The Darkest Vampire

Chapter 2

2

Tired and upset, I drove back to Forest Creek—the small town one hour east of Portland where I had settled a few years ago.

After my parents’ death, I had roamed around a little until I met Delia while on an impromptu visit to Portland. She hadn’t exactly taken me in, but she'd influenced my decision to stay.

I parked my Corolla in my building’s parking lot in the back. I took the concrete steps two at a time to the second-floor landing and rushed to my apartment. It was getting late. Tomorrow morning I had first shift at the tea shop, and I still had to eat dinner and take a shower before turning in for the day.

I punched my code on the keypad and pushed the door open.

A heavy feeling washed over me.

Something was wrong.

I reached for my flashlight inside my purse and the dagger inside my boot, then without turning on the lights, I walked in. I stayed close to the door, in case someone was in here, and looked around in the near dark.

I swallowed the fear rising in my chest—I had this thing with darkness, hence the magical flashlight. I turned it on and pointed ahead.

“Is someone there?” I asked, feeling stupid. As if a person waiting to commit a crime would answer …

My apartment was small—a tiny living space with a three-seat couch and a low coffee table, a flat screen on a narrow TV stand, a four-place square table to the side, and behind it, an even smaller kitchen with a tall bar counter and two stools. In the back, there was a hallway, if you could call it that, with three doors—my bedroom, a bathroom, and the washer and dryer combo. Floor and table lamps sat in every corner. That was it. If someone was in here, there weren’t many places to hide.

I took another step inside, sure I was spooked after what Fawn had told me. There was no one in my apartment, and there was no heavy feeling.

I reached for the light switch.

A burst of magic enveloped me, freezing me on the spot. Behind me, the door closed on its own.

Oh, s**t.

Panic flared in my chest as my flashlight went out and a shadow moved in the dark, a silhouette highlighted by the faint moonlight filtering through the window. Was this the same shadow from the warning? Was this the murderer?

“W-who are you? What do you want?” I jerked against the spell, trying to point my dagger at the shadow as it made its way closer to me, but to no avail. I was in the dark with a supernatural. The panic seized my lungs, making it hard to breathe. “Stay back.”

My flashlight turned back on and white light covered the space between me and the shadow, revealing a tall man with greenish skin, short horns behind his ears, and near-black eyes. “You must be Lavinia.”

I swallowed. What was he? And how did he know my name? “What do you want?” I asked again, my voice breaking.

“I need your help,” he said. My flashlight shone brighter, flooding half of the living room. The man wore brown slacks and a nice shirt. “I know you’re good at stealing. I actually caught scent of you when a necklace you stole months ago ended up in my hands on the other side of the country.” I frowned. What the hell was he talking about? “The necklace was sold and resold, traveling around, and I followed the trail. At some point, it even ended up in Mexico. Did you know that?”

I blinked. “You’re not making any sense. What are you? What do you want from me?”

“I’m Taedon, a neutral demon, and I’m getting to what I want from you.” The man sat on my couch and crossed his legs. “I need you to steal something for me, something that doesn’t look like much, but is precious.”

“Why don’t you steal it yourself?”

“Because I can’t. But I know you can.”

If this situation wasn’t twisting my gut in fear, I would have laughed in his face. This was ridiculous! “And why would I do that?” I only stole small jewelry or cash from the tea shop’s rich customers, people whom I knew didn’t need the money, and I only used it for unselfish things.

Like paying a witch to try to break a blood promise so I could avenge my parents. Totally not selfish.

Taedon leaned forward, his lips stretching in a wicked smile and revealing very sharp teeth. “Because I have something you want.”

I stared at him for a moment. What could he have that I wanted? I didn’t want money, or power, or fame. “I doubt it. Besides, I don’t work with demons, especially ones who hold me down with cheap magic and threaten me.”

“I haven’t threatened you—not yet.”

Yet …

“Just … call back this spell and leave!”

The demon pushed to his feet and stopped right in front of me. “What if I tell you I could help you too?”

I snorted. “Like I said, I doubt it.”

Taedon sniffed the air in front of me. I wanted to recoil from him, but his spell had trapped me. “I can smell your magic. It’s locked inside of you. A blood promise, it seems? That’s why you went to that little witch this evening? To try and break it?”

My stomach dropped. “How do you—?“

“I came to this shitty little town to talk to you, Lavinia.” He reached up and grabbed some strands of my hair, curling the red ends around his fingers. “You weren’t here, though, but it was easy to find you again.”

“You’re a creep!” The panic was back in full force. I needed to move, to run, to kick his balls, and to plunge my dagger into his stomach. I needed him gone. I needed to flee.

“That I may be, but I’m a creep who knows things.”

“Whatever you know, I don’t want to be a part of it.”

“Oh, but this, you do.” He stared at me with those evil eyes. “For example, I know you want to break the blood promise so you can go on a little adventure and find the one who killed your parents. You want to avenge them.”

The blood drained from my face. “You can’t know that.”

“I’m a special kind of demon, Lavinia. I know a lot. For example number two, I know you don’t know who killed your parents. And here’s where my part of the bargain comes in.” He dropped my hair but leaned closer, his mouth close to my ear as he whispered, “I know who killed your parents.”