Page 14 of Heathens

I know it’s dramatic, but so am I.

She was made for me, a perfect concoction of everything I’ve ever wanted, all wrapped up in a pretty little package. I haven’t even tasted her, but the smell of her fear mixed with her perfume weighs heavily on my mind, making my head swim.

It might as well be Christmas morning.

As the van peels away, she cranes her neck to look back at me and I smile, the most exquisite rush of warmth and adrenaline pulsing through me like wildfire. She’s beautiful, long red hair, rich olive green eyes, soft freckles; the gun in her hand makes her even more appealing.

I have to follow her.

“Dom!” Theo calls from the door. “The fuck are you lookin’ at? Come on!”

“Whowasthat?“ I ask.

“The humans?” Theo replies, clearly annoyed. “Who gives a shit? They’re just doing a blood run, you still hungry or something?”

I want her, and not just in a ‘I want to bite down on her throat and drain her dry’ kind of way. I want to touch her, to feel her lips crushed up against mine. I want to listen to her moan in my ear as I break her.

My cock strains. Sex and blood go hand in hand, after all. Feeding on someone is an extremely sensual experience for both partners, when we’re not ripping their throats out, at least.

“I’m serious, Theo. Who was that?”

“You think I know everyone in this town?”

“I think you’re a big fuckin’ gossip,” I mutter.

Theo finds dirt on everyone. He’s got a such silver tongue, even Rene’s men somehow manage to fuck up and tell him their secrets on the regular.

“You want me to find out, Boss?” Luke offers, his eyes blown out and his face still smeared with blood.

He’s always eager to please, like a puppy. I toss him my keys.

“Nothing physical, just get me a name and report back.”

Luke salutes me and hops back into his car, the wheels screeching against the asphalt as he rushes to complete his new mission.

Theo sighs behind me.

“Dom, we don’t have time to get you laid tonight. We have to figure out what the fuck we just stole, and then how to keep it from Deschamps.”

I’m not worried about Rene. We have a mutual understanding. He quietly holds onto his power, slowly but surely expanding, and I provoke him into striking out once in a while. We fight, people die, rinse and repeat. I realize that makes me look like the bad guy, but there’s something that has to be understood about Rene. He’s far worse, far more dangerous than I am.

We were supposed to be partners. Rene promised me a little slice of the city when everything went to shit. But when the time came to divvy it up, he flipped it all sideways. Said it was too complicated, and that he needed someone he could trust to help him handle it all. And that was me. He could always trust me to help when things got tough.

Until he couldn’t.

It’s mostly been a stalemate ever since I broke away, but the war we wage isn’t always so balanced. The city has paid the price.

But soon it won’t matter, Deschamps will be gone from here, or better yet, dead, and I’ll take what is rightfully mine. All of it.

“Dom!” Theo snaps his fingers. “Come on!”

“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter, following Mateo and him inside.

This building was supposed to be an apartment complex, filled to the brim with our kind. The humans have been extremely vocal about the fact that a bunch of bloodsuckers were setting up shop next to their main source of income wouldn’t be the most neighborly thing to do, especially when that income comes in the form of their sweet red. So, now it’s just the head of my operations in the city. I live up at the top, but the rest is practically empty, mostly just storage and a few offices throughout. It’s a decent compromise, one that Rene was vocal in his distaste for.

It’s a shame, really. Fully furnished suites, high vaulted ceilings, dark windows, and beautiful black and gold marble floors, all of it empty and unused. Hell, even the front desk goes unmanned, but I still got a big golden DUNCAN TOWERS sign built into the wall. There are some things you can’t skimp on.

“We have to hide this shit,” Theo mumbles.

---