Page 9 of Ghoul Kisses

“Are you and the human getting along?” she asks, her gray eyes curious. Odessa wants Sarah to come out of her shell, so she can be of help to our kind. She thinks that Sarah can help her heal some of the ghouls; use human technology to help our kind thrive. I’m not sure if Nicholas would be okay with that, when he insists that I don’t tell her about our world. Odessa has been trying to convince Nicholas to give his permission but has had no luck so far. He is a stubborn bastard. I ignore her question. The butler sets the plate of raw meat on the table. Cutting into the raw steak, I place it in my mouth. The meat is a little tough.

“Where is David?” I ask between bites.

“He went to Venice,” she says, before taking the last bite of her food.

After finishing up the last meal, I carry a tray of food to Sarah’s room. I knock on the door and she tells me to come in. When I open the door, she is dressed in a black T-shirt, and her curly hair is damp. She lies in bed with the television volume on low.

“You can bring the plate here, please? I am hungry.” I place the plate on her lap. Normally, she doesn’t touch the food I bring her.

“Do you need anything?” I ask. She stuffs her face with human food, obviously too starved to continue her childish fasting. The smell makes me want to gag. How can she eat this shit? She eats green plants and a cooked steak; you actually have to cook their meat. I read on the internet, if humans eat raw food, it can poison them and they could die. She shakes her head in answer to my question but is too busy chewing to answer verbally. After she finishes her plate, she sets it on the nightstand.

“Thank you,” she murmurs, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Rising, she moves directly in front of me and gazes into my eyes.

“You’re welcome,” I say. What has caused Sarah to have a change of heart? I take a step back; I don’t want to get any closer to her. Afraid I might do something dumb like kiss her pink lips.

“Thank you for saving my life,” she pauses for a moment, taking deep breaths. “I’m sorry for throwing hot tea on you,” I nod my head to let her know I accept her apology.

“Do you like to read?” I ask.

“Yeah.” Her eyes twinkle.

“I have two libraries; you are welcome to use either.” Sarah goes to the closet and puts on a pair of tennis shoes.

“Thank you. That would be a great way to pass time while I’m here.” As we make our way down the hall, she keeps her pace behind me, and I find myself sneaking little glances at her. Sarah keeps her head down as if she is deep in thought.

Once we make it to the library, she gazes around in awe. Odessa designed it. Personally, I’ve always found it too girly; with flowers on every table, and purple walls. It smells like a damn floral shop in here.

“Your library is pretty. I’ve never seen a glass roof before,” she says softly. You can see the night sky through the ceiling. Sometimes, I sit on the roof to relax and look at the stars.

“What do you like to read?” I question.

“Do you have any of James Patterson’s books?”

“I don’t know. I’ll be right back,” I answer. Sarah sits at the glass table as I disappear into the P section. I don’t know who James Patterson is, because I haven’t caught up with modern fiction. Once I find his books, I grab a pile and set it in front of Sarah. Her eyes widen as her mouth drops open.

“You can have them, all of them. I’ll just restock,” She picks up the book titled Murder House and flips through it with a smile.

“Thank you.” Her tone is gentle.

My phone chimes with a message, and I tap the envelope icon. It’s from Jack.

Meet me at the Warrior station in ten minutes. Got updates on the leech who attacked the human.

C U there.

I hit the send button.

“I have to go, something came up,” I say.

“How do I get back to my room?”

She can’t carry the stack of books to her room, so I grab all fifteen books and gesture for her to follow me back the way we came.

After we arrive at her room, I set the pile of books on her nightstand. I make my way back to the door and turn to watch Sarah crawl into bed with a book in her hand.

With a strange sense of pride at having made her happy, I close the door behind me and head to the warrior training room.

I don’t understand Sarah’s behavior; she went from being an uncooperative bitch to sweet and compliant, which was making it harder for me to not like her. Ever since I found her on Alki beach, my mind has been consumed with her. What the fuck is happening to me? I had to keep my distance from her. My brothers wouldn’t accept Sarah as my mate, especially Nicholas.

I open the door to the training room, and Jack is teaching a group of young warriors. When Jack sees me, he dismisses the class and the Warriors chat as they march to the locker room. I shake Jack’s hand. Jack is a half-ghoul. His mother is human, and his dad is a ghoul. Jack has dark skin with black dreadlocks. His right eye is crimson and his left is dark brown. That is how we differentiate between a half-ghoul and a full ghoul. We consider Jack a lucky son of a bitch because his human mother survived giving birth to him. It’s very rare that ghouls and humans can have a young. Jack can control currents of electricity, and is also a bit of a hacker.

“So what have you heard?” I ask.

“We found where Pete and his minions live. We have to ambush them,” Jack answers.

I’m not ready to find Pete. I want Sarah to stay here, not because she might take the key from us, but because I want to know more about her. A female has never captured my attention in this way. When it came to bonding, I’d decided long ago that it wasn’t for me because I was focused on finding the Zenith book, and rebuilding my kingdom; far more important than finding a mate. Sex is all I need to get by and I’ve fucked my way through the centuries without a second thought. But, with Sarah it is different. I feel a connection with her. Fuck. I definitely have to keep my distance, it’s a tug of war inside me and I’m not sure which side I want to win out in the end. Get to know her, don’t get to know her. Be a dick or don’t be a dick.

“Where is the hideout?” I ask calmly.

“It’s in Seattle, not too far from where the human lives. He’s been keeping an eye on her place,” Jack answers. I stride to the supply room, grabbing a few Uzis and loading them with Mercury bullets—specially forged to kill vampires. Once I finish loading my guns, I tuck them in my holster and head outside to my black SUV, ready to take these bastards out once and for all.

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