Blood Candy Read online

  “Go away with me,” Blake said. “Let them solve their own problems.”

  Blake gently stroked her hair from where he sat next to her in the SUV. It didn’t seem to Candy that there was anyone else in the car other than her and Blake, even though they were both in the back seat and she heard the sound of speeding tires against the asphalt.

  Candy wanted to agree with him. She didn’t want to do this.

  “No,” she said. “Jimmy’s in danger. We need to help get him out of there.”

  Blake kissed her cheek. Something jostled her and she sat up.

  “Is this it up here?” Melvin said.

  The SUV bumped over several sets of train tracks. Candy turned to see she was leaning against the car door. Blake wasn’t there. His soothing voice still echoed in her tired mind and she tried to shake it away. Ahead, she saw an industrial complex against the dark sky where night had fallen like a curtain over everything. They were near Boston.

  “This is it,” Medium Dave said.

  A car flashed its lights and Melvin turned towards it. Candy saw Blake get out of a silver Mercedes. After Melvin stopped the car, she got out and walked quickly over to him.

  “I’ve been so worried about you,” Blake said, holding his arms out for her. Candy stopped short and crossed her arms. “I missed you,” he murmured.

  Blake had on a red leather jacket with zippers all over it, along with fingerless black gloves. Candy stared at him for a moment, wondering why he was dressed like that.

  “Are you alone?” she asked.

  Blake looked hurt. “Of course I’m alone.”

  “Ride with us,” she said.

  Blake turned his car off, pocketed the key and followed her to the back seat of the SUV without question. Once they were both in, Melvin turned the car around. Felicia gave Blake a curious glance and then laughed, saying something about eighties pop stars.

  “Hey, Melvin? Felicia?” Blake said. Neither of them responded. Medium Dave said hello from the cargo compartment of the SUV.

  “You can’t exactly blame them,” Candy said. “Vampires have been a pain in the ass for them, and now for me, for a long time.”

  Blake’s eyes gleamed against the half moon beyond the window he sat beside. “I know. I’m sorry. I wish it wasn’t like this.”

  “Well it is,” Felicia said. “Some help your family was.”

  Blake didn’t respond. His face softened and the corners of his mouth pulled down, making him appear positively tortured.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll do anything to help,” he said. “I can help get Jimmy out of there if that’s what you want. But I don’t want you there if anything goes down,” he told Candy. “It’s too dangerous. The same goes for your friends. Stay in the car, find the rest of the shapeshifters and warn them. Let me handle everything else.”

  “I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself,” Felicia said. “And Candy’s a big girl; she can make her own decisions.”

  Blake fell back into silence. Melvin drove onto a highway that would take them to the Kingsley estate in about fifteen minutes.

  “I ask that you stay close to me,” Blake said. “All of you.”

  Felicia turned around in her seat and assaulted him with her eyes. “Don’t pretend you care about anyone other than yourself. And I don’t want to hear about your family’s high moral standards. Once a vampire, always a vampire.”

  Blake only lowered his head though his gleaming eyes remained on Candy. The bite marks on her neck itched. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted him to take her right there in the back seat the way they had been so close to doing in her broken dreams. She couldn’t look away from his silvery eyes.

  “Did you dream about me?” she said, ignoring Felicia’s groan. “You were there in my head, weren’t you?”

  Blake nodded. “Yes,” he said, and at this Felicia turned in her seat to stare at them with curiosity. “It’s strange,” he admitted. “I’ve never shared a bond. It’s because I love you, Candy. I know it’s because I’ve never loved until now.”

  Felicia looked skeptical, but not nearly as much as Candy. The same thing happened with Rupert, and Candy was quick to point this out. “It’s because we love each other? What about Rupert? I sure as hell don’t love him and he doesn’t love me. He only wants my blood.”

  Blake turned his face to the world speeding by on the other side of the window. “I only know I love you,” he said softly. “I don’t drink from people. I didn’t know it would be like this. I’ve never felt this alive.”

