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Isn’t She Lovely
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Present Day
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Like a creepy-ass stalker, I stared down at MyAnna as she slept. Taking Face’s suggestion, I put her up in the vacant apartment number seven—the one that accommodated humans. I’d built ten apartments here for club members, and six were occupied. The rest of the club members chose to live in their houses or condos out in the city. Some had spouses.
With her black hair splayed out against the white pillow, her lashes causing a shadow on her cheeks, she looked so innocent and pure. The thought that she had been married to that wolf, James, made my fists ball up. Had he taken advantage of her? Taken her innocence? She didn’t look that old. Anger surged in me once again.
Why the hell was I feeling so protective over this human?
She’d had nothing but the clothes on her back when I’d taken her from that filthy wolves’ den, so I had no way to look at a driver’s license or ID card to see her age or legal address. I had Face running a background on her now.
With my arms folded across my chest, I looked down at her. Her breathing was even, and she slept with her lips slightly parted. I wondered what she dreamt about.
Why did I care?
“You gonna keep her?” whispered Shadow from behind me. I’d smelled him before he approached so I wasn’t startled.
I turned to look at him slightly and scoffed. “She’s not a puppy.”
Then I left her room, her apartment, and closed the door behind me. I slid the bolt I’d installed closed so she couldn’t sneak out. I’d left her an iPad by the bedside with a note to click an icon to alert us she was awake. Face had set it up. I had no fuckin’ clue how the hell it worked.
“I know,” Shadow said, walking with me. “But still, are you gonna keep her?”
We walked along the catwalk and down the metal stairs into the main area of the warehouse. He followed me into the offices area and to the office where Face sat behind the computer—his computer. I’d just given him the whole office. He was the computer whiz, might as well have his own shit.
“I don’t know yet, to answer your question, you nosy ass,” I said to Shadow.
He chuckled in response.
“Whatcha got?” I asked Face.
He turned the monitor toward me, which showed a large photo of her Louisiana state-issued ID card. “She doesn’t have a license, just an ID card. MyAnna Lawson, twenty-seven years old. Five-foot-one, one hundred twenty-five pounds. Same address we found her at listed on the ID.”
I got closer to the screen. “Says this was issued six months ago. Any previous addresses or licenses?”
Face turned the screen back to him and began typing. “It’s hard to say, there’s a marriage license here filed six months ago in Jefferson Parish. It’s between her and James. I got her maiden name from the marriage license. She’s definitely a local.”
“I could tell by the way spoke. She’s got that unique accent,” Shadow commented.
“Agreed,” I added.
“Maiden name Jones, and I’m pretty sure this is her,” he said, turning the monitor toward us once again.
It showed a driver’s license of a teenage MyAnna Jones issued eleven years ago.
I furrowed my brow. “Why would she have a license and then go to just having an ID card? That’s odd.”
“Agreed,” Face said, turning the monitor back to him. He typed some more and told us that was all he had on her. Then, his attention turned toward the other computer monitor as a sound chimed. He clicked a button and told us to look. “The princess has awoken. And... she doesn’t look happy.”
A camera pointed at her bed showed her sitting up, the iPad in her lap and her angry face yelling, “Let me out!” at the camera.
I chuckled and made my way toward the apartment. Shadow went to follow me, but I turned and said, “Do me a favor and check on the garage. Make sure they’re not just sitting around shooting the shit. If they are, give them some cash to go buy another bike to fix up.”
“On it,” Shadow said, disappearing into thin air.
I rolled my eyes as I climbed the stairs. I unbolted the door to apartment seven and opened it up to find MyAnna standing there with her arms folded across her chest.
“How dare you lock me in here. You’re no better than those wolf monsters.” She narrowed angry brown eyes at me.
“It’s to protect you from the wolves,” I pointed out. “We want to keep you here until we’re sure you won’t sneak out and go back to them.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she stared at me in horror. “I would never.”
I held out my hand. “Okay, then. Let’s go downstairs and get you something to eat. This apartment’s kitchen hasn’t been used yet and there are no utensils or cooking supplies. We have a full kitchen downstairs.”
I’d sent a prospect out to get a few human food items. He’d been recently turned so he knew what to get. I would probably stand in a grocery store and stare aimlessly at all the shit humans had to choose from now. I’d heard it was exponentially more diverse than it was in 1987.
She reluctantly took my hand and then pulled it away with a gasp. She looked up at me, eyes wide. “Your hand is freezing!”
I put my hand in my pocket. “We’re the opposite of wolves. Cold-blooded.”
She chewed her lip. “Like a snake? Is that why they call you Viper?”
I chuckled. I hadn’t heard that one before, but it was fitting. “No, sweetheart. They call me that for much darker reasons.”
MyAnna frowned and backed away from me.
Shit.
I ushered her out the door with a flourish without touching her. I led her down the stairs and to the kitchen area. I pointed to the refrigerator and cupboards and told her to help herself to whatever she’d like to eat. I noticed a brand-new, shiny silver toaster plugged in next to the microwave that we kept around for warming up blood bags.
Dash and Jewel sat around the table drinking coffee. Both new vampires, they hadn’t gotten rid of the comfort of coffee yet, and I didn’t say a word. They’d soon see for themselves that it was a useless habit.
