“I wouldn’t go in there if I were you, vampire.”
Moss slowed in his approach to the mansion hugging the side of the cliff, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Lights illuminated the large picture windows, showing elegantly clad people standing within, drinks in their hands and smiles on their faces. By his estimation, they would be nearly ready for the transformation that would secure his boss a new generation of revenue earners.
He turned slightly, spotting a woman sitting on the hood of a nineteen sixty-nine Corvette in mint condition. Stretchy black material covered her toned body, ending in black boots with one scuffed toe splattered in deep crimson. A leather band circled her trim thigh, supporting a large blade that had likely found its way into more than one poor sod’s rib cage.
He hadn’t noticed her sitting there, blanketed in moonlight. He couldn’t even smell her, though the breeze should’ve carried her scent right to him. She had effectively hidden from him in plain sight, a rare feat with a vampire of his age.
“And why is that?” Moss asked.
Her shrug was minimal. She slowly shifted her gaze to the large house not far away. “Call it a hunch.”
His phone vibrated in his pocket, awakening the watch at his wrist. They were ready for him.
He paused in starting forward, her loose posture and easy confidence tickling his predisposition for caution. “What do you know?”
A smile drifted up her lovely face. A vein gently pulsed along the side of her neck. His hunger gnawed at his gut, he having foregone feeding in anticipation of the Turning to come.
“Oh nothing,” she said in a teasing tone. “Just that a bunch of furry men and women are waiting a mile or so away for when the vampires—you—are the most vulnerable. Same old, same old with one of these things, isn’t it?”
Moss couldn’t help the rigidity in his body. She meant shifters. If they caught vampires feeding on humans, and especially attempting to turn them from human to vampire, they’d enforce the supernatural laws and kill on sight. They loved this part of their job. Got off on it.
But his maker and boss, Darius, had personally overseen the planning of this Turning. He’d received written consent from each human, and had homes and wills properly laid out for afterward. They’d all been monitored for secrecy. If they’d told anyone of what would become of them, Darius’s people would’ve known.
Which begged the question, how had this woman found out about the Turning?
“This is Darius’s show, is it not?” she said before he could ask, her velvety voice sliding over his skin. Heat kindled in his core. “A friend of mine helped a woman under Darius’s protection. The Natural Witch, they call her. Do you know her?”
She meant Penny, a powerhouse of a magic worker that had been integral to taking down the Mages’ Guild not long ago. Which meant, this woman’s friend must’ve been the warrior druid that had been paid to stay by Penny’s side.
He barely kept his mouth from dropping open.
“Not much of a talker, huh?” she said, and slid off of the hood of the car. Shadows reached for her body, momentarily wrapping her up and confusing his mind. A moment later they were gone and she was striding toward him, her hips swaying erotically. His cock started to pound and hunger pinched his gut. His fangs elongated, desperate to be buried in her neck.
“You’re a druid,” he murmured.
“A warrior druid, yes.” She laughed, a low, husky sound. “It took you a while to realize it. I have a kill order for someone in that house. A human—soon a vampire. He’s wanted dead or alive. I prefer to take them in dead. There’s less unnecessary begging.” She reached him and ran one sharp, manicured nail down the side of his neck. “My friend respects Darius. He would’ve wanted me to warn you about the danger.”
“What about the others in the house? Did you warn them?”
“No. They are pee-ons, yes? Expendable. But you…” She stopped in front of him, and finally her scent reached him. Earthy and rich, it crawled into his consciousness and lay there, delighting his senses. “You are in charge here. You’re also strong, and fierce. And hungry.” Her hand glided over his chest and on down, over his stomach. Down further still. “I can feel the hunger in you. The aching lust. You want to fuck me. To bite me.”
He clenched his jaw as his phone rang yet again. He was late now. He had to get inside. He had to cure this insatiable hunger.
“I’ve never had a vampire,” she purred. “Stopping you from going into that house would save you, and give me something I’ve been meaning to try. What do you say?”
“And the kill order?”
“Why waste effort killing him myself when the shifters will do it for me? I just have to go in after and bag the pieces.” She shrugged as her hand wrapped around his hard bulge.
“You called the shifters.”
Her smile was dazzling. “Maybe.”
“Why?”
Her hand stroked slowly. “The contract wasn’t officiated until after this party was underway and trying to kill vampires is tedious. I’d rather work smarter, not harder. Apologize to Darius for me. Tell him it’s business. He’ll understand.”
Moss pushed her out of his way and stalked forward, bringing the phone up from his pocket. “Odd way of showing your respect.”
“Okay, okay,” she called after him. “You got me. Stopping you was selfish. Can you blame me? You’re handsome, made more so by the power of your magic. I long to experience it.”
Moss gritted his teeth as he reached the door and pulled it open. His cock throbbed and his hunger was like a live thing, scrambling his thoughts and slowing his movements. All he wanted to do was thrust into a warm body while sucking in hot, thick blood. Only now, this new development put everything in jeopardy.
“Sir, there you are.” Carmen, a slight female in her twenties with a doll-like face rushed forward, her pupils dilated and her fangs dropping from her gums. As a lower middle-tier vampire, she didn’t have nearly the control he did. Her intense hunger showed in every line on her face. “The subjects are ready. They are in the kitchen.”
“They’ve consumed the serum?” he said, bringing up his phone app.
“Yes. The transformation is starting to happen. I can barely keep the others at bay. Blood lust is setting in.”
Moss bit back a swear as he tapped Darius’s name. “We have to move. The shifters have been notified of this Turning.”
The blood left her face. She shook her head. “We can’t fight like this. We’re all starving.”
Darius answered on the second ring. “Yes?”
“We’ve got a problem, sir.” He explained quickly as he reached the kitchen.
“Get them out. Now,” Darius barked through the phone. “I’ll send you arrangements.”
“It’s not that easy, sir. I’m the only one who can withstand the bloodlust, and I’m fighting it hard.”
Carmen grabbed one of the humans leaning against the edge of the kitchen table, a tall man with thick cords of muscle. A sheen of sweat covered his face and his erection tented his pants. Before she could lift him to standing, trying to get him moving, he slid his hands up her body before cupping her breasts.
She froze and her eyes drifted closed. Her fangs finished their descent and her body trembled. Before Moss could command her to move, she yanked the man closer and swung her face down, digging her fangs into the side of his neck.
The man moaned and fell back, dragging her with him onto the table. Her hands pulled at the buttons on his pants and he ripped her shirt open in the front. Buttons scattered across the table.
Another vampire grabbed a female human before unceremoniously biting the inside of her wrist. His hand felt up her inner thigh before massaging her apex. She writhed under his touch before pushing on the top of his head, clearly wanting his mouth to replace his hand.
“Fuck,” Moss swore. “I’m losing them.”