Blood Candy Page 9

  “Sure.”

  Blake fetched a pool stick for each of them and then racked up nine balls on the red felt table. “You have some interesting friends.”

  “Who?” Candy had become lost in his motions while he set up the game. “Oh, yeah. Sure.”

  “You break.”

  Candy had only played pool a couple of times with one of her old boyfriends and she didn’t remember many of the rules aside from the obvious ones. She put the cue ball close to the back rail and tried to hit it as hard as she could. She managed to make contact but when the cue ball struck the rack it didn’t make much of a spread.

  “Not bad.” Blake lined up his shot on the one-ball. “I have to warn you I’m pretty good. I whoop my brothers and sister regularly.”

  “How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

  “A few.” He sunk the billiard into the corner pocket he had called. The cue ball drew back for a perfect shot on the two-ball into a side pocket. “Where are you from?”

  “A small town near Gardner. It’s a nowhere, nothing town about two hours from Boston.”

  “I’ve been around there before. I like it; it has an old New England feel,” Blake said.

  Candy smiled even though she didn’t completely agree with his assessment of her home town area. She couldn’t take her eyes away from him as he lined up his shot. The way his soft eyes gleamed in the lighting while he leaned over the table made them seem almost silver.

  “It’s not so bad I guess,” she said. “It’s just nothing like the cities.”

  Candy suspected that Blake missed his next shot on purpose. He leaned against the back wall with the cue stick in one hand while gazing at her, his face solemn and pleasant.

  “I’m sorry about what happened to you,” he said. “Not all vampires are like that you know.”

  Something about that jarred Candy out of her schoolgirl crush. She tried to force a smile and ended up looking down at the table. She hadn’t put much thought into him being a vampire. Her stomach lurched as everything came into perspective. She glanced over her shoulder at the others, who were completely absorbed in the video game they were playing. All of the warnings she had heard from Tinch and the Misfits rang clearly in her mind. Vampires have a way of getting whatever they want. Don’t ever trust a vampire. Don’t ever believe a word they say.

  Candy pursed her lips, setting her resolve. “The only thing I know is a vampire forced himself on me. What he did was wrong. He tried to take it from me and I couldn’t even say no.”

  Blake gave a grim nod. “He deserves to be punished.”

  “Will he be?”

  “I’ll make sure of it.”

  Candy didn’t know what to think or if she believed him. She had to admit that Blake and Chester didn’t seem anything at all like Rupert and Vivian. Even Anastasia seemed more normal. Not human, because that was the last thing the freaky little girl seemed, but she had come off as genuinely concerned. The Mullins had taken Candy and her friends into their house and offered to help when they didn’t have to.

  Candy figured she should at least be respectful so long as her hosts did the same. And, no matter how much she wanted to fight it, no matter how completely strange it was, she couldn’t deny her attraction to this gorgeous vampire. Actually, it wasn’t that strange at all considering this kind of thing always happened in stories. But to a Catholic raised girl, the idea of attraction to a vampire, to something that fed on people and was supposed to be evil, it just didn’t sit right.

  The conflictions in her mind only raised more questions. Evil or not, right or wrong, Blake intrigued her and she wanted to know more about this world she never knew a thing about before.

  “How long have you been a vampire?”

  Blake laughed. “That’s a very personal question.”

  “I’m eighteen. What’s so personal about it?” Candy said.

  Blake studied her for a moment, seemingly unsure as to what he should say. “Long enough,” he said.

  She could see he wasn’t going to make this easy. “Is it true your family doesn’t drink human blood?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have you ever . . . ?”

  His beautiful eyes lingered on her for a long moment, studying her, drinking her up. “I’d be lying if I said no, but I only drink human blood when I need to. And I never hurt anyone.”

  Candy wasn’t sure she liked that answer. She turned away from him and leaned against the pool table. The Misfits were playing a volleyball game against each other as bikini clad, giggling girls with very bouncy breasts. Jimmy never once looked over his shoulder.

