Page 23 of High Noon

Most of the patrons were male. Most had taken note of Terah.

Their desire for her wafted off them in waves, but she didn’t pay attention to any of them. She sat unnaturally still and waited for me. The only indication that she wanted anything was the glances she flicked to the door and to my throat.

“This is taking forever,” she complained, holding her hand out to inspect her cuticles.

“Cooking takes time. You can’t rush it.”

“I’m not sure why you’re bothering to eat. But, I suppose it’s fitting that a final supper would be all you cared about. You’re always cramming something into your mouth.”

“You should try it. You talk too much,” I said honestly. It was true.

She uncrossed her legs and crossed them again on the other side.

The woman who greeted me and brought the whiskey returned, but the smile she wore faded when she saw Terah sitting with me, and it wasn’t just jealousy. She knew what Terah was. The woman practically dumped the plate of steaming stew onto the table in front of me and rushed off, pushing through two men who were shouting at one another just to get away.

“You scared her,” I chastised, picking up my fork.

“Good.”

“She was nice.”

Terah tilted her head. “You only spoke to her for two minutes. How would you really know?”

I shrugged, loading a fork with meat, a chunk of potato, and a sliver of carrot. “I can just sense these things. My instincts have been right about you.” The food was deliciously hot. I touched it to my tongue to test the temperature, deciding to blow on it until it cooled.

“What if I told you she’d poisoned the food you’re about to swallow?” she remarked breezily, as if we were talking about something as mundane as the weather.

It looked okay. I mean, the meat was brown. I brought it to my nose. It smelled fine. “I’m not sure I should trust you. On one hand, you do know your poison. On the other, you like to play games. And we both know how well you lie…”

I knew it was a gamble, but I called her bluff and put the food in my mouth. It was delicious. She watched intently as I chewed and swallowed. “Besides, if it is poisoned, you shouldn’t drink my blood. You could get sick from it,” I countered with a grin.

“What does it matter if the poison kills you or I do? You will die one way or another.”

I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction, for starters. And if the food was poisoned, my suit would heal me, just like it did for Eve. I’d get sick for a time, sure, but I wouldn’t die. Not even if the entire plate was full of nothing but poison instead of just a drop or sprinkle.

I took another bite, enjoying the flavor of a good, home-cooked meal. Someone stumbled down the steps beside the piano and the pianist stopped playing mid-song. Everyone’s attention fixed on the tall man wearing a duster jacket. He was pale. Hell, he looked like he’d been run over by a wagon. There were dark circles under his eyes. He inhaled deeply, then smiled, revealing a sharp pair of fangs.

“Shit,” I cursed, wiping my mouth on the back of my hand. “Friend of yours?”

“No,” Terah replied indignantly. “I didn’t sire him.”

“Asa, then? What, is he upstairs?”

I really knew how to step into a hornet’s nest. So far, the only one who’d stung me was Abram, but doubt began to prick me all over. The haggard-looking man vaulted over the stair railing, jumped over the piano, and landed on his feet just behind the pianist. The man didn’t even have time to put up his hands before the vampire bit him.

Shouts and terrified screams came next, followed by a crowd pushing to exit the saloon through its swinging doors. No one wanted to be the next victim. No one wanted to die. They’d travelled arduous distances to make it this far and had gone through too much to die now.

Terah hissed as I stood from my seat. “You’re going to kill him, I suppose?”

“Hell yeah, I am,” I said, running across the room and pushing between the humans scurrying to get out of the room any which way they could. The room was cleared faster than a bullet flew from a gun.

The vamp already had the woman who’d served me dinner cornered. Her eyes darted to me as I approached from over his shoulder, and he glanced back faster than I could get close enough to stake him. I dropped down and swept a kick across the floor, catching his ankles. He landed on his back, but was up on his feet in an instant. Keeping Terah in my periphery so she didn’t use this as an opportunity to kill me while I was distracted, the vampire and I circled one another like caged animals.

“I don’t want no trouble,” he growled. “I’m just so thirsty I can’t stand myself.” He held out his hands. They trembled so violently, even he watched with a disturbed and confused look on his face. “What did he do to me?” he croaked.

“Who?”

“The one who bit me!” he roared, lunging forward and clawing out at me. The vamp’s skin was mottled, the flesh of his cheeks turning blotchy red and purple.

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