Blood: Under the Skin Book 1 Read online

  I glanced back and forth between them again. Could I really do this? Did I want to?

  “Hold up. I never said anything about wanting to do this. How the hell would that work? What if it’s a total disaster? Or you two fight again? Then what?”

  Hollis grabbed my hand. “Then we will work it out like men and get over it. Just because we fight, doesn’t mean you mean less. We’re men and we’re territorial. It’s bound to happen sooner or later. You’ve just got to have faith that we’ll work it out on our own. If it stops working, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, we can think of it as a trial run.”

  As my gaze lingered on Hollis’s steel eyes, I knew without a doubt that I couldn’t give him up. That he meant everything he said and he would try to make this work, no matter what. I turned my head to look at Sloan. His blank expression slowly changed, softening and then turning up into a grin. He sidled over and grasped my other hand, twining his fingers through mine.

  So much love was there, radiating off him like a wave. As strange of a situation as this was for him and his wolf, he was willing to try it anyway. He had forgiven me for my harsh and untrue words and was now offering up his love and willing to share mine, all for the sake of making me happy.

  But this was just too much to process right now. I needed time to figure out if this was something I truly wanted. I couldn’t jump into this blindly. I still meant all the things I’d said to Sloan about wanting more for him. I wasn’t ready to go back on that no matter how much I wanted to. And even though I’d jumped the gun and slept with Hollis, I still needed time to get to know him.

  “I need to think about this, guys. For now, can we just be friends?” As I looked between Sloan and Hollis, I tried to show in the way I gazed at them how much I needed them to understand. After a few seconds, they agreed.

  “All the time you need, Luce.” Sloan said, pulling me into his side for a hug and kissing my temple before Hollis extracted me from him gently and did the same.

  “We will be fine waiting,” he murmured against my head.

  “Fuck. I hate you so much right now. Can I have your life?” Claudia said with a huff, breaking the tension and making all three of us laugh.

  Chapter Eleven

  The weeks following the relationship conversation with Hollis and Sloan, were a bit different than my usual.

  I went back to work the next night and explained to Ricky what had happened. He, of course, was not angry that I skipped out on work to recover. He was just happy I was safe and ordered that I was not allowed to walk home alone from the shop ever again.

  Bad news for me, since I’d have a babysitter for pretty much the rest of my life. It was good news for Sloan and Hollis, though, since they jumped at the chance to escort me home every night. They both acted the same as they usually did around me, but their flirtations never let up.

  Hollis opened up to me more about what it was like for him before the STF, sharing stories of his human life. Like being barely an adult when serving in the civil war and actually there the day the US celebrated its hundred-year anniversary of being a nation. Some of his stories were fascinating. He was clearly born to serve humanity in some form of infantry. Whether a soldier or an agent, he was amazing at what he did. He even shared some more details about the polyamorous relationship he’d been in, undoubtedly to help sway me into the idea of choosing both him and Sloan. I still didn’t give in, though.

  He continued with his investigation into the BloodLust drug, but the warehouse he had found was yet another dead end. He was absent many nights after taking long day shifts, struggling with the aid of his team to get a lead. We were all sitting on pins and needles, waiting for the day Hollis would say that something had turned up. Unfortunately, the Viper trail was steadily going cold.

  Sloan returned to his playful self and even started lightening up towards Hollis. Don’t get me wrong, they still fought like cats and dogs; funny how damn close that metaphor was. But sometimes, I could see the respect Sloan had for Hollis in his mannerisms when speaking to him while they both lazed around my and Claudia’s loft on our mutual nights off work. It gave me hope that if I did decide to take our relationships to the next level, that it would indeed work. I tried not to linger on it, though, deciding it was best to submerse myself in my work and taking my time before making such a monumental decision.

  When I first came back to work, Ricky, Randi and Evan seemed to not notice much of a difference in my life. After Hollis started showing up more frequently and acting completely opposite towards me than that of the normal STF agents, they started picking up on what was going on. Even Sloan was openly showing his affections for me in front of our co-workers.

  Evan was the first to make a joke about it, asking me how many boyfriends I actually had. But after a growl from Sloan and a quick cracking of his knuckles in Evan’s direction, he let it drop and chose to snicker about us in silence. I didn’t care if they knew, but I made sure Sloan still minded himself while I had vampire customers. We weren’t sure who to trust.

  Tonight’s shift was just Randi and I working until close. Thankfully, because of the storm gathering outside, the night would be a smooth ride.

  The moment Ricky had left us to man the shop, Randi pounced on the opportunity to start asking me the questions she’d obviously been dying to know the answers to. This was the first time we’d worked alone since before I was attacked, so I knew it was coming.

  “You know, I’ve heard of vampires having more than one lover, but I’ve never heard of a vampire having a werewolf in the mix. How you doin’ with all of it?” She asked quietly, knowing I didn’t want my vampire client that sat in the lobby to hear this type of conversation.