  “I hope you won’t judge all of us because of one bad apple. It’s hardly fair,” Blake said. “I’ve seen a werewolf tear a man apart before. I don’t assume they are all that way.”

  “First impressions are powerful,” Candy said, her eyes lingering on Jimmy. She wanted to be closer to him. “Werewolves saved me.”

  She caught a brief flash of light across the room near a corner of the ceiling. Blake put his cue stick on the table. “We’re needed in the main hall,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear. “If you will all follow me, please.”

  The boys were disappointed they had to turn off the video game. Jimmy and White Paul walked over to Candy while Medium Dave made his way to where Blake waited at the door.

  “Shame he’s a vampire,” White Paul said. “This is an awesome crib.”

  Jimmy had a worried if not accusatory expression as he moved close to Candy’s side. “He the kind of pretty guy you usually take a liking to?” He held up a hand before she could protest. “Just don’t forget why we’re here.”

  He joined the others near the door, leaving Candy angry and a little upset. Blake waited for her, his eyes heavy with sympathy. She walked past him without a word into the antechamber.

  Anastasia had said she was going to get dressed into something more appropriate, but she looked like even more of a tramp than before. In the style of frivolous southern girls, she was wearing a shirt tied well above her naval, revealing a midriff so white it looked painted. She had also put on frayed blue jean shorts that showed the entire length of her pale legs. Her hair was now pulled back in a short pony tail and she had on red lipstick along with blue eyeliner.

  Everyone gawked at her, no one more so than White Paul. Blake didn’t seem to notice or care as he strolled over to his mother’s side. Anastasia was skinny and terribly white, and now that she had taken off all of the dark makeup she looked like a porcelain doll. She could have stood perfectly still and passed for a statue.

  “Wonderful,” said the vampire girl. “A contact of mine will be here momentarily, a nice Englishman who knows better than I how to go about handling Rupert and his family. Before he arrives we need to get our stories straight.”

  “What do you mean?” Jimmy said.

  “I have put some thought into this. We must claim Candy, it’s the only way to nullify Rupert’s claim. She has been a friend of the family for several months now. More specifically, a friend of Blake’s—a close friend. That’s the story.”

  Jimmy crossed his arms and glared at the pair of vampires.

  “Tonight, Blake will make it official,” Anastasia said.

  “Make what official?” both Candy and Jimmy asked in unison. His voice had more than a touch of anger on it.

  “That she’s claimed unto him,” Anastasia said with a nod to her son. “Candy will be Blake’s and no other can touch her without his consent.”

  Candy turned to Jimmy. While they silently debated with their eyes, the room fell into silence. White Paul leered at Anastasia, unconcerned about everything else, while Medium Dave looked around at all of the decor, including a white marble sculpture of a nude Greek or Roman woman. Silence stretched on, and while the situation ate away at both Candy and Jimmy, it didn’t seem to bother Anastasia in the least. She waited patiently with a pleasant smile.

  “I don’t think so,” Jimmy said at last. “I don’t l
ike the sound of this ‘claim’ stuff. I don’t know what it means and we’re not just going to agree to it.”

  “It’s nothing more than a formality in this case,” Anastasia said. “A front, if you will, so Rupert cannot make the same claim, which for him will not be a formality.”

  Candy and Jimmy looked into each other’s eyes again, searching for answers, searching for what they should do. As far as she was concerned, there wasn’t any other choice, and by the look on his face, he didn’t have any other options. She squeezed his hand. He needed to understand this was the only way, that she wouldn’t let Rupert take her.

  “Okay,” she said.

  Jimmy remained distrustful of the whole situation, but he conceded with a slight nod. Blake then stepped forward towards Candy—halfheartedly, she thought.

  “To make it official, he has to partake of your blood,” Anastasia said.

  “Wait a minute!” Jimmy stepped between Candy and the vampires. “We’re not doing it like this. She’s been traumatized and you want to make her relive that? You’re insane.”

  “It’s the only way,” Anastasia said with a glance at Jimmy. “All Blake needs is a tiny amount of blood from her wrist. He will be gentle and it won’t take more than a few seconds. We have no intention of making her relive any trauma.”

