Raven Walks (11 page)

Humans. They were like moths drawn to the
flame.

He made his way over to where she stood.

She watched the handsome man approach, and
was instantly captured by his mysterious light-colored eyes. He
reached out a hand. “Abigail,” he said, and it made her wonder how
he knew her name. “I’m a friend of Raven’s,” he answered her
unspoken question. She had no way of knowing that this was a
vampire who fed upon the psyche, rather than the flesh. “My name is
Sebastian.”

Instantly recognition sparked in her eyes.
“You own the club,” she stated. She had done her research. But
nothing prepared her on how to respond to his intense aura. Despite
how weak-kneed it rendered her, she had the innate sense that he
meant her no harm. She smiled. “It’s nice to finally meet you,” she
added. He knew in an instant she was out to use her wiles to pump
him for information, never assuming for a moment that he was
carefully decimating her aloof aura to reveal the things she would
never say.

If that wasn’t enough of a win, perhaps she
would also be willing to share some of her sublime energy he could
feel deep in his soul as he stood next to her and absorbed her.
Unlike his newest bartender, this human was not as guarded. Her
essence filled his nostrils, intoxicating him. He allowed her to
lead him over to a secluded booth.

Back in the staff area of the club, Gina
located Xavier, the spiky blue haired Goth vampire who doubled as a
bartender. It was the best way he’d found to lure beautiful humans
and trap them under his spell, so he didn’t mind the rather menial
job for an immortal. He watched this new human with fascination.
“Sebastian said you could cover for me,” she said. No pretense, no
waffling. Just direct and to the point.

He liked that.

“Sure,” he said as he rose in a languid
stretch. He sauntered over to where she stood. “Provided you’d be
willing to return a favor for a favor one day.”

“Like what?” she asked, again direct.

He slowly moved around her as he drank her
in. He loved the smell of her musk, which seemed to rise the more
agitated she got. “You tell me,” he whispered and ran his tongue
along his fangs.

“Sorry, I don’t mix business with pleasure,”
she told him and turned away.

He grabbed her but the minute their skin
touched he wrenched away like he’d been burned. “What the
hell?”

“Should have listened,” she said as she
turned away again. This time he grabbed her and this time he held
on even though he looked as though it caused him great
discomfort.

“Listen, bitch,” he hissed, and that was all
it took for her to flip him around and push him up against the
wall.

“Don’t call me names,” she warned in a low
voice. “And never, ever touch me again.”

He wasn’t sure what hurt worse, the way she
had his arm bent or the touch of her skin on his. “Got it,” he bit
out. He normally didn’t allow women to get away with such
disrespect, but it was crystal clear she wasn’t just any woman.

She let him go. They stared at each other for
one long moment before he finally turned away and headed back
toward the club.

She took one deep breath to calm down and
then flopped into a chair.

“That was quite impressive.”

She swung around to see a man who was leaning
against the door frame. He wore a goatee and a mustache and long,
wavy dark hair. His dark eyes were playful as they danced over her
rigid frame. “Relax,” he said as he causally strolled over to
another chair. “It was just a compliment.”

This was an old vampire, from England, most
likely the 19
^th
century if his accent was any
indication. “Do I know you?” she asked, her voice as stern as her
face.

He did a mock bow. “Damien Cross, at your
service.”

“The only service you could do me is to leave
me alone,” she said. She was still on edge because of what happened
with Xavier.

Luckily, or unluckily, for her Damien seemed
to know that. “Young Xavier has not yet learned how to deal with
the fairer sex.”

Her eyebrow rose. Was that a sexist
remark?

He smiled. He liked her already. “Of course I
couldn’t say you were weaker, now could I? You seemed to dispatch
young Mr. Luna quite efficiently. Well done.”

“Thank you,” she finally managed.

“Wise, that,” he went on, her participation
in the conversation seemingly irrelevant. “Being a human in a nest
full of blood suckers, it’s a good idea to have a few moves like
that up your sleeve.”

It was her turn to smile. “I’m not afraid of
vampires,” she assured him.