MyAnna glanced at the prospects nervously and lifted her hand in a small wave before heading to the refrigerator.
“Dash, Jewel, this is MyAnna. She’ll be our guest for a short time.”
“Nice to meet y’all,” she said quietly before opening the fridge door.
They both looked at me questioningly and I just shrugged. “Show her where the plates and shit are.” Then, I walked out.
Dash rushed out after me, still holding his coffee mug, which I just now noticed had a Dracula-themed graphic on it.
“Cute,” I said dryly, pointing at the mug.
He smiled proudly at me. “I ordered it off of Amazon.”
“What do you want, Dash? I have shit to do.”
He glanced back at the kitchen, then to me. Lowering his voice, he asked, “Is she here as a blood slave?”
My eyebrows hit my hairline and I had to pull my hand down before I punched this punk in his nose. Instead, I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him up against the nearest wall. “Motherfucker, when have you ever seen a blood slave here? Nighthawks don’t roll like that. Touch a hair on her fuckin’ head and you’ll have me to deal with. You dig?”
He swallowed hard and put his hands up in surrender. “Absolutely, boss. Just wanted to clarify. I know we have some club whores for sex, didn’t know if we kept blood whores as well.”
“Get the fuck out of my face.” I released him and stormed off toward my office instead of pummeling the asshole for even suggesting it.
Blood slaves! Right. We didn’t need them. None of us had any trouble feeding off willing humans. Sure, some called them blood whores, but they were out in the streets and sometimes in my club. But we didn’t keep them here as fucking slaves. We had dozens of blood bags in the freezer as well. None of us were going hungry.
I sat in my office fuming. Surely, he was the only dipshit around here who had such ridiculous thoughts, right? Guessed I better hold another meeting.
“Face!” I called out.
He appeared in my office’s doorway ten seconds later. “Boss?”
“Send out a message. Church in thirty.”
“You got it,” he replied, then disappeared back into the hallway.
My phone chimed a minute later with the group message. I didn’t know how the fuck that kid got all this technology shit done but he had set up an app on all our phones where we could all get messages at once. I was glad he was around because I had a love-hate relationship with the shit. I loved how easy it made things, I hated how complicated it was to learn.
Twenty minutes later, I found MyAnna sitting at the table talking to Jewel.
“Those are pretty rings,” she drawled, pointing at Jewel’s fistful of jewelry. “Where did you get them?”
I bit back a snort. She’d fucking stolen them. All of them. She’d been a jewelry thief when she was human. Choosing her club name had come easy.
“Oh, here and there.” Jewel smiled at her from the rim of her coffee mug. I noticed hers read Lady Boss on it. I resisted an eyeroll.
I saw that MyAnna was finishing up some kind of hot sandwich from a package and munching on what I thought was carrot sticks. She dunked them in some kind of white sauce. One paused at her lips as she saw me come in.
“Let’s go. We’re having church and you’re coming along,” I murmured.
Jewel got up to put her cup in the sink.
“Church?” MyAnna asked, following me. “You guys go to church? But it’s Thursday. How do you even go to church when it’s held in the mornings? Wait, wouldn’t you guys, like, catch fire if you stepped foot in a church with all the crucifixes and holy water? I saw in a movie once...”
Dear God, I couldn’t get this chick to talk and now she wouldn’t shut up.
“No, we’re having a meeting. We call it church.” I snorted.
“Oh, well, now I feel dumb,” she drawled before looking away and then down at the ground.
I stopped and made her face me. Using my fingers, I gently tipped her face up to look at mine. “Don’t feel dumb, you didn’t know. I’ve been at this a long time, so I sometimes forget not everyone knows the terminology.”
“Your fingers are cold,” she said.
I removed them immediately. Guessed I’d never be touching her again. Damn.
We continued to walk through the newly-constructed walkway between buildings that led to Cobalt. What the fuck was wrong with me... who cared if I could never touch her again? She was out of here in a few days, anyway. I already had Face finding her an apartment and getting her name legally changed back to Jones. I was gonna dump ten grand into her account and send her on her merry fucking way. It was going to take a few weeks to get all the paperwork straightened out, though.
My five lieutenants, three prospects, and the other twenty or so club members—vampires—all sat at the tables, waiting for me to speak. The podium had been put out for me and I stood behind it. A few nursed beers. I glanced at the clock to see it was 5 p.m. Club would open up in a few hours and they had shit to do, so I needed to make this short and to the point.
“Everyone, this is MyAnna. She will be staying with us for an indeterminate amount of time. She’s human and is not to be touched. As you all know, we rescued her from a wolves’ den. We have reason to believe they’ll be looking for her, so she stays here within the safety of the club. She is not to be allowed inside Cobalt while the doors are open to patrons. Anyone tries to harm her, you’re to defend her. You’re also to treat her with respect. No feeding on or trying to fuck her. Got it?
MyAnna gasped and stared at me with wide eyes, then back to the crowd. Then, she slid behind me and pressed herself against my backside.
What the hell?
I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out to stand beside me. “They’re not going to hurt you. Not even close. Anyone tries, you come straight to me or one of my lieutenants. Okay?” I pointed at them.
She nodded slowly, her bottom lip captured in her teeth once more. God, she needed to stop doing that.
“Any questions?”
When nobody had any, I pounded the gavel and said, “Church dismissed. Now, get to work.”