Thirst: The Kresova Vampire Harems: Aurora Read online

  “My friend here has a problem.” Reina grabs my arm and pulls me forward to stand beside her.

  The young girl assesses me from my worn converse sneakers to the messy blonde bun atop my head. “She only sees clients at her shop on Royal Street. Visit her there on Tuesday.”

  As the girl moves to close the door, Reina uses her booted foot to wedge it open. “This isn’t the sort of situation where we can just ‘come back another time.’ Please, we need to see her tonight. Now.”

  “Reina, let’s just forget—”

  “No. You promised we would try, and right now, you’re not even trying.”

  She’s right. I gave up long before we even arrived.

  Reina and I have been friends since we met eight years ago. When she moved from Cali to Louisiana, I just about died inside. Now, that statement feels far less authentic.

  We remained close over the years, and as soon as I finished my two years at JC, I packed up my things and moved here.

  Not once have we ever not faced a problem together. When her neglectful mother died and left her their house, we’d moved in and made it our own. And now that I’m apparently a blood sucker, we’re here together, facing that as well.

  I take a deep breath and look straight into the young girl’s big, brown eyes. “Look, just tell her something for me—and if she still doesn’t want to see us—then we’ll go.”

  “And what do you want me to tell her?”

  God, I can’t believe I’m saying this out loud. “I think I was bitten by a vampire. I crave something I can’t discern, and I tried to attack her this morning,” I say, gesturing to Reina.

  Surprisingly, the girl doesn’t laugh or even crack a smile.

  Instead, she leans her head to the side keeping her gaze on mine. The throb of her jugular captures my attention, and I can’t look away.

  “Wait here.” She snaps the door shut. A minute later, she returns holding the door open wide and ushering us inside. As we slip into the entryway, she stops. “You’ll need to take off your shoes. Mama doesn’t like the soils from outside brought in.”

  I lean one hand on the wall and kick off my converse. Reina does the same with her boots. It feels strange that I’m entering her home without evening knowing her name. I introduce myself. “I’m Aurora by the way, and she’s Reina”

  “Breanne.” The girl nods. “You brought money?”

  Reina pulls a wad of cash out of her purse and pulls two hundred-dollar bills. She places them in Breanne’s palm.

  Breanne doesn’t say anything. She just takes the money and turns. I can’t tell whether she’s always like this—or she simply doesn’t like me. Either way, I have no time to wonder as her bare feet pad down the hall ahead of us. I assume we’re supposed to follow, so we do. We pass several bedrooms and an arched doorframe which gives us a peek into a soft yellow and white kitchen. I can’t see the stove, but the aromas floating around are revving my appetite right back up again.

  At the end of the hall, the space opens up to a good size living room with high tray ceilings. A small TV hums in the corner, the barely audible sounds of a reality TV show the only other noise besides the low music playing from another room. This apartment appears aged and worn in, but that doesn’t make it any less appealing. A sea-green recliner faces the television, and the back of a woman’s curly red hair perches over the top cushion.

  Breanne walks up to her and whispers something into the woman’s ear. She picks up a remote from the end table, clicks the TV off, and spins around.

  I’m shocked to see that Mama Lisette is barely older than us, maybe late twenties at the most. Her strawberry blonde hair falls in curls around her tan, heart-shaped face. She looks so different from the flyers. I imagine she must wear lots of makeup and a wig when she’s playing the “Madame of Black Magic.”

  “So,” she starts, “Which one of you needs my help?”

  I raise my hand slightly and smile. I’ve never felt more ridiculous in my life, but since no one else is laughing, I won’t either.

  She keeps her eyes fixed on me. “You were bitten?”

  “I’m pretty sure.”

  “You either were—or you weren’t—so which is it?”

  This chick isn’t fucking around.

  I know it happened, but the longer I doubt it, the longer I have before everything in my life changes. “I was.”

  The cushion creeks as she stands and takes three steps toward me. “Where?”

  This is the awkward part. He’d bitten me just over my left breast. I have to tug down the neck of my blouse to show her. “Here,” I say, revealing the torn flesh.