“Then you are a rare human being, indeed,” he
praised. Whether he believed her or not she couldn’t really be
sure. “My I ask the lady’s name?”

“Rambo,” she quipped. He gave her a hearty
laugh. This eased her nerves a bit. Generally jovial vampires
weren’t out to kill anyone, at least in her experience.

He vaulted to his feet. “You are amusing,
love,” he said as he gave her another bow. “And therefore I will
leave you to your solitude. Good night. Rambo,” he added with a
wink and then left her alone.

Out in the club Sebastian sat with Abigail,
who drilled him on information about Sonja and Tracy Lynn.

“People come and go here every day,” he
assured her. “This is a community of vagabonds and gypsies. Some
stay for a while, some stay for a moment. It’s not up to me to keep
track.”

“Then why call the police?” she
countered.

“I was worried about Sonja. I’d grown very
fond of her.” He gestured to the dance floor. Sonja stood close to
yet another young woman in an intimate dance. “But as you can see,
she’s returned.”

“As a vampire?” Abi pressed.

He chuckled softly and leaned in towards her.
She felt herself swoon slightly from the force that surrounded him.
“Undead is still not dead, Abigail. I’m afraid to tell you that
without a corpse, there is no murder mystery.”

“But…,” she tried to continue but he put his
hands over hers.

“Our culture is not your culture, Abi. The
minute you try to bring human sensibilities into it, you’ve already
lost. We are all thieves and murderers in our own way. My advice to
any human who cannot accept that is to stay far away from us.”

But even as he said it, she felt herself lean
in towards him, wanting more of the mysterious power he seemed to
possess.

“That’s what Raven wants for you, Abi,” he
told her as she toppled into his amber eyes.

“Raven doesn’t own me,” she managed. This
made him smile as he touched her hand. Without another word he
pulled her from the booth and led her on the dance floor, never
once breaking their gaze.

She melted against him as she felt the warmth
of his hard body spread over the coolness of her own. She couldn’t
look away from him if she tried. His eyes bore down into hers. His
full lips were slightly parted, and she could almost feel a kiss he
hadn’t yet decided if he wanted to deliver. It wasn’t that vampires
were faithful creatures, necessarily. They were lustful. Sinful.
They coveted, they stole. But the man Sebastian had always been had
been loyal, and it was Raven he thought of in that moment, rather
than his lovely Sonja.

His resolve grew weaker as he watched her
lovely lips part in anticipation of a kiss. There was nothing wrong
in holding her, he decided. They swayed to the music and she could
imagine them together in an ornate ball room centuries ago. Her
imagination came alive with satin gowns, lovely jewels and a
mysterious stranger with bright amber eyes.

The more she gave her spirit to him to render
to his will, the stronger his aura became. He drank from her energy
without reserve until she finally fainted against him just as he
began to grow against her. She was not ready for him yet, he
realized. He hoped she never would be.

He picked her up into his arms and carried
her to one of the back rooms. Red velvet and satin, to match her
fiery mane. He laid her upon the bed, touched her alabaster face,
and contemplated for more than a moment kissing her sexy mouth. A
sound from behind him startled him right out of his internal
struggle.

It was Sonja, and her fangs were full. “She’s
lovely,” she purred as she crawled up the bed. She didn’t have to
struggle whether to kiss her. She simply did it.

Though he stirred at the erotic sight, he
touched Sonja’s arm. “No, my love. Not this one. She is
Raven’s.”

Sonja pouted as she slunk away. “I’m hungry,”
she whimpered.

He put his arm around her. “I know, my
precious. Let’s go back out on the floor to find someone for you to
taste.”

This seemed to perk her up somewhat, but she
sent another longing glance Abi’s direction before she left.

Sonja still pouted from the bar as she
watched all the couples evenly matched on the dance floor. Xavier
leaned across the bar. “Something wrong, pretty lady?”

She gave him a hungry look, one he’d long
since come to recognize. Gina had already joined them again and was
waiting on a customer at the other end of the bar, so Xavier took
her hand and motioned for her to follow him.