  “Great,” Felicia said. “You got the one vampire who doesn’t drink from people hooked on human blood. So much for that.”

  “No,” Blake said. “It’s true we don’t take blood from humans, at least not the way other vampires do, but we can’t live only on synthetic and animal blood. We have to drink human blood or eventually we wither and . . . I don’t know, maybe die or fall into a coma or something. My mother prepares everything for us. Once a month we drink real human blood from a bottle. That’s all I’ve ever known.”

  “So you’re like a vampire virgin? Or you were?” Felicia said. Blake stared at her and then nodded.

  “I told you,” Medium Dave said.

  “Weird,” Felicia said as she turned back around. “You know, guys who get it the first time tend to fall desperately for the girl who gave it up. They are the kind of guy a girl can wrap around her finger.”

  Candy didn’t know what to think about that and so she didn’t give it much thought. Blake didn’t say anything either.

  Melvin took an exit ramp and a few minutes later they were slowly driving through a high-end neighborhood. Candy didn’t consider it much of a neighborhood since none of the huge houses were close enough together to constitute anything neighborly. After several miles along a road that went through expansive fields dotted with gigantic, walled in houses, Blake told Melvin to stop the car.

  “We walk the rest of the way,” he said. “That field there will take us to the wall surrounding the Kingsley property.”

  Melvin parked behind some trees. He grabbed the duffle bag from the back of the SUV and started taking out what looked like guns, though Candy could see they weren’t regular guns. He handed one to Felicia and then offered one to Candy.

  Blake raised a brow. “Paintball guns?”

  Melvin eyed him. “Want me to shoot you with one?”

  Blake laughed at the idea of being shot with a paintball gun. “You don’t really think that will hurt me, do you?”

  In a display of his masculinity, Blake held his red leather jacket open and puffed out his chest. He grinned when Melvin raised the gun and took quick aim before firing a single shot that echoed into the field. Blake’s smug attitude suddenly turned into a maddening scream as he ripped off his jacket and the shirt beneath, revealing an impossibly white chest with a shallow, bloody wound steaming above his left breast.

  “What the fuck!”

  “Holy water balls, asshole.”

  Felicia laughed as she loaded the pockets of her vest and the utility belt she had strapped around her narrow waist. Satisfied with the results of the paintball gun experiment, Melvin did the same. He looked a little silly in his camos, holding a gun while wearing those round glasses.

  “Your friends are psychotic,” Blake said.

  Melvin hooked paint grenades, undoubtedly full of holy water, onto his belt. “Not psychotic, just ready to fuck some vampires up if it comes to that.”

  Candy picked up Blake’s shirt. He tossed his leather jacket onto the hood of the car and when she handed him the shirt he held it carefully so as not to touch the holy water on it. Medium Dave shifted into a moose to scout ahead as they made their way into the dark field. Candy could barely see ten feet in front of herself while everyone else seemed perfectly at home in the dark.

  About a half mile into the field Blake made a sound and held his arm out to stop everyone. Candy did what everyone else did, dropping down onto one of her knees
while keeping her head low. She had a shaky grip on the paintball gun, her breaths coming in quick rasps. Blake put his shirt on while Medium Dave, human again and naked, hustled towards them.

  “The wall is ahead,” he said. “It’s about fifteen feet of stone. I found a spot I could climb.”

  “Perfect,” Blake said. Crouching low to the ground, he hurried through the field to the wall. Before they got there Candy was able to make out the top third and fourth floors of the mansion—the same exact mansion she had seen before. Though it wasn’t from the same angle, it was the mansion from her dream with Rupert.

  Seeing it sent chills through her body. She had never been at this mansion before, and yet there it was right out of her dream. “What the hell,” she mumbled beneath her breath.

