Page 46 of Face

“We sparkle?” I deadpanned.

He made a face. “Absolutely not. We die, Parker. Catch on fire as if someone has doused us in gasoline and lit a match.”

I put my hand on my hip. This guy had to be messing with me, so I was going to mess with him right back. “Wait. No sun? But I can still use the tanning bed, right? Gotta maintain this golden glow.” I indicated my body.

“You’re not taking this seriously,” Martin huffed, frustrated. “And absolutely not on the tanning bed. Those are nothing but UV rays. Instant death.”

“Well, I’m hungry. Are there any of those little sausages left from the party last night?”

“Boy, have you been listening? That was three days ago!”

I looked down at my designer watch. He wasn’t lying, the party had been on the twelfth and it was now the fifteenth of the month. “What the hell did you to me, Martin?” I snapped.

“And no sausages. Those were for the human guests. You can only consume blood and clear liquids like liquor or water.”

I shook my head. “I’m leaving.” I barged past him and went to the front door. It was locked, and it appeared I needed a code to unlock it. I could feel Martin’s presence behind me, and it occurred to me that I was able to hear him coming when he had approached so silently otherwise. I whirled around. “Let me out. This is kidnapping.”

He held out his cell phone to me. “Go ahead and call LAPD. I’m sure once they get here and you smell their delicious human blood, you’ll have great restraint not to murder them violently as soon as they walk through the door.”

I looked at him in horror. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”

He simply nodded as he repocketed his phone.

“Why would you do this to me?” I screamed. “Why?” I rushed over to him with the intent of strangling him, shocked that I’d crossed the room in less than half a second. I stopped short, right in front of him. “What was that?”

“We can move very fast. Much like your sparkly vampire you referenced earlier. That was about the only accurate part of that movie,” he added dryly.

“This cannot be real,” I murmured, scrubbing a hand down my face.

Martin approached me slowly and then looped his arm through mine. “Come, let’s have a meal and talk.”

I awoke from the dream, instantly irritated. I was so sick of dreaming about my past. I just wanted to forget how I became a monster, but my subconscious didn’t think it was a good idea.

Chapter 19

Damsel In Distress

Devon

A half-moon reflected off the water as the boat bobbed in place. There was no land to be seen in either direction, and I whimpered a little at the predicament I found myself in. I was tied to a chair on the deck of a massive yacht that looked like it cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The thugs had dragged me out of my room about an hour ago once the sun went down. I had awoken to a text from Parker and was so relieved Gregory had done as I’d asked. I replied and told him the situation, which wasn’t much more than I had told Gregory. I didn’t know anything—where we were, who my captors were. I suspected it was the human traffickers, but who knew at this point. All I knew was that nobody had a reason to kidnap me but them. I had quickly stowed the phone under the mattress when I heard footsteps pounding down the stairs. My hands were still bound in rope that was impossible to break, even with my enhanced strength.

Finally, two of them walked out onto the deck. They both wore jeans, T-shirts, and those ugly white tragedy theater masks with hoodies over their heads.

In a muffled voice from the plastic, the taller of the two said, “Rocky. We’re going to keep you here until you tell us how you took our site down.”

I looked into his brown eyes and said, “I already told you clowns. I did not take your site down! I don’t have the power or knowledge to take down a huge site like that. Why would I do that, anyway? I just lost a big chunk of my income. Why would I shoot off my own foot like that?”

He came over and knocked my hood off my head. He grabbed my face and turned it side to side, “What the hell happened to your face?”

“A fucking monster like you. Don’t touch me.” I yanked my head back to loosen his grasp.

He looked at the shorter one, who said, “We think you discovered what we do on that site and your mortal coil came unraveled. You seem like the type of vampire who thinks she’s still human and actually cares about those mouth-breathing blood bags.”

I gritted my teeth. “While I do find what you do on that site vile fucking filth, I most certainly know I’m a vampire. And no, I don’t care about humans in general,” I lied. “But selling innocent children? You guys are sick fucks. Still, I did not take the site down. Maybe the cops did. Did you ever think about that?” I suggested, trying to get the heat off me.

“Yeah, we have. Because you tipped them off.”

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