They were all over each other as they tumbled
out into the night air, away from the prying eyes of the people
inside. Their tongues played together and she felt the cool steel
ball from his tongue stud. She could only imagine would that would
feel like elsewhere. She whimpered as she pushed him down to his
knees.

In one fluid motion he pulled down her
panties and pulled up her skirt. She spread her legs for him and
with his own hunger he dove right in. She felt his tongue and the
tongue stud as it flickered across her clit. She cried out in the
night as her hand clasped handfuls of hair.

Long moments had passed while Abi slept there
in that red room. The candlelight flickered and died. When she
awoke it was completely dark, and she had to wonder for a moment if
it had all been a dream. But she felt the satin sheets beneath her
and she knew she was once again in one of the rooms that hid behind
the coven.

Immediately her hand went to her neck. She
sighed with relief that there were no marks there. Just cool,
perfect skin.

She sat up on the bed and that was when she
heard the sound. She listened in the darkness to make it out. Again
she heard it, it sounded like a hissing sound. Her hair stood on
end as she realized she couldn’t tell where it was coming from, as
it sounded like it was all around her.

Just outside, Sonja was coming against
Xavier’s mouth, crying out as her fangs punctured the sides of her
face. She screamed when she felt him puncture the skin of her groin
and drink from her. She was delirious with need.

Inside the room, the hissing sound grew
louder and closer. Abi gulped as she slowly made out the edge of
the bed with her fingers. She had no idea where to run, but she
knew she couldn’t stay still. Just as her foot made contact with
the floor, a claw-like hand grasped her ankle. She screamed as
another claw grasped her other ankle.

The bony hands clasped her ankles tight,
long, sharp nails piercing her skin, pinning her to the satin
sheets. But this wasn’t sexy at all. The smell of death and decay
marched up her nose until her stomach recoiled. “Help me! Please,
somebody!”

She heard the doorknob rattle as the skeletal
fingers rose up her legs and dug into her thighs. Hot breath danced
along her skin as a cackling laugh rose in the room. “Where’s your
hero now?” it hissed, and she knew that the Creature had cornered
her once more.

Outside Sonja grabbed Xavier up and released
his hard cock from his jeans. He lifted her by the waist to press
her against the wall, and her legs scissor crossed behind him. He
plunged into her unceremoniously and fucked her hard at her demand.
He thought he could hear screaming, but figured it was someone else
getting lucky inside.

Abi didn’t feel so lucky as the Creature
spread her legs wide. She struggled but it was way too strong. Her
screaming had strangled into a hoarse plea. “Let me go,
please!”

Again something banged against the door, and
as she was about to brace for the Creature’s angry lust the door
swung open and light flooded the room. She saw the Creature’s
hollowed out face just inches from hers. Her scream quickly
returned.

The Creature hissed as it turned toward the
door where a man with dark flowing hair stood silhouetted. Abi
stared in disbelief. “Raven?”

But the vampire stepped further into view.
“Holy hell!” a British accented voice exclaimed when he caught
sight of the hideous Creature who had mounted the petrified
human.

The Creature exploded into an angry red mist
and flew at the intruder, then past him into the bowels of the
coven. Abi gulped sobs down with ragged breaths. Damien ran to her.
“Are you all right, love?” he asked as he bent down to her, then
gently he pulled her skirt down and helped her sit up.

She shook her head. “It tried to... it was
going to...” She couldn’t even get it out.

“It’s okay now,” he assured her, even though
he wasn’t quite certain himself. He pulled her up on her feet and
steadied her with an arm around her shoulders.

Outside Sonja had just bared her teeth and
was preparing to feed when she caught sight of the strange red mist
exploding from the club. Slowly the mist took shape of a Creature
long dead. She screamed as it flew towards them and knocked Xavier
away.

Inside, Damien and Abi heard the scream. They
ran toward the door.

Outside the Creature lifted Sonja up by the
throat. Abi and Damien stopped short when they realized how high
the Creature was taking Sonja. Her pleas for help were strangled,
and just before either vampire on the ground could spring into
action, the Creature tore her throat out and sent the rest of her
lifeless body crashing to the cement below.