  “In all honesty, I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing,” I replied, setting my pencil down and taking a quick break from drawing the traditional ship tattoo I was working on. “They’ve been great the last couple of weeks. They’ve given me space to think, while also not disappearing on me completely. They’re even getting along!” I whisper shouted in amazement.

  Randi chuckled, “Yeah. From what I heard about the first meeting between them, it’s pretty great they’re putting their egos lower on their priority list.”

  I eyed her suspiciously, “How did you hear about that?”

  She smiled. “Do you forget we have video and audio surveillance systems in here? After you told us about him coming by that first night, I checked it out and had a good laugh at how bristled Sloan was over his arrival. It’s funny thinking about it now, that maybe his inner wolf never saw Hollis as a threat to your safety, but more so as a threat to his territory.”

  I’d never thought of it like that, and laughed. Maybe his wolf had a sense about Hollis’ immediate interest in me for more than my tattoo expertise.

  “You know,” she continued, dropping down into Sloan’s rolling chair, “you should always follow your heart in situations like this. I get your reasons behind not wanting to be more to Sloan, but that man isn’t going to change his mind anytime this century or even the next. He’d give up the things you think he needs for the thing he probably needs more. You.”

  I opened my mouth to interrupt her, but she waved me off. Why do people never let me interrupt?

  “Huh uh. Yes, it’s noble of you, but you’re just denying what you both want for nothing. He’s always been a lone wolf for as long as you and I have known him. He doesn’t need another wolf by his side, be it a woman to love or a little fluff ball to raise. He needs you. Now, I’m not telling you to jump into a three-way relationship with him and Hollis. But I’m telling you, that if they are fine with the situation, then you guys will work out when you decide to take the leap. And you will decide to. I see it all over your face.”

  With that, she smiled and got up, walking back to the front to start fiddling on the computer.

  It never crossed my mind to seek advice from Randi on the whole thing, since I usually just went to Claudia for all that. Now that she
had just put it to me in a way that finally seemed to sink in, I didn’t see any reason not to think on it harder as a possibility.

  Claudia’s advice on the matter was usually something very unhelpful or perverted like; have sex with them a few more times and pick the better lover, or, compare physiques to see which one was hotter. She even told me to make a sandwich with them, which took me a few moments to realize she didn’t mean the food kind of sandwich. I knew she was joking, but I think she was honestly as clueless as I was on how to help me decide.

  Talking to Randi helped, though. She eased my mind a bit on the reasons I kept Sloan at bay, and made me really ponder what it would be like to be cared for and loved by two equally amazing guys that both complimented my needs. What one couldn’t give to me, the other could.

  With my thoughts a little more at ease and the possibilities swimming around in my head, I had an extra pep in my step as I finished the drawing and called for my client to come over to start.

  Maybe there was hope after all.

  As my client came back to my station, her eyes flicked nervously over the supplies I’d set up. I could tell immediately she was a first timer. People who fiddled with their fingers the way she was screamed newbie.

  “First tattoo, I’m guessing?” I asked her as I pulled on my black latex gloves, setting my needle into the tube and adjusting the machine to just the right setting.

  She sat on the leather bench and nodded. “I wanted a tattoo when I was human, but I was always too scared. Figured now that I was a vampire and my threshold for pain was higher, why not? Heard you were the only one who could do it.”

  I smiled, loving that no one had been smart enough to figure out my formula yet. Business was so damn good.

  “Yep! That’s me,” I replied, as I tested the vibration with my thumb to the armature bar. The secret with getting the ink in good was making sure you were getting just the right amount of punch as the needle moved back and forth. Certain needles needed certain speeds.

  “I’m impressed,” I added. “It’s pretty big for a first-time tattoo. It will definitely hurt and you’ll smell burning flesh, but it’ll pass quickly and I don’t want you to panic. We’ll do one session tonight, then in a couple days you can come back and we’ll finish it. Sound good?”

  The girl smiled shyly and nodded, setting her arm on the armrest and leaning back.

  “I’m going to prick your finger. I need your blood for the ink to work.” I said as I held out my silver poker.

  She hesitantly held out her hand. As quick as I could, I pricked her hard and fast before gathering a drop for each cap of ink. She had jumped at the initial poke, but settled back quickly. I had a feeling she was going to be a very fidgety client. With blood collected and everything set, I got to work.

  As predicted, the girl had moved around the whole time, hissing and squirming every now and then when I lingered in a spot too long. It took over an hour to get the full outline done of the ship, and between the smell of her burning flesh and the annoying fact she had almost messed up my lines six times, I was getting a headache. I hated this part of the job.

  Soon after I started shading, the rain began pouring harder, making me groan in aggravation. Sloan was the one taking me home tonight, so he better of brought his damn car.

  I had only finished two-thirds of her shading, when Sloan came barreling into the shop, his dark-green hoodie pulled up over his head. At first, I thought the rain was the reason for his rushing in like a teen girl at a Backstreet Boy concert, but one look at his face sent an uneasy feeling to my stomach.

  Randi, who had finished with her clients for the night, dropped her magazine as I set down my machine.

