Page 17 of Rescued By the Vexed Vampire

It didn’t matter that we hadn’t broken the curse. It didn’t matter that we were stuck in this strange, new reality where blood cravings and immortality were the new normal. Right now, all that mattered was this—this moment, this connection, this fire that seemed to burn brighter with every passing second.

We stayed like that for what felt like hours, lost in each other, the world outside my apartment fading into nothingness.

“Maybe we don’t have all the answers yet,” Drake said softly, his fingers gently tracing patterns on my back. “But we’ll get there. Together.”

I smiled, closing my eyes as I let his words wash over me. Together. It wasn’t a promise I had expected to hear, but somehow, it felt like the one I needed.

“Together,” I echoed, my voice barely above a whisper.

Maybe this new life wasn’t the end of everything I’d hoped for. Maybe it was just the beginning of something new. Something I hadn’t planned for, but something that could still be mine. Whatever happened next, at least I wouldn’t be facing it alone.

Chapter Six

Drake

The phone rang just as I was finishing up the books in the back office at Sugar Rush, the glow of the desk lamp casting a faint circle of light over the mess of papers. I didn’t even have to look at the screen to know who it was. Delilah. Her timing was, as always, impeccable—just when I thought I could get a moment to think.

I let out a slow breath before answering, already bracing for the conversation that was about to unfold.

“Delilah,” I greeted her, forcing a calmness into my voice that I didn’t feel.

“Drake, darling,” her voice purred through the receiver, soft and dangerous, like a serpent coiled in silk. “I’ve beenlooking at the reports, and I have to say, things aren’t turning around fast enough for my liking.”

There it was. The subtle accusation wrapped in faux concern. I could practically picture her lounging in her Manhattan penthouse, draped in designer silk, her long red nails tapping rhythmically against the glass of her wine. She never did like getting her hands dirty, but she loved watching others squirm.

I leaned back in the chair, rubbing a hand across my jaw as I stared at the stack of invoices in front of me. “It’s only been a few weeks since I got here, Delilah. You can’t expect a full turnaround overnight.”

“I can,” she countered smoothly, her voice hardening just enough to make her point. “And I do. We don’t have time to waste on sentimentality. Fire the staff. All of them. You know that’s what needs to happen. Start fresh, and then come back to New York where you belong.”

Her words felt like a slap, sharp and deliberate. Fire the staff? After everything they’d put into this place? After the progress we were starting to make? The thought of letting them go—Alice, who’d practically poured her life into the candy store, or Noah, whose talent was undeniable—made my stomach twist.

“No,” I said firmly, keeping my tone steady. “That’s not the solution. Alice Henderson has been with this shop for years. She doesn’t know anything else. And Noah Bennett... Noah has real talent as a pastry chef. He’s already working on new candy designs that could turn things around. We don’t need to start over. What we need is to invest more in the people who are already here.”

“Invest in them?” she echoed, her voice dripping with disdain. “Are you going soft on me, Drake? Since when did you care about these...humans and their pathetic little lives?”

I gritted my teeth, holding back the retort that threatened to slip out. She was pushing me, poking at the cracks she knew were there. “I’m not going soft,” I said slowly, deliberately. “I’m thinking about what’s best for the business. Raise their salaries, give Noah the creative freedom to show what he can do. If morale improves, sales will follow.”

There was a beat of silence on the other end of the line, and I could almost hear the gears turning in her mind, calculating whether or not my argument had any merit. But I knew Delilah too well. She didn’t care about merit. She cared about control. Power. The same things I did. Right? My forehead furrowed.

“Interesting,” she mused finally, her voice low and dangerous. “But I have to wonder, Drake...is this sudden bout of compassion really about the shop? Or is it about your new little employee? The pretty one? What’s her name again? Bethany?”

I stiffened, a chill running down my spine. “What do you know about Bethany?”

Delilah laughed, the sound dark and amused, like she was savoring the crackle of tension over the phone line. “I have eyes everywhere, darling. Or did you forget? Part of your soul belongs to me. I feel everything you do. I see everything you do.”

Her words hit me like ice water, a cold reminder of the deal I’d made all those years ago. I had given up part of my soul for power, for immortality, for the chance to be more than the nothing I’d been before. And in return, I was bound to her whims, her control. Even now, hundreds of miles away, she had a hold on me.

“Bethany Snow isn’t the problem,” I said through gritted teeth. “The problem is that you’re too focused on short-term results. This place has potential, but you have to give it time. Let me work with them. Let me fix it.”

“Fix it?” Delilah repeated, her tone mocking. “Darling, you’ve already wasted too much time in Sweetberry Hollow with nothing to show for it. Frankly, you should be packing your bags to get yourself the hell back to New York.”

I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of her words settle over me like a suffocating blanket. I’d spent centuries working for power, wealth, freedom—everything I’d wanted when I made my deal with her. And yet, as I sat here in this small town, surrounded by people who actually cared about this place, I realized something I hadn’t expected.

I didn’t want to leave.

“Give me until after Halloween,” I said finally, my voice low but resolute. “We’re hosting a blood drive, and the shop’s already getting more attention. If things don’t improve after that, I’ll do whatever needs to be done. But not before.”

Delilah was silent for a long moment, and I could feel her calculating her next move, deciding whether or not to allow me this small reprieve.

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