Death's Servant(29)
“Bullshit!” The tiny vampire cries and leaps across the space between them, toppling the chair backward and pinning the terrified vampire to the floor. “I run the only V V Inn, you disgrace of a vampire.” Cecil’s face collapses in horror. “Perhaps you should have done your research better, asshole.”
Without warning Dria plunges her hand straight into his chest and tears out the vampire’s bloody heart. A scream starts from Cecil but abruptly cuts off when his heart leaves his body. Dria tosses the organ over her shoulder and pulls up her skirt. She extracts a hunting knife strapped to her inner thigh.
My stomach revolts at the horror before me and I swallow bile, hoping I don’t hurl. In a smooth practiced move, Dria severs Cecil’s head from his body and lays it a few feet from his body. Removing the heart first prevented any arterial spray, but her right hand is coated with red all the way up her forearm.
I may be a werewolf, but I’ve never killed a vampire, or anyone else for that matter— animals I’ve hunted while a wolf don’t count as murder in my eyes.
Holy shit. Just exactly what have I gotten myself into with this woman?
She calmly wipes her blade and sullied hand on the dead vampire’s suit jacket before glancing my way. “Well, crap. I hadn’t intended to kill the bastard so quickly tonight. That was until I heard what he called this place—then all my best intentions went out the window.” She sighs once, the sound tired and bone-weary, striding toward the desk.
Dria picks up the phone, while I stare at the wet, sloppy heart at my feet, and dials a number. In a moment whomever she’s calling picks up. “Rafe honey, I’m going to need you here after all. We’ve got quite a mess to clean up.”
Nine by Night: A Multi-Author Urban Fantasy Bundle of Kickass Heroines, Adventure, Magic
Chapter Thirteen
Dria hangs up the phone and focuses her keen gaze on me. “Well, Jon, do you have the courage to eat the heart of your enemy or do you plan on staring at it for a while?”
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. She wants me to eat his freakin’ heart?
“Yes, Jon. That’s exactly what I want you to do. When you kill a vamp you have an opportunity to ingest some of his or her power. Eating his heart will be the best route for a werewolf. As a vampire, I’d drink his blood—drain him dry if I were looking for the power boost.” Her nose curls up in disgust. “Which I’m not. This bastard smells ripe with all kinds of crazy and addiction. I’ll never be that hungry again, thank you very much.”
The fresh blood from the recent kill fills my head, as the disgusting suggestion to devour his heart twists my gut. In wolf form I’ve eaten an animal’s internal organs without a second’s pause. Why does the thought of complying with her suggestion leave me disgusted?
Maybe because the bastard was human at one point? After all, you’d never eat a wolf, would you?
“That would depend on how hungry you were.” Her cold eyes offer no reassurances. “You may not ever be that hungry, Jon. It’s a different time we live in than just one hundred years ago.” Her stare hardens and her mouth thins into a firm line. “Do it. Now.”
I lower my muzzle to the warm organ. The smell of blood and slaughtered flesh fills my head and constricts my throat.
“Don’t let the thoughts linger in your mind and take hold. This is not a life or death decision. This is an alpha protecting those weaker than him—growing stronger to keep doing so.”
I close my eyes, clamp my nostrils closed, and gulp down the heart in one bite, not bothering to chew. The slick mass slides to my stomach, sitting like a hard weight in my middle.
I open my eyes to see her watching me, perhaps wondering if I’ll puke it up and make an ass out of myself.
“Good. The power surge will hit you as it digests. Gross, I know, but one day you’ll thank me for it.”
Somehow I seriously doubt that, but I keep my thoughts locked down tight, trying to avoid what she called my projecting.
Her head tilts to the side as her stare intensifies. “Good. You’re getting better at calming your thoughts.” She walks to my side and kneels. “We’re going to have a rough couple of hours ahead of us, are you going to be able to handle it? Before you agree, let me tell you what’s going to happen.” Her hand reaches out and stokes my fur. “I can’t ‘cure’ a vampire of their addiction.” Her gaze drifts to the wall as her rhythmic petting soothes my jittery stomach. “There is a way I could alter their thoughts… but it won’t change their long term addiction in the end. This means the worst cases will have to die—here, tonight.”