  The wound has yet to heal. If anything, it looks worse today than when it happened. Two red, angry bite marks surrounded by blue-green bruises and several other teeth indents.

  She doesn’t ask my permission as she traces her hand over my wound and then pauses. “I need you to sit down.” She drops down to her knees before me as I land on the couch cushion. She returns her hand to my skin, and closes her eyes. Her lips move, but no sound comes out.

  No, this isn’t awkward at all. There’s just a voodoo queen holding my breast in her palm while she chants to herself.

  I glance over to Reina. She smiles, encouraging me to stick with this even though I’m clearly not feeling it. Just when I’m starting to think this is a load of bullshit, everything in the room fades, and I’m thrust into a storm.

  The world moves at an impossible pace of both slow motion and fast forward. Time lurches, and I’m at back at work last week. My co-worker, Ashley, drops her pen straight into the mocha she just bought. It splashes up and whipped cream hits her glasses. We both start laughing.

  Time zooms again, and now I’m standing at the door of my car. It’s evening, and low fog has rolled in. I pluck my keys from my purse. Seconds later, a hand grabs me from behind. I drop my keys and scream, and time moves again.

  Moments later, I’m being slammed against a grime covered wall between two buildings. Another flash and the stench of rotten garbage and something I can’t discern, something . . . metallic? My chest burns, and I open my eyes. I’m slumped against the wall as a man is biting into the top of my breast. I want to fight, but I can’t. I feel the strength leaving me.

  White light flashes, and now I am standing in a blood covered room. No not a room, a chamber. Bodies litter the floor as a sea of ruby flows from the ground. A woman sits on a stone throne. She raises a finger toward me, and as something flies from her hands, time zooms once more.

  I stand before a man. Everything about him is in shadow except the piercing blue of his eyes. He turns away, and a door slams shut in my face, an enormous ‘K’ engraved on it.

  “Aura! Aura!”

  I open my eyes and see Reina and Breanne leaning over me. I’m flat on my back, covered in layers of sweat. “What the fuck?” I say as I sit up. My head spins from moving too quickly.

  “What the fuck is right.” Reina turns from me to Mama Lisette who’s crouched on her hands and knees several feet away. “What the hell did you do to her?”

  “What happened?” I ask.

  “You had a seizure or something. It’s been almost ten-freakin-minutes, and nobody here would let me call for help.”

  Reina’s pissed, Breanne is watching us both, and Mama Lisette won’t stop staring at me like I’m a two-headed unicorn. At that moment, I realize she’s also covered in sweat and shaking. Did she see all of that? Did she feel it?

  “I can’t help you,” Mama Lisette says as she climbs to her feet. “You need to go.”

  With Reina’s help, I stand. “What just happened to me? Why do you look so scared?”

  She shakes her head and moves toward the kitchen, but I follow. I grab her arm. She tries to tug herself free, but my grip is too strong.

  It’s never been this strong.

  We both look down at my hand, and after a second, I release her. “You said you could help.”

  “I never said that I could. I only
asked who needed help and what happened.”

  “Then why did you let us in?”

  She shakes her head again, and I hear Reina and Breanne come in behind me.

  “I can’t help unless—”

  “Unless what?” Reina snaps. “Unless we give you another five-hundred dollars? Is that what this is? A shakedown?”

  Mama Lisette slams her fits onto the counter. “Unless the vampire is still alive!” Her hand points to me as if in accusation. “But your sire is dead. Of that much, I am certain. There’s no way to stop the change now.”

  “Holy fuck.” Reina practically falls into a chair beside her. “This is real?”

  A million questions rush my mind, but I can’t formulate words. The sight of all that blood is doing something to me. My skin itches and aches at the same time, and a ravenous hunger, one I’ve tried to bury deep, has surged to the forefront of my thoughts.

  “You’re at the end of this, Aurora. I’m surprised you haven’t already succumbed.”

  Reina looks from me to Mama Lisette at least fifty times before she speaks. “How long does she have?”

