Page 98 of Beyond the Temptation: Vol 2

“You got it, boss,” I replied, standing and indicating for Orvis to come with me.

As we got back into the clubhouse, I led him to the breakroom and offered him a bag of blood as I was instructed to do. I was alone in here with him but knew the shop door to where we worked on and flipped bikes for profit was just feet away, and there were guys working in there as well.

I didn’t want to make small talk with this asshole, but the silence was too awkward.

“So, are you from New Orleans?” I asked as I grabbed a bottle of water and cracked it open. We couldn’t eat food, but we could drink thin liquids. We really only needed blood, but I drank water out of habit for some reason.

“Not originally, no,” he replied.

Just then, a human blood whore named Tiffany came into the breakroom. I forgot they came in on Tuesdays and Fridays. This was something new, apparently, that Viper had implemented. They normally hung out in the club, but I believed Viper sent her here for our guest, and had I known she was coming, I wouldn’t have offered him a bag, which he was now downing.

“Come here,” I told her.

She slithered over to me and swung her hair over her shoulder, offering me her neck. Her pulse pounded in my ears and throbbed, the blue vein enticing me. My fangs descended, and while looking at Orvis, I drank from her.

Tiffany let out a soft moan, and her blood was sweet and warm as it slid down my throat, rejuvenating me.

Orvis’s eyes turned black, and once I retracted my fangs and licked her wounds to help heal them, I offered her to him.

She turned and did the same to him, but he was a little more rough on the delivery. I watched as he drank, but when Tiffany’s eyes fluttered shut and her mouth dropped open, I caught her before she fell out of his arms.

“That’s enough,” I snapped, grabbing her and setting her in a chair. She was barely conscious, so I made her finish the bottle of water I’d just opened and grabbed a banana from Venom’s fruit bowl.

“How many humans have you killed?” I asked Orvis.

He ignored that. “You seem familiar to me.”

“Yeah, I have one of those faces,” I murmured, putting my attention back on Tiffany to make sure she was okay.

Just then, Viper, Shadow, Phoenix, Venom, and Face came in.

“We took a vote,” Viper started. “You can stay in New Orleans, but we catch as much as a single toe crossing a line, you won’t get the chance to leave New Orleans. You’ll be ash.”

For effect, Phoenix ignited a fireball in his fist and glared at Orvis.

“You won’t have a problem with me,” he said, hands up in surrender.

“Fine. Tomorrow, you bring your clan here so we can vet them all. And I mean all of them. If you have any dirtbags who you think won’t pass our inspection, get rid of them,” Viper finished.

He audibly swallowed. “Will do.”

CHAPTER SIX

AVA

I hadn’t heard very good things about these biker guys. I’d seen their patches on their vests when I lived here before. I obviously didn’t know vampires existed, so I just thought they were a creepy biker gang. I questioned Orvis as to why we needed their approval to live here, and was rewarded with a backhand to the face that split my lip.

“They rule the city now, stupid girl,” he’d responded, talking to our clan, which only had about ten now, thanks to our dwindling numbers. “And if you don’t want to meet with them, you’re out. Are we clear?” he asked, looking at each and every one of us.

After it was fully dark, we all nodded our assent and piled into our cars to meet with the vampire motorcycle guys.

We were searched upon arriving at their “clubhouse” and then escorted to the nightclub next door, where it appeared they were preparing to open in a few hours.

We took seats around the random tables, and as I was chatting with Carmela, the large, imposing bikers filed into the room, posting up at the front behind a podium. Now, I’d been a vampire for four years, and not much scared me, but these guys were definitely something. Then, another group with PROSPECT written on their vests filed in after.

Then, my eyes locked with one.

I would know those hazel eyes anywhere.

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