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  “Where’s Thomas?” she asked, looking from me to Benjamin.

  Oh boy.

  “He just dropped us off. Why?” I said following Benjamin up to the door. “Domino,” I said, not wanting to be rude, “this is my friend, Laura.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Domino said.

  Laura barely acknowledged her. “Hi,” she said quickly. “I wanted to see Thomas.” She was holding her wrist with her other hand, unconsciously caressing the spot where he’d formerly bitten her.

  “Why don’t we go inside?” Benjamin suggested, unlocking the door.

  “And Thomas?” Laura asked.

  “He’s coming back,” Benjamin lied. “Come inside and we’ll wait for him.”

  Why was he lying to her? Thomas wasn’t planning on coming back for the night. I didn’t like how Laura looked at all. She had dark circles under her eyes and her hair was oily and out of place. Her clothes, I thought, looked wrinkled and may have been the same clothes she was wearing the night I sent her out for flashlights and batteries. That was more than twenty-four hours ago. Was she waiting for us outside this whole time?

  Inside, Meowser came running in from the other room. He was meowing up a storm and probably upset that we’d left him alone for so long.

  “I’ll feed the cat,” Benjamin said.

  “See?” I said. “I knew you’d warm up to him.”

  “I just want him to stop meowing.”

  “I was speaking to the cat, not you,” I said, leading Domino to the guest bedroom.

  Domino liked her room well enough and I watched her unpack her things for a minute.

  “Domino, I’m going to give you a quick Vampire 101.”

  “Okay, shoot,” she said.

  “Benjamin, Thomas and I, need to sleep during the day. We kind of pass out and it’s weird, but nobody’s perfect. Right?”

  “What about Jeremiah?”

  “No, he’s a demon and he doesn’t have such problems. So, during the day, don’t open our bedroom door for anything. We’ll be totally out of it as soon as the sun comes up.”

  Boy, I thought. We were putting a lot of trust into Jeremiah, and now Domino. If they wanted to, they could drag our bodies out into the sun in the middle of the day. I didn’t want to think that way about my friends, but I guess my survival instinct was pretty strong.

  I practically had to force Jeremiah to stay out of her room for a while. “She needs a little time alone,” I warned him. “Let her get used to her new surroundings.”

  He nodded and retreated to the kitchen to drink water. The fridge and pantry would need stocking if Domino was going to be living here, I thought. Jeremiah, it seemed, only ate every once in a while. Mostly, he drank water, I noticed. Domino, however, was human and would need normal things like breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

  I’d worry about that tomorrow, though. For now, I needed to figure out what was going on with my best friend. She sat in the living room, watching the news.

  “Have you been watching this?” she asked.

  Moving to the living room, I stood next to the sofa and watched the news reporter in her red blazer talking about the greater Miami area. This included all the cities surrounding Miami and the beaches. Homicide rates were up a staggering two hundred percent.

  “These images may disturb some viewers,” the news anchor said.

  They actually showed the dead bodies on TV. Gross! They would show anything on television these days. The news sponsors were willing to put anything on TV as long as they frightened the people and increased ratings. Although, this time, it was probably better if the people were scared to leave their houses.

  The biggest mystery? The coroner’s office couldn’t determine a cause of death. Experts believed, however, it was the work of a large group of people—a cult perhaps. But that was just speculation, of course. Authorities had no freakin’ clue what they were dealing with.

  “Oh Laura,” I said. “Don’t watch this—it’s terrible.”

  She turned the TV off. “I’ll just sit here and wait for Thomas, then.”

  Locking eyes with Benjamin from across the room, I beckoned him to meet me in our bedroom. “What’s happened to her?” I asked.

  “I’ve seen this happen before. Thomas did not hypnotize her to forget the blood-sucking.”

  “Oh!” I said, surprised we’d all forgotten that little detail. “You’ll wake up feeling like you’re sick or you’ve had too much to drink, blah, blah, blah.”

  “Yes,” he said. “She’s craving for him to bite her again. You know how good it feels to be bitten.”