  Melvin climbed to the top of the wall using a tree and protruding stonework. He laid flat on his stomach while Felicia climbed up after him. She was surprisingly nimble for a girl, with enough upper body strength to pull herself to the top. Candy, having flashbacks to gym class, needed a hand to get all the way up. Blake climbed the wall with ease.

  They studied the yard around the mansion for a long time. Two guards in black suits stood at one corner leading to the front door, no doubt packing heat. The whole front yard was brightly lit and there were a dozen cars parked in the driveway. As far as Candy could tell, there was nothing else going on. There certainly weren’t any other shapeshifters running around.

  “We beat them here,” Melvin said.

  “Good,” Felicia said. “Look how many cars are parked outside and I’ve already seen at least ten different people walking in front of the windows. I’m sure there are more of those bodyguards around. Maybe we can cut the others off when they get here.”

  “Wait,” Blake said. “We can use this opportunity to get in and help Jimmy before the rest of the shapeshifters arrive. This may be your only chance.”

  Felicia shook her head. “We shouldn’t do anything without The Alpha.”

  Blake settled his eyes on Candy, longing for her approval. Candy knew he’d do anything for her, knew he was ready to sneak into that mansion full of vampires to find Jimmy if she told him to.

  “Blake’s right,” she said. “We don’t have time to wait on the others. We can’t take that chance. Think about Jimmy.”

  “I can find a way in,” Blake said. “I can try to find out where they have Jimmy.”

  “No,” Melvin said, mistrust clear on his voice. “We all go together. If you ever leave my sight, I’ll assume you’re betraying us.”

  Melvin and Blake glared at each other, but neither said anything. Instead, Blake glanced back at Candy, and the odd way his eyes caught the moonlight made him look hungry, unnatural. She turned her head away from him.

  “We find a back entrance,” Melvin said. “If there are guards, Dave can distract them. Then he’ll wait on the outside for the others to let them know what’s going on. Our goal is to get Jimmy out of there and nothing else.”

  Blake studied Melvin for a moment with those eerie eyes and then he nodded.

  “Wait,” Candy said. Even though it was dark, the yard was familiar; she was seeing what she had seen in her dream with Rupert. There were the sculpted hedges in the darkness, and there was the fountain. A distinct feeling of déjà vu chilled her to the core.

  “There’s a cellar door on the other side. I remember seeing it,” she said.

  Everyone stared at her and Melvin said, “What are you talking about?”

  Candy looked at Blake. She knew he understood. “I’ve been here,” she said. Melvin’s eyes went wide with confusion, and maybe betrayal. Candy spoke up, “I dreamed about this. I was here in a dream, you have to believe me. There’s a cellar door.”

  “She’s right,” Blake said. “The dreams we were talking about in the car. She’s seen this place before because she saw into Rupert’s mind. If there’s a cellar door we can get in through the basement. That’s probably where they have Jimmy.”

  Melvin and Felicia consulted each other with their eyes. They pondered the situation for a moment and then they both nodded. Everyone lowered themselves to the ground where it was darker on the other side of the wall. They snuck alongside it, keeping within the shadows. The wall slowly curved inward toward the hedges at the very back of the estate.

  Medium Dave found some open space and shifted into a moose. He trotted out into the yard, disappearing behind a tree, and then came back a moment later. He stamped his hoof twice on the ground and tossed his head.

  “Two guards,” Melvin said. “He’ll try to run them off.”

  The rear of the mansion didn’t have as much lighting as the front. With Blake leading, they all dashed to a tree on the side of the yard. Candy pointed out the entrance into the basement and then they all waited on the distraction from Medium Dave.

  The two guards were stationed on a low patio in front of a set of glass doors, the same doors Candy had seen in another dream. With a pool adjacent to the patio deck, there was no way they would be able to get past the guards unseen. Medium Dave tossed his head and charged.

  The guards flinched at the massive animal heading straight at them. Candy cringed, gritting her teeth when they reached into their jackets. Medium Dave bucked and the guards instead made a run for cover on the side of the pool. The moose made a deep bleating sound and charged again, but this time he kept running out into the darkness of the yard. The two guards didn’t give chase, running instead around the side of the mansion towards the front.

