.

There was no sign of him at
all.

Charlene blew out a breath in
relief and ran across the road, dodging oncoming vehicles and yelling
motorists. Charlotte and Bryn couldn't be far. They had kept a
steady pace, and she could probably still catch up with them. But
she didn't want to catch up and be seen. She just wanted to watch
them, from a distance. Just look at Charlotte for as long as she
could.

Charlene spotted the two
Enforcers turning a corner, and walked briskly after them. They were
making their way towards a grittier part of the city, not so crowded
and brightly lit.

Charlene resisted the urge to
shout at her sister.
What did I tell you Charlotte? Stay away
from this part of the city. Don't walk down these streets after
dark!

Charlene bit her lip with a
grimace. It was after dark now, and her little sister, who was in
fact taller and bigger than Charlene, was walking down these streets
with a jacket full of weapons and a nifty vampire at her side.

She had nothing to worry
about. Nothing at all, she told herself.

Charlene watched the two girls
continue their patrol, moving into a quiet, shadowy street where
there were no lights in the windows and many houses looked
unoccupied.

A blood-curdling scream
pierced the air and immediately, Bryn and Charlotte broke into a
desperate run, hurtling towards the scream.

Charlene teleported to a
rooftop and watched her sister draw two silver blades as she skidded
into an alley. Bryn aimed her gun at the hunched figure at the end
of the alley, and raced in after her partner.

“
Drop it!” Bryn
yelled. “Drop...him.”

Charlene gasped as the figure
straightened up. She saw the jagged fangs and the red markings at
the corner of the demon's eyes. He was a blood demon—like her.

The blood demon had his hand
clamped around a shifter's bleeding throat. From the stripes which
were appearing on the man's face and arms, he was a weretiger. He
looked young, like someone in his late teens or early twenties. His
claws had descended and he was digging his claws desperately into the
demon's forearm, trying to free himself.

The blood demon hissed and
widened his mouth in a parody of a grin. He was in his half demon,
half human form. His shirt had ripped from his back, revealing his
scales and he was barefoot, but his jeans still hung from his hips.
Horns protruded from the sides of his head, but his face was still
largely human. He was an older demon than Charlene. Charlene, being
a relatively new demoness, had not come into her demon form yet. She
had only her human form, and her blood was still red, not yet black.
She might only have her human shape, but she had the demon tools for
the job. Claws and fangs, and she could draw power from blood.

The demon's fangs were
dripping with the shifter's blood, and Charlene saw his foot move to
smear the spilled blood across the ground. With a start, Charlene
realized that he was drawing a blood circle around himself. He was
going to use the blood to erect a shield, just as she had done when
Glenn cornered her. Then he would teleport away with his prey.

Charlene swayed, tasting bile
at the back of her throat. Nausea surged through her, and she had to
force herself to remain still and not topple from her perch.

His actions, his tactics were
the same as hers. They were exactly the same.

She was no different from that
blood demon.

Charlotte and Bryn approached
cautiously, as they would a monster.

Monster.

If that blood demon was a
monster, so was she.

Charlene crouched down slowly.
She knew exactly what the blood demon would do. She would do the
same if she was in his position, with a captured shifter in her claws
and facing off against two interfering Enforcers. She waited until
he finished drawing the blood circle around him with his foot.

The demon slowly lowered his
claws to the flailing shifter, and then with a sudden, vicious swipe,
tore the weretiger's arm right out of the socket. Blood spurted, and
as the Enforcers charged, the blood demon drew the blood mist up.
But just before he completely shielded himself behind the blood mist,
Charlotte ran up and smashed into the mist of blood.

The demon bellowed and used
the shifter's blood to seal the shield.

Bryn couldn't see past the
blood mist, couldn't penetrate the shield, and was left yelling and
shooting at the rippling veil of red in front of her. Charlotte was
locked in the blood dome with the blood demon. Bryn couldn't
penetrate the shield, but Charlene could. She was a blood demoness,
and blood gave her power. Blood shields strengthened her, not
stopped her.

With a yell, Charlene leaped
from the roof, right into the middle of the pulsing dome of fresh
blood.

As Charlene smashed through
the blood mist, the demon jerked and reared up. Charlene landed
beside the unconscious young man, who was bleeding profusely and
lying unmoving on the ground.

Charlene stood to face the
demon, her fangs and claws stabbing out. There was a silver blade
buried in the demon's leg, and his face had fresh cuts all over it.
Charlene stared down at her sister's limp body in the demon's grip.
Charlotte had put up a feisty struggle before being knocked
unconscious. She had managed to stab and cut the demon real good.

“
Let her go,”
Charlene demanded.

The demon smirked. “Blood
demoness,” he hissed. “Go hunt somewhere else. Get your
own food.”

Her eyes flicked to Charlotte.
“She is not food!”

The demon glanced down and
growled, “I have no use for her. But she was in the way. I
only need the beast.”

Charlene jerked. “Why?
Do you...work for Sideous Kron?”

The demon snorted a mirthless
laugh. “No demon reveals their demon lord and Maker. That
would be telling the world how to destroy them.”