I Am Only One {Mature Vampire Romance}

Book 3|36. Until the Sun Comes Up

Her first sentence caught my attention. I clarified, "You said he wanted to know what you were. Did you mean who you were?"

She shook her head, "No, he was specific. I told him I was a bloodline vampire."

"And what did he say?"

"Nothing. He just looked at me funny, and asked about my parents and where I came from. I told him and then I fell asleep."

I wasn't surprised he had been able to force her to sleep. I just didn't understand his line of questioning, and I sure as fuck didn't understand his allegiance to Marku. Of course, dark Fae were unpredictable. I probably shouldn't have been surprised that his actions didn't match my expectations.

"We need to go," York interjected, anxiety lacing his words. "The sun will be up in a few hours and we'll have no choice but to seek cover. Let's not wait too long."

I agreed. "It doesn't matter that we are out of Marku's territory. We are still close enough that we need to avoid the normal accommodations."

"Okay, so we find an available house and you compel the kind people living inside. We are going to need to eat as well," Echo said pointedly.

He was right. It had been too long and we needed to regain our strength. My tone was tight, "We hunt on the way. I want to put as much distance between us and Marku as possible, before we stop." I looked down at Raine. "How are feeling? In control?"

She nodded, "Yes, I need to feed, but I'm in control. Put me down. We'll move faster with me running."

"Are you sure?" I didn't like the idea of letting her out of my arms, but she was right, and distance was our friend right now.

.........

We ran for another hour, navigating stealthily through the darkened streets. "There," Echo nodded his head toward a pub down one of the side roads.

We changed course and headed in that direction. It would be the perfect place to satisfy our thirst. We walked inside, and were immediately assaulted by the foul air, thick with the stench of smoke, whisky and bad decisions. We had a captive audience, everyone turned to stare, and as drunk as they were, the bastards practically undressed Raine with their eyes. I pushed her behind me and let out a warning growl. Their eyes widened and they bumped into each other as they tried to shuffle farther away.

I looked around, searching. There was only one female in the entire place, the waitress. I pushed Raine in her direction. I didn't want Raine's mouth on any of these lowlife males. But she halted in her tracks and put her arm out to stop me from nudging her further. "No, Tobias needs to feed from her."

"What? Why?" I looked at her in confusion.

Her voice lowered, "Because he can't control his gift."

What the hell was she talking about? I glanced to Tobias who was currently studying the floor intently. I looked back to Raine. She answered my unspoken question, her voice lowering even more, "He has the gift of pleasure, but he can't control it. He can't stop it when he feeds. And men...have a tendency to come on him. He doesn't like that."

Oh!

Under other circumstances, I might have held tighter to my diplomacy and simply nodded with understanding. But the last few days had been too stressful, and I broke, unable to stop my laughter. Which of course, caused Echo's men, York and even Talon to join in. Instantly, the patrons relaxed by our good mood, and chuckled along with us, even though they had no idea what was so funny. Let's see how long their good mood lasted.