  Mama shrugs. “Hours. Minutes? I’ve never seen someone go as long as she has without turning.” She nudges her head toward me. “You’re running on empty, Aurora. It will only take one moment.” She snaps her fingers. “Then your control will disappear.”

  “Can’t you give her something, to help?” Reina asks. “Cast a protection spell on her mind? Or something? Anything!”

  Reina’s desperation shocks me out of my thoughts.

  Mama Lisette shakes her head, “This is different.”

  “Why?” I ask.

  “You know why.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “You saw it too, Aurora. You felt it.”

  Reina grabs my bicep. “Saw what, Aura?”

  “This kind of magic, this kind of power, it’s connected to something dark. Something ancient.” Mama steps toward me and places her hands on my shoulders. “The darkness is coming for you, Aurora. You can’t outrun it. You can’t hide from it. And you can’t defeat it.”

  “What are you saying?” Reina asks.

  Mama doesn’t move her eyes from mine. “I’m saying the Aurora is marked by death—and her time has run out.”

  Chapter 2

  “Aura!”

  Reina yells after me, but I’ve already bolted out the door and down the stairs. I’m moving faster than I should be able to, and it terrifies me. I don’t care that I’m barefoot, running through a dirty club, with god-knows-what speckled along the floor.

  I’m suffocating, and I need air.

  I shove through the crowd, earning several insults from the people I knock over on my way. When I reach the exit and step into the night, I’m still not alone. Too many people linger, smoking and talking. I see a fire-escape at the end of the alley and rush toward it. I climb the metal steps three at a time, until I reach the rooftop.

  When I clear the wall, I hunch over onto my hands and knees and close my eyes, trying to stop myself from hyperventilating.

  I’m a vampire.

  I’m a vampire.

  I’m a fucking vampire.

  Wake up Aura. Please, wake the hell up.

  This has got to be some really long crazy-ass nightmare. As soon as I come out of this, I’ll be okay.

  If you come out of this.

  Even though I know it’s futile, I smack my face and order myself a dozen more times to pull out of this. To leave this fucked-up dream.

  “You okay?” A deep, masculine voice asks from somewhere behind me.

  I inhale, and the scent of a spicy cologne mingled with sweat and the cigarette he’s just lit hits my nose. My heartbeat thunders, and longing fills the pit of my belly.

  Shit.

  “Feeling sick?” He takes a few steps closer to me and dips his head down to glance at my face. He’s young, maybe twenty-two, and handsome in a boy-next-door kind of way with chestnut brown hair. Light stubble covers his jaw. He’s wearing a flannel button up shirt beneath his black leather jacket. His thick arms stretch the fabric in what looks like a painful way.

  At his nearness, my panic induced adrenaline morphs into something entirely different, and my impulse control fades. There’s nothing sexual about this situation, but that doesn’t stop the unnatural desire raging through me. I suddenly realize I haven’t been this close to a man since it happened.

  I cradle my stomach, “Y…ou, nee—d to…go.” I don’t know how much longer I can hold this back. “G—o.”

  When I’d attacked Reina this morning, my incessant hunger had messed with my head, and I’d lost my impulse control. I felt as though I hadn’t eaten in weeks and death was imminent. Even after she’d knocked me out, I was still hungry, but my fear had drowned out the hunger. But tonight, my needs have morphed once again. Now my craving commands blood—and flesh.

  “What’s that?” He moves closer. This time he sweeps aside the long pieces of hair that have fallen free to look at my face. “You need me to call a doctor or one of your friends?”

  I caution a glance and see thick full lips and a tongue piercing. A current of desire quakes through me, and my senses slam into overdrive. The sounds of the bass guitar and the steady beat of drums from the club beneath us echo as if they are right beside me. The entire night comes alive. My heartbeat syncs to the tempo of the music, and the thirst inside of me demands satisfaction.

  A switch flips inside of me, and I barely recognize my own voice. “I’m better now.”

  I rise, letting the deep V in my tank reveal the top of my cleavage, my actions and words those of a stranger, and not anywhere near something Aurora Hedvige would ever say or do.

  “You realize you’re barefoot?”