  Blake and the Misfits made their move and ran to the side of the mansion. The cellar door had a padlock with chains and Candy didn’t see how they’d get in. Making sure to keep well below the level of the windows, Blake took hold of the chains and heaved. Nothing happened at first, then the latch finally gave way with a loud snap. Everyone tensed and remained motionless with their eyes on the window. Blake cracked one side of the storm door open and waited for everyone to go in. The cellar smelled of damp earth and mold, and it was completely black except for a seam of light beneath a door ahead. The faint sound of music and chatter seeped through the ceiling.

  “This is so creepy,” Felicia whispered. “They’re having a party for an execution.”

  “Everyone be ready,” Melvin said.

  He made sure the safety was off on his paintball gun. Candy did the same; at least she thought she did, she hadn’t a clue how to work it other than pull back on the trigger. Blake slowly led the way with Melvin behind him. He glanced over his shoulder a few times, not quite trusting all of the holy water at his back.

  Blake held out a hand and put his ear to the door. He listened for a moment and then checked the doorknob; it turned all the way over, clicking slightly. He cracked it open to look through. Light from the other side bathed the handsome features of his pale face. He opened the door wider and waved everyone to follow.

  The other side was an uncomfortably warm boiler room. Pipes ran along the walls from a furnace and water tanks. The room extended out to a corner with a more brightly lit wine cellar on the left where the noise from upstairs was louder.

  “Keep watch here while I check what’s ahead,” Melvin said.

  Blake nodded and moved closer to the wine cellar to keep an eye for anyone coming down while Melvin snuck along the wall towards the back of the room. Candy noticed he had several wooden stakes strapped onto his utility belt. He paused at the corner and slowly moved his head to look around. He stood there motionless for a moment and then he silently moved back to them.

  “There’s a door with two more guards,” he said, keeping his voice to a whisper. “That may be where Jimmy is.”

  “We don’t have a lot of time,” Felicia said. “They have ear buds and I’m sure they heard about the moose outside. Those other two guards may walk past the cellar door so we need to take them out fast.”

  “Take them out?” Blake said. “We can’t kill anyone.”

  “I don’t necessarily mean kill them,” Felicia
hissed. “You’re a freaking vampire, go in there and bang their heads together or something.”

  Blake wasn’t one hundred percent on board with Felicia’s plan. With a glance at Candy, he sighed and nodded. “I’ve never done the head knocking thing,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I can put them down before they can get a gun out or call for help.”

  “Whatever it takes,” Felicia said impatiently. “We have to do this—”

  Something crashed upstairs, a glass door or a window. They heard yelling and then Candy heard a noise that sent pure fear pumping through her veins—a noise that sounded like the mixture of a wild animal and a nightmare. And then the sound of total chaos erupted up the stairs from the wine cellar.

  “Shit! That’s them,” Melvin said.

  The two guards came around the corner with their pistols drawn. Candy and the Misfits raised their paintball guns for what good it would do against real weapons. Blake dashed forward just as the guards saw them. Before either could react one went flying off his feet, discharging his gun twice into the ceiling. Candy heard four successive POP sounds and the other guard screamed, clutching his face. Felicia put him down with several paintballs to the kisser. Blake finished the job with a punch to his nose.

  The Misfits rushed over. Blake looked absolutely horrified that he had to punch two people. They hurried past him and Melvin threw the door open. Jimmy was inside, tied to a chair with his head hanging down. He had been beaten.

  Candy ran to him. “Jimmy!”

  She lifted his head up. One of his eyes was swollen nearly shut. There were strange, black scribbles on his face and what looked like blood smeared around his mouth. The only article of clothing he had on was an oversized pair of sweatpants. His good eye flickered open, taking a few seconds to focus. Melvin worked at the ropes binding him to the chair.