  Everyone turned their heads to the door when the bells rang. Jimmy didn’t budge from his position. Candy was glad. She was having some serious second thoughts about agreeing. She didn’t like the sound of Blake biting her no matter how Anastasia tried to spin it. At least she thought she didn’t like the sound of it; her body reacted in a completely different manner. Now she thought she’d like to see how it felt this time around. She wanted to see if it would feel good again and it didn’t seem like such a bad thing to have Blake—beautiful, gorgeous Blake—take a tiny taste from her wrist.

  “What about that blood slave stuff? You said it yourself,” Jimmy said.

  “The wrist is less potent than the more sexually charged areas like the neck,” Anastasia said, her eyes going to the door. The bells rang again. “There’s no risk of a powerful bond. We are running out of time. Given the circumstances and time restraints, there are no other options. Rupert will have the right to remove Candy from my home or anywhere else.”

  Candy nodded when Jimmy turned to her, and then he stepped aside.

  Blake held his hand out. “This will be quick. I promise there won’t be any emotion attached. You can trust me, Candy.”

  Candy put her hand in his and he turned her palm face up, exposing the veins. She turned her head and closed her eyes. She heard both Jimmy and White Paul sigh, though it was more of a low growl from White Paul. She didn’t think they had any other choice.

  The pain lanced up her arm.

  Candy gasped and her eyes flew open as the pain cramped the muscles in her arm. The pain she wanted more of, the pain that felt so good. The pain she never wanted to go away surged into her shoulder, spreading its electric fingers throughout the rest of her body. Her abdomen tingled, radiating warmth, feeling like . . . there was no way she could explain the feeling. There seemed to be nothing else in the world with which she could make a correlation.

  She must have closed her eyes again. When she blinked them open, Blake was gently kissing the wound on her wrist. His tongue flicked over the tiny punctures and the sensation in her abdomen flared back to life. He had to catch her in his arms otherwise she would have fallen to the marble floor. Jimmy rushed over and took her away from him. Blake didn’t offer any resistance.

  “No,” Anastasia said. “Blake must introduce Candy as his own. They have to be together to make it authentic.”

  Jimmy let go of her, but not before he made sure she was okay. Candy nodded, and then her face went red when she realized everyone in the room had watched the intimate transaction between her and Blake. It made her feel like a whore on display. Blake put his arm around her shoulder and whispered that everything was okay. Anastasia opened the door.

  “Nigel,” she said. “Please, come in.”

  White Paul said loud enough for Candy and Blake to hear, “So much for them not drinking human blood. Never trust a vampire, I say.”

  Chapter Ten

  Nigel didn’t look anything like a vampire. He only vaguely passed as American with his tweed jacket patched at the elbows over a sweater vest and with his handmade leather loafers, but the last thing Candy would have suspected from him would be fangs and a craving for blood. He looked like a pleasant man who might be seen hosting a show about gardening in a quaint voice on BBC.

  Anastasia looked like a vampire. Everything about her gave off an unnatural vibe. Her voice, her mannerisms, and her young body sent chills into nearby spines. Even Blake carried that vibe to a degree. Nigel, however, looked like he might be the overly enthusiastic professor of poetry at a local community college.

  “Right nice night it is,” Nigel said, his British accent not nearly as heavy or obnoxious as that of Rupert or Vivian. He took off his jacket and draped it over his arm. “You have a lovely home, Anna dear.”

  “Thank you. And thank you again for coming all the way out on such short notice,” Anastasia said.

  “Not a bother. Anything for you, Anna.”

  Nigel took the time to give everyone in the room some of his attention. He smiled and nodded at Blake and then his eyes passed quickly over the Misfits until he got to Medium Dave where he paused for a moment. One of his brows perked up as if perhaps he knew him, and then he turned his attention to Candy. He didn’t smile or anything before he turned back to Anastasia.

