Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Her heels click on the sidewalk, rushing to keep up with my long strides. A bit of fear flashed over her face as soon as she stepped out of the bar, as if she’s realizing what she’s actually doing. I can feel her staring at me now, but I keep my eyes trained forward.
A man walks down the sidewalk a good distance from us, unsuspecting. I wonder what Callie could do to him, how fast she could burn him up from the inside out. I’m fast and strong, and the last time I felt intimidated by a human was when I still was one.
Yet I’d be stupid to pretend Callie holds no threat.
“I used to live here,” she says. “In Chicago, I mean.”
“You don’t anymore?” I flick my eyes to her.
“No, I live in Indiana now. Only about an hour and a half away, but far enough to be away from the city.”
I nod, trying not to find her any more interesting than I already do. We go down the block before I allow myself to look at her again. If my heart could beat, it would skip right now. A slight breeze blows Callie’s brunette hair back from her face, and her green eyes almost glow under the street lamps. Knowing she’s dangerous makes her all the more beautiful.
“Why’d you come tonight? It wasn’t just to visit some hipster bar.”
“No, it wasn’t.” She stops at the crosswalk and doesn’t say anything more. I can sense something in her, something familiar. We can’t have anything in common. It would be impossible. “Have you been in the city long?” she asks.
“I suppose long for you.” I pull my car keys from my pocket and remember the first time Eliza and I came to the city. I hated it. She loved it. So we stayed. “Eliza and I have been here since 1962.”
“Did you, uh, turn her?”
“Yes.”
“So are you two together?”
“Not in the sense you’re thinking,” I tell her. Many vampires have sexual or romantic relationships with their progenies. I turned Eliza for revenge and had no intention on dealing with her again after seeing the look on her father’s face when his perfect baby girl became one of the things he hated most.
I never made a vampire before her, and I never plan to make another after. The bond between vampire and maker is strong, and I couldn’t physically bear being apart from her. I love Eliza as if she were my own daughter, because that is exactly what she is.
I took her human life and brought her into the world of darkness.
“Interesting,” Callie says.
“Strange how you’re so willing to kill vampires when you find us interesting.”
“I didn’t kill that vampire back at the bar.”
I turn, finding Callie already looking at me. “You would have.”
“If necessary, yes. I would have.”
“Now that I find interesting.” I give her a smirk, enjoying how one little gesture can make her squirm.
“Do you kill interesting people too?” She regrets asking it the second the words leave her lips, I can tell. Because up until right now, she could have pretended I was a nonviolent vampire, satisfied with only drinking bottled blood. It’s been a while since I’ve drained the life out of anyone, but there’s no point in lying to Callie.
Or to anyone, unless it benefits me.
“If necessary, yes,” I tell her and watch her body stiffen for just a second. She already knew I was a killer, but hearing it out loud is making her second guess getting in the car with me. She doesn’t ask me anything else as we walk a few more blocks and pause in front of my house.
“Do you live here?” she asks, looking at the large house. It’s one of the biggest on the street and the most expensive in the area.
“Yes.” I open the passenger side door of my Chevelle for her and watch her get in.
“If you so much as look at my neck, I’ll turn you into a frog,” she threatens.
“I’d like to see you try.” I get into the driver’s seat and flash my fangs, hoping to see her shudder.
“Don’t test me. Because now I’m thinking frogs are too good and you’d make a really nice hairless rat.”
I laugh, but her tenaciousness to act tough is making my cock hard. Bringing the car to life, I step on the gas and pull away from the curb.
“This thing is pretty cool,” she says, sounding more like a drunk woman than a badass witch.
“Yes, it is. I’ve been it’s only owner.”
“Perks to eternal living, right?”
Her words make me laugh because it’s true. It’s almost strange, the things you think about when you know you’re never going to die. I bought this Chevelle back in 1969 because I liked it, not thinking about its value many years later. I consider myself a bit of a minimalist—a trendy term I hate using—but I only keep things that have value to me.