Page 5 of Claiming Her Vampire

“You need to come back home and apologize to him; hopefully, he will take you back.”

“Apologize to him?” I ask thickly. For once in my life, I wanted my parents to be on my side. I was a good kid. I did well in school, and I didn’t party. I did what they told me to do. I kept the peace my whole life. It’s hard to accept that your parents don’t care about you as they should. “I have to go,” I whisper, trying to keep the pain inside.

“Young lady, do not hang up. We have to resolve this. You need to come home,” she says shrilly.

I end the call quickly. Sucking back the tears, I pull myself together. Something needs to go right.

Chapter Three

Ryker

The interviews yesterday were a disaster. I saw four women who either had no experience, were terrified of me, or flirted with me. One strutted in here on the hunt with a shirt that showed off her belly button and pants that showed off everything else. She was a cougar, an actual one. She had heard stories about The King of Vampires and wanted a firsthand experience. She wasn’t happy to be turned down and shown the door. Bash thought it was hilarious.

So I showed up early to sort through more applicants, hoping to find someone who wanted to do a job to get paid. Hours later, my hope is dwindling.

The club just gets busier as the years go by. Bash and I have many businesses together, but this one just clicked and took off. Money hasn’t been an issue for a long time, but if we were struggling, The Mark would carry us. Many that come here are just looking for a good time, and others know there’s something different about it. I have about half and half—supernatural and humans—employed here. Humans may know we are different in some way but choose to ignore it. We pay well and take care of them. There are rules in our world. Don’t expose your other side to humans, unless they are your mate. Of course, sometimes the rules are bent, which is a worry to me.

The tips alone can keep the waitresses supported. I also give generous hourly pay. We can afford it, and most women who work here are singles supporting themselves or young mothers raising their kids independently.

We don’t allow them to be abused. Having vampire bouncers and security is a bonus. Just the look of them discourages most of the abuse. If they dare to continue, they are swiftly dealt with and banned.

Our reputation is good, and the women know they are safe here. That’s what pisses me off about Greg; he was on the team in charge of marketing. He betrayed us in the worst way. Why couldn’t he just decide to steal from us? That I could deal with. For him to put the humans that come here at risk is sickening. We will have to hire more vampires to help protect them and the club. That involves me diving into their backgrounds, though. We can’t allow someone else to be bribed into doing the boss’s dirty work.

I firmly believe if you are going to do wrong, you should have the guts to do it yourself. I never ask my coven to do anything I am unwilling to do myself.

Bash got all the information from Greg that he could. Tomorrow, he will be taking a trip to the location of the drop to see if we can find anything. Before we open tonight, I will be gathering the whole coven to discuss the situation while Bash studies them all, looking for even a twitch of deceit.

Tristan took it personally that he wasn’t included in the torture of Greg. He swears he could have gotten something more from him. I am surrounded by bloodthirsty maniacs. I can’t say I don’t enjoy it too, though. I get twitchy if I go too long without stabbing an asshole.

He’s still mad about the scene in the office too.

“Any luck?” Bash asks, dropping into one of the chairs in front of my desk.

“No. Nothing. There may be one or two that can carry a tray, but I won’t know until I schedule a time to meet.” I throw the papers to the desk, not caring where they land.

“Did you enjoy threatening Brian?” Bash smirks.

“That kid is way too cocky. Not so much when I have my blade at his throat.” I laugh, reminiscing about his palpable fear. “I have his promise not to fuck around with anyone again. At least he won’t if he wants to keep his dick.”

“He’s young and stupid. As we once were.” He waves his hand between us. “He’s, what, only a hundred?”

“Sounds right. He’ll learn, probably the hard way.” I lean back in my chair. “You’ve been watching everyone; any thoughts?”

“I haven’t caught anyone looking nervous, but you know how unfeeling we can be. They are loyal to you. Greg was human and susceptible, very weak. I see nothing to indicate anyone else is involved, but I’ve been wrong before.” He shrugs.

“Just continue to watch. They all always screw up eventually. What is the latest death?” I pull up the documents where I’ve been keeping track of the botched experiments.

“One yesterday, our spies saw a human girl, age eighteen, bit by a coyote. It was not successful. She was found mangled; from the waist down was a coyote. Today already, a human woman, age twenty-five, was bitten by a wolf, again she was found dead just with her face turned,” he reports, disgusted. “Just an hour ago, a man turned up on the local tiger pack’s land. He was mangled, bits of tiger mixed with his human face.”

“So from all the bodies found, we have at least a coyote, wolf, and tiger in on this or being held against their will and forced to bite the humans. This is getting out of control. I may need to call the panthers, or at least inform them to keep an eye out. Harmony can’t be changed, so she should be safe, but it may be possible if they are kidnapping shifters, too,” I say, concerned.

“Yes, do call your friend. I never thought to see the day you were friends with a woman.” Bash shakes his head.

“Don’t judge. I never thought I would be friends with a woman either. It’s interesting,” I muse. “You get to know someone when you take sex out of the equation.”

“Yeah, no thanks. I like sex.” He shudders.

“Believe me, I have no complaints in that area.” I glare at him. “I respect her. I admire strength in any form.”

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