  I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. I had never been into any sort of rough play during sex, but there was something about a vampire’s bite that could drive me up the wall. Poor Laura, what had I done to her?

  Benjamin sat on the edge of the bed and I stood in front of him. He rested his head against my abdomen, and I stroked his neck with my fingers. His arms slid around my waist and his hands found their way around to cup my bottom.

  “I’ll hypnotize her now. I’ve seen this type of thing before. I’ll be honest, Olivia. It doesn’t always end well. The addiction to the bite can be powerful.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “I will try,” he said.

  I let out a sigh of relief.

  “You and your human gestures,” he said.

  “I thought it was one of the things you liked about me,” I said.

  “Yes, I find it amusing.”

  Our heads snapped in the direction of a large crash coming from the other side of the house.

  We reached the living room in a flash. Jeremiah lay in the middle of a pile of rubble that was previously the dining room table. The crash we heard was his body, being thrown against the mahogany table. The wood splintered all around him. His left arm was twisted and hanging limp. His breathing, however, was strong, and it relieved me, knowing he was still alive. Laura, who was stuck in the living room, looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She was crouching down behind the ottoman with Natasha standing over her.

  This was not the most ideal hiding place. She shouldn’t even be here. Maybe I should have taken Benjamin’s advice from the beginning and faked my own death. Laura would have been better off that way. Now she was trying to hide in the middle of a vampire showdown. I only hoped that Laura would stay in the room long enough for me to kill this bitch, Natasha.

  “Did I forget to mention that you’re not welcome here anymore?” I asked.

  “Oh, Olivia,” she said, with maniacal laughter, “the best part is that I don’t even have to kill you. I can just watch while the others do it for me.”

  “They won’t touch her after we tell them you’re responsible for the demons.”

  “You think they’ll care? You’ve obviously been spending too much time with this one,” she said. “See? I’ve made a deal with the underworld.” She stuck her hip out to one side and smiled—obviously pleased with herself. “If I kill the would-be queen, the king continues his reign, and lets me back into the underworld. There, I won’t be a slave, forced to sleep during the day, and he’s promised to take me as his queen.”

  Jeremiah laughed from the mound of splinters. It was a low, desperate sound as he was quite hurt. “He’s lying to you. They abhor the vampires—to them, you are an abomination. They are playing you for a fool!”

  “Let’s find out. Shall we?” She made her move and held Laura in her arms—hanging in front of her like a ragdoll. Laura kicked and screamed, but Natasha kept her iron-like grip across her arms.

  “It’s all but over now,” Natasha said.

  “Leave her alone!” I yelled. “She has nothing to do with this.” Laura’s brown eyes were wide with terror. I didn’t want to attack Natasha head-on for fear it might get Laura killed.

  “She has everything to do with this,” Natasha said. “Goodbye, Queenie.”

  Natasha removed a large knife from behind her back and sliced right through Laur
a’s neck, removing her head entirely.

  “No!” I screamed, flying across the room.

  Natasha dropped Laura’s body and it fell to the floor with her head. Seeing Laura’s body like that snapped something inside me—my spirit. My heart. I crumbled to the floor after her, not caring if Natasha killed me too.

  Benjamin was right behind me though and had a chance to ready a weapon. With Natasha’s attention completely focused on me, Benjamin drove a chunk of the wood from the broken table right through Natasha’s heart. I watched her body disintegrate before my eyes as I cradled Laura’s headless corpse against my body.

  Benjamin went to put his arm around me and I recoiled from him. “Don’t touch me!” I screamed.

  “Olivia,” Benjamin said, coming near me again.

  “You did this!” I sobbed. “You fucking bastard! This is all your fault.”

  Jeremiah rose from the debris and dragged himself across the house toward Domino’s room. What was I going to do with Laura’s body? She needed a proper burial. She didn’t deserve this. My God, she didn’t deserve this.

  “Olivia, let me help you,” Benjamin begged.

  “Get away from me!” I screamed back.

  He stood up, walked to the front door and left. I heard the door to Domino’s room open. “Olivia?”

