Raven Walks Page 13

  They were able to live the best of both worlds – to hunt without the kill and therefore be tolerated by a general public that was mostly satisfied to ignore their existence entirely.

  But there were those, like Constantine, who spread the disease without apology. Who lived their life, such as it was, on the edge – constantly walking the line between danger and safety. He was the adrenaline junkie of the vampire world, and humans were his extreme sport. With each conquest it was always a shot off a cliff on a bungee rope he never knew would hold his weight. If they could resist him, he’d allow them to live.

  The challenge, then, was to make them beg him to crash into the ground and take them with him. More often than not, they would willingly give over to the other side. Such was his power.

  He thought back to Abi as she screamed for him in the throes of a passion she’d never before experienced, wanting nothing more than to surrender to him in every way possible. He could have had her, but the bungee ripped him back and saved her life.

  For now.

  He leaped up on the railing in a flash, and then off into the night he took flight. He cut through the air like a bullet, the wind rushing against his face and through his hair. He could never give this up, he thought to himself as he rocketed through the sky. He never wanted to lose his youth, his beauty, his sex appeal or his seductive prowess.

  But Constantine knew better than anyone that he’d forget the freedom and the excitement the minute human blood spilled into his mouth, and he felt it transform in his saliva – defenseless against the plague of his disease as it sought to destroy anything pure and mortal.

  He even felt himself stir at the thought. There was no drug more potent or no high more intense than that last pure drop of blood that turned from water to wine in his mouth.

  He shook it off as he barreled through the night toward the one person who could ease his troubled mind and restore his sense of balance. If vampires had AA she’d be his sponsor, and he needed her now more than ever.

  He accelerated through the night and headed from the dark recesses of Louisiana to the bright lights of New York City, a city he loved like no other. There he could walk the streets and no one would bat an eye, even if his fangs were in plain sight. He did some time on Broadway, living out his own dreams of a rock star, and that was where he met Felicia von Hart for the first time.

  A tall blond beauty with dark eyes and a sparkling smile, he thought for sure she’d be a fun conquest, but he had no idea that she was a vampire mistress herself – and one who would teach him way more than he ever thought he’d learn.

  She had a good heart for a predator. She rarely ever turned anyone, and he attributed her kindness to that. She was still more human than monster, and it showed in the way she treated her servants and her lovers (who were usually one in the same.)

  Their tryst lasted for the duration of their musical’s run, and by the end they both were itching to move on. She to another vampire, and he to a host of human groupies who were only too happy to welcome him into their beds even if it meant they’d never see morning as a mortal again.

  Some, especially so.

  She had gently warned him the consequences of his actions, but he simply kissed her and smiled. Like every other addict in the world, he had it under control.

  Even though Abi still lived, Constantine was no longer sure the monkey on his back was at his mercy rather than the other way around. He needed Felicia. Her arms, her bed, her kind and loving heart.

  He landed on her rooftop on silent feet, and eased through the balcony doors like a breeze. He was not surprised to see the two men who shared her bed. They were beautiful, and as in love with each other as they were with her. Legs and arms were tangled in sheets as they all slept off their last exhausting orgy.

  He touched her in his mind, and her eyes fluttered open. She smiled when she saw his familiar silhouette. She eased up out of bed, careful not to rouse her lovers. “Constantine,” she whispered happily as she led him into another room.

  He took her into his arms and she kissed him readily and passionately. “I have missed you,” she told him with her dazzling smile.

  “And I you,” he said, his eyes dark and troubled.

  Instantly she understood. She guided him over to a sofa with a fabulous view of the city.

  “Who are your friends?” he asked, attempting to be cavalier.

  “My two Jacks,” she said with a satisfied and happy smile. She was in love and he recognized it immediately. “But somehow I don’t think you’re here to discuss my love life.”

  He smiled. She knew him so well. He wondered again why they weren’t together still.

  “Are you in trouble?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Not yet. But I think it’s coming.” She listened attentively as he told her what was going on in Louisiana, and with Raven, whom she also knew, only their relationship had been that of a friend more than a lover. She nodded every once and a while, and the news of the Creature obviously unsettled her.

  Every once and a while, news filtered through their community about a rogue vampire who had completely turned and no longer preyed just upon humans. Usually they were originally psychotic humans that some unsuspecting (or uncaring) vampire had given immortality to, and now the community itself had to come together to fight one of their own.

  They had to, now that the hunters were obsolete.

  “And so Raven tried to scare her away?” Felicia said.

  He nodded. “But I couldn’t let her go.” He stood up and began to pace. “What’s wrong with me?”

  She stood also and took his shoulders in both of her hands. “Why do you always beat yourself up for things beyond your control?”

  “But it is in my control,” he insisted. “Look at you. Look at Raven. Plenty of vampires are satisfied with voluntary donors. You don’t need that final fix.”

  She chuckled. “We need it,” she clarified. “That’s survival of our species, honey. We don’t procreate, after all.”

