Page 18 of Pleasantly Undead in Dark River

I screeched and jumped back, but the vampire didn't move. “Can I help you?” I asked in a voice that was high with panic. I was alone here today, Nico had Town Council jobs to do.

“You are Raine.”

It wasn’t a question and he delivered it in monotone that made me want to gag a little. He was like the embodiment of the undead. Like his body was alive, but his soul was buried six feet down. “Yes?”

The vampire was suddenly in front of me faster than even my eyes could follow. He was old, so old that my bones ached just being in his presence. He had his hands on my arms and his fangs at my throat before I could even scream. As the tips scraped my flesh, he was yanked away.

Lucius stood before me, crouched down like an animal, hissing with his fangs bared. The other old vampire snarled back and I wondered if they had devolved to animals.

“You are not welcome here, Louis. Leave.”

This Louis growled. “That is not your decision to make, Lucius. It is the decision of the succubus.”

Ah shit. Alexander had warned me about this. “Nope, I’m with Lucius on this one.”

Louis’ eyes flicked to me with annoyance. “I wish to court you, Succubus, in hopes that we will become a nested pair.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, no, that’s a hard pass, thanks though. I’m truly flattered,” I rambled. Lucius’ lip twitched in what could have been a smile, but might have been another snarl too.

“You heard her. Now leave.”

Louis’ shoulders tensed. “I do not need to court her to have her. I can take her.”

His eyes went wide when a blade pressed into his spine. If this Louis moved quietly, then my killer was like a ghost. “You can try, but it would be the last action of your long, miserable bloody life,” X whispered in the older vampire's ear. The vampire remained still, which proved he was wise. “She is taken, and you should pass the word around. Any who wish to take what belongs to me by force will find me over their beds with their hearts cut out before they can so much as lay a feckin’ fang on her. Now leave before I let Lucius skin you like the vermin that you are.”

The older vampire snarled and disappeared with the same stealth as he came. X followed him out, probably ensuring he left town for good. Maybe to kill him outside the city limits and bury his body in the forest. Who knew?

I looked down at my hands and realized I was shaking, so I stuffed them into the pockets of my jacket so Lucius didn’t see. He raised an eyebrow. “I can smell your fear, Raine. Hiding your distress from me is useless.”

I swallowed hard and pulled them back out, and he did something that shocked the hell out of me. He grabbed my hands with his own and squeezed them. I didn’t know if that was meant to make me less fearful, but it didn’t calm my racing heartbeat at all.

“Thank you for, uh, saving me, I guess?”

Well, this was weird. Up until a month ago, people had been saving me from Lucius. This flip-flop from bad guy, to good guy, to bad guy again was making my head spin.

“I put forth my suit first. They can wait until you’ve rejected me, and then it's open slather. Until then, you are mine and therefore under my protection.”

There was so much wrong with that statement, I wasn’t even going to bother to unpack it. “Uh, well thanks again. I don’t particularly like being someone’s unwilling snack and I don’t think I could have fought him off.”

Lucius was shaking his head. “You’d stand less than zero chance against a vampire the age of Louis. He is ancient, only slightly younger than Nico and I. But when you get to our age, the power difference between us is infinitesimal. I could take him, but it would be a messy, bloody battle that would not be pleasant. Luckily, Louis is a coward and that is why he fled. But there will be more. Word of your succubus nature has escaped into the wider paranormal community. They will come in droves, the ancients who want to use you as an anchor to their sanity.”

“Like you?”

He grinned at me and it was all fang. So heart-rendingly beautiful though. “No one is like me, Raine Baxter. Not even my twin.”

On that we could agree, and when X reappeared, he eyed Lucius the way one might eye Voldemort if he was sunbathing in a mankini on the beach. Fearful, but with more than a little incredulousness. “We all thank whatever deity spat you out for that small mercy every day, Lucius.” I frowned at X, and given our chat last night, I wanted to know where X stood. What better way than viewing the vamps in their natural habitats?

X must have seen my expression because he sighed. “Given the interest in Raine and her magical vajay-jay, we will have to start a schedule to ensure someone is always nearby. Because Louis was not wrong. If he’d taken her instead of trying to woo her first, she would be gone, stolen from us. And no offense to the Sheriff, but he would stand no chance against a vampire of Louis’ age. Even Judge and I would struggle.” It seemed like it pained the tattooed giant to say so, which it probably did. “I will talk to Nico, but when we cannot be with her, either you or Nico will need to be.”

Lucius nodded like this was a perfectly acceptable course of action. I put my hand up, and X pointed at me. “The pretty lovey with the great boobs in the front row. You have a question?”

“Umm, no offense to Lucius, you are honestly my favorite slightly deranged stalker, but shouldn’t I get a say in who babysits me?”

Lucius shook his head. “No.”

X shrugged. “Sorry, Love. The nays have it on this one. Your safety is paramount, and I think that perhaps this psycho fucker might have your best interests in his black, dead heart.”

“You are not as dumb as you look, Executioner,” Lucius snarked back.

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