  “Don’t come out here,” I said. Domino came into the living room anyway. “It’s bad,” I sobbed. “It’s really bad.”

  She bent down, resting her weight on one knee. “I’ve seen terrible things over the years,” she said. “The ghosts. They don’t always come over pretty.”

  I nodded. I thought I had seen horrific things since I’d been turned—but I’d never seen someone I actually loved get killed.

  “The vampire thought your friend was me,” she said, her voice low and quiet.

  I nodded; I wasn’t in the mood to spare anyone’s feelings. “I need to move the body,” I said, my chest feeling like it was caving from the inside out. I could have changed her into a vampire if her freaking head hadn’t been chopped off. Natasha was clever—I’d have to give her that.

  “Okay,” Domino said. “Let’s get that rug over there and we’ll use that to cover her body.”

  I looked at her with my eyes wide. “I can’t just roll her body up in a rug!” The pitch of my voice was rising. Was everyone around me losing his or her mind? Had everyone become so desensitized to normal human emotions?

  Domino took my hands in hers and forced me to look into her violet eyes. “Listen to me,” she said. “Your friend’s soul—her spirit, has left already. She’s at peace now.”

  “No, she’s in pieces!” I protested, waving my arms around Laura’s body.

  “I’m telling you the truth. The essence that was once your friend has already passed on. This is merely her body—her shell.”

  I took a deep, unnecessary breath to calm my nerves and nodded. I didn’t need to breathe, but the familiarity of it still made me feel better. This was Domino’s area of expertise. If she said that Laura’s soul was at rest, I had to believe it was true. I was reluctant to leave the body, but I needed to get the rug. “How is Jeremiah?”

  “He’ll heal,” she said.

  I looked down at Laura’s body again and then over to the bloody remnants of Natasha’s body. Natasha had acted under false pretenses. In the end, each one of us was damned and hopelessly victimized.

  “I’ll stay with her,” Domino said. “You can get the rug by yourself. Right?”

  I nodded, stood up, and walked to the living room. Moving the table out of the way, I removed the large Oriental rug from the floor and dragged it over to the body.

  Thomas opened the door and I snapped my head up, ready to kill the first intruder that walked in. I paused when I saw Thomas’ face.

  “Benjamin called,” he said.

  “Just go away. All of you did this,” I cried.

  “Let me help you.”

  “I don’t need your help,” I said. Though, someone should remain with Domino and the injured Jeremiah. “Stay here with them while I take Laura’s body to her apartment. I’m going to leave her body in her bed so they can find her. Then, they’ll call her parents,” I said, another sob escaping.

  “Go take a moment to yourself,” Thomas said. “I’ll get the body ready.”

  I was about to say, “No,” but I looked down at Laura’s removed head and knew I couldn’t actually roll my best friend’s body up in a rug. I nodded and left to go to the bathroom.

  Looking at myself in the mirror, I wondered how things could have gone so wrong. Girls with brown hair and plain brown eyes weren’t supposed to lead lives full of danger. Laura was dead because of me. How could I have let myself get so wrapped up in the man that killed me? Laura tried to warn me. She knew it wasn’t a good idea from the start, and I just kept dragging her deeper into the mess.

  And now she was dead. First my parents, and now my best friend. I didn’t have any family left. I might as well be actually dead. No, I deserved to be doomed to an eternity of remembering how I royally screwed Laura out of her perfect life. And I hadn’t even gotten the satisfaction of killing Natasha myself.

  In the living room, the body was nowhere in sight, and neither was Thomas. I opened the front door. His car wasn’t there. “Bastard,” I said.

  “He thought it would be best if he did this for you,” Domino said. “I believe he is correct. You shouldn’t have to go through this alone.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair. “Does Jeremiah need help? Or a doctor?”

  Domino shrugged. “I don’t know. He says he will heal on his own. It will take him a few days. Thomas, the other man, gave him some blood. They said that would make him okay.”

  I nodded. “I’m going to my room. We should be safe here for the night.” There was no one else that could find us.

  I stretched out across the bed and closed my eyes to the ceiling. I felt like a huge part of me was missing. The only person that got me, really understood me, was now dead.

