Page 42 of Shut Up and Bite Me

Vampires can come forward with complaints directly to their local presiding council, or they can come straight to the High Council if they wish. But there have been no major incidents, aside from a little lighthearted drama.

I have a feeling it has to do with the examples I set in the early years of the council’s existence. Of course, back in the day, public executions weren’t so crass, and they were welcomed by the community. It also set the tone.Enough to sustain, never drain. Our motto has never changed since it was first written in stone.

The rules are enforced regardless of who you are. If you break them, you are punished as deemed necessary by the High Council.

Even though we shy away from public executions now, we still punish those who violate the rules, but our methods have shifted to more modern alternatives. If anything, they’ve become more ruthless with the things we’ve learned.

A coffin made from white ash trees can make a vampire feel like they are losing their mind when they’re buried beneath the ground. Line it with deadly nightshade, and it gives them horrific hallucinations as they breathe in the air around them.

Think of it as adult vampire time-out. Except at the end of their imprisonment, they don’t get to return to their life; they are expunged from existence.

Unfortunately, there are still vampires that challenge us, but they never win that battle. Peace is all we’ve ever wanted, andour laws allow us just that. We won’t let anyone get in the way of protecting everything we’ve built. The chaos and rage those monsters crave is the reason my best friend was drained so long ago. They wanted to knock me off a peg, show me how powerless I was. So they took her, tortured her, assaulted her, and drained her, leaving her at my doorstep afterward like a sick gift.

I made them pay. Each and every one of them suffered horrifically for decades before I tore them limb from limb and burned their bodies, turning them to nothing but ash.

Their very remains are concreted in the large clock tower in the Barlowe. A reminder to any who wish to cross me.

I miss Genevieve every single day. But I will make sure that her life is remembered. She is immortal, like Greyson said, even if it’s only in my memories. She is the reason I started hunting rogue vampires in the first place and created what is now the High Council. One of the reasons the Culling even exists.

In a way, if it weren’t for her, I may not have ever seen Greyson again. My heart beats hard in my chest at the thought.

I’ve been so focused on keeping humans an arm’s length away, for fear of making connections and losing another person I care for.

My heart has stayed in the shadows for so long. I’ve forgotten how colorful and warm the world can be. It’s all because of Greyson.

I’m baffled when it comes to him. He hasn’t had an easy life. He’s worked hard for everything he’s earned. I understand better than anyone that sometimes the life you think you should have couldn’t be further from the life you’re meant to live. After Genevieve was drained, I swore to myself that I would never put a human at risk of that again. It destroyed me, ripped my heart out of my chest completely. I lost such a big part of myself the day she died.

Her eyes flash in my mind, and I suck in a sharp breath at the haunting vision. She was the kindest soul. She didn’t deserve to die simply for loving me. I won’t let Greyson meet the same fate.

They can try to hurt them, but they will pay with their lives, never able to leave a scratch on his perfect face. I will obliterate them, turn them into nothing.

Greyson makes me feel like I can emerge from the cage I’ve locked myself in. I feel connected to him physically, even when we’re apart. As if I can feel him breathe, sense his emotions, hear his words whispered in the wind, we are tethered to one another somehow.

At first, I’ll admit that I thought it had to do with the feedings. Emotions can be magnified dramatically both for the human and the vampire, especially when the feelings already exist prior to the bite. But it can’t create false emotions, only enhance them.

I’ve been drawn to Greyson since that first night in the bar. Even then, things happened that were unexplainable. Maybe we’ll never find the answer or ever know why my energy is intertwined with his. Maybe there isn’t an answer to discover at all.

But that is only one of the problems. Our arrangement ends tomorrow night. What am I going to do? What if he wants to leave?

After his drunken babble, I have a pretty good idea of how he feels about me, and as much as I’m scared to admit it, I don’t want to lose him. He’s the only person I’ve given pieces of myself to since Genevieve, and if he walks out, he’s taking them with him.

Letting him stay is equally exciting and terrifying. But regardless of his choice, I won’t let anyone hurt him. I’ll keep him safe, whether from a distance or by his side.

As I pull into the long, winding driveway, I park next to Greyson’s old, run-down car, remembering the gifts he got Lucy and me the other night. A laugh breaks past my lips.

Roses. I still can’t believe he got me roses. The gesture and thought were sweet, but I can’t stand the smell. I loved them when I was human, but as a vampire, they smell like rotting garbage. That’s one part of vampire lore humans got right. We can’t bear to be around that scent for too long. I love that he went out of his way for me, but I never want him to do it again.

Lucy, however, loves him for his generosity, happily accepting them. She’s a bit of a spoiled princess, but to be fair, she deserves it. She’s the sweetest little black kitty, and because I won’t get to have her forever, I will make every day we have together extra special. And apparently, Greyson feels the same way with the four bags of toys and treats he got her.

As I walk up the steps of the house, the front door opens and Greyson steps out, wearing only black joggers and a backward cap. Holy Mother of Demons, I am never going to get used to seeing him.

I find it hard to believe that he truly flew under the radar all his life like he said because he’s impossible not to notice. The kind of beauty and depth that people carve statues in honor of. Maybe I should add a large marble statue of Greyson to my collection of art, centering it in my foyer.

“Finally,” he sighs with a smile tugging at his lips as he shuffles down the stairs to greet me.

Giggling as he leans down and kisses my forehead, I scoff. “I was only gone for two days.”

He rolls his eyes. “Well, in the scheme of our time together, that’s a lot.”

---