  “What’s up with you?” She asked him, as he made a beeline for the computer.

  “You guys have to see this,” he replied, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he searched the web for something. I snapped off my gloves and rushed to his side, noting his tone sounded worried.

  As we watched him click around, he finally came to a stop at some news report. There was a video paused on the screen showing police and STF cars, their lights flashing. He quickly pressed play and leaned back, giving me and Randi an unobstructed view of the report playing out.

  “Good evening, everyone. Alice Perry here with some startling news. We are reporting live from the studio with some video feed from traffic cams in the Upper West Side of New York. What it appears to be is a large group of vampires attacking humans on the streets. The Supernatural Task Force has been called in and are currently trying to get the situation under control. Our field reporter Anderson James is on scene at this very moment where gunfire is currently taking place. Please be advised, what you are about to see and hear may be graphic and is not intended for children,” the reporter stated seriously before turning her attention to the monitor and asking, “Anderson, can you hear us? How far are you from the scene and do you have any information as to what started this?”

  The video changed to what looked like a riot taking place. Lightning flashed, illuminating the street filled with people. The STF were standing in a line in all their armored glory, all with weapons drawn and advancing. Shots were ringing out as over a dozen vampires attacked them without hesitation. There was only audio of the field reporter.

  “Hey Alice, I can hear you,” he said, his voice shouting over the sounds of the gunfire and rain still pouring outside. “I’m currently a few hundred feet back from the scene. One of the STF agents informed me upon our arrival, that they were getting calls about vampires going crazy around one a.m. this morning,” he replied. “At first, there were only one or two calls about breaking and entering, but by around two thirty, the calls had quickly turned to cries for help. These vampires seem to be in a sort of craze. We are all used to the red eyes, pale skin and fangs that we see on a nightly basis, but these are different. They are acting as if they’ve lost all their humanity. They are faster and stronger than I’ve ever seen before. The red that normally stays in the iris of their eyes has bled into the white and their veins are almost pulsating through their skin. I don’t know what’s going on with these vampires, but this is something new and completely terrifying.”

  I glanced at Sloan, both of us mirroring the same concerned look. This was what Hollis had described the drugged-up vampires as looking like. He had filled in Sloan and Claudia the day after the attack on the darker details of his case, wanting to make sure they were both prepared. I’d convinced Claudia to call her maker, who was a very ancient vampire named Abraham, or Brahm as we called him, to come stay with her until this all blew over. I didn’t want her alone if there was a possibility that more vampires would come for me and the threat of something bigger looming over our heads.

  I loved Brahm and wished I had lucked out like she did in that department. I didn’t know the full story of why he turned her, but he cherished her like she was his most precious treasure, treated her like a dearest friend and would protect her with his life. I’d only met him twice, but we had become fast friends.

  There were very few Ancients left in the world, but they were very powerful. As vampires got closer to hitting the millennia mark in age, they began forming powers. Brahm was one of the few who could control human minds with a type of hypnotism. However, all ancients could control vampires with the use of their blood from what I’d heard. Claudia had told me once that Brahm was one of the strongest, most only a fraction as controlled as him. He’d be an asset if things got bad here.

  Something in my gut told me, that whoever was behind these vampire attacks was more powerful than we could fathom. As I watched the video feed, I could tell the vampires had lost all sense of themselves, yet they still seemed organized. Crazy was one thing to deal with, but organized crazy was a whole other ball park.

  When I was deprived of blood after my attack, I knew for a fact I was not as organized as these vampires were, as my recent blood deprivation proved. Someone was pulling the strings.

  We c
ontinued watching as the STF got the upper hand, finally dusting them after another twenty minutes of fighting. But not before losing two of the fifteen agents that had shown up to secure the area. Hollis wasn’t joking about these BloodLust vampires. They were dangerous, not only for humans, but for us as well. If humans believed we could all turn into these vampires on the screen, then we would all be doomed.

  Sloan clicked off the video and we all sat in silence, only the rain echoing around us.

  My gaze ran over Randi as she trembled, her arms crossed over her chest and hugging herself. Sloan rubbed circles on her back to calm her.

  “I think you should lock up and get home, boss lady. That was happening not far from here. I’ll follow you home before I take Lucy back to my place for the night.”

  Randi nodded, seeming to relax, knowing Sloan would see her home safe. I turned to my client, who also looked a little worse for wear as she sunk into the bench as if hiding herself.

  I walked over and cleaned up her tattoo before wrapping her up. “You should get home, too. I have a feeling whatever is up with those vamps, they aren’t feeling too picky about who they run into tonight. I’ll do more in a few nights, okay?”

  She agreed and handed me the money for the first session, before grabbing her stuff and rushing into the storm. Randi and I followed her lead and grabbed our things, locking up behind us. I was immediately soaked as I stepped out and ran the short distance to Sloan’s bright blue Subaru BRZ parked on the opposite side of the street.

  Chapter Twelve

  Thankfully, Randi’s car was parked right in front of Sloan’s, so we at least didn’t have to walk her to where she normally parked in the back lot.