Leaving a stack of clean dishes to dry on the counter, I check the time on my phone. It’s seven-fifteen, minutes away from sunset. I rushed to get here in time and arrived not long ago. Feeling restless, I needed to do something productive other than sit around and wait for the sun to go down.
Plus, my mind kept drifting back to that stupid dream. Which is all it was: a dream. I’ve had my fair share of sex dreams. They’re usually about celebrities or some fictional guy I read about in a book. I wake up hot and bothered, reach into my nightstand drawer and pull out the trusty B.O.B., and give myself a quick orgasm—or two, if I’m being honest—then go back to sleep.
I dry my hands and go onto the porch, walking up and down the path in front of the old house, feeling a bit anxious and nervous. I know next to nothing about these creatures, yet here I am, waiting for them to awaken. My gun is loaded and strapped to my hip, just in case, but I don’t think I’ll need it.
They helped me last night when they didn’t have to. And I feel…something. Something I can’t explain. A bond? It’s stupid and doesn’t make sense. Though nothing about this makes sense.
I spend my time waiting for the sun to set searching through social media, using hashtags commonly associated with the Delirium crowds. I scroll past selfie after selfie, sighing. If Bryan was at Delirium on Wednesday, he’s not in the background of any of these pictures.
A timer goes off on my phone, letting me know it’s officially sunset. I stand in front of the porch steps, staring at Gilbert and Thomas.
Nothing happens.
“Guys?” I ask, and raise my arm, reaching for Thomas. The energy in the air shifts the moment my fingers make contact with the smooth stone. It’s warm again, like human flesh. An electric spark jolts me, and I jerk my hand back.
A tiny crack in the stone starts to form in the center of his chest, webbing out with impressive speed. A piece of rock crumbles to the ground, disappearing in a cloud of dust as soon as it lands.
I stand back, watching with wide eyes as the rest of the rock crumbles, giving way to the man behind the stone. The hideous, demonic sneer on his face falls apart, revealing Thomas’s handsome face. He blinks dust from his eyes and stands tall to stretch.
“Acelina,” he says, and my name rolls off his tongue like velvet. He jumps down, wings opening to slow the landing. “Wasn’t sure if you’d be back.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
He gives me that famous cocky grin and shrugs. “I thought maybe you’d find us too grotesque.”
Gilbert jumps down next to him and brushes dust from his dirty blond hair. I look each brother over slowly.
“Actually, you aren’t.” I narrow my eyes. “You look more…more human than yesterday.”
Thomas turns to Gilbert. “You don’t look any different to me. Still ugly. Maybe you can get a pity fuck from the blind whores at the brothel.”
“Shut up, we both know I’ve always been the pretty one,” Gilbert quips.
“There are no brothels anymore,” I tell them. “And most people get cured from chlamydia before they go blind. I thought Templar Knights took vows of chastity.”
“Oh, we did.” Thomas gives me that grin again and dammit, it’s doing bad things to me right now. “Doesn’t mean we upheld them.” He takes another step toward me, biting his bottom lip. He knows exactly what he’s doing and how good he looks doing it. “How’s your head?”
He pushes my hair back, deft fingers sweeping over my skin, making me shiver. He looks at the wound and lets his hand fall down my neck and over my collarbone. I really want him to break some vows with me right now.
Dust falls from the roof, and Jacques and Hasan jump, gliding down. They, too, look more human than before, with their skin being more of its natural color, and shortened claws.
“Ace,” Jacques says, and his eyes meet mine. He’s looking at me the same way he did in the dream, when I was someone named Braeya. I step back, finding him too close for comfort.
“Good morning,” I say awkwardly. “I brought food. It’s inside.”
“I like this one,” Thomas whisper-talks to his brother. “She has her priorities in order.”
I roll my eyes and motion to the door. “Then get your asses inside before the food gets cold.” They step aside, letting me in first. “I got Mexican food today, though I skipped the margaritas. I’m not much of a drinker, though the last twenty-four hours have been almost enough to turn me into an alcoholic.”
I turn and am greeted with blank stares from all four gargoyles. To be fair, not a lot of people get my sense of humor to begin with.
“Do you even feel hungry?” I ask, going into the living room.
“Yes,” Thomas tells me, cracking that smirk again. I think he knows he looks damn good when he does it. “And I’m feeling other things I think you can help with.”
Jacques narrows his eyes ever so slightly in Thomas’s direction, causing Gilbert to snicker at his brother getting scolded.
“Use your upstairs brain,” I retort, and open a Styrofoam box full of tacos. “And eat, because we have work to do.”
“Work?” Hasan curiously pokes at a taco.
“The vampires. I need to find them and I need to kill them. I have a theory on how they’re picking their victims, albeit a rough, not-based-on-any-proof theory that I’m going to look into. Though I’m still not sure how to kill them. You didn’t give me a straight answer yesterday. Do I need to cut their heads off? What about sunlight? Having them burn into a pile of ash would be too easy, right? I’ve never dumped a body before.”
I can feel the collective incredulous stare. “What?” Turning my head up, I look at each gargoyle.
“They almost killed you yesterday.” Jacques, who’s standing next to the chair I’m sitting in, turns, large wings brushing against the wall, and moves my hair back. “You’re still hurt.”
“It’s not as bad as it looks.” I shrug off his touch, hating and loving how familiar it feels at the same time. It was just a dream, but it’s like he really had his head buried between my legs an hour ago.
“Going after the vampires is what you want to do?” Gilbert questions, and I know they are all wondering the same thing.
“Look,” I start. “I know there are a lot of questions, with the biggest one still being what the fuck, but people’s lives are at stake here. I have to find the vampire nest and get to the sire. I don’t want to be forced to lie to another mother about why her son has gone missing.”
Hasan’s stance changes and he looks at me with what I can only describe as respect. “What is your theory?”
“There’s a bar in town called Delirium. It’s vampire-themed, and, until yesterday, I thought it was just a hangout for people with an undead fetish.”
One of Hasan’s eyebrows goes up and I sigh.
“A bar is a place people go to drink alcohol and a fetish is sexually enjoying something kind of weird.”
“People enjoy sex with vampires?” Thomas asks, reaching over the table for another taco. He and Gilbert are the only ones who sat down. Hasan and Jacques seem on guard.
“Not with real vampires. After seeing—and smelling—those baby vamps, I don’t think they’d go for the real deal. Vampires have been romanticized a lot and some people are into being bitten. There are some pretty realistic fake fangs you can wear nowadays, too.”
Thomas parts his lips, showing off his fangs. “Do you like being bitten?”
Blood rushes through me, but I’ll be damned before I let him know he’s throwing me off guard. “I prefer to do the biting.” I twist the cap off my water bottle and look back up at Hasan. “I was able to identify one of the vampires. I think he went to the bar the night he disappeared. It’s obvious, I know, but what’s better than hiding in plain sight? Especially when the world doesn’t believe you exist.” I lower my eyes. “You guys did. You spent years on the house and no one blinked an eye over it.”