Page 20 of My Blind Date is a Vampire

“I—”

“There you are, you SOB! You’ve been avoiding me all night like the coward you are!” someone bellowed from the floor below. Landon tensed up, muttering something under his breath. His fingers dug into my waist as he glared at the willowy, platinum blond man stalking toward us, his eyes two pitch-black coals burning with rage and distaste, all of it aimed at Landon.

“Cosmo, we talked about this, and you promised that you would not cause a scene.” Landon pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He clenched his jaw so tight that a vein was protruding from his forehead, throbbing wildly.

So, this was the infamous Cosmo, the diva Landon and Dane were complaining about.

He was a beautiful man, tall with feminine features that took nothing away from his masculinity, with long, straight, platinum blond hair that went all the way down to his waist. Unlike everyone else, he’d completely ignored the black-tie dress code of the fundraiser and was dressed in an artfully ripped and baggy white sweater and flowing white pants. With his pale complexion, he looked like a washed-out ghost. Except for his pitch-black eyes, pink lips, and the angry splotches of red on his face, he was bleached of color.

One hand cocked on his waist, he looked down his nose at Landon, for he was a few inches taller than the man standing next to me. His dismissive gaze flickered to me for a millisecond, but I wasn’t even sure if he was aware that I was standing there since he looked right through me. “That was before I found out that you sold my Insanity of Forever to Declan Rhys after I explicitly made it clear that I don’t want that filthy cockroach anywhere near my work. And then I walk in here and who do I find placing a bid on not one, but all three of the works I so gracefully submitted for this stupid fundraiser? I told you that if you continued doing business with that man, you might as well cut ties with me!” For such a slip of a man, he had a powerful voice that boomed throughout the gallery.

Conversations stilled as everyone stopped what they were doing to behold the spectacle.

“I did not sell your bloody painting to Declan. Where did you hear such nonsense? When have I ever disrespected any of your wishes, Cosmo? You are a valued client of mine, but so is Declan. I won’t cut off my nose to spite my face just because you have issues with the man. Your problems are not mine to deal with—”

“You made them yours when you invited the plagiarizer to a fundraiser where you intended to show off my latest works!” Cosmo hissed.

“Oh, please!” another gentleman drawled in a lazy brogue from behind Cosmo. I had to assume it was Declan Rhys. “If anyone is a copycat here, we all know that it’s you, Cosmo. Insanity of Forever bears a striking resemblance to my Madness in Sunshine. The only reason I bought it was so that I’d have something to burn and keep me warm when winter rolls in.

“You are a disgrace to the art community. I knew you were suffering from artist block or whatever, but to copy another artist’s work and claim the credit… I know that they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in your case, it proves nothing but the fact that you are a fraud. Why don’t you retire while you still have your dignity as one of the greatest artists of our generation?” he goaded Cosmo.

At Declan’s words, Landon’s gaze grew even more alert. The weight of his arm around my waist disappeared and in the blink of an eye, before my brain could even catch up to what was happening, he had Cosmo pinned to the railing of the staircase.

“You plagiarized another person’s work? Again, Cosmo? I told you what would happen if you pulled that again. Are you trying to flush your career down the drain?” Landon barked, one of his arms pressing into Cosmo’s neck.

Cosmo’s eyes went wide with panic, the flush across his cheeks getting darker as he clawed at Landon’s arm. My heart in my throat, I tried to tug Landon away before he did something he would regret or the police found him in such a compromising position.

“L-Landon, babe, you need to calm down—” I began only to be cut off by Cosmo’s shrill voice.

“Screw you and your threats, man! You think I’d care if you cut me off? Now you want to pretend you care about my career? I told you I was struggling, but what did you and that poodle of an assistant of yours do for me? Didley squat, that’s what!” His dark eyes snapped to me, narrowing in disgust. Like I’d seen—or thought I’d seen—Landon’s eyes do before, darkness crept across the whites of his eyes. And when his mouth twisted into an ugly sneer, I saw two elongated fangs.

“Is she the reason you’ve been so short with me lately and ignoring my calls, Landon? You finally found yourself a new piece of meat to amuse yourself with and sink your teeth into after all this time?” he taunted, cocking his head to the side in a morbidly curious gesture. “She smells sweet enough, but the stench of fear is rolling off her in waves. It’s making me nauseous. Has he told you what he is, Red?”

“Cosmo—” Landon growled in a warning tone. His hold on Cosmo slackened and in a move that was too quick for me to follow, the artist broke free and had me in a chokehold before I could utter a gasp of surprise.

Frozen in terror and confusion, I saw my emotions reflected back at me in Landon’s face as he looked on helplessly.

“Cosmo Sage Crane, you unhand that young lady this very instant before I whoop your behind black and blue,” Beverly commanded, tearing away from the crowd of bystanders and slowly approached us.

“Cosmo, don’t do this!” Landon begged, but he might as well have been talking to a brick wall. Instead, Cosmo lowered his mouth to my ear while his nails elongated before my eyes and he slashed four lines down the length of my arm and whispered something that chilled my blood.

“Your boyfriend is a vampire, sweetheart.”

I let out a whimper of pain as he squeezed my arm to draw more blood. Landon tried to get me away from Cosmo, but the latter covered his hand in my blood and moved at lightning speed to smear it across Landon’s face.

“Landon?” My voice was barely above a whisper and time slowed down, each second punctuated by a panicked thud of my heart as Landon’s canines elongated and his eyes went completely black, reminding me of the demons on Supernatural. Spots danced in my visions as I tried to make sense of what was going on. Cosmo’s deranged laughter rang in my ears as the room spun around me. Someone called my name, but the voice sounded as if it were coming from far away.

“Julia…please, let me explain,” Landon begged, reaching out for me, but I flinched back so violently, I twisted my ankle and fell to the ground. How was I the only one freaking out right now? None of the faces swimming in my vision looked scared out of their wits. Was I imagining things?

“Don’t touch me!” I screamed when Landon tried to help me. The last thing I heard before my vision went black was Beverly telling him that she would take care of me.

CHAPTER 23

They’re going to kill me!

I startled awake, drenched in sweat and my heart throbbing visibly through my rib cage. A scream died on the tip of my tongue when the familiar view of my bedroom came into view. Letting out an audible breath, I slumped back into my pillows and closed my eyes against the glaring sunlight before snapping them awake when scenes of my nightmare danced across my eyelids.

I’d dreamed of demons tearing me apart and feasting on my heart and organs and drinking my blood. Demons with Landon’s and Cosmo’s faces. I pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes and tried to erase the images, to erase everything I’d seen and heard last night.

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