  “This must be the girl you spoke of,” he said. “Quite exquisite I should say. I’ve always had a fondness for American girls, especially the blondes. Marilyn Monroe got my blood pumping right good she did. I think it’s the Germanic blood. I suppose that’s one good thing to come out of that miserable part of the world.”

  “Indeed,” Anastasia said. “This is the lovely Candy.”

  A goofy grin played over Nigel’s face. “Candy? That’s a fitting name if ever I heard one. She’s eye candy right and so she is.”

  Candy had been used to having Jimmy at her side and she forgot it was Blake’s hand she held when she squeezed. It hadn’t taken long for Nigel to make himself seem more like the rest of the vampires she had thus far encountered. She wondered if they all spoke unabated about whatever they thought regardless of who was around to hear. She heard White Paul whisper to Jimmy, “This guy’s a nut bag.”

  “Who’s that?” Nigel said, leaning his head to and fro so he could see past Candy and Blake. “Don’t think I’ve ever been called a nut bag before. What exactly does that mean?”

  Anastasia glared at the Misfits. “Eccentric,” she said.

  Nigel nodded thoughtfully. “I never did get the hang of American slang and colloquialism. They said the queerest things in the latter eighteen hundreds.”

  Anastasia took a couple of steps back so she could have everyone in front of her. Her youthful voice filled the antechamber. “Why don’t we get started? I’d like to get your opinion on a recent problem my son and some of his friends have run into with an Englishman.”

  “Fill me in.”

  Medium Dave yawned and propped his elbow on the hip of a statue made in the likeness of a nude goddess. He rested his head against his hand during the boring conversation. Blake kept Candy close at his side. He put his arm around her shoulder to continue the charade that they were lovers. The sour expression Jimmy didn’t bother to hide showed what he thought, though Blake didn’t seem to care.

  “Candy and my son have been seeing each other for quite some time now,” Anastasia said in her dainty voice. “They’ve been waiting for the right time to make it official. You know how it is with kids these days.”

  Nigel nodded while everyone else pondered her use of “kid” in regard to someone other than herself.

  “Regardless, she has recently come into today’s standard of adulthood and now sh
e and Blake are ready to be united,” Anastasia said.

  “Congratulations,” Nigel said with a wink to the couple.

  “Yes, but there’s a problem. An Englishman by the name of Rupert came upon Candy last night when she was alone. He charmed her and I can only assume he did so without knowing she belonged to someone else. It’s all a big misunderstanding.”

  “That it sounds,” said Nigel. “Of course I’m quite familiar with Rupert’s family. This should be easy enough to sort out. I assume you’ve already spoken with one of them on the matter?”

  “Not exactly,” Anastasia said. “There are complications. Rupert has been trying to claim her.”

  Nigel rubbed his chin. “He didn’t bite her, did he?” When Anastasia nodded, he puffed out a dramatic breath and said, “Oh, well that changes everything, makes an argument against them a bit more difficult, it does.”

  “My son made his official claim tonight. She’s rightfully his,” Anastasia said.

  “I see your problem, but the law says otherwise if Rupert drank from her first.”

  “Yes, that is our problem, which is why I called in the most charming man on both sides of the Queen’s pond,” Anastasia said with a smile that had Nigel grinning broadly. “Is there anything you can do to help? I would hate for this to escalate any further than it already has.”

  “I can’t make any promises. If Lord Kingsley was around I’m sure I could talk some sense into him, but kids these days can be so difficult. I’ll ring Hayden Kingsley and see what he has to say on the matter. If he won’t keep his brother in line, I can call in a favor with the Magister to hear a case on your behalf.”

  Anastasia quirked up a single brow. “The Magister? Do you think that will be necessary?”

  “It’s your best bet. If Hayden refuses, you’ll need official mediation. Otherwise, you’ll have to hand the girl over.”

  Anastasia nodded. “I’d be much obliged.”

  “I’ll ring them now.” Nigel pulled out a cell phone from his jacket pocket. “Afterwards, you can return the favor. I’m quite ravenous, and I’d like to wet my wick, if you know what I mean.”