  He nodded. Intellectually he knew that. But he also knew what he felt went beyond a simple desire to survive.

  “I don’t want to end up that Creature,” he finally admitted – for the first time out loud.

  She took him into her arms and held him tight. It was a tight rope they all walked.

  “No more humans,” he swore against her hair. Again she chuckled. He might as well pledge not to breathe.

  She took his face gently in her hands. “You can stay here as long as you like. But eventually, you know you have to go back to New Orleans. Raven needs you.”

  It was Constantine’s turn to laugh. “That will be the day.”

  “He needs you to protect Abi. Whatever happens, he cannot be with her. You know that.” He nodded. “And she cannot stay away from him. She wants this, with or without you. She always did.”

  He nodded again. He knew that too.

  He touched her face. She was so wise, which is why he had come to her. “Thank you, Felicia,” he murmured as his lips bent towards hers. She allowed the kiss, but when his hand slid up her side to cup her breast she pushed him away.

  She knew the fact he hadn’t claimed Abi left him frustrated in a way sex with her simply wouldn’t satisfy. And even as exciting as she knew it would be, there were two very important reasons she wouldn’t allow him to take out his impotent frustration on her.

  He had to smile. She may not have kept her lovers for very long, but she was very loyal when she had them. He knew that her heart belonged to her two Jacks in the other room.

  “Maybe another time,” he said with his sexy pout.

  She grinned. “Maybe.”

  And then she slipped back into the other room.

  He sunk into her sofa, suddenly very tired. This would be so much easier if he didn’t have the metallic taste of Abi’s blood in his mouth. His cock jumped at the memory of her wrapped all around him, her expression of pure ecstasy as she begged him to suck her dry. His hand sli
d down his body to grasp his growing erection in his hand while he relived their regrettable moment of passion.

  Through his partially closed eyes he spied the neighbor in the building across the street. It was her red hair that caught his attention, but it was her full, naked body that made him sit up and lick his lips with contemplation.

  He floated toward the big picture window and watched as she prepared for bed. She slipped a whisper thin nightgown over her voluptuous curves and then turned out the lamp right beside her bed.

  She slid in between cool satin sheets, never knowing a vampire now hovered just outside her closed window. She reached into her nightstand and grabbed her favorite adult toy, a red jelly vibrator , that would help her relax and go to sleep.

  It had been at least five months since she’d last had sex, and it was really starting to grate on her nerves. Therefore these sessions with her battery-operated boyfriend had become an essential part of her routine.

  She ran the buzzing instrument of pleasure along her sensitive skin, over each hardened nipple and across her quivering stomach. Tonight she needed it more than ever, and didn’t want to bother with prolonged foreplay.

  That was the benefit of solo entertainment – she knew right where to go to get where she needed to be. No pesky lovemaking required.

  Out of impulse she kicked off the top sheet and spread her legs wide, giving an unintentional show to the hungry, horny vampire who watched her from outside her five story window. She slipped the vibrator along the slick folds of her cunt, toying with herself and making Constantine crazy from where he watched.

  The toy buzzed against her hard clit until she ground against it with a whimper, then shoved the shaft up inside her for the exciting finale.

  That was when she heard the knock against the window, and she shot up in her bed with a scream in her throat.

  The terror inspired by the sight of a man hovering in the air outside her window slowly gave way to something primal inside her inspired by the look in his eyes. What she so desperately needed he wanted to give her, and suddenly she wanted nothing more.

  She gave an imperceptive nod as she wriggled the vibrator inside of her, grinding against it and hoping he’d take it as the invitation it was. Incredulously she watched as he morphed through the glass and floated right to her bed. She wasn’t sure what she wanted more – to scream or to beg him to fuck her.

  Since it was obviously a dream, she chose the latter.

  He tore his shirt from his body as he landed on her bed, and then crawled up her body.

  His eyes began to burn amber and his fangs slowly protruded from his mouth, which made her crawl backwards up the bed.

  His hard body was very real.

  “Who are you?” she whispered.

  “A monster,” he told her with a smile. “Are you scared?”

  She nodded, but as his eyes consumed her, she found herself shaking her head. He needed no further invitation as his mouth crushed down on hers in a savage kiss that drew blood from the soft inside of her mouth.

  As he sucked the droplets away, she rocketed off into a mind-blowing orgasm – and he had barely even touched her. He grabbed her toy and urged her climax on while she bucked under him. She was breathless as she begged for his cock, needing to feel his body inside hers. Constantine discarded the vibrator quickly while she tore at his pants. Within moments he was naked, his large, throbbing member aimed right for her quivering pussy. With a growl he shoved himself inside of her and she thrashed against him in a continuous climax that had her head lolling on her shoulders like a doll.

  Her fingernails dug into his shoulders while he thrust into her, wild like the animal he was. But she did not complain, in fact she begged for more. He balanced her body against the headboard with his hands under each of her knees and banged her against the wall with each thrust. “Yes!” she cried out again and again.

  But as deep as he got, it was not deep enough. The moonlight glinted off his fangs and instinctively she bared her neck for him.