  I laugh, she laughs. “Damn, am I?”

  “Yeah,” he says. The scent of vodka is apparent on his breath, but he’s buzzed, not drunk. “What are you doing up here?”

  “I needed some air.” I prop myself up onto the wall and lean back onto my palms.

  He chuckles and pulls the cigarette from his lips. “Yeah, me too. I just ditched a stage-four clinger.”

  “Oh really?”

  I don’t tell him that I just ditched my best friend. She’s probably roaming the streets worried sick about me, but instead of finding her, I’m sitting here like a selfish asshole, letting the dark side of me win out.

  “Yeah, our second date and this chick is talking about kids and marriage.”

  I bite down on my lip. “Ugh, I hate girls like that.”

  “You’re not a girl like that?”

  “No way. I want fun.” I loosen my bun and let the rest of my golden hair cascade down my chest and back. “You look like fun.”

  What the fuck, Aurora?

  His warm brown eyes snap up from where they were fixated on my breasts, and he swallows down.

  “So . . .” I let the word linger in the air between us. I know what I’m doing, but I can’t stop myself. I’m no longer in control.

  “So?” He echoes my question, but there’s no doubt in his eyes. “You drunk, sweetheart?” He takes enough steps to put himself at the edge of my knees.

  “Nope. I’m not.” I graze my index finger down his stomach. “But I am horny as fuck.”

  The cigarette in his lips falls and hits the ground. Clearly, he doesn’t expect that response. Neither do I.

  What is happening to me? I’m on a dirty rooftop about to screw—and possibly bite—a man I don’t know. Morals thrown to the wind, I should step away and leave, but I can’t. She won’t let me. This dark vixen who see’s logic in nothing except her own wants and desires.

  “You want me to do something about it, baby girl?”

  “Hell yes.” I tug onto the waistband of his jeans and jerk him forward between my legs.

  He sucks in a harsh breath and crashes into me. Large hands grip my hips, and his tongue shoves into my mouth. I wrap my hand around his neck and press my breasts tight into his c
hest.

  All I want is to scratch an itch. Any man strong enough to keep up with me will do.

  He slips his hands over my ass and squeezes. I reciprocate the motion, all while keeping his deliciously hot mouth on mine. We make out harsh and fast until my mouth is almost raw, then he pulls slightly back, “What’s your name, sexy?” he whispers against my jaw.

  “Does it matter?”

  He licks his lips, and his eyes dart from my breasts to my face and back again. Rolling my hips, I let him figure out what it is I want from him. We’re plastered to each other, and his scent permeates the air around me. I hop off the wall and turn in his arms, my ass sliding over his front. The bulge in his jeans sends a thrill through me. His hands return on my hips. He lets me grind back into him as he fondles my breasts.

  “Fuck. You are so sexy.” His breath is hot on my neck, and rivulets of sweat trail down my throat to between my breasts. His finger follows the path of one, stopping just below my neckline. I tilt my head back and graze my tongue along his jaw.

  “Mmm, you taste good. I want to taste more of you.”

  He turns me around to face him and pushes me to the wall beside the roof access door. He cages me in and wastes no time before his lips are on mine again.

  The taste of Vodka and virile man hit my taste buds. I open my mouth and grant him access. With a deep moan, he flicks his tongue across my bottom lip. One hand trails up from my hip and slips to the back of my head. His touch is almost gentle in contrast to his punishing grip on my ass. Our tongues tangle and slide against each other.

  My hand slips under his shirt. His skin is slick with sweat, and I dig my nails into his back, and he jerks forward a bit. Renewing his efforts, he pulls back and nibbles on my lip. At his actions, my own teeth ache to feel his flesh between them. He’s breathing deep, his chest heaving.

  As my desire for his flesh increases—so does the need to taste his blood.

  Slowly, I kiss a trail down his cheek to his jaw. I trace the path of his jaw with my tongue, coming to a stop just above his pulse point. I inhale. Here, I can scent him beneath all of his cologne. He smells like freshly cut wood and sweat and man. Delicious. Something I have to sink my teeth into.