  Benjamin opened the door to the bedroom. I caught his spicy citrus scent. “Please, leave,” I said without emotion.

  “Olivia,” Benjamin said. “I’m sorry for what has happened.”

  “I’m sorry for what has happened,” I repeated back to him. “Not, I’m sorry that I got your best friend killed.”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “You don’t care. That’s all there is to it. Humans are just a meal to you. That’s all I was—just a feeding. Right? You know what I’ve been wondering?” I said, sitting up in the bed.

  Benjamin was wearing one of his damned suits, of course, and his hair was combed neatly. He looked perfect, as always. “If it’s your blood that allows me to reattach souls, and this probably happens because you are a first generation vampire, then, wouldn’t that mean that you could do it too?”

  “I never thought to try,” he said.

  “Exactly! Because you don’t give a shit! Just like you don’t give a shit about my… my… sister getting her head. Chopped. Off!”

  “I feel your pain,” he said, coming closer.

  “No, you don’t. You’re just a killer—a taker and now you’ve made me one too.”

  He let me pass him on my way to the door without incident. “Olivia. Wait,” he said.

  “I’m leaving tomorrow.” I removed my purse from the nightstand and searched through the contents, making sure I still had a key to my old apartment. Technically, the lease wasn’t up for another few days.

  “Jeremiah is hurt, but he is healing. Domino is okay. I don’t care if you help them or not. Thomas took Laura’s… body to her apartment.”

  Benjamin grabbed me by the arm and swung me around to face him. He gripped my shoulders with panic. “You asked me once if I love you. I do, Olivia. I love you. I’ll do whatever you ask. Stay with me. Please.”

  His words were tempting. Sadly, the one person that could make me feel better was the same person I couldn’t stand to se
e at the moment. It was just as before. I could never forgive him for making me into a vampire, but in the end, it didn’t matter. I couldn’t ignore or change the way I felt about him. I had no say in the matter. But this time, I would be stronger. I didn’t care if I was miserable for the rest of eternity without him.

  “You don’t know what love is, Benjamin,” I said, feeling genuine pity for him. “And what I want is for you to leave me alone.”

  I removed myself from his grasp and ran through the house, locking myself in the fight room. He could have come in after me, but he didn’t. Jeremiah could sleep in the living room for all I cared. I was too crazed to drive off tonight. I’d stay in the fight room and then leave at dark. I lay on the futon, already missing Benjamin’s citrus scent, the feel of his suit fabric against my bare skin, and the way his chin fit perfectly above my head when I nuzzled in close to his neck.

  Tomorrow, I would be stronger. For now, I sobbed into the mattress over Laura’s death. Eternity would not be long enough to forget.

  Eighteen

  Waking up in the fight room was confusing in itself. As if my brain were shielding me from pain, I momentarily blocked the events from the previous twenty-four hours from my head. Only momentarily. Then I remembered, Laura was dead. I reached for my phone, and sure enough, I had a missed call from Laura’s brother. What would I tell him? I looked at the time, out of curiosity, and then I looked at it again, in disbelief. It couldn’t possibly be the afternoon.

  But it was. My phone and clock on the wall confirmed the time. I could still feel the electric charge in the air—the crackling sound that verified the sun was still up and I was awake. I went into the room next to the fight room, the room that Benjamin and I shared. He was dead to the world, resting under the thick bedsheets. I showered, brushed my teeth and combed my hair, all the while pleased that I was not unconscious. I dressed in jeans, a black tank-top and sandals.

  I did not burst into flames when I left the sanctuary of the bedroom. I crossed the house to Domino’s room and knocked on the door. “Domino?” I called.

  There was no answer. I tried again and then finally opened the door. If she were half naked, that was too bad. She wasn’t anywhere in sight. Neither was Jeremiah. There was a trail of blood, leading from the bedroom all the way to the front door. I recognized the scent, which grossed me out. Being a blood connoisseur was never one of my life’s goals. It was Jeremiah’s blood. The demons had taken the pair in Jeremiah’s weakened state.