  This time, Constantine did not hold back. As he drove his cock inside of her, his fangs buried into the soft, tender flesh of her neck, sucking the nectar they both needed to survive.

  Only this time, one would not.

  When the last drop exploded into his mouth and she gave up her soul with a gasp, he buried himself inside of her and spent himself while her body sagged against him, her arms limp by her side.

  And as he felt himself grow stronger, he also felt one more inch of his humanity slip away – as evidenced by the fact he was able to disentangle himself from this dead human, lay her on the bed on top of torn sheets, and dress slowly and deliberately without regret.

  When he slid back through the window he caught sight of Felicia watching him from her bedroom window across the street. He knew two things. Felicia did not judge him and his immediate disregard of his “no human” pact. She knew him better than anyone else, except maybe for Raven, and knew that this was the vampire he’d come to be.

  He also knew that when this new, redheaded and hungry vampire rose again, Felicia would be there to guide her and teach her how to navigate this new existence, and hopefully become something other than the monster who created her.

  Perhaps he was just the one to face this Creature and put an end to their terror. He was closer to that Creature’s frame of mind than anyone.

  With that he turned and aimed himself back toward New Orleans.

  Chapter Fifteen: Raven

  He had contemplated the idea of leaving town many times, but Raven ultimately decided that he was never made to run away from the conflict. In fact, the more he thought about this Creature systematically picking off people closer and closer to him, the more Raven felt the need to confront this monster once and for all.

  That meant he would have to make himself visible and yet somehow alienate those who might want to stay near him. He still felt bile rise in his throat as he remembered the look of stark terror in Abigail’s face when he transformed in front of her, but he done it for her own good – he could scarcely regret it.

  The only thing he did regret was turning Constantine all those many years ago; it linked them forever and made every single action painfully synced with Raven’s own consciousness. That meant Raven was aware of every kiss, every caress – even the pivotal first taste of her blood – as if he’d been there himself.

  In a very real way, he was.

  Damn that Constantine! How could he do that? His lust and his selfishness undid everything Raven had done to scare her away.

  That definitely contributed to the urgency of the situation. Raven knew Abi would never turn from their lifestyle now, and so he had no choice but to uncover who this killer was and deal with the Creature once and for all.

  So he made his way back to Sebastian’s club early that night, to stand guard, and to investigate. He wasn’t surprised to see Gina there, but he was surprised to see Hunter – who seemed to watch over his wife like a protector Raven was not entirely quite convinced she needed.

  She had his bottle of water ready for him before he even sat at the bar. “Nice night,” drawled Hunter with a lopsided smirk.

  “Indeed,” Raven remarked in return. “Almost too good to waste away in some seedy club.”

  Hunter just laughed as he took a sip from his drink. “Then what are we doing here, I wonder?”

  Raven followed Hunter’s gaze to Gina, who was trying very hard to listen in to their conversation. “I wonder,” Raven responded.

  He could have sworn he saw a blush rush up her neck, and if he were being honest he had to admit he liked having that effect on someone seemingly so unaffected.

  He had never met anyone like her before. She was lovely, sure. But there was something more, something deeper, something otherworldly in the way she carried herself. Like a goddess among mortals.

  But he wasn’t a mortal. He was practically a god himself. He stared at her through hooded eyes, standing over her in his mind’s eye un
til she turned to face him and look at him with those endless green eyes. They were forbidding but yet inviting; and he couldn’t quite decide which one was more predominant.

  It changed the closer he got to her in his imagination. He circled her without touching her, and felt her aura rise up to meet him. He held his hand out just above her skin, over her clean neck, over her shoulder and then over the swell of her breast.

  He smiled as it puckered up to meet his touch.

  Just as he started to sear into her subconscious and see how far he could get with this unusual human, Constantine interrupted his train of thought by taking the seat next to him. Raven glared at him. “I thought you’d be too busy to show up here,” he grated through clinched teeth.

  “Yeah, listen. About that …,” he began, but Raven shot around to face him.

  “About what a selfish asshole you are? How you couldn’t leave well enough alone? She was terrified – she’d have never come back here again.”

  “Come on, Raven,” Constantine said. “You have to know that isn’t true.”

  “I saw her eyes. It was working.”

  “So did I,” was Constantine’s deadpan reply. “And it wasn’t enough.”

  “So fucking her was your solution? How is that supposed to help?”

  “It helped plenty,” a female voice purred from behind.

  Raven turned around to find Abigail – more alive and more sexual than he’d ever seen her. Outwardly she wore a yellow halter miniskirt and, it was obvious, very little else. She was primed for sex and for the conquest, of which she had not experienced either to the fullness of what she needed as yet. Inside something had awoken the moment Constantine’s fangs pierced her skin. Her skin was rosier, her breasts and hips fuller and more welcoming and her musk intoxicating. Her eyes were bottomless and hungry.

  She was no longer a virgin in any sense, and it both excited and frightened Raven to see it.